Fresh Apple Beet Juice

Our town's juice bar just closed. One of our favorite things to do on Saturdays was to go to the local market for a few items, & get a fresh juice at the same time. We made one final stop a few weeks ago on their last day open, & have been thinking about it since.

When I found myself with some extra produce, I decided it was time to try our juicer again. My mom gave us her old one & we had used it once, then put it away. I brought it up from the basement to try again.

It's fun to put in the chunks of fruit/veggies & watch the juice & pulp come out in 2 different spots. Juicers are pretty amazing!

Fresh juice is a great way to pack in vitamins & minerals from fresh produce without all of the bulk. Your body is easily able to assimilate the nutrients in juice form. While you wouldn't usually sit down & eat several fruits & veggies in one sitting, it's easy to drink them all.

It is a good idea to use organic produce when juicing. Since you are ingesting so many items at once, the pesticide content is more concentrated. If it's not possible to get all organic, at least try to buy organic for the Dirty Dozen. (For this recipe, the apples are highest in pesticides.)

My favorite part about fresh juice? The foam on top.

Just look at it! All frothy & delicious.

This particular juice is fairly sweet, perfect for beginning juicers. Although I think some cabbage or romaine lettuce would be great additions, we didn't have either to add. The lemon adds a nice tartness & the apples add enough sweet to counter the earthiness of the beets. The combination also produces such a pretty color of pink!

Fresh Apple Beet Juice

3 small beets
3 medium carrots
1 large apple
1 lemon

Trim stems from beets & carrots. Peeling is not necessary. Chop each into chunks small enough to fit into your juicer. Remove stem & seeds from the apple; chop into quarters. Peel the lemon & divide into quarters.

Feed chunks into the juicer, following juicer instructions. Drink immediately. Reserve pulp for future use or compost it.

If you do not have a juicer, you can still make fresh juice! Just use your blender to combine all of the ingredients & then strain through a cheesecloth, squeezing to release all of the juices. You could also make a smoothie, if you don't want to bother with straining.

Hot Apple Cider with Peach Rum

Last week, I posted about our dinner at Great Sage Organic Green Cuisine & I mentioned that the Bup had the Fireside Orchard to drink. It's been on our minds ever since, so I decided to try to replicate it.

I knew we had a random bottle of peach rum somewhere, & when I found it, I realized it had just enough to make us each 1 drink. Perfect!

To keep the cider from losing it's edge, I did not bring it to a boil. As soon as it started to steam, I turned off the heat & stirred in the rum. If you prefer your cider to have a smoother taste, you may want to boil it briefly.

I love the way the peach plays off the apple in this drink. It tastes just like summer mixed with fall, with the juicy peach & the crisp apple flavors blending perfectly.

This would make a great after dinner drink for with Thanksgiving dinner! It's light & warming, perfect for settling down with while visiting with family & friends, or for wrapping your hands around after coming in from the cold.

Hot Apple Cider with Peach Rum

Serves 2

2 c apple cider

1/4 c peach rum

2 cinnamon sticks

In a small pan over medium heat, warm the cider. When it starts to steam, remove from heat to prevent boiling. (This should take about 5 minutes.) Stir in peach rum. Divide evenly between 2 glasses or mugs & garnish with cinnamon sticks. Enjoy immediately - that's an order! :-)

Happy Thanksgiving! 

Cinnamon Apple Sharlotka with Peanut Butter Drizzle

It's finally apple season! Fall is my favorite time of year. I love the apples, crisp fresh morning air, pumpkin everything, the sound of leaves crunching, & the beauty of all the colorful leaves. So to celebrate, I decided to make an apple dessert! It seemed like a good way to ease into fall flavors.

We had this for breakfast - it's definitely healthy enough! Although it does have more sugar than I normally have at breakfast, it also has fruit, whole wheat flour, eggs, & cinnamon. Plus peanut butter! And if you're like me, you'll add another spoonful of pb on top before enjoying.

Here are just a few of the health benefits from this cake:

• Apples: fiber, vitamin C, phyto-nutrients
• Whole Wheat Flour: fiber, manganese, tryptophan, selenium
• Organic Eggs: choline, selenium, folate, B vitamins, lutein, protein
• Cinnamon: calcium, iron, aids in digestion
• Sucanat: potassium, Vitamins A & C (Sucanat is a raw sugar, often used for the same flavors as brown sugar. Unlike refined sugars, it retains some nutrients, making it a healthier option.)
• Peanut butter: healthy fats, protein, staying power!

To celebrate our anniversary, I used my heart shaped springform pan. I got it awhile ago, but don't use it often because it's awkward to cut even slices from a heart. It's fun to have for celebrations, though! Just don't be jealous when I "accidentally" cut my slice bigger than yours. :-)



Cinnamon Apple Sharlotka with Peanut Butter Drizzle
Serves 8
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

6 large apples (I used Granny Smith)
3 large organic eggs
3/4 c sucanat
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 c white whole wheat flour
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
2-4 T natural peanut butter, to drizzle on top

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan with parchment paper. Spray the paper & sides of the pan with cooking spray. Place springform pan on a large, rimmed baking sheet to catch any leaks that may occur while baking. (I would have had a mess to clean up in my oven!)

Peel, halve and core your apples. Chop them into small chunks (about 1"x1/2" each). Place apple chunks into the pan.

In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs & sucanat until thick. Beat in vanilla. Stir in the flour, mixing until just combined.

Pour batter over the apple chunks in pan. Spread the batter to make sure it evenly covers all of the apples. Make sure to help the batter fill in the spaces between the apples.

Bake for 1 hour, or until a tester comes out clean. Remove from oven & cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes.  Remove the sides of the springform pan, then flip cake onto another rack, peel off the parchment paper, & carefully flip it back onto a serving platter. Drizzle with peanut butter. Serve warm.

Apples That Never Turn Brown?

I recently read a NY Times article entitled "That Fresh Look, Genetically Buffed." A new genetically engineered apple is being marketed. This apple is made so that it won't turn brown when sliced or bruised.

Wait...what?!

Isn't that a huge component of a fresh apple? Maybe I'd actually like to know if my apple has been sitting around for awhile.

One of their top reasons for this developement is this: "A whole apple is 'for many people too big a commitment,' he said. 'If you had a bowl of apples at a meeting, people wouldn’t take an apple out of the bowl. But if you had a plate of apple slices, everyone would take a slice.' "

I'm all for getting people to eat more fresh fruit, but I don't think this is the best answer. Genetically engineered food, no matter whether it's fresh or packaged, all has the same problem. It hasn't been around long enough to test the ramifications it may have on our bodies & on our earth.

As a Christian, I believe the God created everything in His perfect image. This includes apples. He wanted them to turn brown when exposed to air. He wanted us to know whether they were bruised. Why are we messing around with nature?

One of the problems that they are concerned about is that "the Arctic technology might not keep the apples from turning brown for the required 16 to 21 days." Why would we want to eat an apple that has been exposed to air for 16-21 days? That sounds dangerous to me. Apples come in their very own perfect packaging - the skin. Do they bruise if not handled with care? Yes. But the skin protects the apple & the nutrients it contains. As soon as we start cutting it up, packaging it in plastic, & giving it a long shelf life, we lose nutrients, add extra costs, & waste valuable resources.

An advocate of the genetically engineered apple said "the nonbrowning trait would help growers and packers. 'We discard an awful lot of fruit for even minor bruising,' he said."  In that case, why are they discarding the fruit? There are a lot of hungry people in this country/world who would happily eat a bruised apple. Cut away the bruised part, & you still have plenty of fruit to eat. It's a shame that so much food goes to waste simply because American consumers demand perfection.

