Muffins, chicken & beef, oh my!
This weekend I went on a marathon (5+ hour!) grocery shopping spree. I know I am a complete dork, but grocery shopping is one of those things that makes me happy, even when the places are madhouses (as Trader Joe's was, of course). This was my first time shopping at Sam's Club/Costco. I think I got some great deals on meat so I am interested to see how this alters our grocery budget (which, as it stands, is pretty outrageous).
Anyway, tonight I made some healthy apple muffins. I have been playing around with mixtures to try to minimize calories/fat but not taste. Although these are not as sweet or quite as moist as your usual muffin, I still think they are great and they are packed with nutritional goodness. I don't want to make them sound bad--they are by no means dry. But since they have under 200 calories and are made partially with whole wheat flour, they are a little more dense than a 700 calorie Starbuck's muffin.
I have also made these with mashed banana instead of apple. I think the apple ones turn out slightly more moist because of all the moisture you get from grated apples. Both are good, though!
Thanks to the wonder of calorieking.com I have even figured out the nutritional value for these muffins which is as follows (per muffin):
Calories: 188
Fat: 3.8g
Carbs: 32g
Protein: 6g
Fiber: 3.3g
Sugar: 11g
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar (you can use a combo of brown & white if you'd like)
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup chopped nuts (almonds, walnuts, pecans...whatever you prefer)
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
dash or two of nutmeg
1 egg
3/4 cup skim milk
1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 tsp vanilla or almond extract
1 cup grated apples (or mashed bananas)
Preheat oven to 400*
Using a whisk, combine all your dry ingredients in one bowl: whole wheat and AP flour, sugar, baking soda and powder, salt, nuts, spices).
Beat the egg lightly in a separate bowl. Whisk in milk, applesauce, vanilla to the eggs.
Whisk wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Fold apples in.
Divide the batter among a greased or paper-lined muffin tin.
Bake for about 18 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
Hmm, let's see, what else? Yesterday we had chicken stuffed with sundried tomatoes, basil, and feta over some wild rice mixed with spinach, mushrooms, garlic & pine nuts.
I pounded the chicken breast fairly thin, added sundried tomatoes (oil packed), feta, dried oregano and basil (and salt and pepper of course). Rolled it up.
I then browned it in some garlic-infused EVOO for a bit before removing it to the oven to finish cooking.
Friday's creation was a 10 minute beef teriyaki type thing. I marinated some flank steak in teriyaki marinade in the morning (I use and LOVE Soy Vay Veri Veri Teriyaki marinade. It has no preservatives/ingredients you can't pronounce and tastes great).
When I got home, I cooked it in just a little vegetable oil with some onion, garlic, and a little crushed red pepper. I added peapods in right at the end. Meanwhile, in a bowl, I mixed about 2 tbsp beef broth, about a teasoon of corn starch, and a few dashes of Chinese 5 spice. I added the mixture toward the end, along with a squirt of honey and let it cook on low to thicken a bit.
I made (*gasp*) brown minute rice in the meantime. Hence the 10 minute meal!
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