Pear Quinoa Muffins With Truvia Baking Blend

June 5, 2017 by Momstart 14 Comments

Muffins made with Truvia, Truvia Quinoa Apple Pear Muffins

I was a Truvia Brand ambassador and compensated for my time, opinions are always my own.

We decided to come up with a mostly healthy recipe using Truvia. We made some muffins, Truvia Quinoa Apple Pear Muffins using whole wheat flour and of course some quinoa. Substituting Truvia in the place of sugar in recipes is a great place to start. Truvia baking blend is designed for easy, at-home baking, and is a blend of Truvia^®natural sweetener and sugar. Truvia^® Baking Blend provides sugar-like taste and texture in recipes, but with 75% fewer calories and twice the amount of sweetness than sugar. Truvia^® Baking Blend is available at retail stores nationwide in a 1.5 pound bag with a closeable, easy-to-use pour spout. I love how easy it is to store and pour.

Truvia Quinoa Apple Pear Muffins

Ingredients:

2 eggs
1 cup low-fat milk
1/2 cinnamon applesauce
4 cups diced unpeeled pears
3/4 cup quinoa
3 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup Truvia Baking Blend
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground allspice

Directions:

1 Whisk together eggs, milk, and apple sauce until completely blended.
2 Stir in diced fruit.
3 Combine remaining ingredients in separate bowl.
4 Add dry to wet ingredients and stir just until blended.
5 Let batter sit for 15-20 minutes
6 Divide batter into greased muffin cups and bake at 400 for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown on top.

Then Enjoy!

Cranberry Muffins Recipe

October 7, 2015 by Beeb Leave a Comment

MomStart is a Truvia Ambassador.There’s nothing like a hot, buttered muffin fresh out of the oven to start your day off right! Muffins from scratch are a lot faster to make than you might think. I always like to switch things up, and I had inspiration for a cranberry muffin recipe that I wanted to create. So this morning, I pulled out one of my vintage cookbooks, Favorite Recipes of America: Desserts from 1968. This cookbook has a neat collection of recipes from state fair winners and other amateur cooks around the country. The muffin recipe I chose as a base to adapt was called “Yummy Nut Muffins” by Ann Denise Kirking of the Dane Country Fair. I changed her recipe so much as to be pretty much unrecognizable, but it provided me a good base to know the ratio of flour, eggs and other ingredients to use.

What resulted was a delicious muffin with healthier ingredients. Where the original recipe called for 1/4 cup of melted fat, I used applesauce; I also substituted Egg Beaters for a whole egg, soy milk for whole milk, and used Truvia Baking Blend, which cuts out 75% of the calories you’d get using regular sugar. But as Jai said, it doesn’t taste like anything has been cut out because it’s very yummy!

Cranberry Muffins

Ingredients:

2 C all purpose flour
3 tsp. baking powder
2 TBSP Truvia Baking Blend
1/4 C Egg Beaters
1 C organic vanilla soy milk
1/4 C unsweetened applesauce
1/2 C dried cranberries

Directions:

Add all ingredients to a large bowl, then beat with a hand mixer until combined – roughly 1 minute.

Heat your oven to 350 degrees. Put liners in a muffin/cupcake pan, and divide the batter evenly between each one – each muffin liner will be around two-thirds full of batter.

Bake the muffins until done – between 15 and 20 minutes. I pulled mine out at the 20 minute mark and they were a little overdone, sticking to the liners, so I won’t cook mine as long next time; since this recipe has applesauce in it, they are moist even when done, so bear that in mind when testing them. Makes 12 muffins.

MomStart is an ambassador for Truvia and compensated for my time, my opinions are always my own.

Truvia Natural Lemonade Recipe

July 15, 2015 by Momstart 3 Comments

I’m a Truvia Ambassador.

It’s been really hot here and Lemonade has been on the kids mind for a while. They wanted to go all out and make a lemonade stand but I’ve been sick and didn’t have the energy for that. I barely had the energy to help Zoe make it at all. But I realized how important it was so I even let her try learning some knife skills. It quickly was handed back over to me because the lemons produce so much juice things got wet/sticky/slippery all at one time.

She did however enjoy peeling the lemons and putting all the pulp inside the Ninja!.

