Healthy Junk

With Ronnie training for the marathon, we are really focusing on eating right.  Every calorie counts, right?  It's a constant battle choosing the healthier alternative; part of me, I call it my "inner fat-girl" can't help but need junk and sweets.  Snacks are my particular weakness.  Plus I have kids now who need to snack.  What's a mom to do?   Well, I've taken to some of my favorite healthy eating websites to inspire me, and make that battle less of a struggle.

The other day I was searching for things to eat before and after a workout.  If I need a snack in the afternoon because I'm heading for a run, I want it to be a nutritional powerhouse.  Again, every calorie counts.  I hit paydirt on the Cooking Light website with an article on fitness-friendly snacks and a recipe for Peanut Butter and Jelly muffins.  Seriously, just reading the recipe made me salivate, and after I reviewed the recipe with Ronnie, we decided to give it a try. I had everything in my pantry already, which is another win in my book. 

The batter came together pretty quickly, and we decided to use grape jelly, orange marmalade and strawberry preserves.  Ronnie was on "clean-up crew" and gave an enthusiastic nod as he licked the bowl clean.  As they baked, it smelled like peanut butter cookies in the house; again bonus for me, because I'm a big fan of peanut butter cookies.    Finally they were out of the oven and cooled enough to eat. 

Oh my - these things are heaven in a muffin tin!  The girls gobbled a grape one up and I chose the orange marmalade to sample.  It's a muffin and PBJ all in one and mine was gone way too quickly!  The only negative I heard from the girls was the jelly was too warm, but that didn't stop them from cleaning their plates.   I highly recommend these to anyone who has a peanut butter fan in their family, and the best part is it's good for you!  

Happy snacking!

 
Peanut Butter and Jelly Muffins     Cooking Light, NOVEMBER 2007



Consider these a breakfast version of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Don't use a natural-style peanut butter in this recipe; it won't have enough sugar or fat to help the muffins rise.

Yield: 1 dozen (serving size: 1 muffin)
1 cup all-purpose flour (about 4 1/2 ounces)
3/4 cup whole wheat flour (about 3 1/2 ounces)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups fat-free milk
1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup egg substitute
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Cooking spray
1/4 cup strawberry jam


DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 400°.

Lightly spoon flours into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flours, sugars, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl; stir with a whisk. Make a well in center of mixture. Combine milk and next 4 ingredients (through vanilla); add to flour mixture, stirring just until moist.

Spoon batter into 12 muffin cups coated with cooking spray. Fill each cup half full with batter. Spoon 1 teaspoon jam into each cup. Spoon remaining batter on top to cover jam. Bake at 400° for 20 minutes or until muffins spring back when touched lightly in center. Let cool in pan 5 minutes. Remove from pan, and cool on a wire rack.

CALORIES 185 (28% from fat); FAT 5.8g (sat 2g,mono 2.3g,poly 1.2g); IRON 1.2mg; CHOLESTEROL 5.6mg; CALCIUM 113mg; CARBOHYDRATE 29.4g; SODIUM 288mg; PROTEIN 5.2g; FIBER 1.6g