Carrot Raisin Bran Muffins

These are wonderfully moist muffins that claim their 'healthy' points from all the bran in them :)
If you would like to do these wheat free I will add the recipe I used with spelt in brackets.

Carrot Raisin Bran Muffins

Preheat oven to 400 F

Combine first 10 ingredients in a bowl

1 1/2 c Flour ( or Spelt Flour)

1 1/2 c Natural Bran

1/4 c Wheat Germ  (or 1 3/4 c Spelt Bran)

1/2 c Brown Sugar

2 tsp Baking Soda

1/2 tsp Salt

1 tsp Cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/2 c walnuts (optional)

1 c raisins

In a separate bowl mix the following ingredients

2 eggs (beaten)

1/4c molasses

1/4c oil

1 1/2 c milk 

2 Tbsp vinegar

1c Grated Carrot 

Create 'well' in dry ingredients and pour in wet ingredients.  Mix until just combined (for spelt you can mix a bit longer as it won't over mix as easily due to the low gluten)

Fill muffin tins 3/4 of the way 

Bake at 400 for 20 Min.

Winter Delight Soup from Jen B

So this week has been a week of introductions and today's contribution comes from our regular contributor Jen B!  So you have now met all of our regular contributors Super Dave, Kate S, Nichole G and last but not least Jen B.  We will be adding a profile for Nichole and Jen hopefully within the month so you can hear a little about who they are and their thoughts on food and health.  Don't forget to  follow our blog (see sidebar) and to leave comments  - its encouraging to see you all droping by and hearing your feedback!

Winter Delight

Ingredients

1                                 Large white onion, grated

1                                 Granny smith apple, grated

6                                 Carrots, shredded

2 TBSP                     Butter

1                                 Large squash, cubed & roasted

1 BOX                       Vegetable stock

2 TBSP                     Sugar

1 TBSP                     Ginger

1/2 Tsp                     Salt

1/2 Tsp                     Cinnamon

1/2 Tsp                     Cayenne

1 C                           Cream

Directions

Heat pot @ med-high heat

Add butter, melt

Add onion, apple, carrots & 1/2 of stock

Stir, cook 10 mins

Add squash, broth, ginger, salt, cinnamon, sugar & cayenne

Bring to boil & boil for 10 mins

Simmer on med-low heat for 10 mins

Remove from heat

Put in a blender & blend or blend using a hand blender until smooth

Return soup to pot, med-high heat

Add cream, stir & warm

Enjoy!

Squash needs to be roasted before hand in the oven at 400 for about 15 mins

I usually toss the cubed squash in a bowl with olive oil, salt & pepper before I put it on a pan to roast

You can switch squash with pumpkin, if you want J

Introducing a New Contributor and Goji Zip Brownies

So I am super excited to introduce a new contributor to our blog, Nichole G.  She has been an amazing resource to me and many others at the club with her often gluten free or vegan but always super tasty recipes!!  When I first was going wheat free Nichole was the one that assured me that alternate diets did not mean flavour free.  To kick off her contributions here is a brownie recipe that looks absolutely divine.... I must go shopping today!

Goji Zip Brownies:

8” square pan

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups cashews

1 cup cocoa nibs

1 cup cocoa powder

 ½ cup pitted dates

 ½ cup cocoa butter /or coconut oil (melted)

 ¼ cup honey

¼ cup coconut cream

 2 Tbsp mesquite powder

 zest of a whole lemon

 1tsp of goji berry power (grind from goji berries)

 ¼ tsp salt (sea salt)

 ½ goji berries.

1.     Process cocoa nibs until fine, add cashews and process until a fine ground. Put in mixing bowl.

2.     Process dates and honey until smooth, no large chunks, leave in processor.

3.     Pour ground nibs and cashews into processor along with all other ingredients EXCEPT berries, process until combined.

4.     Oil with coconut oil a 8” square pan crumble mixture into pan (do not press down) sprinkle with Goji berries then press down so they set in the top of the brownie.

5.     Place in fridge for 1 hr or until hard. Eat at room temperature.

Homemade Hamburger Soup

Now when you think of health food, hamburger soup may not be the first thing that pops into your head but by my definition of 'health food' (whole, real foods) I think we can make it fit.  For you veteran cooks this may be old hat but I figured for those young GB folks that have recently moved out on their own - this may provide some inspiration.  Especially when they see how easy making soup from scratch can be.

Homemade Hamburger Soup

1 onion (med to large) diced

2-3 cloves of garlic crushed and minced

1 tbsp olive oil

Start to saute the onion and garlic over med heat until the onions are translucent and begin to brown

Add and brown

1 lb extra lean ground beef

Now normally (especially if using anything other than extra lean beef) you would drain the beef but I keep all the juices in the pot to help flavour the soup stock.