She also enjoyed putting in the Truvía^® natural sweetener can help support a low or reduced calorie diet when used on fruit or in your favorite drinks. And unlike other stevia products on the market, it’s great-tasting every time. Truvía^® Spoonable is the best way to bring Truvía^® Natural Sweetener home. Zoe loves to use it. And now this zero calorie sweetener is right within reach on your countertop to add to your favorite healthy foods or tasty sweets. Experience the sweeter side of healthier living today.

Visit our Where to Buy section to find a store near you.

Lemonade Recipe

Ingredients:

5-6 lemons peeled

4-5 cups water

1/2 cup Truvía^® natural sweetener

Put all the ingredients in the Ninja or mixer that you have and blend until smooth.

To keep up with Truvia on-line follow them on Pinterest, Facebook and Twitter and www.truvia.com/baking

I’m an ambassador for Truvia and compensated for my time, my opinions are always my own.

Truvia Carrot Cake Recipe

April 4, 2015 by Beeb Leave a Comment

MomStart is a Truvia ambassador.A friend of mine loves carrot cake, so it’s become tradition for me to bake him one on his birthday every year. I usually use the same tried-and-true recipe from a favorite old cookbook, but this year, I wanted to branch out. I perused my collection of vintage cookbooks looking for a new carrot cake recipe that I could try.

I settled on Favorite Recipes of Home Economics Teachers – Desserts Edition Including Party Beverages. This cookbook had a plethora of carrot cake recipes in it, and I chose one submitted by a Colorado high school teacher to adapt.

I had planned to modify the recipe using Truvia sugar substitute because I like cutting the sugar. Using Truvia cuts the calories down quite a bit. 1/2 cup (190 calories) of Truvía^® Baking Blend is equal to 1 cup of sugar (760 calories). So I began preparing my cake mix. As I scanned through the recipe and measured out my ingredients, it dawned on me: There was no flour anywhere in the ingredient list! Of course, you can’t make a cake without flour. Although I’m sure it was just a printing error, it amused me to imagine that perhaps this was a pop quiz for the students. If you don’t notice that the cake is missing flour, you fail the test! 😉

Luckily, I passed my impromptu cake exam. There were several other carrot cake recipes in the cookbook, including one directly above it that called for 2 cups of flour. That looked like about the right amount for the batter I had, so I added it in and hoped for the best. I was a little concerned that my experimental cake might not even rise, but it turned out to be a fabulous cake that was a big hit when I served it to my guests!

Truvia Carrot Cake

Adapted from recipes by LaVergne Wilken, Vera Bowen, and Mrs. L. V. Conner featured in the “Favorite Recipes of Home Economics Teachers – Desserts Edition Including Party Beverages” cookbook.

Ingredients:

1/4 C plus 1 TBSP Truvia Brown Sugar Blend
2 TBSP Truvia Baking Blend
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp imitation vanilla extract
2 C flour
3/4 C vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 C finely grated carrot, packed
1/2 C chopped pecans
Cooking spray

Directions:

Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl. Spoon into a 9″ round pan coated with cooking spray, and bake at 325 degrees for about 20 minutes or until done. Cool on a wire rack and spread frosting (below) evenly over the cake, topping with pecans for garnish.

Cream Cheese Frosting:

Ingredients:

8 oz cream cheese
1 stick of margarine
2 tsp imitation vanilla extract
Powdered sugar
Blue food coloring

Directions:

Mix cream cheese, margarine and vanilla extract together until smooth. Add powdered sugar until the frosting is sweet and you have enough to cover the cake. (The original recipe called for one box of powdered sugar, but since I was using a bag and not sure of the measurement, I just eyeballed it.) Tint the frosting with a few drops of blue food coloring to create a light pastel frosting.

This cake turned out very delicious and garnered several compliments from the guests. Nothing says “Easter Bunny” like carrots, so a pastel carrot cake would be the perfect thing to take to Easter brunch tomorrow!

Mini Cheesecake Recipe

January 30, 2015 by Momstart 1 Comment

Is it snowing where you live or is it sunny? We are lucky enough to be in Los Angeles where it has been very beautiful outside. Even with the wonderful weather I was somehow inspired to have some fun in the kitchen. It’s not a snowman, but it’s a lot of fun mini Cheesecake Recipe!

Speaking of snow and snowmen, you can post a snowman-inspired photo via a tab on the Truvia® Facebook page or by using #SweetWarmUp on Twitter or Instagram for the chance to win a Snowman Building prize pack, a Sledding prize pack or a Cozy Up prize pack! Today is the last day so go share! And come back to enjoy our great recipe.

