Tag: blueberries (Page 3 of 4)

Revitalizing Berry Smoothie

February 11, 2016 / Jenny / 23 Comments

Treat your body to a smoothie full of vibrant flavors and important nutrients. Frozen blueberries, tart cherries, and cranberries give this smoothie lots of flavor and antioxidants, not to mention a naturally beautiful color. Ground flax seeds and hemp seeds add Omega 3 and 6 fatty acids, protein, and lignans, among other nutrients, which is probably why these little seeds are sometimes called “super seeds.” Just add a splash of cranberry juice and a handful of ice, blend it all up, and you have a bright, tasty beverage full of anti-inflammatory properties.

There is a lot of talk these days about chronic inflammation and how it contributes to a lot of health problems, including arthritis, heart disease, auto-immune disorders, and depression. And apparently, in our modern society, many are at risk of developing chronic inflammation with our processed foods, high sugar intake, and fast-paced lifestyle.

I am definitely not an expert on inflammation in the body, but what I read makes a lot of sense. According to Paul DiCorleto, PhD, in an article for the Cleveland Clinic, inflammation is the body’s natural way of fighting an illness or injury. When the illness or injury is healed, the inflammation response is supposed to shut off. However, sometimes the body’s inflammation response does not stop, due to chronic anxiety, diet, or other factors. “Over time, you can end up with too much of a good thing. With chronic inflammation, your body is on high alert all the time,” says Dr. DiCorleto. This can cause lots of problems within the body.

DiCorleto and other experts recommend making lifestyle choices that will help reduce the risk of developing chronic inflammation. These include regular exercise and eating and drinking lots of plant-based foods, which contain anti-inflammatory properties. Berries, flax seeds, and hemp seeds are all considered anti-inflammatory foods.

Sometimes when I am very stressed out and not taking good care of myself, I can feel like my body is out of balance. That is when I reach for things like this smoothie, and I feel like I am putting good things back into my body, soothing it and energizing it at the same time. It’s all about striving for that balance.

We may not be able to hold ourselves in balance for long periods of time, but we can continually try to keep bringing ourselves back into balance. It’s in that process that we feel alive. According to poet and philosopher Rumi, “Your hand opens and closes, opens and closes. If it were always a fist or always stretched open, you would be paralysed. Your deepest presence is in every small contracting and expanding, the two as beautifully balanced and coordinated as birds’ wings.”

I hope you all have a great weekend! One of the things I am looking forward to is Angie’s Fiesta Friday, co-hosted this week by Steffi @ Ginger & Bread and Andrea @ Cooking With a Wallflower.

Mixed Berry Revitalizing Smoothie

Servings: 2
Time: 10 minutes
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Ingredients:

1/4 cup of frozen cranberries
1/2 cup of frozen tart cherries (preferably tart Montmorency cherries)
1/2 cup of frozen blueberries
1 to 2 tablespoons (depending on your taste) of ground flax seeds (you can buy them already ground, or you can buy them whole and grind them in a coffee grinder)
1 to 2 tablespoons (depending on your taste) of hemp seeds
2 cups of cranberry juice
a handful of ice

Directions:

Place all the ingredients in a blender and puree until smooth. Pour into glasses and enjoy!

Wholesome Blueberry Muffins

September 18, 2015 / Jenny / 12 Comments

Blueberries….Using blueberries right now feels like clasping the hand of summer one last time before saying goodbye. These blueberry muffins are delicious, satisfying, and full of nutrients. Oats, pecans, flaxseed, Greek yogurt, and applesauce give them a deep, rich flavor, and more vitamins and minerals than the average blueberry muffin. Mornings can be a bit rushed. Actually, so can afternoons. It is nice to be able to grab something (or give something) you know will be full of good stuff to carry yourself or someone you love through a busy part of the day.

