Fruit/Veggie Juice Muffins

I enjoy juicing and it’s nice to have some on hand as a sweet treat when you’re wanting something a little extra but don’t want to go crazy and eat a whole cake.

Usually I feed the pulp to the critters but this time around I decided to experiment with the ‘by-products’. I had seen something pop up regarding pineapples and anti-inflammatory tea so I decided since I had pineapples for my juice, I’d try making the tea. I mean how bad can it be and if I don’t like it then I’ll see if the critters like it (they like kombucha and whey). Even if they didn’t like it, I could throw it in the compost so nothing would be lost except time. The ‘tea’ has a bit of a different taste but I am enjoying it and take a quart of it to work with me each day. I can’t say that I’ve noticed a difference but it’s only been a few days.

I also wanted to see what I could do with the pulp so I searched for some recipes and ended up using a carrot cake muffin recipe and substituted the shredded carrots with the pulp mixture (carrots, celery, apples, pineapples). They turned out super yummy.

My last ‘by product’ recipe was fruit leather and that was a complete failure. Not sure if I left it in the dehydrator too long or if there was something else I did, but it was not edible. They make it look so easy on the recipes I looked up. Just spread it out and let it dry…… yeah not so much. It was crusty and gross. I may try again in the future. If I do, I will come back and update this post.

So on to the recipes:

Fruit/Veggie Juice

The juice recipe is easy. Clean the fruit and throw it in the juicer.

After I posted on my FB page, my friend contacted me and told me she tried to make juice and it was a failure. She just didn’t like the taste. My suggestion is to start with one or two items. My juicer has a little pitcher (about quart size) that the juice runs into. If you like apples then juice some apples and add in a veggie (maybe carrots). Pour that back into a jar and start again only this time add in one new fruit or veggie. Keep experimenting. If there’s a round you don’t like then you simply don’t make another batch. Whatever you do, try again. Find some herbs and add those in too. I have fresh herbs growing on the porch. I like to incorporate those in when I’m making a veggie juice.

Fruit Pulp Muffins ( I used gluten free flour but you can use all purpose as well)

1 1/4 cup gluten free flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp ginger

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup brown sugar

1 1/2 cups fruit pulp

1/2 cup applesauce

2 eggs

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/2 tsp vanilla

Preheat over to 350 F. Mix all dry ingredients in one bowl and all wet ingredients in another. Slowly add the wet ingredients into the dry until it’s well blended. Pour into muffin tins (grease muffin pan or use liners). Bake for 20-25 minutes

Anti-inflammatory Tea

Pineapple skins

Cinnamon

Tumeric

Ginger

Wash the pineapple and add the skins to a pot of water (approximately 4 cups). Add remaining ingredients and allow tea to simmer for 30 minutes. Once cooled, strain and enjoy.