Honey Lemon Yogurt Muffins
Ingredients:
1/4 cup honey
4 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons yogurt
1 egg
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
½ teaspoon fresh grated lemon rind
1 cup flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 ½ teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
½ cup chopped walnuts
Directions:
Preheat oven to
375. Grease muffin tin. Melt butter and honey together. Remove from
heat. Beat together yogurt, egg, lemon juice, and lemon rind. Add butter
and honey mixture. Beat well. Sift dry ingredients into bowl. Make well
in center and add wet ingredients. Stir just to combine. Fold in
walnuts. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full. Bake 25 minutes.
In addition to
tasting good and keeping you healthy, honey can be used to keep you
looking beautiful (or handsome) naturally. Remember how useful honey is
for treating skin problems? Those same characteristics make honey a clear
choice for inclusion in skin care products. Honey can be added to
homemade recipes for lip balms, facial scrubs and cleansers, skin
moisturizers, hair shine spray, body bath, anti-wrinkle cream, hand soap
bar, skin toner, acne treatment cream, body fragrance, and anti-stretch
cream. It can be particularly effective in treating acne. Because
of its antibacterial qualities, honey actually attacks the bacteria that
causes acne while it also calms the inflammation. The antioxidants
found in honey help to feed new tissue and prevent scarring. Honey may be
dabbed directly onto blemishes and left for ten minutes before rinsing off
with warm water. Or mix three tablespoons of honey with one teaspoon of
cinnamon and apply paste to blemishes.
Also,
honey is a humectant; it attracts and retains moisture from the
environment. For this reason, it is useful for keeping the skin moist and
soft. Use honey in a cleansing scrub by mixing one tablespoon of honey
with two tablespoons of finely ground almonds and ½ a teaspoon of lemon
juice. Rub gently onto face and then rinse with warm water. To make a
skin lotion combine one teaspoon of honey with one teaspoon of vegetable
oil and 1/4 teaspoon of lemon juice. Rub on, leave for ten minutes, and
rinse off with warm water. Another suggestion is to simply add 1/4 cup of
honey to your bath to soften the skin. Using these remedies will put you
in the company of historical beauties such as Cleopatra and Queen Anne of
England.
Honey truly is a
gift from Nature. It helps to ease our physical sufferings and brings
nourishment and beauty to our bodies. But keep in mind that it takes 556
worker bees and 2 million flowers to produce one pound of honey. In fact,
the average bee will only make 1/12 of a teaspoon of honey in her
lifetime. And this is on a good day when the hive isn't dealing with
pesticides, Colony Collapse Disorder, and lack of forage. So when you
enjoy that sweet taste on your tongue, please remember to send out a thank
you to the honeybees.
