Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

So Kris and I are getting ready to move back to Colorado in a few weeks and were trying to plan out meals for what we would like to eat from now until we leave. We sat down and decided on a few of our favorite recipes. All of the meals we decided on you can make up ahead of time and freeze for later. Then, when you are hungry and don't feel like cooking, you can just warm them up on the stove.

Basically, we spent the whole day Saturday shopping, cooking, and waiting for stuff to cool so we could put it away. We ended up making about 25 meals for us (or 50 servings) of food that we can eat from now until we leave. We were both pretty exhausted by the end of the day, but are thrilled that we won't have to really cook again before we leave unless we want to.

Why do I share this all with you? Because cooking can be healthy, cheap, tasty, and fast when you plan ahead and use fresh, nutrient rich ingredients. I have been saying that I will share two of my soup recipes for awhile and after our cooking extravaganza on Saturday, I am finally ready to release one!

This homemade grandma-style chicken noodle soup is amazing! You make everything from scratch, even the stock and the noodles. It's also really easy to make, and goes a long way. Like many soup recipes, it is very versatile and you can make it with different consistencies, flavors, and vegetables. With the cold weather starting to creep in, and with it colds, coughs, and stuffy noses, this recipe is definitely a good one to hang on to for those chilly winter nights when you just want to curl up under a blanket and get warm and cozy. I hope that you will love this recipe just as much as I do. Enjoy!

*Parts of this recipe are adapted from Tyler Florence's Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe.
Ingredients:
Makes 14, 1 & 1/2 Cup Servings

Stock:

• 1 Whole Chicken (free-range)
• 3 Stalks Celery (cut into large chunks)
• 2 Carrot Green Tops
• 2 Carrots (cut into large chunks)
• 2 Large White Onions (quartered, still attached to the root)
• 1 Medium Turnip (quartered)
• 1 Head of Garlic (cut in half)
• 1/4 Bunch Fresh Thyme
• 5-7 Sprigs Fresh Parsley
• 2 Bay Leaves
• 1 tsp Whole Black Peppercorns

Soup:

• Lug of Extra Virgin Olive Oil  
• 1 Medium Onion (chopped)
• 3 Garlic Cloves (minced)
• 2 Carrots (chopped to desired size)
• 3 Stalks of Celery (chopped to desired size)
• 4 Sprigs of Fresh Thyme (leaves only)
• 1 Bay Leaf
• *Shredded Chicken from Stock*
• *Stock made previously*
• *Egg Noodles* (recipe follows)

Egg Noodles:

• 2 Cups Flour
• 3 Egg Yolks
• 1 Egg
• 2 tsp Salt
• 1/4-1/2 Cup Water

Directions for the Stock: 

1. Place whole chicken (minus the giblets) in a large stock pot along with the rest of the vegetables on the stove on medium high heat.
2. Pour only enough water in to cover up the chicken and vegetables (about 2 & 1/2 - 3 quarts).
3. Add the thyme, parsley, bay leaves, and peppercorns and bring to a boil. 
4. Once it boils, turn the heat down to medium-low and gently simmer for 1 & 1/2 hours, partially covered, until the chicken is fully cooked.
5. Remove the chicken to the cutting board and once it cools remove the skin and bones and shred the meat. Set the shredded meat to the side to use later.
6. Strain the stock and remove the vegetables, then set them to the side in a separate bowl.
7. Let stock cool and skim the fat off the surface then set the stock to the side.
8. Remove the root from the onions and puree onions, carrots, carrot tops, turnip, and celery in a blender or food processor.
9. Add pureed vegetables back into the stock; whisk together and set aside for later. 

Directions for the Egg Noodles:

1. Place flour in a bowl, then, after making a well in the center, add in the egg yolks, egg and salt.
2. Thoroughly mix with hands.
3. Add the water in 1 Tbsp at a time, mixing after each addition. 
4. Stop adding water when you can roll the dough into a ball. 
5. On a floured surface, knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic (about 10 minutes)
6. Cover and let it rest for 10 minutes.
7. Divide into 4 equal parts.
8. Using one part at a time, roll dough into a paper-thin rectangle. Keep remaining dough covered.
9. Gently and loosely, roll rectangle into a spiral. Cut to desired thickness and unroll. 
10. Place strips to dry on a towel or wax paper. This will usually take about 2 hours. 
11. Break the strips into small strips when dry. 
12. Cook in boiling water with salt added for about 15-20 minutes until tender. Drain, then add to soup when soup is finished.

