One of my very favorite shows ever is Gilmore Girls. I DVR rerun episodes and watch them after the kids are in bed and for a few moments, I wonder if I just wish hard enough, if my city will somehow transform into wacky Stars Hollow — if I will be granted the ability to speak more quickly, and if my wardrobe will get an automatic upgrade.

The problem with being a huge fan of this show, though, is that the two main characters, beautiful, spunky, successful women, EAT A TON OF JUNK. I have figured out through repeated viewing that their diet consists mainly of coffee, doughnuts, pie, cheeseburgers, pizza, take-out Chinese food and tater-tots.

So as much as I may admire their quick wit, quicker words, and yes, their ability to eat all that junk listed above and never develop acne, diabetes, high cholesterol, food intolerances or gain a pound (oh, um, that’s right — they aren’t actually real people), I do think it’s important to find other food role models.

Many of us need a food hero, so to speak.

In a world where many young kids can recognize the McDonald’s arches, but can’t tell you a French fry comes from a potato, or where soda is sold in cups that hold more contents than the average human stomach, I think it is so valuable to find people out there who make it a point to really nourish themselves so that they can feel their very best.

I first “met” Lori when I made one of her recipes for a healthy nutritious treat — Almost Raw Trail Mix Balls.

I am so glad I found her blog and as I continue to visit, I am so glad she is a voice out there, providing really good real food recipes for people like me who often need reminders that eating well is worth the effort (and it can be really delicious too!).

So let me introduce you now to Lori, who was kind enough to share an amazing Spiced Apple Muffin recipe today as part of the Muffin-Up Mondays series:

When I started What Runs Lori, it was to share vegan and raw food recipes with my marathon training teammates. Soon after posting recipes, reading others’ recipes, and tasting recipes, I became completely hooked on the unique connection I was able to have with others via the blog world. I loved sharing ideas, words, and thoughts with whomever was out there listening.

What Runs Lori is my fun way to express my passion for healthy eating, healthy living, and exercise. I am now a certified personal trainer and TRX suspension trainer and enjoy sharing all the information I can about the world of wellness through my blog and the real world.

TVNT: How did you begin writing about healthy cooking?

Lori: I never had the greatest relationship with food. In fact, I thought of food as the enemy. As I got older, started getting more into exercising and researching nutrition, finally learning what healthy eating was all about. I realized that eating can be nourishing, fun, and an amazingly creative outlet.

Through blogging, I have repaired my eating disorder patterns, and learned to be positive towards food. We all have to eat to live, right? Might as well eat good food.

TVNT: What is your general food philosophy? What are some things you think of when creating a recipe?

Lori: Real food is the key. I love creating recipes that are gluten free, dairy free, and sugar free, but that also taste great. I’m not completely rigid in my food choices but I do eat as healthy as I possibly can, while obtaining the best flavors out there.

When creating recipes, I go for whatever is the most creative and flavorful. I look for great recipes that I can develop into even healthier and tastier meals.

TVNT: I’ve read where you talk about learning to make changes to your diet in order to eat better — can you talk a little about some simple changes people can make to improve their health?

Lori: A lot of figuring out about what foods make you feel best is trial and error. I’ve done my fair share of avoiding gluten, dairy, sugar, and animal products. I’ve learned that most people don’t really need dairy or gluten in their diets, and a lot of times some health issues or discomfort disappear after eliminating these.

Simple , health-improving changes one can make are switching to almond or rice milk or even making your own vegan yogurts. Instead of using white or wheat flour in recipes, try using almond meal, gluten-free oats, or a mix of gluten-free flours. Not only do these add a different, and wonderful, taste to baked goods, they’re fun to experiment with, and are often much more nutritious (like with these muffins!)

TVNT: What inspires you to make healthy choices?

Lori: I base a lot of my health on how quickly I can recover from a strenuous workout, my quality of sleep, how I feel throughout the day, and my energy levels. I’m inspired to eat healthy to feel the best I possibly can. Shouldn’t that be motivation enough?

TVNT: What do you think makes a really good muffin?

Lori: Creativity! And fruit. Fruit is the key to a moist, delicious, flavorful muffin.

TVNT: Silly question — lemon poppyseed or pumpkin muffin?

