Vegan Morning Sun Muffins (Half-Marathon Training)

I love a good muffin with a cup of hot coffee (or tea, depends on my jitter tolerance) in the morning. I love them even more when I'm up early enough to scrap the ingredients together to get the house off to a healthy, smell-good start (not that a banana slathered in peanut butter isn't healthy)--the change is nice. I have so many recipes for "morning" muffins that it's easy to cull ingredients together to create a "my own" type of muffin. I don't think I've made a single muffin the same way twice. I either try this flour, this seasoning or add this or that dried fruit. One thing for sure is I always check the amount of fiber added--and check the protein levels to ensure the benefits of eating two will carry me through my morning.

I'm considering a half-marathon in April. (Oh-oh, now that I have that "out there" I better do it, huh?) Then a 5k race later in the month. For any other races between now and then, I will wait and see which way the wind is blowing on the morning of said races. I took three days off from running last week--felt I needed a break--also, my energy level was really low. (I believe in listening to your body.) We've had no sunshine for the past nine days. Icky Midwest winter. It can wear on the soul. As I sat grumbling over something on Saturday (the weather, the news, my knitting, my hormones--whatever), my husband said, "What is wrong with you?" That's pretty much my cue--he sort acts as a barometer for me like that--it's helpful. I needed a run.


So, I ran eight miles with good results. By "good results" I mean, I didn't feel over-exerted or overly sore--and in all honesty, the hardest part of any run to me is the first two miles--once I've got those under my belt, it's all easy-peasy (relatively speaking). I have never hit "a wall". I've heard of folks having this problem in running. Novice runners often encounter this problem--training hard, kicking up endorphins along with the enthusiasm for running and then "wham"--they find starting/finishing runs harder and harder. Balance, as with any type of physical activity, is key. I don't run every day. I try to keep my mileage at around fifteen per week. If I peak at twenty, then I scale back the following week. I am almost fifty, you know! I am not a perfectionist runner either. One day may be a hard run--meaning I plug into a podcast that keeps my pace ramped up. Another day, I might cruise along listening to Talk of The Nation or some other diatribe on the radio, or rely on the shuffle ipod mix for a relaxing, casual jog. I have many books on running--especially running for women. If you feel like giving running a go, I'd recommend checking Amazon or Runner's World for inspiration. I can only speak from my personal experience. It helps. It works.

Before I head out the door, let me leave you with this yummy recipe. This is adapted from a muffin recipe from a really great cookbook called, Eat Clean by Tosca Reno. According to Tosca, the original recipe appeared in Gourmet magazine in 1981 and was created by Pam McKinstry. I converted this to a vegan recipe in the usual way--incorporating egg replacer and then used a vegan "buttermilk", also added apricots vs. dates, increased the spices, added pumpkin puree vs. unsweetened applesauce--use either or. I added dried apricots. Really, any dried fruit you have on hand will do. Just chop it up. Also, make these your own, if you don't have a certain ingredient on hand, make a substitution--especially in the flour arena. Keep these in an airtight container in the fridge and they make a great snack (as well as great breakfast food). These are moist and delicous. I had two this morning.

Vegan Morning Sun Muffins

3/4 cup wheat bran or oat flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour (or use half and half incorporating unbleached all-purpose flour)
1/2 cup Sucanat sugar or Florida Crystals
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 cup soy milk mixed with 1/2 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
2 1/2 teaspoons Ener-G Egg Replacer mixed with 3 tabelspoons warm water
1 banana, mashed
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce or canned pumpkin
1 medium carrot, grated
1/2 cup dried apricots, chopped
1/4 cup pecan pieces (which I gave a whirl in my coffee grinder to make them a bit finer)

Preheat oven to 425. Lightly oil a muffin tin or line it with papers. Place the bottom half of a broiler tray in the bottom of the oven. First, prep your "buttermilk" mixture by pouring a 1/2 cup of soy milk in a glass measuring cup, then add to this a 1/2 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar. Next, for egg replacer, whisk together 2 1/2 treaspoons of Ener-G Egg Replacer in a small bowl together with 3 tablespoons of warm water, set aside. In a medium bowl, add all of the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, combine the mashed banana, grated carrot, vanilla extract, egg replacer, soy "buttermilk" and mix well. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix with a fork--do not over mix! Just incorporate the dry ingredients with the wet. A few dry spots are okay. Fold in the apricots and pecans. Fill each muffin tin about 1/2 way full. Now, get a cup of water ready. When you place the muffin tin in the oven, carefully pour a cup of water on the broiler tray and close the oven door. (This steaming method will help the muffins rise). Store in an airtight container in the fridge.