Struggle Muffins

It’s that time again.

LENT.

The season of denial. Of deprivation. Of sacrificing something in the name of God, Jesus or maybe just something bigger than yourself in hopes of emerging, a mere 40 days later, a purer, more pious version of yourself.

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And it is often customary, at this point, to return to neglected bad habits with feverish enthusiasm.

At least that’s the way it’s worked for me.

I either: a) use Lent as a pretext for going without something that I’ve been wanting to give up anyway, knowing that the socially-embraced institution will provide the accountability I’m unwilling to force upon myself or b) scrape by without chocolate, swearing, gum, peanut butter, other vice of choice for 40 days, using the knowledge that my chosen vices will be waiting for me at the finish line to power me through.

And where’s the integrity in either of those paths?

No where. There’s none.

So in recent years I’ve taken to eschewing Lenten sacrifice altogether. It doesn’t jive with my persona; I’m not especially prone to excess anyway, so I prefer to live a life of relative moderation on an ongoing basis, permitting some slightly unsavory habits but at the same time, avoiding major indulgences. Maybe it’s warranted maybe it’s not, but I rationalize that because I put effort into living consciously and moderately, I shouldn’t have to strip minor delicacies from my day-to-day life.

And now that I see that in writing, I realize I look like a jerk.

And maybe I am.

So maybe I should stick with a pledge I made a couple weeks ago (whilst under the hypnotic influence of Meghan-kryptonite, known to some as the margarita) to strike struggle talk from my lexicon.

Let’s just say that the magical tequila-infused elixir has the power to transform me.

I jest, I jest.

But for reals, vocalizing my struggles is so intricately woven into my consciousness, so cathartic and so integral to my ability to embrace my all-too-real fallibility, that it will be difficult to set aside for 40 days. But as I was reminded by a certain stud muffin who’s holding me to my ambitious promise to shelf the struggle soliloquies for Lent – two margaritas into the night, mind you – struggle talk, whether in a lighthearted, self-deprecating manner or in a more serious tone, can be a self-fulfilling prophecy.

And this struggle muffin is working towards evolving. I named this blog Struggle Muffins because I needed to get a grip on the fact that I’m not perfect. And I’ve grasped this concept. Firmly. Not about to loosen it anytime soon.

Ergo, I’m going to let the struggle chatter lie dormant for a while. Irony prevails, I know.

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But my hope is that it will provide space and inspiration to talk about other things.

Like, oh I don’t know…

MUFFINS.

Chocolate Granola Muffins, to be precise.

• 1 cup granola (I used THIS saucy little number)
• 1/2 cup low-fat milk
• 1 cup chocolate chips
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 large or extra large eggs
• 1/4 cup mild honey, such as clover
• 1/2 cup plain yogurt
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375ºF

Combine granola and milk in a bowl and let sit for 30 minutes

Mix dry ingredients

Mix wet ingredients

Mix dry mixture and wet mixture together creating the most marvelously mixtastic of mixtures and then add to the mixalisciousness by mixing in the soggy granola

Spoon into muffin cups and bake 20 to 25 minutes, until lightly browned

Let cool for a few minutes. Or throw restraint out the window and dive into a muffin, taking advantage of the chocolate chip meltiness quotient which, upon the muffins’ exit from the oven, should be at its apex.

Do you give up anything for Lent? Do you half give up things or fully ignore that the tradition even exists? And by the way, I respect all aforementioned approaches to the sacrificerific institution, just curious to see how people differ in their perspectives and actions.

I bet, at some point in your life, you’ve wondered what the deal with pineapple is.

I mean, it looks like…I’m not sure what it looks like but it definitely doesn’t resemble the average fruit. Or any fruit for that matter.

Methinks fruit dude on the far right might be a pineapple, but there's no telling for certain...

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It’s more sophisticated than your run-of-the-mill orange. Less disposable than a handful of grapes. More thought-provoking than a what-you-see-is-what-you-get banana.

It’s a complex fruit and as such, it’s earned my respect and admiration.

Pineapples’ complexity extends way beyond that of the average fruit; instead of the round shape and smooth skin favored by many a pear, plum and apple, pineapple has an oblong shape with a spiky, texture-y skin and intense leaves shooting out of the top.

Unlike many fruits, you can’t just dive into a pineapple mouth-first but rather have to coerce the edible delectable parts of the fruit out from beneath their protective shell. And lest you think this sounds too high maintenance, I assure you the prep work is well worth the effort because pineapple is a standout not only in terms of taste but also with regard to nutrition.

I’ve always had a strange affinity for pineapple.

Always.

Or maybe just since high school when my French class watched Telefrançais and I found myself inexplicably transfixed by Ananas, the walking, talking pineapple.

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So yeah, pineapple.

And since you don’t really need me to tell you convince you of its powers of taste bud persuasion, I’ll just tell you why it’s nutritionally-virtuous. And then tell you how to use it (hint: in the form of a baked good that begins in ‘m’ and ends in ‘uffins.’)

Pineapple’s super good for you for a number of reasons…

• It’s a wealth of immune system-supporting antioxidant vitamin C, which is of mucho importance for warding off colds during this all-too-potent germ season
• It has anti-inflammatory properties thanks to bromelain, which helps reduce swelling in conditions like gout, arthritis, sore throat and sinusitis
• It can expedite the repair of tissue damaged from general surgery, diabetic ulcers and injuries
• It reduces blood clotting and aids in removing plaque from arterial walls
• It can be used in treatment of everything from throat infections and bronchitis to anemia and arteriosclerosis

And now that we got that little health download out of the way, onto the fun stuff!