Lori: You’re making me chose?! I have to go with pumpkin because I eat some type of squash ever single day.

Spiced Apple Muffins

Let this muffin be your guide to a nourishing, enjoyable, guilt-free morning, afternoon snack, or dessert.

Dry Ingredients:

1/2 c oats

1/2 c coconut flour (or almond flour, rice flour, or flour of choice)

1/8 cup NuNaturals baking blend (or 1/8-1/4 cup sugar of choice)

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp cardamom

1/8 tsp nutmeg

1/8 tsp salt

Wet Ingredients:

1/2 cup almond milk

1/2 cup shredded, grated apple

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp fresh ginger, diced finely

2 tbsp orange juice

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Measure and combine all the dry ingredients in a small bowl. In a larger bowl, combine the wet ingredients, mixing well. Add the dry ingredients to the wet, letting sit for a few minutes to moisten the oats.

Grease 6 muffin tins with cooking spray or coconut oil. Spoon the batter into each muffin tin, filling almost to the top.

Bake for 25-30 minutes.

Eat, savor, and enjoy completely guilt-free.

Photos in this post and recipe are property of Lori! Many thanks Lori for sharing them here today!!

If you’ve been reading this blog for a little while, you might remember the Chocolate Explosion Oatmeal Cookies.

Several months ago now my son Owen and I were looking for some delicious dairy-free cookies and we found Alisa Fleming’s recipe at her blog, Alisa Cooks.

We baked a batch and Owen ranked them a 200 out of 100 in a silly little rating system we used that kept changing. (A few of you have e-mailed to say that you have made those gooey brownie-like little gems since then!)

Our whole family loved the cookies, and we were so glad to discover Alisa’s work. Although we are no longer strictly dairy-free, I still visit her blog frequently to find delicious meal and treat ideas, many of which are also gluten- and other allergy friendly.

And I’m certainly not the only one looking for tasty dairy-free recipes! As you will read in our interview, Alisa’s site Go Dairy Free gets more than a million visitors a year. Dairy allergies are by far one of the most common — experts estimate as much as 8 percent of Americans are on a dairy-free diet, many of whom are children.

But through her blog and her cookbook, Go Dairy Free, which offers more than 225 dairy-free recipes with a whole-food focus, Alisa is helping families eat really well without dairy.

I am so pleased that she wanted to share her amazing Whole-Wheat Cinnamon Raisin Banana Muffin recipe as part of this series!

So without further ado — my quick chat with Alisa Fleming:

TVNT: How did you begin writing about dairy-free living?

Alisa: Back in 2004 I began compiling health and cooking information on dairy-free living for myself (I have been allergic to milk since I was an infant).

Though it seems not long ago, the information was very hard to find, and only bits and pieces were scattered on a few websites and medical sites. Soon I had folders and folders of information collected and created. Since it had taken so much work, I thought, why not put it online to make life easier for some other people? I couldn’t possibly be the only person looking for dairy-free information! And it turns out, I wasn’t. Go Dairy Free gets over a million visitors a year now, so I guess there are at least a few of us out there.

TVNT: What is your general food philosophy? What are some things you think of when creating a recipe?

Alisa: Dairy-free living forces me to read ingredient labels, which has made me a big fan of whole foods (ingredients one can pronounce!).

Whenever I create a recipe, I’m always thinking of the healthiest whole food ingredients I can use without sacrificing the recipe. Sometimes a little indulgence is in order though. Taste still comes first.

TVNT: In our time living dairy-free, we found ourselves adapting favorite recipes quite a bit. Do you have certain products you rely on in your kitchen like alternative milks, different oils, etc.?

Alisa: I absolutely love what coconut oil does for various types of recipes … it really is a unique product.

Canned coconut milk, nuts, and nut butters are also staples in my house for richness and flavor.

Though I occasionally buy some Earth Balance for spreading or a milk alternative for smoothies (unsweetened coconut milk beverage or almond milk usually), I’ve migrated away from packaged dairy alternatives over the years. It has become more fun to make them!

TVNT: What do you think makes a really good muffin?

Alisa: I’ve never been a fan of cake, so fluffy muffins aren’t my thing. Though they shouldn’t be “dense” (no one likes hockey puck muffins!), I love hearty muffins that fill me up for breakfast and taste just sweet enough with herbal tea.

