Girl Gang Meeting for January...food and quilts!

Pardon the blurry photo, but I was in a hurry to get this photo for you. Gail brought the most beautiful antique quilt to share with us and I really want to reproduce it someday. It is so beautiful. The woman who made it did a perfect job. All the seams are so tiny and perfectly straight.

This is a close up of one of the blocks. You may not be able to tell by this photo but each block has a stripe in it which adds so much texture and interest.

The border is lots of strips and sets off the center in a charming way. I love this quilt!

I made 3 kinds of muffins for the group to try. We experimented with three different levels of healthy food...#1 a Banana Muffin that used applesauce to replace some of the fat and organic sucanat for the sugar. #2 an Oat Bran Muffin that used olive oil, egg whites and all whole grains, and #3 an Orange Cranberry Muffin that was decadent with white flour, butter and whole eggs from my friend Cindy. (These were my husbands favorites.) You can get that recipe on her blog www.cgharris.blogspot.com

Here's the recipes for the other muffins...

Banana Muffins (out of the 20 or so women who taste tested the muffins, these were the overall favorite and they were the healthiest! Maybe we're all just tired of too many sweets from the holidays??!)

1 egg

1 1/3 c. mashed bananas

3/4 c. organic sucanat

1/3 c. applesauce

1 t. vanilla

1 c. whole wheat flour

1/2 t. baking soda

2 t. baking powder

1 t. sea salt

1 t. cinnamon

1 c. regular oats (I use thick cut oats, sometimes called Scotch or Irish oatmeal)

1/2 c. chocolate chips (use carob or something without a lot of sugar like a dark chocolate)

3/4 c. walnuts, chopped

Mix all ingredients and then pour into greased muffin cups or use paper liners. Bake in 350 degree oven for 15-18 minutes. (Muffins that are made without the added fat of butter or oil don't rise as much as standard muffins. Be aware that they will only come to about the top of the pan.)

Oat Bran Muffins (these were my sons favorites)

2 cups pineapple or apple juice

3/4 c. organic sucanat

1/2 c. olive oil

1/2 c. honey

5 eggs (use 3 whites and 2 whole eggs)

2 c. whole wheat flour

1 t. baking soda

1 t. sea salt

4 c. Oat Bran Cereal

(1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries added right before baking)

Mix all ingredients in bowl and cover in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours. I left mine in overnight so that the flakes would absorb all the liquid. Bake in greased muffin tins at 400 degrees for 18-20 minutes. For testing purposes I used Kashi's Heart to Heart Oat Flakes and Wild Blueberry Clusters. Right before baking I added fresh blueberries.

Live Well...Judi