Tried & True & Healthy 2: Quick and Easy Pumpkin Muffins

Friday, March 9, 2012

Quick and Easy Pumpkin Muffins

2 cake mixes ( I like to mix and match with the following flavors - butter pecan, carrot, and spice)
1 big can (or 4 c) Pumpkin puree
1 - 2 cups of chips (I've used mini choc chips, semi sweet chips, milk chocolate, butterscotch, cinnamon and white chocolate - I like to combine them - I love the butterscotch with the pumpkin)
1 c dried fruit (opt) - dried cranberries would be my choice

Mix the cake mixes and pumpkin together and stir in the chips and fruit if desired. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full. Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes or until the top springs back when you touch it. You can also use the recipe for cookies - just bake them for - 10 minutes.

This is a great low fat and cholesterol free recipe. It makes about 36 muffins.

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Recommended Portions - numbers and sizes

Protein - 3 servings
One serving = 3 oz cooked meat, a golf ball size portion of nuts or seeds, 1/2 c cooked dried beans, one egg or two egg whites

Dairy - 3 servings
One serving= 8 oz milk, 1 oz cheese, 6 - 8 oz low fat yogurt

Vegetables/Fruits - 6 - 9 servings
One serving = 1/2 c canned or bottled fruit, a medium sized piece of fruit, golf ball size portion of dried fruit, 1/2 c cooked or raw veggies, 1 1/2 c of salad greens

Grains - 4 - 5 servings
One serving = a small bagel, one piece of bread, 1/2 c hot cereal, check box for cold cereal serving size, 1/2 english muffin, 1/2 c of pasta or rice

Limit all types of sugars (honey, white, brown, corn syrup) and salt!

Use unsaturated fats whenever possible!

Make at least half of the grains you eat whole grains.

Make Meatless meals at least once a week - use plant proteins instead (beans and legumes)

Tips for Healthy Eating

~ Make a visual list of how many servings of each food group you should have in a day - then mark them off as you eat them. It will help remind you!

~ All that holiday candy! Let your children pick out twenty of their favorite treats and put them in a ziploc bag. Allow yourself the same luxury. But those treats need to last twenty days. One treat per day. Then get rid of the rest!

~ Clean out your pantry and cupboards. Its hard to eat a whole bag of chips if you don't have them in the house!

~Chew a dessert flavored sugar free gum while cooking - it will be easier not to snitch!

~ Fill up with water! Drink 8 oz of water about ten minutes before each meal and then drink at least 16 oz of water during the meal.

Portion Control Tips!

One of the biggest tricks to healthy eating is controlling your portions! Here are hopefully a few tips that will help you!

~ Only make enough pasta, rice, etc for one serving each for the people you are feeding! A serving of pasta is 2 oz. Most boxes contain 8 servings. So only make 1/2 a box if you are feeding four people!

~ Measure how much your serving spoons and ladles hold. This is easy to do - simply fill your serving utensil with water or rice then dump it into a 2 cup measuring cup. Now you know exactly how much soup you are getting per ladle.

~ Put a serving of the main dish on the plates and then take them to the table. Only have the salad, vegetables and fruit on the table. Then if you want seconds, you will fill up on the healthier, lower calorie menu items.

~ If you are planning on having leftovers, remove them from the main dish and put them in containers in the fridge BEFORE you serve the main dish.

Friday, March 9, 2012

Quick and Easy Pumpkin Muffins

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