Whole-Wheat Cinnamon Raisin Banana Muffins

This Recipe is Milk-Free, Soy-Free, Tree Nut-Free, Peanut-Free

1/2 Cup Raisins (or more if you like)

Boiling Water (about 1 cup should do)

1-3/4 Cups Whole Wheat Flour

2 Tablespoons Wheat Germ

1 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon

1 Teaspoon Baking Soda

1/2 Teaspoon Salt

1 Cup Mashed Ripe Banana

1/4 Cup Grapeseed or Vegetable Oil

1/2 Cup Honey or Agave Nectar

2 Eggs

1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

Place the raisins in a small bowl, and cover them with the hot/boiling water.

Preheat your oven to 325ºF and grease 12 muffin cups.

In a medium-sized bowl, stir together the flour, wheat germ, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. Briefly set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, blend the banana, oil, honey, eggs, and vanilla. Drain the raisins, reserving the liquid. Add 5 tablespoon s (1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon) of the hot raisin water to your mixing bowl.

Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients in your large mixing bowl, stirring just to combine. Do not over mix. The baking soda begins to react as soon as it hits the liquid, so over mixing will cause the muffins to loose some of their fluffiness … a few lumps are okay.

Stir in the plumped raisins, and divide the batter evenly between your 12 muffin cups.

Bake for 20 to 24 minutes, or until they just begin to take on a golden hue, and a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin, comes out clean. Let cool for a few minutes in the muffin cups, then remove to a wire rack.

I “frosted” one fresh out of the oven with a quick mixture of some leftover mashed banana, nut butter, ground flaxseeds, and some flavors to taste (molasses, cinnamon, nutmeg). For a sweeter added touch, “frost” them with your favorite jam.

Wheat-Free Option:
Use spelt or oat flour in place of the wheat flour, and substitute ground flax for the wheat germ.  I would guess that you could also use your favorite gluten-free flour blend (with xanthan gum as directed) to make them gluten-free / casein-free too if you wished).

Tips:
Be sure the bananas are quite ripe; this will add sweetness to the muffins.
Measure the oil in a ¼ cup, then use the same cup to measure the honey. The oil coating on the measuring cup will help keep the honey from sticking.

Yields 1 Dozen Muffins

Alisa Marie Fleming is the author of the Go Dairy Free: The Guide and Cookbook, founder of Go Dairy Free and blogger at www.AlisaCooks.com. That recipe for Chocolate Explosion Oatmeal Cookies can be found here. And be sure to check out her new e-book, Smart School Time recipes, available on her blog and through Amazon.

*Photos and recipe are property of Alisa. Thank you so much for sharing them here!!*

Many years ago when I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do when I grew up, I met Don Vaughan. He was the photographer for our campus newspaper, and I had sort of accidentally started working for the paper, which turned out to be exactly what I needed to be doing.

Don called me to set up a time to take a photo, and we hit it off right away. We became fast friends, travelling to newspapers conventions and taking on campus administrators.

Don is the type of person who is always there when you need him — he helped me get my first “real” newspaper job, and once, helped me figure out how to fix a flat tire over the phone. He took pictures at my wedding as a gift to me, and it is one of the best presents I have ever received to be able to flip through that book of captured moments.

He and his wife Stephanie remain great friends to this day, although we don’t see each other often. But sometimes I feel like we are all sort of living parallel lives. Don is the one of the few people I know who happily spends as much time in the kitchen as I do. And during he summer, Don and Steph grow a garden that breaks my heart a little because I can’t actually curl up and sleep in it all season.

(While our garden gets overgrown with weeds, and infested with bugs and mutant zuchinni, their garden gives them really cool and interesting food like peppers I only hear about on cooking shows.)

Don and Stephanie have truly embraced the locavore movement in their Minnesota town, buying meat, eggs, dairy products, produce and even wine from farmers, growers and vintners they know.

Don’s Facebook status updates often say something like: Taking it easy tonight, so I am making a pizza with homemade whole wheat crust, local cheese from a cow I milked, vegetables we grew in the backyard, and sausage from a pig named Trevor who had a really good life until he was peacefully euthanized.

