Apple Muffins and Granola Bars

Okay all, I know I said I would post this yesterday but of course the day really got away from me. I am running last minute errands before our big Las Vegas wedding trip next week. I have added the granola bar recipe because it sounds really good. I have not yet tried it but received a request for it. The muffins were moist and very tasty. Here's a picture of the muffins I made. Muy Delicioso












Apple Muffins (Ellie Krieger Food Network)

cooking spray
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
1/4 cup chopped pecans
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup canola oil
2 large eggs
1 cup natural applesauce
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup lowfat buttermilk
1 apple, peeled, cored and cut into 1/4 inch pieces

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Coat 12-capacity muffin pan with cooking spray. In a small bowl mix together 2 tablespoons of the brown sugarm the pecans and the cinnamon. In a medium bowl, whisk together the all-purpose and whole-wheat flour, baking soda and salt. In a large bowl, whisk the remaining 3/4 cup sugar and oil until combined. Add the eggs, 1 at a time whisking well after each addition. Whisk in the applesauce and vanilla. Whisk in the flour mixture in 2 batches, alternating with the butermilk. Whisk jujst until combined. Gently stir in the apple chunks. Pour the batter into the prepared muffin pan and sprinkle with the pecan mixture. Tap the pan on the counter a few times to remove any air bulles. Bake for 20 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center of 1 of the muffins comes out clean. Let cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Run a knife around the muffins to loosen them and unmold. Cool completely on the rack.

Jennifer's note: If you don't have buttermilk make your own by pouring 1 cup of milk in a measuring glass and add 1 tblsp of acid (either white vinegar or lemon juice) and let set for at least 5 minutes

Granola Bars (Alton Brown Food network)

8 ouces old-fashioned rolled oats, approx. 2 cups
1 1/2 ouces raw sunflower seeds, approx 1/2 cup
3 ouces sliced almonds, approx 1 cup
1 1/2 ounces wheat germ, approx 1/2 cup
6 ounces of honey, approx 1/2 cup
1 3/4 ounces dark brown sugar, approx 1/4 cup packed
1-oounce unsalted buter, plus extra for pan
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp kosher salt
6 1/2 chopped dried fruit any combo of apricots, cherries, blueberries

Butter a 9 by 9 inch glass baking dish and set aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Spread the oats, sunflower seeds, almonds, and wheat germ onto a half-sheet pan. Place in the oven and toast for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. In the meantime, combine the honey, brown sugar, butter, extract and salt in a medium saucepan and place over medium heat. Cook until the brown sugar has completely dissolved. Once the oat micture is done, remove it from the oven and reduce the heat to 300 degtrees. Immediately add the oat mixture to the liquid mixture andd the dried fruit and stir to combine. Turn mixture out into the prepared baking dish and press down, evenly distributing the mixture in the dish and place in the oven to bake for 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completelyh. Cut into squares and store in an airtight container for up to a week.

Be sure to let me know how your muffins and granola bars turned out! I hope you enjoy.

Getting a healthy jump on the day (or so I thought)

For some unknown reason I was full of energy last night. After dinner was done and the kitchen was cleaned (with help from my oldest son,) I decided to make this muffin recipe that has been on my "recipes to try" list for about 2 weeks. I have a hard time getting my kids to eat breakfast in the morning. They love granola bars, NutriGrain bars and anything that they can grab-and-go. Well of course a couple of weeks ago I was watching Elie Krueger on the Food Network fix these scrumptious muffins and since my kids love apples wanted to give them a try. They were extremly quick (15 minutes to whip up) and simple (I used everyday ingredients) to make and my huband was checking the oven timer every 5 minutes to see if they were done because they smelled "heavenly."

This muffin recipe caught my eye because they are low fat, low calorie, low sugar and they are made whith whole wheat pastry flour. We could all use some fiber right?

I was positive that my children were going to be excited that I took the time to make these right? WRONG! Anisa was the brave one and tried them and was eating them and saying how good they were until her mouth centered upon a small diced cooked apple inside the muffin. She pointed to the apple and said "what are these?" Apples I said. "I don't like those." It was downhill from there. Andre didn't even want to try them saying "I don't like muffins with apples in them." "How do you know?" I say. "Because I know and I don't want to try them." Alexander gets up and I say "do you want to try the muffins mommy made?" "Yes I do!" he says with excitement. I give him one, he curiously looks at it, says "I don't like these" "You haven't even tried them. They taste just like cake" I say trying to get him excited about them again. He licks the topping and thrusts the muffin back towards me and says "No, I don't want to eat this."

My kids are the pickiest picky eaters there ever occupied this universe. I truly loved the flavor of the muffins. They were moist and not at all heavy. The topping was to die for! Gerald wanted to eat 2 last night but he said he would save some for the kids to try.

