Category: Diet

Corn and Blueberry Muffins

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Corn and Blueberry Muffins

  • Servings: 12 muffins
  • Difficulty: Easy
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Who doesn’t like blueberry muffins? If you are diabetic, you are allowed between 10-25 grams of carbs per snack. Depending how well you have been doing all day. This is at the high end of 26. It can be treat on a day you have been doing well. For calorie conscious it is only 158 calories per muffin. If you calculate that a standard fast food muffin contains an average of 400 calories, this is a good alternative.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup buttermilk (low fat) see below if you can’t find any at grocery store
  • 1 1/2 cup of all purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup of corn meal
  • 6 tbsp of sugar
  • 1 1/2 tsp of baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp of baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp of salt
  • 1 1/2 cup of fresh or frozen blueberries
  • 3 tbsp of canola or vegetable oil
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tbsp of grated lemon zest (approx. 2 lemons)

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line muffin tin with either paper liners or silicone liners
  2. Whisk flour, cornmeal, 5 of the tablespoons of sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Gently incorporate the blueberries.
  3. In a separate bowl, whisk, buttermilk, oil, egg and lemon zest together.
  4. Add to the dry ingredients gently, just enough to mix and wet the dry ingredients. Do not over beat as you will release too much of the gluten and they muffins will become heavy.
  5. Using an ice-cream scoop (I love this trick) scoop into a lined muffin tin. Should fill just about to the top. Sprinkle remaining tablespoon of sugar over top of muffins
  6. Place in preheated oven for 15-20 minutes, until cake tester comes out clean. Let stand for 15 minutes

Nutrition Per Serving, 1 muffin

  • Calories 158
  • Sugar 19 g
  • Carbohydrates 26 g
  • Protein 3 g
  • Fiber 1 g
  • Fat 4 g


If you can not find low fat buttermilk use 1 cup of skim milk and 1 tablespoon of white vinegar. This will make the milk sour but it is a good a replacement for buttermilk. I do this all the time.

You can serve them with butter, jam, or peanut butter. Personally I prefer them plain. But they are your muffins so remember to have fun and make it your own.

Oatmeal Carrot Muffins

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Oatmeal Carrot Muffins

  • Servings: 12
  • Difficulty: Easy
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I can not take credit for this recipe. This is a variation from John Ashlie, and Anne Lindsay made it her own and now I have adapted it slightly here.

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Ingredients

  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • 1 cup quick-cooking rolled oats
  • 1/2 cup grated carrots
  • 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup margarine melted
  • 1 egg slightly beaten
  • 1 tsp grated orange rind
  • 1 cup all purpose flour
  • 1/4 granulated sugar
  • 1 tbsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 baking soda
  • 3/4 cup raisins
  • 1 tsp of cinnamon

Directions

  1. In a large bowl, pour buttermilk over oats, stir to mix. Cover and left stand for 2 hours or refrigerate overnight.
  2. Mix together carrots, brown sugar, margarine egg and orange rind: stir into oat mixture.
  3. Sift together flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, baking soda; stir in raisins. Stir until batter is moistened.
  4. Using an ice-cream scoop (I love this trick) scoop into a lined muffin tin. Should fill just about to the top.
  5. Place in preheated oven at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes, until cake tester comes out clean. Let stand for 2 minutes

Nutrition Per Serving

  • Calories 145
  • Sugar 13.8 g
  • Carbohydrates 30 g
  • Protein 3.3 g
  • Fiber 1.6 g
  • Fat 1.4 g

These muffins are moist, delicious, healthy and light. What more could we ask for. I like dark raisins but if you prefer the light those are good too. I added some time in the preparation due to the grating of the carrots. 1 large carrot should do it.
Play with the spices, and remember to have fun and make it your own.

Weight management

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There are many reasons for weight management, health being the primary reason. Let’s face it, one of the reasons is vanity. No one likes looking in the mirror and seeing those extra pounds just hanging around. No one likes taking out their favourite outfit and it’s just too snug or doesn’t fit at all.

A friend of mine had a close call with her diabetes, which reinforced the fact that we must maintain a healthy weight with a healthy diet and exercise. It made me look in the mirror and admit that I have quite a few pounds to lose myself.

We all know some of the downfalls of being overweight. Diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, gallbladder disease, arthritis, joint problems, sleep disorders, menstrual issues and fertility issues. That is beside the emotional well-being of ourselves.

Losing weight is all about a lifestyle change. Eating better, leaner, smaller portions, healthy snacks, and of course being active.

A diet that takes away any of the essentials foods can not be healthy. I’m not a doctor, nor do I claim to be one, but telling me I can’t eat something makes me think I will want it. I like my carbs, take them away, I will lose the 10 or 20 lbs in a short time but the minute I reach that goal, I will sit there in front of a large plate of pasta, with a cream sauce, and have a chocolate molten cake for dessert. Within a few months to a year, I will put that weight back on.

I believe that anything in moderation is fine. I had been followed by a nutritionist a while back and her main thing was portion control and healthy choices. I succeeded at that time losing 75 lbs. Over the last decade I’ve put 40 of those lbs back on. Foods a little richer, portions got a little bigger. Time to get back on track.

For a while, most of the recipes that will be posted will be fat reduced, healthy and tasty. This is no way means, boring, dull, unflavourful, tasteless meals, and no treats. Quite the opposite, let us have fun and make this our own.