Strawberries and Cream Muffins

Valentine's Day is coming up this week and I was inspired to try out a new kind of muffin. Strawberries seem to be the classic fruit of Valentine's Day, and it was one of the only fruits I had on hand, so I decided to try a modification of my raspberry streusel muffins. I love the moisture and richness that sour cream (or plain yogurt) adds to muffins. Whenever I make a muffin that doesn't use some kind of fruit or vegetable purée (bananas, pumpkin, etc), I try to incorporate sour cream or yogurt. These muffins turned out great and are a fun and delicious Valentine's treat! 

I tried putting a strawberry slice on top to look like a heart, but they sunk in to the batter too much during baking. So it became more of a hidden heart inside each muffin, which is fun too! 

Hope you enjoy :)

Makes 14-16 muffins 

Ingredients

1/4 cup Canola Oil (or vegetable oil)

2 Eggs

1 tsp Vanilla

1/2 cup Sour cream (I use 5%) - or plain yogurt

1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp Milk

2/3 cup Sugar 

2 cups GF flour blend (I use my light flour blend)

2 tsp Baking Powder

1/4 tsp Salt

1-11/2 cups Chopped Strawberries (fresh or frozen)

Directions

In a large bowl, mix wet ingredients and sugar together.

Add the dry ingredients to the bowl and gently mix to combine.

Fold in chopped strawberries.

Fill 14-16 paper lined muffin tins 2/3 full.

Bake at 375 for 18-20 minutes. 

Let cool in the muffin pan for a few minutes then move to a cooling rack. 

Store in an airtight bag in the freezer. 

Add dry ingredients to the wet

Fold in strawberries

Fill muffin tins 2/3 full. Top with heart shaped strawberry slices (optional)

Bake at 375 for 18-20 minutes

Banana Peanut Butter Oat Cookies

These are legitimate healthy cookies! No sugar or oil added (although there is some in the peanut butter). My toddler loves these and so do I! I usually add chocolate chips to mine so they aren't too healthy, but he eats them plain or with raisins now that he's old enough. 

I like to keep a batch of these in the freezer. When the kiddo asks for a cookie, I can give him something that I feel is still healthy enough for a snack (or even breakfast on the go). I just pop them in the microwave for 10-15 seconds and they are ready to eat! He hasn't quite figured out that mine have chocolate chips and his have raisins... and I hope it stays that way for awhile! He is in love with raisins anyway, so I think I'm good for now ;)

Everyone who's tried these cookies likes them and I hope you do too! 

makes about 2 dozen small cookies

Ingredients

1 cup Quick Oats

1/4 tsp Baking Soda

1/2 tsp cinnamon (optional)

1 Banana, Mashed

3 Tbsp Peanut Butter

Dash Vanilla

1/3 cup Applesauce

optional: 1/4 cup chocolate chips or raisins 

Directions

Mix wet ingredients and then add in dry and stir to combine.

Add raisins or chocolate chips if using.

Drop by spoonfuls on to parchment paper and flatten a bit (cookies won't change much in shape)

Bake at 350 for 15 mins or until they are starting to firm up a bit.

 

wet ingredients

mix and add dry

drop by spoonfuls and flatten with a spoon

bake at 350 (some with chocolate chips and some plain)

Inside Out Bakery in Saskatoon

I'm excited to do my first post on a local business! Lucille from Inside Out Bakery here in Saskatoon contacted me and told me about some of the things she has going on with her bakery. I had never heard of it, so was glad she reached out. I got to drop by the bakery on Avenue C and taste some of the goodies!

Inside Out Bakery is a facility free from gluten, dairy, peanuts, tree nuts, refined sugars, yeast, xanthan gum and MSG. They also carry a range of products that are--or can be altered to be--paleo, vegan or diabetic friendly. Many ingredients used are organic, so there's an option for everyone! 

In the bakery on Ave C

They use whole foods and healthy ingredients, swapping white sugar for date paste and other natural sweeteners. Lucille told me they like to use a lot of coconut flour and bean flour for fiber and nutrition. Instead of white rice flour they use brown, and when starches are necessary, arrowroot and tapioca are used instead of more refined corn or potato starch. They even make their own chick pea paste from scratch by roasting and grinding the peas right on site.

in the bakery on Ave C

Products are baked fresh to order or can be bought off the shelf at the bakery or at Herb N Health on Broadway and 9th. They have an amazing selection of products including cookies, cakes, cinnamon buns, breads, muffins, and even soups. Orders can be picked up at various locations around the city (see their website for more details) and they will also deliver for a fee. Lucille told me she is working on getting her products in another location downtown as well. 

