Best Blueberry Muffins Recipe

Blueberry Power Muffins with Almond Streusel

Here is a great recipe for “power” muffins from Cooking Light magazine. The muffin are loaded with B vitamins from whole wheat flour, calcium from milk and yogurt, antioxidants from the blueberries, and heart-friendly monounsaturated fat from almonds and canola oil. You can freeze the muffins for up to a month, then thaw them at room temperature, or microwave each muffin at High 15 to 20 seconds. I tested the recipe using greek yogurt instead of regular yogurt and the muffins came out great, very tender and tasty. When I made the recipe it actually made almost 60 mini-muffins so I had to make additional streusel topping.

Muffins:

1 and ½ cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup quick cooking oats
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
2 cups vanilla low-fat yogurt (I used Greek yogurt which is a bit thicker than regular yogurt)
½ cup 2% reduced-fat milk
3 tablespoons canola oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 and ½ cup fresh blueberries (I used frozen and did not defrost them)
Cooking spray

Weight Loss and Coffee

Eggs

The only person who used to talk about how great eggs were for weight loss was Dr. Atkins but now nutritionists have changed their tune. The American Dietetic Association says that healthy folks can have them every day without raising their cholesterol levels- and researchers in Canada believe that eating eggs might help reduce high blood pressure. Eggs have proteins called peptides which seem to work like blood-pressure drugs. Plus by eating eggs, you’ll boost your odds of losing weight. Eggs are have a lot of protein, which takes time to digest. Protein in the morning keeps your stomach full, so you eat less during the rest of the day.

Other so called “bad” foods that can help you lose weight are:

Steak

Again, Dr. Atkins used to be only one advocating eating red meat but now steak has been discovered to be good for weight loss. A lean cut of beef has barely more saturated fat than a similar size skinless chicken breast. Steak is high in protein and can keep you feeling full longer. To get plenty of protein with less fat, choose T-bone, sirloin tip, or other extra-lean cuts — and limit portions to the size of your fist.

Foods That Prevent Cancer

You can really boost the nutrition power of your salad by adding a few key ingredients. Dr. Oz gives us the reasons these ingredients are so helpful.

Watercress - Not only is this peppery green full or iron, calcium, phosphorus, potassium and lutein, but compounds in these greens – isothiocyanates – may thwart a potent carcinogen in tobacco.

Arugula – Women who eat the most from this food family score the same on brain tests as women who are two years younger. Plus, it has the power to turn on a cancer-fighting substance in your body that makes prostate-,breast, and colon cancer cells die.

Spinach - Its powerful ingredients include magnesium, a nutrient most of us don’t get enough of. People who eat three or more servings of spinach slow mental decline due to aging by as much as 40 percent. If you don’t like the taste use baby spinach the taste is less strong. Other leafy greens that are good are kale and collard greens.

I have found that mixing these greens with other kinds of lettuce gives you the best taste results. I still really like iceberg lettuce so I mix in the baby spinach or the watercress until I have about 50/50 mix.

Food Ingredients to Avoid

Dr Oz recently came out with a list of top ten ways to live healthier and one of the items on the list was five ingredients to avoid. Some of these you already may know but some may surprise you.

High fructose corn syrup was the first item on the list. When you start looking at ingredients in processed food you will be shocked at how many contain corn syrup. Corn syrup has been linked to a lot of health problems such as diabetes and ADD in children. So check your labels to make sure you are not getting too much. If it is the first ingredient listed reconsider the product.

Sugar – We all know to avoid this but sometimes we don’t realize how much sugar products that are marketed as healthy contain. For instance, I love yogurt and yogurt has acidopholus which is a probiotic which is really good for you but yogurt has too much sugar for me. After I eat it I am not satisfied and I get hungry a half hour later. Some cereals that are marketed as being good for you have a ton of sugar in them. So check labels, anything over 10 grams a serving is too much sugar.