LuluLemon!

So as I explained Kelowna was lucky enough to play host to the annual LuluLemon warehouse sale! In this post you'll find other info about it. Today was the first day and I got there at 9:15 am (it opened at 9am), I didn't anticipate how many people there would be! They had already let in about 650 people(the clubs capacity) and about 1000 were lined up all around the outside perimeter. I will admit I budged! I got in at about 10 am, it was great in there! I shopped, tried on clothes, payed, and got outta there by 12, whew! It was worth it. Here's a photo of some of the stuff I bought.

This shows 2 sports bras, shorts, tennis skirt, tank top, long sleeve shirt, sweats, and 2 bikini bottoms.

More food posts to come, I promise!..Especially once I move out!

Bike Complete!

My bike is now fully equipped. Here is what I have gotten since buying the bike:

Fenders
Rack
2 Panniers
Helmet
Front and rear lights
Helmet light
Mirror
Bell
Water Bottle Holder
U-lock with cable

The guys at Cyclepath swear by these panniers, which are totally waterproof, the ones I bought have a 40 litre capacity. So excited to not have to wear a backpack!

Thinking of starting my 2 week unlimited yoga trial (only $35!) on the 15th or 16th at Anjali Yoga Studio.
Lululemon is having their annual warehouse sale here! How lucky am I!? The other day some of the girls who work there came into my cafe and are going to bring me a free organic yoga mat because there is so much stuff from all the stores flowing into Kelowna for the sale! I will post pictures of the stuff I buy and the yoga mat, the sale is from the 14th-17th. I booked off the 14th! Haha. Looking forward to it! Bye for now...

Blog Hiatus...Begins Now

I have been so busy with work and preparing to leave the nest, that I just don't feel I have the time right now to have a great vegan food blog! I don't want to do this half-ass. I move in on the 25th of August and I will probably begin regularly posting on a schedule that I will develop in time , according to my university classes and study hours. I will still keep posting for August, but more randomly, as I just can't always find and whip out my camera to snatch a shot. Or will myself to go on the computer to explain my daily food and activities.

I am getting a laptop before I move out so I will definitely be playing around with it and posting. I will still post in August though, just not document every single thing!...at least until September

Hope someone reads this... hahah

Super Stormy

Last night and all of today has been rainy, pouring rain, lightening and/or thunderstorms all day and night and is still continuing.

For breakfast this morning I had a slice of apple cake and some blueberries, and then later a ripe banana I needed to use up. The apple cake didn't turn out as well as I would have liked, well I like it, but it isn't that moist. But then again it is really light due to the very little amount of oil I used.

For lunch at work I had my usual oatmeal with mashed banana and cinnamon. When I got home I decided to make some roasted potatoes and asparagus and steam some green and white beans with broccoli. I first washed and scrubbed the potatoes, then boiled them for 10 mins, then I put them into a roasting pan with asparagus, a touch of olive oil, and herbs and spices. Into a 450 F oven for about 30 mins, or until they are brown enough for me. For dessert I might have a piece of apple cake.

Also, yesterday I got a Magic Bullet, I might try a smoothie tomorrow morning, but I am out of spinach...We'll see, but I am so excited because my previous blender was horrifically loud. If anyone has any good tips/recipes for the Magic Bullet, let me know!

Whole Wheat Apple Bundt Cake

Here is a simple apple cake recipe I adapted off of recipezaar.com
(it's the top rated one)

It's not vegan, due to the eggs, but an egg replacer can easily be substituted, and then it would be!

Ingredients:
(Dry)
3 cups Whole Wheat Flour
1/2 cup Old-Fashioned Rolled Oats
1 cup Brown Sugar, packed
2 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
2 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Salt
(Wet)
3 large Eggs(local, free run), beaten
1/3 cup Oil, of your choice
2 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
3 cups Apples, finely chopped
1 1/2 cups Water, or more until right consistency

Preheat oven to 350 F, lightly grease a bundt cake pan and flour it.

