Healthier Blueberry Sour Cream Muffins

Being fairly new to cooking, I've been struggling with wanting to cook every interesting recipe that comes my way and wanting to eat healthier.  I even tried a stint of not eating dairy.  That lasted about two days before my love of food got the better of me.  There are just too many delicious things out there to start limiting what I eat.  I'm even getting better with peppers, which used to be my arch nemeses.  Now they are more like that drunk uncle that you would rather not be around, but every once in a while he get's you an awesome gift and he doesn't seem so bad for a little while.

My love of food, though, doesn't cloud my judgement all the time, just some of the time.  I make sure to keep salt and fat in moderation.  I make sure I eat fruits or vegetables at every meal.  And I have lessened my diary intake and tried meatless Mondays.  Knowing the facts and weighing both sides against each other is part of a healthy lifestyle.  This article can be a nice starting point to educating yourself, but make sure to do all your research and don't just rely on one article.  Decide what's best for you.  And for me it was limiting, but not cutting out my dairy and meat intake.  Part of life is being healthy so you can experience more, but at the same time, in my opinion, you can't eliminate other experiences just to be healthy.

And on that note, I give you a healthier recipe for blueberry muffins that uses no butter or oil, and instead uses fat free sour cream and apple sauce.  You won't be able to tell the difference.  Full experience, with more health benefits.  Plus blueberries are a super food, so besides the sugar in these, they are a pretty good win for a breakfast or snack food.

Included is a crumb topping if you want to forgo a little bit of the healthiness factor and make these a little more dessert like.

Healthier Blueberry Sour Cream Muffins

Servings: 24 muffins

Ingredients:

4 Eggs
1 cup of White Sugar, plus one pinch
1/2 cup of Brown Sugar
1 cup of Unsweetened Apple Sauce
1 1/2 tsp of Vanilla Extract
4 cup of Unbleached All Purpose Flour (you can substitute 2 cups for Whole Wheat Flour)
1 tsp of Salt
1 tsp of Baking Soda
2 tsp of Cinnamon
1 tsp of Nutmeg
1 1/2 cups of Fat Free Sour Cream
2 cups of Blueberries
1 tsp of Lemon Juice
Crumb Topping - optional (recipe below)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Line 2 muffin tins.

Rince the blueberries and dry.  Then in a bowl mix together berries, lemon juice and pinch of sugar.

In a large bowl beat the eggs while gradually adding the sugars and apple sauce.  Add vanilla.

In a separate bowl mix together the flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon and baking soda.

Alternate mixing the flour and the sour cream into the egg mixture.  Do not over mix because this recipe already makes a dense muffin.

Gently fold in the blueberries.

Scoop batter into muffin cups.  Fill at least 3/4 full.

For a more dessert style muffin, top with Crumb Cake Topping before baking.

Bake for 15-18 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Crumb Cake Topping

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp of cold Butter
2/3 cup of Brown Sugar
1/4 cup of Flour
Pinch of Cinnamon

Curried Carrot Apple Soup

When I got my wisdom teeth out I was so excited to eat all the mashed potatoes and ice cream I could stand.  I had it all planned out.  Five different flavors of potatoes, plenty of vanilla ice cream to make milkshakes, peanut butter banana smoothies, and sundaes.  It was going to be glorious.  A reason to eat some of my favorite food without feeling guilty about my indulgence.

Well, that got old after the first day.  

That's why I turned to some more creative endeavors while my face swelled up larger than I thought possible.

You always think that you will be different than everyone else, that your face won't swell and you won't be in pain.  That you'll get all the sympathy without any real problems.  Yeah, that almost never happens.  It was a rough week filled with lots of naps, pain killers, and names that ranged from chipmunk to cheeks.  

This soup was the bright spot in it all, both in its color and flavor.  What was also great, was that it allowed me to still work in my vegetables while I could barely open my mouth.  Potatoes and ice cream are great, but they don't pack the most nutritious punch if you know what I mean.

Curried Carrot and Apple Soup

Servings: 4 bowls - 3/4c per serving

Ingredients:

• 1/2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 large onion, chopped
• 1 stalk celery, finely chopped
• 1/2 tablespoon curry powder
• 3 large carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
• 1 large McIntosh apple or two small, peeled and coarsely chopped
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 14oz can of reduced-sodium chicken broth
• Pinch of salt
• Freshly ground pepper, to taste

Directions:

Heat oil soup pot over medium heat. Stir in onion and celery; cook until the onion is softened and translucent, about 10 minutes.

