Low FODMAP and low carb zucchini muffins

Restricted diets are a part of any gut healing protocol. Compliance is not easy but there are a few tips and tricks that lighten the load.

Everyone has challenges with changing dietary habits. Food is emotional (sooth and comfort),  social (connect with others) and habitual (we’re comfortable eating what we are used to).

Change can be stressful, which is counter to the goal of healing the gut. Routine and consistency will set you up for success.

To lessen stress prepare yourself with a fridge full of compliant food, and some on the go options, so you don’t find yourself hungry and desperate with few options. Coming home too tired to cook is another pitfall easily avoided by prepping food in advance. How to prepare

The instant pot is a life saver. Just throw in chopped meat, veggies and liquid in the morning and when return a hot meal awaits.

The secret to sticking to a diet is being prepared with lots of ready to go options in the fridge. To do this you have to put in the effort to prep before hand. Make large batches. Freeze food. Use tools like blenders, pressure cookers and food processors.

First you collect some recipes that inspire you. Then you set aside time to make them. A few hours out of your weekend is all you need.

The toughest questions

People struggle the most with on the go foods and what to eat for breakfast. This post offers one great solution that you can use as a base to create your own exciting recipes. The solution is muffin.

Savory muffins!

This post is about savory muffins with no sweetener. But if you want a sweet but healthy Paleo and low FODMAP muffin recipe you can find one here.

All you need to make muffins is a muffin tin and some eggs. Savory muffins are a mix of eggs, grain-free flours, veggies, herbs/spice and (if you tolerate it) cheese.

My instagram followers are familiar with my love of muffins. I’m always experimenting with different veggies, protein and flavor combos.

I’ve made muffins from sweet potato and tuna, white potato and sausage, kabocha squash and ground beef, spaghetti squash and bacon and even white rice muffins.

My muffin obsession started when I bought some game changing silicon muffin tins. (I also use my BPA-free, freezer safe  muffin tins to freeze large cubes of bone broth.

Silicon muffin tins are non stick, easy to clean and don’t need to be greased or paper liners. Just add the “dough” and put in the oven. These easy to grab-and go-tiny meals, come out perfect every time.

Because they are full of protein, fiber and healthy fat, they make a nutritious breakfast option.

If you have egg allergies, I would experiment with substituting the eggs for a tablespoon of gelatin, dissolved in 1/4 cup of bone broth.

Zucchini muffin recipe

Below, I’m sharing a zucchini muffin recipe because zucchinis are not only low FODMAP, but generally well tolerated. It’s a belly-safe veggie full of water, vitamin A, C, potassium and fiber.

You can roast zucchini or add it to stir fries, but it really shines in the this creamy muffin creation. Even kids who don’t like veggies will devour these “secret veggie” treats.

I used grated Parmesan cheese in the recipe below but you can leave it out. Parmesan is a lactose-free cheese and thus considered low FODMAP. If you are fine with dairy proteins like casein, then Parmesan may work for you.

Ingredients

I used 1 giant zucchini but 2 medium sized zucchinis or 3 small ones will work.

2 eggs (preferably organic or pastured)

1/4 cup of almond flour

1/4 cup of grated Parmesan cheese

Salt to taste

Make it your own with favorite herbs, spice or heat: add cayenne pepper or chopped hot peppers, or herbs like cilantro, thyme or parsley or spices like oregano, smoked paprika and cumin. 

How to

Wash and roughly chop the zucchini into pieces. Throw into food processor or blender until shredded.

The secret to zucchini fritters or muffins is squeezing the water out of the zucchini!

You can do this by wrapping the zucchini pulp in clean dish towel and squeezing. A nut milk bag is another alternative. I used a colander instead. I put the shredded zucchini in the colander, salted it and let it sit in the sink for a while, softening and dripping out water. Then I pressed down on the zucchini pulp with my hand, while still in the colander, until the water stopped dripping out of the holes.

The rest is easy.

Mix the above ingredients in a bowl with a fork. Crack and scramble the eggs first, then add zucchini, spices, almond flour and cheese.

Transfer to muffin tin. It should make about 6 muffins but there could be more depending on how many zucchinis you used.

Bake in a preheated oven at 350 for 30 minutes.

Let cool and enjoy.

As I mentioned, these come out super creamy and with the best flavor. This was one of my most popular posts on instagram and one of my favorite muffin combos ever.

Now it’s your turn to muffin it up. What’s your favorite protein and veggie combo?

If you are interested in getting more help for fixing your gut check out my gut healing packages here.