In a large bowl combine all the dry ingredients, and whisk to combine. Set aside.

In medium bowl combine eggs, oil, vanilla, water, and whisk. Then fold in the apples. On the original recipe, walnuts are also added, you can add basically whatever you think will go well with apples, cinnamon, and vanilla(the main flavours).

Pour the wet mixture into the dry and stir until just combined, adding a bit more water if necessary.

Spoon batter into bundt pan and place in oven, with the rack in the middle level position. Bake for 45 minutes, then check. It probably won't be done, bake another 15 minutes if not done, then check again.Note: Do not try adding more apples, the cake will not cook properly! I have done this before and the batter never cooked! I usually use Fuji apples but we only had one left so I used one very large Fuji, a Pink Lady, and a Royal Gala. Also instead of water in the original recipe there is 1 cup of oil(not 1/3 cup as in mine) and 1/2 cup of orange juice. You can adjust this to your liking.

Camping Eats...Or Not

Yesterday I had a my usual smoothie, but I added spirulina and brown rice protein. I felt a little weird after...are there any weird effects of spirulina? I know that it is possible to get to much Vit A.If anyone has any personal experiences with it, feel free to comment!Then for lunch I had 2 pieces of european rye bread with 2 apples. Sorry no pics, I was busy packing to go camping. So for dinner at the campsite, everyone had tacos...yuck. It was super hot, and I didn't really feel like eating much anyways, I munched on 2 cukes fresh from the garden, some strawberries, and an apple.

For breakfast today I had my usual banana cinnamon oatmeal, with some apple slices on the side. I munched on grapes until 10am.

When I got home at 1pm, I decided to make some sweet potato fries with steamed veggies for lunch. I blanched the sweet potatoes, then peeled and sliced them and placed them on a lightly oiled baking tray. Then they went into a 425 degree oven for 15 mins, I mixed them, another 15 and mix, and then keep checking and mixing them until they are your desired brownness/crispiness. For the steamed veggies I made fresh green beans, broccoli, and asparagus. The picture is rather messy...I was very hungry!
We are supposed to be getting some major thunderstorms here soon, and I love to bake when it is stormy. I am just browsing online now to decide what I want to make, I'll post it later!

Work, Work, Work

I have been working everyday for the past 5 days (8hr shifts), usually 7am-3pm. I haven't been taking pictures at work, because it is too much hassle.

Yesterday morning I just had a plain blueberry banana green smoothie for breakfast. My stomach is still a little wonky due to what I think was the rancid pumpkin seeds. I brought some old-fashioned rolled oats (10-15min) and cinnamon to work. I made 1/3 cup of oats with half a mashed banana, and about a cup of water, in el microwave! I have never cooked oats in the microwave(except when I was little). I much prefer stove top, but these were fine, and worth it to have oatmeal at work! I also had a fuji apple, my favorite kind of apple. When I got home from work I had 2 plain rice cakes, and that's it. Went to bed in order to get up early the next day for work! I know this isn't that much food for one day, but I didn't really feel hungry still due to the bad seeds.Today for breakfast I had my usual blueberry banana green smoothie, but this time I used frozen blueberries and added 1/2 tsp of the spirulina I bought a few days ago. This smoothie was to die for, I love the taste of spirulina in a smoothie! Loved the darker colour!
For lunch at work I brought oatmeal again, same thing exactly as yesterday, complete with fuji apple.

For dinner I had frozen edamames in their shells, I find these to be fresher than the already shelled ones. I boiled them in their shells for 5 mins, then rinse to cool, peel, rinse beans, and throw them back into a frying pan with a touch of extra virgin olive oil, and by a touch I mean the smallest amount. I fry them for about 3 mins or less, until they are just a touch brown (as seen below). I also had one small head of plain steamed broccoli to go with it.

