New Challenges

As some of you may have noticed, I've changed the name of my blog!  Decided with "Mommy's Kitchen Creations".  Had a nice ring to it.

So, with the new year, and the new organized "me", I decided to take on another challenge.  I decided to challenge myself to a month-long "No-Sugar Challenge".  It hit me, over Christmas, that I was really consuming far too much chocolate and sugary coffee beverages. And it wasn't that I was just consuming them, but I had become DEPENDENT on them.  I decided to quit, cold turkey, and detox myself from this devilish treat, of which I totally know the effects of and how it poisons the body, but which I was consuming anyway.  Now when I talk sugar, for the most part I'm taking added sugar, and sugary foods.  Not fruit, or milk, or complex carbohydrates.  I'm talking sugar in my coffee, refined carbohydrates, honey, syrup, juices (unless fresh pressed), etc.  You get the picture. I'm on day 5, and let me tell you, it has been a really rough week.  Much harder than I thought it would be!  In some aspects anyway.  I'm not missing it too much in my coffee.  I used to drink it with just cream or milk for years before I started in with the flavoured creamers and syrups, so going back wasn't too bad.  But man, the chocolate-withdrawal has sucked.  And no wine?  Ahhhh!  Day 4, so far, was the worst.  My energy was really low, and I just about caved.  And to boot, my planned meal was pancakes.  Ha!  I made a nice blueberry syrup for myself, which was actually really tasty, just by boiling down some frozen blueberries.  Today, much better.  So hoping to keep on the upward slope!  Next week's plan is much more thought out.  

To go along with this no-sugar challenge, I went on a bit of a recipe search to look for a good sugar-free muffin recipe, to have a little go-to snack when I was craving something.  I ended up finding a recipe called "Gluten-Free, Sugar Free Blueberry Apple Muffins".  Upon reading through the recipe, it in fact was NOT sugar-free, as it still contained honey!  So I made some modifications to the recipe, to suit myself and what I had in the house.  For example, it called for brown-rice flour, but I didn't have any brown rice in the house, so I decided on quinoa instead.  Adds an extra protein punch to the recipe anyway!  Here's my modified recipe.  

Gluten-Free, Sugar-Free, Dairy-Free, Vegan Blueberry Apple Muffins

Ingredients:

1/2 cup quinoa flour
1 1/2 cups almond flour
1 large banana  
2 large apples
2 tbsp flaxseed meal
1 tbsp cinnamon
1/2 cup or more of frozen blueberries
2 tsp baking powder 

Directions:
   
Did you know that you can actually make your own flour by grinding up grains or nuts in a blender or food processor? 

1. Put approximately 3/4 cup of a cup of quinoa into your blender/food processor WITHOUT WATER (or you will get a sticky mess) to make 1/2 cup flour. Blend it up to a powder and put it into a large bowl. 

2. Blend 1 3/4 cups almonds in the same way to make 1 1/2 cups of flour. Put that in the big bowl with the quinoa flour.

3. Combine the 2 tbsp of flaxseed meal with 6 tbsp of water and stir.  Let sit about 5 mins until it becomes gelatinous.  This will be substitute for 2 eggs.

4. Peel and cut up the two apples into chunks and do the same with the banana, and throw them in the blender. Add the flaxseed mixture. Blend it all up. 

5. Add this mixture to the flour in the bowl, along with the cinnamon and baking powder.  Fold in your frozen berries and stir well.

6. Allow mixture to sit while you preheat the oven to 400F and prepare the muffin tins with liners or spray. (I used silicone muffin liners, they are awesome.)

7. Spoon out the batter into the muffin trays. Only fill it to be level with the top of the tray – don’t overfill them as the muffins will rise up a little bit.

8. Bake them for approximately 20 minutes at or until the tops spring back when pressed lightly.

Finally, EAT and ENJOY!!  I will honestly not say they are amazing, but they are pretty good.  Even Mark said he enjoys them!  And that says ALOT as he is a picky eater.  Especially when it comes to healthy food.

Moving on, the upcoming week's meal plan!  As previously mentioned, I was a little more health conscious picking my recipe for this week!  I've started out the week with a recipe to use up some of the left-over ham from last week's Saturday meal. Keep in mind, any dishes without a link are at your own discretion.  I have confidence in your abilities to steam beans or broccoli, make a salad, or mash some potatoes!  Also, feel free to swap out any meals for left-overs instead of having them pile up in your fridge.

Jan 13, 2013 - Jan 19, 2013

	Sun, Jan 13	Ham & Cheese bowties (using left-over ham) Steamed green beans
	Mon, Jan 14	Lentil Dahl Curried quinoa Mixed greens salad
	Tue, Jan 15	Garlic Parmesan chicken Mashed potatoes Steamed broccoli
	Wed, Jan 16	Sausage and peppers penne Caesar salad
	Thu, Jan 17	Mozzarella-stuffed turkey burgers Sweet potato fries Carrot sticks
	Fri, Jan 18	Barbeque chicken pizza
	Sat, Jan 19	Danish meatballs Rice Corn