Nutritious Pumpkin Cranberry Muffins

Here’s another dose of Healthy Substitutions! 

Okay so if you’re family is anything like mine, you’re often running late, trying to get everyone out the door and often times food gets thrown on the back-burner. My family is so new and small that I’m not up when my husband is getting ready for work, instead I’m trying to catch a few zzz’s while my son is still sleeping. Unfortunately, that often means my husband is waking up late and skipping breakfast, which is a big no-no. One idea I had was to try to give him something good to eat on the go. Now I’m not suggesting that this should be your everyday breakfast replacement, but when in a pinch, the balance of nutrients that I’ve packed into this simple muffin will help stabilize his blood sugar for the first few hours of the morning until he can finally eat something a little more filling. I’ve taken a basic Pumpkin Muffin Recipe and have made a few simple substitutions that make it a Protein-packed Pumpkin Cranberry Breakfast Muffin.

Here’s the original Pumpkin Muffin Recipe:

1 ½ c. sugar
2 eggs

1 tsp baking soda                                 
¼ tsp baking powder                         

1 2/3 c. all-purpose flour

½ tsp nutmeg

½ tsp cinnamon
¾ tsp salt                                              

½ c. vegetable oil

½ c. cold water
½ tsp cloves                                         

1 c. pumpkin puree (about half a 15 oz can)

Let me start by saying that one of the key items to substituting ingredients, as I have found, is understanding what you are trying to replace, and the item you’re trying to replace it with. For example, if a recipe calls for ½ c vegetable oil and you use ½ c olive oil, you are still using the same amount of oil, you still have the same amount of fat, just a slightly different flavor. However, if the recipe calls for ½ c oil and you substitute it for ¼ c oil and 3Tbsp nonfat greek yogurt, you just cut out half the fat! That’s one healthy substitution! J Now yogurt is a well chosen substitute in baking, but the flavor may not always be what you’re looking for in other items, so in those cases there are other worthy substitutions to be made.- I’ll write another post just to go over worthy substitutes.

Anyway, back to the muffins!

Looking at the original recipe I can tell you right now the only protein inside of this recipe is in the eggs, but there’s plenty of sugar and fat mixed in there! That’s healthy, right? Umm… no, not really.

Okay then, let’s see what changes we can make. I colored the items I’m going to replace in red. First, let’s look at the sugar content. We are making 12 regular sized muffins in this recipe, so maybe we can reduce our sugar intake. Instead of granulated sugar, I am replacing it with brown sugar, which has molasses which will still add flavor even as I reduce the amount. Instead of whole eggs, I will replace it with egg substitute, again, to cut out the cholesterol. Obviously the all-purpose flour will be replaced with wheat flour, but to add in some protein and Omega-3, I will also include, vital wheat gluten flour and ground flaxseed. Finally, as I explained above, we will cut the oil content in half and use non-fat Greek yogurt as a protein packed replacement.

 Thus, My Healthy Pumpkin Muffin Remake:

½ c. + 1 Tbsp brown sugar

½ c. egg whites       

1 tsp baking soda                              
¼ tsp baking powder                         

1 1/3c. whole wheat flour

¼ c. vital wheat gluten flour

2 Tbsp ground flaxseed
½ tsp cinnamon

¾ tsp salt                                              

½ tsp nutmeg
½ tsp cloves  

¼ c. vegetable oil

3 Tbsp non-fat Greek yogurt

½ c. cold water                                     

1 c. pumpkin puree (about half a 15 oz can)* 

*Side Note: When purchasing your Pumpkin Puree, be sure its 100% Pure Pumpkin, the ingredient list should have only one ingredient, Pumpkin!        

**If making Pumpkin Cranberry Muffins, simply add ¼ c dried cranberries or chopped fresh cranberries to add some antioxidants to your muffins!   

To Make:

Mix all ingredients together.  Put in greased muffin tin.  Bake at 325 degrees.

