Thursday, October 11, 2007

ARF & more: So much food, so little time!

So as you probably know from yesterday's post, there has been no shortage of cookery in this household! Luckily, I've had a little bit of sleep (and more cooking, but the end's in sight!) so I'm up to a tad more blogging action. Here in this entry are all the recipes (excluding the bakery ones, of course, so basically there's 3 [lol]). There are, however (or will be soon, depending on when you read this) photos of most of them. The only one missing is the orange-apple butter, since I used it in the muffins (which were a HUGE hit, and based off of the Tim Hortons diet disasters that my mom loves).

Okay, so a super-tasty spread (or ingredient) was next up for me after the bakery madness. This time, it was a product of all the apple peels from yesterday's pies, and a languishing clementine from the fridge. It worked wonders in the muffins, and I'm sure it would be equally good on cinnamon-raisin toast too! Next time, next time...

Butterscotch Apple Peel and Orange Butter
Makes 2 cups
1 clementine orange, peeled and separated
Peels from 15 large apples, diced
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
¼ cup water
  1. Puree orange segments until smooth. Set aside.
  2. Place apple peels in a saucepan over medium heat with 1 tsp water.
  3. Cover and cook 30 minutes.
  4. Add orange puree, brown sugar, vanilla and water, stir well.
  5. Recover and cook 3 hours, stirring occasionally. Cool slightly.
  6. Add mixture to a food processor and process until smooth.
  7. Place into a clean jar, cover and chill.
Like I said before, these were something I made for my mom to take to work with her to replace her favourite muffins from Timmy's. My grandparents (and loyal taste-testers) both gave it thumbs up, so I register it as a win! I also soaked some dried blueberries in the hot juice this time around since I didn't have any fresh, before adding the mixture to the cereal. These muffins were really big, since there was enough batter to fill the muffin cups all the way full. These vegan muffins are (now) very good for you: just check out the health benefits of bran! The cranberries and blueberries are also very rich in antioxidant power, making these a great choice for Sweetnicks ARF / 5-A-Day event.
Cranberries have been shown to contain more antioxidant phenols than 19
commonly eaten fruits according to a study published in the November 19, 2001
edition of the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry (
Cranberry Institute). Blueberries neutralize free radical damage to the collagen matrix of cells and tissues that can lead to cataracts, glaucoma, varicose veins, hemorrhoids, peptic ulcers, heart disease and cancer. Anthocyanins, the blue-red pigments found in blueberries, improve the integrity of support structures in the veins and entire vascular system. Anthocyanins have been shown to enhance the effects of vitamin C, improve capillary integrity, and stabilize the collagen matrix (the ground substance of all body tissues) (WHFoods).
Low-Fat Cranberry-Blueberry Bran Muffins
12 very large muffins
½ c whole-wheat flour
¾ c all-purpose flour
½ c brown sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
2 c 100% bran cereal
1 ¼ c 100% cranberry juice, hot
1 egg replacer, prepared
1/3 c unsweetened applesauce (or the apple butter)
¼ cup fresh or frozen cranberries
¼ cup fresh or frozen blueberries
  1. Preheat oven to 400F. Grease 12 muffin cups.
  2. Stir together flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Set aside.
  3. In large mixing bowl, combine cereal and cranberry juice. Let stand 5 minutes.
  4. Add egg replacer and applesauce, beat well.
  5. Add flour mixture and stir until just combined.
  6. Stir in fruit.
  7. Bake 20 minutes. Turn out onto rack and cool completely. These can be frozen.
Amount Per Serving
Calories: 119.0
Total Fat: 0.7 g
Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
Sodium: 77.3 mg
Total Carbs: 29.3 g
Dietary Fiber: 4.0 g
Protein: 2.8 g
Finally, this is Sunday's dessert for my grandpa's birthday. He loves pumpkin pie, and I'm always on the hunt for new twists on the classics. The crust I made for it was intensified with freshly grated ginger and Golden Crisco for colour, and it smells divine!! This is my twist on a - gasp! - Paula Deen recipe (yes, the 2 sticks of butter lady makes an appearance on the health freak's blog!).

Apple Butter Pumpkin Pie
Serves 12
1 cup apple butter
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 egg, slightly beaten
2 egg replacers, prepared
1/2 can evaporated skim milk
1 unbaked 9-inch pie shell

  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
  2. Combine apple butter, pumpkin, sugar, salt and spices in a bowl.
  3. Stir in egg and egg replacers.
  4. Gradually add milk and mix well. Pour into pie shell.
  5. Bake for about 40 minutes or until set.

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 142.3
Total Fat: 3.9 g
Cholesterol: 18.1 mg
Sodium: 139.9 mg
Total Carbs: 24.9 g
Dietary Fiber: 0.7 g
Protein: 2.0 g

If that's not enough for you, I also made a Cheese-Herb Loaf (bakery order, thank you Jane!), Banana Bread, three Apple Pies and some Lemon Cranberry Muffins (also from Jane). I think I've earned my fabulous sushi lunch tomorrow with the Exxon-Mobil ladies! So can't wait for the pickled ginger, I think I have an obsession.

1 comment :

  1. hey i make those low fat cranberry muffins at work,,,... hee hee

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for the feedback!