Fancy Berry Muffins

What should one do on Valentine's Eve when there is a bag of 'Fancy Grade A Berry Medley' ossifying in the freezer because nobody's been in the mood for a smoothie? 

 

Make some fancy muffins, of course!





You could, of course, chop large unfrozen berries by hand.
This was my quick alternative- just a few pulses did the trick.
I got them a little smaller than I'd intended,
but it worked well for the mini muffins.

Fancy Berry Muffins

3 Tbsp. butter, melted
3 1/2 Tbsp. sugar
1 egg
1 c. white flour
1 c. whole wheat flour
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. milk
1 c. berries (fresh or frozen, any variety, chop anything larger than an average blueberry)





1. Combine the butter, sugar and egg in a large bowl. This is the bowl all of the batter will end up in.
2. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together.
3. Add flour mixture alternately with milk to the butter/sugar/egg bowl, mixing after each addition.
4. Beat well, then stir in berries.






Your batter will be colorful!

5. Fill muffin tins 3/4 full. Use paper liners or grease pan well.
6. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes (mini muffins) or 30 minutes (lg. muffins).

I ended up with 32 mini muffins with approximately 8 total carbs each.



Next time? Some cinnamon sugar on top for color and crunch.

Maybe these would make a nice treat for your Valentine in addition to that rose I'm hoping you've already spared?

Muffin Chronicles Part 4: Applesauce Theme Week Edition

 



Applesauce Mini Muffins

Since too much applesauce is never enough, here's the latest batch of muffins for the lunchbox:

1 c. whole wheat flour
3/4 c. white flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
(you could also add 1/4 tsp. clove if you like it but we don't)

1/2 c. shortening or softened butter
1/2 c. sugar
1 egg

1 c. applesauce

Mix flour, soda, salt and spices in a small bowl or in a glass measuring cup with spout. If you use a spouted measuring cup (which makes a later step easier) it's still best to measure your flour first with a standard measure for dry ingredients (you know- a metal or plastic one that'll let you level the flour off across the top). Set this mixture aside.

In a large bowl, cream the shortening and then add the sugar gradually until the mixture is light and fluffy. Then add the egg.



The shortening/sugar/egg mixture will look like this.
Also of note, these single-serve applesauce packs are
1/2 cup each which is convenient.

Add the dry ingredients, alternating with the applesauce, to the bowl containing the shortening mixture. Stir between each addition. I usually add about a quarter of each at a time. This is the part my daughter has always loved to help with!




 

How much dough? I just used a teaspoon from my silverware drawer-
one heaping spoonful per muffin cup.

Spoon into mini-muffin tins and bake at 350° for about 18 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. I made 33 mini muffins for about 8.5 g. each.


The recipe is adapted from my husband's Nana's applesauce cake recipe. To adapt it back for a great dessert, use all white flour and a full cup of sugar. Bake it in a standard sized loaf pan for an hour (which sounds like it would be too long but trust me, it isn't).

We love this recipe because - yum - but also because we almost always have the ingredients we need for them in the pantry.
 
Hope you'll enjoy it too.




The Muffin Chronicles Part 3: Apple (& Pear?) Muffins

We started out making these with no fruit at all, as a fall spice muffin.  Then my daughter had her baking-loving friend sleep over one night.  She's is my favorite sleepover guest since the evening always involves making something great either for dessert or for breakfast the next morning.  This friend suggested the addition of diced apples, and we've never gone back.

Start by preheating the oven to 350°.

Then mince up some apple, and maybe pear if it happens to be around. I had parts of two apples left from chopping the rest into salads during the week, and a sad pear.  I was only able to salvage a small chunk of the pear, but I wouldn't want to use too much anyway since they're so much moister and mushier than apples.  In total I used somewhere between 1/2 and 2/3 cup of finely chopped fruit. 

Next, combine in a large bowl (to which you'll eventually add the dry ingredients):
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. milk
1/3 c. vegetable oil and
1 egg

 

 

Then add:
1 c. whole wheat flour
1/2 c. white flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. nutmeg and
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
.

Stir just enough to combine. 

Then fold in the fruit.

The first few times we made these, we went back and double checked that we'd measured correctly.  The batter is extremely dense- more like bread, or even cookie dough.  The thickness does make it easier to get it into the muffin cups, which should be about 2/3 full.  Sprinkle lightly with cinnamon sugar. 

 

Bake for 15 minutes.

 

 

 

The whole recipe has approximately 285 g. carbs if you use the equivalent of one average apple and depending on how heavy-handed you are with the cinnamon sugar.   I ended up with 35 mini muffins which mathed out to approximately 8 carbs each. 

 

They're even more fun if you're fortunate, as I was, to find holiday themed baking wrappers in your pantry!

 



Today's Menu

Breakfast

              

This is one of our protein-containing, 5+ grams of fiber cereal choices which somewhat diminish the post-breakfast blood sugar spike.  

More excitingly, I bought a whole pint (well, several pints actually) of blueberries for less than one million dollars this week!!!