And by fun stuff, I mean food.

Food of the muffin variety, to be precise.

PINEAPPLE MUFFINS

Batter:

• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup turbinado sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 can crushed pineapple (soaked in water or juice, not syrup)
• 1 egg, beaten
• 3/4 cup milk (I used almond)
• 1/4 cup butter, melted

Streusel Topping

• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour

Preheat oven to 375.

Mix dry batter ingredients in one bowl. Mix wet batter ingredients in another bowl. Make a little dent in the center of the dry bowl and pour the contents of the wet bowl into the dry. Mix, mix, mix.

Mix streusel ingredients in yet another bowl.

Spoon batter into a lined or greased muffin tin (I used an ice cream scoop and it was oh-so magically helpful). Sprinkle streusel mixture over the tops of the muffins, then pop ‘em in the oven. For about 20 – 25 minutes. Or whenever you can stab them with a knife and the knife comes out clean and not all ooey-gooey.

Typically, using whole wheat flour instead of traditional (and nutritionally-bereft) white flour has the unfortunate side effect of making muffins dry however, the pineapple saturation quotient is so high that it mitigates any attempts on behalf of the whole wheat flour to deplete this muffin of its moisture.

And so, these muffins are WINNERS in my book. And in my tummy. I like them because they’re sufficiently texture-y and flavor-y, without being overwhelmingly pineapple-y. There’s just enough going on to make you squeal with delight. And possibly yearn for a trip to a tropical oasis.

Do you like pineapple? How do you like to eat it? Would you ever wear one?

2012 is here.

New Years Resolutions are being made and broken all across the nation.

If you crane your neck and turn your ear to just the right angle, you can pretty much hear it happening. It’s not unlike the sound of baby birds taking their first chirps after hatching from their shells, only to be discovered and savagely ravaged by the neighborhood predatory creature, probably a feline of some sort.

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Hope and promise, met with swift and certain demise.

I can also hear the collective chirp of New Years Resolution-makers from atop their elliptical and treadmill perches, as they extol their virtuousness for engaging in this novel thing called cardiovascular exercise.

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I see smiles spread across their faces as they bask in the faint red glow of the inflated calorie expenditure calculations on the exercise machine panels.

I sense their smug grins as they stop at the smoothie bar on the way out of the gym to suck down a sugarific and workout-negating slurpable meal.

And in case it’s not readily evident, let me just state for the record that I’m not into the whole New Year’s Resolution thing.

I’ve had nothing but unmitigated disdain for New Year’s Resolutions ever since I was in college and all the Johnny-come-lately January exercisers usurped my beloved ellipticals and treadmills at Holy Cross’ grievously under-equipped gym. The exercise machine to exerciser ratio was skewed so much during the months of January and February that a struggle muffin had but two choices: wait in line to nab a machine for longer than the desired workout would last, or brave the Worcester wind and cold to run outside. Frigid temps be damned, I ran outside.

So strong is my contempt for NYR’s that I’ve assigned a special nomenclature to its adherents: New Year’s Resolutionaries. Not altogether unlike a revolutionary, a resolutionary is compelled and empowered by a cause.

Cool.

Neat.

I get it.

But the difference between the two is that Resolutionaries’ causes are predicated on little more than widely-embraced yet somewhat shallow cultural customs. Make changes, make improvements, cultivate healthy habits. Because the clock struck 12:00am on January 1st and/ or everyone else is doing it.

There’s no meaning in that.

Sure, making resolutions does confer the benefit to participating resolutionaries  of being able to tap into the feverish surge of energy and enthusiasm that accompany the rampant behavior modifications happening near and far.

Ride that wave. Skirt on the coattails of collectively sought-after self-improvement.

What’s worked well for me is treating resolutionaries as I would zombies. Once encountered, they can’t be avoided. I try to dodge them as best I can but it’s not always possible. When accosted by one on the street, in a store, on the train or in some other public place, I find it serves me best to activate my Go Go Gadget Glassy Eyes, rendering myself dazed and confused, leading the resolutionary to lose interest and seek another soapbox from which to soliloquize.

Chances of running into both zombies and resolutionaries at Starbucks are good to quite good.

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Stay quiet. Stay still. As lifeless as possible. Don’t even take a sip from your skinny vanilla late. If you can’t be detected, you can’t be mutilated/ forced to hear about about the wonders of  Weight Watchers’ new flex points system and what it can do to whittle a waistline. They’re pretty much the same thing in my mind.

Pessimism aside, I do see the value in making changes. Being open to change. Adapting to the undercurrent of change that flows continuously, like it or not, realize it or not.

Change is good. And wise is the person who can recognize this and respond accordingly.

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So here’s what I’ma do about it. I’m adopting a mantra. A simple phrase that reminds me of what I want to work on in 2012. Of what’s important to me as a whole human being, not as a body trying to wedge itself into too-tight jeans.

BE CALM.

That’s my mantra.

Wait a sec…

Be calm.

That’s better.

So yeah, mantras.

We’re only a few days into 2012, but so far the mantra method has served me well.

