Recipe: Baked Pear Crumble

Baked Pear Crumble

This is a very simple and easily modified recipe for breakfast, brunch, or dessert.
I made this with pear, but you can use apples or peaches as well.

I used organic ingredients for nearly everything.
The flaxseed makes this healthier than your kids will realize.

Lightly grease an 8X8 dish with butter.
Wash, Peel, and Cut your fresh organic fruit.
Put them in the bowl with a little bit of LEMON so they don't brown.

Mix in a cinnamon/sugar mix of 1 TB cinnamon and 1/4 cup sugar.
( I used organic fair trade raw sugar)

Set aside.

For Crumble:

2 cups oatmeal flakes
1 cup organic wheat flour
2 TB ground flaxseed
1 cup Brown Sugar
1 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 cup softened butter

Combine all ingredients. When mixed well, pour on top of the fruit.
Put it in the oven for 35-40 minutes at 350 degrees.

Serve warm with whipping cream or vanilla ice cream.

I took pictures and then somehow deleted them. Awesome.

Try this at home: Almond Butter

After trying store-bought almond butter months ago I thought I would never enjoy the stuff. 

But then, thanks to my love affair with my new food processor, I tried homemade almond butter. 

Now I have been dreaming of ways I can use this tasty new butter. 

• scoop it up with apple slices
• slather it on homemade whole wheat bread
• add it to a smoothie
• use it to make raw cookie dough bites (recipe below)

Make your own almond butter:

Throw 1 cup of raw almonds into your food processor (if you are confident it can handle that).

Add a teaspoon of kosher salt.

Place the lid on your food processor and pulse several times to break up the almonds. Once they are pretty well chopped up run your processor.

Every minute or so stop the processor and scrape down the sides. 

Just keep on going—first it will look crumbly for a few minutes, then it will turn in to a thick paste, then it will smooth out and become creamy. This takes a long time, maybe 10-15 minutes or more!

You can stop processing it as soon as it is at your desired consistency. 

I prefer the ultra smooth and creamy. 

Yield: about a half cup

Perhaps next time I will experiment with this by adding some maple syrup...or honey...or cocoa powder?

This will keep in the fridge for up to 3 months or 6 months in the freezer. 

Thanks to Dishin & Dishes for the tutorial.

Raw Cookie Dough Bites
1/2 cup creamy raw almond butter

1/4 cup, plus 1 tbsp raw honey

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 cup, plus 1 tbsp coconut flour (or all-purpose flour)

3 tbsp ground golden flax seed

1/4 tsp sea salt

1/4 cup dark chocolate chips

In a large bowl, mix together the raw almond butter, honey and vanilla until creamy and well blended. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, ground flax seed and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix well to combine. Use your hands to knead the dough to thoroughly combine. If it's too wet, add a bit more flour. If the dough is too dry and doesn't hold together well, knead in one teaspoon of water. Fold in the dark chocolate chips. Then, scoop out tablespoon-size portions and roll into one-inch balls using your hands to create a bite-sized treat. *Refrigerate balls for 30 minutes before serving. Makes about 18 cookie bites. 

Recipe Variation: Use 100% all natural peanut butter (the kind you have to stir) instead of raw almond butter to make yummy Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Dough Bites.

Recipe from The Nourishing Home

More recipes to try:


These Honey Almond Butter Balls sound wonderful.


These Brown Rice Crisp Treats definitely got my attention!


I can see myself drinking this Almond butter-Chocolate Smoothie.

How do you enjoy almond butter?

Recipe: Spring Vegetable Salad

This salad makes a lovely main dish for dinner. Easy to throw together—the only cooking is boiling your pasta and veggies.

It's just perfect for Spring! Enjoy.

Tortellini and Spring Vegetable Salad
Serves 3-4 as a main dish or 6 for a side dish

8 ounces fresh stuffed tortellini (like cheese or pesto)--you can use dried pasta but the fresh has a better flavor in a cold salad
1 pound asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 cup peas, fresh or frozen
3 cups fresh spinach
4 radishes, sliced
1 tablespoon fresh chives, chopped (or green onions, sliced)
1/4 cup pine nuts
about 5 ounces goat cheese, plain or herb and garlic (*see note)
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste

You can be very flexible in prepping this salad but these are the instructions from the website I found this recipe on:

Bring a pot of water to a boil, salt. Meanwhile, prepare an ice bath (a big bowl of ice water) and prep the vegetables.

When the water is boiling, add the tortellini. It will cook in about 5 minutes (if it's fresh--or follow package directions). After 3 minutes, add the asparagus. Add the peas for the last 30 seconds.

Strain the pasta and vegetables and place immediately into the ice bath. Once they've cooled, strain again and pour into a mixing bowl. Add the spinach, radish, chives, pine nuts and goat cheese. Toss with vinegar and oil. Add salt and pepper to taste.

*Note: Since I had plain goat cheese I added a minced garlic clove to the dressing and some dried basil and parsley. 

