Blueberry Muffins - Nut free & Healthified

Hey guys,

It’s no secret that I care - a lot - about my family eating healthfully. It’s also no secret that when they’re in school, there’s a certain amount of control we give up. There are birthday parties and holiday parties and beginning of the year parties and middle of the year parties….

It can all get a bit out of hand. If you are a mama / parent / caregiver of young children like I am, then you might find yourself in a similar debacle from time to time. Not only that, but so much of my homemade treats include alternative flours like almond flour - which is an obvious no-no in our nut-free schools.

Where there’s a will, there’s a way. Here is a blueberry muffin recipe that I made recently during a particularly party-heavy time at school. My kids got to enjoy a treat that I felt good about and we were very cautious about other kiddos’ allergies. :-)

Blueberry Muffins

(Makes 10 muffins)

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup coconut flour

• 5 eggs

• 1/2 cup non-dairy milk (make sure not to use nut milk if strictly nut-free)

• 1/3 cup coconut oil, melted

• 2/3 cup blueberries

• 1/4 cup honey

• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

• 1/4 tsp. baking soda

• 1/4 tsp. ginger

• pinch sea salt

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

2. Mix all ingredients in a food processor or high-speed blender, except blueberries.

3. Fold in blueberries.

4. Line a muffins tray with liners.

5. Fill each muffin cup until 2/3 full.

6. Bake for 22-25 minutes. You’ll know they are done when the tops are golden and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the center of the muffin.

7. Enjoy!

In good health,

Tara

Pumpkin Cider Muffins

We've made it through our first official week of Autumn.  The older I get, the more I realize that I'm a Fall kinda person.  The Summer is nice and all (hello beaches and flip flops and berries), but there's just something about the Fall that's refreshing.  I like rediscovering my sweaters that were hibernating during the hotter days and I really like when the barista knows that the latte I just ordered is supposed to be hot.  In the Summer, it always seems to puzzle people that I still enjoy a hot cup of coffee!

Driving around town, I get excited to see the Halloween and Fall decor on suburban stoops everywhere as we begin several months of back-to-back holidays to look forward to.  There are bails of hay, some semblance of a colorful leaf kid's craft hanging on the door, and pumpkins - one for each family member - lined up on the steps.  I love that.  In fact, that's the extent of the future for all the pumpkins we hunted for today.  For the following recipe, I highly recommend purchasing (organic, BPA-free) pumpkin puree.  Unless, of course, you're a glutton for punishment and lots of extra work...??

I dreamt up these Pumpkin Cider Muffins when I was feeling left-out for seeing cider-everything.  Don't get me wrong, I can get down with some apple cider, but where did the cider doughnut craze come from?  

Here's what I needed... a healthier, tasty, Fall-like baked good that made my house smell like one of those toxic candles that we no longer buy.  If it was healthy enough to work as breakfast, a snack, or dessert and could be made in batches and frozen so I don't have to make them 28 times this season....even better!  

Hope you enjoy these Pumpkin Cider Muffins as much as my family does.

Happy All-Things-Pumpkin Season!

In good health,

Tara

Pumpkin Cider Muffins

Ingredients:

• 1.5 cups pumpkin puree
• 6 eggs
• ½ cup honey
• 6 T coconut oil, melted
• 2 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 2 cups almond flour
• 1 cup coconut flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 T cinnamon
• 2 tsp nutmeg
• ½ cup walnuts

Directions:

1.    Preheat oven to 350 F.

2.    In a large bowl, combine all ingredients. Mix well.

3.    Spoon batter into paper-lined muffin tin (or grease muffin tin).

4.    Bake for 22 – 25 minutes (until golden brown and toothpick inserted comes out clean).

5.    Optional: Serve with nut butter and hemp / chia seeds on top to increase protein content.

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Cake Smash Success! (Jagger Turns ONE)

Well how did THAT happen?  365 days and boom...Jagger-dude is 1 year old.  

He is the most perfect compliment to our crazy family.  His smiles and laughs make strangers smile and laugh everywhere we go.  He loves to be silly and mobile and hi big sister - well, he's a BIG fan of hers.

