A Muffin, Please

Do you remember that commercial from awhile back where the kid is drowning in a giant bowl of cereal, using a Froot Loop as a life preserver, and he says, "Can I just have a muffin, please?" I tried to find it but to no avail. (Here's a tip: Don't Google any phrase that includes "boy drowning" because you will get stories you don't want to know about.)

Yeah, well that's a little what I feel like lately, only the milk is my job. I just feel like I haven't quite found my footing yet...and I'm definitely a person who likes to have my footing. The drowning metaphor is a bit dramatic, sure, but you get my point. And don't we all just need a muffin sometimes?

Perhaps related to this sense of drowning-but-not-really-drowning, I tried to quit guitar this week. I'm terrible about practicing and I hate driving back to Uptown after I just got home from downtown (whine, whine, I know, poor me and the things I want to accomplish in my life), but then when I was sitting there in the lesson, I remembered that I actually want to learn to play and, in fact, I want to learn to play a Belly song...and then for a split second I fantasized about having a Belly coverband called Hot Burrito (but that's actually a cover, so it would have to be called Dusted instead)...so I didn't quit, I just switched the time so I can come directly from work. (I'm a genius!)

So in this story, Tanya Donelly was my muffin. And then today, I made real muffins.

So here it is, my Smart and Good recipe for the week, adapted from a random recipe I tore out of a random magazine long ago. (I didn't make these gluten free, but you easily could by subbing in gluten-free flour and a little xanthan gum.)

Better-Than-a-Giant-Bowl-of-Cereal (Dairy-Free/Refined Sugar-Free) Mini Zucchini Muffins

See the healthy stuff in there?!

3/4 cup cake flour (I used bread flour to use it up.)
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1 egg
1/2 cup palm sugar
3 tsp. veg or coconut oil (melted)
1/2 cup grated zucchini
1/4 cup grated carrot
Healthy dash of salt
1/4 cup ground flaxseed
1/4 cup chopped pecans

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg together in a bowl.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk egg, sugar and oil. Stir in zucchini, carrots and salt.
4. Add the flour mixture to the vegetable mixture. Stir.
5. Stir in the nuts and flaxseed.
6. Grease a mini muffin tin (or two). Fill the cups 1/2 full.
7. Bake for 12 minutes. My recipe yielded 20 muffins today. I recommend eating them warm, with butter or coconut butter.

Enjoy!