This fall, among other things, I will be looking for quick, healthy, filling foods that can be eaten on the run. My kids have extremely busy schedules right now, and are burning a lot of calories with running, soccer, and marching band. They need lots of food, but I want it to be fueling their active bodies in a healthy way. (My husband and I are pretty busy and active too!) These blueberry muffins fit the bill. This recipe is based on a few different muffin recipes I have played around with over the years, and it produces moist, tasty muffins that are healthy but don’t taste too “healthy,” meaning my kids enjoy eating them.

This week mother nature has given us quintessential end-of-summer weather, with such beautiful sunrises and sunsets, cool mornings and evenings, and warm, drowsy afternoons. Although fall is my favorite season, I will miss this summer and all it has given us. We are probably seeing the last of the fresh Michigan blueberries, and they don’t taste as sweet as they did earlier in the season (that is why I put them in muffins!). However, as fall and winter come, you can also use frozen blueberries in this recipe.

Cooking and baking and preparing food day in and day out can get tough once in awhile. My family would be the first to tell you I am not always inspired about being in the kitchen. (Luckily, my husband and kids do help out too). But sometimes, cooking, baking, and preparing food feels like so much more than just a chore. Sometimes, it is elevated to a higher level. There is a kind of alchemy that occurs, where food can bridge gaps, fill empty spaces, or give meaning to chaotic feelings. In the kitchen, sometimes I feel I am creating something beautiful and transformative out of very ordinary ingredients.

For whatever reason, I felt that way with these muffins. I felt like they were helping us navigate the passage from summer to fall, from relaxation mode to work/school mode, from spending lots of time with family to spending more time with friends and classmates, new teachers, co-workers, and learning new things. I felt like making these muffins allowed me to grasp the most of what remains of the summer. I was able to turn a pint of rather sour blueberries into a dozen healthy muffins bursting with tartly sweet blueberry flavor. And in giving these muffins to my family I was giving them not only nutrition, but all those other things as well: energy to face new challenges, memories of our good times together this summer, strength to grow.

I may not be able to change to world, or solve large-scale problems from the kitchen, but I can contribute in my way. According to the Dalai Lama, “Just as ripples spread out when a single pebble is dropped into the water, the actions of individuals can have far-reaching effects.” Blueberry muffins are only a little pebble dropped into the water, but they are also part of something larger.

That is one of the things that keeps drawing me back to the kitchen: the alchemy that I often feel there, the ordinary becoming extraordinary, the making sense of intangible feelings through tangible food, and the feeling that what I do there is important. Whether a muffin is just a muffin, or the poet in you sees the symbolic in food the way I do, I hope you have a wonderful weekend! I am taking a plate of these of to Angie’s Fiesta Friday, co-hosted this week by Judi at Cooking with Aunt Juju and Quinn at Dad What’s for Dinner.

Wholesome Blueberry Muffins

Servings: 12 muffins
Time: about 15 minutes to prepare and about 25 minutes to bake
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Ingredients:

1 and 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (you can also use whole wheat flour if you prefer)
1 cup of old fashioned rolled oats
1/4 cup of flaxseed meal (if you have whole flaxseeds, just grind them in a coffee grinder to make the meal)
1/4 cup of pecans
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of salt
3 tablespoons of unsalted butter, melted
1 cup of Greek yogurt (either plain or flavored–I use whatever I have on hand)
1/2 cup of light brown sugar
1 large egg, beaten
1/4 cup of applesauce
1 teaspoon of lemon juice
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 and 1/2 to 2 cups of fresh blueberries (or about 8 ounces of frozen blueberries)

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a standard 12-cup muffin tin with butter (or line it with paper liners).

In a blender or food processor, chop/mix the flour, oats, flaxseed meal, pecans, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Process until the mixture is finely ground and combined.

In a large mixing bowl, briskly stir together the butter, yogurt, brown sugar, egg, applesauce, lemon juice, and vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture and stir until the dry ingredients are absorbed into the wet–be careful not to overmix it. Gently fold in the blueberries.

Distribute the batter evenly among the 12 muffin cups. Bake for 22 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Let the muffins cool in the tray for a few minutes, then remove them to a plate or cooling rack. Enjoy!

