This morning I felt so good.  I did my 30 min. run on the treadmill.  My chest and bicep workout went great with weights even though my shoulder is still painful from my fall yesterday.  I decided to take Shane on a run.  We ended up doing over 4 miles on this gorgeous Monday morning.  Calm, cool, and clear road.  Total miles today:  7.68.

The rest of the week in exercise:  

What does your week in exercise look like?

As promised, the Vegan version of a deliciously healthy grain muffin.  This muffin is sweet.

In my recipe, I use  Turbinado sugar. 

 Turbinado sugar differs from refined white sugar in that it is obtained or crystallized from the initial pressing of sugar cane.

Turbinado sugar has a slight molasses flavor.  The reason some people believe it is “healthier” than granulated or table sugar is because it is processed slightly less. However, sugar is sugar and no matter which one you choose, it should be moderated in the diet.

The other point to mention about these muffins is that they don’t contain eggs.  I used Hulled Hemp Seed to substitute for the egg protein.  If you don’t like the “seediness” of the hemp seed, you can substitute ground flaxseed.  I’ll tell you about healthy Hemp seed tomorrow in another Vegan recipe.

Blue Cornmeal Whole Wheat Spice Muffins:  Makes 12 Large muffins and 12 Standard muffins

• 1 cup Bob’s Red Mill Whole Grain Blue cornmeal
• 3 cups whole wheat flour
• 2 cups Turbinado sugar
• 4 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 cup water
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 2/3 cup 100% canned pumpkin
• 3 TBS apple cider vinegar
• 1 TBS vanilla extract
• 3 TBS Bob’s Red Mill Hulled Hemp Seed mixed with 1/3 cup warm water

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line muffin tins with paper or foil muffin/cupcake liners.

In a large bowl, mix all ingredients from the cornmeal through the nutmeg.  In another bowl, mix all the ingredients from the water through the hemp seed *add both the hemp and the water to the lemon/pumpkin mix. 

Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients into the well. Stir together ONLY until incorporated.  Distribute the batter among the muffin tins and bake from 20 – 25 minutes.  Do not over bake.  If you are unsure of your ovens temperature accuracy, check after 15 minutes.  If the middle of the muffin is springy (not sticky), the muffin is done. Check with a knife to make sure it comes out clean.

For a simple glaze:  Mix powdered sugar (about 1/2 cup) + water (about 1 TBS) to desired consistency. 

Surprises. Don’t you just love them? The UPS guy delivered late last night and dropped this package of samples from Bob’s Red Mill: 

Samples From Bob's Red Mill

I went wild! Ted was thinking.. “what has she ordered now?”  I eat the 10 Grain Cereal and the Steel Cut Oats usually once per week, so those tested by Moi and prove delish! As for the 4 other items:  Polenta, Milled Hemp Seed, Whole Wheat Pastry Flour, and Whole Grain Blue Cornmeal…I’ve never tried them. I’ve never even heard of blue cornmeal.  So here’s a warning guys… there is going to be a lot of test baking going on in the Apple Crumbles kitchen.  The best part is that each one of these packages has at least one wonderful looking recipe on the back .

Thank you Matt, at Bob’s Red Mill for being so kind and sending samples for me to try.

Now for Tuesday AM news.

Did some incline work on the T/M for 35 minutes.  Worked back and triceps today:

• 8 sets x 15 of all:
• Mid pulley rows and tricep kick backs
• Lat pull downs and tricep presses
• 4 x 10 of the following:
• Bent over rows + tricep dips.

Shane and I went for a 3 mile run/walk. On our way home,we went through the MVCC parking lot.  They section the lot off with gates for pass holders.  As we were walking through, I thought we would be able to get from lot to lot via the “grassy” dividers.   As it so happens, those dividers are where the plows dump the snow.  What’s fun for Shane isn’t always considered fun for Jo.   I tried to pick the shortest bank to climb and get over. Going up was amazingly ok,but on the way down, a leaping, sprinting dog doesn’t help the “slow and easy” descent.  We made it, covered in snow and the sneakers were filled. 

Breakfast was as follows:

Pre work out shake: 1 scoop Chocolate Jay Robb

Post work out meal ( about 2 hrs later):  1 VPX + 3/4 cup Frozen Raspberries.  Bob’s Red Mill 10 Grain Cereal + 1/2 pear, peeled and chopped to cook with the cereal + 1/4 pear chopped and added to cereal after cooking along with 1 TBS nuts and raisins.   The other 1/4 pear, Ted had to help me eat. Too much PEAR!

10 Grain, pear, nuts and raisins with a VPX shake and raspberries

I’m down loading emails for work at home and forwarding them on to Sue if they need printing or immediate action.  This is just in case I don’t have my work computer for the entire morning.  We shall see!

One more thing… tonight I have a guest post…tune back and learn something great about fruits!