(That is a bit of an exaggeration, but it always makes me smile to see how much Don and Steph really care about their food and where it comes from.)

Stephanie says since adapting to this local diet several years ago, they are both healthier.

Suffice it to say, when I thought about starting this muffin series, I thought of the Facebook updates from Don about hearty and interesting healthy muffins that he whips up when not bringing the couple’s therapy dogs to a local prison. Really.

What follows is a quick interview with Don and his recipe for Morning Glory Muffins. It feels so funny after all these years to be interviewing him when way back in college we were always on the same side of the table, taking on the man.

Who knew all these years later we’d be comparing muffin recipes and tomato harvests? I guess it just goes to show that true friendships, like people, are always evolving:

TVNT: So Don — let’s talk muffins. How often to you bake a batch? What do you look for in a recipe?

Don: I bake muffins about once a week. Very rarely do I look for recipes. I have a base recipe that I use and then substitute ingredients based on what we have in the house and/or what sounds good.

TVNT: You mentioned starting with a whole wheat flour and flax base — why is it important to you to use those kinds of ingredients? Do you have a general cooking philosophy?

Don: We try to eat healthy and feel that whole wheat is a better choice than white flour. As for the flax, it’s a way to cut down on fat in the muffins and add another healthy ingredient. I also like what flax usually does to a recipe (heartier texture, rustic appeal).

TVNT:  What has been your craziest muffin experiment?

Don: I can’t think of one off hand, but it was probably one that I just started throwing anything and everything in it. I am known for “throwing together” some strange combinations in the kitchen. I have had a couple muffins that just didn’t come together how I wanted them to. As a result, I cut them into chunks, placed in a bowl, added milk and “POOF” – homemade cereal!

TVNT: Any tips or tricks you want to share about baking, or mixing, or anything muffin-related?

Don: Make what sounds good and don’t be afraid to try something new. We all make things that don’t turn out so well. But, one mistake might lead to another really good idea. Think outside the muffin!

TVNT: Bonus question: Blueberry or cranberry?

Don: Cranberry. At least right now. However, friends of ours own a winery and always say that we are moody drinkers. Which is true – also about food. I don’t like having the same thing over and over. We are very seasonal on what we eat. Thus, ask me this a little ways down the road and I might answer blueberry.

Morning Glory Muffins

 This is based on Earthbound Farm’s recipe. Here is a link to check out the original if you would like to take a peek.

Just to let you know, I hardly ever follow a recipe. I might use one as a base, but that is about it. I also don’t believe in exact measuring. Just a heads-up!

About 1 1/4 cups sweetener

(Usually some type of raw sugar – turbinado is what I currently have on hand. I will sometimes substitute one or a combo of the following as well: honey, agave nectar, maple syrup – just not plain white sugar. Muffin shown are approximately1 cup sugar and approx. 1/4 honey)

Approx. 2 1/4 cups or 2 BIG cups whole wheat flour

1 BIG tablespoon ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

A GOOD 1/2 cup or so shredded coconut

Basically a cup of chopped dates

1 BIG apple, peeled and grated (I used a honeycrisp, a MN favorite; it was developed in MN)

1 8-oz can crushed pineapple, not drained

About 2 cups grated carrots

Healthy 1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts (use any nut you like; pecans work well, too)

3 eggs (I happened to use local, farm-fresh jumbos from down the road)

1 cup vegetable oil is called for (Your choice here, but I will usually cut the oil in half and then add 1 1/2 cups of flax. Adjust to your preference.)

At least 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract (I use Nielsen Massey Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla Bean Paste; I like the paste WAY more than extract.)

If you wanna, I will usually sprinkle some wheat germ in when I mix the dry stuff.

 Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.

Sift or whisk together the sugar, flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt and flax (if used) into a large bowl. Add the coconut, dates, apple, pineapple, carrots and nuts; stir to combine.

In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs with the oil and vanilla (add any liquid sweetener here). Pour into the bowl with the dry ingredients and blend well. Depending on the amount of flax used, a liquid might need to be added to slightly smooth out the batter. I will use whatever milk I have on had at the time (whole milk Lactaid, almond milk or soy milk). Soy milk tonight! The batter should be moist but not runny.

