Esselstyn's Blueberry Muffins

I tried a different muffin recipe last night since I was out of bananas to make the mighty muffins. This one is from Esselstyn's Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease, which I still haven't started reading, but am avidly looking through the recipes. I didn't have applesauce but I made a quick substitute by cooking up a chopped apple in the microwave and then pureeing it in the food processor.

While I overcooked the mighty muffins, these were the opposite! They were moist, but maybe too moist. I cooked them for the time specified (25 minutes) but they were on the mushy side and stuck to the liners pretty good. Also, there is more sweetener in this recipe (1/3 cup maple syrup for 8 muffins versus 1/4 cup for 12 muffins in the mighty muffins) and these didn't taste as sweet to me. Not sure I would make them again.

E2's Mighty Muffins

Mighty Muffins

3 cups oat bran
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons sweetener
Juice of 1 lemon
1 large apple, grated
6 brown bananas, lightly mashed (leave some chunks)
1/4 cup walnuts, chopped or halved
1/4 cup raisins
3/4 cup water

Preheat oven to 375º. Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Squeeze the juice of the lemon onto the combined apple and bananas. Add walnuts, raisins, and water. Combine the wet and dry ingredients into one bowl. Pour into sprayed muffin tins and bake for 45 minutes or until golden brown on top.

Variations:
Bake the batter in a loaf pan, and enjoy hearty slices instead of muffins.
Add three thinly sliced pears or 1 cup of 70 percent pure cocoa chips to the batter.

I found this recipe on the Engine 2 website. It was easy to put together but the baking time quoted was too long for me so they came out dry. They taste like a "healthy muffin" and I don't think I'd be able to sneak this by any regular SAD-eater, but my plant-fearing husband has been eating them, probably because he doesn't have any other sweet options and they resemble "normal" food. I think I'll try making these again but baking them for less time.

Hearty breakfasts

I hate to admit it, but sometimes on the weekends, I miss big breakfasts of eggs and bacon. They still look good to me, but I know if I eat them, I certainly won't feel good. These days, I've been treating myself to my own versions of hearty breakfasts, ETL-style:

It's a big plate of scrambled tofu, tomatoes with basil, steamed broccoli and beans.