Next time you have a bruised apple, don't throw it away! Make applesauce, or Apple Pumpkin Beer Bread. Throw the good parts into pancakes or oatmeal. Or just dip the slices in peanut butter! There are many options.

We don't need our apples to never brown. We just need to be willing to accept a few imperfections. In that respect, apples aren't much different than humans. Just because they aren't perfect doesn't mean we don't love them!

Millet & Oat Granola

We've been in the mood for granola lately. With all the fresh strawberries we have, it's the perfect combination!

Due to all of the horrors of the dairy industry, I buy organic yogurt. We've tried & enjoyed a variety of yogurts from Stonyfield, but our new favorite is a raw milk yogurt from our local real food emporium.

Now I have to take a moment & do a little plug for this emporium. I'll be the first to admit that some of their products are pricey. It's a small, local store, & it's a matter of business fact that they are going to have to charge more than the super stores.

But where else are you going to get to the register with your $15, only to have your bill total $15.75, & have the owner tell you to just bring the 75 cents next week? We were prepared to put one of the items we wanted back on the shelves, but he said no need, you can owe us. SO NICE!

We also love the Bee's Juice Bar that's in the emporium. The fresh juices are fantastic. I can't wait to try the vegan ice cream on one of our visits. It sounds so good!

So this granola...it's crunchy, it's low in fat, & it's delicious. Granola is very flexible, so if you don't have puffed millet, you could use puffed rice or more oats. Sub another nut for the walnuts. Use almond butter instead of peanut butter. It'll still be delicious, I promise.

Millet & Oat Granola

Adapted from Chocolate & Toast

4 c rolled oats

2 c puffed millet cereal (like this from Arrowhead Mills)

1 c flaked coconut
1 c raw walnuts, chopped
1/2 c ground flax seed
1 c applesauce
2 T maple syrup
2 T honey
3 T natural peanut butter
1 tsp. vanilla
1 T cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt

Mix the first 5 ingredients together in a large bowl.  Combine the remaining ingredients and pour over dry ingredients. Mix well.  Using either 1 very large baking pan or 2 smaller ones, spread mixture in an even layer.  Bake at 325 for approximately 1 hour. Every 15 to 20 minutes, remove granola from the oven and give it a stir. Granola will continue to crisp once you finish baking it, so keep that in mind when gauging how done it is.

Once granola reaches your desired level of crunch, allow it to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.



Vibrant Lemon & Avocado Kale Salad

We really have a thing for kale in our house. I think I've mentioned that a few zillion times already! I hope you like it as much as I do.

I didn't really eat kale until a couple years ago, so I think I'm making up for lost time. Plus it's seriously delicious. I like it raw, cooked, as a spread, in soup, growing in the garden, as a chip, in smoothies, & everywhere in between!

Last night, we had our kale in the form of a huge salad paired with Jenna's Spicy Black Bean Burgers. These are one of our go-to bean burgers because they're super yummy & easy to throw together.

The salad is fresh & bright, with lots of flavor. I love the creaminess that the avocado gives to it. Avocadoes are full of healthy fats, & in this case, it adds some bulk to an otherwise fairly light salad.

I brought kale salad to the Bup's family Christmas dinner & to my family Easter dinner. Both versions had variations of this dressing, but I felt like it needed a few tweaks to be just perfect. The recipe below is that I've decided is the best of the bunch.

If you've never had a kale salad, here are a few tips:

1. Unlike lettuce salads, you can dress it ahead of time & it will only get better. The flavors marinate & the kale softens slightly, making it easier to chew.

2. You have to commit to getting your hands in there & massaging the kale. There's really no better way to get the dressing spread evenly & to soften the kale leaves. Just be prepared - if you have even the slightest knick in your skin, it will burn from the lemon juice!

3. Kale is a chewier green than lettuce, so it's not a traditional salad. It is, however, extra full of flavor & health benefits!

Enjoy!

