Carrot Oat Bran Muffins

I've been on a healthy muffin kick lately. Here is my latest recipe. These come out to 2 WW points each and are supper yummy like carrot cake, but healthier and chock full of fiber. (And would be delicious with some low fat cream cheese icing-- just saying....) FYI-- This recipe makes twelve muffins.

**Note-- this is the first time I made these and they were good, but: next time I would increase the baking powder to a tablespoon, as they did not rise as much as I would have liked.

You could also throw in a handful of chopped walnuts or pecans, but note that this will affect the point/calorie count.

Carrot Oat Bran Muffins

3/4 cup boiling water
1/4 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup Fiber One (original)
1/2 cup raw sugar
1/4 cup applesauce (unsweetened)
1 Tbsp. olive oil (ordinary)
1 egg
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. freshly ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 cup soy flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 cup golden raisins
1 cup shredded carrot
1 cup shredded zucchini
1 Tbsp. raw sugar (for sprinkling)

• Preheat oven to 350 F and prepare a muffin tin by lining with paper liners sprayed lightly with nonstick cooking spray (or you can do what I did which is grease/flour/pray).
  
• Pour the boiling water over the oats and Fiber One. Let this hang out for 8-10 minutes.
• Combine everything including and up to the baking soda with the oats/Fiber One mixture.
• Gently fold in raisins, carrot, and zucchini.
• Scoop batter evenly in muffin cups and sprinkle with sugar.
• Bake for about 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the muffins comes out clean.
• Enjoy!

*Sorry there is no photo! It was accidentally deleted! I will update when I make these again!*

Double Chocolate Raspberry Muffins

These muffins are wheat, dairy and almost fat free, and oh so yummy! According to my calculations these are three points each! (Please know that I am in no way an employee or representative of Weight Watchers. I do point calculations for my own use on most recipes, and so I share that info. Please recalculate yourself to be sure.)

Double Chocolate Raspberry Muffins

3/4 cup soy flour
1/3 cup raw sugar
1/3 cup cocoa powder
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 egg whites
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract

1 cup raspberries (frozen will work fine here if not in season)
1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

7 almonds, slivered (or 1 Tbsp. packaged slivered almonds)

• Preheat oven to 350 F. Prepare a muffin tin by lining with 6 paper cupcake liners, and spraying lightly with a nonstick cooking spray.
  
• Combine all except the last three ingredients quickly in a bowl with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula, being careful not to over-mix. The batter will be very stiff.
  
• Fold in raspberries and chocolate chips.
• Spoon evenly into 6 muffin cups.
• Sprinkle the tops of the muffins with the slivered almonds.
• Bake for 25-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of one of the muffins comes out clean.
• Let cool thoroughly, then remove from muffin tin. These have a shelf life of 3-4 days when stored at room temperature (up to two months frozen).
• Enjoy!

(FYI- This photo does not do these muffins justice. It is incredibly hard to take a good photo of a chocolate muffin with normal household lighting.)

The Apprentice Brown Rice Breakfast

This is a recipe from Bethenny Frankel (original can be found here) of Martha Stewart Apprentice and Real Housewives of New York City. It's a really great filling breakfast or snack that gives you a lot of bang for your calorie buck. It's the perfect combination of whole grains, fruit, and protein to give you lots of energy and keep you full all morning. And it seriously takes about a second and a half to make. And it's also wildly delicious. Try it, and you will be converted to the Brown Rice Breakfast, I promise. (FYI-- If you are a Weight Watcher, I calculated this as 5 points.)

Brown Rice Breakfast (serves one)

1/2 cup cooked brown rice (Yay! A way to use leftovers!)
1/4 cup soy milk (Original or Vanilla)
7 almonds, slivered (1 Tbsp if you have them already slivered.)
1 Tbsp golden raisins
1 Tbsp maple syrup (Use the real stuff.)
dash of almond or vanilla extract (I use almond.)

• Combine all ingredients (except almonds) in a saucepan on medium heat until heated through. (Alternately, you can mix this up ahead, and just pop it in the microwave for a minute or two in the morning.)
• Top with almonds.
  
• Enjoy!