Oat Bran Muffins...Yum!!

This morning's attempt at cooking. And it was good. Again, this is from the Try-It Diet, Eating Clean eCookbook (okay...seriously...this book is CHEAP...and there are recipes in here that I am likely not to try because I don't care for the particular ingredients - so buy it!)

Ingredients:
1 cup 100% whole-wheat flour
1/2 cup crushed bran flakes
1/2 cup ground flaxseed
1/2 cup Sucanat (I gave up trying to find this and used *gasp!* good ol' sugar instead)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
3 egg whites
1 egg
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup vanilla almond milk (see my post last night about this yummy stuff)
1 tablespoon canola oil (I used vegetable oil)
3 tablespoons agave nectar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup dry rolled oats (I always have a large container of oats on hand...this is what Stella and I have for breakfast most mornings)

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.  Grease a 12-cup muffin pan or line with paper baking cups (since I had no clue whether this would working for me or not given my baking history, I bought a 'disposable' tin with paper liners).
2. Combine flower, bran flakes, flaxseed, Sucanat (or sugar), baking soda, baking powder, and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl.  Add egg whites, eggs, applesauce, almond milk, canola (or vegetable) oil, agave nectar, and vanilla and mix well (no need to get out the electric mixer though).
3. Pour muffin mix evenly into each of the muffin cups.
4. Sprinkle the 1/2 cup of oats over top, and press down lightly.
5. Bake for 20 minutes, or until a fork inserted into the center of  a muffin comes out clean.

And the nutrition facts (if you follow the recipe without making my subs):

Calories:  114

Fat:  4 g

Protein:  3 g

Sodium:  182 mg

Fiber:  3 g

Carbs:  18 g

Sugar:  13 g

As a side note...despite the healthiness, Stella really liked it!  I ended up eating two, because she kept taking bites!

Fruit-Stuffed French Toast sandwiches

From the Try-It Diet:  Eating Clean:  A Two-Week Healthy Eating Plan
(F+W Media, Inc.)

4 eggs, beaten
2 tbsp vanilla almond milk (first time trying it was yesterday...never realized this stuff was so yummy)
2 tbsp agave nectar
4 slices sprouted grain bread (I am lazy, didn't search for that, used my old stand by:  Aunt Millie's fat free whole wheat)
8 tbsp sugar-free fruit spread (I went for reduced sugar concord grape Welch's) (and I didn't measure out, just spread it on)
1 cup nonfat Greek-style yogurt (oops...used plain...and again didn't measure out)
1/2 cup sliced strawberries
1 sliced banana

Spray large skillet with olive oil cooking spray, place over medium heat.  Whisk together eggs, almond milk, agave nectar.  Evenly coat both sides of each slide of bread and place in the skillet (I didn't one at a time since I used a medium skillet).  Cook each slice until lightly browned on each side then remove from eat.  Spread the fruit spread evenly on side of all bread slices, followed by a thin layer of yogurt on all bread slices (since I used regular yogurt rather than Greek, it wasn't as thick and basically mixed with the fruit spread).  Layer the strawberries and bananas (and give the leftover slices to your toddler).  Close the sandwiches, place back in the skillet, pressing down on each one slightly.  Cook 2-3 minutes each side.

Enjoy!

About the book - I am finding with many of the recipe books I have downloading, the recipes themselves skip a step or two leaving the reader to figure it out on their own (which is not a big deal for people that cook regularly...I don't, but am trying to make that attempt).  I actually downloaded one that all the measurements were cut off.  I deleted that one.  I have a few other health eating cookbooks (including a vegetarian one) that I have downloaded that appear to have some yummy recipes!

Looks like Stella enjoyed it as well:


Could have been the messiness factor: