Q & A: Losing Pregnancy Weight on a Nutrient Rich Diet

I got the following question from a reader in regard to weight loss, that I thought was an important topic to consider. I know that Jessica would also appreciate your thoughts on this topic as well!( I have included pictures of some of the nutrient rich food that we eat that also helps maintain a trim figure)

I had a question. I have been doing the nourishing traditions eating for over two years now. I had 4 pregnancies in three years and have been at 240lbs for over 5 years now. I am 5'9 and at my smallest, I was a size 14 and 180lbs. I have not been able to lose the weight. One thing is I have three preschoolers, so it's hard to make diet and exercise a priority. Another is I know I don't eat perfect, but I eat a lot better than most. Do know how I can lose weight while still eating NT?

Things I currently do now are:
make whole wheat sourdough bread
soak grains and legumes
use lots of butter and virgin coconut oil, with occasional use of vegetable oil/olive oil if in a pinch.
I make kefir and kombucha, buttermilk and did make yogurt till my culture died.
We eat whole grains and mostly natural sweeteners. I do drink 1 cup organic coffee with creamer and iced tea. I have allowed more sugar to creep in our diet, but plan to cut it down majorly this week.

Thank you for the question, Jessica. It sounds like you have your hands full, so I am keeping that in mind with any advice I give. :-) I wanted to share some of the things that have worked for me, and other resources. I am, by no means, an expert in this area, so consider this advice as from one mom to another. And I should add that many people do find it helpful to go to a skilled naturopath . But ones that aren't on the opposite side of the health food debate are hard to find, and some can cause as much harm as good. So I only recommend that route if you are able to find one that is truly skilled, experienced, and on the same page as you in regard to what's healthy food and what's not.

Consider What Wonderful Things Your Body has Done

Having said that, as I have thought about what you shared, I have realized that your body has done a lot with all of the close pregnancies and caring for your little ones. I haven't had as many children as you, but our first, Faith Felicity (who passed away at two months) and Elena were very close pregnancies. I got pregnant with Elena three months after Faith was born.

I know from experience that when you get pregnant so close after giving birth, you haven't even had time for your body to get "back to normal". This gives you unique things to consider. For example, it could be possible that you are having a hard time with weight because it is your body's way of handling all of the "stress" of pregnancies. I have friends who naturally carry more weight when they are nursing and it seems that their bodies do that to insure they can "keep up". I don't know if you are nursing or not, but just the close pregnancies alone could be a possible reason your body is holding on to weight. If this is the case, don't let it discourage you. You can still lose weight, you just may need to give yourself a little grace if it doesn't happen as fast you would like.

Consider Your Nutritional Needs

The other thought I had was that any "dieting" you try must be done very carefully. Your body has been doing some wonderful yet hard things by growing and nurturing babies. It's no easy task and it takes a huge effort. Pregnancies, especially close ones, can deplete you of essential nutrients. For example, I made sure I ate a lot of iron rich food with my second pregnancy, because I knew that a mother with close pregnancies could more easily become anemic. So there may be certain food items you may especially want to eat to replenish you body's supply. By the way, it's great that you already do so many nourishing food practices! I think you are on the right track.

Another thing to consider, if you are breastfeeding, is not making extreme changes to your diet all at once, because it could cause you to detox and those toxins will go through your breast milk to your baby.

Concentrate On Nutrient Rich Food

My advice to you would be to concentrate on getting the most nutrition you can (especially concentrating on food that contains nutrients that may have been used up while pregnant), without wasting calories on nutritionally inferior food. You can check out the Weston Price Foundation and read scores of articles on some of the most healthy food to eat. Here is a link, from there with some very simple, but very important things to include in your diet as a pregnant/nursing mom. I should add that many people have found that eating a balanced "Nourishing Traditions Style" diet has been very helpful in maintaining a healthy weight. So don't worry about having to choose between eating nutrient high food, and losing weight.

But if you really want to get serious help in this area, I would read Eat Fat, Lose Fat, by Sally Fallon, and Mary Enig. This book will help you find balance in getting a high amount of nutrient rich food, and lose weight at the same time. I was able to get a copy at the library (I have actually gotten it there several times, and plan on buying it).

But here are a few more tips to consider.