Directions for the Soup:

1. In a stock pot, add oil and wait for it to heat. When heated, add in the onion, garlic, celery, carrots, thyme, and bay leaf. 
2. Cook and stir until vegetables are tender (about 6 minutes).
3. Pour in the chicken stock and bring to a boil. 
4. Add in the shredded chicken and simmer for another few minutes to bring to the same temperature. 
5. (If you are going to serve all of the soup at once, stir in the already cooked egg noodles and cook for another minute or so)
6. Separate into equal servings. Salt and pepper to taste and sprinkle with fresh parsley. 
7. (If freezing remaining soup, separate into freezer safe Tupperware to cool before placing in freezer. To defrost, simply place soup in a pot on the stove and add a little bit of water until it is the right consistency. When warm, and noodles are cooked, add the noodles into the soup). 

 Nutrition Facts (with noodles, per serving):

• Calories: 350
• Total Fat: 20 grams
• Sodium: 796 mg
• Potassium: 189 mg
• Sugars: 3 grams
• Protein: 21.2 grams
• Vitamin A: 51.4%
• Vitamin C: 16%
• Calcium: 3%
• Copper: 4%
• Folate: 5.5%
• Iron: 13%
• Magnesium: 4%
• Manganese: 10%
• Phosphorus: 4.5%
• Selenium: 12%

 What it Costs:

• Total cost is somewhere between 13-15 dollars.
• When you divide this by how many servings you get (14), it's about 1 dollar per serving. Definitely a lot cheaper than a frozen dinner or fast food.

Tips and Tricks

•  When making the egg noodles, don't just throw away the egg whites from the yolks you have to use. Save the egg whites in a bowl in the fridge and use them to make my healthy and tasty bran muffins. Here is the recipe: Michelle's Healthy and Tasty Bran Muffins
• The reason I don't add the noodles into the soup when I cook it is because we freeze all but two servings of the soup (which we eat right away). The noodles will get soggy if they are cooked, frozen and reheated again. The easiest thing to do is to cook as many noodles as you need per serving separately, and then add them into the reheated soup. This will keep the noodles from getting soggy, and will also make sure that you get the right amount of noodles in your serving of soup.  
• While the stock is cooking you can make your noodles. Don't worry, if they're not dry by the time you need to boil them, you will still be able to cook them the same way. Just be sure to wait for the remaining noodles to dry before you put them away in a bag to store them.
• The stock and soup are very versatile. You can add whatever else in that you want to make it taste the way you like it. The essentials for any chicken stock however are chicken, carrots, celery, onion, garlic, spices, and herbs. So while you can add other things to the stock, I wouldn't recommend removing any of these ingredients from it or else it will loose its flavor. 
• You do not have to puree the left over vegetables from the stock if you do not wish to do so. Pureeing the vegetables adds A LOT more flavor to the stock though, so I would highly recommend it. You can also play around with how much of the vegetables you want to puree and which ones to give it a different consistency and flavor. 
• You can also use rice instead of noodles to make it healthier. About half of the time we eat this soup I will make up some brown rice to toss in.
• As always, it is much better to buy organic vegetables if you can get them.

Why it is Healthy:

• For one, you are cooking from scratch and it is pretty hard to beat that. Everything from the stock to the noodles, you will be creating yourself. This way you can know for sure what you have put in it, and how much of what you have put in it. 
• You get to develop the flavors of the chicken naturally and cook it in a healthy way. By boiling the chicken with vegetables and letting it sit in its own juices instead of cooking it with oil in a frying pan, it becomes less fatty.
• This recipe uses a ton of vegetables that are terrific for you. If you make the recipe just as I have written it you will be getting carrots, carrot greens, turnip, onions, celery, parsley and thyme. You are getting them directly in the soup, but also in the stock and the puree if you add it to the stock. This bowl of soup is packed full of nutrients. Especially in the winter, this soup can help keep you healthy!
• Carrots are great because they are high in carotenoids and as such have many different health benefits. High carotenoid intake has been associated with a decrease of up to 50 percent in bladder, cervix, prostate, colon, larynx, and esophageal cancer as well as up to a 20 percent decrease on postmenopausal breast cancer. Carrots are also good for your eyes because they have the carotenoids lutein and zeaxanthin which can prevent cataracts and keep your eyes from degenerating. These carotenoids also break down to vitamin A in the body which is an antioxidant and immune system booster and can also help you see better in dim lighting. By adding the carrot greens to the puree you probably won't be able to taste them but you will get the potassium and protein they provide. 
• Celery is good because it helps lower high blood pressure. It also contains silicon which is good for bone health. Celery can also help stop the growth of cancer cells.
• Onions help to build strong bones and can reduce death from heart disease by 20%. It can also help relieve asthma.
• Turnips are an incredibly healthy vegetable. One cup of cooked turnips only has 35 calories but has 3 grams of fiber, 250 mg of potassium, 18 mg of vitamin C, and 51 mg of calcium. As such they are very good for bone health. 
• Garlic lowers cholesterol and prevents blood clots. Garlic also has anti-cancer properties and can even help fight the common cold. Also, it can help with blood pressure. It has recently been discovered that garlic can help with weight control. 
• Parsley can help fight cancer.
• Thyme contains antioxidants as well as aids with digestion. It can even relieve chest and respiratory problems like coughs or bronchitis.
• Most of the information regarding the vegetables and herbs was taken from The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth by Jonny Bowden.

Well, that's my recipe for today. I hope that you enjoy it. Please feel free to comment with any questions and I will be happy to answer them. Also, "like" the Tummy Temple on Facebook here:
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As always, thanks for reading and eating along with me!

What's Stopping You?

I have been working on writing down two soup recipes that I have come to really love this time of year when it starts getting cold. They are both homemade. One is chicken noodle soup, and the other is chicken tortilla soup. I haven't had the time to get them finished this week and I really wanted to write something for today so I just thought I would start here.

Making Homemade Tomato Sauce-March 2011

The journey towards healthy eating for Kris and I started about a year ago. This was when we made the conscious decision to start eating better so we could loose weight. The real journey towards healthy eating actually did not begin until about three months later though. Kris and I originally just wanted to loose weight, but we were unwilling to make the big changes we needed to make to just be healthy. And as anyone can probably deduce, loosing weight does not necessarily mean you are healthy.

Steak 'n Shake-Fall 2008

There were many things standing in my way to being healthy. One was that I didn't want to give up fast food. I love french fries and a good cheeseburger. Fast food is also, well, fast and sometimes just easier than cooking. It took me awhile before I started learning about how dangerous and harmful to your body fast food can actually be. From the way meat is processed to disease and e-coli, the fast food industry has no respect for food. For more on this check out my previous blog post on the film, Food, Inc. When I realized that the food I was eating wasn't just bad for me because it was fatty, but that it could have lasting effects that could shorten my life, I knew I had to stop. It took awhile for me to cut it out completely, but I finally did it. I remember about a month after I had stopped eating fast food, Kris and I got some chicken nuggets from a fast food restaurant and were up sick all night. So . . . I guess that's what fast food does to a digestive system that hasn't built up a tolerance to it anymore. Kind of disgusting. We also started making soups and other meals from scratch and freezing them. Now, when we are hungry and don't feel like cooking, we just heat it up on the stove. It takes about the same amount of time to drive to the restaurant, order, and drive home (the soup recipes that I am hoping to post soon are great to freeze!)

Making Chicken Stock From Scratch-November 2011

Another reason that I didn't want to make big changes in my life to start eating healthy is that I was afraid I would be giving up flavor. I didn't want to eat lettuce and bland food all the time. I wanted food that was still tasty and would not just be something I had to eat, but something I wanted to eat. After learning a little bit about cooking healthier and using fresh ingredients, I realized that the natural flavors I could develop from say, making a homemade chicken stock, were way more delicious than the artificial chicken flavor of chicken nuggets. There really is no comparison.