I then add virtually any and all veggies that I may have around.  This last soup I added

2 carrots diced

2 celery stocks diced

1 green pepper diced

1 red pepper diced

3 Roma tomatoes roughly cut

(get creative at this point!! I often add black beans as well but didn't have them on hand this time. If you have a favourite ingredient add a comment at the bottom of this post and share your inspirations!)

I saute all the veggies in the hamburger mixture starting with 'hardest' veggies and working my way up to the softest.  Usually its a minute or two between adding the next textured veggie.  This isn't mandatory, I just make this a practice so that my carrots are equally cooked with my peppers ext.

Next I fill the pot with water and calculate how much 

Beef Bullion (For my pot I use two containers but read the directions on your bullion)

And lastly I add seasonings!

This last part is really by taste so I hesitate to give measurements and such but I ALWAYS taste the soup broth after adding the bullion.  From there you can gauge if you will even need to add salt (usually not...)  As a side note try to find a bullion that is not just salt and food colouring ;) I have found a condensed gelatin bullion that is not as salty as others I have tried and adds some nice flavour.

Anyway back to spices...

For this soup I added oregano and rosemary with a pinch of sage as well as shake or two of my Montreal steak rub (Epicure has some great spice mixes that do not have any preservatives)

Good Luck!

I just realized that I didn't take a picture of the finished soup :( It was awesome though!

Hearty Oatmeal

Morning Folks!

Oatmeal is such a great way to start the day on these cold, damp mornings. Here is a contribution from Laura G, GB Vancouver.

Hi Kate,

This oatmeal recipe is my "go to" before a hard training session. I typically eat this recipe in conjunction with some sauteed spinach and 2 scrambled eggs. 

Souped up Oatmeal

1/4 c. rolled oats 
1 tbsp quinoa flakes
1 tbsp hemp hearts
1 tbsp flax seed meal
1 pinch of salt (optional)
1 pinch of cinnamon (optional)
1 small pinch of cayenne pepper (optional; I am a Louisianian and cayenne goes with EVERYTHING)
1 tsp of pure maple syrup (optional)
handful of fruit (I like raspberries, blueberries, and banana)

Add water and cook until it is the consistency you like.

Happy Eating, Happy Training :)

Peanut Butter Smoothie

2 tablespoons of Peanutbutter or almond butter
4 cups of vanilla almond milk
6 ice cubes
1 banana
1 scoop of vanilla protein powder

Pretty simple, just blend on high and you got a great midafternoon snack. Ive been stuck on this one for a couple of weeks now.

Spelt Buns

In our household  - I am attempting to wean my family off of wheat and onto more ancient grains.  The grain I have been playing around with the most has been Spelt.  You can find it at several of the local grocery stores as well we have some local farmers who are growing organic spelt and actually sell the mills so you can grind your own flour.  Pretty fancy.

I tried using this recipe for a loaf of spelt bread but I found it didn't work quite right; for buns though, this recipe is great. This is actually one of my Grandmothers recipes that I just tweaked a little.

Spelt Buns

Step One: 

Heat (either on stove top or microwave)
 3/4 c milk or water
 1/3 c sugar
 1/2 c butter
 1/2 tsp salt

Then cool to lukewarm

All three steps ready to combine.

Step Two:

While this above mixture is cooling: mix the sugar in to the lukewarm water and then add the yeast.
Tip: For best results the water cannot be too cool (it won't fully bloom or it will take forever to do so) and it cannot be too hot (it kills the yeast).  What I find works well is allowing the water to get hot enough out of the tap that I can feel the heat on my fingers but not so hot I cannot keep my fingers in the water.

2Tbsp yeast (dry active)
1tsp sugar
1/2 c lukewarm water

Allow the yeast to bloom for at least 5 minutes

First cup shows what yeast should look like after a minute - second cup shows what it should like after 5 minutes.

Step Three:

Beat 3 eggs
add lukewarm milk mixture
and add the yeast mixture all into one bowl
mix together and  then add

4 1/2 c - 5 c Spelt flour

Mix until smooth and elastic-y.

This is right before I put the saran wrap over everything for the first rise.

Leave in a warm place with saran wrap over the bowl until it has doubled in size.
Then punch it down (you will need more flour for this as the dough is still sticky)

Add enough flour and kneed it in so that the dough is manageable. Keep in mind this is a very light dough and that spelt does not rise as much as regular wheat flour so use enough flour to handle the dough but not so much that the dough become dense or heavy.

Portion into golf ball size balls and place them on a baking sheet with parchment paper.  Brush them lightly with olive oil and cover again with saran wrap.  Let them rise again until they double in size and then place them directly in the oven. Bake at 425F for approximately 20 minutes.

This picture makes them look like biscuits but they are buns in texture and flavour.
I will have to try to get better pictures next time I make them.