Chobani Blueberry Muffins

What a great weekend we had!  The weather had a slight fall feel to it – fall is my favorite season of the year.  Not sure if its because that’s when school started and its like a clean slate, but my ideal temperature is between 50-60 degrees.

I have to give a shout out to O Olive Oil.  A while back I entered a recipe contest and I made an O Olive Oil Rootbeer Glaze.  While I didn’t win, they were nice to send me a thank you prize just for participating.

Don’t these spreads sound interesting?!  Thanks!

Saturday night was our date night at Ruth’s Chris.  We had stormy weather right before we left and the temps dropped like 25 degrees and took the humidity with it.

We sat and had drinks at the bar before sitting down.  This is my one and only picture of the night.  I figure at least once a year I can sit with my husband and dinner and not make him wait until I take pictures.

The meal was stunning.  We both took advantage of the pre-fix meal – for $42 I got a bowl of lobster bisque with lump lobster, my dinner was a 6 ounce petite filet mignon with grilled shrimp with a side of garlic mashed potatoes.  And dessert?  Um, definitely insulin worthy – key lime pie cheese cake with a dark chocolate brittle on the side.  So good and a fun night out – and just happy that we had a gift card too!

Another good thing?  Tony made my breakfast yesterday using the leftovers – a layer of mashed potatoes he heated up in the cast iron skillet, then added eggs, some of the leftover steak and some cheese and put it in our toaster oven to cook.  It was delish!

I am bringing muffins to work today for a birthday breakfast for someone in my office.  I knew I wanted to try to use the blueberry Chobani yogurt.  Last week I did a dry run and the results were less than good.  I didn’t incorporate any butter or oil, and while they tasted okay right out of the oven, the next day there were super dry and dense.  So back to the drawing board!

Chobani Blueberry Yogurt Muffins

Makes 12: 241 calories, 6 fat, 43 carbs, 1.2 fiber and 3.8 protein

Ingredients:

• 4 tablespoons butter, room temperature
• 2 cups flour
• 1.5 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups blueberries (mine were frozen and went straight into the batter, no need to thaw)
• 1 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup of Chobani blueberry yogurt
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup of fat free half and half

Heat oven to 375.  I sprayed my muffin tin with Pam.

In a stand mixer, beat butter and sugar until fluffy, about 3 minutes.  Beat in eggs one at a time.  Add vanilla.  Turn mixer on low and add dry ingredients until incorporated.  Finally, add milk and mix until just combined.

Toss the blueberries in about a teaspoon of flour.  And using a spatula, incorporate the blueberries just until combined.

I adapted this recipe from here.

My dough was so creamy.  I decided to add a topping on the top – I mixed 1/3 cup sugar with 1 tablespoon of butter, 3 tablespoons of flour and the zest from one lemon.  The stats above reflect this topping – if you leave it off, it saves 30 calories a muffin.

Full of blueberry flavor, most and delicious.  Sometimes you just have to use a little butter!

Guess what else I did over the weekend?  I went to the library!  On the recommendation of blog readers and emails, I picked out six books.  This is the first one I am reading, and I am already in 50 pages already.

Alright, time to get my shit together for the day – breakfast today?  My first GREEN MONSTER!  My grocery store had spinach on sale for .50 cents a bunch.  This version has peanut butter, yogurt, unsweetened almond breeze, a frozen banana and spinach.  I am curious to see if this will keep me full – its 350 calories, 43 carbs and 21 protein.   Have you had a green monster yet? 

Happy Monday – make it a great day!