Some of you already know that our babies came with a little (lot of) help from science.  They were IVF miracles.  They also each survived a terrible pregnancy disease I had both times called Hyperemesis Gravidarum.  All this just to say, we are so. incredibly. BLESSED!

I believe we can find reason in everything we experience.  "If it doesn't kill you, it makes you stronger." (One of my favorite quotes since I was a kid - from Nietzsche).  Our experiences have brought me to where I am today…I value my family and our health above all else.  I know what it's like to long for each of these.

Well, hello there!  (Jagger-dude - a few months old)

To my sweet Jagger Jack, Happy 1st birthday!  We knew we loved you long before you joined us Earth-side.  You've been such a bright star in our lives over the past year.  I have loved every minute of our 365 days together - watching you grow, play, and learn.  I can't wait for more todays and tomorrows with you!

Babywearing has saved me this year!  Having free hands to chase after big sis is always a good idea.

Now on to parties and cake smashes.  Here's what I learned:

1. January birthday parties in NY need snow dates as a back-up plan.
2. Using blueberries to color the icing actually makes purple icing, not blue.  Jagger is a very secure little dude, he doesn't mind purple….but, it didn't quite fit into the "Winter One-derland" theme that we were going for.  ;-)
3. Sometimes the "cake smash" turns out to be more of a cake fondle.  And that's cool!  He enjoyed it, and that's all I was hoping for.

We may have had to reschedule Jagger's party, but at least we got an unexpected day to play in the fluffy white stuff!

I started feeling pretty nostalgic as I made this recipe - the same one I created originally for Magnolia's first birthday.  I was a newbie to healthy baking, at that time, and ended up making about 7-10 versions of this one before it was "right".  That was wayyy back in 2014.  ;-)  I've come a long way!  Now I have TWO adorable reasons to keep me on top of my healthy baking (and cooking) game.

Magnolia enjoying her smash cupcake 2+ years ago at her 1st birthday party.  It's incredibly bittersweet to see how much she's grown in body and mind and how fast our memories are piling up as the months fly by.

This was also the start of the muffin magic.  What the heck is that muffin magic, you ask?  Well, it's figuring out that muffins can be made of all the healthy stuff you want your kiddos and your whole family to eat!  We're talking veggies, fruit, protein, healthy fats, and fiber.  I don't hide anything in there as I believe it's in the kiddos' best interest to know they are eating veggies and all the good stuff to give them the best foundation of health that you can.  So grab the little ones and let them help measure and mix and get very familiar with these healthy ingredients!

*Note: This recipe is for muffins.  Add the icing and voila - you have cupcakes!

Pumpkin Batter all mixed and ready for the muffin pan.

"Happy birthday to you…"

Pumpkin Carrot Muffins

Ingredients:

• 2 ripe bananas
• 1.5 cups pumpkin puree
• 1/2 cup sliced carrots (optional)
• 1 T coconut oil
• 2 eggs
• 1.5 cups almond flour
• 1/5 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp ginger
• 1/4 tsp sea salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Blend together all wet ingredients in a blender.
3. In a large bowl, mix together dry ingredients.
4. Slowly pour wet ingredients from blender into the bowl with the dry ingredients.
5. Fill greased muffin pan (or muffins liners) 2/3 full.
6. Bake 30 minutes.

*Makes 12 muffins.

"Is the goal to shove as much of this in my mouth as possible, mama?  'Cause that I can do!"

I switched up the kind of icing I made this time, as I wanted a nice shade of blue to go with our "Winter One-derland" theme.  Hmm.  That didn't work out, but it was a very pretty purple color. Haha.  And it was tasty!

Blueberry Coconut Cream Icing

Ingredients:

• 1 can coconut milk
• 2 T coconut oil (not melted)
• 1 T raw honey
• 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup frozen blueberries

Directions:

1. Place can of coconut milk upside down in fridge overnight.
2. Carefully open can and scoop out the hardened coconut cream.  This is what you will be using for the icing.  Save the watery part to use in other recipes.
3. Mix all ingredients in a blender (you will need to keep scraping down the sides and blending several times).
4. If you make in advance, it's ok to refrigerate icing, just be sure to give it a good blend/whipping before you use as it will harden a bit.

Jagger seems as surprised as we are that he's ONE already!