G-F Blueberry Quinoa Muffins

I don't have a gluten intolerance, but I like to eat gluten-free as much as possible.  I feel better and more energized when I leave out bread.  I still eat plenty of whole grains, don't get me wrong!  I love brown rice, oats, millet and quinoa.  Actually, quinoa is not a grain, it's a seed related to the spinach plant.  It has a nutty, ricey flavor.  I love these muffin because they are gluten-free and packed with protein.  And you know me, I love blueberries and think they should be eaten every day for their many benefits.   These muffins are sweetened with pure maple syrup, a favorite of mine.   No white flour or white sugar, yay!

Perfect protein, fiber snack!

Ingredients:
1 cup corn meal
1 cup of rice flour (or other g-f baking flour)
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup of cooked quinoa (Hint: make sure to rinse the quinoa thoroughly before cooking and use water, not veggie or chicken stalk)
1/2 cup organic pure maple syrup
1/2 cup of rice or soy milk
1/2 cup of natural organic apple sauce
1 Tbl. of lemon juice
1/4 cup canola or safflower oil
1 cup of blueberries, fresh or frozen

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Use paper baking cups or grease muffin pan (makes 1 dozen).
In one bowl, mix together dry ingredients.  In a separate bowl mix the wet ingredients, plus the cooked quinoa.   Add wet mixture to dry mixture until just combined. Gently fold in blueberries.  Bake 20 minutes.
Yummers!

Homemade Blueberry Pancakes

I love making these pancakes.  They are super fast and easy.  I like being able to control the salt and sugar as well.   I eat them for breakfast, lunch or a late night snack.  Very satisfying favorite in my house.  Like I said before, I try to eat blueberries as much as possible because of their antioxidant properties (ranked among the highest antioxidant activity on a per serving basis), Vitamin C, manganese, and fiber.

**Did you know whole wheat flour or whole wheat pastry flour is still refined and processed? It's not the same as eating "whole grains."  Still, I choose whole wheat flour over white flour because I'm not a fan of eating chemicals and bleach.  White flour is stripped of it's two most nutritious and fiber-rich parts of the grain: the outside bran layer and the germ.  Plus, white flour contains Alloxan, a diabetes-producing chemical that destroys cells in the pancreas.  Alloxan is toxic, no joke.  Google it.

Click photo to enlarge

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour (or buckwheat flour)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 1/4 cups unsweetened soy milk
2 Tablespoons of safflower or canola oil
2 Tablespoon pure maple syrup, plus more for topping
1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract
1 cup of organic blueberries, rinsed in cold water

Whisk together the dry ingredients first, then add the wet.  Stir in blueberries last.  Pre-heat and oil your nonstick griddle or large frying pan as you normally would and cook pancakes.  Top with pure maple syrup (Not Log Cabin please! It's really HFCS, yuck).  Makes about 10 pancakes.  Yum-o!

Note: if you are cutting back on sugar/calories, top with a sprinkle of powdered sugar instead of syrup.

Got Blueberries?

Yes, I know you know berries are good for you.  Blueberries are chalk full of vitamins, minerals and fiber (colon health, seriously!) And, we all know blueberries are full of many antioxidants that fight free radicals and help lower cholesterol.  The blue pigment is called Anthocyanins.  Huh? Just know that it helps fight cancer-causing cell damage and age-related diseases. With zero cholesterol and virtually no saturated fat, I try to eat some every day.  No recipe here, just get some of these bad boys into your diet.  I eat mine on whole grain waffles, in smoothies and muffins.  (Organic is best when eating berries. I don't like bug spray, do you?)