Weird, Weird Day

Today I awoke at 7am with a bad stomach ache! Yikes, I rarely have stomach aches like this and I am quite the baby when I do. Anyways, I am still trying to figure out what it may have been. My best guess is that the pumpkin seeds on my salad were rancid. But it could have been the sunflower seeds also. The Natures Path cereal that has the flax in it (not the squares) doesn't expire for a while, but I thought that also may have been the culprit. Or it could have been the Bob's Red Mill muesli which had flax, nuts, and seeds in it, but I had just bought it and this was my first time using it. It says on the bag that it "keeps best either refrigerated or frozen", but it was just stored on the shelf at the store! A lot of Bob's Red Mill products say "keeps best refrigerated or frozen" but are always stored on the shelf at the store... Does this mean they only need to be refrigerated once opened/bought? So now I am scared of a number of items in my fridge and cupboard!

I have been debating going completely off of nuts and seeds for a while now, and this may just do the trick. I don't think my body agrees well with them anyways. Also, there is so much storage controversy over them, I never feel safe eating them! So I think this is it, I won't be eating anymore nuts, seeds, or nut/seed butters, obvs, for a while at least. I guess that brand new jaw of organic PB will just have to go to my Dad:(

So needless to say, I didn't really eat anything today, because I still feel weird. However, I did have an apple. I am drinking tons of water, because I know I am dehydrated and it is also about 35 degrees C outside. Thank goodness for A/C!

Tomorrow morning before work I think I will just have a plain spinach, blueberry, banana, and water smoothie, better play it safe. Hopefully I will feel back to normal by then though.

Eek! I just realized no nuts and seeds means no almond milk. I have just began using almond milk again, and although I am not going to be eating any seeds or nuts anymore, I think I will stay with the almond milk. I like Rice Dream, but the sugar content is 10g per cup vs. 0g in almond milk. Also the caloric content 40 Cal vs. 120 cal, is a huge plus. So I think I will continue to drink almond milk, unless I find that it makes me feel off, as I have found with other nuts/seeds. I will probably alternate with Rice Dream and Almond Milk, and see which one suits me best. I think I will switch from Blue Diamond Almond Milk to Almond Dream .
Almond dream does not use soy lecithin in their drink and also has 100% more Vit B12 than Blue Diamond (0% vs. 50%)

Hot Sunday

Today for breakfast, as promised I had a smoothie. It was basically the same as day 1's smoothie. Except that I used a frozen banana. I really need to get a new blender, this one looks really nice but it is mental loud! Then I had a bowl of Bob's Red Mill Old-Fashioned Muesli with unsweetened almond milk, half an apple with a tbsp of PB, and an orange. My peanut butter is unsweetened and unsalted. Just pure peanuts!
I went to bed at about 8 pm last night, fell asleep immediately, and didn't get up until 9am! That's 13 hrs of sleep! Not to mention I almost always wake up early, around 6:30, even if I go to bed late. At least my sleeping patterns are back to normal and I am all caught up.




After this I went grocery shopping.
I wanted to get a lot of frozen veggies and berries, but sadly there were no good deals. So for produce I bought strawberries, broccoli, earthbound organics spinach, earthbound organics mixed greens, bananas. I usually buy a lot more fruits and veggies but, I wanted to get home and go for a picnic. Other items I bought are Brown rice protein, spirulina powder. Both for smoothies:) Natures Path organic flax plus and heritage bites, quinoa flakes, an apricot bumble bar, vanilla unsweetened almond breeze, and beans(pinto, navy, and aduki) I haven't tried the vanilla unsweetened almond milk, only the original unsweetened. So hopefully it is as good. The cereals were only $2.50 each, a major steal!

For lunch at the park, I packed a large mixed greens salad with apple slices, currants, pumpkin and sunflower seeds. I had my raspberry vinaigrette with it. I also packed the Bumble Bar. I'll let you know how it was.It was soo hot at the park. When I got back I wanted to try out my new brown rice protein powder. I made a strawberry, banana, vanilla almond milk, and protein powder smoothie. It was too liquidy(I added to much almond milk), and I could def taste the powder. I think it will be better in my morning smoothie with spinach and fruit. I also had a really small bowl of the heritage squares I bought today. Oh and the apricot bar was amazing!
That's all for food today. My Dad and I are going to go play tennis once it cools off, so I won't be eating anymore before then or after because I usually don't eat later in the day.

