Benefits of Blueberries

Love them with oatmeal

They are a beautiful fruit

I would say blueberries are one of my top fruits to eat. I love the natural sweetness they have to them. I love when they are firm and they pop in your mouth when you bite them. They also look beautiful. They have wonderful health benefits. Read about it here.  Enjoy your blueberries. I just had them for breakfast on my oatmeal. One of my favorite ways to eat them. I also like them in smoothies. They add a natural sweetness to the smoothie. They are also delicious alone.Yum! What is your favorite way to eat them?

Here are some our favorite recipes with blueberries in them.

http://graincrazy.blogspot.com/2014/03/blueberry-mango-swirl.html



http://graincrazy.blogspot.com/2014/05/blueberry-banana-quinoa-oatmeal-gluten.html



http://graincrazy.blogspot.com/2011/08/blueberry-and-banana-popsicles-with.html

Summer Fruit Frappe (no added sugar)

Today I got to talk to my son Derek on the phone (What a gift to have telephones and hear from family and friends we love) when he was on his way to Michigan to serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I admire him, and the things he is learning, and the way he is serving with his whole heart. It hit me again today. I have been blessed to have some wonderful children in my life. My husband and I have learned so much from them. We continue to learn and grow from them. Our role has changed we are no longer their caregivers. We are just here to support and love them as they go on to accomplishing great things in their lives. The Bonus is we get to have in-laws and grandchildren added to our family too. Our 4th grandchild is  coming in December. Life is full of many blessings.   

I love Summer time. Everything about enjoying the water, weather, summer nights, summer fruit, and playing with family at the lake. I created a yummy drink that combined a lot of yummy fruits and spinach into a great power drink. 

Ingredients

1 C water or almond milk
juice from 1 orange
1 C fresh or frozen pineapple
1/2 C fresh or frozen mangoes
1/2 C fresh or frozen peaches
2 frozen bananas chopped up
1/2 C blueberries or other frozen berries
3 T yogurt Optional (leave out vegan version)
1 C Ice cubes
2 T Chia
1 T flax seeds
1 C fresh spinach

Directions   serves 2 or more

1. Pour ingredients into the blender starting with the water or milk and then add all the rest. Blend and pulse until nice and smooth.

2. Serve and enjoy a refreshing power drink. Great for a Summer day.

Naturally Sweetened Protein Drink

So I was craving something healthy for dinner but not feeling like eating the typical dinners I make. So I came up with this recipe. I love that It is naturally sweetened by fruit. When I was making it tonight and taking pictures of it I had Britney's 15 mos old with me. He recognized it was something he wanted to partake in. He started to say "Dink, Dink. " His persistence paid off and he got His "dink" He loved it. It made me happy he was craving something healthy. He is a busy little boy, and very cute. He has a sweet smile and disposition. This would be great on a hot Summer night (Easy clean up and doesn't heat up the kitchen) too, or anytime of the day.

Here is the cute little boy with his Daddy!

Ingredients
2 oranges peeled broken apart
1/4 C frozen raspberries
1/2 C frozen blueberries
1 frozen banana
1 C washed spinach
1 T hemp seed Bobs Red Mill
2 T chia
1 T flax seed
1/2 C water

Directions
1. Pour all the ingredients in the blender and let it whirl until nice and creamy. Enjoy!

Patriotic Parfaits

 So May is here. My son Derek's birthday is tomorrow. Derek thinks May is the best month of the year  because of the weather. When I think of May, I think of the end of the school year. I also think about Veteran's Day and the other holidays coming up.

I have been thinking about my feelings on patriotism this last week. Wherever you live, I hope that you are grateful for the place you are living. I loved the unity that came after 9/11. I would see signs of people saying things like, "I love America" etc.. The tragedy was horrific, but the unity was sweet. We can make a difference and one person can have an effect on others.

My parents are great examples of honoring their country. They have a flag pole with a flag waving in front of their house. My Mom always put up a flag for patriotic holidays even before she had a flag pole. I love seeing flags waving and will often mention to my children how pretty they look. I love the red, white, and blue colors. My Dad was a pilot in the Air Force and loved that experience. They both have always sung songs about our country with vigor. Their influence has had a great effect on me.

So I am going to give you a challenge this month and hopefully it will carry on throughout the year: find some way to show appreciation for your country and  those who work in our military. Encourage others to as well. We can make a difference. We need to pull together. I love America! Have a great weekend.