12 Muffins = 40-45 minutes

24 Mini muffins = 25 minutes

All of the healthy substitutions are listed in green. As far as protein content- egg whites, vital wheat gluten flour and non-fat Greek yogurt are all packed with protein. Included in your carbohydrate content are the whole wheat flour, yogurt and pumpkin. Omega-3 is in the flaxseed. Fiber is in the pumpkin, and antioxidants are in the cranberries. Nutrition all around in these things!

So now you have a muffin you can actually feel comfort in giving to your husband and children, knowing that it is actually way better for them than bad! Plus my husband loves them!

SO Easy Mini Breakfast Bagel

This is a simple, quick, delicious and nutritious recipe!

Mini Breakfast Bagel:

1 whole wheat mini bagel*                  110cal 4g protein 20g carbs 0.5g fat

3Tbsp egg whites                               25 cal 5g protein 2g carbs 0g fat

1oz.  Nonfat cream cheese                  30 cal 4g protein 2g carbs 0g fat

Tomato slice        

Sliced mushroom

Baby spinach

Salt & pepper

Simply spray your skillet with cooking spray and sauté mushrooms until slightly tender, then add egg whites and spinach. Salt and pepper to taste. Cook until done and fold like mini omlet. Spread cream cheese onto bagel assemble like a sandwich, adding egg white omlet and tomato. 

About 165 cal, 13g protein, 24g carbohydrates, 0.5g fat, 0mg cholesterol

 *Side Note: When you purchase whole wheat bagels, make sure under the ingredient list the FIRST ingredient is in fact 100% whole wheat. A lot of bagels label themselves as wheat bagels, but are in reality just disguised enriched flour- which is not what you want.

I used spinach and mushrooms because that’s what I had on hand, you can substitute those veggies for whatever you like or even add a slice of turkey bacon into your eggs or up the amount of egg whites you want to use. This is just a good foundation to build your personalized breakfast bagel off of. You know how many calories, and how much protein your body needs and therefore you know how many grams carbohydrates to add to it (twice as much) so mix up your own plan.

Yummy! Give it a try!

Healthy Whole Wheat Banana Pancakes

Okay, so as you know I’ve been on this healthy kick lately, and intermingled with that, I have found myself experimenting with substitutions. This idea was first generated as I was reading through the recipes listed in the back of the health book I finished reading. As I was looking at the different recipes a lot of them were classic entrees with a slight twist, a few changes in ingredients and you can take something that was decidedly unhealthy and actually make it good for you! What a novel concept, right? So I opened up my classic recipe book and thought it would be nice if I could make pancakes for my darling husband, especially since I had a banana in the cupboard that had seen its day for regular consumption. Well, one look at the ingredients list and I knew a few alterations would have to be made!-

Here’s the original Pancake recipe:

1c all-purpose flour

1 Tbsp sugar

2 tsp baking powder

¼ tsp salt

1 beaten egg

1c milk

2 Tbsp cooking oil

Here I would like to mention that after much research, all-purpose flour has been officially banned from my kitchen, so an obvious change would be made there! I do not drink cow’s milk (if I can help it), I prefer Almond Milk instead and it bakes the same as cow’s milk! My husband, however, will only use cow’s milk in his cereal or to drink but in baking he can’t tell the difference. Almond milk although lacking in protein, has none of the fat or calories as cow’s milk, but still has all the nutrients. The missing protein is okay because I will add it to my pancakes another way. There’s also the matter of the beaten egg, here I substituted ¼ c egg whites, you still get all of the protein but none of the fat or cholesterol. As I replaced all-purpose for wheat flour I also replaced granulated sugar for brown sugar. For this recipe I decided to let the oil remain, it’s a small enough reasonable quantity.

So far I’ve just had some basic substitutions, but here’s the fun part: In addition to substituting wheat flour, I also took ¼ c of the wheat flour and switched it to vital wheat gluten flour, which is packed with protein instead of carbohydrates. Then, I added 2 Tbsp of ground flaxseed to pack in some Omega-3.