So cancel that, it didn't cool off. We are going to play tomorrow morning. I also had a bowl of the 2 cereals I bought today, mixed dry. with peppermint tea.

Zombie Day

So I set my alarm for 4:30 am, thinking I would bike to work. Wrong! It was cold and dark, and kinda rainy from yesterday, also I was dead tired and hit the snooze button. So when I did get up I made myself a spinach, apple, raspberry, banana, and blueberry smoothie. I used half a banana and used the rest in my banana old-fashioned oatmeal, which also had cinnamon and bit of honey. I drove to work thank goodness!

When my sleep pattern gets messed up, so apparently does everything else. I rarely eat bread/toast, and I did 4 pieces in total while I was at work! Horrible! My intentions were originally good I had 1 piece of toast half with jam half with honey and my own granola bar with tea, as my snack. Then before my break was over I had another piece of toast, and a quarter of an apple with PB. This is where I become ashamed! Then a bunch of freshly baked muffins accidentally broke as we were putting them out for display, so of course I nibbled on those throughout the day. Probably about 2 in total..

Then somehow I figured, I still needed more food. I had our homemade hearty lentil and vegetable bean stew, which is very healthy, but I wasn't even hungry and of course, I had my 3rd and 4th pieces of bread! Dear lord this day was a failure. Then I felt crappy and bloated until 2pm when I got off work. At 2 before I left I made myself a simple banana, apple, and ice smoothie, to sort of refresh me.
PS: sorry for the bad pictures, I was in a rush taking them at work, because my co-workers think I am weird/anal for taking pictures of my food! haha

When I got home, I was so dead tired I could barely get out of the car. I went and read and dwelled over this day of overeating and wayyy too much carbs! But, it really is only one day, and I have to cut myself some slack, especially when I am overtired and not even thinking/functioning normally. So I am not eating anything for the rest of the day because I am still so full, and I really have probably eaten double my normal calorie intake. Tomorrow is a new day, and I don't want to let myself worry about today because I know then I will think "whatever, I already messed up."

Anyways, enough about food. I am so sore from yesterdays mini-muscle workout, my calves and pectorals hurt so much form the calve raises and push-ups. Even though I stretched and ate protein... Also my hamstrings really hurt from biking. Tomorrow morning I plan to have a smoothie for brekky and that's it and do some stretches and maybe do some shopping and packing, even though I don't move out until the 25th. Until then, Tata for now.
Tomorrow will be a much more respectable post, trust me.

First Day of Food Journal!

So I am so excited, I couldn't even wait until the end of the day to post.

For brekky I had a mug of my breakfast looseleaf tea. It has peppermint and green tea, my favourites.
Then I made myself a spinach, apple, banana, and blueberry smoothie. It worked out perfectly, not to sweet, but I still couldn't taste the spinach. I used about a handful and a bit of spinach, 1/3 of an apple(peeled), half a banana, and about 1 cup of blueberries. The consistency and amount it produced was really good two, especially considering this is only the 2nd green smoothie I have ever made. I had this with a small bowl of puffed quinoa cereal and plain unsweetened almond milk, with a few fresh blueberries from a local farmers market. I usually load my cereal with blueberries, but I already had plenty in the smoothie.
After this, I decided I wanted a little bit more so I took out a small granola bar from the freezer(part of the batch I made a few days ago) and had a half glass of plain unsweetened almond milk. The granola bars are just okay. The have old fashioned rolled oats, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, currants, dates, and cinnamon for spice. I used water to bind these and didn't add anything for sweetness besides the dried fruit.
Overall, I'd say this was a pretty good breakfast for day 1. Now I am off to do some calve raises, hamstring and glute exercises, as well as abdominal and oblique work. Plus push-ups. Unfortunately there is supposed to be a thunderstorm and rain later today, so I probably won't bike to work. I love rain and storms, but I wanted to get in some cardio. Oh well!