Muffins (banana chocolate chip, pumpkin, carrot cake), cinnamon buns, chocolate chip shortbread, lemon shortbread, lemon and chocolate cupcakes and biscuits

pumpkin, banana and carrot cake muffins

I had the chance to taste a few of their products and was impressed. My husband said their carrot cake is comperable to any carrot cake he's had and I have to agree. All mine needed was a little cream cheese icing! (I believe they offer their carrot cake with a coconut cream frosting). My favourite would have to be the cinnamon buns. They are chewy and goey and sweet, even though they're made with date paste and whole grain flours! I froze a few and am eating the last one right now. Microwaved from frozen, these cinnamon buns are just as good as they were fresh. Mmmm... I also really enjoyed the chocolate icing that was on the chocolate cupcake. The cupcake was good, but the icing was to die for: rich, dark, and delicious! The biscuits were soft and mild in flavour but were yummy with butter and jam and are designed to go alongside a soup or stew.

goey cinnamon buns

They really infuse a lot of flavour into their baking. There are lot of spices (cinnamon, ginger, etc.) in their muffins and the flavour comes through very strong. I really like spices so this was a plus for me. The lemon flavour in the lemon shortbread and cupcakes was strong too. They use the whole lemon, including the zest, so the flavour is very bright, tart, and citrusy. To see all the products they offer, check out their website.

mini cupcakes 

Because they use fiber rich, nutrient packed whole grains and foods, their products tend to be more dense than their wheat flour counterparts, but I think (and my gluten-eating husband agrees) the texture is still great and the flavour is definitely there. You can really taste the coconut flour flavour in the muffins. 

some natural products they have for sale at the bakery

Support a local business! You can order a cake for a birthday party, cinnamon buns and muffins for a morning business meeting, go sit down in their Broadway location for soup and dessert, or Ave C bakery for a cold drink and warm scone. I think it would be great for restaurants, coffee shops or hotels to have some treats from Inside out Bakery on hand for guests with dietary restrictions. Most products can be kept frozen and microwave beautifully. Lucille also mentioned they are hoping to open up a location in Lloydminster in the near future!

a nice place to sit and taste some goodies or just wait for your order to be ready

Have you tried anything from the Inside Out Bakery? What did you think?

Enjoy Life Pancake and Waffle Mix Review

I tried this mix as pancakes first and found them a little too thin and the batter too runny. On my second attempt with pancakes I added a little less water than was recommended and they turned out much better. They were great with blueberries mixed in and topped with greek yogurt and maple syrup. I found the texture to be a little more moist in the centre than I would have liked, but overall the taste was good and they were super easy to make. 

Although the mix worked great as pancakes, it didn't work at all as waffles for me. They just fell apart; I couldn't get them to come out of my waffle iron without crumbling, no matter how much I oiled it. Sad day. 

The instructions for the box say to use 2 cups of mix at a time, but I just did 1 or 1/2 cup at a time and adjusted all the other ingredients accordingly. I've made 3 meals out of the mix and still have some left. This mix costs $8.49, which is an okay price for how much you get.

I also love that they've included ancient grains for more fiber and protein, making these pancakes much healthier than most that come from a mix, gluten free or not. 

Texture                       2 stars

Taste                          4 stars

Quality Ingredients      5 stars

Cost                           4 stars

Overall rating              3.75 stars 

Enjoy Life Muffin Mix Review

I make muffins from scratch probably once every 2 weeks, so I've had a lot of good and a lot of bad gluten free muffins over the years. There were positive and negative things about this mix. I loved how easy and convenient it was to use a mix compared to baking muffins from scratch. All you need to add is oil and water, so it's affordable and easy to make even if you're not into baking. The muffins taste great and contain good quality ingredients such as millet, quinoa, teff and sprouted brown rice protein. There are 2 grams of fiber and 5 grams of protein in each serving. 

The negatives for me were texture and wetness. It seemed like it would've been better to add less water to the mix. It was soupy in consistency and hard to get into the muffin tins without making a big mess. I added blueberries to the mix and they all sunk, making it extra wet at the bottom of the muffin. Because the muffins were so moist, the texture seemed a little pasty to me. 

Overall I really liked the flavour and convenience of this mix, but I didn't love the texture. At $8.49 per box its a little pricy, but it does make about 14 muffins and would be great for someone that doesn't have time to bake from scratch. 

Cost                        3 stars

Quality Ingredients   5 stars

Texture                     2 stars

Taste                        4.5 stars 

Overall Rating: 3.5 stars 

Enjoy Life Foods Mixes Review

I was super excited when Enjoy Life asked me to review their new line of dry mixes! Not only are they free of the top 8 allergens, but they also contain probiotics, ancient grains (like teff, buckwheat, millet and quinoa)  and 5 grams of plant based protein per serving. Here is a photo of the print out they sent to me with some more info on the products.

My favourite thing about this review is the effort Enjoy Life put in to the blogger packages. They are pretty amazing! Complete with a branded spatula, oven mitt, stirring spoon and pizza cutter; they really went above and beyond with their blogger love! I had to show off the box to my friends and family and everyone was totally jealous. I am actually pumped about the oven mitt because my old ones are starting to wear out :) 

Isn't it adorable? I think they should make this available to purchase on their website as a gift box. It would be a great care package for a student or as a Christmas gift. I'm sure anyone would love to recieve this beauty in the mail. 

