The day that I found out that I was accepted into the Ambassador program for Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution was a special day for me. Jamie’s Food Revolution TV program had a big impact on me and as a result my family benefited as well. My family mostly ate fast and processed food which was likely a path to obesity and chronic disease. Jamie’s Food Revolution “is about saving our health through good food and essential cooking skills. We need to improve food education, stand up for good food and keep cooking skills alive.” according to the Food Revolution website. I owe Jamie my forever gratitude.

Now it’s my turn to help further Jamie’s Food Revolution work. I decided to start at home. I take my kids to the farmers’ market and show them a wonderful variety of food. I introduce them to the farmers and let them hear stories about how they grow the food that we put on our table. I take them grocery shopping and show them food labels – both labels with good ingredients and those with harmful ingredients. I want them to know the difference. I also take the time to teach them basic cooking skills.

I am very proud of how much they have learned in just a short time. I am not a chef or professional cook and yet I still have the ability to teach my children. Reading recipes, measuring, stirring and baking. It can be lots of fun and wonderful family time. If you have boys, you may notice that they don’t usually have heart-to-hearts like girls do. I have found that working together in the kitchen is a great opportunity for them to work alongside me and talk. I find out more about my children’s lives in the kitchen than any other room in the house.

The Pumpkin Spice Muffins came out of one of our cooking lessons. My daughter made these with just a little coaching. Make sure you always oversee young children when they are using the oven. We want them to learn………. Not spend the afternoon in the emergency room!

I love all things pumpkin and all of the donut and coffee shops have pumpkin sweets that are full of all kinds of horrible ingredients to tempt me. My daughter and I decided to adapt a recipe we found at Allrecipes.com. They came out super moist and the raisins added an extra sweetness that we love. They take a little while to make, but once made they make for a quick breakfast. They pack nicely in the lunch box and make for tasty dinner sides. We love to eat them all day and with all the great ingredients they make for a perfect healthy treat.

Pumpkin Spice Muffins

Save Print

Pumpkin Spice Muffins - Juggling Real Food and Real Life

Author: Christina - Juggling Real Food and Real Life

Recipe type: Muffin

Ingredients

2 cups whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp nutmeg
1 cup pumpkin puree
¼ cup honey
2 cups unsweetened applesauce
2 tbsp coconut oil
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
1½ cup raisins (nuts or dried cranberries would be good too)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350*
Mix all of the dry ingredients. (flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg)
In a separate bowl beat the wet ingredients. ( eggs, pumpkin, honey, applesauce, coconut oil and vanilla)
Slowly fold in the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Mix well, but do not over mix. This will toughen the muffin.
Fold in raisins.
Spoon muffin batter into 18 muffins cups.
Bake 25 to 30 minutes
Cool completely. Enjoy!

Notes

We recommend using organic ingredients where possible.

Comments

Anna says

November 7, 2013 at 4:33 pm

Muffins are one of my favorite backings, easy and yummy! Thank you for this recipe, sounds so good and healthy!

- Juggling Real Food and Real Life says
  
  November 8, 2013 at 8:38 pm
  
  We love muffins too! Anna, it's like an excuse to eat cake for dinner. LOL! The good news is that I've really reduced the sweetener in these so you don't have to feel guilty eating cake any time of the day.
  
Marie says

November 8, 2013 at 2:35 am

Good for you, Christina! Sounds like you're doing great at providing real food and teaching your kids. The muffins sound wonderful!

- Juggling Real Food and Real Life says
  
  November 8, 2013 at 8:40 pm
  
  Thank you for the compliment Marie. I really believe we mothers do the best we can with our children. I am just so happy that I now have the tools to teach my children about real food, nutrition, and cooking. I'm not going to lie. The muffins are very good!
  
Heather May says

November 8, 2013 at 7:53 pm

I can not WAIT TO MAKE THEM! I love that the kids are in the pics! My kids are wanting to start a kids food blog to share what they have learned and made…I am totally seeing a collaboration!

- Juggling Real Food and Real Life says
  
  November 8, 2013 at 8:36 pm
  
  You are going to love them Heather. I know you have enjoyed some of my other recipes. These will be a favorite for sure. Your kids are awesome. My daughter talks all the time about when is she going to be able to have her own blog. She's even named it, but it includes her name and I don't use her name. Collaboration you say? That is something to think about. Sounds fun!
  
Deborah says

December 6, 2013 at 8:46 pm

Wir haben dieses Rezept vor ca. 1 Woche ausprobiert und die Muffins waren super 🙂

Nicci says

January 12, 2014 at 4:59 pm

I love this recipe because it has less fat and calories than other, similar real-food muffins without sacrificing anything. Also, so many other "whole wheat pumpkin muffin" recipes sound healthy until you see refined sugar in the ingredient list. I also love that it makes a double batch, so there are muffins in the freezer for the whole week–I hate going to the trouble of making a batch of muffins and they are gone by the next day.

- Juggling Real Food and Real Life says
  
  January 13, 2014 at 10:01 pm
  
  I'm glad you like the recipe Nicci. It is one of our favorites. One of my food goals is to reduce the overall sugar my family consumes. We only use honey and maple syrup as sweeteners. I agree with you about having extra on hand. If I go to the trouble…….it's nice to have extra for another meal.