Yummy Bran Muffins

I am a big fan of bran muffins.  They taste good, travel well and even freeze well.  Problem is, most of them contain too much fat and sugar.  Personally, I like a bran muffin without raisins.  They are pretty hard to find.  When I lived in Boston, I used to LOVE Stop and Shop bakery bran muffins.  Knowing what I know now, I would be scared to look at the ingredients!  So here is my healthier alternative, which, by the way, my three year old loves.

muffins

Feel free to add raisins if you like. 🙂 I have added blackberries before and they were good! My daughter ate one right after they came out of the oven and immediately asked for a second.

Does anyone else have a weird food thing like I do about raisins in bran muffins?

Bran Muffins

Yummy Bran Muffins

Prep Time 10 min Cook Time 20 min Serves 12 muffins     adjust servings

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups of wheat bran
  • 1 cup spelt flour
  • 1 cup non dairy milk (I used homemade almond. For that recipe, click here)
  • 1/3 cup maple syrup
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 cup + 1 T applesauce
  • 1/2 tsp salt

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350.
  2. In a small bowl, add milk to the 1 1/2 cups bran and let it soften for about 8-10 minutes.
  3. In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
  4. In a large bowl, add maple syrup, vanilla, and applesauce.
  5. After the bran is softened, add it to the maple syrup mixture.
  6. Lastly, add in the flour and mix only until combined.
  7. Spoon into muffin cups and bake for about 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

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Recipe Notes

I got 12 muffins out of this recipe. Hope you like them!

Rustic Tomato Soup (Vegan and Gluten Free)

Rustic Tomato Soup.  I love tomato soup.  I used to be a huge fan of the kind in the can.  I had never attempted my own tomato soup before until now.

It came out really good.  I always thought soup was one of the harder meals to make, but really, it is so easy.

 

Rustic Tomato Soup

 

You simply just throw everything in the pot and walk away.  Now that is my idea of cooking!  I even chopped up all the veggies in the food processor instead of hand dicing them.

 

Rustic Tomato Soup

 

I made mine on the stove, but it would be extra good in the crock pot too!  We just have a small crock pot and I wanted to make a good amount of soup so I could freeze some.

 

Want to make this recipe?  Watch the video below.  For more videos, you can subscribe to my You Tube Channel.

Looking for more soup recipes?

Rustic Tomato Soup

Rustic Tomato Soup

Prep Time 15 min Cook Time 2 hr

Ingredients

  • 2 28 oz cans whole peeled tomatoes chopped
  • 1 onion diced
  • 3 stalks celery diced
  • 3 carrots diced
  • 3 cups vegetable stock
  • 1 cup water
  • 4-5 cloves garlic diced
  • 10 leaves fresh basil
  • 1.4 cup chopped fresh parsley
  • 1 tsp oregano
  • 2 T olive oil
  • salt to taste

Instructions

  1. Throw everything in a pot and cook on low covered for at least 2 hours. I like to cook mine longer. The longer it cooks, the more the flavors develop. 
  2. Uncover and add a bit of flour to thicken.  I use brown rice flour. 
  3. Serve immediately or refrigerate for later.  Hope you like it as much as we did.

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Rustic Tomato Soup

Apple Cinnamon Baked Oatmeal

Apple Cinnamon Baked Oatmeal.  One of my favorite things to make this fall has been apple slices in the slow cooker.

Slow cooking the apples allows the natural sugars to come out so much less sugar needs to be added.  It will also fill your house with a pleasant aroma eliminating the need for any scented candles.

Try my Crock Pot Applesauce sometime too.

 

Apple Cinnamon Baked Oatmeal

 

I also love oats and created this dish to combine the two together. It came out really good!  This dish would be perfect for a holiday brunch or for Christmas morning.

You can cook the apples overnight or the night before so the dish can come together pretty quickly.  They freeze well too just in case you may have leftovers. Another great thing to use the apples in is my Healthy Apple Cobbler. Yum!

