Best Muffins EVER!

Blueberry Steel Cut Oat Muffins

 

1 cup Rogers Steel Cut Porridge Oats

1 cup water, boiling

3/4 cup buttermilk

1/3 cup butter, melted

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 1/4 cups Rogers All Purpose Flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 cup blueberries (if frozen, do not thaw)
* I used frozen mixed berries (blackberries, raspberries and blueberries)

Pour boiling water over steel cut porridge oats in a bowl; stir. Let stand 10 minutes or longer if you have time. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Prepare a 12-cup muffin tin with  nonstick spray.

 

In a medium bowl, combine steel cut porridge oats, buttermilk, melted butter, egg, vanilla extract and brown sugar.

 

In a separate large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Stir in blueberries to coat. Add wet ingredients to flour mixture, stirring until just combined (do not overwork the batter). Spoon batter into muffin cups and bake 20-25 minutes, until tops spring back lightly when touched. Cool slightly in muffin tin before transferring to racks to cool completely.

 

 

 Nutritional Information per 1 muffin

 204 calories, 6 g fat, 3 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 248 mg sodium, 32 g carbohydrate, 2 g fiber, 14 g sugars, 5 g protein.

 

Fitness Friday: Documenting

I love the idea of documenting my fitness journey with something similar to what one blogger named  Cathy Zielske came up with. Each week I plan on taking a photo and jotting down my measurements so that I can chart my progress. I think it will help keep me on track and motivate me to keep going when I feel discouraged. I have to keep reminding myself that change takes TIME. Hopefully having visual evidence of my journey will  remind me that change is taking place even if the number on the scale is not budging (which is often the case).

 

I am finally going to the gym on a regular basis and I feel as though I am getting stronger, but I think that I am going to need to take things to the next level and start prepping my meals for the week if I want to start seeing more fat loss. I am terrible about meal planning. And I mean TERRIBLE! I have been trying for years to use a meal plan and have failed miserably.  After watching a handful of YouTube videos of people prepping food for the week, I have managed to carve out some time during one of Levi's naps to cook a pot of brown rice, bake a pan of  baked yams, chop veggies, and cook a bunch of lean protein. Having healthy options on hand makes staying on track MUCH easier.

 

I feel the need to explain, once again, that I am not trying to loose weight and get fit because I hate my body or because I am not comfortable in my skin.  I simply want to see what my body is capable of.  I am always curious what my body can do. It's part of the reason I gave birth naturally, ran a marathon, and have competed in triathlons. I love challenging my body and this is just a new "challenge".
 

I have always seen myself as "voluptuous", and "curvy", but for the first time in my life I actually believe that there is a firmer, stronger body under my curves and I would like to see what that looks like. I happen to like my curves, and I can always welcome them back if the "hard body" look I am trying to adopt is too hard to maintain or limits my lifestyle too much. It's simply an exciting new journey, especially since my days of growing and birthing babies is OVER!!!!!!

This life

 

Oh this life, this beautiful life. It is filled to the brim with the mundane as well as the extraordinary.

 

  

Today I was standing at our window with Levi, watching the city trucks collect our recycling, and found myself serenaded by the sweet movement of his body as he inhaled and exhaled with excitement. It was probably the only moment in the entire day where I found myself truly "in the moment" and reveling in its richness. I found myself marveling at the roundness of his cheeks, the way his hands clutched my shirt, the softness of his skin, and the shape of this little lips. Finding myself thinking "this is what makes life meaningful", "this is why I had this sweet boy in the first place". Seconds later, life came crashing in again, like an expected wave that still catches you off guard. A scraped knee, a wailing child, a lost toy, a hungry belly, an overturned dish, a phone call. All too quickly I found myself swept back into the frenzied, distracted pace that pre-occupies much of my day.