Mini Cheesecake Recipe

2 Packages graham crackers Broken up

1/2 tablespoon Truvia Baking Blend

3 tablespoons cold butter

FILLING:

4 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened

3/4 cups Truvia Baking Blend

1 tablespoon lemon juice

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3 eggs, lightly beaten

Preheat the oven to 350 Degrees F

In a Food Processor combing the cold butter, Truvia baking blend and graham crackers until everything is sticking together.

Then place the crumb mixture in a springform pan or into mini baking dishes and bake for about 10 minutes then cool on a wire rack.

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and Truvia until smooth. Beat in lemon juice and vanilla. Add eggs; beat on low speed just until combined. Pour filling onto mini crusts.

Bake at 350° for 25-35 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Carefully run a knife around edge of pan to loosen; cool 1 hour longer then put it in the fridge overnight.

Truvia Salted Caramel Brownies Recipe #TruviaBakingStar

November 27, 2014 by Momstart 3 Comments

This is a partnered post as part of my Truvia Ambassadorship.

We created a really great recipe using the Truvia^® Brown Sugar Blend and the Truvia^® Baking Blend, it’s a Salted Caramel Brownies Recipe. We also wanted to share the TruviaBakingStar.com website with you because there you can find more amazing recipes to use this Holiday Season.

Salted-Caramel Chocolate Fudge Brownies

Ingredients

1 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup Truvia Baking Blend
1 cup Truvia^® Brown Sugar Blend
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon salt
4 eggs
1 cup wheat germ
1 cup flour
½ cup ground flaxseed
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
2 Tablespoons heavy cream, divided
1 cup caramel bits
1 teaspoon coarse sea salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350oF. Lightly grease a 9×13 baking dish.

2. Combine the melted butter, sugars, salt, and vanilla in your Kitchen Aid stand mixer bowl using your whisk attachment.

3. Drop in an egg and then flour allowing to thoroughly mix into the batter. Drop in second egg and wheat germ and mix into batter. Drop in third egg and flaxseed and mix. Drop in last egg and cocoa thoroughly mix into the batter.

4. Pour chocolate chips and 1 Tablespoon cream into microwave safe bowl. Microwave for 1 minute, and stir until combined and liquefied. Add chocolate to batter and whip together.

5. Bake in preheated oven of 30 minutes.

6. Combine caramel bits and last Tablespoon of cream into a microwave safe bowl. Microwave for 1 minute, and stir until combined and liquefied. Pour caramel on top of brownies can cut through top batter and caramel with a knife to swirl them together. Continue to cook for 15 more minutes.

7. Immediately add coarse salt. Cool for 10 minutes. Cut! Remove from dish to cooling rack. Continue to sit until completely cooled or serve warm. Do not stack or store until completely cooled.

We also wanted to share the winner of the Baking star competition, the Truvia Baking Star winner, Kristi Webb.

To keep up with Truvia on-line follow them on Pinterest, Facebook and Twitter and www.truvia.com/baking

The Truvia Baking Star Voting Has Begun

October 22, 2014 by Momstart 1 Comment

This is a partnered post as part of my Truvia Ambassadorship.

Today is the day where you can go on-line and start voting for your favorite bakers. Participants submitted a video which showcases their baking talents and highlights an original recipe featuring either the NEW Truvia^® Brown Sugar Blend or the Truvia^® Baking Blend via TruviaBakingStar.com.

If you remember last month I made Truvia Baking Star Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies and they are so super delicious. I’m thinking of making another batch because I have some leftover pumpkin in the fridge from some pumpkin soup I made last week. I’m also considering just baking up a simple batch of Chocolate Chip Cookies substituting Truvia^® Brown Sugar Blend and the Truvia^® Baking Blend for brown sugar and regular sugar.

Truvia baking blend is designed for easy, at-home baking, and is a blend of Truvia^®natural sweetener and sugar. Truvia^® Baking Blend provides sugar-like taste and texture in recipes, but with 75% fewer calories and twice the amount of sweetness than sugar. Truvia^® Baking Blend is available at retail stores nationwide in a 1.5pound bag with a closeable, easy-to-use pour spout. I love how easy it is to store and pour.

Designed for easy, at-home baking, new Truvia^® Brown Sugar Blend is a blend of Truvia^® natural sweetener and brown sugar. It provides brown-sugar-like taste and texture in recipes, and is the only brown sugar product that offers 75% fewer calories than brown sugar per serving.