Before I biked to Cyclepath to get some fenders put on I had a snack of Mary's Organic Crackers and a nori sheet. These crackers are so good. They are wheat and gluten free, with no added oils or fats!

Getting fenders put on at Cyclepath took forever! I got home at about 1:45 and had to be at work at 3. I originally planned to have edamame beans, steamed broccoli, and brown rice. But due to the rush factor I made quinoa instead of rice. It was still really good, except for the fact that I had to scarf it down. Then at about 5:30 at work I had an organic mixed greens salad with currants and a rasberry vinagrette. The rasberry vinagrette I get from our local farmer's market(it's a local company).I felt pretty silly taking a picture of my salad at work! I don't know how this will work in the future. Otherwise day 1 went really well, I worked until 10 pm, however I accepted a 6am-2pm shift for tomorrow! That means I have to get up at 4:45am! I guess we'll see how that turns out.

New Blog Idea and Other new Stuff

So when I originally started this blog, not very long ago, I made it as a sort of vegan baking recipe site. Since entering the blogging world, I have been looking at tons of other blogs and have really been inspired by some, and one of my favourites is The Broccoli Hut. I love the meals and the way Chickpea journals them, with photos and information about ingredients, daily events, exercise, etc. I think this would be really good way for me to maintain a healthy and balanced lifestyle, especially once I move out and go to university(I move out August 25th and start university September 2nd). I will be moving into a really nice and new basement suite really close to UBC-O with a room mate, so I will have a kitchen to cook in! Yay, no 1st year shoddy dorm rooms for me! Anyways, I thought it would be best to start journaling my meals and daily activities now to get into the habit before I move out.

I am, by definition, a Ovo-Pesco Vegan. Basically I am a vegan but I do eat eggs and seafood(mostly fish). However, I only eat brown organic free-run eggs(usually local), and fish that is not over fished/farmed or toxic. I don't eat any dairy or meat, but I have been known to eat organic free-run turkey. For protein I like fish, egg whites, edamame beans, bean protein, soy protein(in cereals), and turkey occasionally. I am not a fan yet of tofu, TVP, seitan, tempeh, nor do I even know what all these are exactly and I haven't really tried them. I hate cheese. I want to be more adventurous and try some good vegan fare that I haven't yet discovered. I love oatmeal. Accordingly in my blog, you will see lots of oatmeal, fruit, steamed veggies, eggs, fish, salads, beans, soups, stews, etc. I like things plain/bland a lot, so I can appreciate them for their own taste not mask them behind a ton of flavorings. I also find that if I don't eat something salty, I won't crave something sweet.

For me what works as a meal schedule is a good sized early breakfast, a midday snack, and a good protein filled lunch at around 2pm. I find I like to eat just 2 meals a day with a snack in between, I know this is odd and unconventional, but I just don't like eating to much later in the day because I feel I don't need to. If I do get hungry around 7pm then I will have some plain steamed veggies, or something healthy and low carb/cal like that. I am definitely a morning person, I don't need an alarm clock to get me up early, and I love breakfast. If I eat well, beginning in the morning and then do some mild exercise like yoga, bike ride, or some stretching I feel great. I like to have most of my daily carbs and sugar in the morning, I am trying not to eat any sugary stuff after noon. Eating well and only until I am just comfortable, not full, is a consistency I am striving for.
On Thursday, July 28th, I bought a brand new bike from Cyclepath! I have been wanting a bike for a while to ride to work, and basically anywhere I can go without a car. I really wanted to get one before university so I could ride there too! The bike is a Giant Cypress DX. It's a sort of mountain/road/comfort hybrid. It has slimmer tires, but still with tread. It is super comfortable and I have been riding it a lot. I rode it to work on Friday morning, I left at 6:10am from my house and arrived at work at 6:40 am, but I was not trying to go fast. Then on Sunday I biked to and from work, the way back was harder because it is more uphill, and it was also hot and muggy out, with more traffic. I have also been going on the Greenway but don't like it as much because it is too bumpy, and also a sort of weasel darted right in front of my tire!

