Friday, January 14, 2011

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Muffins

In my quest to eat well, I have been reading, among other things, Jillian Michaels' Master Your Metabolism.


It's an excellent book and I have gleaned so much. It's also nice to read about her own struggles and temptations. I love her even more than I did before I picked it up. I am pairing it with her Master Your Metabolism Cookbook. Can I tell you that every single recipe that I have tried in the cookbook has been great? It has. So this morning I thought I would try her Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Muffins.


Here are the ingredients:


Let's see … rolled oats, olive oil, cinnamon, salt, white whole wheat flour, baking powder, honey, coconut milk, baking soda and carob chips. WHAT? No sugar? No butter? No SUGAR??

Yes … NO sugar :)

Now these next few things are important ...


Aluminum-free baking powder. You can buy this at almost any chain super market these days and it's really worth the extra money. I don't want to be putting any extra aluminum in my body if I can help it! All Rumford products are also manufactured in a peanut-free environment.


RAW honey. Preferably locally grown. Here's the deal … honey IS sugar, but it's natural and unrefined and contains tons of enzymes and nutrients and won't cause a rapid rise and fall in your blood sugar (I've learned this is sooooo important!). But it should be raw. One way to tell? If you can see through the honey then it has been pasteurized and it isn't raw. You know those cute little bear bottles? yeah, not raw honey. In the bottle it should be dark and opaque (see the above pic of the ginormous full bottle).


Carob chips, not chocolate chips, were used by me. Jillian recommends 70% cocoa chips, but I couldn't find these, not even at Whole Foods. I'm sure I could find some online, but I wasn't online when I went shopping the other day. So I opted for carob chips, unsweetened. I'm trying to eliminate added sugar from my diet.


Although the carton says "cage free, organic eggs", these are actually farm-fresh, free-range, organic eggs from a local farm where hubby hunts. He pays $2 a dozen!! You can DEFINITELY tell the difference between store-bought and truly farm-fresh. I would pay $4 a dozen, but I don't have to :)

By the way there is a difference in cage-free and free-range. Free-range is best.


I've never, ever used coconut milk to cook or bake anything! We'll see how it goes ...


Normally I only bake with my freshly milled whole wheat flour, but since I've never had these before and the recipe called for white whole wheat flour, I used my King Arthur flour (I have several types in my fridge for just such an occasion). I don't use "mainstream" flours for several reasons, not the least of which is not wanting to contribute to the incorporation of our food supply. But that's another blog post … 


And here's my salt. It's called Real Salt. It doesn't look like table salt … it's more pink than white. But oh, the flavor is yum! It is unrefined, unbleached and contains many trace minerals and no anti-caking additives. 

Those are the ingredients. And those are my antique Pyrex bowls waiting patiently to help me :)


Here we go … we mixed the dry ingredients:


Then the wet ingredients:


I just thought that looked cool :)

Here is Grace helping me … not such a clear picture because I cannot get her to be still for even a second!


Mix mix mix … looks good! Goodness, I just ♥ my Pyrex bowls. {sigh} I am waxing nostalgic … back to the present …


Now for some time in the oven …


They cooked a little quicker than the recipe called for (I'm finding that to be the case … my oven is on the warm side .. I really need a new oven thermometer since I broke mine!)

Here they are fresh out of the oven. YUM!! Once again, the recipes in this book are great!


I really enjoyed mine with a glass of fat free (organic, of course) milk :)


Grace wanted a little powdered sugar sprinkled on top, and I obliged. Funny thing is my picky oldest girl loved them right out of the oven, with no sugar sprinkled on top! Of course, when I offered some to Grace, then Lydia wanted some too :)



So these were, apparently, a big hit! I guess it's always good when your face is covered like that!

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Muffins get 4 stars from me. They're easy to make, truly healthy, and also good to have on hand for snacks. Score one more for Jillian Michaels' Master Your Metabolism Cookbook!

4 comments:

  1. Love this and love her...and you too! These look AWESOME!!!! I am going to have to buy the books...when we thaw out that is!!! Thanks for posting this!

    Question: your Real Salt....can I get the recipe? Is it better for you? When a recipe calls for "salt" do you use this instead of the regular stuff?

    <3
    Shannon

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  2. I love you too sweet friend!!!! I'm telling you, we've enjoyed every recipe in this cookbook! And I have learned an awful lot about the junk we put into our bodies and how it affects us.

    Yes … real salt is salt, it's just unbleached and unrefined. It has 0ver 60 trace minerals that regular salt doesn't have. And it has nothing added to it. You can see it here - http://www.realsalt.com/

    I use it in everything from cooking to baking to table salt. I buy my Real Salt at Bread Beckers because I use it in large quantities for baking my bread, but you can buy it at Whole Foods, Super Target, and health food stores (I wonder if that little place on 78 behind CVS at Hwy 84 has some?) … you can also get it online, of course :)

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  3. Great thanks to sharing....
    The Honey Diet is perhaps the easiest way to keep your liver healthy, build body immunity, and lose weight!
    Raw Honey

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  4. So glad I found your post. We've been searching for more local and especially organic products. We're currently buying organic produce boxes from Rancho Alegre Farms, but I paid $5 for my last carton of eggs... where do you get yours?

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