Pumpkin Apple Zucchini Muffins

Fall is such a great season, crisp air, crunchy leaves and the return of pumpkins, squash and the scent of cinnamon everywhere. I happen to like fall because it's when my husband and I celebrate our birthdays, but also more importantly because of the food! I love root vegetables, especially squashes, and also the excuse to drink my own weight in fresh apple cider! While getting coffee the other day I noticed some delicious looking pumpkin muffins, donuts and cakes at several coffee shops, but when I looked up the nutritional information I saw just how much butter and sugar went into them! Since I have somewhat of a disdain for sugar, it prompted me to put my apron back on and get some kitchen chemistry rolling! Today's feature is a muffin filled with nutritious elements, that actually tastes delicious! I used some alternative ingredients to come up with a healthy and tasty pumpkin treat!

The base of this recipe is pumpkin, which is a great vegetable! Pumpkin, like carrots is full of carotenoids, which give these vegetables their classic orange colour. Carotenoids are important for eye health, and the body uses them by converting them to vitamin A. A specific carotenoid, beta-carotene has also been linked to reducing cancer risk by helping to destroy free radicals in the system. Imagine, battling cancer while enjoying a delicious muffin! Beta-carotene is also a proven wrinkle fighter, so pumpkin helps keep you looking young too! Pumpkins, as well as other squashes are extremely high in fibre, which can help with healthy weight maintenance, by keeping you full longer and keeping a healthy digestive tract. Since pumpkin is very filling, and low in calories (only 50 calories in a cup of mashed pumpkin) it's a great way to stay full longer. Pumpkin is also a great post-workout food, because it's super high in potassium (about 560mg in a cup), which is even higher than bananas (which are also an excellent source of potassium). Potassium is an important electrolyte for your heart and body muscles, which is lost in sweat. Instead of grabbing an energy drink after exercise, consider something with pumpkin! 

This recipe is also refined sugar free, as it is sweetened with honey, and I used homemade flours to keep it even healthier. This recipe can be easily made with regular flours too if you're intimidated by using homemade flour, but it recommend checking my post on homemade flours and see just how easy it is to make them! 

In this recipe I also used diced apples, I even used the cores! Yuck you say? When they are copped small and cooked you won't even notice the texture. Be sure to remove the seeds however, they are difficult to chew & digest and there is some truth to them being poisonous (although 150lb person woud need to eat about 150 of them in one sitting for them to be toxic). The cores are high in pectin, which is great for digestive tract health, and warding off cancers like colon or rectal cancer, as well as is high in fibre, which again is great for weight loss!

1 & 3/4 c pumpkin purée (not to be confused with pumpkin pie filling if you're using store bought, which is full of sugar, spices and additives. Be sure to get pure pumpkin, or make your own!)

2 eggs

2 c grated zucchini

2 c finely diced apples (~2 med apples)

1/3 - 1/2 c honey or agave nectar

2 tbsp lemon juice or white vinegar (acid reacts with baking soda & baking powder to make muffins rise)

1/4 tsp clove

1/4 tsp nutmeg

2 tsp cinnamon 

3/4 c quinoa flour

2/3 c almonds - puréed

1/4 c flax seeds

1/2 c bran

1 c oat flour

2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp baking powder

1) preheat oven to 350 degree

2) In a large bowl, mix together all wet ingredients (including apples & zucchini),except lemon juice.

3) Add puréed almonds (don't just use almond flour, because you need the fats and oils in the almonds for this recipe too. If you don't want to purée almonds, add 1/3 c coconut oil, nut butter or butter to the recipe). Mix well. 

4) Add baking soda & baking powder, spices & lemon juice, mix well.

5) Add remaining ingredients to bowl and mix well. 

6) Add batter to greased muffin tins, or loaf pans, filling to 3/4 full. These muffins won't rise much, but they need a bit of space to expand. 

7) Bake at 350 for 30 mins (muffins) or 45 mins (loaves) or until a tooth pick comes out clean. 

Quinoa Breakfast Bake & Alternative Flour

In my recent attempts to eat cleaner and less processed I've started making my own flour. What!!?! If you're starting to think that's crazy and way too high maintenance, hold on for a second and keep reading. Not so long ago I felt the same way, and tried to continue baking with healthier flour (such as a whole wheat variety), but what I found is that most flours labeled as multigrain and whole wheat actually have a whole lot of bleached white flour in them too! Part of the reason behind this is gluten, which helps make breads and cakes so fluffy and light. I thought about buying some fancy flours, but found that 1) they were incredibly expensive and 2) many of them were highly processed and bleached as well (I'm guessing in an attempt to make them look like regular flour?). In any case I decided to do some research and start making my own flour. Turns out all it really takes is some grain or nuts or beans... (pick your favourite!) and either a coffee bean grinder or a food processor.