Lunch

Sunflower butter to protect her peanut-free friends at lunch, with great grandma's homemade spiced pear jam, which she makes special with less sugar just for my daughter.  With an occasional substitution of pretzels or sun chips, this is lunch every day.   

Snack

Snack varies every day.  Sometimes it's more substantial, like a smoothie or peanut butter crackers.  But today she's saving room for Grandpa's birthday dinner.

Dinner

I'll smash up half a sleeve of townhouse (ritz, etc. are all fine) and mix them with 3-4 tbs. of melted butter.  I might remember to squeeze in some lemon juice and add some pepper.  The fish goes in a greased (or better yet, buttered) glass baking dish.  The cracker mixture is spread on top.  Bake at 400 for 10-15 min. until it's flaky.  Yum!

We've nicknamed this rice blend 'crazy rice,' at our house.  It's got tons of flavor and a variety of textures.  Much more fun than regular brown rice.

Grandpa's Birthday Cake

I know- all kinds of problems with this.  Its's processed beyond belief.  It contains artificial everything.  The glycemic index is off the charts.

But it's Grandpa's favorite, and a family tradition.  So we'll indulge!

Food is one of my favorite topics to read, think and talk about.  So I, for one, am looking forward to reading the rest of today's Diabetes Blog Week posts which can be found HERE!

Measuring The Rice

A household favorite weeknight dinner this a one-pot teriaki dish.  The recipe is on the back of the Minute Brown Rice box if you're interested.

I love the ease of making and cleaning up this meal, which is ready in 20 minutes and, true to its name, uses only one pot.  The odd yellow color is a feature of amateur photography, not of the dish itself.

The trouble with this dinner is with the serving of it.  Since the carbs are primarily in the rice, but in the end all of the ingredients are mixed together, serving my daughter's portion takes some time.

First, I find a half cup measuring cup since that's about how much rice she eats.

Then I push stuff around in the pot, attempting to separate enough rice from the other ingredients.

Finally, a half a cup.

Now to add the rest of the ingredients and toss it all back together so it looks like everyone else's.

Every day there are many weighty reasons I wish for a cure for diabetes.  But I must say I won't miss these little annoyances one bit.

Of Braces and Smoothies and Math

What do you feed a growing 12 year old who's just gotten braces?

How about one with type 1 diabetes who can't have dairy?

Enter the single-serve blender, cartons of 'alternative milks,' coconut and soy yogurts, and a freezer full of frozen fruit.   And math.  Always math. The combinations are nearly infinite.  If your 12 year old gets hungry enough, she'll try them all. My daughter's favorite smoothie so far was today's.  It contained gently thawed mixed berries whirred together with half a blueberry soy yogurt, some granola and a little almond milk:

With 11 years of diabetes management under our belts, we've memorized the carbohydrate content of favorite breakfast cereals, breads, fruits and dinner items. Crackers, chips, desserts?  Filed away as well. It's become rare that we need to stop before bolusing to math out a plate (or glass) of food.  Sure, there's an occasional new recipe or brand.  Restaurants, and meals at which we're guests require some thought. Most days, though, armed with a measuring cup, a food scale, or the simple ability to count, we can move from serving to eating fairly quickly.

So this week's math intensive has been challenging.

The above smoothie required measuring frozen fruit, granola, soy yogurt and the accidentally purchased slightly sweetened almond milk. (The 'original unsweetened' kind blessedly has negligible carbs, making it unnecessary to measure.)Then there was the '1 cup contains x carbs, so half a cup would contain y carbs process for the fruit, granola and milk; add the half container of yogurt for a grand total of ???' word problem.

My daughter is enjoying experimenting with different smoothie combinations, which on one hand is fun.  On the other hand, I'm kind of hoping she decides this one's a keeper so I can take a math break tomorrow.

Chocolate Cake

I've decided to participate in D-Blog Week, organized by Bitter-Sweet Diabetes.

For my first post, I've chosen a wild-card topic.  I've never posted a recipe here, and while this one is a Valentines Day tradition at our house, it's ease and impressiveness make it perfect for entertaining any time of the year. 

I got the recipe out of an old church cookbook years ago, and have enjoyed it ever since.

Six Minute Chocolate Cake

1 1/2 c. flour
1/3 c. cocoa powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. sugar
1/2 c. vegetable oil
1 c. cold water
2 tsp. vanilla
2 Tbs. white vinegar

Preheat oven to 375

Sift flour, cocoa, soda, salt and sugar directly into an ungreased 8 or 9 inch round or square pan.

In a 2 cup measuring cup, mix oil, water and vanilla.

Pour liquid ingredients into the dry and mix with a fork or a small whisk.

When smooth, add vinegar and mix quickly.  There will be swirls...stir just until the vinegar is evenly distributed.

Bake 25-30 minutes. 

Total carbs for whole cake:  360.  I usually make a square cake and cut into 9 pieces, making each 40g.

It's not low-carb, but it's rich and moist all by itself, so frosting is not necessary. That aspect makes it easier to count accurately.  A dollop of whipped cream (or even cool-whip) makes it look pretty, as do a few raspberries or strawberry slices.

Enjoy!