Vibrant Lemon & Avocado Kale Salad
Dressing inspired by Tracy
Serves 2-4

1 bunch kale, stems removed & torn into pieces
1 avocado, cubed
1/2 small onion, sliced
1 apple, chopped

Dressing:
Juice of 1 lemon
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1 T Dijon mustard
1 T extra virgin olive oil
2 T nutritional yeast
1 tsp. honey or maple syrup

In a small bowl, whisk together the dressing ingredients. Combine kale & dressing in a large bowl. Massage with your hands (wash them first!) until the kale softens & turns a dark, shiny green. Add avocado cubes, onion slices, & apple. Toss to mix & serve.

Note: Salad can be made ahead of time. Once dressed, just cover & place in the fridge until time to serve. Flavors will develop as it marinates.

Apple Pumpkin Beer Bread

Fall is slowly winding down. Daylight savings has come & gone, so now it's dark in both the morning & evening. This makes me want to curl up on the couch with a blanket & a mug of hot tea every.single.night. Not good. Especially when things like meetings & life get in the way.

You're probably ready for me to let go of fall, since I've been talking about it for months now, but I'm trying to hang on a little big longer.

This bread, with its fall flavors of pumpkin, apple, & spices helped just a bit. It's sweet enough to be dessert, but healthy enough for breakfast. Or as a mid-day snack to tide me over until dinner.

Start by mixing up the dry stuff, complete with lots of warming spices! Depending on how spiced the pumpkin beer you use is, you may want to reduce or increase the spices. I used Post Road Pumpkin Ale, which is slightly spiced but not over the top.

Chop up the apples & stir together the wet ingredients. There will be leftover beer, but don't worry about that. I'm sure you'll find a good place for it. ;-)

Pour the wet ingredients in with the dry and mix away.

Then add the apple chunks, stirring just until they're combined. Don't over stir.

Pour the batter into a loaf pan. I put a baking sheet under my loaf pan while baking, just in case, and it did catch a few drippings of batter. I wanted a nice big loaf, so I didn't want to cut back on the ingredients, but I also didn't want to have to clean the oven!

 

Once it cools, you can slice it up & enjoy!

The chunks of apple cooked into little pockets of sweetness, complimenting the spiced bread. Each bite has all the fall flavors, kicked up a notch with the slight hint of beer. I hope you enjoy it!

Apple Pumpkin Beer Bread

Yield: 12 slices

2 1/2 c white whole wheat flour

1/4 c ground flax

1/4 c toasted wheat germ

2 tsp. baking powder

2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

2 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. ginger

pinch nutmeg

2 c chopped apples

1/4 c coconut oil, melted

1/2 c pumpkin puree

3/4 c agave nectar or maple syrup

3/4 c pumpkin beer

1 T vanilla

Preheat oven to 350*F. Spray a glass loaf pan with cooking spray. In a large bowl, combine white whole wheat flour, flax, wheat germ, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg.  In a separate bowl, mix together coconut oil, pumpkin, agave nectar, pumpkin beer and vanilla. Add wet ingredients to dry and stir until no dry ingredients remain. Add apples and stir just until combined. Pour into prepared loaf pan. Bake for 55-65 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cook in pan 10 minutes. Invert onto a cooling rack and cool completely before slicing.

Foods We've Been Loving

Apple Pie

Behold, my very first 2 crust pie!

It's a little shaggy around the edges, but the taste & texture are what pie is all about. Everyone says the crust is the worst part of making pies, but if you ask me, it's all the chopping/peeling. As you can see if you look closely at the picture, many of my apple slices still had peels on them. I did a haphazard peeling, mostly because I hate doing it, but also because the skins hold so many of the nutrients. I hate to throw them into the compost!

I followed a Betty Crocker recipe from an old cookbook I got at our church bazaar. The apples came from trees around our cabin. Most of them got made into applesauce for a grand total of 65 pints & 6 quarts of applesauce.