Avoid sugar forming food as much as possible

This is the biggest down fall for most of us. Like you mentioned, sugar (or other sweeteners) is easy to sneak into our diets. While it doesn't add a whole lot of nutrients it does add a lot of calories. Beyond just sweet things, avoiding excessivecarbs is also very important. We do need carbs and I am not advocating an entire meat and veggies diet. But moderation is key. Along these same lines, try to eat in a way that keeps your blood sugar even. I do this just because it helps me feel better! But keeping a level blood sugar helps us stay full longer (and eat less). It's also a very healthy practice and has other benefits as well. I find eating adequate amounts of healthy fat helps my blood sugar stay even. Eat Fat, Lose Fat, can give further encouragement in this area.

Watch out for Nuts and Olive Oil

These are nutrient rich foods, but they are very fattening. Seek moderation and add other healthy fats in (like you already do). As you already know, coconut oil is one of the best fats for weight loss.

Eat a lot of Vegetables


And I mean a lot! Filling up on healthy vegetables paired with healthy fats and protein, is a very satisfying way to get a lot of nutrition and and still lose weight. The more veggies the better. Just try to improve in this area, and fill up on a lot of veggies served with healthy fats, and weight loss should follow!

Involve your Kids in Your Exercise program

You have responsibilities with your kids that make exercise hard to fit in. Others have made it possible to have a husband or friend watch their little ones while they work out at the gym. I personally, so far, have found it easier to do if I involve Elena. My solution has been taking long walks, pushing her in a stroller. She loves it, I get my heart rate up, and it's a cheap and easy way to get exercise and fresh air. This may be more tricky with so many little ones, though there are options with the many strollers out there. Exercise videos would be another option. My only caution is exercise until it gives you better energy through the day, but don't tire yourself out with it. You need all the energy you can get to keep up with your kiddos!

Coconut Oil Before Meals

Another tip you may find helpful, is taken from Eat Fat, Lose Fat. Take a tablespoon of virgin coconut oil 20 minutes before your meal. You can do this by adding it to a cup of hot water or tea, or just eating it right off the spoon. This does two things. It gets your metabolism moving, so you burn more calories, for one. It also helps you feel more satisfied before you even start eating, so you won't overeat at your meal. Just beware! I have taken coconut oil for it's health benefits and found that if I take it to far away from a meal it makes me really hungry, so keep that 20 minute mark in mind. (I guess that means it really does work by speeding up my metabolism!).

Avoid Stress

Stress will make your body hold on to weight, so relax! Try to have a 20 minute break every day where you are able to relax and do something you enjoy. That may be quite difficult with all your little ones, but it really does help reduce stress.

While there are certainly other tips we could talk about, I think that those are some of the most important ones (at least for me). All of us are a little different- we have different needs and sensitivities. You may have to experiment a little to find what works best for you, so don't get discouraged if the first thing you try doesn't give the results you want.

What I personally love about the Nourishing Traditions and Eat Fat, Lose Fat books is that they focus on regaining health, as well as losing weight. So as you concentrate on cooking nutrient rich food, you are also serving your family by giving them what they need to be healthy, while improving your own weight.

Does anyone else want to share with Jessica what has been helpful to you? I know that she would appreciate your feedback!

Disclaimer: This is just one mom's advice to another. Always carefully consider any advice, and consult your health provider. Thanks!

12 Tips for Squeezing the Most Nutrient Rich Food From Your Dollar

As I shared last week, I have new motivation in seeking to feed my family well within a lower budget. This is part of the reason I was interested in hosting the Nourishing Frugal Food Event, starting this Friday (looking forward to seeing what people have to share with everyone). But I have chosen not to look at it from the perspective of what's cheapest in the stores, but rather, asking myself how to get the most nutrition with the money I have.

These tips won't keep your budget as low as when you buy low quality meat, fats, vegetables, and grains. It's almost always cheaper to buy poorly produced food (it's produced that way for the simple reason that it is more cost efficient). The following 12 practices help me keep my nourishing budget reasonable, without sacrificing nutrition and health.

Squeezing the Most Nutrient Rich Food From Your Dollar

1-Buy Frugal Organic Vegetables


Carrots, onions, celery, garlic, kale, chard, zucchini, cabbage, broccoli are not top dollar vegetables in the produce section, but they are packed with nutrition. Variety is always good, but I won't miss any nutritionally advantages by sticking with the basics most of the time. Expensive vegetables will be a treat, not the norm.

2-Don't Waste Anything

I think that most of us could cut down our kitchen costs if we made sure we didn't let anything go to waste. Bacon grease? Save it and saute eggs, potatoes, or veggies for soups in it. It tastes wonderful. Chicken bones? Never throw away, but save for making broth. They are full of gelatin and calcium. Leftovers? Have a leftover night, or like us, eat for lunch the next day. If you skim fat from broths, these also can be used to cooking.