Granola recipe 

Jeanie's Granola

Mix together in large bowl:

12 c. rolled oats
3 c. chipped coconut, unsweetened

2 c. almonds chopped in food processor2 c. sunflower seeds1/2 c. flax seeds ground (they also could be whole, but you get more health benefits from ground)1/2 tsp. sea salt1 T. cinnamon

Mix well in seperate bowl:

1/2 c. coconut oil or 1/2 c. olive oil
3/4 c. honey or (The honey makes it clump together well.)

Add 2 tsp. vanilla or 1 tsp. maple syrup or 1 tsp. almond extract. Pour over top of oatmeal mixture and stir through. Pour on to cookie sheets. Spread out. Bake 25 min at 300. I stir it about every 10 min.

Turn off oven and leave 3 hours or leave overnight. (I have done both leaving it overnight and eating right after the cooking time. Both work! Both ways are yummy!)

 Ingredients

2 C Granola

2 C Plain Greek yogurt with honey added or vanilla

2 C Cut up strawberries 

2 C blueberries

Directions:

Layer The ingredients starting with the granola first and end with granola and blueberries on top for garnish. Enjoy a patriotic treat. :)

This is my Mom, (who is amazing) receiving a flag at my Dads graveside service. It is hard to not get choked up when I look at it. 

Bluberry Compote with Crumble

 I have posted before about loving canning jars here. There are so many fun ways to use these jars.  Well I continue to love them. I found these darling 4 oz jars today, and couldn't pass them up. The cool thing is you can pack individual servings in them, and have them ready to go in the fridge when you want them. I love them. You are going to be seeing a lot more of these around here. :)

I love this blueberry compote. You could make it with any kind of berries, boysenberries, marionberries, raspberries etc.. I think it taste great alone or on waffles, in yogurt, on pancakes, or waffles, ice cream, with a dab of whip cream, or in this crumble. The great idea is to have it made ahead of time so it is ready to go. Just store it in the fridge. You could just buy plain yogurt and throw this compote on top too. Yum!

I made it into a crumble today that could be eaten for a quick breakfast or as a snack or as a dessert. You make up extras and have them in the fridge.

Ingredients

compote
2 C frozen blueberries
2 T water
3 T honey
1 T fresh lemon juice
1/4 tsp lemon zest

crumble
1/4 C oat flour
2 T honey
1 C old fashioned oatmeal
3 T coconut oil

 Directions (makes 8- 4oz cups)
1. In a small sauce pan heat to med low heat. Pour in 1 C of the berries, water, honey and lemon juice and zest. Cook for about 8 min. Then stir in the remaining 1 C of blueberries and heat for about 6-8 min. Take off the heat. Set aside.
2. Put all the ingredients for the crumble in a bowl and use a pastry blender or a fork and combine all of it till it is all moistened and crumbly.  Heat oven to 350.
3. Put about 1 T of crumble in the jar. (You could use a small ramkin too) Proceed to press down 1 T into each containter. Then pour 1 1/2 T of compote on top of the crumble in each jar.
4. Sprinkle remaing crumble on top of all of them.
5. Place jars on a cookie sheet for easier handling. Place the cookie sheet in the oven. Bake about 8-10 min until it starts to thicken and the crumble turns slightly golden.
6. Take out and serve warm or store in the fridge for later use. Let them cool before you put them in the fridge. Yum!  (My Children enjoyed it with a scoop of ice cream.)  


     

     

Happy 4th of July Fruit topping or Fruit salad

Fourth of July Fruit  Topping or Salad

Topping on french toast.

It is 4th of July in the United States tomorrow. It is nice to celebrate living in America and think of those who fought and are still fighting for our freedom. I hope you have something fun to do for your day. We are going to have a family barbecue which should be nice.

I thought this would a fun topping for french toast, pancakes or waffles for your breakfast. You could also just eat it as a salad. The other yummy way to eat it is as a topping with vanilla ice cream or with almond cream. So you can decide. It whips up really fast and no oven needed.

