Hello, Friends-

January is coming to a close and perhaps our New Year’s Resolutions are too. It’s hard to stick to our personal promises for an entire month, let alone an entire year. Once the month of January gets cooking, our resolutions can start to feel like cheap lies we negotiated to keep our December holiday high partying forward. Somewhere during the last week of 2018, between the second and third plate of holiday cookies and the forty eight hour Netflix binge watching marathon, we made pledges and oaths to ourselves that now seem downright absurd.

Like the very dark resolution I jotted down at the last day of 2018:

“Eat 5 more vegetables a day in 2019.”

The next day, I promptly stuffed my face full of chili lime corn chips. While I reassured myself that corn was indeed a vegetable, with personal reflection and some truth, I realized the goal of my resolution was simply to be more healthy. As desperate people do, I Googled the biggest health fad of 2019 and jumped enthusiastically on the “get me healthy no matter what the cost I don’t care what it tastes like” banwagon.

For the record, the health fad of 2019 is Juicing Celery.

Yes, Juicing Celery.

Yes, the same good old green vegetable that is the forgotten child of any crudité platter is now the health darling of 2019. More can learned about the benefits of juicing celery here at The Chalkboard , “6 Surprising Health Benefits Of Juicing Celery.”

Yes, I did try juicing celery in my blender. Yes, the juice did taste something like lawn clippings, dirty rope and molted apple skin. It wasn’t bad. However, in my opinion the real goodness sits in the bottom of the juicer or the goop left after straining the liquid out of the blender; celery pulp.

What do we do with this blob of green celery stuff?

Throw it into a batch of whole wheat muffins and hope the muffins taste better than the celery juice. The verdict is these Celery & Fruit muffins were one of the moist, delicious and satisfying muffins ever tasted.

Don’t take my word for it, hop on the celery train and whip these simple healthy delights.

Celery & Fruit Muffins

Adapted from King Arthur Flour “100% Whole Wheat Blueberry Muffins” Recipe.

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups Premium Whole Wheat Flour
1 cup light brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 cups buttermilk
3/4 cup celery pulp (what’s left after juicing fresh celery)
1 cup frozen raspberries
1 /4 cup Turbinado sugar

Step 1: Preheat the oven to 400°F. Grease the cups of a large muffin pan (6 muffins). (If using a 12 cup muffin pan see cooking time in Step 5.)

Step 2: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, brown sugar, salt, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon.

Step 3: Add the vegetable oil, buttermilk, celery pulp and mix to combine.

Step 4: Fold in the raspberries into the batter and drop an even amount of batter into each muffin cup. Sprinkle each muffin cup with about a teaspoon of Turbinado sugar.

Step 5: Bake the muffins for 24-28 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the middle of one of the center muffins comes out clean. (If using a 12 cup muffin pan bake the muffins for 18 - 22 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean from the center of a muffin.)

Step 6: Remove the muffins from the oven, and let cool for 5 - 10 minutes and enjoy warm. Leftovers can wrapped and stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.