On August 1st I will begin journaling, and photo journaling, my daily meals and exercise, plus anything else I want to add that might be interesting! I hope this helps to keep me grounded and lead a balanced, healthy lifestyle. In turn, hopefully others will benefit from reading my blog(if anyone does!) and improve their daily habits as well.

Apple and Strawberry Crumble

I love crumbles and crisps. Strawberries are perfect right now and there are always apples in season. In this recipe I used Pink Lady apples, Fuji's are usually what I use but I guess they are out of season now. For the crumb topping I used whole wheat flour, old fashioned oats, whole and ground flax seeds, brown sugar, and pure maple syrup and oil for the wet ingredients. As for how much of the ingredients I used, it was very rough, and it depends on how much/the size of pan you are using. I used about 4 large apples and about 6 large strawberries. For the topping I used about a 1/3 cup of flour, 2/3 cup of oats, 1/4 cup of brown sugar, 1/4 cup of flax seeds, and about 2 tbsp of oil and 2 tbsp of maple syrup. Baked at 350 F for about 45 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool a bit before spooning out a piece, so that the juices will become more syrupy.

Maple Granola

I made this granola with raisins, cut up dates, almonds, and sunflower seeds.

A good ol' healthy snack for the trail, or in the morning as cereal with milk or yogurt. You can add many things to this granola, like cranberries, cashews, pumpkin seeds, hazelnuts, coconut flakes, chocolate chips, different dried fruits, basically whatever you think will go well. You can also switch the maple syrup to honey and add nutmeg or other spices.

3 cups Old-Fashioned Rolled Oats (Large Flake)
1/2 cup Sliced Almonds
1/3 cup Raw Sunflower Seeds
2 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1/4 tsp Salt
2 tbsp Oil (vegetable, sunflower, canola, or other variety)
1/2 cup Pure Maple Syrup
1 cup Dried Fruit (dates, raisins, figs, currants, apricots, cranberries, and/or blueberries)

Preheat your oven to 325 F and grease or line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Make sure the rack is in the center of oven.

In large bowl combine all the dry ingredients, oats, nuts, seeds, and spices. In another bowl combine oil and syrup. Pour the wet mixture over the dry and toss until completely coated. Spread onto the baking sheet and bake for about 35-40 minutes, stirring occasionally to ensure even browning. Be sure to check and stir often closer to the end, as the granola will brown and burn quickly. The browner the granola, the crunchier it will be. Take out of the oven and cool. Once the granola has cooled completely, mix in the dried fruit(s). Store in an airtight container in the fridge for several weeks.

Makes about 4 cups.

Whole Wheat Bagels

This photo is of the first batch I made, only boiling for 1 minute on each side. They did not come out as puffy as I would have liked, so I lengthened the boiling time in the recipe.

Who doesn't love a bagel in the morning? Be it toasted with jam or butter, or just plain, They are sooo good! But no one needs that blood sugar crash after a white bagel in the morning, so here is a healthy alternative.

3 cups Whole Wheat Flour
1 tsp Salt
3 tbsp Honey
1 cup Warm Water
1 1/2 tsp Yeast

Place warm water, honey, and yeast in a bowl, leave for 10 minutes. Mix flour and salt and add to wet mixture. Knead for about 10 minutes until smooth and the dough rebounds when you poke it. Let the dough rest for 20 minutes, then divide into 6 equal sized balls. Poke a hole through the center of each ball and widen to at least 1 inch in diameter(hole will get smaller once the bagels puff up). Place on a well greased cookie sheet and let rest another 20 minutes.
Bring to boil, in a large pot, at least 4 inches of water with 2 tbsp of sugar. After the bagels have rested place them in the rapidly boiling water for 3 minutes per side. I like to do them 2 at a time and flip and pull them out with a burger flipper. Make sure that the water is constantly boiling for the duration of all your bagels, you may want to put the lid on. Once bagel has been in the boiling water on each side, pull it out, drain, and place on greased cookie sheet. Sprinkle with toppings of your choice ie; sesame seeds, poppy seeds, coarse sea salt, onion flakes, oats, pepper etc, or leave plain. Bake at 375 F for about 20 minutes. You can broil at the end if the top is not brown enough, I do.