Thus, My Healthy Banana Pancakes:

¾c whole wheat flour

¼c vital wheat gluten flour

2 Tbsp ground flaxseed

1 Tbsp brown sugar

2 tsp baking powder

¼ tsp salt

¼ c egg whites

1c unsweetened Almond milk

2 Tbsp cooking oil

1 med softened banana

0-¼ c unsweetened Almond milk- add until batter thins to manageable consistency

I did find that my batter was a little thick, so I added up to ¼ c additional Almond milk to thin it out a bit.

I wish I had a good nutrient calculator tool so I can actually write out the nutritional impact that was made here, but alas, I do not. Therefore, you’ll have to take my word for it- they are much healthier! J And don’t they look yummy!?

This is the first of many postings to come of my new mini-series of Healthy Recipe substitutions! Give it a try & let me know what you think!

Nutrition

Nutrition has always been a fascinating subject for me. I want to feed my children so that they are getting all the nutrients they need and have a healthy balanced diet. I want to be a good example for them, and I want my husband to look and feel healthy too. But how do you accomplish this balance with one person who’s trying to lose weight, another who’s trying to put weight on plus little growing bodies?

Proper nutrition is one thing many of us struggle with, and as the mother; you are generally the designated family nutritionist. You are the one required to decide all of the meals for the family. That is a big responsibility.

And it’s not always easy to prepare meals that everyone likes and is healthy. When I started cooking for my husband it was a huge transition for both of us. He was used to living off of cereal and peanut butter sandwiches and I didn’t eat meat. We’ve had to find a happy middle, although he still will not touch a salad unless it’s drenched in ranch dressing.

We’ve all heard how to divide up the dinner plate, half the plate of veggies a quarter with meat and the remaining quarter with your starch or grains, but how many of us know why? And if we follow this rule of thumb with dinner, why do we not hold to it for the other meals in the day?

Let’s get down to the nitty-gritty, in every meal our bodies require carbohydrates and protein. (What? You thought you needed to eliminate carbs from your daily diet!?… umm… no.) Our brain requires glucose to function, but it only needs a certain amount every 4 hours, not just any carbs, however, our body craves complex carbs. Our body also requires amino acids to help slow the absorption of glucose. The key to good nutrition and a fast metabolism is stable blood sugar. Stable blood sugar is achieved through the proper combination of glucose and amino acids that is delivered to our body when it needs it- which is every 4 hours.

What is the proper combination?... well that brings us back to the dinner plate. The guidelines set forth by the USDA have switched from the food pyramid to the food plate. Although this set-up is a good way of regulating your plate proportions, plates come in all shapes and sizes (I have rectangular plates), but certainly my children don’t require the same amount of protein and veggies and whole grains that I require? So here I offer you an additional method of portion control-

Look at the palm of your hand- that’s the amount of lean protein you require. Now, make a fist and take your other hand and place it over the closed fist- that’s the amount of carbohydrates you require- roughly twice the amount of protein.  Side note- whole grains= brown rice, not white. So in your meal’s calorie composition, you should see about 25% of your calories as protein and 55% your carbohydrates plus 15-20% fats. Your veggies that are carb packed would fall under carbs, but those low in carbohydrates would fall on your second half of the plate- your veggies, and are so low in calories we needn’t put it in the basic equation (unless you’re cooking your veggies with tons of fat, which I do not recommend, then it would take up those calories). Does that make sense?

I know this is a lot of information for a short post, but hopefully this will at least get you thinking a little about what exactly you’re putting into your body. I’m not professing to know everything on this subject, because I don’t, but I am constantly learning and have read a few great books on nutrition that has developed my understanding as to what is healthy and what isn’t. Obviously I can’t write a book about it in one blog post, so I’ll just try to throw out a few tips here and there. I can also direct you to some great sources of information. Here are a few of my favorites: choosemyplate.gov, eatright.org, and a book called Skinny Chicks Don’t Eat Salads by Christine Avanti- She singlehandedly reshaped my view on food (a few tips posted here are also borrowed from her guidelines.)

So good luck Moms! Let's feed the family what they need to stay healthy!