Morning Glory Muffins...yummy treat with fruits & Veggies!

This is a great muffin recipe that has fruits and vegetables! A great way to start a day or a good snack in the middle of the day. There are many different ways to make this recipe but this is one is the way I love it. Another great way to get your kids to eat fruits and veggies!

Ingredients

1 egg
2 egg whites 
1 ¼ cup cinnamon applesauce **
2 Tbsps vegetable oil 
1 Tbsp vanilla extract 
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 
1/2 cup whole wheat flour 
1 cup white sugar 
1 tsp ground cinnamon 
2 tsp baking powder 
1/2 tsp baking soda 
1/2 tsp salt 
2 cups carrots peeled *
1 apple - peeled, cored 
1 cup dried unsweetened cranberries
2 tablespoons chopped walnuts 


Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly oil 18 muffin cups, or coat with nonstick cooking spray. 
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, egg whites, applesauce, oil and vanilla. 
3. In a large bowl, stir together flours, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt. 
4. Put carrots and apple into food processor for a few pulses (I don’t like chunks but its your preference)
5. Stir applesauce mixture into dry ingredients just until moistened.
6. Add carrots, apples, cranberries and walnuts into batter and mix until evenly distributed.   
7. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling them about 3/4 full. 
8. Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the tops are golden and spring back when lightly pressed. 


* If you are feeling very brave you can cut the carrots down to 1 cup and add in 1 cup of zucchini or sweet potato J  

** I have also recently discovered Fruitastics Mixed Berry sauce. Each cup contains 1 fruit and vegetable serving with no added sugar. Tastes like regular flavored applesauce.

Frozen Yogurt Popsicle

Frozen Yogurt Berry Popsicles
2 cups plain yogurt
2 cups berries (blueberry, strawberry, cherries, raspberry)
½ cup confectioners sugar


Combine yogurt, fruit (I only use 1 fruit for each batch so I’m not sure how it tastes all together, but I’m sure it would be fine) and sugar in a blender and process until smooth. Place into ice pop molds and freeze. Then enjoy! 

This is a wonderful recipe from Deceptively Delicious. Each popsicle only has 100 calories and less than 1 gram of fat! Not to mention the calcium and vitamin C…a great healthy snack.

How I tricked my kids into liking spinach!

     I’m lucky to have children who love fruits and vegetables. My son will order an adult size salad over chicken fingers and fries at a restaurant. The problem is during a busy day its hard to make sure they are eating the right amount of fruit and vegetables. So I started to research smoothies after watching an episode of Dr. Oz. I looked up many different recipes and read lots of reviews and tips. Once I decided on my ingredients it was time for the true test…getting my kids to drink it. 

Smoothies

1 banana sliced (no peel)
1 apple sliced (cored & peeled)
1 orange sliced (no skin or seeds) 
1 cup blueberries
1 cup apple juice (or other fruit juice)
1 handful of fresh spinach (no stems)

~ Blend until completely smooth and no “chunks” remain.

     So I blended the ingredients in my blender and poured it into the cups. We all sat down and tried it together. I liked…a bit tart from the blueberries I think but I like that. Anjali drank about half of her cup and Conner completely drank his. It was a success! Just to be sure that it wasn’t a one time thing I made them again today and this time my children fought over whose cup was who’s. I consider that a complete success and this smoothie will be a daily drink our home from now on!