Zucchini Carrot Breakfast Muffin

This breakfast muffin is a yummy way to start your day and get a head start on your daily fruit and vegetable requirements (5-7 servings each day). It’s perfect with a dish of fresh fruit for breakfast, a warm bowl of soup at lunchtime, or a mid-afternoon snack.

Yield: 20

Ingredients

  • 2 cups shredded carrot

  • 1 cup shredded zucchini

  • 1 cup chopped peeled apple

  • ¾ cup unsweetened coconut

  • ½ cup raisins

  • ½ cup chopped nuts (pecans, walnuts, almonds)

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour

  • 1 cup date or cane sugar

  • 1 tbsp. ground cinnamon

  • 2 tsp. baking soda

  • ½ tsp. salt

  • ¼ cup ground flaxseed, optional

  • 3 eggs, lightly beaten

  • ¾ cup light olive, nut OR coconut oil

  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

  1. Gently toss together carrot, zucchini, apple, coconut, raisins and nuts; set aside.

  2. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, and ground flaxseed.

  3. Combine eggs, oil, and vanilla in separate bowl; stir into dry ingredients just until moistened batter will be very thick). Fold in the carrot mixture.

  4. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full. Bake at 375° for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

  5. Cool in pan 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack.

Carrots: Anti-inflammatory.  Studies show that just one carrot a day could cut lung cancer risk in half.  That’s probably due to their extremely high vitamin A content, which is vital to promoting lung health.  They’re also rich in beta-carotene which is associated with preventing lung, mouth, throat, stomach, intestinal, bladder, prostate, and breast cancers.

Zucchini: Because dietary fiber promotes healthy and regular bowel movements, the high amounts of fiber in zucchini also help prevent carcinogenic toxins from settling in the colon.  Moreover, the vitamins C and A, as well as folate, found in zucchini act as powerful antioxidants that fight oxidative stress that can lead to many different types of cancer.

Coconut is a great antibiotic.  Half of the saturated fat content is converted by the body into monolaurin, a powerful antibacterial and antiviral compound. Monolaurin is the absolute enemy of many disease-causing germs, and may play a role in attacking cancer as well.