Ingredients:
1 lb of strawberries washed and sliced in thin slices
1/2 lb of blackberries washed
1/4 C blueberries
1 banana
For sauce:
6 strawberries
1 1 T honey
Powdered sugar to dust on top

Directions:
1. Prepare fruit. For Salad: Place strawberries on the bottom and then put blackberries in the middle.
2. Slice a banana and put around the edges. Scatter blueberries around the edges.
3. Place 6 strawberries in the blender and pour in honey. Blend until smooth.
4. Drizzle over the fruit. Place powdered sugar in sifter and dust with powdered sugar.
5. If you are doing it as a topping you can arrange as desired. Have a nice holiday 

Mixed Fruit Sorbet (no added sugar)

This is a wonderful way to enjoy your Summer. Eating a frozen fruit sorbet. With no added sugar. It has a nice mixture of fruit in it. You don't have to feel guilty while you are enjoying it. :) Great way to refresh yourself for the day.

Ingredients:
1/2 C water
1 C low fat plain yogurt
1/4 C frozen blueberries
1/4 C frozen strawberries or fresh
1/4 C frozen pineapple
1/2 frozen banana
1 C ice
1 peeled orange broken into pieces
sliced fruit for garnish

Directions: serves 2 to 3
1. Put the ingredients into the blender in the order listed. Blend or pulse until creamy. You may have to stop and stir it a couple times.  (Especially if you double it like I did)  Serve at once, or place in the freezer  for 30 min to 1 hour to thicken it up. Scoop into parfait dishes. Top with your choice of fresh fruit! Yum!

Blueberry and Banana Popsicles with Greek Yogurt

I am trying to hold on to summer as it is quickly fleeting by. I love this time of year. I love the wonderful mornings, when it is the perfect temperature. I can go on walks and take it all in. I also love coming outside at night and having it be warm. It is also a nice time to enjoy my children who are still at home. It is nice to just savor it all. The happy part about it getting closer to the end of summer is that means it is time to go and pick up our daughter that has been serving an LDS mission for 18 months. I am so very excited to see her. :) It feels like Christmas is coming. So there are always good things to look forward to.
Popsicles are fun to eat all year. When I go to the store it is hard to find popsicles that are healthy--maybe that is an oxymoron? They usually have a lot of additives or a lot of sugar. Well I am here to tell you it is possible to make them healthy. These were smooth and creamy. They came out these cups easily when we ran a little warm water on the bottom. I think I would make them a little smaller next time. The flavor was really great. Popsicles are a fun way to get your family to eat some healthy food too. :)

The Greek yogurt in this adds to the creaminess. I learned some interesting information about Greek Yogurt. The whey is strained out of plain yogurt. You could make your own by straining plain yogurt for a couple hours. Taking the whey out makes it thicker and creamier. Which enhances the flavor. It is a protein powerhouse. It is usually 13-20 grams compared to 5-10 grams in regular yogurt. The sodium is lower vs the regular yogurt. It is usually lower in carbs. around 9 vs. the 15-17 carbs. of regular yogurt. It can be easier to digest since it has less lactose and less carbs. It is lower in sugar content. It has a nice versatility can be used as a substitute for sour cream, mayo, milk, and for baking. It make a nice base for dressings. It also is nice because it is filling. It is beneficial to your intestinal track as well. Plain yogurt is good too. It is a little bit higher in calcium. Either one is a great choice for your diet.

Ingredients: makes 6-8 Popsicle
1 C frozen blueberries
2 T honey
2 ripe mashed bananas
2 C Greek yogurt or plain yogurt (strained for a couple hours to remove the whey)*
9 oz clear cups
6-8 Popsicle sticks
foil


Directions:
1. In a blender pour in yogurt, honey and bananas. Blend until nice and creamy. Pour out have the yogurt mixture into a bowl.

2. Then add blueberries to the remaining yogurt mixture. Blend again until creamy.

3. Then pour into the cups alternating the two mixtures.

4.Place a piece of foil on top and fold around the sides. Stick the Popsicle stick in the middle of the cup.

5. Place in the freezer. I put them in a loaf pan. To keep them steady. Freeze until solid. At least a couple hours.

6. You can rub a warm dish cloth on the outside. or just the heat of your hand on the sides should soften it enough to get it out of the cup. Enjoy! Savor the rest of the Summer! :)

*You could strain plain yogurt with cheese cloth or a coffee filter over a bowl.

Teriyaki Chicken Salad with Berries

I got this idea from a picture in a magazine I saw, it has been going through my head ever since. It is a wonderful summer meal. It had a lot of wonderful color in it. It also had a great flavor combination.

