Strawberry Banana n' Nut Butter LOVE these MUFFINS!

Hello all! I found an amazing vegan recipe for muffins that I just have to share! If you're a fan of Angela over at Oh She Glows, then you could have discovered them long ago. Even still, I'm just spreading the word on this jaw-dropping-tasty- heavenly -"love" muffin. That's what she calls them after all, and I know why!!

OH yes. This is heaven. Strawberries. Bananas. Pecans. Chia seed. DEE-licious!!

It was a little extra work compared to other muffins recipes I've done but it was well worth it! These little puppies are SO filling. My mom had one and said it filled her up so much, she hardly ate any dinner later! 

Strawberry, Banana n' Nut Butter Love Muffins

Prep Time: 15 mins

Cook Time: 25 mins

 

Makes 12 muffins 

Ingredients

• 13/4 c whole wheat flour
• 1/4 tsp. sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1.5 tbsp. ground chia seed (or flax) + 1/4 cup water
• 1.25 cup unsweetened almond milk
• 2 heaping tbsp. earth balance vegan butter
• 3 tbsp. nut butter(I used Nutella)
• 2 tbsp. pure maple syrup
• 1 large banana mashed, left a bit chunky
• 3/4 cup strawberries, chopped

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375F.
2. Grease a muffin tin and set aside.
3. In a small bowl mix the ground chia and water and set aside.
4. In a large bowl mix all dry ingredients (flours, salt, cinnamon, brown sugar, pecans, baking soda + powder). Set aside.
5. In a medium sized bowl, mix all wet ingredients (chia + water mixture, milk, warmed coconut butter, nut butter, maple syrup, mashed banana). Mix well.
6. Add wet to dry and stir.
7. Fold in chopped strawberries, reserving 1/4 of them to sprinkle on top of muffins.
8. Scoop mixture into muffin tin and sprinkle on remaining strawberries.
9. Bake for 25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

*Note- my instructions & ingredients differ from ohsheglows.com because I changed up a few things

 Banana gooey-ness inside, moist & yummy!!

 My little munchkin was happy to indulge!

 Isn't he just a doll??

Nutrition info- Per 1 muffin serving

Calories - 196
Calcium- 7 gm
Fat- 8gm
Protein- 4 gm
Sodium- 31 gm
Fiber- 4 gm

Vegan living rocks!

  

Vegan Minestrone Soup

Now I'm not sure if all minestrone soup is vegan but I know this one is. :D I haven't made it official on blogger but I've recently decided to go vegan. Boy, is it an adventure! It's like a religioun, everything looks different once you make the decision. Most of the things you were eating before (unless you already ate very clean) becomes "off limits". I feel really good though & I'm still trying to use up a lot of non-vegan foods in the house. So I threw this soup together this morning for lunches the next few days. I found the recipe on the side of the vegetable base jar!

Vegan Minestrone Soup

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons Better than Bouillon Vegetable Base (Organic)

2- 28 oz cans diced tomatoes

2 cups water

1- 15 oz can kidney beans (I used black beans)

1 diced onion 

1- 16 oz package frozen mixed vegetables

1 tsp each of garlic powder, dry basil

1/4 tsp black pepper

1 cup elbow macaroni

Bring to a boil. Add 1 cup uncooked elbow macaroni. Simmer, covered, for 15 minutes. Makes 3 quarts finished soup. 

I used 3 smaller cans of diced tomatoes (as pictured). The Red Gold brand has seasonings so I skipped adding the garlic powder & basil.

I tallied up the calories and I believe if the recipe serves 9 very easily, I didn't measure it but averaged 2 big ladle-fuls per serving. The calorie amount per serving (for 9) would be 183 cals, 1 gm fat, 7 gm calcium, 9 gm protein, & 7 gm fiber. Total cals is 1,650 so you can divide that by however many servings you make it to be.
 It is SO delicious, eating it right now as I type this, matter of fact. 

 The above picture is when it's all put together but not cooked yet.

 After it's cooked & ready to munch down on!

I think this would also taste great over some brown rice or quinoa.

Everyone have a wonderful HUMP day!