Mouthwatering Carrot Muffins

My main issue with these muffins is that I want to eat them all... the whole dang batch. Oh man they are soooooooo good. In fact I'm eating one right now as I write this blog. Heading into week seven of Weight Watchers, down 17 pounds and feeling great. All of those whole foods have got my energy levels sky rocketing. I've been doing a lot of hiking/geochaching with my family and friends. If you don't know what Geocaching is I'll inform you in another post. This post is ALL.ABOUT.THE.MUFFINS.

To be honest I decided to make these muffins for one reason. I went to the grocery store the other day and bought a bag of carrots. I came home. The following day I went for a drive and saw a farmer selling LOCAL carrots. I almost swerved off the road in my haste to pull over. Here's a secret about me. I HATE store bought carrots. Ugh. I will eat them if they're covered in a sauce of some sort or hidden in delicious carrot cakes. Carrot Cakes! That's what I decided to make out of the nasty store bought carrots. Without further ado here are some delicious low-fat carrot cake muffins.

Carrot Cake Muffins

PointsPlus™ Value:    3 Servings:  12 Preparation Time:  0 min Cooking Time:  0 min Level of Difficulty:  Easy

Ingredients

	1 1/2 cup(s) whole wheat flour
	1 tsp baking soda
	1 tsp baking powder
	1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
	1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
	1/4 tsp ground ginger
	1/2 cup(s) unpacked light brown sugar
	1 item(s) egg
	2 Tbsp canola oil
	2 tsp vanilla extract
	1/2 cup(s) low-fat milk
	1 small can of Dole Canned Crushed Pineapple drained well
	1 1/2 cup(s) carrot(s)   (shredded)
	2 Tbsp powdered sugar   1 Tbsp water

Instructions

Directions:
Set oven to 350 degrees.
Line 12 muffin tins with paper liners or spray tins with non-stick cooking spray.
In a large bowl mix together first 7 ingredients.
In a small bowl whisk together egg, oil, milk and vanilla.
In a medium bowl mix the shredded carrots with the crushed pineapple.
Add the oil/egg mixture into the carrot/pineapple mixture; mix well to combine, then add to the dry ingredients; mix JUST until combined.
Divide the mixture between the 12 muffin tins.
Bake for about 20-25 minutes, or until the muffins test done.
In a small bowl combine powdered sugar and just enough water to make a runny glaze. Brush over the tops of muffins.

THESE ARE SOOOOOOO GOOD!

Chicken Curry

This recipe comes from my best friend's Mom. It is a HUGE favorite of mine. To be honest I could eat this without the chicken and just have the curried tomatoes and onions over some rice. It is that good.

Edna's Chicken Curry

• 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into bite size pieces
• 2 large cans of diced tomatoes
• 2 large onions (I sometimes add three)
• 3 tbsp. lemon juice
• 2 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp. paprika
• 1 tbsp. unpacked brown sugar
• 2 heaping tbsp of curry paste. I use Patkas brand paste in Madras flavor.
• salt and pepper to taste

Cut the chicken into chunks and add to a roasting pot. Cut onions into strips and add to pot along with tomatoes. In a separate bowl mix remaining ingredients then add to pot. Bake at 350 for an hour and a half. You want to make sure the chicken doesn't cook to pieces but long enough for all the juices to soak into the chicken. 

Yield: 6 servings

PP: 4 Points Plus

For a few extra points you can have rice with it. Or not, your choice :)

Product Review!!!

Today (and hopefully every Sunday from here on in) I'm going to do a product review of something I love. A healthy (ish) low PP product that I find helpful in my weight loss and lifestyle change journey. 

Today it's Fresca brand Turkey Bacon. I usually get a box of three packs (12 strips per package) at my Costco for around $10CDN. I personally love bacon. I would eat it every morning if I didn't like to sleep in so much and therefore not cook anything, lol. Today I'm anxious to try this bacon out in a muffin recipe found on Laaloosh's website. You should check it out if you have a minute. 

