Muffin Recipe - Quinoa, Pear, Banana, Pumpkin Seed

Last week my husband and I set off on a journey to lose about 25 pounds each. My ideal weight for my height is 120 pounds (I'm 145) and his is 160 (He's 187). I have never been at my ideal weight. For someone who is such a health food nut, that is a bit appalling. So when I broke the news to Chris that I was on a mission, he joined me. That makes my challenge infintely easier since we'll be on the same dietary page and all. It means no squabs over the reduction in noodles and easy acceptance of new recipes. For instance, Chris hates all things whole grain but has been eating one of my muffins every morning for the good of the diet. He says "just tell me what to eat, Linsey, if it's small enough I can shove it down." Now that's the spirit! Every night after we put Aiden to bed we sit next to each other, laptops in hand, and enter our food journals into SparkPeople.com to track our progress. It shows us our daily calorie, fat, carb, and protein breakdown and I've added trackers for iron and fiber. I have been anemic (iron-deficiency) ever since I was pregnant with my little man and have recently broken my vegetarianism in an effort to avoid sleepwalking through life.

We are after energy, vitality, and health!

I created this recipe as a way to ease Chris into whole grains. Quinoa flour is much lighter than whole wheat flour. I love these muffins and Chris thinks they are tolerable, so that's a start. It's a long way from the refined sugars and flours he normally eats and he was never big on baked goods anyway. He doesn't like cinnamon, nuts, or apples, so the obvious fall theme was off the table. I found my way back to a seasonal approach with pears and pumpkin seeds. If you'll notice, I snuck in some applesauce (shh!) to eliminate oil. Any suggestions for a milk substitute would be welcome! As far as muffins go, these are low calorie, low fat, low carb, and have a decent amount of fiber and protein. They freeze well. Give them a try and let me know what you think. How can we up the fiber and protein without making them icky? Perhaps egg whites, soy milk, less wheat and more quinoa? Maybe some oat bran? I was out of carrots at the time. Fold in 1.5 cups of shredded carrots if you prefer.

Fall Muffins - Quinoa, Pear, Banana, Pumpkin Seed

Makes 20 Muffins using 12-muffin pans
Prep Time: 10 Minutes
Cook Time: 20 Minutes

Ingredients

Wet

• 1 cup milk


• .5 cup applesauce, unsweetened


• 2 Eggs


• 1 Tbsp Blackstrap Molasses


• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract

Dry

• .5 cup brown sugar, unpacked


• .75 cup quinoa flour


• .25 cup Wheat Germ


• 1 cup whole wheat flour


• 2 tsp baking soda


• 1 tsp baking powder


• .5 tsp salt

Extras

• 1 cup oats


• 1 banana, chopped


• 1 pear, chopped


• .33 cup pumpkin seeds, toasted
  

Directions

1. Blend wet ingredients


2. Gradually blend in dry ingredients


3. Fold in extras


4. Divide into 20 muffins pans and bake for 20 minutes at 350.
   

Nutrition Facts

Amount Per Serving: Calories 103.6; Total Fat 1.8 g; Total Carbohydrate 19.7 g; Dietary Fiber 2.4 g; Sugars 2.4 g; Protein 3.2 g; Iron 6.4%