We do pretty well in this area, but I am going to be making new efforts as well. Stephanie had a great post on how she stretched a chicken. This is very similar to what I do as well. I am also currently researching some new ways in how to not waste anything in the kitchen, I will give an update when I have started some of these new ventures.

3-Buy Local Pastured Eggs



I buy local eggs from a friend. They are cheaper than most eggs in the store, and they are packed with so much more nutrition. Check out this post for more info. I spend less money on eggs, and they give me more than their weight in nutrition.

4-Concentrate on Traditional Ethnic Cooking

Ethnic cooking often stretches meat into filling, nourishing meals. We love all types of ethnic cooking anyway, so this won't be a hardship. Remember, our health is a priority, so we will be cooking with adequate amounts of meat protein, we just don't always need it to be a huge amount. Read point 6 to hear how broth helps you get the most out of your meat protein.

5- Love Those Beans


Everybody knows that beans and rice are the superstar of frugal and healthy cooking. I don't need to say much about these little guys except that we love them, and know that we can make all sorts of filling, nutritionally rich meals with them for little money.

6-Make Broth

Sally Fallon advises, in Nourishing Traditions,
"Make stock at least once a week. Meat stocks have formed the basis of nourishing peasant diets for millennial. They cost very little to make,..are very nourishing and have a protein-sparing effect. That means that you can get by with very little meat in the diet when you use properly made stock for soups and stews. Use congealed fat from stocks for cooking and leftover meat for soups, meat salads, and other dishes."

7-Eat Liver

Yuck, I know. The thought has been hard to get used to myself. But I am slowly adjusting my tastebuds to this new food for me. It is easier than I thought and last time I made it, I really enjoyed it.

Yes, you heard right, enjoyed it.

You do have to have a good recipe, in my opinion, and you do have to get used to it if you don't normally eat it, but it's worth it. My toddler loves it and I don't want her to grow out of liking it because I never serve it.

It would take a whole post to tell why liver is so wonderful, I will just be concise and say that liver is one of the most nutrient rich meats that you can eat. It contains many very vital nutrients in higher amounts. It is also much cheaper per pound than any other meat I can get. So it costs less money to get a whole lot more nutrition. Just make sure you don't get conventionally produced liver, but go for the organically raised, or better yet, pastured chicken livers.

8-Concentrate on Bread and Whole grain Sides



I love muffins, crackers, and other baked goods. But they are more expensive and often don't deliver a significant increase in nutrition. They also take more time to make. Making simple whole wheat bread is not only easier, but much cheaper as well. While I am sure I will still make muffins and other treats, I will concentrate on bread as a cheaper alternative.

Along the same lines, I find that making whole grain side dishes are also very frugal in comparison to baked goods. Rice, millet, barley, etc, can be very cheap to cook up as a side dish.

9-Prepare Food Focused on Increasing Nutritional Value

Soaking grains, legumes, and nuts is going to give me more bang for my buck. Remember the point is not just how I make the most food for the least amount of money. The point is getting the most nutrition out of my dollar. If I soak my grains, I will digest more nutrients from my food.

Along that same line, I am going to start sprouting grains, and seeds again. This will increase many nutrients and won't cost me anything more but a little time. Sprouting increases vitamin c and vitamin b content, and the carotene content increases dramatically. It also has the same effect as soaking your grains, and reduces or eliminates phytic acid and enzyme inhibitors present in all seeds. It also breaks down complex sugars that causes gas, and inactivates carcinogens found in grains called aflatoxins. Last, but not least, enzymes that support proper digestion is produced during the sprouting process.

If I was able to drink dairy, I would culture these products for higher nutrient content and health benefits. What I can do, and will do, is culture vegetables. This will give me important lactobacilli (beneficial bacteria) and promote healthy flora for intestinal health, and increase enzymes helpful for proper digestion, and increase vitamin levels.

Doing these things will help me get more nutrition from the foods I eat. So more nutrients will be eaten, without increasing my food budget.

10-Don't Buy Packaged Food

I choose to minimize buying packaged food as much as possible. We rarely buy packaged food as it is, but it does cost much more money to buy premade and packaged food instead of making it ourselves, so we will continue this practice.

11-Seek Co-op or Bulk Options

When berries are in season around here, I pick and freeze large amounts. We buy a quarter of a cow at a time, for high quality meat at a low price. We also find that buying grains in bulk is much cheaper, especially through a co-op. We often buy 25 pounds. Buying Coconut milk and coconut water or juice is also significantly cheaper when bought through a co-op. Doing these things really helps get us more nourishing food for our money.

