As I mentioned in my "The emotional side of massive weight loss" post, I am currently struggling with my weight. It's hard losing the last 20 lb, or whatever, but I'm trying hard to not give up and to lose it in a healthy way. One of my goals for dieting healthfully is to incorporate whole foods (not just eat carrots and celery until I'm desperate and snap) and try new recipes.
On Sunday I made Apricot Bran muffins with healthy ingredients, and they came out very well. Then I thought, because so many people share my feelings about weight loss, I could take it to the next step by sharing the (good) healthy recipes I try.
This will be a new series, which I have named "Hello Healthy!" and will feature 1 new healthy recipe every week. I will only share the recipes I try and consider successes haha.
APRICOT BRAN MUFFINS
from Weight Loss Surgery Cookbook for Dummies
Some of the ingredients
Ingredients:
3 cups Grape-Nuts Flakes
2.5 cups whole wheat flour
2.5 teaspoons baking soda
1.5 cups Splenda
2 eggs
1/2 quart of low fat milk (I used 1%)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce
1 can of apricots (drain and rinse)
Process:
1. Preheat your oven to 400F degrees. Add all of the ingredients at once to a mixer and turn on.
2. Line a muffin pan with paper cups, fill the cups 2/3 full and bake for 20 minutes. Yields 24 muffins.
Nutritional information: (per 1 muffin)
Calories: 85 kcal
Fat: 1g
Carbs: 28g
Sugar: 6g
That's the easiest recipe ever right? If you don't have a mixer, just cut up the apricots before adding them and mix by hand. You can substitute 3 bananas, or a pack of blueberries if you so choose. The texture of the muffins is a bit denser and chewier than regular muffins as they don't have oil, but they are tasty and filling.
For a complete breakfast, eat one muffin with one scrambled egg and a piece of fruit, such as an apple, or a glass of milk. This is also a nice alternative to a less healthy after dinner dessert.
Just for a comparison, let's look at the nutritional information of a few store bought muffins. Muffins are a convenient snack/breakfast on the go, and many people perceive them as healthy, but reality may differ haha!
Starbuck's Cranberry Orange muffin
Calories: 410 kcal
Fat: 20g
Carbs: 53g
Sugar: 31g
Otis Spinkmeyer's Apple cinnamon muffin (typical packaged muffin sold in super markets)
Calories: 220 kcal
Fat: 11g
Carbs: 27g
Sugar: 16g
Panera Bread's Pumpkin muffin
Calories: 530 kcal
Fat: 20g
Carbs: 82g
Sugar: 47g
The Panera muffin particularly makes me laugh because I used to work at Panera, and I distinctly remember women coming in, looking over the big dessert display then saying "I'd better pick something less bad" and getting a muffin. The pumpkin was the best seller, but little did they know. (Actually most food at Panera is really high calorie)
I hoped you liked this first recipe, and maybe give it a try. I already have next week's recipe ready to go, it's a meal by itself so please look forward to it^^
