"Healthy" Blueberry Muffin

I think I found heaven.

I am not going to lie, there is a stick of butter in this recipe AND sugar. I suppose what makes these little guys "healthy" is the fact that whole wheat flour and wheat germ were thrown into the recipe. The added grains give this muffin a less airy, more dense texture and they have just the right amount of sweetness. Overall, a great muffin recipe if you dig blueberries.

• 1 cup whole-wheat flour
  
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
  
• 1/4 cup wheat germ
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 ripe bananas
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup frozen blueberries

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners. In a bowl, whisk together flours, wheat germ, baking soda, and salt.
2. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugars with a mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. In another bowl, mash bananas with a fork (you should have 3/4 cup); stir in milk and vanilla.
3. With mixer on low, alternately add flour mixture and banana mixture to butter mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture; mix just until combined. Fold in frozen blueberries.
4. Divide batter among muffin cups. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean, 25 to 28 minutes, rotating pan halfway through. Let cool in pan 10 minutes; transfer muffins to a rack to cool 10 minutes more.

-A

PESTOOOOO!

I love the divisadero Farmers Market! This morning I walked over to the market to pick up some olives and a fresh baguette and some sunflowers for the house. I think the best part of going to the market instead of the boring ol grocery store is the fact that they give SAMPLES :) The olive man was super nice and let me sample all the olives and gave me different spreads to try that complemented each olive. WHAT GROCERY STORE DOES THAT?!

With the heirloom tomatoes and basil I got at alemany and the olives I got on divis, I made a simple bruschetta. Two chopped Heirloom tomatoes, a handful of pitted chopped olives, a handful of chopped basil, and a couple tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil makes enough Bruschetta for 3 to enjoy. I also cut up the baguette and toasted the slices in the oven for a few minutes at 325 F.

I admit that the ravioli is not homemade, but the pesto most definitely is! If you have a food processor this pesto can be made in 5 minutes tops. We have a small food processor (just like the one in the picture below) and it makes making pesto really easy.

We usually combine 1/4 cup of pine nuts, 1/4 cup grated parmesan, 1/4 cup olive oil, a tablespoon of butter, a couple whole garlic cloves, and enough basil to fill the food processor above (or the basil leaves from a bundle) to make enough pesto for the two of us. The only chopping involved is pressing the chop button a few times. And not only does this pesto taste great on pasta, it also works well on a sandwich with mozza and tomatoes :]

-A