Tangerine Vanilla Muffins

I've been in a real "waste not" kind of kick lately, I may be going a little stir crazy staying at home with the toddler, so I'm finding uses for all sorts of things that would otherwise be discarded. I made my own applecider vinegar this fall with Apple peels and cores from apples I cooked with, lemon extract with zest from lemons I was juicing for other uses and now these muffins! I got some beautiful organic tangerines (which are hard to come by in Arizona because it's illegal to import organic citrus from other states) and didn't want to waste the untainted peel (ok, I may be losing it). So this morning the toddler had to wait for me to zest his tangerine before I peeled it to give to him, a side of patience with his breakfast! 

I think it was worth the wait because he has been gobbling up these muffins since they came out of the oven. They are light, moist and delightfully citrusy. A little bit of sunshine on a cold winters day! I belive they would be equally as good if you used orange, grapefruit, lemon or lime zest. Whatever you have on hand, don't let that peel go to waste!

 Tangerine Vanilla Muffins

   

1 1/2 Sticks of Unsalted Butter

2/3 C Sugar

2 Eggs

2 TBS Tangerine Zest

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

2 C Unbleached Flour

1 tsp Baking Powder

1/2 tsp Sea Salt

2/3 C Whole Milk Yogurt

Preheat oven to 375. Line either a 12 standard muffin tin or 48 mini muffin tin with paper cups or grease and flour tins. 

In a small bowl mix flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

Beat butter and sugar together on high speed until light and fluffy. Add eggs into butter mixture one at a time, beating well after each addition, then incorporate tangerine zest and vanilla. 

Mix in 1/3 C of yogurt followed by half of the flour mixture and repeat with remaining yogurt and flour, mixing on low until ingredients are combined.

I like to use a cookie scoop to scoop the batter into the muffin tin. It's especially helpful when making mini muffins! 

Once you scoop the batter into the tins about 2/3 full, tap the pans down on the counter a few times to settle the batter since it is very thick. Bake minis for 18-20 minutes and full size 25-30 minutes.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Protein Bars

I have recently returned to working out and I am starving all the time! I realized I wasn't getting enough protein to keep up with my bodies demands so I went to the store and bought some of my old favorite protein bars. Not only were they expensive but they were not something I would give to the kid because of the ingredients. I made the mistake of trying to eat one in front of him and it didn't end well. 

So off to the Internet I went for a good protein bar recipe that was simple, used ingredients I had on hand (or close substitutions) and weren't a ton of calories. I couldn't find one. I found lots of good looking recipes with tons of ingredients but nothing I could throw together quickly. I also am not a fan of really sweet things, if you are you may want to use chocolate chips instead of cacao nibs and I'm willing to be these would be good dipped in chocolate and eaten frozen. 

Makes 10 bars

1 1/4 C Plain Pea Protein

1 C Unsweetened Almond Milk

1 Ripe Banana

30 drops Vanilla Creme Stevia

1/2 C All Natural Peanut Butter

1/8 C Cacao Nibs or Chocolate Chips

In a large bowl I mixed the protein powder and the almond milk into a thick paste, then I added the banana and the stevia.

Next I mixed in the peanut butter and the cacao nibs. I mixed this until it started to pull away from the sides of the bowl and it resembles cookie dough.

Then I lined an 8x8 pan with parchment paper and smoothed the dough into pan.

Pop it into the fridge and let chill for 2 hours. When bars have set up but are still soft, pull the parchment paper and bars out of the pan and set on the cutting board.

You want the bars to be soft enough to cut but set up enough that they hold their shape. I cut the bars in half down the center and into as close as 5 equal bars on each side as I could.

The facts as entered into My Fitness Pal:

177 Calories, 8 grams of fat, 17 grams of protein

If you use chocolate chips the calories will be higher.

It's all a bunch of tofu and tree bark...

Healthy food, it's all a bunch of tofu and tree bark. Most people I've encountered in the last 12 years I've spent in the healthfood industry think healthy foods are tasteless or a healthy lifestyle is unattainable. There is a good reason for that. Most popular health bloggers seem to live life at some unattainable standard that conveys the message that you must follow strict lifestyle choices at all times or you are a failure. Same with diets. If you have ever been on a strict no carb, high protein, only eat fruit on Wednesdays before 6pm diet you know that the second you decide to eat a banana on a Tuesday at 8 pm your done for and you might as well eat a tube of cinnamon rolls for breakfast because you are a big, fat, failure. I feel I'm slightly guilty of continuing this unattainable stereotype on my Healthy Gourmet on the go blog. I was always so concerned what my customers would think if I posted a new recipe for maple bacon sweet potato cupcakes or my latest beer cocktail that I had 2 blogs!!! I would preach moderation during our classes but I was too concerned with what people think to be my true self on my blog. So welcome to my new honest blog where I will share my healthy recipes alongside my not so healthy recipes. Where I will show you how we live a life of moderation, healthy recipes, little indulgences and a cocktail or two, but it's not all tofu and tree bark.