Blueberry Almond Muffins and New Balance Gear!

Happy Leap Year to me!!

The awesome crew at New Balance generously provided our Reach the Beach blogger team:  “Team Off Balance” with enough gear to get us through training AND the relay itself!!  Check this out…


The 870v2 Sneakers
NBx Prism Half Zip
Impact Capri
Heathered Short Sleeve
NBx Prism Capri

Icefil Short Sleeve
Get Back Racerback
Prism Running Short
Fun Run Shorts



Tonic Crop Sports Bra
Socks!
PDA Running Gloves
Tri-Viz Running Cap
NGR Bars



Um, wow!

Pictures don’t even do it justice…but that hot pink t-shirt is HOT PINK, and incredibly soft!! 
The 870’s are their stability shoe, and I don’t even think these particular sneakers(870v2) are out yet!  I’ll let you know how they feel next time I run.  I’ve always needed some stability in my running sneakers and this will be my first time trying New Balance since I started running a few years ago. 

I even tried on all the bottoms right away.  All the material is so soft, and nothing feels like it’s going to fall down, and most have drawstrings!  I currently own a pair of nice capris (not NB) but they are a lower rise and always need to be tugged up..annoying.  I’m liking the higher rise of these (not high rise, but you know…normal!).

I’ll be sure to get photos of myself when I’m wearing the gear so you can see! 

In the meantime, if you want to get some sweet New Balance gear yourself, they’ve provided me with a coupon code for my readers to get 15% off AND free shipping!! Pretty sure even Brian is going to get something after seeing my new items.

From now until March 10, 2012 you can use the code: NBRTB1279GDCT

Awesome right?!  I can’t wait to try everything on!!  If you have any specific questions about the products leave a comment or shoot me an email :)

Ok Muffin time.



This was one of those recipes that I had made before and my initial assessment was that they weren’t that great and can’t use them on the blog.

However, that was after a bite when they were still warm.  My feeling with “healthier” muffins, is that they taste better once they’ve cooled and flavors come through better.  See, the next morning I went to eat one (I mean they were still good to me!), and they tasted so much better!!  I was actually bummed I didn’t take photos that first time.

So this weekend when I was craving muffins for the week, I went back to the recipe.  Since my initial gripe with them was that I thought they weren’t sweet enough, I added a bit more honey.

Banana muffins are the best kind to make healthy versions of because bananas themselves are so sweet and flavorful, but blueberries, not so much. 





These use equal parts almond meal and oat flour so they are a little denser than your standard muffin, but they stay really moist from the almond meal, blueberries, and eggs!  Also higher in protein!!

If you have nice fine blanched almond flour then your muffins will be lighter in color and possibly a little less dense, but for now I just buy the cheaper Almond Meal from Trader Joes and it works perfectly fine.
The almond flavor is there, but not too over powering.  You can always increase the almond extract a little (that stuff is potent!) if you wanted more almond flavor.  These have more of a natural almond flavor rather than an almond extract flavor.




 Almond Blueberry Muffins 
(makes 12 muffins)

• 1 cup almond meal (almond flour)
• 1 cup Oat Flour
• 1/4 cup Flax Seed Meal
• 1 tsp Baking Soda
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 2 eggs
• 2 egg whites
• 1/4 cup almond milk (plain or vanilla, unsweetened)
• 1 tsp Almond Extract (add another 1/2 tsp for more almond flavor)
• 1/3 cup honey
• 2 Tbsp canola oil (or butter or oil of choice)
• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 cup fresh blueberries
• 1/4 cup slice almonds (optional)

Pre-heat oven to 350*
Combine dry ingredients in a medium bowl (almond flour to salt), whisk to combine.
In a separate bowl beat eggs and egg whites, add almond milk, oil, honey, almond extract, and vinegar. Whisk to combine. Add wet to dry, mix with a spoon until just combined, fold in blue berries.

Distribute batter into a regular 12-cup muffin tin lined with paper liners.

Top with slice almonds if desired.
 

Bake for 16-18 min, or until toothpick inserted in the center of one of the muffins comes out clean. Let cool.


(my little “cake tester” from Crate and Barrel)




Enjoy!

I guess this if for bloggers, but have you ever made something “not for the blog” and wish you had taken photos because it came out so good!?   

Do you wear New Balance Gear?  Like it??  I’ve always liked the company.  I used to work right near their Outlet store in Lawrence…that place is awesome! 

