Happy Canada Day!

To all my Canadian Friends,

Happy Canada Day!

Homemade spelt waffles with raspberries and whipped cream and (of course!) some Quebec Maple Syrup!

Enjoy your break from Packing lunches (if you get one!)

Kim

B is for... Blueberries...Yum!

   It would have just been too easy to use Bananas for day two (letter B) of the A to Z blogging challenge.  Besides, I already have a post called Banana Bread
   We are spoiled here on the Island, where the climate (especially in the area right south of us called the Cowichan Valley, Cowichan meaning "Warm lands") resembles that of the Mediterranean.  This lends itself to an excellent growing season for berries and melons, beans, lettuces and peppers.  Some folks are even growing olive trees, in hopes of being able to make local olive oil.  (The influence of the 100 Mile Diet).   We are fortunate to have blueberry farms (even an organic one) right near by, so during the season, I fill our freezer with those little blue gems, make jam with them and we eat many many fresh ones.  At this time of the year, the kids start to see the fresh ones in the store (mm, from Chile and Mexico), so I kick it back up with frozen blueberry yogurt shakes and German Blueberry Cake and of course, blueberry muffins.  The bear will even eat them frozen for breakfast.  She also enjoys them fresh, but that isn't going to happen anytime soon (last price I saw, 5.99 for about 9 berries in a plastic box, uh uh).
We have a standing favourite Blueberry muffin recipe. It is an adaptation of a recipe from the Joy of cooking, and it makes a great loaf as well (grate a little lemon zest into it and you are all set for a great coffee treat!)

Blueberry Muffins
Preheat oven to 400F, grease or spray 12 cup muffin tin, or line with papers.
3 cups spelt flour
1 1/2 Tbsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp nutmeg
Whisk together dry ingredients in large bowl (ideally a glass one if you have one), set aside.

1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
Place blueberries in a small bowl, add 1/4 cup of the dry ingredients, shake lightly to combine.  Set aside.
3 eggs, beaten,
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
6 Tbsp melted butter
1 1/2 cups plain yogurt (fat content is up to you)
1/2 tsp vanilla
In medium bowl, combine wet ingredients and mix well with fork.  Add wet ingredients to dry and mix just until combined.  If using a glass bowl, check underneath to see that most of the dry has been incorporated.  Fold in blueberry flour mixture.  Scoop into muffin tins and bake for 20-25 minutes, until muffins are golden and tester comes out clean.  Allow to cool a few minutes in the pan, then shake out and serve immediately.  Once cooled completely, these muffins freeze quite well, but we never have any around that long.

A link for the letter B :Brits in the USA , is another Blog from the A-Z Challenge.

Happy Packing!

Some blueberry notes from Canadian Living Magazine:
blueberry
• Nutritional value (1/2 cup/125 ml): 41 calories, 1.5 g fibre, rich in antioxidants
• Disease-fighting factor: Blueberries rank No. 1 in antioxidant activity when compared to 60 other fresh fruits and vegetables. Blueberries may help lower the risk of developing age-related diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's 

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

This recipe was once a recipe that I asked for from my mother-in-law...because my husband loved these cookies so much.  She got it from her Aunt Mabel...So, in my recipe binder, we call them "Aunt Mabel's oatmeal cookies-sort-of"...The original recipe started out with quick oats, a cup of brown sugar (for 18 cookies!), white flour and a half a cup of shortening.  (ew...butter, I have no problem with, butter is real!  Shortening, that doesn't need to be refrigerated ever??  Just wrong!  Although, I confess I do eat oreo cookies sometimes...I just try not to think about that part!)

So, after years of playing with the recipe...Here is what we have come up with!

Aunt Mabel's Oatmeal chocolate chip cookies (sort-of)
Makes 30 lunchbox size cookies
Preheat oven to 350F,  set oven racks in bottom 1/3 and top 1/3 of the oven, line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

2 cups large flake oats
1/2 cup skim milk powder
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup butter (room temperature)
1/4 cup smooth unsweetened applesauce
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup liquid (water, milk, soy milk, evap milk)
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup unsweetened dried cranberries
1 oz block bittersweet chocolate shaved into the batter at the end

Combine oats and skim milk powder, set aside.  Combine other dry ingredients in separate bowl, set aside.  In bowl stand mixer, combine brown sugar and butter, mix until light and fluffy (medium speed).  Add applesauce and continue mixing well.  Add egg and vanilla, and beat until light and fluffy.  Add half dry ingredients, and mix until well combined.  Add half oat mixture and mix until just combined.  Add 1/8 cup of liquid, mix until combined.  Add remainder of dry and oat mixtures, mix until combined , add remaining liquid, mix 30 seconds. Remove bowl from mixer stand and stir in chocolate chips, cranberries and chocolate shavings.
  Using small food scoop (or tablespoon), drop cookie dough onto lined sheets, about 1 1/2 inches apart (12-16 on each sheet).
Bake 12 minutes (rotating sheets at 6 minutes).
Will keep in airtight container 3-4 days or in the freezer up to 1 month.
Enjoy!

Happy Packing!

grains...Fads are funny.

The new Costco magazine came in the mail today...There is an article in it about Healthy new foods to find at Costco...Quinoa, Acai Berries...and among others, Spelt...Been using Spelt flour and the grains in our house for about 8 years now...And what is funny is that article makes me want to run out to Costco and see for myself...Not because we need any (Goodness knows we sure don't, there are three big bags of spelt flour in the freezer downstairs!), just because I am curious to see what "Mainstream" Spelt looks like. Mine is in a plain brown paper bag, labelled : Whole Grain Spelt Flour, 10kg.
For anyone who has never tried Spelt flour, may I recommend using it in your muffin recipe first?  I use a basic muffin recipe from the Joy of Cooking (the one that uses sour cream, or buttermilk, or, in our house, plain yogurt), and I sub it in straight on (cup for cup).  It makes amazing blueberry muffins.  Albeit, they don't keep as well as the ones made with regular all purpose flour, but was anybody really making them to "keep"?  Around here, they are usually gone in a day.  From there, you can use it in cookies easily...I have used it in banana bread and in regular bread.  The grains are an excellent addition to almost any soup recipe or stew, and they make a good salad grain too.  I once had a delicious Spelt Brownie at a bakery on Salt Spring Island...Got home and tried to replicate the recipe...Well, apparently, Salt Spring Island is a bit like Vegas, what happens on Salt Spring, stays on Salt Spring (and for those of you reading this who know anything about Salt Spring Island, you are nodding your head, I am sure, for this applies to much more than just brownies)....All the chocolate in Nanaimo couldn't help me make those brownies.
So for the third day in a row, my son would like a ham and cheese sandwich for lunch...Tonight, I hosted a "make-your-own-lunch" workshop at the Island in our kitchen (not really much like Salt Spring)...We came away with "bits and pieces" for Kate (a little bit of this and a little bit of that: a few veggies, some stoned wheat thin crackers, a chicken tender and some yogurt dip), Duncan got his Ham and Cheese, and we made Daddy a ham sandwich with some leftover lentil soup (love, Kate)...And everyone thinks that I should have made chocolate chip cookies, but I am going to bed instead!
Happy Packing!