[Almost Chipotle Burritos]

Enchiladas

After my Chipotle burrito remake last week, I was still hungry for more beans & tortillas. I had a link saved for Roasted Butternut Squash & Black Bean Enchiladas from Daily Garnish that I was anxious to try, so I made it for dinner with my parents. I made a few changes & additions, as usual, but not as many as I do for some recipes. These were SO good. All of the textures & flavors just blended together perfectly. The prep time was long, with cutting & roasting the squash & cooking the sauce, but it was completely worth it!

Green Smoothies

Our kale crop is seriously out of control, and this is the fastest way of ingesting it (kale chips rank right up there, though!). Kale is pure health food, nourishing our bodies in so many ways. Just a few examples include Vitamins A,C & K, manganese, fiber & calcium. With the addition of the VitaMix to our lives, we're especially loving these thick & creamy smoothies.

Fresh Tomato Soup

The tomato crop is slowing down, but they're still coming in. With all the rain we've had lately, they're a little ragged & split, so I've had to use them quickly. The best use we've found so far is tomato soup. We can't stop eating it! I've made it several times already, with plans to make it again this weekend. I just chop & core the tomatoes, add a few handfuls of basil, and puree it in the VitaMix. (Can you tell I'm obsessed with this thing? It's crazy!)

Recipe coming soon!

What are you loving right now?

Celebrating Birthdays!

Happy birthday!

This makes 2 years in a row that I'm posting about baking a cake for Dad's birthday.

It's the same cake, as he requested. Same cake, one year later, and Dad's happy! I'll never forget his birthday, and now because of his birthday, I won't forget when I started blogging.

This is a very special occasion! I can't believe I've been blogging for a year!

He's always super quick to blow out the candles! Sorry for the blur.

 I don't have a fancy camera, so I don't have options for exposure or apperture or any other fancy things. It's point and shoot, adjust the setup and lighting. Repeat. The more I take, the more I learn. Better pictures to celebrate a year of learning.

I hope you can tell the differences as I learn! I feel like I've grown so much in the past year.

I even made some alterations to this cake recipe, and I think this year it was even better!

Carrot Spice Cake
adapted from several recipes from Cooking LightServes 12

Cake:
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup evaporated cane juice (or substitute sugar)
2 tsps. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsps. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
3 T coconut oil, melted
1 large egg
1 T ground flax seed + 1 T water (or substitute 1 egg)
2 cups grated carrot (about 2 large carrots)
1 cup canned crushed pineapple, drained
1/2 cup applesauce
1/2 cup golden raisins

Frosting:
2 T butter, softened
1 (8 oz.) block 1/3 less-fat cream cheese, softened
4 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2 tsps. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 325°. Spray 2 9" round baking pans with cooking spray & dust with flour.
Combine flours, sugar, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a large bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Combine oil and eggs; stir well. Stir egg mixture, grated carrot, pineapple, and applesauce into flour mixture. Pour batter into prepared pans.
Bake at 325° for 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let sit in pans for 5 minutes, then invert onto wire racks and cool completely.

For frosting, beat together butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add powdered sugar and vanilla just until mixed. Spread frosting between layers and then over cake.

All Worked Out

Can we talk about how it's suddenly September? What happened to summer?

• Happy Labor Day weekend! This is my first offical one since joining the work world, as my office is actually closed on Monday. Before, it was hit or miss whether I'd work or not, so its been a treat to know in advance that I have a 3-day weekend coming up!

• We turned off the A/C over a week ago & are enjoying the breezes through our windows. Anyone else love that as much as I do?

• Every night we try to eat on the patio. It's hard to believe that for awhile it was too hot to eat out there. We were sweating into our food!

{source}
Love these! What would I do without them?!