I think it’s easier to commit to a fairly subjective goal. Something that can be qualified instead of quantified.

I find myself getting worked up and over-thinky and tell myself, ‘self: be calm‘ and then I be calm. Or get calm. Find calm. You know what I mean.

And it’s pretty neato because you can make it as simple or as specific as you want. Open-ended or situational.

Be brave.

Be confident.

Brake for animals.

Back away from the donuts.

The possibilities are endless!

I’ve also taken to asking myself, in the heat of a frenzied moment, would I want to be friends with me right now? If I weren’t me, that is. Would I like/ tolerate/ respect the person I am right now, in this moment, in this situation? And if the answer is no, I make some tweaks.

If I wouldn’t want to be friends with me, I wouldn’t expect anyone else to.

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And that’s what’s working for me. Though it’s clearly not my chosen path, I respect the New Year’s Resolution route if it truly provides the accountability needed to make lasting and effective changes.

How do you approach change in the new year? Mantras? Resolutions? Ultimatums? Aspirations?

Sometimes, unexpected things happen.

You spill water on your laptop, nearly sending it to a watery grave and losing your unsaved 20 page paper in the process.

You get a touch overzealous working out on your elliptical machine and unhinge the elliptical foot-y thing from the…machine, ruining it forevermore.

You have an unfortunate encounter with an adrenaline-crazed deer whilst driving to work that results in a world with one less forest creature. And one heck of a car repair bill.

The possibilities are endless. And since many of them involve no small share of aggravations, headaches and/or fits of rage, there is a tendency to associate unexpected with bad.

And sure, hitting an unanticipated bump in the road can be scary.

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But I’m here to poke a hole in that theory. To give it a big ole AU CONTRAIRE MON FRERE.

Because sometimes, unexpected can mean good. Sometimes something out of the ordinary gets tossed in your path and while it might make you frazzled, befuddled or freaked the F out, it can also inspire you to step out of your comfort zone.

To engage in a little personal growth.

To increase your own capacity for awesomeness.

Take, for instance, this morning. I went to a yoga class taught by one of my favorite teachers at 8:30.

Good. Great. Grand.

Until it became apparent that she was really pretty sick and she asked me to cover her next class at 10:30. And of course I did. But super plannerific always-has-to-be prepared Meghan got more than a little antsy pants over the prospect of teaching a class without a game plan in mind. No well thought out opening pranayama. No carefully executed warm up. Nary a Sun B sequence or twisting series. And for some, that’s the optimal way to operate. But despite the fact that I rarely if ever stick to my class plans, I don’t like to go into a situation thinking I’m going to have to fly by the seat of my pants.

But that’s what I did.

I flew.

By the seat of my pants.

And it was fun.

Unexpected, the kind of unexpected that ends in smiles.

Not unlike my latest muffin concoction.

I’m usually a purist when it comes to muffins. I don’t typically deviate from from my heavily pumpkin, chocolate, fruit and oat-littered path. Not that I use all these things at once, but most of my creations have some combination of those ingredients.

I’m not a fan of rolling the proverbial dice when it comes to muffin-making; recovering from a muffin experiment gone-awry is easier said than done. But this time around, I wanted to step outside my culinary comfort zone and take a crack at something different.

Unexpected.

I’m talking about VANILLA.

(The irony of the flavor equivalent of ordinary being new and scary territory is not lost on me.)

The outcome, I must say, was so good.

Vanilla Sugar Cookie Muffins
Inspired by these from How Sweet It Is
Makes 12

• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/3 cup sugar (I used Turbinado – less processed)
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1/2 cup vanilla greek yogurt
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract (major vanilla city!)
• 2 Tbs oil (canola or coconut)
• 1 cup crushed Christmas sugar cookies, divided in half
• 2 – 3 squares of dark chocolate (about an ounce)
• 1/2(ish) teaspoon coconut oil

Note – the cookies I’m talking about are the slightly B-team packaged variety you can find at your grocery store in a big bag for about $1.99. Major guilty pleasure of mine. You can use any crunchy or crumbly cookie though. I might give oreos a whirl next time around.

ANYHOO…Here’s whatcha do:

Mix wet. Mix dry (minus the crushed cookies). Add dry to wet. Fold in half the crushed cookies.

Spoon batter into muffin cups. Top with remaining sugar cookie crumbs.

Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes or until you can poke the muffins with a toothpick and it comes out clean.

While they’re doing their baking thang, toss the chocolate and coconut oil in a small microwavable bowl and heat for 60ish seconds, or until melted.

Once the muffins are ready to leave the oven and enter the world, dip a spoon in your meltyrific chocolate and drizzle it over the muffin tops.

Unexpected. And unexpectedly good.

Have you had any unexpected and unexpectedly good experiences lately?

Ok, so Thanksgiving is over and the holiday season is officially in full effect.

It can be a wise idea to optimize your food intake and activity levels in the days that follow a massive feast. I’m not suggesting getting all crazy-pants with a detox diet, no.

Severe detoxing can leave you feeling (and looking) a bit..umm...out of sorts.

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Rather, I suggest some simple and savvy strategies to help mitigate any damage done as a result of a few too many return trips to the dessert table.

1. Twist. In yoga, twisting postures are credited with wringing out the toxins that accumulate in our internal organs and can relieve abdominal bloating and digestive discomfort. Incorporate twists into your post holiday get-back-on-track routine by practicing utkatasana prayer twist, shown below.