I also thought that cooking would be too much work. I didn't always have the time or would be too tired. Well like I said, on my days off I started making up big batches of meals that Kris and I like to eat and then froze them. You don't have to sacrifice fresh for fast. You can have both if you prepare ahead of time.

Perhaps the biggest reason though why I didn't start eating healthier sooner was ignorance. I didn't know enough about the food industry to make good decisions about what I bought. I thought that if a food said it was good for you on the package it probably was. Or because it had less fat or less calories, it would help me loose weight. Being more concerned about loosing weight than being healthy is really not solving any problems. The food industry has placed a veil over the food that is produced and sent to our stores and restaurants. Instead of feeding us food that will make us healthy and keep us from getting sick, they feed us lies and myths. Take a look at the things that are supposed to be the "better" alternative for us. You know that whipped topping that comes in those tubs instead of cans? Take a good look at the ingredient list-it's whipped oil. How can that be good?

I guess I used to think that eating healthier just wasn't for me. It was a luxury. It wasn't necessary. It was for those health nut hippies. The list goes on and on. Excuse after excuse after excuse.

Then, when I finally started doing the research about eating healthier I was shocked and appalled. Then saddened. I learned that by eating fast food and a lot of the artificial foods I had been eating I was putting myself at risk for far more than just being overweight. As I read through book after book my curiosity only grew. I learned about how most kinds of fruits and vegetables can help prevent different kinds of cancer, extend your life, prevent heart disease and heart attacks, improve brain function and give you more energy. On the flip side, I learned how other foods like artificial sweetener for example can cause brain problems and even blindness. Foods that aren't healthy can put you at a high risk for heart attack and other diseases.

The cost of not eating healthy really is your life, or at least the quality of it. As a young woman, I may not have to worry about many of these things right now, but if I would have continued to eat the way I had been, I would have had to one day. I also realized that even if I didn't care about my own health, I certainly cared about the health of the children Kris and I will have one day hopefully. I want to live to see my grandchildren and be able to play with them.

That is why I started this blog. I don't feel like food is talked about enough anymore. Part of it is that I am a Christian, and among all of the stupid things people who share my faith have fought over, we never talk about what we put in our bodies. Sure the red flag goes up if someone says a swear word, but there is no accountability as to what we choose to eat on a regular basis. Part of my belief is that God wants us to be healthy. Being healthy positively affects all other aspects of our lives-physically, socially, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. It is because God loves us, that I know he wants better from us. Even if you don't believe in God, you should want better for you.

So my question for you is: what's stopping you? What are you letting stand in the way of a better, more abundant life? And what is the cost of letting it stop you?

I didn't start eating healthy to try and loose weight, but I did. I have lost 20 pounds so far, and am still working at it. But the main point is that I feel loads better and I have felt the quality of my life improve. That's my story:

 July, 2011

 September 2011

I've shared my story with you all, now, to end this post I would like to share a story from the wonderful book Eat This and Live by Don Colbert about one of his patients. I hope that the story will give some life to what I have been (probably very poorly) trying to say. As always thanks for reading and eating along with me!

Sue's Story

"A patient of mine named Sue had been overweight all of her life. Every year as I performed her physical exam, I would recommend weight loss and an exercise program.

At age forty-five, Sue was 5 feet 2 inches, and her weight had climbed to 300 pounds. At her exam that year, after diagnosing her with hypertension, high cholesterol, and type 2 diabetes, I repeated my recommendations for weight loss and exercise.

Sue laughed and said, 'My whole family is fat. My dad is fat and he is alive, my mom is fat and she's alive, and my brother and sister are fat and they are alive. Just give me my meds, because I'm sure not going to give up my ice cream each evening, my Krispy Kreme doughnuts every morning, or my burgers, pizza, fried chicken, french fries, and Coke. Besides, I just love to eat.'

A few months after that physical, Sue suffered a massive heart attack and almost died. She had a quadruple bypass and found herself lying in the hospital with all sorts of tubes coming out of her body. AFter getting out of the hospital, Sue followed up with me in my office. She said that the pain and possibility of dying and not seeing her three children grow up were not worth the pleasure of eating ice cream, doughnuts, or fast foods.

