Berry Corn Muffins

I was on a muffin kick this week. Actually I was on a baking kick this week. I made brownies, chocolate chips cookies, berry corn muffins & carrot-pineapple muffins and my first loaf of bread. We have eaten on everything all week. Some of the muffins I froze for future hurried school mornings.

I know you must be saying, "How is any of that healthy for you Keva??" Well its not healthy, per se, but it is way better for you than processed foods with lots of preservatives an additives. Our bodies are not working overtime to break them down. I have been doing my research this week, mainly because my sweet husband comes home and ask me questions like, "Is gluten bad for you if your not intolerant or have celiac?" My gut reaction was to say, "Yes, it horrible!" but that came without really knowing the facts. I knew the damage it does to those who's bodies have a hard time breaking down, and thought, its glue, how is it good for anyone. I knew a lot, had done a lot of research for gluten intolerance, but had not really just looked at gluten alone and wondered, "Can this be removed from our diets and if so would we be better off?"

Well, the answer I came up with is yes & no. You see, gluten is a binding agent for bread, cookies, muffins, waffles, etc. It is what makes it moist and yummy. Remove it and you have to replace it with other flours that don't work exactly them same way. The bread type foods come out less appealing in taste and texture. So what a lot of manufactures do is, add sugar to make it palatable. This is where it gets bad. When you walk around a store and just look for GF replacement bread, cookies, snacks for your kids, it is probably higher in sugar than the regular gluten full foods. On the other hand if you scratch buying the stuff on the shelf, start buying fresh produce and meats and make your snacks at home, you save money and eating gluten free is better for you. Mainly, because its foods that are naturally GF.

If you want to stop eating gluten for whatever reason, you must get creative and think ahead. Eat lots of fruits and veggies, eat lots of brown rice or quinoa, eat more beans & potatoes, eat meat & poultry(unless a vegetarian). Because if you don't plan ahead, your gonna find yourself looking for a quick GF meal on the shelf. Not always the best option.

Caveat: I am not recommending that anyone do this without your own research and everyone in your family on board. If you are not intolerant to GF or have Celiac, then it becomes a personal preference. This post is because I have had 3 people ask me the same question this week, and I knew there where more of you out there.

Berry Corn Muffins by Silvana Nardone

Makes 12 Prep Time 10 minutes Cook Time 25 minutes

3/4 cup cornmeal, preferably

medium grind (I use Bob's Red Mill)

1 cup Silvana's All-Purpose Flour

2 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp salt

1 cup mixed berries

2 eggs

1/2 cup sugar, plus more for sprinkling

1/2 cup rice milk

1/2 cup vegetable oil

Combine dry ingredients in large bowl. Combine wet ingredients in small bowl. Then stir the wet into the dry, add the berries, fold (so you don't smash the berries) and scoop into muffin tins. Bake at 375 for about 25 minutes.