Making flour from grains is insanely easy. I've thus far made flour from rice (both white and brown), nuts (almonds, cashews and coconut - is that even a nut?), quinoa, oats, bran, dried chickpeas...the possibilities are endless!

My tips for making flours:

• Start small! There is no need to empty and entire 10lb bag of rice into your food processor and see how things go! Start with slightly less than the equivalent 
• When making flour use slightly more base than you need in flour. I used 3/4c of quinoa to make just over 1/2 c of quinoa flour. 
• When blending nuts (including coconut), don't over blend, otherwise you will end up with nut butter because of thenhighbfatbcontent of nuts. 
• Since wheat contains gluten using alternative flours means you'll probably need extra baking powder or yeast to help make things rise (if you're substituting in alternative flours for wheat flour in other recipes).

Quinoa Breakfast Bake (makes 1-2 servings)

This recipe can also easily be used as pancakes if cooked in a pan!

1/2c quinoa flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 egg

2 tsp vanilla

1 tbsp coconut oil

1/2 c apple sauce

1 tbsp agave nectar or honey (optional)

Milk/Soy Milk (more as needed for batter consistency)

1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 

2) Mix all dry ingredients together in a medium bowl. 

3) In a small bowl whisk eggs and vanilla until frothy.

4) Pour egg mixture into dry ingredients, add remaining ingredients and mix well. If necessary add milk to make batter more watery (batter should be more liquid than cookie dough, but slightly stickier than traditional pancake batter).

5) Pour batter into a small pan or metal bowl, lightly greased with coconut oil. Bake for 12-18 minutes or until the top becomes golden brown and a tooth pick comes out clean when inserted. 

6) Top with fruit or another favourite topping (like Fruit Compote) and enjoy! 

I mixed and baked mine in a metal bowl, which I often do in the mornings to save time and make it an easy and quick breakfast. These can also be made in muffin cups (though they don't really rise so fill the cups quite full). They store in the fridge for about a week and freeze/thaw really well!

Summer Quinoa Salad

I A month or so ago we splurged and picked up a quinoa salad from a local organic deli. It was the most amazing quinoa salad I had ever tasted. Since then, I've been trying to replicate it, and this is as close as I have come.

Quinoa is a wonderful grain to have in a diet, its hearty, healthy and very high in protein. Because it is high in protein it will help keep you full a lot longer than other grains such as white rice and corn. The protein content also contains all 9 essential amino acids important for our bones and muscles and brains to stay happy and healthy. Its also a low glycemic index grain, meaning it won't spike blood sugar after eating it, another way it helps to keep you full longer. Complex carbohydrates take longer for the body to break down, so you can have energy longer and not feel sluggish (like you might after eating a giant bowl of pasta!). Some other perks of quinoa are it is high in iron, which is great for helping our red blood cells rejuvenate. Red blood cells are important for oxygenation as well as metabolism maintenance (if we don't get enough oxygen to our tissues our metabolism can slow down) as well as increased brain function (it sure needs a lot of oxygen to work at its best!), as well as high in other essential minerals like lysine (important for tissue growth and repair, and as a bonus there is some studies that show that lysine helps to stave off the virus that causes cold sores as well!), manganese (a natural antioxidant which helps detoxify the body of carcinogens, namely free radicals), Riboflavin (also known as vitamin B2, which helps regulate metabolism and blood pressure), and Magnesium (also good for helping with blood sugar control, which is how quinoa helps keep you full longer, and responsible for strong bones and teeth).

Quinoa Salad

1 c raw quinoa (cook according to package instructions)

3/4 cup red pepper, diced fine

1/4 c craisins, chopped (or use 1/3 c fresh cranberries, quartered)
1/2 of a medium red onion, diced fine

1/2 cup walnuts or cashews, chopped

3-4 stalks green onion, diced

1/3 cup red wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2-3 sprigs of fresh dill, finely chopped
2 tbsp honey or agave nectar
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1/8 tsp cardamom (optional)
freshly ground pepper - to taste
1-2 tsp fresh grated ginger

1. In small bowl, mix together, vinegar, oil, honey, dill, cayenne, pepper and cardamom and let sit for flavours to infuse.
2. Cook quinoa according to package instructions, transfer to a large bowl and let cool. (You can always speed up this process by placing the bowl into another bowl filled with ice and stir the quinoa every few minutes).
3. While quinoa is cooling, chop peppers, onions, craisins, nuts and green onions.

4. When quinoa is cooled, add in vegetables and dressing. Mix well. 

5. It can be served right away, however I find the flavours meld much better when it has been refrigerated for a couple of hours. 

This is a great make ahead salad, and it only gets better as the dressing infuses into the salad! You can always make a but if extra dressing, so you can add more to the salad if needed before serving. Salad is good if refrigerate for about a week!