Sunday, April 3, 2011

Tropical Muffins and Spring Allergies

I'm really hoping to avoid anymore downer posts, sorry!  The 30 Day Challenge has a couple topics that are no so great.  Maybe if another downer topic pops up I will change it and just do my own thing. 

Anyway!  So this morning I decided to cut up a big pineapple I had sitting on my counter. 


I decided I kind of wanted to bake something with pinapple in it, so I made:

Tropical Muffins


1 cup (a little over) fresh pinapple (or one can pinapple)

1 splash apple juice
1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/3 cup brown sugar, firmly packed

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup butter, melted

1/4 cup coconut butter, melted

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 egg, beaten

3/4 cup milk

1/2 cup toasted coconut


Directions:

Preheat oven to 375°F.


Blend pinapple and apple juice in a food processor.


Combine 1/2 c flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and 1/4 c melted butter; stir well. (Cinnamon mixture to be used later).

In a large bowl, combine the 2 cups flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.

In a separate bowl, combine the egg, milk, remaining 1/4 c melted  coconut butter, and reserved pineapple juice; stir well.

Mix dry ingredients with the liquid ingredients, add the pureed pinapple and about 1/2 of the toasted cocount stirring just until moistened (do not overmix!).

Spoon batter into greased and floured (or lined) muffin tins, filling 1/2 full.

Sprinkle each muffin with the cinnamon mixture and more of the toasted coconut.



Bake at 375F for 30 minutes.





They were pretty yummy!  I might add mashed banana or even some white chocolate chips or something if I made them again.

I also had a side bowl of fresh pinapple with some of the toasted coconut on it.



And a cup of Celestial Seasonings Mandarin Orange Decaf Tea





In other news, even though Spring is my favorite season, Spring allergies are hitting me HARD this year! 
Since I'm behind on the 30 Day challenge, and Day 22 is - A picture of something you wish you were better at, I'm going to go with coping with pain/allergies, since I've been sulky and whiny about my allergies all day and wish I could handle it better.

Flowers you are so pretty, but you make me SNEEZE!

To make matters worse, while I'm trying to get pregnant (or could BE pregnant), I'm extremely hestitant to take any medication unless I absolutely have to, so I am kind of suffering through it even though I'm dying to pop an allergy pill and be over this. 

Tissues are my best friend
I use my neti pot like twice a day and stay close to tissues.  Today was particularly rough though, because the allergies seemed to cause a migraine and I was seriously suffering, since migraine meds are another no-no.  I took a nap and even had an ice pack on my head for a while.  I feel better now, but still have some dull pain.  Blah!  It is SO NICE outside today too, but I'm hestitant to spend much time out there for fear that it just causes me additional issues. 

Do you guys have Spring allergies?  Any other coping tips??


10 comments:

Kristina @ spabettie said...

those muffins look SO tasty!!

girl, I'm sorry!! I am totally in the same boat - bad allergies right now and I'm on day three of what feels like a migraine. I wake up each morning feeling hung over :(

Jason is up in Vancouver right now, and he's buying me some allergy meds that are no longer available here because of our lovely meth problem... I call them my meth pills and they are the only thing that work!! I cannot wait until he is home... :)

neti pot should help? I'd also look for some homeopathic & natural meds to help? go see Caitlin's husbandoc? :)

Carly said...

I don't usually have seasonal allergies, but I think I had some last year. Hoping that isn't the case this year.

Amber said...

This 30-day challenge is hard! The only reason I've kept up is because I "cheated" and did several posts at one time and then scheduled them to post automatically! Allergy season hasn't hit Ohio yet but I take Zyrtec and Singular year round...and my dr. said both would be ok to take while TTC/preggo.

Phorrest said...

I got a neti pot recently because I've heard great things about it. But, I feel your pain, while the Spring is so pretty, I hate the allergies it brings!! Be sure to watch out for the pollen once it's high, wash your hand (or keep some wipes handy) before touching your face! Just a word for the wise, I've done this way too many times. Luck with the allergies!!

Brittany @ A Healthy Slice of Life said...

Oh, I feel your pain! Did you know Charlotte is ranked 3rd for worst cities for allergy sufferers? :(

I'm not taking any medicine either, so I am using my neti pot, my HEPA air filter in the bedroom, sneezing a lot and trying to ignore my itchy throat.

NO FUN!!

Jen said...

Your muffins look yummy! I think the addition of mashed banana sounds awesome!

I hope you feel better. :(

Jenny @ FItness Health and Food said...

oh those muffins looks lovely - so tropical! I didn't have any allergies until last year oddly enough. I'm still looking for natural remedies to have in my arsenal for when it happens again this spring.

Katie said...

those look great!

Unknown said...

acupuncture could definitely help with allergies. i've also found that a big cup of hot ginseng tea with honey helps to clear out the gunk for a while. eucalyptus oil in a hot bath or poured into hot water may also make a difference!

Brittney said...

I like these ideas Renee, thanks :)

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