Apple Cinnamon Baked Oatmeal

Apple Cinnamon Baked Oatmeal

Prep Time 30 min Cook Time 30 min

Ingredients

    Slow Cooked Apples

    • 5 apples peeled, cored and sliced thin
    • 1/3 cup maple syrup
    • 1/3 cup water
    • 2 tsp cinnamon
    • 1 tsp nutmeg
    • 1/2 tsp ginger
    • 1/4 tsp cloves
    • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

    Baked Oatmeal

    • 3 cups rolled oats
    • 1/2 cup apple sauce
    • cooked apple mixture

    Instructions

    1. For the slow cooker apples, put all ingredients in the crock pot.
    2. Turn on high and cook for 3 hours. Stirring occasionally.
    3. Once the slow cooker apples are done, preheat oven to 350.
    4. In a large bowl, combine the oats and applesauce.
    5. Using a slotted spoon, add the crock pot mixture to the oats and spoon onto a greased jumbo muffin pan.
    6. Sprinkle the top with a pinch of sugar.
    7. Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes.

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    Recipe Notes

    Hope you like them as much as we did!

    Sweet Potato Veggie Burgers

    I have been looking for homemade veggie burgers recipes.  These sweet potato veggie burgers are not my own recipe. However,  I make it a lot so I wanted to share it with you.  I found it on vegweb.  I made a few changes to the original recipe.

    burgers

    These sweet potato veggie burgers are easy to make, freeze well and a much better alternative to store bought versions.  I will typically make a double batch so I can freeze a bunch.  Then when you have a busy night with no time to cook dinner, you can whip these out, reheat and serve. Super easy.

    They are sweet so kids will like them too.  I add avocado to the top of mine because avocados make everything better!  These would go great with my Healthy French Fries.

    We filmed a little video for this recipe.  You can view below. For more videos, you can subscribe to my You Tube Channel.

    Sweet Potato Veggie Burgers

    Sweet Potato Veggie Burgers

    Prep Time 30 min Cook Time 30 min

    Ingredients

    • 1 sweet potato, peeled and chopped
    • 1-1 1/2 cups gluten free rolled oats (depending on the size of your sweet potato)
    • 2 green onions chopped fine
    • 1 T fresh parsley, chopped
    • 1 T nutritional yeast optional
    • salt and pepper to taste

    Instructions

    1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
    2. Boil the sweet potato until tender.
    3. Mash the cooked sweet potato. 
    4. Add the oats and stir in the seasonings.  I used my kitchen aid mixer to stir it well. 
    5. Form the mixture into patties. 
    6. Line or grease a baking sheet with a bit of oil and put the patties on it.  I use a Mr Misto oil sprayer to grease the pan.  Works like PAM , but much healthier because you can fill it with whichever oil you choose.  No chemicals.
    7. Place in the oven for about 30 minutes, or until the burgers are a bit crispy on the outside.  Enjoy!

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    Pumpkin Coconut Curry

    This pumpkin coconut curry is a little on the rich side, but it is good!  We have been wanting to do a curry recipe for a while and when we had some leftover coconut milk this week, we knew we had to try.  It is really yummy!

    This pumpkin coconut curry is great for this time of year.  Especially if you have leftover pumpkin in the freezer like we do.  We roasted the girls HUGE pumpkin from Halloween and will be eating it for a while.  It will warm you up on a cold day. which we happen to be having right now.  It makes a lot too!

    Pumpkin Coconut Curry

    Pumpkin Coconut Curry

    Prep Time 15 min Cook Time 30 min

    Ingredients

    Instructions

    1. Add coconut oil, onion, and carrots and red pepper flakes in pan and lightly saute. 
    2. Reduce heat to medium and add coconut milk, veggie broth, and pumpkin and let it sit for about five minutes. 
    3. Add everything else, reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and let it simmer for about 30 minutes stirring occasionally. 
    4. We added baked tofu to ours, but you could add in your favorite protein instead.

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    Recipe Notes

    It’s also very good served over black rice. Enjoy!

    Power Smoothie

    I love smoothies!  They are quick to make, loaded with vitamins and my 3 year old will drink them!

    Power Smoothie

    Smoothies are also a great way to use up some veggies in your fridge.  That is what I did with this one.  It should keep you full until lunchtime.

    Power Smoothie

    Power Smoothie

    Prep Time 5 min

    Ingredients

    • 1 1/2 cups spinach
    • 1/2 large zuccini
    • 1 bunch parsley
    • 1/2 cup blueberries
    • 1 banana
    • 1/4 cup goji berries
    • 1 cup almond milk
    • Protein powder (optional)

    Instructions

    1. Throw everything in the blender and blend until smooth.  I used a Vitamix.  Enjoy!

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