Don't get it twisted - this should feel somewhat less-than-enjoyable. Moving toxins out of your bod can cause a wee bit of discomfort.

1. Suck down a smoothie. In feasting to your heart’s delight on Turkey Day (or any other indulgence-heavy holiday event), you tax your already-delicate digestive system. A tremendous amount of work goes into the intricate process of digestion, so by letting your tummy take it easy in the days that follow, you can speed up your body’s ability to return to its status quo. Smoothies are optimal vehicles for nutrients and the digestive tract doesn’t have to get all hot and bothered in order to digest and absorb them. Make it a seasonally-appropriate smoothie by using pumpkin, as the Pioneer Woman did here.

And if you’ve assimilated back to your normal firing-on-all-cylinders self, ready to navigate the dangerous acts of sale shopping happening all over the country or head back to work, I suggest trying my newest muffin creation.

Oatastic Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
Adapted from fitsugar.com

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups whole wheat flour
1 ½ cups old fashioned oats
¾ cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon salt
1 ½ cups canned pumpkin
3 tablespoons canola oil
2 eggs
¼ cup milk
½ – 1 cup chocolate chips

Directions

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F
• Line muffin tin with cups or spray with nonstick canola oil spray
• Mix pumpkin, oil, milk, sugar and eggs in a large bowl
• Whisk dry ingredients and spices together in a separate bowl
• Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix well. Fold in chocolate chips
• Using an ice cream scoop (or large spoon), fill muffin cups and bake for 18 to 25 minutes
• You can sprinkle a few oat kernels on top of each muffin as I did below, or leave them unadorned

The carbohydrates in the oats and whole wheat flour are high quality, providing lasting energy. Pumpkin is nutrient rich as well, offering some serious vitamin A. There’s just enough fat between the oil and eggs to make these treats satiating, but not so much that they become overly-dense calorie bombs. Rounding out this winning ingredient list, the chocolate chips contribute a hit of sweetness that takes these muffins from good to great.

Toss a couple in a plastic baggie and take with you on your way to the mall; or, if you’re noshing at home, warm a muffin in the microwave for 20 seconds and crumble on top of Greek yogurt for added protein and staying power.

These muffins are like little presents for your taste buds and stomach, but they also make nice presents for others as well. Spread holiday cheer and muffinry to friends, family, co-workers and anyone who deserves a lil’ recognition during this holiday season.

And if no one warrants any muffin love, keep 'em all for yourself. WIN!

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Do you have any post holiday feast rituals? Pie for breakfast? Twist-heavy yoga class? Doing calisthenics outside Target to stay warm as you wait for it to open at an ungodly hour in the morning?

If there’s one thing I can’t stand it’s inefficiency.

The mere mention of the word sends shivers up my spine.

Being the struggleyest muffin in the muffin tin though, I tend to experience no small share of inefficiency in my everyday comings and goings.

And lately, I feel like I’ve been wading in an inefficiency swamp.

Mired down.

Wanting to go in a certain direction but only able to move at an inordinately slow and sludgey pace.

Getting distracted by what ultimately prove to be flashy and false opportunities to leave swampdom in favor of drier ground.

Just trying to get somewhere...

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When I start to feel antsy-pants over wasting time and energy on endeavors that prove to be unsavory and/ unfruitful, I shift my focus.

I hone in on the little things that make the frustrating things less frustrating.

Little things.

Like…

Festive socks.

Finding joy in the same things that made you smile as an eight year old.

Spending time outside on an unseasonably warm and radiant Autumn afternoon.

Spending time outside teaching a class to benefit homeless people. Being grateful for the opportunity to help others.

Trying – and liking – a food that you once foolishly deemed inedible for the first time.

Having extended and thought-provoking conversations about cookies.

Helping a student get into an arm balance (or some elusive posture) for the first time and feeling the joy emanate from him or her.

Cleaning out your pantry and stumbling upon a (food-stained) fortune cookie fortune that dislodged itself from your random and overgrown assortment of cereals, nuts and seeds.

It IS tough to be fascinating! At least this flimsy paper fortune understands my plight

Concocting a quick and easy microwave treat that can serve as breakfast, on-the-go snack, or base for a more expansive meal o’ food.

Wait, whaaaaaaaaaaa?

Yes, a seriously streamlined smackerel of snack-happiness.

I’m talking about a Microwave Pumpkin Breakfastable.

The Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons quinoa flakes
• 1/4 cup egg whites
• 1/4 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• sweetener, to taste (I used a packet of stevia)

I’ve also ground up oats instead of using quinoa flakes but I’ve come to like the lil flakesters in recent weeks so they’re here to stay.  Experiment with flours or whole grains to change the texture and fluffiness factor. Oats fall a bit flat in my opinion, while brown rice flour is rather cakey. Coconut flour is a bit dense for this recipe and garbanzo bean flour a bit rubbery. That said, when working with gluten free flours and grains, you can often achieve the best results by combining two or more different varieties.

Mix all ingredients in a microwave safe bowl and zap for about 2 minutes.

VOILA.

Top with peanut butter, coconut butter, chocolate chips, granola, dried cranberries, or anything that suits your fancy.

Lately I’ve been upping my breakfastable game by making two in shallow bowls and eating them sandwich style, with lots of peanut butter and cranberry apple butter slathered in between. Heavenly. Just heavenly.