Recipe from theKitchn

Recipe: Graham Crackers

I have tried way too many graham cracker recipes; some were too spiced like gingerbread, others were so buttery they felt like dessert. But these, these ones are golden.

Slather them with cream cheese, use them to make a Nutella sandwich, chop them up and add them to ice cream, or pulse them in the food processor to use for a graham cracker crust.

These are so good, so good you see.

This recipe is easily doubled…and should be doubled!

Whole Wheat Honey Graham Crackers

2 ¼ cups whole wheat flour
½ cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ cup honey
¼ cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup butter, melted

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Melt the butter in glass bowl in the microwave or on the stove in a pan.  Set aside.
3. In the bowl of your Kitchen-Aid, stir together the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.
4. Add the honey, water, vanilla and melted butter.
5. Stir on low until the dough comes together.
6. Use cookie sheet-sized parchment paper to roll out the dough on and then use it to line the cookie sheets.
7. Lay one piece of cookie sheet-sized parchment paper on the counter.
8. Place the ball of dough on the parchment paper.
9. Lay the other piece of parchment paper on top of the ball of dough.  Begin to spread the dough with your hands.

10. Use the rolling pin to roll the dough between the pieces of parchment paper.  Roll until the dough is the size of the whole cookie sheet, trying to keep it as even as possible.

11. Remove the top piece of parchment paper.  Use a pizza cutter or biscuit cutter or cookie cutter or ravioli cutter to cut the graham crackers however you would like. Use a fork to prick holes on the surface of the crackers. Remove each cracker and place it on the cookie sheet leaving a little space in between.

12. Bake around 12-14 minutes, depending on if you want them nice and soft or crunchy.

I freeze these in a big Ziploc bag and pull them out as needed for school lunches or to bring while running errands.

Recipe adapted every so slightly from Heavenly Homemakers

Recipe: Cheese Crackers

Goldfish crackers used to be one of my kids basic food groups. Gosh, that's embarrassing to admit! I was finally brave enough to put my foot down one day; I explained that the crackers contained MSG (in the form of 'autolyzed yeast extract') and we didn't want to be putting that in our bodies anymore. So they bid the last box farewell. And that was that. Who knew we would all survive?

It's been almost a year since I stopped buying goldfish (too bad they still get goldfish from...other people) and I have failed to create a replacement cracker for the occasional special snack. I finally got around to it the other day when I was baking food to bring on a trip with us.

This recipe turned out smashing but I am interested in trying a few more as well!

These aren't as crunchy as a Cheez-It or Goldfish but they are buttery, salty, cheesy, and delish.

They do require a certain amount of elbow grease to get them rolled out thinly. If you have a stronger male-counterpart hanging around have him do the rolling. Or you can do it and consider it part of your daily strength training.

Cheese Crackers 

1 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into 16 pieces
1/4 lb. cheese, grated—I used a heaping cup of sharp cheddar and 1/3 cup of grated Parmesan (Gruyere would be great!)
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
pinch of cayenne pepper, optional
1 cup + 2 tablespoons flour

You can mix this up in either your food processor or your Kitchen-Aid fitted with the paddle.
Combine butter, cheese, salt, and pepper(s) in the bowl of your Kitchen-Aid or food processor and mix/pulse until small curds form.
Add the flour and mix/pulse again until small curds form and then until it begins to come together. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead a couple times to bring it all together. Flatten slightly and wrap loosely in plastic wrap and then flatten even more-either by hand or with your rolling pin. Place dough in fridge for about an hour (mine didn't need that long).
Once dough is more firm go ahead and roll it out to about 1/4-inch thickness, I went slightly thinner. I opened up the dough from the plastic wrap and placed a piece of parchment under it, so one side had the plastic and one side had parchment. Then I rolled my little heart out!
Preheat oven to 350°.
After dough is rolled to your desire thin-ness you can use whatever you want to cut out shapes: cookie cutters, biscuit cutters, ravioli cutter, pizza slicer, etc. I used my ravioli cutter and then poked the centers with the end of a hand-mixer beater.
Place cut crackers on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. You can put them close together; they don't really spread they get puffy.
Sprinkle with kosher salt.
Bake for 12-14 minutes.

Recipe slightly adapted from Tracey's Culinary Adventures

Recipe: Sunflower-Wheat Loaf

Sunflower-Wheat Loaf

This bread takes approximately 4 hours from start to finish. 

1 package dry yeast (2 ¼ teaspoons)

1 cup warm water (100°-110°)

2 cups whole wheat flour

¼ cup honey

2 tablespoons canola oil

1 tablespoon dark molasses

1 tsp salt

¼ cup wheat germ

2 tablespoons cornmeal

1 ¼ cups bread flour, divided

1/3 cup raw unsalted sunflower seeds

Dissolve yeast in warm water in a large bowl; let stand 5 minutes. (I use my Kitchen-Aid fitted with the paddle attachment.)

Lightly spoon whole wheat flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Add whole wheat flour, honey, oil, molasses, and salt to yeast mixture, stirring well. Cover; let stand at room temperature for 1 hour.

