Hearty Blueberry Muffins

Hearty Blueberry Muffins

I think I may be a bad blogger. When I first started my blog over 2 1/2 years ago everything seemed exciting and new. There were things to learn, new blogs to read and the Internet wasn't completely saturated by 5,000 different social media possibilities to waste endless amounts of time. I blogged everyday, sometimes more than once. If I missed a day I would write twice as hard the next. Fast forward almost 3 years and I feel a little blah. I miss more blog posts a week than I would like to admit. My blog almost feels like a chore some nights. After chasing after two very active boys my blog seems a little less important than it was when my youngest had just turned two. Next month my youngest will be 5 and my oldest will turn 8 this spring. They were babies when my blog started, my oldest hadn't even started school yet. Part of my blog taking a back seat is coming naturally with age, as my kids and I get older I feel less compelled to sit behind a computer and not interact face to face. My mother started having serious health issues in her 40's and I try my hardest to avoid this fate. Part of that plan means spending less time on the computer and more time with friends and family. It also means instead of computer time, I am remembering the joy of a good book or a movie snuggled up with my husband. I don't know where my blog will be in another 2 1/2 years. It has evolved endlessly since I started it. So if you don't see me posting everyday it isn't that I have forgotten about my blog, readers and food. It's just that life has a way of becoming more important during certain periods of our life. I do promise that the posts that I end up having the time to write will be truthful and hopefully an enjoyable read.

I have been trying to make sure that my two boys eat at least a small breakfast every morning. They both have a bad habit of skipping breakfast or choosing cereal and then becoming cranky a couple of hours later. In order to combat this problem I have been trying a number of new breakfast recipes. Last week I tried a new recipe for Hearty Blueberry Muffins from Martha Stewart Living magazine.

This recipe has 10 ingredients. It takes an hour of total time, 25 minutes of which is active and makes 12 servings. I only made a few changes to the original recipe. First, I used coconut oil for the fat. Coconut oil is nice since it keeps for a very long time and turns into a solid when cool and a liquid when heated. Plus it doesn't have a strong flavor so it's great for baking. My two boys had eaten a bunch of my blueberries by the time I made this recipe so my muffins were not as full of blueberries as the original recipe. Finally, I used foil baking cups, I love them they are so much easier to get the muffins out of than regular paper liners.

I like that these muffins have both wheat germ and whole wheat flour. My boys liked that they had blueberries and were sweet and didn't notice that they also had added nutrition. They kept well on my counter and with a couple of seconds in the microwave tasted like they were fresh baked (according to my boys). Overall a nice breakfast option that is kid friendly.

For the recipe go to Hearty Blueberry Muffins.

Hearty Blueberry Muffins

Recipe Type: Breakfast

Summary:

A blueberry muffin recipe using coconut oil, wheat germ and whole wheat flour. A nice way to start the day!

Preparation Time: 0h, 25m

Total Time: 1h, 0m

Yield: Serves 12

Apricot Wheat Germ Muffins

This week I have been visiting family in the mountains. My two boys have been busy playing and adventuring while my mother-in-law and I are cleaning up my in-laws house. It has also allowed me to catch up on all my blog posts, which often get placed on the back burner and get forgotten. As you may have noticed in my recent posts I am working on my breakfast routine. My two boys are doing great and have cut down dramatically on their sugar and white flour consumption. They have also been drinking more water and  complaining less about the change in their diet. So how am I doing? I have been eating breakfast everyday for the last couple of weeks. When I first started I thought that it would be horrible, but I am feeling better and drinking more water, feeling more energetic and my weight is down to what it was before I had my first son. It may only be a few pounds, but I am very happy. A couple of weeks back I tried a new recipe for Apricot-Wheat Germ Muffins from Eating Well magazine, which looked perfect for a healthy breakfast.

This recipe has 14 ingredients. It takes 1 hour of total time, a half hour of which is active and makes 12 muffins. For the orange juice I squeezed my own. Oranges are cheap right now, much cheaper than the price of orange juice and fresh tastes so much better in recipes. Instead of using brown sugar I used splenda brown sugar for baking. The finished product does have a slight splenda taste, but it was mild enough that my two boys did not notice. I did chose to leave out the grated orange zest. I had grated the orange peel to use and put it in the fridge. However, my youngest child decided to dump it on the floor, so I left them out of the recipe entirely. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

These muffins were very popular with my two boys. They liked that they had apricots and didn't notice that they also were packed with wheat germ and whole-wheat flour. I ate a number of these muffins as soon as they came out of the oven. They are filling, without being heavy and are a great combination of taste and nutrition. Overall, another great breakfast muffin recipe.

For the recipe go to Apricot-Wheat Germ Muffins.

Better Homes and Gardens Loaded Oatmeal Cookies

My family loves sweets and I make them at least once a week. I have tried unsuccessfully to cut out sugar multiple times and have come to the conclusion that since we eat healthy most of the time an occasional homemade treat is fine. Additionally, I find baking very comforting. My mom and I used to bake cookies frequently together and I have passed on the tradition to my own children. There is something very comforting about baking and eating homemade cookies. In the past year I have been trying to find new ways to make sweets, while incorporating adding nutrition. Recently Better Homes and Gardens magazine had a recipe for Loaded Oatmeal Cookies using flaxseed meal and wheat germ, which looked healthy and delicious.

This recipe has 15 ingredients. It makes 30 cookies and takes approximately 30 minutes of prep and 9 minutes of cooking per batch. I had no problems finding all the ingredients at my local store, even the flaxseed meal was easy to find in the organic section. I used 80 percent cocoa dark chocolate in bar form and then chopped. I found that the cookies cooked very quickly, watch to make sure they don't overcook and burn. I followed the recipe as stated, however, it could easily be modified to use almonds or sunflower seeds instead of walnuts.

These cookies were very good and my household ate the whole batch in a couple of days. I love that they have the added benefits of flaxseed meal, wheat germ, dark chocolate, cranberries and chopped walnuts. The taste is delicious and my kids didn't notice that they were healthy. A great way to add nutrition to baked goods and would make a great healthy snack.

For the recipe go to Loaded Oatmeal Cookies.