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 Scuffins and Vacation

Greetings from Martha’s Vineyard!!

I’m on my yearly getaway with my best friend and her family on the beautiful island that is Martha’s Vineyard.

Yes, we are at a house with wi-fi, but my urge to blog isn’t quite where it should be.  That said, there has been no shortage of blog-worthy food eaten so far!

Why do some foods taste SO much better on vacation??

Nothing special here, but these Garden Herb Triscuits with brie really hit the spot when we first arrived at the house after getting off the ferry.

A bowl full of fresh cherries in the fridge for snacking

Yes, you can toast a GIANT marshmallow over a gas grill

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Grilled chicken & veggies, cereal with raspberries, and even Skinnygirl Margaritas all taste better on the Vineyard vacation.

Found a new bakery

with delicious “power cookies” and almond croissants

Hit the beach… obviously

It’s been beautiful here and thoroughly relaxing!

Now for the Scuffins that you may be looking for.

Well here they are:

Lemon and blueberry

Not quite as dry and heavy as a scone

Definitely not a muffin

Just a delicious healthy breakfast treat!       

And you will find my recipe HERE!  It’s my first/latest article as a Boston Healthy Foods Examiner! 

I just started contributing to examiner.com…I’m hoping to gain a little more experience writing and thought it would be perfect to focus on healthy foods! 

I’ll add this one to my recipe page soon! 

What “everyday” foods do you enjoy that much more on vacation?? 

Fresh Berry Lemon Muffins

This past weekend when I was shopping for food to make lunch for Brian’s mom and sister, I also went a little crazy with the fruit.

I don’t know what it was, but there were such great sales!

I bought 4lbs of strawberries and 4 containers of blueberries! 

I’ve been eating them with breakfast…on toast and in yogurt, and on their own, but I wanted to make a baked good.

Clearly muffins are my baked good of choice ;)

And nothing goes better with berries than fresh lemon!

I love lemon and berries combined…so many possibilities.

These muffins are light and dense at the same time.  Hard to explain, but I used milk, yogurt, AND some ricotta I had in the fridge.  That combined with fresh berries, keeps the muffins very moist.  They have a light, subtle lemon, subtle sweetness to them.

(I always make such a mess when I bake!)

Fresh Berry Lemon Muffins 

• 1 1/4 cup white whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup quick oats
• 1/2 cup organic granulated sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• zest from 1 lemon
• 2 T canola oil
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup skim milk
• 1/4 cup non-fat plain Greek yogurt
• 2 T part skim ricotta (or just use more Greek yogurt)
• 1/2 cup blueberries
• 5-6 large strawberries, chopped

pre-heat oven to 375

Combine dry ingredients into a mixing bowl (flour through to salt).  **feel free to increase the sugar slightly if you prefer a sweeter muffin.

In a separate bowl combine lemon juice, zest, oil, egg, milk, yogurt, and ricotta.  Mix to combine.

Add wet ingredients to dry, and stir gently just to combine.  Fold in berries.

Spray a muffin tin with canola oil spray

  I used all the batter for the 12 cups, and filled them pretty much to the top.

Bake for 17-18 min, until toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Let cool for a couple minutes in the pan before removing. 

Then cool on baking rack.

They feel heavy from all the fresh fruit inside, but taste light and delicious.  Not too sweet, which makes for a great breakfast muffin!

These muffins have approx. 150 calories a piece :)

My Muffin Repertoire

So I definitely spoke too soon about the weather…rain, rain, and more rain until later this week. Oh well, I’ll take it over snow any day!!

P.S. I really miss more frequently posting. As you can tell I currently post 2-3 times a week (hopefully) and when I do post I have this influx of material that I talk about and it can be all over the place with topics and pictures. Probably why it seems so daunting to me sometimes…it’s too much! So…maybe…I might try shorter more frequent posts. See how that goes. That’s what I did when I first started the blog back in ’08! Also gives me more of a chance to discuss everyday things, which I also miss (but have been trying to do more of lately).

Back to the regularly scheduled post:

Muffins! I love muffins. Love eating them and baking them. They are my go-to baked good because they are so versatile, can easily be made HEALTHY, and are pretty forgiving when it comes to “exactness” of a recipe. Over the years I’ve made quite a few variations:

Strawberry Almond Oat Muffins

Glorious Morning Muffins

Zucchini Muffins with Streusel Topping

Mixed Berry Goat Cheese Muffins

Everything (banana) Muffins

Whole Grain Banana Muffins (with nuts and choc chips)

Banana Blueberry Muffins

Strawberry Rhubarb Muffins

Choco-Coconut Banana Muffins

Banana Hazelnut Muffins

Within the realm of muffins, Banana muffins are clearly my most frequently baked. Over ripe bananas lend so much flavor, sweetness, and moistness to a baked good that it makes it easy to cut out other sugars and fats and still have a delicious breakfast treat!

These muffins were inspired by a package of Medjool dates I recently purchased! I know I’m a little late to the “date” party, but they’ve never been my favorite… I love when they are in baked goods, but I find them a little too big and sweet for my taste, even though the sweetness is natural.

However I still wanted to buy them and give them a go.

I referred back to my Everything banana Muffins for this recipe!

Banana Date Muffins pre-heat oven to 375

The Dry Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups White Whole Wheat Flour


• 1/2 cups All Purpose Flour


• 1/2 cup quick oats


• 1/4 cup Oat Bran


• 2 tsp Baking powder


• 1.5 tsp baking soda


• 1 tsp salt


• 1/4 (heaping) tsp nutmeg


• 2 Tbsp organic brown sugar

The Wet Ingredients:

• 3 very ripe bananas mashed


• 1 T canola oil


• 1/3 cup unsweetened apple sauce


• 1 egg white


• 1 T Maple Syrup


• 1/4 cup almond milk (I used Vanilla Almond Breeze)


• 2/3 cup buttermilk (or use 1 cup buttermilk instead of the Almond milk and buttermilk)


• 1 tsp vanilla

The Add-Ins:

• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts


• 3/4 cup chopped dates (chop dates and let sit in a bowl covered with boiling water while you prepare the muffins, drain before adding to the muffin batter)

1. Combine dry ingredients into a med/large mixing bowl. 2. Mash bananas in a smaller mixing bowl (I use a potato masher), then add in rest of wet ingredients 3. Pour wet over dry and mix with a spoon until combined. 4. Fold in nuts and dates 5. Spray muffin tin with cooking spray/canola oil spray or line with muffin liners 6. Fill muffins almost all the way full, and add any optional toppings like raw sugar sprinkled on top or some oat flake

7. Bake at 375 for 17-18 min NOTE: I had extra batter so I filled 2 ramekins as well and put them in the oven at the same time. They were done at the same time as the muffins for me.

Another Banana Muffin success! Bananas, dates, and walnuts are a pretty classic pairing and they did not disappoint.

Especially with a cappuccino of course.

What else should I do with my dates???

Supposed to take a half day of work tomorrow because I have a fun afternoon planned…including a massage! But of course I wake up with a scratchy throat...hmmm. I’ve been downing Emergen-C’s, Vitamin C, and Echinacea all day!

I even just brewed a “tea” with lemon, fresh ginger, honey, and cayenne pepper! Hope it helps :)

Also made this chili for dinner tonight. Made it with 2 jalapeños and ground turkey…so flavorful and delicious.

Early bed time for this chica!

Goodnight!