Easiest Bran Muffins Ever !!

These are the easiest bran muffins I have ever made and the most healthy because if you start to look at bran cereals at the market they are all chocked full of sugar!! Yes who would have known that a healthy bran cereal we have all been eating like ALLBRAN etc . have sugar in them. I ask how can a healthy bran cereal have sugar added??  Well that led me to the health food store to buy bran and oat bran in the bulk department because it's alot cheaper than the store boxed brand and you have the added benefit of putting in the amount of sugar you require. So here's the recipe and it's so versatile you can change it up for many different muffins. They are now my treat instead of cookies or cakes !!  And they only take about 30 mins from start to finish ! I have found that they must be kept in the refrigerator for freshness.

3 Cups Bran ( I have used 2 cups bran and 1 cup oat bran)
1 Cup Boiling Water
2 Eggs
1/3 Cup good quality Oil (cold pressed oil I use a safflower oil)
1/3 Cup of good quality Honey (alot of store brands are watered down and filled with sugar!)
2 Cups of Soy Milk (any milk works, the original recipe called for buttermilk)
2.5 Cups of Flour (I grind my whole wheat berries so I have all the added goodness)
2tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt ( I only use sea salt)

Mix 1 cup of the bran with 1 cup of boiling water and let sit. Mix up the dry ingredients flour, soda and salt. Add eggs, oil, honey(I am very liberal with the honey and if you put the oil in first then measure out the honey it will come right out of the measuring cup! ) Add this to the dry ingredients and then add your milk.
Now this makes about 2 dozen muffins and  you will bake this off for about 10mins in a 400F oven.

You can add all kinds of different ingredients to these muffins such as raisins my favorite or nuts and blueberries or fresh apple ... the sky is the limit here !!

Here I have Plain with oatmeal on top, Walnut Blueberry and Apple Pecan.

Lemon Grass Tea

Benefits of Lemongrass TeaLemongrass has been used in South Asian cooking since a long time. It is known to have a calming effect on the body, thereby helps in inducing sleep and curing insomnia. Lemongrass is also anti-bacterial and anti-fungal in nature, which makes it an effective remedy for a wide variety of complaints. Lemongrass tea, provides relief from nausea, severe menstrual cramps and acts as a diuretic too. Lemongrass tea health benefits are, detoxification of liver, pancreas, kidneys, bladder and the digestive tract. Lemongrass tea also helps in maintaining normal cholesterol levels in the body, toxins, excess fats and improves digestion. Lemongrass also finds a place in Ayurvedic medicine for its innumerable properties, relieving common cold and cough being the famous ones. Read more on lemongrass oil uses.

Lemongrass tea has been an ancient remedy for curing chest congestion, colds and coughs. A concoction, called as, 'kadha' is given to the patient to help him get rid of the common cold. Also, if you add a dash of pepper to lemongrass tea, it will help you ease all menstrual problems like cramps and nausea. Interestingly, lemongrass tea benefits in acne prevention and in dealing with other skin problems too. Studies have shown drinking lemongrass tea on a regular basis, prevents the skin from developing any acne or pimples. This is true, as acne is a result of bacteria, and the anti-bacterial nature of the tea, helps the skin to look good and feel good.

How to Make Lemongrass Tea

Ingredients

• Clumps of lemongrass
• Water, 1 cup
• Milk, if desired
• Sugar or honey, as per taste

• Strainer

Method

• Peel the outer layer of the leaves and discard them. The outer layers, will give your tea a bitter taste.
• Boil the water and add the clumps of peeled leaves to it.
• Let the water boil on a slow heat for around twenty minutes. This extracts all the essence of the leaves.
• Add the sweetener and boil it for another 5 minutes. If you want, you can add some milk at this point.
• Remove from the stove, strain it in a cup and drink it hot.

You can also serve iced lemongrass tea. Go along with the suggested lemongrass tea recipe, let it cool and serve it with ice. If you are making it iced lemongrass tea, refrain from adding milk.

There is a plethora of lemongrass tea uses. This folk medicine has to have some truth, since it's been used for so many years. To make a start, combat the cold, with a cuppa lemongrass tea. I personally just add it to my herbal tea or green tea. Enjoy!

It's Snowing and Cold so Hot Soup for Dinner !!

Tonight I think I will make Hot Salmon and Miso Soup!  I love Miso and I love Salmon! Today is very cold and very snowy so it seems just right to make a big pot of Soup!
Ingredients are put in as much as you require to make and what you have on hand and I always start all my soups and stews the same way. I start by putting olive oil in the bottom pan, mostly I use an electric pressure cooker, but this soup seems rather delicate so I will make it in a big pot on the stove. Chop the onions and garlic and saute until translucent. Add lots of carrots they are one of my mainstays of any soup. Add in the bay leaves and saute just  for a few minutes so that all is nicely coated in the oil.  Add in the salmon and stock ( I will use homemade chicken stock)and a few piece of Kombu and just simmer on low for about 10 minutes. Add sweet potatoes and winter squash or pumpkin in small chunks, and the soy milk. Do not let this come to a boil just an easy simmer. Add the edamame just to heat them. In a small mixing bowl bring some broth out of the pot and mix in a couple tablespoons of Miso (I only use Miso that has no MSG added)  Add this back into the Soup Pot and just simmer gently. Bring out the Kombu chop and put back into the soup pot. All of this will only take about 30 mins to make!

Growing my own Sprouts

Growing your own sprouts is the easiest thing to do in the world. I have a three tray sprouting garden. First you soak your seeds in water for at least 8 hours. I usually soak them overnight. Wash and rinse your seeds well, pour the soaked seeds into the sprouting tray, a light rinse will help spread the seeds evenly. You must always allow to drain completely. Cover the tray and you may stack them four high. I have one broccoli under the cover and one on top of the cover so it can develop Chlorophyll. A day in in a warm bright spot will work perfectly.

Broccoli sprouts at one day old they are just starting to sprout out of the seed.

Finished Broccoli Sprouts at about Four Days.

I order seeds from The Sprout House http://www.sprouthouse.com/ and also some from Sprout People. Broccoli sprouts are by far my favorite sprouting seeds and they are said to be the very very high in  phytochemicals. Phystochemicals not only benefits the young plant, but when eaten by humans, acts as an antioxidant to stimulate the ability of animal cells to protect against disease.

I enjoy sprouts on almost everything that I eat and my sandwiches are not the same without my sprouts .

Green Smoothie of the Day

The Smoothie of the day today is just a quick simple smoothie with frozen organic bananas, frozen organic strawberries (locally picked at The Berry Patch) frozen grapes and fresh spinach from my local Farmers Co op from Raccoon Farms here in Iowa. You cant get any fresher than this beautiful spinach and the taste is superb !!!

Fresh Hot Apple Cider

Today was the day I finally took the apples and made Apple Cider. It turned out better than I thought it would. We had many cooking apples left over so instead of making those delicious apple recipes that I defiantly don't need to eat I decided to get out my Green Star Juicer and make Fresh Apple Cider. So I enlisted my husband to help as I cut up the apples he pushed them through the Green Star and we had beautiful fresh apple juice. I put a few cups of the juice and heated it on the stove with 2 cinnamon sticks, some cloves and some allspice. Instead of adding maple syrup or brown sugar I added a small amount of amber agave for the sweetener. I put a small amount of nutmeg (should have used fresh) in the cup and it was the most wonderful apple cider I have ever tasted. It was a wondrous hot creamy decedent drink of love.