Lets hope this is finally The Snow for the season and from here on we can move to spring???  Wishful thinking??

Blueberry Dessert

Totally sharing a family recipe here today!  Hope that’s OK Nanny!  Some recipes are just too delicious not to share :)

I mentioned this one a week or so ago.  I brought this to Tina and Mal’s Pig roast! 

Everyone seemed to really like it, and of course everyone was asking what it was.  Well, in my family we call it “Blueberry Dessert”.

Not very descript, but those two words can get anyone in my family excited! 

Basically, it’s a 4-layer dessert:

• graham cracker crust bottom
• a cheesecake-y layer
• a blueberry layer
• and a whipped cream/marshmallow topping

Sounds pretty good right?

I’ll give you both versions…the original, and my adjustments.  Now a days, the original version is just a bit too sweet for my taste, so I like to cut back on the sugar where I can. 

I made “my” version for the pig roast, and don’t think anyone missed the sugar based on the reactions :)

Blueberry Dessert

Layer 1: Graham Cracker Crust

• 24 Graham Crackers  (and by 24, that means 12 full sheets.  i.e. a s’mores is technically made with 2 graham crackers or 1 full sheet…you follow??)
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• I cut back to 3T and add 1T of water
• 1/4 cup sugar
• I leave this out.  In my opinion graham crackers are sweet enough as is. 

Place crackers in a food processor and pulse until crushed.  Add remaining ingredients and pulse until all combined.  [If you don’t have a food processor, place grahams in a large ziploc bag and, using a rolling pin, roll them out/crush them until they are a course sand consistency.  Then mix all ingredients together in a bowl.]

Pour crust out into a 9x13 pan (I like to spray it with cooking spray first), and press crust evenly into the bottom of the pan.

Bake at 350 for 12-14 min.

While the crust is baking, getting working on the next layer.

Layer 2: Cream Cheese

• 1 8oz pkg cream cheese, softened at room temp
• I used reduced fat/Neufchatel cream cheese
• 1 cup sugar
• I use 2/3 cup sugar
• 2 eggs

Beat all ingredients until creamy.  Pour over your crust once it’s out of the oven.  Now put the whole thing back in the oven (still at 350) for 15-20 min, until slightly browned.

(well mine wasn’t really browned, but it was set)

Once Layer 2 is baked, you can now turn off the oven and let this cool.

Layer 3:  The Blueberries

• 1 can blueberry pie filling
• add in fresh blueberries (optional)

OR, make your own blueberry filling, which is what I do:

• 1 1/2 – 2 pints of fresh blueberries (or a bag of frozen)
• water
• juice from 1/2 lemon
• 1/4 sugar (or more to taste)
• 1 T corn starch

Place berries into a medium sauce pan.  Add enough water to come just about halfway up the blueberries.  Place pan over med-high heat until boiling.

Reduce heat to med-med low, add sugar and lemon juice.  Cook for 10-15 min or until blueberries start to break down.  Mix the cornstarch with 1T of water to dissolve it before adding to the berries.  Bring the heat back up a bit, to get the mixture boiling again.  Pour in the cornstarch/water while whisking the mixture at the same time until it’s thoroughly mixed in. 

Continue cooking for 4-5 more minutes, until it’s cooked down a little more.  The mixture will also thicken up as it cools.

Once cool, pour over the other layers.

Layer 4 – Whipped Cream/Marshmallow

• 1/4 lb marshmallows (about 1/2 of a typical bag)
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 cup heavy cream

Add marshmallows and milk to the top bowl of a double boiler set to med-high heat.  Cook until marshmallows melt and the mixture is smooth.

Let this cool!!  It may separate as it cools, that happened to me, and it was fine. 

Then, whip heavy cream in a separate bowl on medium speed until it thickens up/stiffens to whipped cream consistency.  This takes just a few minutes depending on your mixer.  I just use a handheld mixer for this.

Take this whipped cream and add it to the COOLED marshmallow mixture.  Fold in.  If you had separation issues, just take your mixer and whip this together for another minute or two.  That worked for me. 

Spread final layer on top.  Chill at least 1 hour in the fridge before serving :)

  
I had to go back for seconds. 

This is a great dessert to bring to a party!  Everyone I know that has tried it, has loved it.  My family goes nuts for it.  It’s a winner :)