Be sure to visit truviabakingstar.com to see videos of of YouTube’s top foodies, including a gourmet chef and healthy living expert, to launch the Truvia^® Baking Star contest. Gaby Dalkin, Byron Talbott, April Moore and Joanne Ozug created a series of recipe videos which all use the new Truvia^® Brown Sugar Blend and go vote for your favorite in the contest.

To keep up with Truvia on-line follow them on Pinterest, Facebook and Twitter and www.truvia.com/baking

I’m an ambassador for Truvia and compensated for my time, my opinions are always my own.

Sharing a Sweeter Future: A Q&A With Matthew Jacobs

September 29, 2014 by Beeb Leave a Comment

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MomStart is a Truvia ambassador.

We recently shared how Truvia’s partnership with the United Nations World Food Programme has been successfully working to create sustainable solutions to the child hunger problem in Bolivia. I recently attended an online seminar and Q&A with Matthew Jacobs, Product Line Manager at Truvia® Consumer Products International, where they outlined some of the program’s current milestones and future plans.

Launched in 2012, Truvia’s “Sharing a Sweet Future” program pledged $1 million to support the World Food Programme’s Sustainable School Meals program in Bolivia. Here’s a few highlights of what has been achieved:

In the first year, Truvia provided 43 metric tons of fortified vegetable oil, benefiting 34,705 students
Trained 500 Bolivian residents to build & use cleaner stoves
Built 68 cleaner stoves

I asked Matthew to talk more about the fortified vegetable oil and explain why it’s an important ingredient in these school meals. He explained that it is fortified with additional natural vitamins, because these children aren’t getting a lot of fruit and veggies, so it’s important to supplement the nutritional profile. (The vegetable oil is funded by Truvia’s efforts, but not produced by them.) Matthew also related how many children in this community have to walk 3 to 5 miles to get to school, often without any breakfast in their tummies, so they’re expending a lot of energy before they even get to school. Access to food is a huge help to not only keep children healthy and make academic success possible, but even to attend school, period – families in developing countries often have to make very tough decisions, and schools providing meals can help tip the scale and make it possible to keep kids in schools. This makes the school more stable, which in turn inspires confidence in parents – if a school is seen able being unstable, parents will often pull the kids out, which then makes the school even less stable. As Matthew emphasized, there are many complicated hurdles to overcome to get these children in school.

With the scope of global problems, it can be easy to feel helpless – especially with so many families in the US being on tight budgets. I asked Matthew to recommend effective ways that our readers could get involved to help this initiative even if they don’t have a lot of extra money, and he emphasized that raising awareness is one of the most important factors. “[It’s] possible to do a huge amount of work by spreading the word,” he said, noting that fans sharing their videos about the people in Bolivia have been helpful and that they’re hoping to circulate them further. They feel that by shining a light on the issue of child hunger in Bolivia, they can mobilize more efforts to address the problem. So be sure to tweet out a video or two – and if you do have a few dollars to spare, Matthew recommends directing those to The World Food Programme.

And there’s another way you can help out: By voting for which organization should be Truvia’s next social good partner. As their 3-year initiative in Bolivia comes to a close, Truvia is assessing where their next efforts should go. The program in Bolivia was designed to be self-sustaining, as they wanted to create lasting change without leaving them in a lurch once they wrapped up the initiative; of course, there is always more that could be done, so Truvia could continue to develop solutions in Bolivia, or pick a new area to focus on. They want to hear what you have to say, so click here to cast your vote for who you’d like their next partner to be! There are a number of great organizations listed that help children both in the US and abroad, and they will work with the chosen partner to tailor a program for good. Every one of these organizations have worthy goals, so no matter who they choose, it will be a “Win”!

Which program are you voting for?

Truvia Baking Star Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies

September 15, 2014 by Momstart Leave a Comment

This is a partnered post as part of my Truvia Ambassadorship.

As a Truvia Ambassador we receive new products before they hit the shelves and we received the new Truvia^® Brown Sugar Blend to use. So we made cookies, Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies using the new Truvia^® Brown Sugar Blend. Since we are partnering with Truvia on this post we also wanted to share with you their new Truvia Baking Star contest.

