{Sweet Victory} : Part One : Impressive Blueberry Muffins

Ahhhhh..the joys of guiltless baking!

For years I have avoided baking anytime but Christmas because ... I have willpower problems. I know myself and know that if I have baking in the house I will find a way to eat it.  However, in our quest to eat healthier, cutting out STARCH and SUGAR has led me to some fantastic food blogs and a great baking adventure.

A couple of weeks ago, during a visit to my parents house, I decided to kill two birds with one stone: introduce this no-starch baking concept to my family AND try some new recipes.

First on the list was a blueberry muffin recipe from the great deliciouslyorganic.net. (click here for the original recipe.)

I did modify the recipe slightly the first time, and then a bit more the second time I made them, here are my changes.

-First off, I used cream, not coconut milk - that was what I had on hand.
-Second, I subbed in 1/4 cup xylitol for the honey since we are currently trying to avoid all sugar.
-Third, the recipe just seemed too dry, so I added in another 1/3 cup of cream, and this worked though   the batter is still very firm, and not at all runny.

With these two changes the muffins were VERY tasty, looked PERFECT but were a little too fluffy (if that is possible) they fell apart quite easily. This was still fantastic in my mind because typically coconut flour is quite dense.

It is the applesauce that makes all the difference in density so, for the second batch I just added 2 more tablespoons of coconut flour to bring the density up just a hair. The texture of this batch was perfect, however, the blueberries I used at home (Trader Joes Organic Frozen Blueberries) were not anywhere as sweet as the frozen berries I had picked up from the local grocer in Colorado, and I would add a bit more xylitol to compensate for that if I use that brand again.

I find that if you are cooking with xylitol it will lengthen the baking time, and if you have a convection oven you will want to turn the temperature down 25 degrees to avoid the outside cooking too fast and getting too brown.

Here is the recipe with my changes:

Makes about 18 muffins

For the batter: (I use organic ingredients wherever possible)
6 large eggs

2/3 cup heavy (whipping) cream
1/4 cup xylitol (or more to taste)
1 teaspoon canilla
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted (if you only have salted butter on hand that is ok, just omit the added salt)
1 cup coconut flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon Celtic sea salt
1/2 cup applesauce (one single serving "cup" is perfect)
1 1/2 cups frozen blueberries (no need to thaw them)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375ºF or 350ºF if for convection ovens and adjust the rack to the middle position.
Line muffin pan with muffin liners.
Whisk eggs, cream, xylitol, vanilla and butter in your stand mixer bowl if using.
Sift coconut flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a separate mixing bowl.
Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and whisk until no lumps remain.
Fold in applesauce and then fold in blueberries.
Spoon batter into muffin cups (I use a large cookie scoop)
Bake for 15-20 minutes or until perfectly brown on top and a toothpick comes out mostly clean.
Store in an airtight container in the fridge or freeze for later.


Stay tuned for Part Two : The Great Brownie Trial!

Italian Turkey Soup Two Ways

Apologies to those of you who have been waiting for this recipe (Marcy!).  I promised to post it, came home last wednesday to the hubs asking me if I wanted to take a last minute trip to California...very last minute...we left that night around 11!  Between that trip, shopping for new clothes that fit and packing them for our trip to Mexico next week, blogging went on the back burner - but it's here now - here's the post!

So a few weeks ago I had a massive shopping day followed by 3 days of cooking for 2 families. Mine and a family of 8 :) The hubby, MIL and I are not eating any starch or sugar. The other family, The 8's (we'll call them) need carbs to fill up the hollow legs of more than a couple growing boys. So, here are the recipes that we made for both families, keep in mind that we made many many batches at once - freezer recipes are great! The recipes are very similar but I typed them out twice so you can copy and print the recipe easier. :)

All of the ingredients used in these recipes were organic, but most of it was purchased across the border. The approximate cost per recipe for the Bregg version is $13 and the Hungry Bellies version about $8 when I used dried beans.

Italian Turkey Soup 2 Ways
makes 6-8 servings


Bregg (low carb) Version:

1 lb ground turkey
1 diced onion
4-5 garlic cloves, minced
1T Dry Italian Seasoning (we made our own, I will post it and link it up here soon)
salt and pepper to taste
1 can diced tomatoes (15 oz)
2 14oz cans chicken broth  
1 t dry oregano 
1/4 t dry basil or about 
1/4 cup fresh 
1 pkg frozen spinach - I like trader joes organic 

Spoon a little coconut oil into a stock pot and turn onto med-high heat. 

When oil is hot, add onion, garlic and turkey. Stir to combine and the Italian Seasoning and salt and pepper.  Cook until the turkey is completly cooked through and brown before adding any liquid. 

Once turkey is brown, add tomatoes including juice and the chicken broth. Add the rest of the spices and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for at least 10 minutes.

If you are going to freeze the soup then I would reccomend adding the spinach when you reheat the soup. I added it the first time I cooked it and when I reheated it it was a little mushier than I would like. If you are just making a batch to eat now then add the spinach last and serve. Top with a little grated (real) parmesan and enjoy!

Nutritional Info is based on 6 servings per recipe

Calories: 225.8
Total Fat 5.1g
Total Carbs 9.3g
   Dietary Firer 3.6g
   Sugars 4.3g
Protein 33.7g



Hungry Bellies Version: 

1/2 lb ground turkey 
1 diced onion 
4-5 garlic cloves, minced 
1T Dry Italian Seasoning (we made our own, I will post it and link it up here soon) 
salt and pepper to taste 
1 can diced tomatoes (15 oz) 
3 cans white beans or 1.5 cups dried beans soaked overnight (you do NOT need to cook these before putting in the soup, they will cook while the soup cooks) 
2 14oz cans chicken broth 
1 t dry oregano 
1/4 t dry basil or about 
1/4 cup fresh 1 pkg frozen spinach - I like trader joes organic.

Spoon a little coconut oil into a stock pot and turn onto med-high heat. 

When oil is hot, add onion, garlic and turkey. Stir to combine and the Italian Seasoning and salt and pepper.  Cook until the turkey is completly cooked through and brown before adding any liquid. 

Once turkey is brown, add beans, tomatoes including juice and the chicken broth. Add the rest of the spices and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for at least 10 minutes.

If you are going to freeze the soup then I would reccomend adding the spinach when you reheat the soup. I added it the first time I cooked it and when I reheated it it was a little mushier than I would like. If you are just making a batch to eat now then add the spinach last and serve. Top with a little grated (real) parmesan and enjoy!



Nutritional Info is based on 6 servings per recipe

Calories: 266.2
Total Fat 4.3g
Total Carbs 31.6g
   Dietary Firer 10.8g
   Sugars 5.1g
Protein 20.2g


This nutritional info is meant to be a guide, not exact.  It is based on ingredients through myfitnesspal.com.