12-Don't Overeat

My husband and I are not light eaters and manage to pack away large amounts of food on a regular basis, so I am not suggesting that you eat Barbie sized portions. I don't think that's healthy. But overeating has consequences beyond your waistline; it makes it hard to stay within your budget. Your digestive tract also takes a hard hit when you overeat.

Eat nourishing food, and enough to keep you full, but don't stuff yourself all the time, and you will have food leftover for tomorrow! And a more happy digestive tract. Once again, the goal is to be healthy, going to an extreme the other way will also not help your health, or your budget in the end either. Balance is the key.

So there is the starting point of eating nourishing food on a lower budget. I am sure I will add new ideas and skills as I continue to explore this vast topic.

What about you? How have you sought balance in cooking nourishing food for less?

This post is part of Tammy's Kitchen Tip Tuesday and Works for Me Wednesday.

A week of family, food, and fun

We have had an eventful week. Some relatives were visiting my parents, so Joel, Elena and I had dinner with them. It was a nice time of getting family updates, and visiting around the dinner table. There's something about sharing food that seems to open conversation to sharing what's on people's minds and hearts.

I helped my mother make dinner and she had an incredible dinner planned. It included the above salad which contained a bunch of grilled veggies (grilled by yours truly). Wow, it was great recipe. I think I foresee our barbecue getting a little more use in the future.....

We also had a wonderful Fourth of July, celebrating our Country's Liberty with friends and family. We had lovely "shared" barbecue. One friend made a delicious red potato salad. It's secret ingredient was lemon juice which added a nice tang to the creamy dressing. I made a raspberry pie with coconut whipping cream (that ended up not being whipped cream, but another layer of my pie, but it was almost better that way!). I also brought a savory carrot salad, which is updated from the one I already have shared. I will have to post that recipe soon because we like it a lot and are having it again tonight. Maybe I'll share it in our Nourishing Frugal Food Carnival.

Speaking of the Nourishing Frugal Food Carnival, I hope that many of you are planning on sharing your favorite recipes for main dishes this Friday! I have one recipe ready to share, but have a few more to experiment with this week. So we shall see what makes the cut. I am looking forward to getting new ideas from everyone else, as well. :-) Remember that if you don't have a blog, you can share your recipes in the comment section. We would love to have you join us.

I also wanted to mention that I joined the food blog roll, as you may have noticed on the right hand side. Who knew that there were so many food blogs?! It's almost overwhelming, but if you ever need inspiration, you know where to go!

I know, I know......I promised to have a post sharing my list of ways to get the most nutrition out of my dollar last Friday, but decided, later, to save it for this week. I will be posting that on Tuesday, so it's coming!

How did everyone else's Fourth go?

Gorgonzola, Walnut and Grape Rice Salad

I feel that one of the most refreshing things to eat during the summer is grain based salads. There is something about them that is so satisfying! They are filling, yet light. You can make the salad early in the day and chill until dinner, which saves your slaving over a hot stove in hot weather. I have been literally craving salads topped with all sorts of grain based salads, so you will probably be seeing some more in the near future.

But, to share one recipe that works for us, I'll start here. This recipe was "born" on a hot day, during one of those craving episodes. I wanted something chewy for the grain part, which is why I choose a wild rice mix instead of just brown rice. The wild rice gives a nice texture, flavor and color to the salad. I also wanted something sweet- enter red grapes, something to offset the sweetness-salty cheese, and for extra crunch, toasted walnuts.

Yum.

I choose to make a champagne vinaigrette because it wouldn't add to much tartness, but would instead support the leading flavors of the dish. It adds enough tartness to balance the dish, but not enough to take over.

The verdict? Delicious, refreshing, and perfect for a warm summer night. While my portion didn't have the very delicious cheese (aren't I generous to make food for my family and guests that I can't eat?), I still enjoyed it immensely. My favorite way to eat it was actually over a green salad. I found it the perfect combination. If you need to make it dairy free, I think it's pretty good without the cheese, just add a little extra salt.

Before we get to the recipe, I wanted to mention that I think this would be a lovely dish for the Fourth of July. I wish you and your family a joyful celebration of freedom and liberty tomorrow.

Gorgonzola, Walnut and Grape Rice Salad

If you want to chill this, make sure you leave plenty of time for yourself. Check out my comments on the bottom of the post for more information.

