Our lowest-fat muffins yet

                                     WHEAT BRAN MUFFINS

1 1/4 cups wheat or oat bran
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup applesauce
1/2 cup skim milk
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup Egg Beaters (I use egg whites)
1 tablespoon cooking oil
1/2 cup raisins, snipped dried apricots, or snipped dried apples

1.  Spray bottoms of twelve 2 1/2-inch muffin cups with Pam; set aside.  In a mixing bowl, combine bran, flour, baking powder, and baking soda.  Make a well in the center of the dry mixture; set aside.

2.  In another bowl combine applesauce, milk, honey, egg whites and oil.  Add applesauce mixture all at once to dry mixture.  Stir just till moistened.  Fold in raisins.

3.  Spoon batter into prepared cups, filling each 2/3 full.  Bake in a 400 degree oven about 20 minutes.  Makes 12 muffins.

126 calories, 2 g total fat (0 saturated fat) 0 chol., 138 mg sodium, 28 g carbs, 2 g fiber, 4 g protein.  6% daily calcium, 10% iron.

This is another treat the granddaughters love.  Cliff especially likes to have one of these muffins with a teaspoon of natural peanut butter spread on it.

Oh, this is as good as home-made cinnamon rolls!

                     HEART-HEALTHY APPLE COFFEE CAKE

nonstick cooking spray
2/3  cup flour
1/2  cup whole-wheat flour
1  teaspoon baking soda
1  teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/2  cups peeled cored & finely chopped apples, such as jonathan or granny smith
1/4  cup fat-free liquid egg product  (I just use egg whites)
3/4  cup sugar
1/2  cup chopped walnuts or pecans
1/4  cup applesauce

 1  tablespoon flour
1  tablespoon whole-wheat flour
1/2  teaspoon cinnamon
1  tablespoon butter
1/4  cup walnuts or pecans
1/4  cup brown sugar

Lightly coat a 9-inch baking pan with cooking spray; set aside.
In a medium bowl combine the 2/3 cup flour, 1/2 cup whole flour, soda,  and 1 teaspoon cinnamon, set aside.
In a large mixing bowl toss together the chopped apple and egg product; stir in the 3/4 cup sugar, the 1/4 cup nuts and applesauce; Add flourmixture and stir JUST until combined.
Pour batter into prepared pan; For TOPPING, stir together the brown sugar the remaining flour, whole wheat flour and cinnamon; Cut in butter until crumbly, stir in remaining nuts, sprinkle topping over batter in pan.
Bake in 350 degree oven 30 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean; cool in pan for 10 minutes, serve warm.

202 calories, 5 g fat (1 g sat. fat), 0 chol., 180 mg sodium, 37 g carbo., 2 g fiber, 3 g protein.  2% vitamin A, 2% vitamin C, 1% calcium, 8 % iron.

What a treat this was this morning!  I do believe you could cut back a bit on the 3/4 cup of sugar.  I'll freeze this in 2-serving amounts, saving out a couple of pieces for the granddaughters.

after-Thanksgiving weigh-in

Cliff had to get through a Thanksgiving dinner at work on his own, and he was rather proud of himself.  He only had one plateful of food, not piled high, and one dessert... pineapple pie.

Then we ate an early Thanksgiving dinner at our daughter's on Saturday, and he did the same there.

Yesterday, on the dreaded too-much-food day, we escaped on the motorcycle.  We had a light picnic lunch:  tuna salad sandwich, carrot sticks, and those 100-calorie Chips Ohoy bags apiece.

For supper we each had a cheeseburger and small piece of Oreo dessert and later snacked on some cheese.

Cliff got on the scales this morning and yelled out, "These scales must be having a fit; something's wrong."

He weighed 211... that's 2 1/2 pounds less than he's weighed before on this journey to fitness.  He got on and off the scales several times, to make sure it wasn't a fluke.

He gives me all the credit, but I say he should get at least half.

Weekly weigh-in

Cliff and I are still maintaining our weights pretty well.  We did a bad thing Saturday on the way to Iowa City, though... we stopped at Golden Corral for lunch.  We should NEVER, EVER eat at buffets!  I limited myself fairly well, but Cliff saw his chance and took it.  I did not say anything to him about his second helpings or his three desserts because, in circumstances like that, he gets pretty edgy if I butt in.

My job from now on, as I see it, is to see that we avoid buffets at all cost!

Looking back, we agreed that the food wasn't even that good.

So, on our return home, Cliff weighed 220.  He'd  been under 220 for over a month, and was very disappointed.  It's OK, though:  yesterday on our official weekly weigh-in, he was at 217.

We have one of those digital machines that makes it easy to check blood pressure, and we use it often.  Here's something we wonder about:  The first time either of us checks our blood pressure, the reading is higher than on subsequent readings.  Once we get past that first time, the readings are pretty much the same even if we do it three or four times, and the numbers are always good.

Do we tense up that first time, then relax for the next readings?  And would this happen in a doctor's office, if they took more than one reading?

What's up with that?