What little things make a big difference in your world?

I highly recommend this as a light and healthy get-back-on-the-wagon snack after the inevitable Thanksgiving indulgences. And lest you think I was going to conclude this post without mention this the most feasterific of holidays, here’s an article that explains what goes down in your bod when you tackle that big Turkey Day meal.

My, my, my. It’s been a long time since I’ve blogged.

I’ve been so busy doing my yoga fairy thing, flitting about from one class to the next, working in new studios, teaching private lessons, going on yoga auditions and all sorts of yogarific adventures.

And I’ve been loving every minute of it.

BUT…

There’s been nary a spare moment to dedicate to my domestic endeavors. My poor cupcake-patterned baking apron has sat unused and under-appreciated in a corner of my dresser for far too long.

Fortunately though, an impending event necessitated a venture in the kitchen and I must say, the result was most pleasing.

Baked goods come out better when the requisite Muffin-making outfit is worn: yoga capris and sweatshirt, tube socks, and apron.

Every year a group of my friends gets together for a ‘Practice Thanksgiving’ celebration. It’s usually held a couple weeks before the actual holiday and serves as a warm up for the most indulgent day of the year. An excuse to shovel down copious amounts of delicious food.

Normally I like to make sure that my much-loved vegetables have fair representation at this butter-and-meat-o-rific eating extravaganza and I come baring salad. This year I’m upping my game and toting a dessert in addition to my usual field of greens.

And not just any dessert.

A generations-old family favorite whose simplicity belies it’s capacity to take the taste buds on a wild and satisfying ride.

Apple Cake = One Wild Gustatory Ride

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Yup. I’m talking about Apple Cake.

I’ve modified the recipe slightly from the one I used to make and eat as a young struggle muffin, making the tiniest of healthifying tweaks.

Galas are good for cooking, and you can keep the peels on for added fiber and nutrients. Win!

The foods…

• 3 cups chopped apples (I used Gala, and kept the skin on for added fiber. Note, if you use MacIntosh, peel the skin off. It’s really nasty.)
• 1 cup oil
• 1.5 cup pureed pumpkin
• 1.75 cups sugar (I used Turbinado sugar, which is less processed than it’s ubiquitous cousin, white table sugar)
• 2 eggs
•  2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 Tablespoon cinnamon
• 1.5 cups whole wheat flour
• 1.5 cups oat flour (oats pulsed in a food processor)

(You can just use 3 cups of flour if you don’t have oats to make oat flour.)

And here’s whatcha do with the foods…

• Chop them apples
• Mix wet ingredients
• Mix dry ingredients
• Add dry to wet
• Stir it up
• Add apples once the wet and dry have blended appropriately
• Pour into a springform pan and pop in the oven
• Bake for 50 – 60 minutes

I actually doubled the recipe, using half for the cake which I’ll take to Practice Thanksgiving and the other half for muffins. The muffins took about 25 minutes to bake.

Look at those little chunks of appley goodness!

By substituting oat flour for some of the wheat flour, I cut down on the amount of gluten in the recipe (have been weaning myself off the gluten slowly but surely for a while) and upped the amount of digestive-friendly soluble fiber.

By replacing some of the oil with pureed pumpkin, I lowered the fat content a lil’ bit…but not enough to sacrifice flavor or texture – heavens, no! I like fat; not only is it good for you but it also makes a dessert much more satisfying.

Meaning, a little goes a long way.

I cringe when I think of all the applesauce-instead-of-oil treats I used to make.  A mixture of true fats such as butter or oil and fat substitutes such as pumpkin, mashed banana or applesauce is a winning combination in terms of both nutrition and taste.

Oh, and since it wouldn’t be a Struggle Muffins experience without a struggle, I have to share that I blatantly forgot to include the salt. But I’ve tasted the outcome and couldn’t detect any weirdness. Any deficiency. Only applemazingness.

APPLEMAZINGNESS!

This recipe is such a breeze to make and it’s a spectacular alternative for anyone who’s less-than-jazzed about that well-known, lime light-stealing other apple dessert, Apple Pie.

It’s delectable on it’s own but has also been known to occupy a soft spot in people’s hearts when topped with cream cheese frosting, vanilla ice cream, or perhaps…something of a more peanut buttery nature.

What’s your favorite appletastic recipe?

It’s FALL.

My favorite season.

Fave-y-est.

I discussed fall with my yoga class Friday morning, emphasizing the changes that occur during the season and ways we can offset the imbalances they can create.

In Ayurvedic tradition, the fall season is associated with the element air; the dominant element shifts from fire in the summer to air in the fall and we can feel the effects in a number of ways: we may be more spacey, flighty, indecisive, forgetful, headstrong.

The term ‘air head’ comes to mind but of course that’s a bit harsh. And some of us are air heads all year long (guilty as charged).  This excess of air can leave us feeling less grounded, less anchored – literally and figuratively.

So what’s an air head to do?

Engage in practices that are grounding.

In terms of yoga, this means bringing awareness to how you root down in all postures – standing, seated, supine – and how you utilize different parts of the body along with the breath to stay connected and engaged as you transition from one posture to the next.

Think Warrior I to Garudasana to Warrior II, a sequence I guided my students through on Friday morning. Lots of work in the transitions there. Lots of opportunity to balance tension and softness. To root down and rise up.

