A Healthy Fit

Yesterday the Professor and I basically spent our entire day in our kitchen. This is a bit crazy considering how small our kitchen is and the lack of counter space. Let’s just say “cramped” pretty accurately describes our situation.

We had a big day of brewing and baking. I wasn’t the only one who got a workout yesterday (hot yoga kicked my ass). Blue Betty got a great workout in as well.

The Professor and Blue Betty spent the morning together while I was sweating my ass off– literally. We were planning pizza for dinner and the Professor’s specialty is the 1/2 whole wheat, 1/2 unbleached flour dough that he makes. He use to work in a pizza parlor, so the dough is his baby.

We gave Blue Betty a rest while we brewed beer together. The Professor has gone back to brewing beer after a 2.5 year hiatus. This was our first time brewing a batch together. It was fun, but there is a lot of lag time. I don’t sit still that well, so I’m not sure if it is the pastime for me.

After brewing was complete, I was ready to bake! I saw this recipe for Whole Wheat PB & J muffins over at How Sweet It Is and was dying to make them. I suited up and was ready for action.

I finally got to wear the cute apron that my Mamacita got me for Christmas. I think Bernadette inspired me. Aren’t I just 50′s housewife adorable.

I made just a couple modifications to the recipe. I didn’t use egg whites, I used soy yogurt instead. Also, I used raspberry jam from TJ’s instead of the reduced sugar stuff. Lastly, I didn’t use fat free milk, I used the remaining almond milk we had and then topped it off with rice milk. Here were the muffins after I added the jelly.

I don’t know if I should have used whole wheat pastry flour instead of regular WW, but my mixture seemed a bit thick. I could have  added more milk, but I like to live on the wild side.

Here was my finished product.

12 beautiful muffins. I think it’s cool that you can see the jelly spilling out. They actually are pretty darn tasty. I think that the whole wheat flour is overshadowing the peanut butter. Does anyone know if using WW pastry flour will make a difference? Maybe I just need a different brand of WW flour? I was also thinking…maybe there would be more peanut butter taste if I put the peanut butter in when I added the jelly? Hmm, maybe I will experiment.

It was fun to bake again and I know that the Professor and I will gobble these PB & J jems up. It feels like I haven’t baked anything in ages. I think my next baking adventure will be green tea muffins. I got some green tea powder and I think I can come up with either a scone or muffin recipe and it would be great! Look at me toot my own horn. Let’s be real. I’ll be taking a basic muffin recipe and adding some green tea powder.

Next up….roasting some butternut squash for the first time. How have I never done this before? Wish me luck!! I’m planning on eating it for lunch with some brown rice and avocado dressing. Any tips? Any great butternut squash recipes?