• I switched from tank tops to t-shirts for my morning roller blading. I actually wore gloves on Wed. morning because on Tues. my hands hurt from the cold (just picture that...shorts, t-shirt, gloves. I'm stylin'). What am I going to do when it's snowy and I can't roller blade? I've gone at least 4 times a week this whole summer. I know it's old school, but it's so freeing to glide along. I used to figure skate and this is the closest I come now.

• September & October are my favorite months now that I'm out of school. I love the crisp air, the falling leaves, and the warm clothes that come with fall. Here's a post of what I was up to last September.

 

• Fall also means it's pumpkin & apple time! Cinnamon is my favorite spice and all the fall foods just beg for lots of it. Plus pumpkin beer will be back!

• I'm sure my love of fall has nothing to do with my birthday being in October. Nothing at all. But before that is my dad's birthday.

I'm pretty sure this was the night of my first demo derby. Laura & I fueled up with a bowl of black olives, our traditional appetizer. Later, I ripped my pants on the bumper of one of the demo cars.


• Tomorrow evening we'll be at the Sullivan County Fair Demolition Derby. Wooo! Totally hick, and totally fun. If you've never been to one, you must go. Just don't forget to bring earplugs.

We're all packed to leave for the cabin as soon as we get home from work. By the time you're reading this, we'll be on the way or there.

Have a wonderful weekend!!


I need to keep this in mind:

Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer's day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time.  ~J. Lubbock



Blueberry & Applesauce Cookies

Remember when I told you I had a lot of blueberries? And that I made these? I couldn't stop myself from making them again and sharing my variations. 

I healthified them and veganized them and don't worry, they're still delicious. Moist and cake-like with bursts of juicy berry. Anytime snacks...all the time snacks. Picnic food. Breakfast food. Perfection.

 

Before you rush off to your kitchen to make these, I have a plea. I know you're out there! I would love to hear your thoughts in the comment section. Tell me what you like, don't like, want me to change, want me to talk about, questions you might have, thoughts on completely unrelated topics, anything! It would be fun to hear your contributions.

Blueberry & Applesauce Cookies

Adapted from How Sweet Eats

Yield: 2 dozen cookies

4 T coconut oil, melted

1/3 c applesauce

3/4 c light brown sugar

1 flax egg (1 T ground flax + 3 T water)

1 tsp vanilla

1 c white whole wheat flour

3/4 c whole wheat flour

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 T cinnamon

splash of almond milk, as needed

1 c fresh blueberries

Preheat oven to 375. Mix flax egg and set aside to gel. Using an electric mixer, beat coconut oil, applesauce and sugar until smooth. Add flax egg and vanilla, mixing well until combined. Slowly add flours, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Mix until well blended. If dough seems dry, add in a splash of milk (I used it the first time I made these but didn't need any the second time).  Gently fold in blueberries with a spatula. Spoon on cookie tray into 1" cookies. Dough will only spread slightly while baking. Bake for 12 minutes or until set. Remove from tray and cool on cooling rack. Cookies will be moist, so store in a loosely covered container (not completely airtight).

Blueberry & Applesauce Cookies

A Dipping Dessert

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Dip. It rocks.

I first had it about 10 years ago when my aunt brought a batch to a family get together and I loved it. Then I forgot about it until I found it on Jessica's How Sweet It Is blog. Her post was actually variations on the theme - Snickerdoodle, Peanut Butter Cookie, and Chocolate Fudge. I made the original recipe and split it into 3. We had original, snickerdoodle and peanut butter.

The peanut butter was my favorite (surprise!). Actually, I can't believe I haven't talked more about peanut butter on here. I eat it on/in everything - my oatmeal, apples, bananas, toast, bagels, dipping sauce, muffins, icing, noodle salad (that wasn't a big hit...) and anything else I can get my hands on.

Can you believe my husband never heard of putting peanut butter on bagels until I asked him for it? The first time he made me one, he spread it on so thin that I could barely taste it. He's into it now, though, and it a little more generous with the pb. :-)

Maybe we could just have some wine with that?