Vegan Strawberry Rhubarb Muffins

It's strawberry season.  Glorious Michigan strawberry season! We love strawberries around our house.  In fact, this week we headed out to a great little no-spray strawberry farm and picked 60 pounds of strawberries.  Yes 60 pounds! My mom was here visiting and more than willing to help.  Despite my two little girls who just grazed all over the strawberry patch and out of our baskets, we still ended up with 60 pounds.  I was a little shocked.  My intention had been to pick "a lot" but 60 pounds. Whoa! My mom took about 10 pounds or so home and the rest she left with us.  I was worried that I'd gotten a little to ambitious but lo and behold I quickly froze them and now I have lots of bags of beautifully frozen berries stocked away in our deep freeze to use over the next year.

A little tip if your planning on freezing your berries whole.  Wash berries and lay them out on a cooking sheet in a single layer.  Put cookie sheet in freezer for a few hours.  When berries are frozen take the cookie sheet out and put berries in a freezer bag or container.  Freezing berries this way makes it easy to freeze them quickly and whole and they won't stick together.  During the year you can toss them in smoothies, ice creams, or thaw them and use however you wish.

The other day was a cool, rainy day here in Grand Rapids, so our little family decided to stay inside in our P.J.'s all day and play and rest.  It was fantastic.  Norah loves helping me in the kitchen so we played around with making a few things in the kitchen, and because we still have lots of fresh strawberries I was on a quest to find a little sweet treat for us to make.  We'd made a Strawberry Rhubarb crisp the week before and it was so delicious.  In fact, I'm totally hooked on the strawberry rhubarb combo.  So Norah and I decided to come up with a muffin recipe that combined these two flavors.  It's fun to create with a little helper.  She will sometimes want to add a little more of this or that or taste our concoction to make sure it's tasting good.  I love it!

So we played around a bit and came up with a yummy muffin recipe.  They are vegan but not gluten free.  Baking isn't my love and I don't do it often.   So I haven't experimented a whole lot with gluten free baking.  Our family consumes such small amounts of wheat and we've never had any issues.  I do however, buy any wheat that we'll use organic because wheat is such a huge genetically modified crop these days, which is probably one of the reasons gluten intolerances are on the rise.  So all that said if your gluten intolerant perhaps you could just substitute a gluten free all purpose flour??  It's fun to experiment and create and get the kiddos involved.  So I hope you enjoy these tasty little treats!

 


Vegan Strawberry Rhubarb Muffins

1 cup non-dairy milk

1 tsp. apple cider vinegar

1/3 cup sucanat (unprocessed sugar cane juice--I used this instead of regular sugar)

½ cup applesauce

¼ cup oil

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 ½ cup whole wheat pastry flour

1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. baking soda

¾ tsp. cinnamon

½ tsp. salt

1 cup finely chopped rhubarb

1 cup chopped strawberries

¼ cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven 375.  Mix milk and vinegar together.   Let set while you mix flours, baking soda & powder, cinnamon, and salt.  

Add sucanat, applesauce, oil, and vanilla to milk mixture.
 

 Mix rhubarb and strawberries into flour mixture.

Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and stir until combined.

Pour into greased muffin tins.  Bake 20-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted into middle comes out clean.

This made 18 muffins

Sprouts

Sprouting is a simple, do it yourself way to add some powerful nutrition to you and your kiddos diet.  It has become a fan favorite (or at least on most days) around our house.  My 2 year old loves helping "make" the sprouts.  She gets excited about putting the seeds in the jar, rinsing them, and then waiting for the "tails."  All this excitement in "making" them and she is more excited to eat them.  And yes, she is 2 and has strong opinions these days, so some days she loves them and other days she wants nothing to do with them.  On the days that she loves them, her little sister is much more excited to eat them as well.  Because around our house, what one sister does the other does as well!