2 cups of a wild rice mix*

Combine in a medium pot with 4 cups of water and a teaspoon of salt. Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to the lowest setting and cook for 50 minutes or until done. When done, remove from heat, take of the lid and cool while you get the rest of the ingredients ready. You want to combine the ingredients with the rice when it is still warm (it will soak in more flavor), but not pipping hot. If you need to cool quickly, turn out onto a large plate and stir/flip over occasionally.

1 cup of red grapes, washed and halved or quartered
1 cup of celery, washed and very thinly sliced
1 cup of toasted walnuts (toasted in a heavy pan over med-high heat, just until slightly browned and aromatic)
Around 1/4 to 1/3 of a pound of Gorgonzola, crumbled, (probably around 1/2 to 3/4 of a cup)

Dressing:
1/3 cup of champagne vinegar
2/3 cup of olive oil
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
I garlic clove

Combine dressing ingredients and pour over the rest of the ingredients. Toss to mix. Serve this dish at room temperature, or chilled.

We eat grains salads room temperature on mild days or in the winter. But on hot days, I like it chilled for at least a few hours. I even have put grain salads in the freezer to more quickly cool them (just don't forget it and stir it once in a while!). Just beware that it will soak up some of the dressing when you chill it, so toss with a little extra vinegar and oil for more flavor right before serving.

*The mix I used included regular brown rice, red rice, short brown rice, and wild rice

Changes In Our Family

My husband with two of his students taken at our home "studio"

Upcoming and Exciting Change

Our little family is going to go through a lot of change this upcoming fall. Good change (and no, we aren't pregnant! Though children are always exciting!). My husband, Joel, will be attending Bible Seminary. He has always had a heart for ministry and through wise counsel and many conversations together, we felt that this would be the best choice for him.

As his wife, I am so excited for him! I look forward to helping him meet his goals in new ways and making this possible for us.

Because of these new changes, I will be starting to teach classical piano again. Something I thought I was finished with for a while. The funny thing is that a few months before Joel decided this, I was starting to miss it. And now, what do you know, we have a need for me to start bringing in an income.

I know that I will enjoy bringing music back into my week. I have always enjoyed teaching piano, or teaching bread making classes, or just teaching! So, this will be fun for me. My" little" sister Hannah (17) will babysit my toddler, while I teach, and I already am gathering little learning games and flashcards for them to do together. Elena loves Hannah, so she won't mind at all. I will, at most, be teaching 6 hours a week, which is very doable.

My schedule won't be difficult, though I will have to watch my time a little more carefully. But don't worry, I will definitely be continuing this blog. I love blogging about food, cooking, and nutrition. While this blog is currently not a money making tool for us, it could eventually lead to that which would help me justify all the hours I spend blogging here every week. :-) But regardless, I blog because I love the topic, so I will be around.

Obviously going to school is going to cost money. My husband is a music teacher and he will only be able to teach a small portion each day instead of all day like he has. Obviously, this is a huge loss of income. So what does this mean for us?

We get to become creative!

I have been trying to prepare for working with a smaller income. Food has been the one of most concerning to me. I have just recently started regaining my health and I feel that the good food we eat was a large part of this success. Joel and I are not about to lose all we gained by starting to eat cheaper food in the pursuit of his college. So my food budget isn't going to be cut drastically. But I will need to actually always stay in that budget. We would often buy extra things (you know, like a quarter of a cow, or 20 pounds of frozen local berries) beyond our budget. So I will need to get more creative to make this work.

This is part of the reason I was interested in doing the frugal and nourishing carnival on the 11th and 18ths. I want to expand my repertoire of nourishing meals. I have other thoughts as well in how I will help our budget stay within it's limits.

As I have considered my options, I have decided to approach it from a different angle. Instead of approaching it from the "what's cheapest" point of view, I will instead be trying to get the most nutrition out of a buck that I can. With that in mind, tomorrow I will be sharing a list of things that I have made to help me reach that goal. Stay Tuned!

The Best Lemonade

My title is a rather lofty claim, and perhaps I should save such adjectives like "best" for the drink recipe that contains no less than 15 ingredients (at least more than three). But, then again, one of my eating/cooking philosophies is that simple food can be very good. And the gallons of lemonade that I have drunk attest to the fact that I love this recipe.