Anyway, I was a bit disappointed in their lack of excitement but as a mother I understand my kids. I have a granola bar recipe that I want to try and this time I won't tell them what's in it.!

I will post the recipe and pics later today because I would recommend you try these good-for-you muffins!

Taking care of oneself; lesson learned

A few months ago I had a not-so-good experience with my endocrinologist. He was treating me for my thyroid and at the time I should have listened to my instincts and switched doctors. I didn't. I went through radiation and drug therapy with this man that literally would whisk into the room, barely say hello, continuously write in his chart and tell me what I was doing wrong. Well I finally decided enough was enough, I deserved a doctor that listened to my concerns (my escalating weight, my concern about diabetes running in my family). I switched to a WOMAN doctor and let me tell you the difference is night and day. I have never had so many blood tests and educational pamphlets in my life! I had never been tested extensively for: vitamin D deficiency, iron deficiency, glucose levels, A1C, hemoglobin, platelet count, and cholesterol. Because of my doctors thoroughness I found out I was extremely anemic (I now take 2 iron tablets a day) extremely low in vitamin D (I started out needing 50k IU 1x a week but now my levels have increased and I take 2000 IU's per day, my A1C (diabetes marker) is in the normal range, and my hemoglobin and platelet counts have increased.

Why am I sharing this? Because I got up this morning and didn't feel tired for the first time in a llooooonnnnggggg time. Because all the supplements and medication that I take every single day is kicking in. Because I have learned it is important to be your own health advocate. Because it is important as a mom to take care of yourself. Since I have a chronic thyroid condition I go through good and bad feeling days BUT I don't feel run down EVERY SINGLE DAY. I was clearly not listening to my body and taking care of me.

Now if I could only get my weight under control everything would be peachy keen!
Slap the Bull everyone, Slap the Bull!

There's nothing like saving money

I went to the store today and although it took me 120 minutes to shop it was so worth the trip! For those that aren't aware the first Wednesday of each month is Senior Discount Day. No, I am not a senior but my mother is. If you know a senior, take them to the store and use their Fry's, or Basha card and they will take 10% off of your bill. (Albertson's also does this but a card is not needed.) Now my store of choice is Fry's. It's close to my house and the cashiers know me so I feel right at home there. Now before I tell how much I actually saved today, I need to back up.

Going to the store is a HUGE undertaking for a family of 6. The following steps took place between the hours of 9:00 am and 11:30 am. (That's my ode to 24.) Anyway, I started by scanning carefully ALL of the sales papers to see which store had the best sale for what I needed. Since my pantry is about bare it was stock-up time. Fry's was the chosen one. I then made my list using the sales paper as a guide, being very carefull to choose items that were on sale. Now, here comes the REAL work. I look through every stack of coupons and match them up to the sales item. I also visit http://www.coupons.com/ and http://www.redplum.com/ to get even more manufacturer coupons. Now as I am doing this, I simultaneously make my menu for the next 2 weeks making sure I don't have any repeat recipes from the previous 2-3 week cycle. I want to make my menu from items off my grocery list and items in my pantry, which right now doesn't have much in it. Okay, this can be an extremely long process but I like to challenge myself to see if I can save at least 50% of my total bill. Anything less and I am a little disappointed in my effort. I know, I have issues, but hey if I didn't take this little challenge our grocery bill would be out of this world and on one income that could spell D I S A S T E R!.

On to the next steps. I have made my grocery list, made my 2-week menu, and clipped all of my coupons. I am feeling pretty good because my stack of coupons are pretty thick. That should translate into some great savings. The following takes place between the hours of 1:15 pm and 3:15 pm: I meet my mother and my grandmother at the store and I start shopping. I have filled every crack and crevice of my grocery cart with a grocery item. By the time I get to the check-out my arms are tired because that sucker was heavy. Of course you always get the wise-cracking cashier "It looks like you hit up every aisle. Did you find everything okay? HeeHee HeeHee." I just laugh and start putting my groceries on the conveyor belt. I was going so fast Jamie Sommers would have been proud! Anyway, I hand the cashier the coupons and my mom's savings card.

Drum Roll Please! I spent $149.56 and I saved a whopping $168.22. I had 32 manufacturer coupons. Thirty-two! That has to be my all-time record. That savings was 53% of my bill. I was excited. How many items did I get for $149.56? 105. I bought 105 items. Not bad. Oh, I almost forgot, the Senior Discount of 10% totaled $21.94.

Saving money on groceries is not for the weak of heart. You have to have patience, organization and did I mention patience? This whole production took almost the whole day (actually 4 1/2 hours) but the good thing is I did not go over my grocery budget of $200. I now have some left over to head to Sam's Club and buy some great bulk items as well as buy some whole wheat pastry flour from Sprouts.

Let's all remember Wednesday, April 7th. That is the next Senior Discount Day. Whohoo, there's nothing like saving money.