By sprouting seeds, nuts, or beans, you are taking the thing are you are sprouting from it's dormant state and basically bringing it to life.  Studies have shown that nutrients in sprouted seeds, nuts, grains, and beans can be increased by up to 400% after soaking or sprouting.  That's significant!  Not only does the nutritional value increase but by sprouting you also neutralize enzyme inhibitors.  Enzyme inhibitors are what keeps the seed, nut, bean from growing and sprouting until external conditions are favorable, and so by soaking the conditions become favorable and the seed begins to grow or sprout.  This process is what helps make sprouts more digestible.  The seeds, nuts, grain, or beans that are hard for some to digest  become easier once they are soaked and sprouted due to the neutralizing affect of these enzyme inhibitors.  Because sprouting makes it much easier for our bodies to digest the food, we are then able to gain more of the nutritional value from the sprouted food when compared to the same food before it is sprouted. 

So by growing your own sprouts you end up with a raw, easily digestible, alkalizing,whole food that is a powerhouse of nutrients.

If your interested in beginning to do some sprouting it really is quite simple and requires very little.  I picked up a sprouting jar at our local health food store for under $5.  You can also use a large jar you have at home with a cheesecloth over top.  If your using your own jar it's important that you have something over the jar to prevent bugs from getting in, but that also allows air to come in and enables you to rinse them.  The only other thing needed is something to sprout.  I usually just pick up the specific sprouting seeds at our local health food store.  We've sprouted lentils before which were really good.  A quick google search and you can find how to sprout and the specifics on different things.

There are lots of ways to use sprouts.  I love the crunch of sprouts in a salad, sandwich, or wrap.  One of favorites for picnics, is sprouted Ezekial bread (we buy this!) with avocado spread on it.  We then top it with tomatoes, sprouts, and sometimes a little goat cheese.  I will also toss them into a stir-fry or egg scramble.  Sometimes my girls will just snack on them plain.  So many options with these nutrient dense sprouts.

The other great thing about sprouts is that they are fun for kids.  There are days when I am having to get creative with my 2 year old, Norah.  Some days she'll eat a dinner packed with greens and other days all she wants is fruit and bread.  The sprouts can be fun because I'll sometimes decorate her plate.  I'll give my best attempt to make a face out of whatever we're eating.  Sprouts make for great hair, beards, mustaches, or eyebrows!

Happy Sprouting!!

Gluten Free Apple-Oat Pancakes

I LOVE breakfast!  My husband and I agree that we would rather go out for breakfast over any other meal.  In my previous post I offered a breakfast experiment along with a Baked Oatmeal recipe.  Well I thought if you were going to try the breakfast experiment, I'd offer you another delicious, easy, nutritious breakfast recipe.

The recipe does contain eggs.  I've gone back and forth about including eggs as part of my girls diet.  We don't do meat or dairy and I feel like this is one way for them to get some of the nutrients that they may not otherwise get.  Particularly B vitamins.  We use Brewer's Yeast to add additional B vitamins to our diets, but I hesitate having my little ones on a rigid vegan diet.  There are some drawbacks to that.  There is some controversy about eggs.  My girls enjoy eggs.  I'm taking things like this in baby steps and just trying to be really aware of what foods nourish them and what they do well with.  They enjoy the occasional eggs.  We buy local, organic, free-range eggs.   I'm ok with this at this point.  So with that said, if your not doing eggs yet with your little one or have chosen not to do them, there are ways to substitute eggs.
Egg Substitution:

• 1 TBS ground flaxseed mixed with 3 TBS water (do this for each egg)
• mashed banana
• mashed tofu

I can't take credit for this recipe.  This recipe is straight from Cathe Olson's "Simply Natural Baby Food" book.  It has become a staple in our house.  We all love these pancakes and have lately been making them weekly.  So, so good!

Apple-Oat Pancakes

• 1 3/4 cups rolled oats (purchase gluten free oats to make them truly gluten free)
• 1/4 cup almonds
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 eggs (or 4 egg yolks or egg substitution)
• 1 1/3 cups milk (we do non-dairy but you can do whatever your kiddos are used to)
• 1 apple grated

Grind oats and nuts to powder in blender or food processor.  Pour oat mixture into a large mixing bowl and stir in baking powder and cinnamon.

