Featured Friday – Diabetic Foodie

Let me introduce you to a pretty special lady I’ve met through this wonderful adventure I call the blogging world. Shelby is the blogger behind Diabetic Foodie. She grew up surrounded by terrific Southern cooks who loved food. Even though Shelby found out in 1999 that she was a Type 2 Diabetic she didn’t let it stop her from eating delicious home cooked meals. She managed her diet via food exchanges. She started taking walks every day after work and even dropped 30 pounds. For several years, she managed her diabetes without drugs and just simply paid attention. Then life happened, (damn that life, it always does that doesn’t it!) After changing careers, changing states twice and remarrying, Shelby was told by her doctor that her kidneys were not as healthy as they should be.  Her philosophy then evolved into using fresh, local foods whenever possible, incorporating more whole grains and using healthy fats and lean proteins. She also eats a lot more hearty dishes that happen to be vegetarian. I’ve been through Shelby’s blog extensively because well, I wanted to make every dish! Ask her, I changed my mind 3 different times. My new one is that awesome Far East Steak Salad she made last week! Her blog is NOT just for diabetics, I promise you that, her recipes are for anyone who wants to cook a heart healthy, fresh and lean meal. Maybe some of these delicious recipes will help inspire me to loose the end of this baby weight, my kiddo is going to be two, I’m not even sure I can consider it baby weight anymore! Maybe Shelby can do a guest post for me when my new site takes off next month on how to make a change in eating habits, I for one NEED to do this. Oh and guess what!!?? Shelby’s step daughter lives in NH!! She plans on visiting soon and she may just be the first foodie friend I get to meet, how exciting would that be! So, I decided to make a recipe from Shelby’s collection that would include my daughter since she’s been loving the kitchen with me lately. Plus I love the idea of making breakfast things that my husband can take to work all week, and MM can have a quick and delicious breakfast on the mornings we are out the door early (which is pretty much everyday!) Plus I thought it would be a good idea to incorporate a great recipe for everyone that is already picking apples this year!

Apple Pecan Muffins

Cooking spray
2 Tbsp plus ¾ cup light brown sugar
¼ cup chopped pecans
½ tsp ground cinnamon
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole grain pastry flour
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
¼ cup canola oil
2 large eggs
1 cup unsweetened applesauce (I like Mott’s Natural)
1 tsp vanilla extract
¾ cup lowfat buttermilk
1 Gala apple, peeled, cored and cut into ½-inch chunks

Preheat oven to 400°F. Coat a 12-cup muffin tin with cooking spray. In a small bowl, mix together 2 Tbsp of the brown sugar, the pecans and the cinnamon. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the all-purpose and whole grain pastry flours, baking soda and salt.

In a large bowl, mix remaining ¾ cup brown sugar with oil until well combined. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add applesauce and vanilla.

Add flour mixture to applesauce mixture alternately with buttermilk. (Add half of flour, half of buttermilk, remaining flour, remaining buttermilk.) Mix just until combined; don’t overmix or muffins will be tough. Gently stir in apple chunks. Scoop batter into prepared muffin pan. Sprinkle with pecan mixture. Tap pan on counter to remove air bubbles.

Bake for 20 minutes or until wooden toothpick inserted in center of a muffin comes out clean.

Let cool on wire rack for 15 minutes. Run a knife around the muffins to loosen, then remove from pan. Cool on rack. I even added some fall cutesy inserts in them, not even sure that’s what they are called but hey it’s cute!

How yummy do these look!! These will be breakfast this weekend while we are at our campground!

Do you think it was Madison Approved?????????

Makes 12 muffins
Per muffin: 228 calories, 8g fat (1g sat), 36mg cholesterol, 232mg sodium, 37g carb, 2g fiber, 20g sugar, 4g protein

Don’t forget to go check out some other great healthy recipes over at Diabetic Foodie. Thank you so much for Co-Hosting with me Shelby, and as always, you are always welcome in my kitchen!