I also made some brown rice to go with it. I like to mix my foods. I ended up mixing my rice into my salad and loved the combination. I liked not having the lettuce over power the salad, It just complemented the other ingredients. I made extra chicken. It is handy to have it all ready to got for lunch or another dinner. The grilled chicken flavor can't be beat. I love teriyaki chicken. :)


Ingredients: Serves 6
Sauce
1/3 C reduced sodium soy sauce
1/4 C water
2 T honey
1/4 C orange juice
2 garlic cloves minced
1 T grated peeled fresh ginger
2 lb chicken tenders chopped there will be extra (You could use 3 chicken breasts if you don't want leftovers)
1 1/2 -2 C fresh blueberries
1 C fresh or frozen strawberries sliced up
2 C romaine lettuce washed and torn into small pieces or spinach
3 C cooked Brown rice


Directions:

1. In a bottle or small bowl mix the first 6 ingredients together set aside. Pour chicken into Pyrex. (My chicken was frozen. I let it sit for about 20 min) Turn to make sure it is all covered. You could make it in the morning and let it sit covered in the fridge.

2. Heat up the barbecue. Grill the chicken making sure not to over cook. Save the extra sauce.

3. Then pour sauce into a sauce pan on the stove. Cook on medium-low heat. You could add 1/2 tsp cornstarch to thicken up. (I did not either way works.) Let cool.

4. Pour the berries into a bowl with the chicken and pour the sauce in. Toss until all covered.

5. Then lightly toss in the lettuce. Serve with brown rice.

Blueberrries with Blueberry Yogurt and Almond Crumble

Blueberries are on sale in the stores, so it is time to stock up, and put them in the freezer. They are a wonderful super food loaded with lots of nutrition too.

I made this light dessert with the blueberries. It is a nice light dessert, and not a lot of calories especially if you keep the portions small. :)

Ingredients: Serves about 6
Frozen yogurt:
1 1/2 C blueberries
1 tsp cinnamon optional*
1 T vanilla or almond extract
1 1/2 C plain yogurt
2 tsp lemon juice
1/3 C orange juice
1/3 C almond milk

1. There are 2 ways to make this. Make in your ice cream maker. 1. I have a Cuisinart that worked quick. 2. Blend in food processor or blender. Fold in the blueberries last. Then freeze in a pan or ice cube tray and then stir to soften a little. Then scoop.

Almond Crumble:
1/2 C old fashioned oatmeal
1/2 C shredded unsweetened coconut
1/2 C whole grain flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 to 1/8 tsp salt
1/4 C honey
3 T coconut oil
1/2 tsp almond extract or vanilla
1/3 C almond milk
1/2 tsp cinnamon optional

1. Measure and pour the first 6 ingredients in a bowl cut int he oil. Then slowly stir in the honey, extract, milk and cinnamon. Don't over stir.

2. Pour into a greased square pyrex. Bake at 350 for 10-15 min or till light golden.

3. Cut into portions and crumble into dish. (These taste yummy just as bars to eat too.)

Blueberry sauce:
3/4 C blueberries
3 T honey
1/2 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp ultra gel or other thickener

1. In a saucepan on the stove pour in all the ingredients. Then heat on med low. Till it thickens.

2. Scoop yogurt on to the crumble and then pour about 1 T of blueberry sauce on top.

Enjoy!

Tasty Buttermilk Blueberry Pancakes with Honey Almond Buttermilk Syrup

These pancakes were so yummy, and healthy too. It was a fun Sunday morning breakfast to make for my family. They enjoyed them too. That always makes it nice. I loved the almond honey combo in the syrup. Buttermilk syrup is the only way to go. I have found it easy to make buttermilk on the spot by adding vinegar to the milk and letting it sit 5 to 10 min. (Sometimes I don't even let it sit that long, and it still works.) It is 1T vinegar per cup of milk. Here is another version of buttermilk syrup. Kefir can be used in place of the buttermilk too.


Ingredients: Makes about 10 pancakes

2 eggs
1 C buttermilk *(1 C milk 1 T vinegar)
2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 tsp coconut oil
2 tsp baking powder
1 T honey
1 1/2 to 2 C *whole grain flour
fresh blueberries

Buttermilk syrup

3 T butter
1/2 C honey
1/2 C buttermilk *(1/2 C milk 2 tsp vinegar)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 t vanilla
2 tsp almond extract * optional (but so good!)


Directions:

1. Beat eggs, and then add milk, vanilla, honey and oil. Set bowl aside.

2. In a separate bowl add flour, add baking powder stir together. Slowly stir into milk mixture. Do not over stir. *(Start with 1 1/2 C flour and then add more as needed. You don't want them too thick.)

