Pumpkin Protein Muffins

As I recently shared, I'm beginning the Holiday Shred by N Her Shoes on Monday.  I've enjoyed getting organized and ready for this over the last couple of days.  I've also spent today grocery shopping and prepping my meals.  I've previewed the workouts for the week, looked over the meals and enjoyed reading all of the introductions of everyone in my group.

One of the recipes was for some Pumpkin Muffins, which called for a pumpkin muffin mix from places like Whole Foods, Trader Jo's, etc.  As I've shared before, we live in rural America and sometimes these items are difficult to find.  I was so excited about the Pumpkin Muffins, that I went to the internet and began searching for healthy pumpkin muffin recipes and was so excited when I came across the recipe below.  These are so good!  I'll definitely be making them again.  And moms, the kids really like them too!  This recipe was adapted from www.dashingdish.com.

Pumpkin Protein Muffins

Ingredients:

1 Cup Canned Pumpkin
1/2 Cup Applesauce (usweetened)
1/2 Cup Low-fat Vanilla Greek Yogurt
3 Egg Whites
1 3/4 Cup Old Fashioned Oats
1/4 Cup Vanilla Protein Powder
12 Packets of Stevia
1 tsp Baking Soda
2 tsp Baking Powder
1/4 tsp Salt
1 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice
1/4 Cup Dark Chocolate Chips (cold substitute raisins or nuts)


1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a 12-cup muffin pan with non-stick cooking spray.  Set aside.

2.  In a food processor, mix all the ingredients together.  Blend until oats are ground and mixture is smooth.

3.  Divide mixture among muffins tins, and place into pre-heated oven.  Bake for 15-20 minutes or until tops are lightly golden brown.

4.  Cool muffins before removing from pan.

I'm really excited about this journey!

Blessings,

Krystal

Homemade Flat Bread

My family really likes flat bread, and so do I!  It's been a while since I've made some homemade flat bread, so I was glad to get some more made and put in the freezer.  They are great for lunch or a quick meal when we don't have much time.  I make 4 or 5 batches at a time as this recipe doesn't make a lot of dough.  This recipe was adapted from http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/kathleen-daelemans/homemade-flat-bread-recipe2/index.html.
 

Ingredients:

* 2 teaspoons active yeast

* 1/2 teaspoon sugar

* 1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour (next time, I'm going to try using whole wheat flour for an even healthier option)

* 1 teaspoon salt

* 3/4 cup warm water

Directions:

In the bowl of a food processor combine first four ingredients.  Pulse to combine.  Gradually poor the water in a steady stream.  Dough will form a ball.  Knead dough a few times and place in a bowl that has been coated with oil.  

Cover bowl and let rise until double in size (about an hour).  When the dough has doubled in size, punch the dough and knead it lightly.  Cut into pieces and roll out to form very flat 5-6 inch circles.

Preheat an electric skillet to about 300 degrees (do not oil).  Place bread on hot skillet and cook without touching it until you see bubbles on the surface (about 2 minutes).  Turn and continue to cook about 2 minutes until bread has puffed up.  

Serve immediately or store in freezer safe container or freezer bags!

Blessings,

Krystal

Granola Energy Balls

I've been wanting to make Granola Balls and/or Bars for quite some time for several reasons.  First of all, I love being in my kitchen.  Second of all I've began to strength train (which I REALLY enjoy) to gain strength and in hopes to prevent injuries from running and need to make sure that I look for ways to increase my protein intake and fuel properly.  And finally, they're just YUMMY!

There are a lot of different recipes out there and it really is fun to try different ingredients and I already have some ideas of what to try next.  Here's the first recipe I tried.

Granola Energy Balls

Adapted from http://themarathonmom.com/granola-energy-balls.htm

Ingredients:

*  2 Cups Oats

*  2 Cups Coconut flakes (I used the unsweetened ones)

*  1 Cup peanut butter (can substitute almond butter)

*  1 Cup ground flaxseed

*  1 Cup Chocolate Chips (I made one batch with chocolate chips and another one with raisins)

*  2/3 Cup honey (I used raw, unfiltered)

*  2 teaspoons vanilla

*  1 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)

Directions:

*  Mix all ingredients thoroughly

*  Roll into bite-size balls

*  Store in fridge 

I've stored mine in the freezer and grab a few to take to work for an afternoon snack.  They are so yummy!!!  

Blessings,

Krystal

Pull Apart Rolls

After losing 25 pounds I found myself steering away from sweets and baked goods (which I still do on a regular basis).  Through this journey though, I have learned that completely eliminating them isn't absolutely necessary to maintain a healthy lifestyle.  It's about moderation and portion control (and sharing with others).  This weekend I did some baking for my family, another dear family and for a potluck with my church family (minimizing how many of these yummy goodies are available in our home).  Over Christmas my Mom made some delightful homemade pull apart rolls and I wanted to give them a try.  They turned out so yummy!!!