Outside of yoga, you can get grounded with FOOD.

HOW, you ask?

By eating the seasonal delights that just so happen to have a grounding effect.

WIN.

Think squash, carrots, turnips, sweet taters, pumpkin- anything that grows from the earth.

I had pumpkin on the brain when I came home from teaching the yog.

And after a whole lot of recipe research, fumbling around the kitchen, mess-making and all purpose struggling, some PUMPED UP PUMPKIN RAISIN MUFFINS were born.

Not to be confused with Pumped Up Kicks, though I may or may not have rocked out to some Foster the People awesomeness whilst working away in the kitchen.

ANYWAY.

These muffins combine so many marvelous ingredients, all of which are healthy and perfectly in tune with the fall grounding action we’re working on.

Quite possibly the best feature is the dried fruit, which is soaked and then zapped in the microwave for a hot minute to achieve an adequate ‘pumped up’ effect. If you think you like regular raisins or dried cranberries JUST WAIT until you sink your teeth into the plumpified versions. Actually, don’t wait. Try them now.

Inspired by the Butternut Squash Pecan Muffins recipe from LiveLaughEat, these muffins host an array of Autumnal delights and are supremely easy to make.

And they’re categorically delicious.

So good they were that just a couple bites induced a spontaneous and soulful outburst of singing, swaying and grooving in the kitchen…

AIN’T NO MUFFIN LIKE THE ONE I GOT…

Here’s my variation:

Dry Ingredients:

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 cup oats (ground to a powder in a food processor or blender)
• 1/2 cup oats (unprocessed)
• 1.5 tsp cinnamon
• teeny tiny pinch of cloves
• pinch of nutmeg (I actually didn’t have any on hand, but would have used it if I did)
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 tsp sea salt
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries *(pumped up)
• 1/4 cup raisins *(pumped up)

Wet Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cup canned pumpkin
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup applesauce
• 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted (butter can also be used)
• 1/4 cup water

* To pump up your dried fruit, soak in a bowl of water for a few minutes (or longer if you have the time) and then heat for 60 seconds in the microwave. Bada bing. Bada bang. Bada pumped up fruits.

• Preheat the oven to 400
• Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl
• Mix the wet ingredients in a bowl
• Bring dry and wet together. Stir, stir, stir! But don’t stir too much – the dough can get too tough if you over-stir, just work it until ingredients are well blended

• Plop spoonfuls into a lined muffin tin and bake forrrrr…I don’t know how long…

I’d say it was about 12ish minutes before the outside edges obtained that highly sought-after yet easier-said-than-done level of crispiness.

People appreciate different levels of crispy, crunchy and chewiness in their muffins so I suggest just keeping an eye on them. Maybe giving them a poke every few minutes.

Not to toot my own horn here or anything but I gotta say, if ever there was a stand-up class act of a muffin, this would be it.

It’s got everything going for it; refined not overly delicate, its ratio of complex carbs to omega 3 fats to protein qualify it as a superstar of a post-workout recovery snack.

So toss one or two or six in your bag for easy access after a sweat-tastic yoga class or gym sesh. Since they contain everything you could hope or dream for in terms of nutritional value, there’s really no need to doctor them up, however if you’re feeling adventurous, toppings such as butter, coconut butter or nut butter would not be an unwelcome addition.

And if you find yourself longing for more muffin revelry after you’re done feasting on Pumped Up Muffins, you can prolong the muffin ecstasy by taking in a muffin film or two…

You’re welcome

Hello friends.

Today, September 12th, is a full moon.

‘So what?,’ you say.

Big whoop.

Big whoop indeed.

In the yoga world, the full moon is kind of a big deal.

Allow me to explain…

So our friend the moon exerts a gravitational pull on the earth. Depending on the phase of the moon (which is determined by its position relative to the earth and the sun), this can produce an effect on our individual energies that may be considerable or more subtle.

The best way to understand the phases of the moon and their resultant effects on us is to liken them to the breath cycle.

The full moon is tantamount to the culmination of the inhale, when breath (or prana) has moved in an upward direction, ultimately expanding energy and heightening emotions.

Good, great, grand, wonderful.

Lots of energy and excitement.

But in order to achieve all that upward movement and commotion, we forfeit our feelings of being grounded.

Notsomuch in the way of good, great, grand or wonderful.

Since people tend to be more  emotionally-driven and less grounded during the full moon, it’s not a bad idea to engage in practices that are grounding, centering, calming.

Practices that bring you back down to earth, figuratively speaking. And perhaps literally-speaking as well.

Many Ashtanga practitioners abstain from practicing yoga entirely during the full moon, adhering to the theory that the full moon’s force can influence them to act in a way that is headstrong and potential dangerous.

An example of this would be if you were in a yoga class and decided to kick your feet up into a headstand, despite the fact that you’d never tried one before and neglected to listen to the teacher’s step-by-step instructions for entering the posture.

As you can imagine, this type of recklessness and false confidence can manifest itself in all sorts of bad decisions, both on and off a yoga mat.

Source

To provide a cartoon corallary to hammer home the point (as all situations necessitate a cartoon corallary. duh), take a gander at this memorable scene from Winnie the Pooh:

It’s not made clear in the cartoon, but I’d be willing to be a full pot of honey that the above-depicted shenanigans went down on a Full Moon day.