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies Recipes:

Ingredients:

4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup Truvia Baking Blend
1/2 cup Truvia^® Brown Sugar Blend
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 (16 ounce) can solid pack pumpkin
1 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
2 tablespoons milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, both Truvia blends, cinnamon, baking soda and salt.

Next add the pumpkin, oil, eggs, milk and vanilla.

Mix the mixture on medium speed until well mixed.

Then stir in chocolate chips.

Drop by tablespoonful onto greased baking sheets.

Bake at 375 degrees F for 13-14 minutes or until edges just begin to brown.

Cool for 2 minutes then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

Truvia^® Baking Star starts today Monday, September 15^th. Visit truviabakingstar.com to see videos of of YouTube’s top foodies, including a gourmet chef and healthy living expert, to launch the Truvia^® Baking Star contest. Gaby Dalkin, Byron Talbott, April Moore and Joanne Ozug created a series of recipe videos which all use the new Truvia^® Brown Sugar Blend and encourage fans like you guys to enter the contest.

Truvia^® Baking Star Contest Timeline:

· September 15 – October 7, 2014: Participants can submit a video which showcases their baking talents and highlights an original recipe featuring either the NEW Truvia^® Brown Sugar Blend or the Truvia^® Baking Blend via TruviaBakingStar.com.

· October 15 to October 29, 2014: Fans can vote for their favorite of 10 semi-finalists. The highest vote-getters will be notified that they have won a spot in the final round and an all-expense-paid trip to New York City with a guest.

November 19, 2014: The finalists’ baking skills will be judged live by the YouTube Star judges and the Truvia® Baking Star Contest winner will be announced. The winner will receive a professionally produced & promoted video.

Truvia’s 3 Year Partnership with United Nations World Food Programme #SweetFuture

September 2, 2014 by Momstart Leave a Comment

I’m a Truvia brand ambassador sharing information and compensated for my time.

The Truvia^® business announced it has helped to feed 49,705 Bolivian schoolchildren in the first two years of its three-year partnership with the United Nations World Food Programme, a collaboration made possible by World Food Program USA, a non-profit organization that connects the U.S. private sector with humanitarian partners to solve global hunger. The Truvia^® business launched its “Sharing a Sweet Future” $1 million charitable initiative in 2012 to help reduce childhood hunger in Bolivia.

With nearly 40 percent of the Bolivian population unable to afford adequate food for a healthy life and 65 percent of all rural households unable to afford the minimum recommended caloric intake, the Truvia^® business launched its “Sharing a Sweet Future” initiative to help improve these communities through better nutrition, safety and education.

In the program’s final year, You Can Get involved in raising awareness for the efforts Bolivia or combating hunger globally by:

· Spreading the Word: We encourage you to share one of their videos or new infographic on Facebook and Twitter to raise awareness for childhood hunger in Bolivia using #SweetFuture

· Donating to Global Hunger Relief: Fans can also donate to the WFP’s efforts worldwide

This year, we also invite you to visit their page and cast a vote that will help shape how we give back to the community in the coming years by selecting our next charitable partner.

“By providing two meals a day to children in schools, we are providing nutrient-rich meals and motivating children to come to school and learn,” said Matthew Jacobs, international product line manager of the Truvia^® brand. “The goal of this initiative is ultimately to help establish a self-sufficient community and the best way to do that is through better nutrition and education.”

The Truvia^® business is encouraging consumers to visit www.sharingasweetfuture.com to view five videos that tell the stories of children, families and farmers living in Bolivia. Consumers can share these videos on Facebook and Twitter using #SweetFuture in an effort to raise awareness for and combat childhood hunger.

In the first two years of its partnership with World Food Program USA, the Truvia^® business has provided 97 metric tons of vitamin-fortified vegetable oil through its funding. Truvia^® business donations also contributed to the building of 125 fuel-efficient stoves in rural schools, which 750 parents and school employees were trained to build and use. These cleaner stoves replaced traditional cook stoves, allowing users to make food with safer stoves that use less fuel. The new stoves also generate less harmful smoke, which will benefit over 17,000 children in the years to come and minimize environmental destruction.

The "Sharing a Sweet Future" campaign is one element of the Truvia^® brand’s comprehensive corporate responsibility program. As the leading stevia brand, the business is committed to sourcing responsibly, stewarding natural resources and working to improve communities. Consumers can visit www.sharingasweetfuture.com to learn more about “Sharing a Sweet Future” and to tell the Truvia^® brand what organization they’d like to see the brand partner with next year.