Carrot pineapple muffins with chia seed topping

I've been testing recipes for healthy on-the-go breakfasts, and this one is a winner! The kids have always loved "sunrise muffins" -- carrot pineapple muffins that they traditionally make at their preschool in the spring. I took the basic recipe and tweaked it, substituting whole wheat and oat flour for part of the bleached flour, and adding ground flax and chia seeds to add protein and fiber. Instead of refined white sugar, I used coconut sugar, which has a much lower glycemic index.

The final product was moist and lightly sweet, with a crunch from the chia seeds on top. Mom-tested, kid-approved!

I used the recipe below, with the following substitutions:

1 cup coconut sugar (rather than 1 cup refined sugar)
1/2 cup whole wheat flour + 1/2 cup oat flour + 1/2 cup bleached flour + 1 tbsp flax meal (rather than 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour)
1/3 cup nonfat plain yogurt + 1/3 cup vegetable oil (rather than 2/3 cup vegetable oil)
1/2 cup chia seeds, sprinkled on top


Carrot Pineapple Muffins

cavatappi with lemon, ricotta, and arugula

After a week in Tahoe and 3 days in bed from a bout with the flu, I'm finally starting to think about cooking again! Tonight's simpler-than-simple dinner was inspired by the beautiful spring produce I found in the market today - just picked corn, tender arugula, and fresh basil. Veggies this fresh don't need much cooking to taste great. Happy Spring!

Lemon, Ricotta, Arugula, and Basil Pasta

marie callendar's lemon cheesecake pie

Having grown up in Southern California, I've always had a fondness for Marie Callendar's pies. When I was young, it was always such a treat if a visitor brought a pie to share. My favorites were the fresh strawberry, piled high with strawberry and glistening under a ruby glaze, or the sour cream cheesecake pie, with its velvety cream cheese layer topped with the smoothest, whitest cloud of sour cream. What luxury!

Faced with a surfeit of lemons this week, I found this recipe for Marie Callendar's lemon cheesecake pie. It was easy and quick to make using a pre-baked graham cracker pieshell, though as you can see the crust doesn't hold up well. Next time I'll probably make my own crust using a shortbread dough, and sprinkle with a touch more sugar to bring out the lemony flavor of the lemon curd on top. For an easy springtime dessert, this recipe worked out great (and apologies for the pictures this week - as you can see, serving the guests took precedence over photography this week!)

Marie Callendar's Lemon Cheesecake Pie