Sunday, July 19, 2015

Healthy Blueberry, Banana & Zucchini Muffins

Good morning!

I usually make pancakes on the weekends, but today it is muffins! These muffins have 3 types of healthy produce, honey and maple syrup instead of sugar, white whole wheat flour, and greek yogurt. Healthy and delish! The perfect way to start a weekend morning.




Recipe

Ingredients:
Adapted from: Cooking a la Mel


2 ripe bananas – well mashed
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup greek yogurt
¼ cup honey
¼ cup maple syrup
zest of ½ a lemon
1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 cups zucchini, grated

1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries

Directions:

In a large bowl, beat together the mashed bananas, eggs, vanilla, and yogurt. Add in the honey, maple syrup and lemon zest.
In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon until well blended.  
Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet.
Fold in the zucchini and blueberries.

OK, time out. 3 things.
First, Do as I say, not as I do, because I thought I'd try putting the blueberries at the bottom of each muffin cup instead of blending them into the batter.  Terrible idea. it turned out more like a cobbler, not a muffin.  Add them to the batter :)
Second, I have to confess, only half the time do I really mix the dry ingredients separately, and then add them gradually. The rest of the time I totally add them all straight into the wet ingredients, mix the salt, cinnamon etc. into the flour best I can, and then gradually fold it all together. Lazy. Basically turns out the same. 
Third, I used my Vitamix to blend everything, instead of a hand egg beater. Both work great.

Anyway, once you have your batter incorporated, pour into greased muffin tins and bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.







Perfect for breakfast, but also as a snack or dessert!
Happy Weekend :)





Monday, July 6, 2015

Yogurtland New Flavors in Stores Today! #‎YogurtlandSweetTreats‬

I was invited to preview these new items, and was compensated with a goodie bag, gift card, and all I could eat frozen yogurt ;)

Yogurtland invited me to attend a preview at their Corporate location in Irvine of their new Candy Crush game inspired frozen yogurt flavors that debut in stores today!


I'm probably the only person who doesn't play the Candy Crush game on my phone, so I wasn't sure what the inspired flavors would be like!





It was such a fun event! They had lots of samples for us to try, including toppings, plus a photo booth, prize wheel, and a tour of their flavor mixing lab!


Two of my fave flavors are the first to debut! Look for them beginning today, July 6th - July 19th in your local store!


Not only does the Maple Donut flavor taste just like a real doughnut, but they offer mini glazed cake doughnuts on their toppings bar to compliment the flavor! Now you can have your frozen yogurt, and eat your cake (donut), too! ;)  So delicious!!! You have to try it!



The Orange Fizz Sorbet, along with the Lemonade Lake coming out in August, were so summery and refreshing! And they have cute Swedish fish to top this flavor!







Throughout the summer, they will release the other flavors:
Blue Raspberry Sorbet - July 20
Chocotastic Sorbet - July 20

Salted Caramel Gelato (so yummy!!) - August 3
Candy Clouds - August 3

Lemonade Lake - August 17
Cupcake Carnival - August 17

Butterscotch - August 31
Minty Meadow - August 31

The fun thing about the Candy Clouds cotton candy flavor, was they totally made it taste like real cotton candy, and not that fake blue "cotton candy" flavor we are used to.

That is the cool and unique thing about Yogurtland is that they buy the real food item when creating new flavors, so that they can get the flavor just right.  They use real food flavors to re-create a more authentic tasting product! I love this.  They also test their probiotic levels several times during the yogurt making process, to make sure those stay intact.
So, basically. A heath food ;)  That's what I tell myself as I'm eating that sugary donut, ha!!


I had so much fun in the Photo Booth with my good friend Mary, from the blog Let's Play OC.  She has all the insider details on so many fun things going on in Orange County!
Check her out on Instagram here, and here, too!





 Spinning the prize wheel! :)





It was such a treat (pun intended!) to tour the corporate office lobby! They had a whole wall of all their flavors, past and present. I found my long lost all time fave, Carrot Cake! ...Bring it back!! ;)




Be sure to follow Yogurtland on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for even more details on today's kickoff of these Candy Crush flavors!!

Follow the hashtag this summer to see everyone's creations, and be sure to tag Yogurtland when you go in to try these yummy new summer flavors!
#YogurtlandSweetTreats   #YogurtlandCandyCrush







 

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