Ingredients I Use

The quality of the ingredients you use is very important. I use no artificial flavours or sweeteners, I always use pure extracts. Buying organic ingredients whenever you can is great, but costly, for fruit just make sure you wash it very well. Always use free run brown eggs. Buying what is seasonal and local is a very good idea as well. Living in the Okanagan is great for access to fresh fruit and veggies. Another good alternative is to grow your own veggies, spices, basically whatever you can. Most of my recipes will use what is in season in the Okanagan at the time of the posting. I like to buy all my produce from locally owned shops or markets. The Kelowna Farmers and Crafters Market is a great place to get items such as honey, chocolate, and spices in a local setting. This way you are supporting your community and not just the corporate grocery stores.

Strawberry Banana Whole Wheat Muffins

These muffins are perfect in the morning, they are not to sweet, and you can sweeten them with whatever you like. Could be brown sugar, honey, maple syrup, whatever you feel like, just adjust the amount for sweetness. My little trick I use when baking muffins, that I sometimes remember to do is, if you are baking them in a 350 F oven set the oven to 450 F. Once preheated (to 450 F) and you are ready to pop your muffins in the oven, pop them in and immediately reduce the temperature to the normal 350 F for the duration of baking. I find this helps them to rise properly and fully, and also does not overcook the bottom of the muffins. When you open the oven to first put your muffins in you have already lost heat and the oven will need to increase the element temperature again(hence applying extra heat to bottom of muffins). By turning down the temperature right after you put them in, the oven no longer needs to increase the temperature and you will have a more moist and evenly cooked muffin. The following recipe can be adjusted to your likings, I often switch it up. Sometimes I don't add the vanilla, but I always add the cinnamon because that is what makes these muffins so tasty. You could also add in nutmeg for an interesting twist.

1/4 cup Oil (Sunflower, Canola, Vegetable, or another variety)
1/2 - 3/4 cup Brown Sugar
2 Large Eggs (lightly beaten)
1 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
2 Large Ripe Bananas, mashed (about 1 cup)
1 cup Strawberries, fresh or frozen, cut into small pieces
2 1/4 cups Flour (Whole Wheat, or mixture of other flours such as spelt or kamut)
2 tsp Baking Powder
1 - 1 1/2 tsp Ground Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Salt

Preheat oven to 450 F, grease muffin tray, then put in muffin papers if desired (I do), but make sure you grease the tray beforehand. Make sure rack is in center of oven

Whisk together the mashed banana, eggs, vanilla extract, oil, and brown sugar in a medium sized bowl.

In a larger bowl combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. gently fold in the berries making sure they are coated with flour. Mixing the berries with just the flour mixture first will prevent them from sinking to the bottom of the muffins in the oven. Do not over mix or the berries may begin to break up. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir only until just combined. Over mixing will result in tough muffins.

Fill each muffin cup almost full, well basically full. Fill any unused muffin cups halfway with water, to prevent warping your pan. Place in the oven, and turn down the temperature immediately to the usual 350 F baking temperature for muffins. Bake for about 25 minutes, do not open the oven until at least 23 minutes has gone by as you will let out heat and your muffins will deflate if they are not cooked enough and not rise properly. They are done when a toothpick inserted comes out clean. I like my muffins to be golden brown on top, so once they are just done I turn on the broiler and watch them very closely, turning the pan until they are a gorgeous golden colour. Transfer to a wire rack and cool. Makes about 8 medium muffins. I made about 5 large muffins.

You can store these in an airtight container on the counter or in the fridge, I prefer the fridge because I like my muffins cold.

PS : This is my first recipe and I will have a photo up soon as promised.