Aaaand coming back to yoga…

…While it’s always good to be mindful of your actions, no one said its necessary to shun your yoga practice on this once-monthly day of uninhibited spirits. Of freewheeling energy. Of overly-ambitious honey-seeking expeditions.

In fact, you can perform specific yoga postures to tap into the watery, more female energy of the moon, which can help you feel more balanced and clear-headed.

Lunar energy is equated with the feminine, and is characterized as being creative, intuitive, introspective, calming.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, the sun’s energy is decidedly masculine and is attributed to behavior that’s fiery, assertive and powerful.

Everything in yoga is balanced. Yin and yang. Female and male. Cool and hot. Subtle and stark. Calming and energizing.

Performing sun salutations can help a person cultivate and absorb the masculine energy of the sun; they comprise a yang aspect of the practice. Conversely, flowing through moon salutations allows a person to tap into the more feminine qualities of the moon; moon salutations hover closer to the yin end of the spectrum.

And there’s no more appropriate or more potent time to perform moon salutations than during a full moon.

What distinguishes moon salutations from their sun sal cousins physically is that they place an emphasis on opening the hip joints, and cultivating space and length along the sides of the body.

They have a cooling effect on the body, allowing it to open and lengthen without taxing it through excessive exertion (which builds up heat, à la sun salutations).

Traditional moon salutations – chandra namaskar, in sanskrit – look a lil’ something like this:

Source

You flow through eight postures on one side and then flow through them backwards on the other side, ultimately ending where you started.

Like-ah zees:

Prayer Pose – palms press together overhead

Crescent Moon Pose – arch upper body to the left

(Ok, this is an arch to the right, but I think you can take this and run with it…in the the left direction)

Goddess Pose – step left foot to the back of the mat, squat, and lift arms into a goal post position, bending at elbows, pivot palms to face forward

Transition Pose – star pose, the body is like a 5-pointed star with legs and arms straightened

Triangle Pose – pivot right toes to face the wall in front of you and extend toward the back of the room, left toes pointing toward the back of the room, left arm lowers to left shin, right arm reaches up

Head to knee – drape upper body over left leg

Lunge to the left – left knee bends and left arm presses against left inner thigh. Straighten right leg, rise onto the heel and point the toes towards the face

Low Lunge – pivot to the left, facing the back of the room. Left leg is bent, left knee drawing beyond left ankle and right leg is extended (opposite legs from the picture below, but again, you know left from right. Unless you’re me and you’re still working on differentiating Lucy from Rita.)

Squat Pose – Malasana, step the right foot up, plant outside the right hand. Left foot is already planted outside the left hand. Spine is long and hands are pressed at heart center, anjali mudra

Low Lunge- left leg extends (like the picture above)

Lunge to the right – right knee bends, right arm presses into inner thigh. Straighten left leg and rise onto the heel, flexing the foot. Open those hips, baby!

Head to Knee – drape upper body over right leg

(side note: I have my left foot parallel to the right but it could be pointed outward with the heel pivoted in (perpendicular to the right foot))

Triangle Pose – extending to the right, right toes stay pointing toward the back of the room while left toes point to the side wall, left arm reaches up

Transition Pose – back to your star pose

Goddess Pose – sink those hips, yo. Knees should be stacked over ankles. Toes point in outward in opposite directions. Tuck tailbone under.

Crescent Moon Pose – step right foot forward to meet the left. You’re now facing the front of the room (where you started). Press palms together overhead, arching the upper body to the right

Prayer Pose – palms together overhead, reaching upward

And that, my friends, completes our chandra namaskar.

You can do moon salutations any time you want to balance an excess of heat or energy in the body. Being the perpetually strugglerific sleeper that I am, I’ve taken to performing a few rounds of chandra namaskar before bed and the stuff ain’t half bad. They certainly make me feel calm and ready to catch the ZZZZZ’s train. Whether they can be directly and exclusively credited with helping improve sleep, I don’t know, but I like what they’ve done for me and how they foster feelings of openess and ease in me when I perform them at any time throughout the day.

So give ‘em a whirl. Especially during the full moon when you have the best chance of acquiring some much needed calming lunar vibes.

And if nothing else, the time spent cycling through moon salutations is time in which you’re not engaged in more foolish full moon-inspired antics. Like this.

Oh my, my.

It’s been so long since I’ve last blogged.

I’ve been decidedly unbloggerific lately.

And for that I feel bad.

But I haven’t been unproductive.

Oh Heyyyy

No, there have been many activities filling my days.

There’ve been endeavors related to fitness and career…

Yoga….

Doing yoga.

Planning yoga classes.

Teaching said classes.

Studying for the personal training exam. Learning to love anatomy and bio mechanics. Something like that.

There’ve been moments of fun and ridiculousness…

Like when I participated in a flash mob and some dude whose self-appointed sense of authority apparently made him feel justified in pulling the plug from the boom box, bringing our heel-toe cumbia’s and body rolls to a screeching halt.

Apparently dancing in a park is a safety hazard.

Last time I checked, the musical stylings of Pitbull paired with the low impact cardiovascular grooves of Zumba didn’t constitute much in the way of a physical threat.

But what do I know?

(Besides bio mechanics?)

Ahem.

Perhaps what’s occupied my time the most has been the thinking, considering, contemplating, hypothesizing, pontificating on and general obsessing about my career.

