Shamrock Lime Mini Muffins, 2 SP

Get ready for St. Patrick’s day with these 2 Smartpoint Shamrock muffins for this week’s #FlashbackFriday.

Happy St. Paddy’s day all!  We have had a pretty “green” day so far that started off with these cute low point Shamrock Lime Mini Muffins I made just for this mornings St. Patrick’s Day Celebration.  This recipe is very similar to those tasty and tart Lemon Cranberry Mini Muffins I made a while back.

I pondered how I was going to make these mini muffins green ~ should I maybe add spinach or zucchini, use green sugar or add food coloring?  When I mentioned spinach, The Husband couldn’t say no fast enough.  I tried explaining how you can’t really taste it in “green smoothies” but he wasn’t buying it.

In the ended, I went with using limes instead of lemons and adding a little “green” food coloring green sugar crystals to make them Shamrock like.  I totally would’ve used Shamrock sprinkles if I could’ve found them, but, alas I did not so we will pretend they are Shamrock Like lol.

SHAMROCK LIME MINI MUFFINS (print it!)

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup sugar, plus 1/4 cup green sugar
• 2 large eggs, yolks and whites separated
• 1 1/3 cups White Whole Wheat Flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. sea salt
• 2 Tbsp. lime zest
• 2 Tbsp. lime juice (about 2 limes)
• 1/2 cup fat free Greek yogurt
• 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 tsp. green food coloring

INSTRUCTIONS:

1.  Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 24 cup mini muffin pan with nonstick spray.

2.  In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the egg yolks, one at a time. Beat well after each.  In a separate bowl, stir together the dry ingredients and lime zest.

3.  With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture, alternating two times with the Greek yogurt, then lime juice with the vanilla extract and green food coloring. Beat just until smooth.   In another bowl, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Gently fold them into the muffin batter until blended.

4.  Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups and sprinkle with the green sugar crystals. Bake at 350°F for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

5.  Cool for 5 minutes before removing to cool completely.

Makes 36 mini muffins, 2 WWFreestyle Smartpoints, 1 points+ each

Nutritional information per muffin with all ingredients:

For breakfast, I had a big cup of coffee with two Lime-A-Licious Mini Muffins and an unpictured banana (2 points) – SF + 2 WPA

Our leader today completely went all out with the St. Paddy’s theme serving up Green Smoothies for everyone and giving out a prize for the “greenest” person in the meeting.

Meet Candy ~ she is such a huge inspiration in our meeting losing over 50 lbs and looking pretty darn skinny ~ isn’t she a doll all greened out ~ I love the lunch box!

When I walked in the door, I had a perfectly hard boiled egg for some protein power.

(2 points+) – SF

Today has been the perfect mix of prepping for the week, relaxing and catching up a little bit on some of the shows I’ve missed since February.  I have 3 more episodes to catch up on The Biggest Loser but am pretty sure I cannot resist watching the live finale tomorrow.

I am pretty excited about our Farm Fresh to You CSA box this week.

I am not sure if I love the Kale, Sweet Potatoes…..

AVOCADO or strawberries the most, but, it is all definitely being put to use.

I used part of the carrots in the Vegan Pasta Salad I whipped up for our lunches this week.  Then, I made our own “salad in the bag” by washing, chopping, rinsing and spinning the huge bunch of lettuce we received.

Shredding all the carrots in the food processor ~ it takes seconds!

Topping the lettuce with the carrots…

And mixing it all together for grab and go convenience.

We built some pretty incredible salads for lunch using this mix and adding in red cabbage, celery (from our box!), corn, chickpeas, cucumber, tomatoes, almonds and AVOCADO (from our box).

Topped with 2 Tbsp. Balsamic/Olive Oil vinaigrette (4 points+) – SF + 2 WPA

We also made some tasty Sunflower Sandwiches on the side using this Trader Joe’s Sunflower Seed Butter I picked up yesterday.  It tastes just like honey roasted sunflower seeds.

2 Tbsp. = 5 points+

1 Tbsp. Sunflower Butter + 1 Tbsp. Raspberry Jam on a Whole Wheat Thin Bun = 100% Delicious!

(7 points+) – SF + 4 WPA

I used the Meyer Lemons to make up these Very Lemony Pudding Cakes from my Weight Watcher’s Just Desserts Cookbook for our St. Paddy’s BBQ tonight.

Tonight we are grilling up Boca Burgers with the works with sweet potato fries and I might just use our kale to introduce our friends to delicious Kale Chips!

I am hoping this week settles down a bit so I can get caught up and settle back into my dailies with you all.  Thanks everyone for always checking in on me and being patient when life gets a little insane.  Despite it all, I’ve kept up so far with 100% meatless this March ~ success!

HERE IS WHAT IS ON THE MEATLESS MENU THIS WEEK:

• 7 Layer Dip with Endive Chips
• Spaghetti Pizza, Salad
• Black Bean & Sweet Potato Taco Salads
• Vegetable Gyoza with Edamame Soycatash
• Tortellini Pasta Salad or Snobby Joes

QUESTION OF THE DAY:

Did you eat any “green” foods for St. Paddys day?  If so, what did you have?

Night all!