Stir in curry powder, then add carrots, apples and bay leaf. Stir well over medium heat for 2 minutes.  Add broth and salt. Bring the mixture to a low boil, then reduce the heat to low. Cover tightly and simmer until the carrots and apples are tender, 20 to 25 minutes.

Remove the bay leaf. Using a large slotted spoon, transfer the soup solids to a food processor, adding about 1/2 cup of the broth.  Process to a smooth puree. Pour the puree back into the soup. Reheat and season with pepper. 

Recipe used - http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/curried_carrot_apple_soup.html

Spring Greens Flatbread

Time for another Meatless Monday post.  This grain called Quinoa has been inspiring me to look at alternate forms of protein lately.  I'm not so sure I could go full vegetarian and not feel like I was missing out on a bunch of possibilities, but I do want to try to be healthier and more environmentally friendly.  Right now my budget doesn't allow me to buy all my foods organic and cage free and all that good stuff, but one of my goals is to get to that point.  For now I'll have to settle on opting out of meat once in a while in order to meet some of those goals sooner rather than later.

This recipe is inspired by my Fall Veggie Flatbread.  However, since Spring has sprung, it needed a face lift.  One of the things I love most about Spring is the blooming and the greenery returning to the world.  I'm glad that in LA it's warm enough all year long that we don't have to spend months with bare trees and ominous weather, but it does take away some of the excitement of the annual rebirth of plants and return of wildlife.

This dish drew as much green from the produce draw as I could find to help replicate this phenomenon.  I also wanted to work in that elusive protein that my mother always worries about when I tell her I am changing up my diet.  So I pulled out my quinoa and dusted off the edamame I had in the freezer to make this probably one of the most well rounded recipes I've eaten in quite a while.  Just between you and me, I've been using a calorie counter website recently to see how well I'm actually eating vs. how I think I'm eating, and I have been lacking in a lot of key nutrients fairly regularly.  Hopefully this recipe will help get me back on track.

Spring Greens Flatbread

Ingredients:

Dough (see Fall Veggie Flatbread for recipe)
1/4 cup of Edamame
1/2 cup of White Onion slices
1/2 cup of Zucchini, chopped
1/2 cup of Asparagus, chopped
1 Tbsp of Olive Oil
Splash of Lemon Juice
Black Pepper to taste
1/2 cup of Mozzarella
1/4 cup of Parmesan
1/4 cup of uncooked Quinoa
1/2 cup of Water
1 Tbsp of Chia Seeds
2 Tbsp of Balsamic Vinegar plus more for dipping

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

 Boil quinoa and water in a small sauce pan.  Once the water boils, turn the heat down to a simmer and cover.  Let cook until all water has been absorbed.

Meanwhile, coat vegetables in olive oil.  Season with pepper and lemon juice.  Spread on a baking sheet and roast in oven for about 10 minutes.

Spread dough onto greased baking sheet.

Once the quinoa is done cooking, mix with balsamic vinegar and spread on dough.  Top with cheese and veggies.

Bake for 20 minutes or until crust begins to brown.

Southwest Quinoa Salad

I know it's been a while since my last post and I apologize.  I've just been in a funk that has kept my motivation in the kitchen on the back burner, but with the first day of April came a new surge of curiosity.

This recipe I found on SkinnyTaste today and decided that a meatless Monday was the way to go. I changed up the recipe a bit to fit my tastes, but there are plenty of variations that would work.  There is nothing better than fresh ingredients, so get creative.

Southwest Quinoa Salad

Ingredients:

1/2 a cup of Dried Quinoa

1 cup of Water

1 15oz can of Black Beans, drained (I use seasoned black beans)

1/4 cup of Red Onion, chopped

1/2 cup of chopped Cilantro

1 cup of Mango, diced

1 can of chopped Tomatoes, drained (not pictured)

1 small Jalapeno, seeded and diced

1 cup of Corn

2 Tbsp of Lime Juice

1 1/2 Tbsp of Olive Oil

1/2 tsp of Cumin

2 cloves of Garlic, minced

1/2 tsp of Chili Powder

Directions:

Combine quinoa and water in a sauce pan.  Bring to a boil.  When the water is boiling, turn down heat to a simmer and cover.  Cook until water is absorbed, about 10 minutes.

Combine the beans, corn, tomatoes, mango, jalapeno, onion and cilantro in a bowl.

Whisk together the lime juice, olive oil, garlic, cumin and chili powder.

Toss the two mixtures together.

Serve, either hot or cold.  I personally like it better warm, it brings out the flavors a bit more.  To do that, put mixture back in the pan and heat on medium for about 2-3 minutes or until heated through.