Here's the recipe:

2 Packages yeast                          1 teaspoon + 2/3 Cup Sugar divided
1 Cup warm water                       1/2 Cup Butter - softened to room temperature
1/2 Cup Shortening                      1 teaspoon salt
1 Cup Boiling Water                    2 Eggs
7-7 1/2 Cups Flour

In a bowl dissolve yeast, 1 teaspoon sugar into warm water.  Let stand for 5 minutes.  Cream butter, shortening, salt and 2/3 Cup Sugar.  Add boiling water.  Let cool to 110 degrees.  Add yeast mixture and eggs.  Stir in flour.  Let rise for an hour (or until double in size).  Grease 3 cake pans.  Punch dough and split dough into thirds.  From each third roll into 9 equal size balls and place into cake pan with space between rolls.  Let rise in pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.  Makes approximately 27 rolls.

Blessings,

Krystal

Homemade Pumpkin Bread

Well it's definitely not fall but it's always a good season for some Homemade Pumpkin Bread.  Miss Kylee had the flu this week and hadn't eaten for about 3 days.  I decided to make some pumpkin bread (which is one of her favorite things to eat) this morning.  A loaf for us and a loaf for some dear friends.  This recipe is definitely not the healthiest of choices, but sometimes some good ole homemade bread is just what the doctor ordered.  She was so excited and it made my house smell delightful!

Here's the recipe for Homemade Pumpkin Bread

2 Cups Pumpkin                      3 1/2 Cups Flour                         1/2 teaspoon ginger

3 Cups Sugar                           2 teaspoons baking soda              

1 Cup Oil                                 1 1/2 teaspoons salt

2/3 Cups Water                        1 teaspoon cinnamon

4 eggs                                      1 teaspoon nutmeg

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease and flour bottoms only of two 9x5 or 8x4 loaf pans.  In large bowl, blend first 5 ingredients.  Beat 1 min at medium speed.  Add remaining ingredients; blend until smooth and moistened.  Pour batter into prepared pans.  Bake at 350 degrees for 60 to 75 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.  Cool 5 minutes; remove from pans.  Cool completely.  Slice or cut into shapes with cookie cutters!  Optional ~ dust with powdered sugar.

Blessings,

Krystal

Homemade Smoked Pizza

I still haven't wrapped my mind around the fact that I actually ran 13.1 miles.  My body is still recovering and I'm looking forward to my workout tomorrow morning.  After running a half marathon (on the treadmill) last Saturday it was time to spend the evening relaxing and enjoying my family.  Although I've had to adjust my diet quite a bit as I've added more distance to my runs, I occasionally still enjoy a splurge with a family favorite meal.  As a kid one of my absolute favorite meals my mom made was homemade pizza.

Here is the recipe that my Mom always used to make pizza with our twist - smoke it on the Traeger!  My dear husband usually turns the Traeger on high (with the pizza stone in it) as I begin the pizza dough so that it's hot and ready when we're done putting it together.

Combine:

 1 1/2 Cups of warm water

3 Tablespoons Oil

1 Tablespoon of Sugar

1 teaspoon Salt

Sprinkle 2 teaspoons of yeast over mixture.

Add 4 1/2 Cups of flour

Spread corn meal onto pizza peal.

Roll pizza dough out to the size of the pizza peal

I have found that folding the pizza dough in half to put onto the pizza peal, will help keep it's shape.

Put your favorite homemade or store bought pizza sauce on.

Top with your favorite toppings and cheese!  The kids love putting toppings on the pizza!

Now it's time to put it on the pizza stone that's already hot in the Traeger!  

The corn meal helps the pizza slide onto the pizza stone.

20 minutes later the pizza is ready to cut and enjoy!  Combine with a tossed salad and movie and you're guaranteed to have a lovely evening!

Blessings,

Krystal

Homemade Pumpkin Spice Granola

For quite some time now my favorite and most frequent breakfast is granola, yogurt and some fruit (typically frozen fruit).  I had been buying granola cereal but was tired of how overly crunchy they were and the raisins in them were always as hard as a rock.  I reached out to my Facebook friends for suggested recipes for homemade granola.  Several friends shared some great recipes.  Here's the first one I tried and it is SO good.  My kids and husband like it too (I may have to hide some of it so they don't eat it all)!  I can't wait to try different variations of this recipe in the future!

Homemade Pumpkin Spice Granola 

(adapted from www.skinnytaste.com)

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed well and pat dry with paper towel
• 1 1/2 cups rolled oats
• 1/4 cup ground flaxseeds
• 1/4 cup pine nuts (or other seed/or nut)
• 1/4 cup chopped pecans
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 1/4 cup honey (used fresh honey from my mom and dad)
• 1/4 cup pumpkin puree
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 tsp pumpkin spice
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• pinch salt

• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325° F.

Spread oats and quinoa out on a parchment lined baking pan. Toast in the oven 10 minutes, stirring once.

Remove the oats from the oven, pour the toasted oats into a medium bowl and add the ground flaxseeds, pine nuts, pecans and dried fruit.

Reduce oven to 300° F.

In a second medium bowl, combine honey, pumpkin puree, oil, pumpkin spice, cinnamon, salt and vanilla. Pour over oats and stir together with a spatula. Spread back onto a baking sheet and bake an additional 20 minutes, or until golden.

Makes 3 2/3 cups.