Bad Habits Can Lead to Good Things

I have a hard time getting up in the mornings. This has been going on since middle school, I think. In the mornings before work, my morning routine is really just a flurry of movement, since I tend to get up at the last possible second. I often barely have time to eat breakfast. However, I can’t, can’t go without breakfast. And you shouldn’t, either. In order to save my sanity and some money, I’ve started baking some healthy zucchini muffins. You can tell they're healthy because they look so unappealing in pictures. I put them in the freezer after they cool completely, and I can just pop one or two of these muffins in some Tupperware on rushed mornings. On slower mornings, I’ll defrost one in the microwave and eat it with some fruit. Either way, it’s a guarantee that I have something that will keep me satisfied until lunch.

Zucchini Breakfast Muffins
I developed this recipe from one that I found for dessert-type zucchini muffins or bread on the blog Smitten Kitchen. I’ve tried to make these a little more nutritious without being too dry. One bonus of this mixture is that is sticks together nicely, so it’s easy to get the batter into the muffin cups without much mess. I’ve often thought they would be extra-good and really colorful with half shredded carrots and half zucchini.

3 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
¾ cup demerara or raw sugar
2 cups grated zucchini, with half the skin peeled off for less texture
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups whole wheat flour
3 teaspoons cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup wheat germ
½ chopped walnuts
1 cup raisins

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Line 24 muffin cups with paper liners. Alternately, you may grease and flour to 8x4 inch loaf pans for loaves of zucchini bread.
In a large bowl of a mixer, or with a whisk, beat the eggs. Mix in the oil and sugar, then the grated zucchini and vanilla.
In a separate, medium to large bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, baking powder, salt, wheat germ, nuts, and raisins.
Mix this thoroughly into the wet ingredients. Divide the batter into the muffin cups or pans.
Bake the muffins for 20 to 25 minutes, until a tester inserted in the center of one of the muffins comes out clean. If baking loaves, expect to have them bake 50 to 70 minutes.