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.