Carrot - Apple Muffins

 
As I perused various cooking sites in the world of the Internets on Tuesday I had my eye out for a healthy muffin recipe. Many called for ingredients that I didn't have... raisins, cake flour, sour cream. So I got out a notebook and a pen and wrote my own. I actually wrote down amounts and measurements, combining aspects of other recipes I liked and making substitutions for the basic components of a muffin:

1. Flour (I used white whole wheat flour)
2. Sugar (I used honey)
3. Baking powder/soda (I used both)
4. Eggs (I used... well... eggs)
5. Fat (I used applesauce -- in place of oil)
6. Milk (I used yogurt)

With my basic ingredients decided I set out to create a new muffin. To relative success, no less.

What You'll Need:

• 1 1/2 c. white whole wheat flour
• 3/4 c. oats
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. cloves
• 1/2 tsp. ginger
• 1/2 c. honey
• 1 egg
• 3/4 c. yogurt (I used plain with a dash of vanilla)
• 1/3 c. applesauce 
• 1 c. shredded carrots
• 1 c. shredded apples
• flax seeds (sunflower seeds would be good too)
• chopped candied ginger

Put it All Together

• Combine flour, oats, baking soda & powder, salt, cinnamon, cloves and ginger in a large bowl.
• Whisk together honey, egg, yogurt and applesauce.
• Fold in carrots, apples, ginger and flax seeds.
• Lightly stir wet mixture into dry. Don't over-stir or the muffins will come out dense. (And don't make my mistake: be sure to actually mix all the flour into the batter. I left a bunch of the flour mixture at the bottom of my bowl after I poured half the batter into the muffin pan, so half my muffins came out a bit... err... soggy.)
• Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. 

⚡

Apple Honey Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

All I can say is: yum. The best part about this recipe is that you can mix and match everything in it. Different apples (pears?), different cheese, different breads.

I really didn't measure anything here (in the spirit of this blog)....

For each sandwich you'll need:

2 pieces of bread. I used some sort of healthy-nut-oat bread. It grilled up nicely.

On the outer side of each slice of bread, slather some softened butter. (NOT margarine)

on the inside lay down 4 or 5 THIN slices of granny smith apple

2 - 3 slices of swiss cheese (or gruyere or smoked cheddar or . . .)

drizzle honey over the cheese

salt and pepper (don't skip this - it really makes a difference)

assemble the sandwich and grill in a pan over med heat. (if you have a bacon press or another heavy frying pan, use it to press down the sandwich) If you're making a few of these, place the finished ones in a warm oven so they don't get too cold while the others are cooking.