One Mom Invents A Healthier Muffin

Thousand Oaks Acorn:

When Kathy Lemmon became aware of the benefits of omega oils and B vitamins, she started incorporating flaxseed and nuts into her morning oatmeal. When it got tough to put the concoction together before every workday, Lemmon started thinking about various ways she could attain the same nutritional benefits but more quickly.

That’s how Lemmon invented her muffins, which are chock full of flaxseed and nuts, and are sweetened with dates instead of sugar.

“It was portable and healthy and I could make them ahead and freeze them,” Lemmon said.

Soon, elementary school-aged kids from all over the Conejo Valley would munch on her muffins too. After speaking with Joe Cook, the Conejo Valley Unified School District’s director of child nutrition, Lemmon got the district on board with a healthy snack students will want to eat.

“We love them,” Cook said.

“It’s a great way to introduce healthy eating in a form the children are already comfortable and used to, e.g., muffins and chocolate- you can’t really beat that.

“And given everything else Kathy is also putting into those muffins, it’s a win-win both for us and the children.”

After sending the muffins with her teenaged son, Lemmon’s muffins started to gain in popularity.

“Pretty soon (his friends) were asking him every day, ‘Where’re the muffins?’” Lemmon said. “I knew I had a success when teenage boys were asking for a healthy muffin.”