Add wheat germ and cornmeal to sponge. Spoon bread flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Add 1 cup flour to sponge; stir until a soft dough forms. Switch to dough hook if using your Kitchen-Aid. Knead until smooth and elastic (about 8 minutes); add enough of the remaining ¼ cup of flour to prevent dough from sticking to sides of bowl (dough may still be tacky). Knead in sunflower seeds.

Place dough in a bowl coated with a little oil, turn to coat all sides. Cover; let rise in a warm place*, free from drafts, 1 hour or until doubled in size.

*I use my oven on days when the house is cool—turn your oven on to the lowest temperature for 1 or 2 minutes and then shut it off and place the bowl of dough in the oven to rise. Leave the light on so you don’t forget about your bread and turn the oven on for something else!

Gently press two fingers into the dough. If indentation remains the dough has risen enough. Punch dough down. Cover; let rest 5 minutes. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and roll out to a 14 x 7-inch rectangle (roughly). Roll dough tightly by starting with short edge and pressing firmly to eliminate air pockets; pinch seams and ends to seal. Place rolled up dough, seam side down, in an 8 x 4-inch loaf pan lightly coated with oil. Lightly coat top of dough with oil. Cover; let rise for 45 minutes or until loaf is doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 375° when the dough still has about 20 minutes left to rise—hopefully your loaf is not in the oven while you preheat ;).

Uncover your dough, bake for 45 minutes or until loaf is browned on bottom and sounds hollow when tapped. Remove from pan, cool on a wire rack. I like to turn the bread out after 20 minutes so the bottom can cool faster and breathe.

Serve with whipped honey butter:

Place 1 cube of softened butter in a bowl. Pour in ¼ cup of honey. Beat for about 2 minutes until fluffy. 

Recipe from Cooking Light

Recipe: Favorite Whole Wheat Buttermilk Pancakes

This is one of those meals in our house that we make over and over and over and over and over and over and over again. We make them so often that Ryan and I are pretty tired of them but the kids LOVE them and it's a good way for me to get some nutrients into them without even trying. 

Try them this weekend. They are wonderful!

1 1/2 cups flour

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

2-4 tablespoons ground flaxseed, optional

2-4 tablespoons raw wheat germ, optional

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

3 cups buttermilk, plus more for thinning

2 tablespoons canola oil

4 eggs

Customize your pancakes with:

•     mini chocolate chips
•     fresh or frozen blueberries, or blueberry syrup
•     top with pecans and banana slices
•     mix together equal parts sour cream and raspberry jam and spread over pancakes

    

Lightly spoon flours into dry measuring cups, level with a knife. Whisk together flours, flaxseed, wheat germ, sugar, baking powder and soda, and salt in a large bowl. Set aside

Combine buttermilk, oil, and eggs, stirring with a whisk; add to flour mixture and stir just until moist. Add additional buttermilk until you reach the desired consistency. 

Heat a nonstick griddle or skillet to medium heat. Using a spoon or a 1/4 measuring cup pour batter onto hot griddle. Turn pancakes over when there are some bubbles on top and the edges begin to dry out. 

Yield: 30-40 pancakes depending on how big you make them. 

My kids LOVE having these as a snack later that day or for breakfast the next morning so I make this big batch and enjoy the leftovers. You can also freeze them to enjoy later. Place small squares of wax paper between every two pancakes. Seal in a Ziploc freezer bag. 

Recipe adapted from Cooking Light

Recipe: White Chili

This chili is delicious, hearty, satisfying, and good for you! It's also adaptable to what you have on hand and how spicy you want it to be.


White Chili
Serves 8-10


4 tsp canola oil
2 large onions, chopped
6 garlic cloves, minced
4 cups (32 oz.) chicken broth (less sodium)
3 tablespoons (plus more to taste) green hot pepper sauce (like Tabasco)*
   *alternately, I did not have any Tabasco sauce but I did have a jar of green salsa so I used about 1 cup of that 
1 tsp kosher salt
2 lbs. (approximately) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1/4 cup cornmeal
2 19-ounce cans cannellini or other white beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup sour cream (or plain yogurt)
2 green onions, thinly sliced
lime wedges, optional
tortilla chips, optional


Heat oil in a Dutch oven (or other heavy-bottomed pot) over medium heat. Add chopped onion and garlic to pan; cook 5 minutes or until onion is tender, stirring occasionally. Add broth, hot pepper sauce, salt, and chicken to pan; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove chicken breasts from broth; cool. 
Add cornmeal and beans to broth mixture, stirring with a whisk; simmer 15 minutes. Mash about 1/4 of the beans against the side of the pan. Cut chicken into bite-sized pieces and put back into the dutch oven; simmer 5 minutes or until mixture begins to thicken. Stir frequently to prevent sticking to the bottom of the pan. Stir in half the sour cream or yogurt, reserve the rest for people to top their chili with. Serve with sliced green onions, lime wedges, and crushed tortilla chips, if desired.


Recipe slightly adapted from Cooking Light