Pumpkin & Pomegranate

I was in dire need of more breakfast breads. Well dire is a bit extreme, but yes I wanted some. I just got some strawberries from a groupon for SPUD so they seemed like the perfect thing to stick in a muffin. By the way, have I mentioned how much I love groupon? That site is GENIUS. I love a good bargain, so I really do try to only get the things I need. When I see groupons for CSA boxes, restaurants I frequently go to, fitness classes, etc. I nab them. If you are looking for other ways to save some money I also recommend Tippr and Living Social. I assume that eventually more cities will be added to all of them. I found my yoga studio and my salon through groupon.

Anyway, so I had these berries and they were not going to get any more fresh, so I decided to pop them into some little muffins. Verdict? WONDERFUL. Not as sweet as your average breakfast bread of course, but you know me already. These are little protein filled (and very filling), get your day started on the right foot kind of muffins. The kind that fuel you and don’t send you back to bed. Very easy to make, and perfect for me to pack in my bag to eat at work with my morning coffee. It almost makes me feel like I am a normal person. Almost.

Strawberry Pecan Muffins

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 C. Quinoa Flour
• 1 C. Buckwheat Flour
• 2 tsp. baking Soda
• 1/2 tsp. Sea Salt
• 1 tsp. Ground Ginger
• 3 T. Ground Flax Seed
• 9 T. Water
• 1 C. Fig Preserves
• 1/2 C. Olive Oil
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• 1 1/2 C. Sliced Strawberries
• 1/2 C. Chopped pecans

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350° F.
2. Sift together all of the the dry ingredients except for the flax meal into a large mixing bowl. Set aside.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flax meal and the water and let sit for 3 minutes.
4. Add the fig preserves, oil, and vanilla to the flax mixture and stir to combine.
5. Slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry mixing until the mixture is fully combined.
6. Gently stir in the chopped pecans and strawberry slices.
7. Fill silicone muffin “tins” with batter, or use greased muffin liners in a regular muffin tin.
8. Bake for 25 minutes or until a sharp knife inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.
9. Set on a wire rack to cool. let cool completely before attempting to loosen from the silicone “tin”.