Spoon the batter into muffin tins lined with muffin cups, filling each to the almost to brim. Bake for 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Cool muffins in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack to finish cooling.

 Note: I did small and large muffins. The small were done around the 35 minute area. The larger took about an hour.

Don Vaughan is a photojournalist/photographer by trade. However, working with dogs takes up most of his time these days. Stephanie and Don own a Japanese mastiff that has been a therapy dog for more than 8 years. They are currently training their other dog, a Saint Bernard that they rescued, for therapy work as well. Besides working with their therapy dog, they teach a therapy dog prep class and are heavily involved with giant breed rescue.

On the food front, Don really enjoys the creation of the meal. Besides seafood, they buy all of their meat (beef, bison, chicken, pork, lamb) from local farmers and believe in grass-fed. On the veggie front, they plant a fairly large garden that provides fresh produce for them and many friends, family and neighbors.

They feel lucky to have a year-round farmers market near their home in southeast Minnesota.

*All photos in this post were taken by Don.*

To see last week’s Muffin-Up Monday recipe, click here.

We started a new thing. And you know how that goes — you start something new and it sends your world out of whack for a while.

We started a Tuesday morning thing, which I think is going to be very good, but the Andersons are not a morning people.

That is one of our family traits. Like growing up, I knew this family that always smelled like frabric softener and you went to their house it smelled like fabric softener even if they were cooking pot roast or had their Christmas tree up.

It’s just like that, only we don’t function so well first thing in the morning.

And so now we have this Tuesday thing, and we need to get there on time every week for the next seven weeks. I overcompensated last week and got there 25 minutes early and we sat in the parking lot trying to divert our eyes so no one would dub us the “Eager Beaver Family,” because that is decidedly not one of our things.

The biggest problem with going somewhere early (once we have set out full wardrobes the night before and packed lunches and all that)  is that we need to have breakfast, and I sort of insist it has to be a nutritious breakfast because we can’t all have public meltdowns at 10:30, because then we are the “Public Meltdown Family,” and that is even worse than being the Eager Beaver Family.

This is a lot of pressure to put on a muffin. After all, muffins are essentially naked cupcakes in many cases — loaded with sugar and simple carbohydrates. I for one am a sugar sensitive person, which means I can’t eat a sugary/simple carbohydrate breakfast without potentially doing something really embarrassing later like falling asleep or crying.

And so I decided to challenge myself to create a more nutritious muffin for us to eat on Tuesdays. Paired with a hard-boiled egg and a cup of almond milk or tea, I figured this would be a wholesome-enough way to start a crazy-busy day.

And so, the Cinnamon Pecan Muffin was created.

But then I really got to thinking, and it occurred to me that I can’t serve the same muffin every Tuesday for 7 more weeks because that would just be boring. And so I enlisted some help. I have heard back from lots of really talented muffin makers who are excited to take part in the Muffin-Up Mondays Challenge, which officially kicks off today.

And there’s still room for a baker or two. So if you have a healthy muffin recipe you would like to share, send me an e-mail at kanderson@imorganic.com.

Together, let’s take on the world of sugary boring muffins that lead to crashes an hour later.

Start with these guys and let me know what you think!

Cinnamon Pecan Muffins

1 1/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour

1 cup rolled oats

1 tbsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 cup pecans (reserve 12 halves for topping muffins; chop the rest)

1/2 cups maple syrup or agave*

2 eggs

1 cup milk (we used almond milk)

1/4 cup butter, softened

1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 500 degrees. In a medium bowl combine butter, eggs, milk, sweetener and vanilla. Mix thoroughly. In a separate large bowl, mix flour, oats, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Add wet to dry. Mix until just combined. Carefully fold in chopped pecans.

Fill a 12-cup greased muffin tin. Top each muffin with a pecan half. Place tin in oven and immediately reduce heat to 400. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes. Yield: 12 muffins.

* I’ve made it both ways. I prefer the flavor of maple syrup, but agave is nice because it does not cause an insulin spike.

Note: You can also make a tin of mini muffins, but you’ll have to watch them closely and cook them for a shorter time so they don’t dry out. Also, a standard mini muffin tin will leave you with some batter left over.

Happy Muffin Making!