new years resolution: eat healthier

we had 3 couples over for a new years brunch yesterday. and despite all the food that we were going to have, at the last second i decided to "whip up" some muffins as well. why is "whip up" in quotations you ask? read my profile over there to the right.

however...all ingredients were in my pantry (in their mod. mates) including the wheat bran and the ground flax seed. and what makes this recipe time consuming is the grating of the carrots and apples. but this time, i pulled out my quick chef, threw in my carrots, spun, and measured into the bowl. then the apples, spun, and measured. and it was done. in maybe a quarter of the time. woah. maybe i'll make muffins more than once this year...

i got this recipe from my mom - the carrot and apple keep them moist only needing TWO tbsp of oil! the wheat bran and flax make them higher in fibre. they're my favourites and until my quick chef, i only got them when my mom made them. not anymore...

1 1/2cup flour

3/4 cup ground flax seed

3/4 cup wheat bran

1 cup brown sugar

2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt (but i never put this in)

2 tsp. cinnamon

3/4 cup milk

2 eggs

2 Tbsp. oil

2 cups shredded carrot

2 cups shredded apple

1/2 cup dried cranberries or raisins (i didn't use either)

1 cup shredded coconut or walnuts (i used coconut)

mix it all up. put batter into muffin papers (b/c they can be a little sticky straight into a muffin pan and i don't want to have to wash it of course). they don't rise too too much so fill the cups about 3/4 of the way full. bake at 350F for about 15 minutes. it makes 18 - 20 decent sized muffins. yum.

they went over well at our brunch and this morning here's one with my coffee.