healthy blueberry donuts

Yay for Blueberry season!  I can't get enough of these juicy little bombs of deliciousness.  The kids and I have gone out, every week (sometimes twice) since blueberries came on and I still can't get enough of them.  I feel like I need about twice as much as I've already gotten and then I will have enough.

Today I gave a regular donut recipe a tweak to make it healthy and if you are expecting them to taste not healthy, you will be a tad disapointed.  They are delicious, but it's fairly obvious they are not packed with sugar and butter.  I'm not posting a poorly staged photo today because my computer hates me.  Rest assured that I took a poorly staged photo, I just can't post it.

I used fresh blueberries and they are really best as they don't bleed and they hold their shape well.  You can also use frozen though.  I like to thaw them in the fridge overnight.

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup honey
2 large eggs
1/2 cup almond milk (regular milk will work fine too)
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup fresh blueberries

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.  Grease 2-6 well donut pans.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.  Set aside
3. In another bowl, whisk together eggs, honey, milk, oil, vanilla and almond extracts.  Add the flour mixture and mix with a rubber spatula until just combined.
4.  There's a couple ways you can do this next step.  You can then gently fold in the blueberries and spoon them into the donut wells, or you can do what I did.  I spooned the batter into a ziplock bag and snipped off the corner, then I piped a small amount into each well.  Pressed 5-10 blueberries (depending on how big they are) into each donut and piped some more batter on top.  The wells should be about 2/3 full when done.
5. Bake in preheated oven until donut springs back when lightly touched.  10-12 minutes
6.  Let donuts cool in pan for a few minutes before turning out onto cooling rack.

Happy baking!

summertime

Every summer (well, the last three at least) I vow to make it the best summer ever.  I have a billion things I want to fit in before school starts again, and it always goes so fast and I never get half of them in.  Last summer I got a fair amount in, and I'd say it was a good summer.  However, in order to do all I did, I neglected a great deal and things got a little crazy on the homefront.  So, in preperation for the up and coming summer I'm trying to get things all lined up and priorities straightened out and written down and what not.  One thing that has fallen by the wayside recently is my personal scripture study.  I have it scheduled for the morning, but inevitably I fall behind and I just can't fit it in, so I say I'll do it after the kids are down in the evening, but I just forget.  I know if I make it a priority my days will go better and my home will run smoother, so why is it so hard to fit in?  Anyone?  Yes, I also am baffled.  With all this in mind, I'm sure you know what's coming.  A chart.  There are a ton of reading charts out there and I haven't the patience to go through them all and pick the one I like best, that's a thing I usually delegate (and I'm still going to), but I just grabbed the first one that caught my eye and printed it out.  I'm attaching the link.  I like it because it's also a bookmark, which makes me want to laminate it, but then I wouldn't be able to color it in, so...

I hereby pledge that I will be more diligent in my scripture study.  I need your support, so post your encouragment and helpful ideas in the comments and someone please print me out a better chart when you find one.  

http://robandmichelleharris.blogspot.com/2012/01/book-of-mormon-reading-chart-printable.html?m=1

why didn't that link work?  Just copy and paste it.  

Also, I boiled a whole pot of water down and burned the pan while I was writing this post.  It's yet another reason I shouldn't blog.  And yet I do.  I do it for you, all for you.  And some for me.

P.S.  This is not a recipe, but scriputer reading is a healthy habit.  As is trash can cleaning. 

Apple Pie Oatmeal cookies

Here is a lovely plaguerized picture for you.  Trust me, it more accurately depicts the deliciousness of the finished product.  You're welcome.

These were really good and healthy enough that I thought them an appropriate breakfast food. In fact, they turned out a little more cakey than chewy and I thought about altering them a little and making them into a muffin.  More on that if I ever get around to it.

I've realized that I hardly ever make the recipe as I find it and always alter it a little here and there, so instead of copying and pasting and then telling you I did this different and I did that different, I've decided to just take the time to write the recipe I followed.  As always, you can substitute flours and sugars and butter for whatever flour I have and oil and agave, but then you may not feel as good about eating it for breakfast.

Ingrediants:
1 cup rolled oats (or instant works too)
3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 large egg, room temp
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup agave
1 cup finely diced apple of your choice

1. Whilsk together the oats, flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt in a medium bowl.  In a seperate bowl, whisk together the olive oil, egg and vanilla.  Stir in the agave.  Add in the flour mixture, stirring just until incorporated.  Fold in the apple.  Chill for 30 minutes (don't skip that step, it's important).
2.  Preheat the oven to 325 and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat (don't skip this one either, you will regret it).
3.  Drop the cookie dough into 15 rounded scoops onto the prepared sheet and flatten slightly.  bake at 325 for 13-15 minutes.  Cool on the pan for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack.

I hope you enjoy these as much as I did.

quinoa stuffed squash

Today I was given these beautiful crookneck squash by my dear sister-in-law's grandmother.  They were the inspiration for dinner tonight (my children were not pleased).  Get ready people, you are in for a treat.  My first attempt to write my own recipe.

Things you will need (AKA stuff I had on hand):
1 cup quinoa
2 cups water
1 bullion cube (I used chicken, but veggie would be good too)
3 crookneck squash (other squash would probably work fine too, though you'd need more than 3)
1 large onion
1 cup halved cherry tomatoes
1/3 cup minced fresh basil (or other herbs of your choosing)
1 Tablespoon nutritional yeast (or Parmesan if you prefer)
1 Tablespoon white wine vinegar
2 Italian vegetarian sausage links (or regular sausage or no sausage at all!)
salt to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Bring 2 cups water and bullion to a boil, add quinoa, reduce heat, cover and simmer 20 minutes (or throw it all in the rice cooker, works like a charm).

While the quinoa is cooking, slice your squash in half and scrape out all the insides.  Give the seeds and stringy stuff to the chickens, or compost it, or whatever you like to do with that stuff.  Scrape out as much of the rest of the inside of the gourd as you can, reserving it to go back in the middle.  If it's excessively wet, set it on a paper towel to absorb some of that moisture. 

Set the shells of your beautiful squash plants face up on a baking sheet and drizzle them with oil and sprinkle them with a little sea salt, or kosher salt, or whatever kind of salt you have laying around. 

In a large saute pan, cook diced onion in a little olive oil over medium high heat for about  5 minutes or until it starts to brown.  While your onion is cooking dice up that scraped out squash into bite size pieces.  Take the casing off the sausage and chop it up as well. Add the squash and the tomatoes to the pan to cook with the onions.  Turn heat down to medium and cook five minutes more.  Please note that the sausage I used was vegetarian, if you are using regular sausage, make sure it is mostly cooked through. 

When your quinoa is done cooking add it to the saute pan with the nutritional yeast (or parmesan), fresh herbs and white wine vinegar.  Stir to combine.  Season to taste with salt (and anything else you might want to throw in there.  Heat through.  Scoop mixture into your hollowed out gourd shells.  Pile em high.  Mine looked like this.

I wish I had scraped those gourds a little more.  I ended up cutting out some of the squash after I cooked it to eat.  The outside was woody and not very chewable (which didn't stop me from trying to eat it), but the inside was delicious.  Also, I can't figure out how to rotate that picture. 

OK, cover those bad boys with foil and bake them for 30 minutes, then remove the foil and give em another 10 minutes in the oven. 

Here's my finish product.

Ooooh, yeeeah.  Scrumptious.
The hubs and all the kids except Solveig liked it.  The baby screamed through the whole meal, which I took to mean he really wanted some too.