Nearly dying was a wake-up call for Sue to change her bad habits. She lost 150 pountds-that's half her body weight-in two years and now weights 150 pounds. She weighs herself every day, and if she gains one or two pounds, she loses them by modifying her diet and activities.

You do not have to wait for a near-death experience like Sue's to serve as your wake-up call; you can start taking your health more seriously right now. The same choice God have His people centuries ago is yours to make today: 'I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendents may live' (Deut. 30:19)"

Marvelous Mini Apple Pies!

Okay, let me just say it, I love Fall! I love the weather, the pretty leaves, snuggling up under a blanket with a cup of tea and watching a movie, and most of all . . .the food! Some of the best food memories I have are from this season: pumpkin pie, pumpkin spice coffee, pumpkin bread, pumpkin anything, chili, chicken tortilla soup, apple cider, and especially apple pie. 


Autumn is the season for apples! And there's so many different kinds of them too: granny smith, gala, golden delicious, honey crisp, fuji, etc. Apples are a great ingredient to use in cooking for many different reasons. 1) They are extremely versatile. You can use them in all different kinds of dishes-savory or sweet, appetizer, dessert or entree. Apples can bring a lot of flavor to any meal, especially because they are naturally sweet. 2) Right now they are fairly inexpensive because they are in season so there is an abundance of them. During autumn you will see a wide variety of apples on sale at your local grocery store. 3) Apples are incredibly good for you.

Apples are high in fiber (5 grams per serving) which is a huge plus (see previous post on fiber) and they can also give you energy. Many people suggest eating an apple first thing in the morning because it will wake you up. Apples also contain a lot of antioxidant power which means they help you not to get sick as frequently! It's pretty cool that God allows apples to be in season in the fall when it seems like everyone gets sick. In addition, they contain compounds that help prevent the risk of heart attacks, cancer, and cardiovasular problems. Apples contain a mineral called boron which helps to build bones and prevent osteoporosis. Self magazine posted an article recently about the best fall foods that will help prevent gaining weight in the winter. Apples topped the list. They said that eating an apple three times a day may contribute to weight loss. Here is the article if you want to read more: 5 Fall Foods that Prevent Winter Weight Gain

So why apple pie? Well, I love apples, and I love pie. Simple! The only problem is that most of the pies you can buy frozen at the store are really, really bad for you. Usually high in calories and saturated fat, these pies use lots of sugar and other added chemical ingredients that just don't need to be ingested. Thus, on Tuesday, I was thinking I would make one from scratch using only the basic ingredients. Unfortunately, I still don't have my own pie pan so I was sorely disappointed. After a few minutes of moping around trying to decide on a dessert I could make for the week, I saw my muffin tin and realized I could probably make mini apple pie desserts. I did some research, adapted a few apple pie recipes, and voila! I give you my recipe for my marvelous mini apple pies!

Here is the simple, very easy recipe if you ever want to try them yourself:

Ingredients:
Makes 12 Mini Pies

Crust:

• 2 cups flour
• 2/3 cup chilled butter
• 1 tsp salt
• 4 Tbsp water

Filling:

• 3 medium apples (peeled and chopped into small, bite-size pieces)
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp nutmeg
• 3 Tbsp flour
• 2 Tbsp chilled butter

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Get muffin pan out but don't grease it. 
2. Blend flour, salt and butter until it starts sticking together and clumping.
3. Add in water and blend until it looks like it's sticking.
4. If needed, take the dough out and combine by hand until well blended. 
5. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out until it's about a 1/4 inch thick.
6. Cut 12, 4-inch circles with either a cup or bowl (dough will be rolled out 2x).
7. Set reserve dough aside for later.
8. Press each circle into the muffin tins so that they go up each side making a bowl. 
9. Mix all the filling ingredients, minus the butter, together by hand. 
10. Spoon filling into muffin bowls. 
11. Cut up the 2 Tbsp of butter into 12 little slivers and place on top of each pie. 
12. You can use the reserve dough to do a lattice on top or leave them open (see tips below).
13. If you've covered your pies with dough, sprinkle some turbinado (natural cane sugar) on top. 
14. Bake at 425 degrees for 16-18 minutes, or until the crust is light brown and apples are bubbling. 
15. Let cool, then wiggle them around to loosen, and use a spoon or spatula to get them out!
16. Enjoy your very delicious, and very cute mini apple pies!

