Apple-Cinnamon Protein Muffins

You know what's hard? Living in a house with non-ops who have no qualms about eating stuff that would kill me.

Now granted, I love to bake so occasionally I'll bake them a cake or make some biscuits for breakfast but it's rare (a fact that is much complained about in my house...but when I say moderation, I mean moderation!).

But the game has changed, Foodies. Those kids that were so little when I started this blog are now teenagers. One has her own source of income. I believe in letting them make some decisions for themselves so while I can pout all I want to about junk they buy, so long as it's not all day, every day, I pretty much let it go (those with teenagers can attest that choosing one's battles at this point is essential!)

Why do I tell you this? Because I ramble a lot. Because their latest junk acquisition (in this instance huge blueberry muffins...with the large-granule sugar on top!) prompted me to take action. I can't eat that kind of stuff. Either I'll dump or I will have a bad blood sugar drop. It's taken nearly 7 years, but even my food addicted brain doesn't want either to happen so I try to avoid stuff like that.

Instead, I whipped out my copy of "The Bariatric Foodie Breakfast Book" and made these instead. Now this is a slight departure from the recipe in the book (I played with my food!), but the book has a bunch of protein muffin recipes. Way better choices than the sugar-topped muffins (or at least I'll keep telling myself that...).

Nik's Apple Cinnamon Protein Muffins

Dry Ingredients:

• 1 c. oat flour (I'll explain that in a minute)
• 1/2 c. soy flour (almond flour works too if you don't want to do soy but it will affect the protein count)
• 1/2 c. vanilla protein powder of your choosing (I used this)
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt

Wet Ingredients

• 1 very large apple (I used a Honeycrisp but any large, sweet baking apple will do), grated
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• Sweetener of your choice equivalent to 1.25 c. sugar (I use Splenda which measures 1:1 with sugar, be sure to check your favorite sweetener! Btw, the Bariatric Foodie Breakfast Book also includes a complete conversion chart for all the major kinds of sugar substitutes.)
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. nutmeg
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• 1/4 c. milk 

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. 

If you have oat flour on hand, great. If not, it's easy to make. Put a cup of quick oats in a blender and whiz until flour happens! Put that in a bowl and add the rest of the dry ingredients and then whisk them together. 

In another bowl combine your grated apple with the rest of the wet ingredients and stir to combine. 

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix. It will seem as if there's not enough wet stuff there but just keep mixing. It will all coat, I promise!

After it's all coated, it should be pretty thick. Add the milk and then stir. That loosens it up a little bit (it'll be about the consistency of cooked oatmeal). 

Fill lined cupcake tins (fill them 3/4 of the way). This recipe yielded 16 regular sized muffins for me. You can also do mini-muffins. If you do, report back on how many you get! (Note: yes, they freeze beautifully, just wrap them tightly). 

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a fork comes out clean (or in my case the fork came out with a crumb and not liquid). Allow to cool. You can top them with just about anything. I like either whipped Greek yogurt cream cheese on top or a smear of peanut butter. Nom, nom, nom!

As is the custom, here are the outtake photos of the muffins.

True Fact: I actually am pretty obsessed with the swirliness of things like peanut butter in photos!

This one was good...but I wasn't sure if I was going to present the muffins with the PB so...yeah.

I reduced the size of this one so you can't see, but the photo is not in focus. Plus the glass bowl was way too close to the muffin! #FoodBloggerNeuroses

Now a funny thing happened with these muffins. I set them to cool with four set aside with a note that they were to be photo'd for the blog (in food blogging households effective communication is essential!). The next morning, four of my 16 muffins were gone. The next morning another four. The next morning another four. How 'bout that?

Anyhoo...for more protein muffin recipes than you can shake a spatula at, check out The Bariatric Foodie Breakfast Book, available in hardcopy and Kindle on Amazon

Nik's "Nutty Apple" Protein Baked Oatmeal (or Bars)

There is a phenomenon that us kitchen experimenters know well. It is called the "happy accident." What you see above is a picture of a happy accident.

See...here's the thing. This recipe started as "apples and peanut butter." Cuz I love peanut butter (this is well documented) and I have an abundance of apples. But I realized something in the making of this batch. I like crunch in my baked oatmeal! BUT...I don't like chopped peanuts in stuff. Don't ask me why, I'm weird that way!

So this became a Nutty Apple creation with the inclusion of walnuts, which made more sense in my mind. But then I cooked them just a tad too long. So they firmed up and at first I thought they were too hard, but I stuck them in the fridge anyway, figuring I'd crumble them or something. Well the next day I took them out and the condensation in the fridge had done it's magic and I had...protein oat bars!

But let's start at the beginning. By the way, there are a few protein baked oatmeal posts here on the blog (click around and discover!) but you'll find a LOT more in the Bariatric Foodie Breakfast Book, along with mini-frittatas, omelets, protein muffins and a whole bunch of other breakfasty goodness! Check it out!

