The Old Switcheroo

Happy Sunday people! In keeping with the spirit of my new philosophy of 'do what makes you happy' I threw the schedule to the wind this morning, stood on my balcony and decided that a nice long trail run was in order. It didn't disappoint. It was 9km of sunshine filled, glistening bay, Garmin free, chilled out bliss.

Now Sunday may be Church day for some, but in this household, its cooking day. I usually make 2 savoury dishes and something sweet so that lunches and snacks are minimal fuss during the week. 5am wake-ups and long work days usually mean I don't have a lot of energy for cooking or preparing in the evening, so this way all the prep is done.

Now i'm a bit of a foodie so whilst I wouldn't say all of my recipes are terribly complex, I wouldn't say that they could all be made by those who are less gifted in the kitchen. Actually, that's a lie. They could be made by those who are less gifted in the  kitchen, but I can understand why they might seem too intimidating for some of you to try. Here is where the old trick of the old switcheroo comes in handy. (What? you don't remember that old trick?!)

Those poor folk who get to encounter me on a daily basis will have heard me talking about 'good, better, best' when it comes to diet and lifestyle. People are very often wanting to know if a food is 'good' or 'bad'. I like to think of thinks on a scale. For bread, my scale would go something like this;
White bread (with yeast) = skip
Wholemeal bread (with yeast) = good
Wholemeal bread with nuts and seeds (with yeast) = better
Wholemeal Spelt/rye/oat bread without yeast = best

The same system can be applied to muffins. Oh, how I love muffins. Obviously you want to skip the white chocolate raspberry muffins at Maccas. And best case scenario is to make your own from scratch with dried fruits and nuts and seeds. But today I just wanted a chocolate muffin that tasted like a chocolate muffin but that has some kind of nutrition in it. Enter the fixer-uppered Vitarium Choc Muffins.

This muffin mix can be purchased at most major supermarkets and it is a gluten, dairy, egg and nut free muffin mix that uses a stevia sweetner mixture, which means, as the packet says, its low in sugar. Now, truly wholefood muffins these are not, but with a little bit of tweaking, they are a very easy, very quick 'better' option.

The directions caled for butter, milk and eggs and so I substituted the milk for water and the butter for another egg. The result is less fat and a less dense muffin and thanks to the eggs they pack a bit more protein. Then I added to the packet mix, once prepared as directed;

4T Chia seeds
1/2c chopped Walnuts

The result is that the muffins have crunchy tasty goodness in them, and they are now packing fibre, essential fatty acids, magnesium and vitamin E. Oh, and I forgot to mention they are delicious!