Tips:

• Doing a lattice on top of the pies is actually very easy. This was the first time I have ever done one, and was wary at first, but I was blown away just by how easy it really was. On my pies I used 6 little strips on each pie-2 long pieces, which should be the length of the diameter of the top of your muffin tins, and 4 shorter pieces for the sides. You can play around with how wide you want your strips to be. I did ours pretty thin. To start, place the to long pieces across the top of the pie in the shape of a cross. Then with the shorter pieces, 2 on each side, weave them in and out across the already crossed pieces and each other. For a better description go here: How to Lattice

• Sprinkling the turbinado sugar on top of the pies is not necessary, but if you do a lattice or anything else on the top of the pies, it makes them look really pretty when they come out of the oven and gives it a little something extra. 

• To get the sugar to stick better, melt a couple table spoons of butter and lightly brush it onto the top of the dough before you sprinkle the sugar on. this will also help the dough brown up better. 
• It's probably best to refrigerate them after they are cooled so they won't go bad, but don't reheat them in the microwave. They will loose most of the nutrients from the apples if you do this. Instead, heat them up in the oven at 400 degrees on a cookie sheet for a few minutes until they feel warm again. 

Nutrition Facts:

Serving Size: 1 Pie

• Calories: 213
• Total Fat: 10 grams
• Potassium 65 mg
• Fiber: 1 gram
• Sugar: 11 grams
• Protein: 2.4 grams
• Vitamin A: 6.6%
• Vitamin C: 3.4%
• Folate: 7.7%
• Iron: 5.8%
• Niacin: 6%
• Riboflavin: 5%
• Thiamin: 8%

Clearly, these are not as good for you as my bran muffins were, but for a dessert, they are great comparably. Though I wouldn't suggest having one everyday, as long as you watch your fat and sugar intake throughout your day,  one of these little pies will be a great way to top off a delicious fall dinner! Using fresh, delicious apples sure makes dessert a lot better.

If you attempt to make them, comment and let me know how they turn out! Also, if you have any suggestions on how to make this recipe better or have any other great apple recipes please let me know!

Well that's all for today folks! As always, thanks for reading and eating along with me!

Michelle's Healthy and Tasty Bran Muffins

For some reason I haven't been able to get the idea of making bran muffins out of my head all week! I was looking for something new and healthy that I could eat as a quick breakfast in the morning so I decided to try my hand at making some bran muffins that would taste good and would also be nutritious.

If you read my blog for long enough you will probably come to learn that making food "not bad for you" is just not good enough for me. I firmly believe (with a few exceptions of course) that everything we put in our mouths should be something our body can use to benefit us and make us feel great! These bran muffins are very good for you for several reasons that I will explain more below. Not only that, but they are stinkin' delicious and incredibly moist! Here is the recipe if you ever want to try it. Feel free to edit and adjust this as well as you see fit:

Ingredients:
Makes 12 muffins 

• 1 & 1/2 Cups Wheat Bran
• 1 Cup Buttermilk
• 1/3 Cup Unsweetened Applesauce 
• 2 Egg Whites
• 2/3 Cup Brown Sugar
• 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 3/4 Cup All-Purpose Flour
• 1/4 Cup Ground Flax Seed
• 1 tsp Baking Soda
• 1 tsp Baking Powder
• 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp Nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 1/2 Cup Raisins
• 1/2 Cup Shredded Carrots

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and grease muffin cups or line with paper liners.
2. Mix together the buttermilk and oat bran. Let stand for 10 minutes.
3. Beat together the eggs, applesauce, vanilla, and brown sugar. Then add it to the wheat bran mixture. Add the carrots.
4. Sift together the flour, flax seed, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Stir the flour mixture into the wheat bran mixture just until it's blended.
5. Gently fold in the raisins.
6. Spoon batter into the muffin tins. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until you can put a toothpick in the center of a muffin and it comes out clean. 

