Welcoming the newest member of the family
Healthy eating has been important to my family and me for a long time. My husband, Terry, and I have been vegetarians for 40 years, and our adult children are lifelong vegetarians. Healthy eating is more important than ever now … my son, Will, and daughter-in-law, Chea, had a beautiful baby girl, and Terry and I became new grandparents on November 2 (yay!!!)! Terry and I along with our kids and kids-in-law want to be both healthy and good examples of healthy eating for the newest member of our family.
Terry and I got a head start on extra healthy eating when our daughter, Christina, was diagnosed with hypothyroidism (low thyroid) and suspected gluten sensitivity in 2011. We tried to support Christina in her journey to regain her health by creating gluten-free family recipes for when she visited, like the one in my Creating Healthy Family Recipes post.
Christina after her 6-month nutrition and fitness experiment.
In late 2012, Christina started to experiment with strict gluten-free, dairy-free, and sugar-free eating along with exercising 6 days a week for 6 months. You can read about how it transformed her body in her 6-Month Nutrition and Fitness Experiment. She’s done two experiments since then with very positive results. You can read about Christina’s experiences (and find more gluten-free recipes) on Fit Body Full Life.
Because of Christina, Terry and I started eating gluten free at home. We often eat foods with gluten when we eat out, but I’ve converted all my recipes to gluten-free versions. I bake with brown rice flour a lot. Following is my latest adaptation of a peanut butter muffin recipe I’ve used for a number of years.
Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Oat Bran Muffins (with Cacao Nibs)
I love peanut butter, and peanut butter muffins are favorites of mine. I’ve gradually made my peanut butter muffins healthier and healthier. My latest addition is cacao instead of chocolate chips. Cacao is a Mayan super food that is filled with antioxidants and has no sweeteners. I used to add ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips to my peanut butter muffins. Now, I add ½ cup cacao nibs instead. Cacao nibs are bitter eaten alone, but the honey in the muffins adds sweetness and the cacao nibs create an interesting texture and mild chocolatey taste.
I do use regular oat bran in the muffins, which might have a slight amount of gluten. You can find certified gluten-free oat bran.
To make the recipe both healthy and gluten-free, I used coconut oil instead of butter, brown-rice flour instead of processed flours or whole wheat flour, honey instead of sugar, and the cacao nibs instead of chocolate chips. Because I raised athletes, I have a habit of adding protein powder to baked goods. I typically use whey powder, although soy powder (and egg substitute) can be used for a vegan recipe.
Here’s a printable recipe I created for natural, gluten-free, peanut butter oat bran muffins.
To download recipe (without watermark), click here or here (choose your outdoor breakfast background), then right click on the image and choose “Save Picture As . . .”
I’d love to hear what healthy-eating ideas have worked for your family. 🙂
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Congratulations! Cristina looks fabulous!!! I am a gluten free food blogger and every time I hear success stories, it makes me happy. Very inspirational, thanks….
Hi Deb, congratulations on your new arrival. How very exciting for you all!
I have been gluten-free for a little more than three years now. I just didn’t know that others didn’t always have a stomach ache after every meal like I did. My oldest son is now gluten-free too and it has changed his skin, calmed his behavior, and made his tummy aches go away too. We don’t have Celiac Disease, but we do have some particular medical histories in common.
In my former-not-gluten-free days, I was an avid baker. I made fresh croissants and even our wedding cake! Now after going gluten-free, I am always looking for delicious alternative. Thanks for developing this recipe!
And, thank you for the printables link on FB the other day. I find your Montessori posts so very helpful as I begin our Montessori elementary homeschooling journey.
Best wishes to you and your family during this precious time!
Hi Deb! Your little grand daughter is so sweet and such a little blessing! Congratulations! I love the gluten free entries! I am a gluten free due to Celiac’s Disease and I my oldest daughter and one of my grand daughter’s has Celiac’s Disease too! So, I am all about natural and organic cooking! I love to cook and bake and 6 years ago I though life for me was over! Now, I can make most everything I used to make and have even come up with MORE recipes! Keep, it coming girl……living gluten free has made me healthier!
Thanks for your sweet comment, Karen! I’m TOTALLY loving being a grandmother!
I’m so glad you found the solution to your health problems. It’s amazing how easy it is to adapt lots of recipes to make them gluten-free and healthier than before. 🙂
Congratulations on your family’s new arrival. How wonderful that you have embraced your children’s intolerances to particular foods and made them part of your own diet at home.
Thanks so much for your kind comment! I always learned so much by following my kids’ interests … it’s nice that I can continue learning in a similar way when they’re adults, too. 🙂
I’m going to have to look for cacao nibs! Very cool.
Your granddaughter is SO CUTE. Squee! So happy for you and your family!
Thanks so much, Lauren … I’m definitely over the moon (and beyond)!
I’ve found cacao nibs at more than one health food store. They are cool. 🙂
I’m seriously scrounging to see if I can make these right.now. But I have a dumb, dumb question – can I just use oats – or oat flour – instead of oat bran?? These look super yummy!!
Thanks, Dionna! I haven’t tried it, but my kids say they use rolled oats instead of the oat bran in my recipes all the time. 🙂
Congratulations on your new grand daughter. I love these posts, when you share little bits and pieces of your family life. It’s fun to learn about, and the topic today… We’ve done the vegan diet with the kiddos’ allergies. Sometimes I wish I could go back, sometimes I like meat too much. But every time I read a post like this, I seriously consider going back, to at least a vegetarian. However, with so many special dietary needs in the family already, I fear it would be too much work, preparing four meals instead of three at each sitting of the day. Lol.
Thanks so much for your sweet comment, Renae!
It would be very difficult to prepare that many different meals. I was lucky that we could all eat the same thing when my kids were growing up. 🙂