"Credit Munch"

n. - Recession-induced comfort eating.

From the U.K. Daily Express (May 11, 2009): "Stressed-out Britons have piled on 20 million stone in a year trying to "comfort eat" their way through the recession, according to [a] report out today. The condition - dubbed the credit munch - has seen three in five Britons put on weight in the past 12 months."

I don't know about you, but I don't really need the current economic crisis to force me into eating my favorite comfort foods. But, then again, I'm not a stress eater. I'm a stress baker. And I find I'm doing ALOT of baking lately (thank you, bankers and mortgage brokers of America). So to try and offset the frequency of baking, I am baking low-fat items (notice I didn't say low-taste items - I can't deal with that). Last week, if you recall, I made that delicious low-fat Banana Oatmeal Bread. Today, I baked some very tasty, low-fat, Carrot-Raisin Muffins. These are from the WebMD Magazine. They are only 130 calories and have less than 4 grams of fat, and with the carrots, raisins, and yogurt, you get a nice helping of vitamin A and iron. The recipe is below - try them when you need a credit-munch!

Carrot-Raisin Muffins

2 C all-purpose flour

1/2 C sugar

2 t baking soda

1 t ground cinnamon

1/8 t ground nutmeg

1/4 t salt

1/2 C fat-free yogurt

1/4 C canola oil

1/4 C 1% low-fat milk

1 t vanilla extract

2 large eggs

2 C shredded carrots

1/2 C raisins

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place the muffin cup liners in muffin cups. Set aside.

Combine flour, sugar, baking soda, spices, and salt in large below; stir to mix. In a separate bowl, combine yogurt, oil, milk, vanilla, and eggs, and whisk to combine. Add liquid ingredients to flour mixture, and gently stir just until combined (do not over-mix). Lightly stir in carrots and raisins.

Spoon batter into muffin cups and bake for 20-25 minutes. Test doneness by inserting a toothpick that comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool on wire rack. Makes 18 servings (serving size: 1 muffin).

BTW: this recipe makes regular size muffins, not the giant style that you might find in retail shops.