61. Eat a Muffin

Several years ago, after routine blood tests, both Gibbs and I found we had elevated cholesterol levels. After doing some research, we decided to significantly reduce our consumption of red meat. And, we got on the oat bran wagon.

We replaced our weekend eggs-and-bacon breakfasts with blueberry oat bran pancakes and maple syrup (but no butter). Also, Gibbs started experimenting with oat bran muffin recipes, and ultimately developed his own delicious, low-fat version, shown below. We started eating oat bran muffins in place of breads. Within a few months we had lowered our cholesterol levels to within acceptable ranges and, as an added benefit, we both lost weight.

Every week or so we make up a double batch of muffins—about two dozen. With all the ingredients on hand it takes roughly ten minutes to mix the batter, and another fifteen minutes or so to bake them. (This exceeds my ten-minute rule [#57] but, since it makes a two-week supply, I can justify it.)

These muffins are great with fruit or cereal for breakfast, with salads or soups for lunch, as a low-calorie, high-fiber between-meal snack, or even to keep the wolves from the door at bedtime. They’re so delicious it seems amazing that they are also good for you. We expect to hear any day now that the cholesterol scare was a hoax, and that oat bran causes dancing deliriums in mice, or some such thing. In the meantime we continue to enjoy this simple, healthy treat.

Gibbs’s Oat Bran Muffins

2¼ cups of oat bran (not bran flakes)

1 tbsp baking powder

¼ cup sugar or maple syrup

2 tbsp chopped almonds

handful of raisins or blueberries

¼ cup shredded coconut (optional)

1¼ cup nonfat milk

whites of two eggs, or one large egg if you’re not concerned about cholesterol

2 large overripe bananas

Combine all dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. Blend all other ingredients into a puree and mix thoroughly with the dry ingredients.

Fill muffin tins, allowing some room for mix to rise. If you use blueberries, it’s easier if you add them by hand to the filled muffin tin.

Bake at 450°F until top of muffins are brown (about 15 minutes). Makes approximately one dozen muffins.

As soon as they’re cool, we bag them and put them in the freezer. Whenever we want one, we pop it in the microwave oven for 30 seconds on high.