Shannon is hosting a carnival of recipes that contain five ingredients or less. While, thankfully, most drink recipes to not contain more than 5 ingredients anyways, I still thought that this lemonade would be a perfect thing to share. First of all, it is my favorite lemonade. Secondly, it is a cinch to make. Thirdly, it is extremely healthy. Fourthly, is is very low calorie, for those watching their weight. Fifthly, is is sugar free, but doesn't contain any of those nasty sugar substitutes, but only a little herb called stevia.This is one of the only things I have really, really liked stevia in. It really just tastes..... sweet in lemonade, instead of herby like it can in other things. It definitely has appeal to the masses. And last but not least, if you don't count the water, you only need two ingredients to make it!

But before we get to this very easy recipe, I wanted to invite any readers here from the Works for me Wednesday to a carnival that Stephanie and I are hosting together. With rising food costs, we thought we could pool our resources by sharing recipes that are both frugal and nourishing. To often, it feels like you are choosing between healthy food, and frugal food. It doesn't have to be the case. But it does take the right recipes and habits. If you are interested in sharing yours, we would love to have them be part of the carnival. Go here for more details.

And now, to the featured part of the program.

This recipe is as simple as juicing one lemon, putting it in a glass of water, and adding about 1/8 teaspoon of stevia. I make a glass like this all the time. But sometimes I like to make a large amount. You can play around with the ratios of water to juice to stevia, but this is the rough outline of what I do.

The Best Lemonade -heathy, easy and sweetened with stevia

Make sure you do not use the spoonable type of stevia, but the concentrated type. You can also use limes for a "limade" which is also very good.

1 cup of freshly juiced lemon juice (usually 4-6 lemons)
1/2 to 1 teaspoon of stevia (or more, to taste)
6 cups of water

Combine, adjust sweetness with stevia (start low and build up) chill and serve over ice, if desired. It's as simple and easy as that!

Blackberry Sourdough Muffins

These muffins are lightly scented with cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla. Interspersed in this spiced dough are sweet, blackberries that surprise you with their sweetness and flavor. Together, it tastes just a little bit like a summer berry cobbler.

As I have learned more about the wonderful properties of sourdough, I have sought new ways to use my starter. I love my sourdough pancakes, my sourdough bread, and now, sourdough muffins!

I find that sourdough gives a wonderful taste and texture to baked goods, and they rise beautifully and cook easily. ( It is also cheaper to make because you don't use any milk products -so, yes, it's dairy free!). One problem I was having with my dairy free muffins, was that they would get dry very quickly because of the lack of milk. These muffins stay much more moist (or, at least, they do for the two days we have them in the house. We have somehow managed to eat them all within two days, the three times I made this recipe!). Dairy free aside, they are delicious and have been served to guests twice in this house with good feedback.

Joel and I were very pleasantly surprised at how well we like blackberry in muffins, by the way. I just happened to make them blackberry the first time, because that's what we had on hand. We thought blueberry were are favorite. Not so, anymore! But I am sure you could adapt this recipe to many different fruit and flavors.

Blackberry Sourdough Muffins -Makes between 18-24 muffins

Consider how long you want to soak these in how hot your kitchen is. If you have a very hot kitchen, you may not want to soak for 12 hours (at least do 12 hours overnight, when it is cooler). It could get too sour, though this hasn't happened to me. Sourdough is very effective in reducing phytic acid, so even the shorter amount of time will have significant impact, though longer is always better. Once again, these muffins are not overly sweet, just pleasantly so. If you like a sweeter muffin, you can up the amount you add in.

2 cups of sourdough starter (mine is feed 3/4 cup of water, 1 cup of flour)
3 cups of kamut, spelt or whole wheat flour
1 cup of water

1 teaspoon of salt
1/2 cup of melted coconut oil (oil or melted butter could be used as well)
1/2 cup of maple syrup, honey, rapadura, or maple sugar (I have been using maple syrup)
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 heaping teaspoon cinnamon
freshly ground nutmeg (about 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoons worth, you can use pre-ground as well)
1 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 cups of fresh or frozen blackberries


The night before, combine the flour, water and the starter in a large bowl. Cover and leave on the counter top for 3- 12 hours (or overnight). It's easiest to start either the night before for breakfast, or the morning of for dinner.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees

Then add, the rest of the ingredients, except the blackberries. Using a whisk, mix in until just thoroughly combined. Fold in the blackberries, and fill greased muffins tins to about 2/3 full. Bake for about 25 minutes, until the tops are lightly browned and a toothpick come out clean.

Leave in tins for about 5 minutes, then run a knife around the edge and take out to cool. Slather with butter (or ghee) and/or honey and enjoy.

This post is part of Kitchen Tip Tuesday.