Beat eggs and milk together.  Grate apple in food processor or my hand.  Add the egg mixture and apple to oats.  Stir until just mixed.  Let batter sit 5 minutes while griddle heats.

Bake pancakes on a lightly oiled griddle or skillet over medium heat.  Use approximately 1/4 cup batter for each pancake.  Cook for 5 minutes.  Turn when top is bubbly and edges are starting to dry.  Cook for 3 to 5 more minutes.

Yields approximately 12 pancakes.

We like to top ours with raw almond butter, a little pure maple syrup, and some fresh fruit.




Enjoy a delicious, healthy breakfast to start your day!

Baked Oatmeal

What's your breakfast routine like? What about for your kiddos? Do you mix it up? How do your kiddos respond to breakfast? And you for that matter? Do you eat breakfast????

I know it's one of those things said over and over "breakfast is the most important meal of the day." We get used to hearing it and it becomes very cliche. But really it is a foundational meal to set up our day. The term literally means to break the fast. Your body has been essentially fasting since the evening before and breakfast is the time to add fuel to your body and set up a foundation for a healthy, energy filled day. When we skip breakfast or eat a lot of sugary sweets for breakfast it puts our blood sugar on a roller coaster for the day. The idea is to eat something satisfying enough and filling enough to make it to lunch, or at least for adults. Now this may or may not apply to kiddos. Every kiddo is different and some may or may not need that mid-morning snack. Listen and observe your kiddo to begin to learn what they need. Does breakfast satisfy them? What are they having for breakfast? Are they hungry relatively soon after breakfast? How does a mid-morning snack affect them or their lunch? How is their behavior an hour or two after breakfast?

There's a great experiment you can do. Try doing something different for breakfast each morning for a week or maybe at least for 5 days. You could start with yourself and then also do the experiment with the kiddos. Plan out your breakfasts for the experiment so you can grocery shop and prepare. This way you know what you'll do each day. Then write down what your breakfast was that day. Also make note of how you feel right after your meal and then again 2 hours later. Do you notice differences in energy levels? What about your moods? Notice any physical symptoms that you might have that may correlate to what you've eaten. This is a great way to tune into your body and to listen to what works for you. Everyone is different. Different foods affect us differently. What works best for you? What breakfast helps you feel your best and kick start your day? After you get an idea for yourself, experiment with the kiddos. You might be surprised what you learn.

Baked Oatmeal is one of my girl's favorite breakfasts, especially on a cooler or rainy morning. And I have heard we have a few cooler mornings heading our way!

This recipe is a blend of some of our favorite things and a combining of baked oatmeal recipes I've seen over time. I like to take a recipe and add my own touches, or modify it to what I have on hand. So feel free to experiment a bit and add your own touches to make it something personalized for you and your family.

Baked Oatmeal

1/2 cup oil

1/2 cup honey, pure maple syrup, or agave (other options for sweetners are applesauce or mashed banana)

3 cups oats (I prefer organic rolled oats) (gluten free oats are available at health food stores if your are working with gluten intolerances)

2 tsp. baking powder

1 cup milk (I prefer rice or almond milk but you can use any milk that your family normally uses)

1 cup of additional goodness....raisins, chopped walnuts, chopped pecans, blueberries, peaches, bananas, chopped apples.....whatever you and your kiddos love!


Preheat oven 350

Grease 8 x 8 pan

Combine oil and sweetener in one bowl. In separate bowl combine the rest of the ingredients. Add oil and sweetener combination to oat mixture.

Bake for approximately 30 minutes.

For this particular time I lined the bottom of my pan with some frozen peaches. I then spread the mixture in the pan. I stirred in chopped walnuts, frozen blueberries, raisins, and then added some sliced bananas on top. Yummy! But again customize it to your family or to what you have available.

It does take a while to bake so if time is an issue in the morning bake it the evening before and then just heat it up in the morning. So so good!