Here's a picture of the package:

And here's a picture of the nutritional information:

3 Strips of bacon is only 1 PP. 

Weight Watchers Week Three

I haven't been updating this blog very often even though I've been doing WWs now for a little over three weeks. So far? Down 7lbs. Yay! I'm going to start updating more often with recipes and such.

Key Info:

This is not a registered WW recipe. I make them up all on my own by adapting some of my old favorites and just tossing ingredients in the recipe builder to see what happens. There are lots of successes and some failures. I'll share the success stories with you all.

PP = Points Plus WW= Weight Watchers

I use a Recipe Calculator online for the Nutrition Info at the bottom of each recipe and the PP Recipe Builder to figure out the PP value of each recipe. It's as accurate as I can make it.

Weight Watcher's Recipe of the Day

Chocolate Cake Squares
This is a recipe I developed totally on my own. I wasn't sure how it was going to turn out but it is GOOD. I usually top it with a tablespoon of fat free cool whip (0 PP for only one tbsp.) for a delicious chocolate-y 2PP dessert.

You will need:
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour (you can use whole wheat but it doesn't change the PP value so I used regular)
2 tsp. vanilla extract
3 eggs
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 cup of non-fat Greek Yogurt
1 1/2 cups blueberries (optional or substitute for another type of berry, I think strawberries would be AWESOME)

Preheat oven to 350F, spray a 7X11" baking pan with non-stick spray. Sift dry ingredients together. I add the blueberries to the dry ingredients so they're coated with flour and won't sink to the bottom of the dish. In a separate bowl whisk the wet ingredients. Mix together, pour into pan and bake for approx 30 minutes depending on your oven. Let cool COMPLETELY (these don't taste that great when they're hot) and cut into 24 (approx 45 grams each) equal squares.

I hope you enjoy! I will attempt to add pictures to future recipes so you can see the finished product. I know that I personally enjoy seeing how something should look before I attempt to make it.

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 45 g

Amount Per Serving

Calories 74 Calories from Fat 9

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 1.0g 2%

Trans Fat 0.0g

Cholesterol 24mg 8%

Sodium 52mg 2%

Total Carbohydrates 14.4g 5%

Dietary Fiber 1.4g 6%

Sugars 6.3g

Protein 3.1g

Vitamin A 1% • Vitamin C 2% Calcium 3% • Iron 5%

Walkin' with Nature!

Got a call today from two of my good friends asking me if I wanted to join them for a walk through the nature preserve. It was a good 45 minute walk. Not the best exercise because you're doing a lot of stopping and going to look at the animals. Fun times though.

Yesterday I helped a friend stain her new pine ceilings.... my arms are paying the price today. Ouch. Painting a ceiling with a brush is not easy work. Makes me happy though cause I really want to work on my triceps and biceps.

For the rest of the night? I think I'm going to relax a bit.

Starting a New and Healthier Me!

Inspired by some of my fellow bloggers -and some friends closer to home- I've decided to jump back on the healthier living bandwagon. I freely admit it. I'm addicted to food. Most of my day consists of thinking about what I'm going to prepare for supper and then when will I start cooking it. And how will I do it differently today? Then there's the food network, and the Fast food restaurants that I can't seem to resist. Help!

I know it's about self-control. I DON'T have any. NONE. *sigh*. I just love food. Now, in my opinion no food is off-limits per se. I just need to learn moderation. For example, that ice-cream I had today was fine. But then I went back for some hickory sticks. Eek.

Also, I have been so good about going to gym in the past. However, these past few weeks that has gone out the window. I need a new gym partner apparently. One who's going to kick my lazy ass into gear. My current gym partner is my sister. Not a good plan. She's lazier than I am.

So today is the start. More whole foods. I need to start eating more whole foods and less processed crap. I know I would feel so much better.

It's the start of my journey to a healthier lifestyle.