Oat Blueberry Muffins

I absolutely love blueberries and love them even more because both my kids will eat them.  Decided to make a healthy treat for the kids.  As many of you know I am not a big fan of wheat or sugar  so I used sprouted oat flour and purred dates instead.  It does make them slightly denser but the liquid and eggs helps make them a bit fluffier.  Makes me feel good that the kids are gobbling up a treat that is filled with wholesome ingredients.

Oat Blueberry Muffins

Ingredients:

·        1/2 cup of butter (cultured butter preferred)

·        ½ cup of applesauce unsweetened

·        1 ½ cups of dates (without pits)

·        4 eggs

·        3 cups of blueberries fresh or frozen

·        1 cup of hemp or almond milk

·        2 tsp. of vanilla extract

·        4 cups of sprouted oat flour

·        4 tsp. of baking powder

·        ½ tsp. of salt

·        ¼ tsp. of cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine butter, applesauce, dates, eggs, milk and vanilla in blender until liquefied.  Combine all dry ingredients in large bowl and stir to blend.  To make this milk free substitute the butter for 1/2 cup of sunflower oil. Slowly stir in wet mixture until it is all used and blended well. Stir in blueberries. Pour into muffin pans. Bake for 22-28 minutes depending on your oven, use clean knife test to see if done. Makes 24 muffins.

Greens Greens and More Greens

This year I joined a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture).  Over the weekend we took a farm tour and our family got to see where a portion of our veggies will be coming from.  My favorite part of the CSA is going on Thursday to pick up my veggies and getting to use veggies that I may not normally buy on a regular basis such as Kohlrabi.  Hoping to feature Kohlrabi on a future post.
It is early in the season so right now many greens are popping up.  A surprise for many is that even the leaves on beets, radishes and broccoli are edible and quite nutritious so you may want to think twice before chopping them off and throwing them out.  Unfortunately, one of the biggest complaints that I hear from people is that they are not sure what to do with these greens many of which can often be bitter tasting.  If you find it to be bitter, I recommend blanching them (place them in boiling water for 1-2 minutes and then rinsing them) before preparing them.  Below is a recipe that uses broccoli rabe but can be substituted with any other green and can even be a combination of greens such as beet greens, mustard greens, tatsoi the list can go on and on.  This can be served as a main dish (just double it) or it can be served as a hearty side.

Ingredients:

• Two bunches of Brocoli Rabe
• 3 cloves of garlic minced
• 1 can of organic navy or other white bean rinsed and drained
• 3 tbsp of chopped green or kalmata olives optional
• dash of red pepper flakes
• 1 tbsp of olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste

Blanche the greens in boiling water for 1-2 minutes, remove, rinse in cold water and chopped coarsely.  Place in large pan with beans garlic and olives with 3 tbsp of water.  Place lid on top and steam for 8-10 minutes.  Remove lid allowing any remaining water to evaporate.  Add remaining ingredients and toss. 

Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Coconut

 My latest craving while 39 weeks pregnant has been sweet potatoes.  I figured they are nutritious so I could cave into this craving. Most people when they think of sweet potatoes they think of your traditional thanksgiving fare such as candied yams, sweet potato pie etc.   That does not sound so appealing. The reality is plain sweet potatoes are quite boring so I dressed this one up a bit with some unusual ingredients that when combined prove to be quite tasty.  I needed to make the recipe nutritionally sound to meet the requirements of a growing baby (who I thought would be done cooking by now) so I added some beans for protein and they really added a nice texture to the dish.

Ingredients:

• 2 lb of sweet Potatoes peeled and cubed into bite sized pieces
• 1 can of navy beans rinsed and drained
• 1 Vidalia onion thinly sliced
• ¼ cup of dried cranberries
• ¼ cup of unsweetened coconut
• 1/4 cup chopped pecans
• 1/8 tsp of nutmeg
• 1/8 tsp of cinnamon
• 2-3 dashes of cumin (optional)
• 2 tablespoons of olive or grapeseed oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine all ingredients except beans in a bowl and toss to combine well.  Spray a 13 x 9  dish with nonstick spray and place all ingredients in the dish.  Bake covered for 20 minutes, Remove cover adding beans and stirring all ingredients and cook for another 20-25 minutes until the potatoes are tender. 

Off Season Cravings- Curried Butternut Squash soup with Coconut

I am hoping that now that I am no longer working fulltime ( I say this cautiously as I will be taking care of three children, but what I guess I mean is that I won't be working for someone else and taking care of kids and a house at the same time) I will be able to post some new recipes while the new baby sleeps.