I will be reviewing the 5 Enjoy Life mixes: muffins, brownies, pancakes/waffles, pizza crust and all purpose flour blend. Click on each link for a full review. 

Muffins

Brownies 

Pancakes/Waffles 

Pizza Crust 

All Purpose Flour Blend

Baked Oatmeal

Baked Oatmeal

The baby is napping and I think I have time for a quick post. He is 2 months already and I can't believe how long it's been since I've blogged. It's tough when you have such a cute little guy taking up all your attention! Although I can't say I'd want it any other way.

Baked oatmeal is a great breakfast for company or when you just feel like regular oatmeal isn't gonna cut it. You can make a big pan, cut it in to squares and freeze it for a quick breakfast during the week too. It's super easy to make; you don't even need to dirty any mixing bowls!

makes 1 square pan (8x8)
Ingredients

1 1/2 cups milk
2 Eggs
2 Tbsp Oil
1 Tbsp Vanilla
2 1/2 cups GF Quick Oats
3/4 cup Brown Sugar (or less)
2 tsp Baking Powder
1 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Salt

Directions

Beat eggs, oil, milk and vanilla in your baking dish.
Stir in dry ingredients.
Bake at 350 for 35-45 mins
Serve warm with milk.

Mix ingredients together in baking dish
 

 

Bake at 350 for 35-45 mins

Serve warm with milk

Enjoy Life Foods New and Improved Chewy Bars Review

ELF new and improved chewy bars

I have been given the chance to do a review on the new and improved chewy bars from Enjoy Life Foods! To see my review of the original chewy bars, click here. I believe they have greatly improved the product in all areas including appearance, texture, taste and ingredients.

The first thing I noticed was the new packaging. The box and bars are a light beige colour rather than the original white, which gives the product a more "natural" feel. The new bars have a bit more colour on them too. In my opinion, the new packaging is more attractive (and appetising) than the original. What do you think?

new and improved bars

 

old chewy bars

 

The biggest improvement for me is the texture. The old bars had hard crunchy bits in them that hurt my teeth, but that has been removed in the new product. The new bars also have a lighter, more cookie like texture. This is probably the greatest improvement because I found the old bars to be a little bit too chewy and dense for my liking. I think the improved texture has a lot to do with the improved taste, because it is easier to taste the bar when it isn't sticking to the inside of your mouth.

Mixed berry (formerly very berry) was my least favourite in the old bars, but I found I could taste the berry pieces better in the new bars and actually really enjoyed this flavour. The sunbutter crunch and caramel apple were mainly improved through texture. I didn't notice too much of a difference in the cocoa loco flavour, but it was my favourite to begin with so I'm happy with that.

The box says that the bars now feature ancient grains. I'm not sure what they have added (or if they've just increased the amounts) but some of the grains on the ingredient list include: quinoa flakes, puffed amaranth, buckwheat flour and millet flour.

Overall I am very happy with the changes Enjoy Life Foods has made to their chewy bars.



Thanks Enjoy Life Foods for providing these free samples for me to review. All opinions are my own

Hot Multigrain Cereal

Gluten Free Hot Multigrain Cereal

Before I had Celiac Disease, I really enjoyed having cream of wheat cereal for breakfast. I was missing it the other day and realized I could probably do something similar with rice. I was afraid that cream of rice would seem too much like baby food, so I thought I could add some other healthy, whole grains to the mix. You could probably use any grain (or seed) you want, but my favourite combination is millet, quinoa and brown rice. I also like buckwheat when I have it on hand.

with milk and brown sugar

I use my coffee grinder to grind the grains, but you could probably just as easily use a food processor. As long as the grains are ground quite fine, this would probably work great as a baby cereal too.
Top with milk and brown sugar or honey, nuts and raisins, or whatever sounds good to you.

Makes about 6 servings
Ingredients

1/2 cup Millet
1/2 cup Quinoa
1/2 cup Brown Rice

Directions

In batches, grind the grains until quite fine (not as fine as flour but not big chunks). Use a clean coffee grinder or food processor.
You can use a fine mesh strainer to remove any large chunks.
Combine in an airtight container and store for 1-2 months.

store in airtight container

To Make

Stove top (1 serving)

Bring 1 cup water to a boil in a small saucepan.
Whisk in 1/4 cup dry cereal.
Turn down to med-low and continue to stir often for 5-7 minutes, or until desired consistency is reached.

Microwave (1 serving)

In microwave safe bowl, combine 1 cup water with 1/4 cup dry cereal.
Microwave 1 minute, stir well, smoothing out any lumps. Microwave 45 seconds, stir. Continue microwaving in 20-30 second intervals, stirring often, until cereal has reached desired consistency.

1/4 cup dry cereal

 

whisk into 1 cup boiling water, turn down heat, and cook 5-7 minutes

 

serve with milk and brown sugar