Breakfast

Blueberry or Chocolate Chip Spelt Muffins

YIELD: 12 MUFFINS (6 CHOCOLATE AND 6 BLUEBERRY) These are some of my children's favorite home-baked items — and I'm sure they will soon become favorites of you and your loved ones as well. Spelt flour is easier to digest than white flour. Due to some of my food sensitivities, spelt has allowed me to eat these tasty treats when I once had to limit many baked items. I played around and made these a few different ways — for different tastes. You can experiment with the recipe to make your favorite flavors of muffin!

1 teaspoon coconut oil or olive oil, for pan
3 ripe bananas, peeled
½ teaspoon baking soda
1/3 cup rice milk
¼ cup maple syrup
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
2 cups spelt flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ cup blueberries or vegan chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease the cups of a muffin pan with coconut oil and set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, add the ripe bananas and smash, using a fork, until pureed; mix in the baking soda. Next, pour in the rice milk, maple syrup, olive oil, pure vanilla extract, and apple cider vinegar; give the entire mixture a good stir. Add the spelt flour, baking powder, and cinnamon, and mix just until the speckles of flour are no longer visible.

3. At this point you have a few options. You can divide the batter in two by adding half to a medium bowl. Fold in ¼ cup blueberries to one bowl and ¼ cup chocolate chips to the other. This will give you two types of muffins. Or, you can fold ½ cup blueberries or ½ cup chocolate chips into the entire big batch of batter.

4. Divide the batter among the muffin cups, filling them up about halfway. Transfer the muffins to the oven to bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely in the pan. Run a knife alongside the outside of each muffin — they should pop right out!

INTUITIVE MOMENTS

I think this is the one recipe in this book that I struggled over and over again to perfect. But when I did get it exactly as I liked it, the result was absolutely amazing. In fact, it was so good, that for a while I didn't share it.

Everyone loves muffins. I remember seeing some muffins in a bakery window when my kids were younger, and thinking, "I bet they would love those." Then I remember thinking, "I'm going to find a way to make muffins for my children."

I went home that day on a mother's mission and started playing. The first batch was a bit of a joke but OK. The second got better, but not quite there. The third was pretty good. But they still weren't perfect. So I kept making them over and over, yet they weren't quite right yet. Then one of my kids wanted blueberry muffins. The other wanted chocolate chips. And I wanted to keep testing variations of the batter until I figured out how to split the recipes so each could have their favorite.

I was proud of what I'd come up with. I started to bake them and share them as a surprise with close friends. I started telling people about them. And so did other people. Friends of my kids would tell their parents about the muffins they ate during sleepovers at our home. Parents began contacting me, saying their kids who never ate breakfast would only eat my muffins. They started asking for the recipe. And I felt pretty protective of it. I've shared plenty of my muffins but never this recipe until now. Enjoy them!

Antioxidant Fruit Salad

SERVES 4 Antioxidants are an immune booster like nothing else. Especially in a world that is becoming more and more toxic and polluted, I try to combat invaders with this unbelievably delicious and sweet fruit salad. It's great for breakfast but also makes a wonderful side dish for a light lunch.

2 pints raspberries
1 pint blueberries
Juice from 1 naval orange
Juice from ½ lime
8 mint leaves, minced, plus a few more for garnish

1. In a large bowl, toss together the raspberries, blueberries, orange juice, lime juice, and minced mint leaves.

2. Garnish with a few whole mint leaves.

Did You Know?

Antioxidants are known to fight against the daily radiation that we face in our environment.

Carrot Raisin Muffins

YIELD: 12 MUFFINS Carrots in muffins? Don't run from the thought. The carrot adds not only a bit of natural color variation and a bit of nutrients to ease the guilt, but also a natural sweetness. For those of you who have ever tried carrot juice (or eaten carrot cake!), you know what I mean.

1 teaspoon coconut oil or olive oil, for pan
2 cups spelt flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup shredded carrot (from about 1 carrot)
½ cup raisins
1 cup applesauce
¼ cup rice milk
¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons maple syrup
¼ cup olive oil
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease the cups of a muffin pan with the coconut oil or olive oil, and set aside.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the spelt flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, shredded carrot, and raisins. Set aside.

3. In a medium bowl, mix together the applesauce, rice milk, maple syrup, olive oil, pure vanilla extract, and apple cider vinegar. In one batch, pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix until speckles of flour are no longer visible.

4. Divide the batter among the muffin cups, filling them up about ¾ full. Transfer the muffins to the oven to bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely in the pan. Run a knife alongside the outside of the muffin — they should pop right out!

Summer Watermelon Fruit Bowl

SERVES 8 TO 12 This is one of my favorite recipes. I simply cannot get enough of it because it's so refreshing. This fruit bowl is loaded with many nutrients such as antioxidants. The natural sweetness from the fruit makes it a great dessert or even ideal to consume as a morning bite or early-day nibble.

1 (6-pound) seedless watermelon
1 cup (from ¼ pineapple) chopped pineapple
1 pint raspberries
1 pint blueberries
1 kiwi, peeled and sliced
1 plum, seed removed and sliced
Juice from 1 lime
Handful of mint leaves, for garnish

1. Start by cutting a thin slice from the bottom of the watermelon with a sharp knife so it can sit flat,...