Nik's Nutty Apple Protein Baked Oatmeal (or Bars)

Dry Ingredients:

• 1 c. quick oats (Folks have asked about steel cut and regular oats. I do not recommend. Protein cooks FAST. Unless the oats can keep up the texture isn't going to be that great. But I welcome you to prove me wrong!)
• 3 scoops of either vanilla or unflavored protein powder (I used this unflavored kid)
• A generous pinch of salt
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Wet Ingredients:

• 1.5 c. milk (or, I recently started subbing in a full-container of Premier Protein vanilla for extra protein - woop!) 
• 1/4 c. sugar-free pancake syrup
• 2 eggs, beaten or 1/2 c. Egg Beaters
• 1/4 c. PB2 powdered peanut
• 1/4 c. natural peanut butter (I used Naturally More) NOTE: If you don't have access to a good, healthy peanut butter but DO have PB2, use about 3/4 c. of it. If you have peanut butter but no PB2, use 1/2 c. of the peanut butter.

Chunky Stuff

• 1 small apple (I used a honeycrisp) cut into small cubes
• 1/4 c. chopped walnuts

Directions:

Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees.

Mix all dry ingredients together in a mixing bowl. Set aside.

Mix together all wet ingredients in another bowl. Add to dry ingredients and combine thoroughly.

Add chunky stuff and mix that in well then pour into a casserole dish (mine was 8 x 8) that has been sprayed in non-stick.

For baked oatmeal (soft, but can be cut into squares, just a tad wetter than a cake): Bake for about 15 minutes or until the top is done and edges are set. For oat bars: cook 30 minutes until edges are brown. 

Cool before attempting to slice!

These taste just...lovely. YUM! Now I'm on the fence about which I like better: my Fall Harvest flavor or this one. Hmmm...good thing both are so easy to make so I don't have to decide!

And for more breakfasty goodness than you can shake a shaker bottle at, check out The Bariatric Foodie Breakfast Book. In it you'll find:

- Many more recipes for baked protein oatmeal
- 11 things you never knew you could do with cottage cheese
- A protein-enhanced soft egg scramble perfect for new post-ops
- A make-your-own low-carb/high-protein baking mix
- Un-Breakfast recipes - just in case eggs/bacon isn't your thing

These recipes were developed with you in mind. The portions are small, the recipes freeze beautifully and they are so delicious your family will want to try them too!

So if you're stuck on what to eat for breakfast after weight-loss surgery, give The Bariatric Foodie Breakfast Book a try!

Available on Kindle and Hard-Copy on Amazon. 

Protein Caramel Apple Salad

Oh Foodies...how I can't wait to move and have a more spacious kitchen so that extension cord is no longer in my food shots!!!



So...it's almost two weeks into the new year. Let's talk sensible sweets, shall we?

I don't know about you but there comes a time, especially after holidays filled with rich food and lots of treats, that I get this strong and instinctual desire for cleaner food.

Such is the case now. I originally made this as a knock-off of something I found at the salad bar at Ruby Tuesday's. But, as some of you may know, I am prone to "very special" blood sugar moments if I have too many of any kind of carbs partying on my plate (or in my bowl, as it were), so I had to figure out a way to anchor this goodness with some protein!

I'm going to give you two versions of this recipe: a "just for me" version that will yield about 2-3 small servings and a "shareable" version that will yield 3-4 normal-sized portions. For newbies and those who just want to give it a whirl, go with the former. If you have a family who might be interested, go with the bigger recipe!

Nik's Protein Caramel Apple Salad

"Just for Me" Version:

1/2 a sweet apple, diced however small you want it (I used a Pink Lady)
1/2 a tart apple, diced however small you want it
1/2 a just ripe banana, cut into half-circle shapes
1/4 c. unflavored Greek yogurt
1 heaping tablespoon vanilla protein powder
1 tbsp sugar-free caramel syrup
1 tbsp no-calorie sweetener
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp lemon juice
1 heaping tablespoon whatever nuts you like (I used sliced almonds, but walnut pieces might also be nice)

"Shareable Version"

1 whole sweet apple, diced
1 whole tart apple, diced
1 whole ripe banana, sliced into half-circles
6 oz. container unflavored Greek yogurt
1 scoop vanilla protein powder
3 tbsp sugar-free caramel syrup
2 tbsp no-calorie sweetener
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp lemon juice
1 oz. whatever nuts you like

Directions:

Combine apples and bananas in a large bowl.

In a separate bowl, combine protein powder and caramel syrup until a paste forms (if it's too dry, add a tiny bit more syrup but the paste is important so you don't get protein powder chunks in your final product).

To that, add your yogurt, sweetener, lemon juice and cinnamon.

Add to apple/banana mixture and toss lightly. Refrigerate until ready to use.

If desired, toast nuts in a dry pan for about 2 minutes before adding to the top of your salad.

This is especially good if you make it the night before. The flavors really set in and it is GOOD!

What are you guys eating to recover from the holidays?