Fruit-Filled Mini Galettes

August 23, 2015 / Jenny / 14 Comments

Blueberries, peaches, and plums are in season here right now, and they are such a summer treat. When fruit is this fresh, I like to keep it simple, allowing the flavors of the fruit to shine: a little bit of sugar to sweeten it, a little bit of flour to thicken it, and a delicious dough to wrap around the fruit like a hug. Fifteen minutes in the oven, and you have some miniature galettes, perfect for dessert. Or breakfast. We had them for breakfast yesterday morning, enjoying a sunny Saturday morning on the porch.

I am still enamored with making galettes, and the mini galettes are fun, because you can individualize them. I made some with just blueberry filling, and some with a peach-plum filling, using the fruit we had on hand. Four cups of any kind of fruit will work, and you can mix and match as you please. Making dough is therapeutic for me, and the dough for these galettes is a simple pie dough, cut into smaller squares. I love the fact that galettes are not expected to look perfect or fancy–the folds of dough can be uneven and the fruit can bubble over, and it tastes just fabulous.

Change is in the air, as summer has a tiny hint of fall, and our schedules are soon about to get a lot more regimented and full. We are squeezing in our summer wishes. This weekend we have been visiting with cousins and aunts and uncles we don’t get to see often, and that has been wonderful and poignant. As we watched all of our children running around together yesterday afternoon, climbing trees and playing ball, we remembered summers when we were children together, running around wild and free in that same yard, climbing some of the same trees (though they are much bigger now). Time passes and our worlds stretch, as we all grow and experience new things, find our different ways, and bring new people into the family. It is all good, but we are not able to see each other like we used to. It is bittersweet, just like the end of August.

However, these mini galettes are just sweet–nothing bitter about them. That is probably why I made them. There is comfort in making sweet things. I cannot control much of what happens, but in my little baking world, I can create sweetness for myself and others, and think about loved ones and memories. If you are looking for a way to use some summer fruit, these miniature galettes are a great way to do it. I hope you have a wonderful week!

Fruit-Filled Mini Galettes

Servings: 8 mini galettes
Time: about 35-40 minues
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Ingredients:

For the blueberry filling:

2 cups of fresh blueberries
1/4 cup of sugar
1 tablespoon of flour

For the peach-plum filling:

1 cup of fresh peaches, peeled and chopped
1 cup of fresh plums, peeled and chopped
1/4 cup of sugar
1 tablespoon of flour

For the crusts:

2 cups of all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon of salt
2/3 cup of unsalted butter, at room temperature
6 to 7 tablespoons of cold water

For the egg wash:

One egg, beaten
1 tablespoon water

Directions:

Wash and prepare the fruit. In one small bowl, mix the blueberries, sugar and flour. In another small bowl, mix the peaches, plums, sugar and flour. Feel free to mix and match with different fruit if desired.

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour and the salt. Gradually cut in the butter with a fork or a pastry cutter, combining until the mixture has the consistency of small peas. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of the cold water over the dough, and gently toss with a fork. Repeat until the dough is moistened, but not slimy. If you add too much water, add a little flour. Work the water through until the dough is a nice, soft texture, but don’t over-mix. Divide the dough in half, forming two balls. On a lightly floured surface, flatten one of the balls of dough with your hand. Roll the dough from the center to the edges, forming a rough square of about 12 inches around. Gently cut the dough into four smaller squares. Roll each smaller square to about 6 inches by 6 inches. Place one-fourth of the blueberry mixture in the center of each of the four squares, leaving an inch or two of dough around the edges. Gently fold the edges around the fruit, pleating all the way around the edges. Repeat with the the rest of the squares. Then repeat the process with the second ball of dough, making four 6 inch squares and filling each square with one-fourth of the peach-plum mixture, and folding and pleating the edges. Place the galettes on the baking sheets.

In a small bowl, beat the egg and add the tablespoon of water. With a pastry brush, brush the edges of the crusts with the egg wash.

Bake in a 425-degree oven for about 15 minutes, or until the crusts are lightly golden and the fruit is bubbly. Enjoy!