Much thought- scratch that, MUCH THOUGHT – has been given to what my next steps should be.

Many many mental push ups were performed as I labored to sort through various options and opportunities to determine what constituted a wise career move and what was merely a flashy distraction.

It’s an intrinsically Meghan thing to spend an inordinate amount of time contemplating (a better word might be agonizing) over my options.

Think, then do.

No wait – think, think, think….maybe think some more, have a couple more thoughts, throw in an extra thought for good measure, and thennnn do.

And maybe I’m just more aware of potential opportunities unveiling themselves around me, or maybe there actually are more being made available, but I’m getting the distinct feeling that job possibilities are dropping out of the sky.

And into my lap.

It’s raining job opportunities.

Hallelujah.

So that’s pretty nifty and all.

BUT…

(and there’s always a butt)

Many widely varied options aren’t always the greatest thing for a chronic over thinker like myself.

I stay away from the Cheesecake Factory and it’s devilishly comprehensive menu for this very reason.

For reals though. Too many options just make the wheels in my head start spinning at an even more rapid rate.

And then…

And then..

Yeah.

Part of the problem for me is that despite the fact that I know what I want essentially and have every intention on turning my passions for nutrition, fitness and yoga into a rock solid career, puzzling together these related yet disparate pieces is much less clear a process than some other career paths.

The eventual career product is contingent upon a great many things – exercise, yoga and nutrition knowledge, as well as my experience with advertising and writing – and these career ingredients, if you will, could ultimately blend together, taking form in any number of different recipes.

Whatever it ends up being, I hope my career cake tastes good.

Source

Right now its basically a bunch of items dumped into a mixing bowl. And it’s not pretty. Or tasty-good.

But that’s alright for now.

Its also a digression from the point…

Which is that I’ve spent an ungodly amount of time thinking about different potential professional paths – what to pursue, what might work, how this might work, what I might get out of that, what I would be willing to sacrifice for this, etc etc etc.

And some of this thinking has entered the realm of ‘why would this particular job opportunity be presented to me?’

What is the meaaaaaaaaaaning behind it?

I’m not all that into the ‘everything happens for a reason scene.’ Let’s make that clear right now. But I think a person’s experiences and encounters are correlated – directly or indirectly – to what he or she puts out there.

You want something.

You work towards making that happen.

You make attempts.

You meet people.

Learn new skills.

Learn how not to do certain things.

And sometimes, an opportunity saunters onto your path because of it.

I think it just so happens that when you’re working towards 98304968034968 different career objectives, you end up encountering more opportunities.

So I couldn’t help but think it was moderately fortuitous that an advertising agency gave me the opportunity to interview for a new position.

An ad agency I’d submitted my resume to a long time ago and had long since forgotten about.

An ad agency that found said resume and called me, seemingly out of the blue.

An ad agency for which I would have signed away my unborn first child to work at a couple years ago.

And while I was momentarily swept up in the glitzy promises of a shiny new job, my gut instinct slapped me upside the head and I realized that pursuing the opportunity further would have been completely incongruous with my overall goals.

Sure, it would have provided a lot of stability and expedited the move into Boston that I’ve been waiting for the right time to do. All good things.

But I would have had to live with the regret that I hadn’t fully given my career creation a chance.

A half chance, maybe.

But not a full one.

Which would have made me the ultimate Lameosaurus Rex.

And earned me a one way trip to Regret City.

One thing I’ve observed since having cut ties with the office scene is that the freedom you think you’ll reap from not being chained to a desk for 8, 9, 10 hours doesn’t really exist.

You do have some freedom when you piece together your work commitments and set your schedule up to suit your personal benefit (as much as you can get away with anyway), but when you’re still very much trying to figure out how your ultimate career will manifest itself, you end up being fettered by your potential professional pursuits.

All the time spent exploring, pondering, researching, etc becomes a ball and chain that you’re continually aware of and slowed down by.

So I’m working on taming all those thoughts. Sitting with them and dedicating a modicum of attention to them. But not letting them govern my every decision.

Because when I do, the crazy pill feelings start to rise up again.

I’m not trying to be all moany and groany here. I’m fortunate to have the opportunity to weigh these things out.

It’s just an observation; freedom is much less a physical state than it is a result of mental effort. A conscious decision to be unencumbered by thoughts and feelings that don’t serve you.

And since it doesn’t serve me and my overall goals to be a full time media planner again, I backed off from the opportunity. And since it also doesn’t serve me to agonize over the decision, I’m writing about it here to put it all out there and then I’m stepping away. Done deal. Movin’ on.

There’s something cathartic about coming to a decision and declaring it. Gives it an air of finality that wouldn’t exist had you only acknowledged its presence in your brain. And I think that’s why I haven’t been able to write for so long. I’d been mired down with various options and possibilities and, being ill-equipped to handle the situation – I just defaulted to Meghan mode and thought about them compulsively. Unable to act. Act and move on.

A little thinking. A little acting. A lot of moving on.

That’s my recipe for success. Or at least for navigating the ever-confusing stream of consciousness that meanders around the proverbial career path tide pool.

That, and staying away from the crazy pills.
I’m sorry. Not sorry. Will Ferrel just gets me.

Do you get weighed down by different possibilities? Do you like to chose one path and stick to it or are you constantly on the lookout for what could be the best opportunity to ever come your way?