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

Banana chocolate chip muffins with chia seeds

I have been on a health kick recently. But with 2 growing kids, and being the baker that I am, I couldn't completely cut out carbohydrates. Instead, I am trying to tweak classic recipes to be a bit more nutritious. Having our cake and eating it too, so to speak.

This morning I decided to bake banana chocolate chip muffins for a playdate. After all, two four year-old boys need lots of energy to run around and wreck havoc on the house!

I started with a straightforward recipe for banana chocolate chip bread, but made the following substitutions:

3/4 cup wheat flour for 3/4 cup bleached all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon ground flax seed

1/4 cup nonfat greek yogurt for 1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup agave syrup for 1/4 cup refined sugar

I also mixed together 3 tablespoons of chia seeds, 1 tsp of refined sugar, and 1/4 cup crushed banana chips as a crunchy topping.

The final product was moist, banana-y, and not too sweet. Added bonus? It has much more fiber and protein than the original recipe. The boys (and I) gobbled it up!

Banana chocolate chip bread

roasted root veggies, eight minute egg

Meatless Monday again. Where does the week(end) go? We ate out more than usual this weekend, starting with a family dinner at our favorite Korean restaurant on Friday night, followed by a fried-chicken  brunch on Saturday, dinner out, and then Sunday dinner out as well. When I began thinking about dinner this afternoon, I decided on something simple and relatively light to counteract all of that restaurant food. Nonetheless, it had been an unusually cold and windy San Francisco day, so I wanted to make something that still felt hearty and warm.

It had also been a busy Monday, with our usual start-of-the week errands, furniture delivery, and playdates, etc and so I was looking for something easy I could prep and just pop into the oven. This fit the bill!

Roasted Root Veggies, Eight-Minute Egg
4 cups winter vegetables, trimmed and cut into 1" pieces (I used radishes, mushrooms, whole garlic cloves and scallions)
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt
2 Eggs


Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Toss vegetables with olive oil and sea salt, and spread onto baking sheet. Make sure the veggies are in 1 layer (they won't brown if they are crowded on the pan). Divide into 2 pans if necessary. Roast for 20-25 minutes until golden brown. Divide into 4 bowls.
Meanwhile, place eggs a small saucepan and cover with cold water. Cover with lid. Heat until water boils, then immediately turn off heat and let eggs sit for eight minutes for a medium-boiled egg. Remove eggs after eight minutes and submerge in ice water until ready to use.
Peel and halve eggs, topping each bowl of roasted vegetables with half an egg. Sprinkle with Maldon sea salt. Serve with crusty bread.

whole wheat penne with roasted tomatoes, garlic, and basil

I've been toying with the idea of instituting meatless Mondays for a while now - it's not hard to do, especially as neither the husband and nor the kids particularly enjoy meat. Also, I almost always have basil, tomatoes, and garlic on hand, so I thought it was a good idea to learn some more permutations of pasta with these ingredients.

I adapted this recipe from Lidia's Italy website and thought it sounded earthy and but light, perfect for a cold Spring evening. Roasting the tomatoes brings out an additional, caramelized sweetness, and using whole wheat pasta adds additional fiber and protein (so I don't feel guilty about yet another pasta dinner!)

Penne with Roasted Tomatoes
2 pints cherry tomatoes, washed and sliced in half
1 head garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese 
1 cup whole wheat penne
1 bunch basil, washed and dried
Sea salt, to taste


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Toss cherry tomatoes and garlic in olive oil. Add a pinch of salt, and roast in oven for 20-25 minutes, until caramelized. Meanwhile, heat a pot of water, and cook pasta according to box instructions. When pasta is done, drain but leave about 3-5 tablespoons of cooking liquid. Add roasted tomato mixture, making sure to pour in all of the olive oil. Top with parmesan cheese and roughly torn basil strips. Salt to taste. Voila! Easy meatless monday pasta.