April showers tend to bring more than just rain. As many of you have
doubtless noticed, a bunch of friends and neighbors are getting sick around now.
Being sick is no fun at all. So, it's important to remember to stay healthy even
when the weather outside isn't too cheerful.
Part of staying healthy involves exercise. Now, exercise isn't just an
outside sport: it can be indoor recreations as well. Take, for example, yoga,
with such advantages as dryness, de-stressifying properties, and increased
flexibility.
Exercise isn't all of it, though. Eating right is also crucial to staying
cold-free. Be sure to include lots of tasty fruits, veggies and whole grains, in
addition to some sort of protein source, in your diet. Eating healthy can be
fun. Recently, I've been baking applesauce mini-muffins without butter, refined
sugar or flour, substituting flax seed for the solid oil source and loading oats
and oat bran in to replace the refined flour. I don't follow recipes: I add
whatever appeals to me as I go along.
Recipes can be found online. Here's one that looks somewhat intriguing:
Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread
1/4 C. sugar
3 T. vegetable
oil
2 large eggs
1 C. applesauce
2 C. all-purpose
flour
2 T. unsweetened cocoa
1 1/4 t. baking soda
1
t. ground cinnamon
1/4 t. salt
1 1/2 C. finely shredded
zucchini (about 1 medium)
1/2 C. semisweet chocolate chips
cooking spray
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Place first 3 ingredients in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at low speed
until well blended. Stir in applesauce.
3. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine
flour and next 4 ingredients, stirring well with a whisk. Add flour mixture to
sugar mixture, beating just until moist. Stir in zucchini and chocolate chips.
Spoon batter into a 9x5-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at
350 degrees for one hour or until wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes
out almost clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes on a wire rack, then remove from pan.
Cool completely on wire rack. Yield: 16 servings (serving is one
slice)
Nutrition info (per slice): Calories: 161; Fat 5.1 grams; Protein: 2.9
grams; Carb: 27.3 grams; Fiber: 1.4 g; Chol: 27 mg; Sodium: 145 mg
Source: http://pinchmysalt.wordpress.com/2006/08/16/zucchini-chocolate-chip-mini-muffins/
Try experimenting with fruit juices and fruits for sweetness instead
of loading up on refined carbohydrates. Not only are the muffins quite cute, but
they also make everything smell much better. Here's one website with a really
good mini muffin recipe. I switched a few ingredients around, but it still
tastes wonderful. Try adding cinnamon, oat bran, or whatever you think would
taste good to the mix. Enjoy! This month, enjoy life, even if the weather's all
gray and dreary.
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