3. Heat up griddle. Spray with non stick oil. When hot pour on pancakes. You can sprinkle on blueberries before you turn them over, or you can serve the blueberries sprinkled on top of the pancakes with the syrup.

4. While the pancakes are cooking, in a separate saucepan, on med. low heat pour in butter, buttermilk, and honey. Let the mixture come to a boil for 2 min. Take off the heat stir in baking soda, vanilla, and almond extract. Serve over warm pancakes.

* Flour 4 C spelt 2 C kamut 1 C brown rice 1 C buckwheat and 1 C oat groats. I grind a large amount, and then put extra in the fridge till I need the flour again.

Homemade Yogurt Parfaits

Sometimes you have to just smile. :) I made these parfaits for my families breakfast. As they came down to eat, they were a little skeptical of what it had in it. It made me smile to myself, and think about the fact they have gotten to be the guinea pigs of the family. I used to have 7 children at home, now I am down to 2. My cooking has changed a lot in the last couple years. For me it is a new adventure to try new things. It is exciting to have some things I have never made before. I love filling my grocery basket up with new things instead of buying the same old thing. The thing that comes with experimenting is new foods, of course, is trial and error. :/

My latest thing I am trying is goats' milk. I went to a dairy and bought it fresh. I have heard a lot of great things about it. I am making kefir out of it. I made goat cheese out of it last night. It turned out well. My husband had gotten some goat cheese a couple of weeks ago, I really enjoyed it. So I love the continual learning, but my children never know what they are going to be eating. It is nice to be able to smile and laugh about it too, which I did do with them yesterday. It felt really good to laugh too. They will have fun memories of this time, and hopefully they will take some healthier ways to eat with them when they leave home. I know some of my other children have, and that makes me happy. For now I appreciate their patience with my desire to create and make new things. Each day is a new adventure for them and for me. :) There is so much out there to learn. I have learned so much, and yet have so much still to learn.

These Parfaits were really yummy. We have had them before, here is another version to try. I made homemade yogurt the other night, so it was the perfect breakfast when we were on the run in the morning. It would make a healthy dessert as well.

Ingredients:

3 C homemade plain yogurt or store bought
3-4 T honey (depends on how sweet you want it)
1 tsp vanilla
3-4 T flax ground up
1-2 C homemade granola
1 banana
1 C blueberries or another kind of berry

Directions:

1. Mix yogurt with honey and vanilla.

2. Then get a dish and make layers. I started off with. a scoop of yogurt, sprinkled on a teaspoon of flax, then homemade granola, spoonful of berries, a few cut up pieces of banana, then do those steps again. End with granola sprinkled on the top.

I hope you are having fun learning and exploring too!

Marion Berry Smoothie & Interesting Information about Marion Berries

I have been enjoying putting Marion Berries in my smoothie. I just got a lot of Marion Berries through a berry order. I love the natural sweetness they add to my smoothie. It was fun to learn more about Marion berries. Here is some information I learned. ( I saw Marion Berries at Costco)

Marion Berry (Some Interesting Information:)

• High in antioxidants 28 per gram compared to 24 in blueberries

• High levels of antioxidants such as vitamin C, gallic acid, and rutin. Which promotes circulatory health and fights against cancer.
• Dietary Fiber per cup 7.609 :)

• High levels of anthocyanins. Which can protect against cancer, heart and circulatory diseases. They can also help reduce inflammation.

• Vitamin C 30 grams per cup
• Calcium 46 mg per cup
• Vitamin A 238.00IU per cup Calories per cup 75 calories. Blueberries have 84 calories and 4 grams of fiber per cup.

Some interesting Information:

Marion Berry Smoothie recipe:

Ingredients: Serves 2

3 1/2 C Kefir or plain yogurt

4 T flax* If you have a powerful blender you won't have to grind beforehand

4 T Chia*

4 T whey protein powder optional*

1 tsp cinnamon

1 C marion berries

1/2 C raspberries Optional*

1/2 C blueberries Optional*

1 frozen banana (helps make it creamy)

1 to 1 1/2 C Spinach (I put the package in the freezer)

1/4 C flat parsley (I freeze to give it a longer shelf life)

Directions:

1. Pour in kefir and grains. (If you have time let it sit for 15min. It helps add the the nutritional value) I do it both way. Pour in the remaining ingredients. Turn it on and let it go for a couple minutes. Sometimes I turn it on and off a couple times. It is wonderful! It is a marvelous breakfast.