I know it is almost spring but have been craving butternut squash soup on a weekly basis.  Decided that since I am pregnant I am allowed to eat foods that are out of season especially when they are good for you.  My husband is not a big fan of curry so at first I didn't really tell him what was in it and he really liked it so when he asked for me to make it again I told him what was in it.  Sometimes we have preconceived notions of what we like or dislike based on past experiences.  I encourage you to try new things especially if they are out of your comfort zone.  In this recipe I used precut squash becasue with working fulltime I found it difficult to find the extra time to peel a whole butternut, but you can use a large butternut squash instead of the two packages.  Let me know what you think of this soup.

Curried Coconut Butternut Squash Soup
Sandra Holbrook

• 2- 22 oz packages of precut butternut squash rinsed
• 1 cup of unsweetened lite coconut milk
• 1/2 inch piece of ginger root peeled
• 1 tsp of curry owder
• 1/4 tsp of tumeric
• dash or two of crushed red pepper optional
• salt to taste

Cook the squash and ginger root in 4-5 inches of water with the lid on so that it gets cooked thoroughly for about 20 minutes.  Drain the  water leaving about 1/2 inch of water with the squash and ginger root in the pot.   Add the remaining ingredients and using an immersion blender puree right in the pot.  Add a small amount of water if you feel the soup is too thick. 

Blueberry Crumb Cake

Ok, I know it seems I have been MIA but have really just been enjoying my time and summer with the kids.  It is blueberry season so thought a blueberry recipe would be perfect to share.  Now this is probably one of the few things that I make in which I actually use sugar and a high quality butter.  For the sugar I use evaporated cane juice and much less than you would find in other recipes.  As for the butter I use the Organic Valley cultured butter as it is higher in Omega 3's than the other butters.   I also like to use Sprouted Oat flour for the health benefits but you can just use regular oat flour.  The last time I made this, I was completeley out of flour so I took oatmeal that I had and grinded it up into flour and it worked out well.  Don't ever be afraid to experiment.  Well I hope everyone enjoys this.

Ingredients:

Muffins

• ¾ cup evaporated cane sugar
• ¼ cup organic cultured butter
• ¼ cup of applesauce
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups of sprouted oat flour
• 2/3 cup almond meal
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp salt
• 1  cup of unsweetened almond milk
• 2 cups of blueberries

Topping

• 6 tbsp of grinded oatmeal
• 2 tsp of cinnamon
• 3 tbsp of evaporated cane sugar
• 1 tbsp of organic cultured butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat sugar, butter, applesauce, eggs and extract in medium bowl until well blended.  Combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl and mix.  Add flour mixture to creamed mixture alternating with almond milk.  Stir in blueberries. Pour into a sprayed springform pan.   For the topping combine the topping ingredients cutting butter in until it resembles course meal.  With a spoon sprinkle on top.  Bake for 45-50 minutes until knife comes out clean

Protein Brownies

So I have been experimenting with making a semi-healthy brownie.  Well the first attempt was a complete disaster but think all of you may enjoy this one.  My son, who is a very picky eater gave it a thumbs up so thought I would share it with the rest of you. 

Protein Brownie Wedges

1-½ cups of dates (without pits)

1/3-cup raw almonds

3 eggs

1 cup of cooked or canned black beans rinsed and drained

¾ cup of unsweetened applesauce

1 tsp vanilla

1 ½ tsp baking powder

¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 ½ cup oat flour
3/4 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all wet ingredients in a food processor or high-powered blender and mix until smooth. Mix in with dry ingredients using a wooden spoon until mixture is uniform.  Coat an 8x8 pan or a pie plate with nonstick spray and pour in.  Bake for 35 minutes.  You can sprinkle with a touch of powdered sugar for decoration.

Mango Black Bean Salad

At this point I am pretty tired of the cold srping we are having.  I am hoping that by making one of my early summertime favorites, it will bring on the warm weather.  This is a great dish to serve as a side or even over a bed of greens for a main meal.  It has protein, healthy fats and cancer fighting veggies and spices.

Mango and Black Bean Salad

Sandra Holbrook

Ingredients:

• 2 15oz cans of black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 red bell pepper chopped
• 1 orange bell pepper chopped
• 1 small sweet onion chopped
• 2-3 avocados diced depending on how big they are
• 1 ½ cup of sweet corn
• 1 ½ cup of diced mango
• ¼ cup fresh chopped cilantro
• Juice of 1 lime
• 1 ½ tsp of cumin
• ½ tsp black pepper
• ½ tsp salt
• couple dashes of red pepper flakes (optional)

Directions:

            Combine all ingredients in large serving bowl and mix well.  For best results refrigerate for 2 hours prior to serving.  Will serve about 8-10 people.