Sorry... for a while I forgot that I was a blogger.  I even went almost a week without checking stats.  So since a few of you are actually still around I'll throw a little something out there before I go crash for the night.

I know that everyone does what they do for whatever reasons... did that even make sense?  I have to admit that our only issues with health stem from my prior difficulties with my immune system stemming from illness in my early 20s.  We are pretty much hearty, healthy folks with no allergies, ailments, or issues for the most part.  We eat healthy because we want to, not because we have to.

This being said... I have to admit that I don't know alot about specific diets for treating illness or for food allergies or intolerances.  I've never had reason to really educate myself on food elimination as it just hasn't been relevent.

While we don't have to worry about wheat or milk, we do know others who deal with it daily.  When looking for a yummy gluten-free option, I ran across the Sue Gregg recipe for lemon ginger muffins.  This was one of her first recipes that I tried, and is beyond easy while being whole grain and not requiring a grain mill.  This, of course, is my altered version of her recipe....  the structure is still there, but feel free to alter the extracts and extras to make it your own.

These are made with whole, raw rice in a blender.  I do have a Bosch blender that I currently use, but my old Oster (used to be $19.99 from Walmart) did just fine with this as well.  The buttermilk and other liquids keep it from burning out.  If you feel your blender just doesn't have enough kick to it, I would probably blend for an additional 1-2 minutes.

Almond Poppy Seed Muffins

1 cup buttermilk

1/4 cup melted butter

1/2 cup honey

1-1/2 cups brown rice (not flour)

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons almond extract

1 tablespoon (more or less) of poppy seeds

Glaze

1 teaspoon almond extract

2 tablespoons honey

1. Blend buttermilk, melted butter, 1/2 cup honey and rice together in blender at highest speed for 3-5 minutes.  Cover and let stand for several hours, up to overnight.

2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees,and grease muffin tin.

3. Add eggs to batter in blender and blend on highest speed for another 3 minutes.

4. Add baking soda, salt, almond extract and poppy seeds in to batter to just incorporate them.  You could pour it all out and do this in another bowl by hand, but then that would mean more dishes to clean, and that is never a good thing.... just keep it in the blender... it really won't hurt anything.

5. Fill the cups of your greased muffin pan evenly, and bake for 18-20 minutes.

6.  Allow to cool for 5 minutes or so, and then remove from pan.  Make the glaze by warming the honey very slightly and adding in the almond extract... stir well.

7. Dip the tops for the muffins into the glaze and enjoy!