Tips:

• To make the raisins plump and more moist before you bake them into your muffins, put them in a bowl and pour some boiling water on top of them. Let them steep for 5-10 minutes, then drain them. They will be much tastier and juicier in your muffins!
• If you don't have buttermilk, or don't want to pay for it, you can make it yourself. Simply put 1 tablespoon of white vinegar in a measuring cup, and fill up to the line with milk. Wait 10 minutes and you will have a buttermilk substitute! (This is usually what I do when I bake).
• I toasted a half cup of my wheat bran in the oven to give it a more nutty taste. To do this place some wheat bran on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 5-10 minutes or until it is golden brown. 
• If you like the idea of toasting the wheat bran you might like to toast a little extra to sprinkle on top of the muffins right before they go in the oven. This is what I did and it turned out great and made them look pretty too. 
• I lightly brushed some honey on my muffins right when they came out of the oven to give them a little something extra. It really finishes them off.
• I used raisins but you don't have to. You can also add chopped nuts if you would like. 

Substitutions:

• I substituted applesauce for oil. You can do this in lots of other baking recipes too. The applesauce will make the bread more moist as well as making it healthier overall. Just make sure it is unsweetened applesauce or you will be missing the point.
• I used two egg whites instead of one egg to make it a bit healthier.
• Carrots are not required for this recipe so if it weirds you out, you don't have to use it. If you want a more appley-taste you can add shredded apples instead. 
• I used 1/4 cup of milled flax seed instead of using all flour to add more fiber. If you don't use flax seed you can just use 1 cup of flour. Also, you can use whole wheat flour as well to make it even healthier. I didn't have any on hand so I just used unbleached all purpose flour and flax seed.
• I had thought about using agave nectar in place of the brown sugar. Agave is much better for you than granulated sugars. You can do this if you want. The conversion rate is 1 cup of brown sugar=2/3 cup of agave nectar. Also be sure to reduce all other liquids by a 1/4 cup since you will be introducing more liquid into the equation.
• If you can't find wheat bran at the store (often it is in the organic section) you can use other kinds of bran such as oat bran.  

 Nutrition Facts: 
Serving Size: 1 muffin

• Calories: 126
• Total Fat: 0.8 grams
• Fiber: 4 grams
• Sugar: 21 grams
• Protein: 3.7 grams
• Vitamin A: 25.8%
• Vitamin B-6: 6%
• Calcium: 7%
• Copper: 7%
• Iron: 9%
• Magnesium: 12.8%
• Manganese: 46%
• Niacin: 8%
• Phosphorus: 10%
• Riboflavin: 5%
• Selenium: 9%
• Thiamin: 6%

*Calculated using Spark Recipes Online

Why are they so good for you?

• Lots of fiber! Bran is full of fiber and is something Americans desperately need in their diets. I wasn't really sure what bran was until very recently. In case you don't know, it is the hard outer shell of wheat (in wheat of course). When bread is made, it is taken out of the shell (which contains most of the nutrients) and is often processed and broken down even further causing it to lose much of its nutrients. No wonder we are not getting enough fiber! 9 out of 10 Americans do not get the fiber they need. The flax seed also contributes substantially to the fiber intake. To learn about the benefits of fiber read my previous blog post about fiber. 
• Low fat, low calories
• Carrots are really good for your eyes. Carrots contain two carotenoids called lutein and zeaxanthin that work together to keep your eyes from degenerating. Carrots also contain lots of Vitamin A that is a great anti-oxidant and immune system booster. Furthermore, high carotenoid intake has been associated with a lesser risk of having many different kinds of cancers. Vitamin A also helps you have better skin and helps in the formation of bones and teeth.
• Using unsweetened applesauce instead of oil is huge. Not only do you eliminate oil from the equation, but you add in apples which are very good for you and also high in fiber. They have lots of anti-oxidants in them and can also help prevent certain types of cancer.
• Using egg whites instead of egg yolks cuts down on cholesterol as well as fat. 
• Making your own buttermilk also cuts down on fat. 

I hope you enjoyed reading this recipe and I hope if you decide to make it you will like it just as much as I did! As always, thanks for reading and eating along with me!

Here is a picture of the finished product: