Lemon Ricotta Tart with Walnut Ginger Snap Crust and Wild Blueberries {gluten and sugar free}

Lemon plays a star role in complementing these Wild Blueberries. This rustic tart will be the star to any main dish you serve.

“By posting this recipe I am entering a recipe contest sponsored by the Wild Blueberry Association of North America and am eligible to win prizes associated with the contest. I was not compensated for my time.”

Sometimes it really pays to be a food blogger. Not necessarily in the monetary sense, which would be nice too but in the sense that I get introduced to all kinds of knew ingredients and foods. I've always looooved  berries, especially blueberries (to be honest, black berries are my fav). The only time I've experienced actual 'wild berries' was once in Sedona, Az. when I was in my early 20's and we went blackberry picking along the Creek. Heaven.

We were armed with small, plastic buckets and wore cotton tank tops and simple shorts and our feet adorned very stylish Teva sandals {it was the 90's}. We parked our jeep along the side of the road, a suicide mission by any standards seeing as that the very narrow and curvy scenic Route 89a has no shoulder to speak of and the tourists are whizzing around the blind bends of the 2 way road trying to catch a peek at beautiful Oak Creek. 

Scuffling down the steep ravine we made our way into the cool shade of the trees along Oak Creek. Wading through the shallow, cool water we made our way to the other side where we were told wild berries awaited us. We picked to our content. The plump, warm berries from the bush and put almost as many in our buckets as we did our mouths. The sound of the creek to our backs and the sun on our shoulders.

I've gone and gotten off course again. Memories. Now I must get back up to Sedona for another spontaneous road trip. It's less than 2 hours from our home in Phoenix! Lucky ducks. My point and I do have one {will be written on my gravestone} is that my exposure to wild berries is limited and in the past. Now that I know how accessible wild blueberries are, I'm one very happy girl. 

{side note, I easily found my Wild Blueberries at my local Sprouts in the freezer section.}

image courtesy Sedona Pictures

image courtesy The Greening of Sedona

So I've told you how special wild berries are to me. Nothing compares. I cringe at the thought of how far most grocery store berries have traveled. In the words of Barbara Kingsolver, probably "further than most of us will ever travel on vacation in our lives". Where's the freshness in that?

Go Wild Blueberries!

All blueberries are not alike! Wild Blueberries are the little ones that grow naturally in the fields and barrens of Maine, eastern Canada and Quebec.

One of North America’s native berries, Wild Blueberries are lowbush varieties that are never planted and are harvested commercially only in this special place.

Wild Blueberries have not been modified or meddled with by man to make them larger or easier to ship – they are the same berry that existed over 10,000 years ago. Mother Nature’s original blueberry.

Wild Blueberries have advantages over the larger cultivated blueberries, including:

• Intense flavor & color

• More berries per pound

• Less water, so they freeze better and perform better in baking

• Higher concentration of beneficial phytochemicals, making them a more powerful ally against disease

• Wild = more protective phytochemicals in every serving

• Wild Blueberries are leaders in antioxidant capacity; They are rich in anthocyanin, which has powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties which may help prevent chronic diseases

• Anthocyanin is a flavonoid found in the deep blue pigments of Wild Blueberries, giving them their color and their antioxidant power. We call it the “The Power of Wild Blue”

Wild Blueberries are the subject of hundreds of research studies looking at potential benefits to humans including:

• Brain health
• Anti-aging
• Heart health
• Diabetes prevention
• Cancer prevention
• Reducing oxidative stress
• Preventing UTIs
• Eye health
• Most Wild Blueberries are frozen at harvest, locking in their intense blueberry flavor and antioxidant power
• Frozen Fresh Wild Blueberries are just as nutritious as fresh and may even retain their nutritional value longer
• Frozen Fresh Wild Blueberries are available year-round; they can be used right out of the freezer – no thawing required
• Frozen Fresh Wild Blueberries make it easy to get your “Daily Dose of Wild Blue”
• Frozen Wild Blueberries are an excellent value, they offer consistent quality, ease of use, high antioxidant content, health benefits, less spoilage, affordability.

Lemon Ricotta Tart with Walnut Ginger Snap Crust and Wild Blueberries

Gluten Free + Sugar Free = Guilt Free

For the Crust 

3/4 cup walnuts 

1 cup gluten free ginger snap cookies  (regular will do) 

1 large egg white 

1 tablespoon butter, melted 

2 teaspoons canola oil 

1/4 teaspoon salt 

Coarsely chop walnuts in a food processor. Add ginger snap cookies and pulse a few times until the mixture looks like crumbs. Whisk egg white in a medium bowl until frothy. Add the crumb mixture, butter, oil and salt; stir to combine. 

Press the mixture into the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch removable-bottom tart pan. Set the pan on a baking sheet. Bake until dry and slightly darker around the edges, about 10 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.  

notes: If using an 11" tart pan more commonly used for frittatas like I have, you will need to make 1.5x the recipe and increase the baking time on the crust by 5-7 minutes and increase the cooking time on the finished tart (with the custard) by approximately 12-15 minutes.



For the Filling 

2 cups part skim ricotta 

1 cup Monk Fruit in the Raw *see notes (or Turbinado/Raw Organic sugar) 

zest from 2 lemons (about 3 tablespoons) 

4 large eggs (Free range 

Juice from 2 large lemons (about 3/4 cup) 

1 teaspoon real vanilla extract 

pinch of salt 

1 cup Wild Blueberries

Preheat oven to 400F.  

Using a stand or electric mixer with paddle, beat ricotta on medium speed until softened and fluffy. Gradually beat in Monk Fruit in the Raw (or Turbinado sugar) until light and fluffy. Add lemon rind then eggs, one at a time, to prevent curdling. Add a pinch of salt, lemon juice and vanilla and beat until smooth and well blended. 

Pour mixture into walnut crust and bake for 15 minutes at 400F. Reduce heat to 380F  and bake for another 35 minutes, until the custard is slightly firm and does not jiggle.  Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes. 

Simply sprinkle thawed Wild Blueberries over the top of the custard, slice and serve warm.

notes: A warm sauce would be amazing drizzled over this custard. Simply combine Wild blueberries, 1/2 cup water, 2 tablespoons honey in a sauce pot and cook over medium-low heat 10 minutes, stirring till thick and bubbly. What is Monk Fruit?  

Where can you find Monk Fruit in the Raw? It's a very new product so unless you live on the East coast you will probably have to order it on line. If you do, please help support Simply Healthy Family by ordering it from our Amazon store here.

Ricotta filling recipe adapted from ninemsn 

Monster Eyeballs! {Purple Berry Macaroons}

Happy Halloween peeps! Everyone knows that Halloween means you're in for a sugar overload. If your a mom you know that the entire month of October means sugar overload central, prepare the insulin for a diabetic coma any second sort of situation. Seriously. I volunteered at my 3rd graders Halloween party (still amazed someone hasn't petitioned, rallied and picketed that it be renamed "Fall Harvest Festivities Celebrations") and the amount of cookies, cupcakes, candies, fruit punch and crackers that were involved made me cringe.






Why people? Why must Halloween be associated with buckets or pillowcases full of sugar? Every year I struggle with either not passing out anything at all (which I just can't bring myself to do) or handing out prizes and toys which I tried one year and got egged for the trouble. Damn teenagers.


Which coincidentally brings me to cookies. Obviously. Am I a hypocrite? Possibly, but I'm talking macaroons people. Yes, coconut is a sugar, natural or not. I've debated this to death and am standing my ground that...

a. Yes, sugar is sugar but all things in moderation.
b. Not all sugar is created equal, natural is better than processed.
and
c. I like coconut so who gives a crap.

 Creepy, [naturally] sweetened cookies. 

Berries + Coconut + Bananas & Chocolate = ?

Deliciously spooky monster eyeballs of course! Frieking out your little ones is just an added bonus.

These come together in minutes, literally. Confession: I am not the worlds greatest baker. Anything involving sifting, fluffing, or basically measuring precisely quite frankly puts me off. 

These macaroons I made with ease with the help of my 4 year old, who oddly enough 'loooooveees' to bake.

You could use marshmallows which honestly would probably hold their shape and color better than these bananas did but I wasn't going for show quality here. 

I used a bigger, restaurant type straw to punch holes in the center of the bananas so that the

chocolate pieces would stay put. I used chocolate covered Acai berries to put in the middle but

any type of small chocolate candy will work.

Recipe from Leanne at Healthful Pursuit

PREP TIME 15 MINUTES      BAKE TIME    30 MINUTES      YIELDS    24 COOKIES

Ingredients 

2 teaspoon freshly ground chia seeds3 tablespoons water1 cup frozen mixed berries1 tablespoon honey½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1½ cups shredded unsweetened coconut1 banana, sliced with holes punched into the middle of each slicechocolate covered Acai berries or other chocolate pieces 

Instructions 

1. Combine chia and water in a small dish and set aside.

1. Preheat oven to 300F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicon baking mat. Set aside.

1. Add mixed berries, honey, and extracts to a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Begin to stir constantly until liquid reduces to half and it fairy thick but not syrupy. Remove and place in a medium-sized bowl.

1. Add chia mixture. Add coconut and mix with a spoon until it’s completely coated.

1. Place tablespoon amounts in the palm of your hand and work into circles. Press down to make into a coin shape and place on the prepared baking sheet.

1. Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes.

1. Remove from the oven and place banana and chocolate piece on top.

1. Return to the oven and cook for 2-3 minutes. 

1. Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly before removing from the cookie sheet and placing on a cooling rack.

Lazy Black Berry-Peach 'Pie'

It pains me to finally get around to posting this recipe at the very end of summer. I hope it doesn't get skipped over by people who are over seeing peach recipes. My mom made this for us a couple of times while she was living here with us and I've made it twice with the intent of getting some great pic's of the finished product so I can share it with all of you. Unfortunately, this is one of those recipes that doesn't last long enough for me to set it on the counter and take pictures of it.

I could blame it completely on my 4 hungry children but in all honesty, the smell is just so divine that I can't help but scoop out seeping hot spoonfuls of freshly baked peaches and oozy blackberries into my dish as soon as it's out of the oven.

My mom's recipe calls this "Lazy Peach Pie" but it's really more of a cobbler I think. Whatever you call it, the preparation is so crazy simple that even I don't mind baking it for a last minute delicious dessert. Even though peaches are a summer fruit, you can really stick to the theme of being 'Lazy' and buy frozen or even canned peaches to throw into this pie during the Fall and Winter months. I can just picture cuddling in a thick quilt with a piping hot bowl of this pie with a bit of cream poured over top.

Making the batter is as simple as 1...2....3.

Then, fold in your peaches be they fresh, frozen or canned.

Pour into your baking dish.

Sprinkle some black berries over the top. I had about twice this much before a very curious 2 year old grabbed the cup of berries sitting on the counter and dumped half of them on the floor. 

Sabotage I tell you!

Bake for 45 minutes and enjoy the smell.

RECIPE FOR LAZY BLACK BERRY-PEACH PIE


SERVES  6        TIME 1 HOUR

You Will Need:


1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup turbinado (raw) sugar
1 cup flour, preferably white, whole wheat
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon real vanilla
1 cup milk
2 cups fruit




Directions:


Cream butter and sugar. Sift together dry ingredients, add alternately with milk to butter mixture.
Fold in fruit. Pour into baking dish. Top with berries.
Bake at 375F deg. for 45 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.
Scoop into bowls and pour a bit of cream over top if you wish.

Crock Pot Barley Pilaf with Summer Squash, Sugar Snap Peas and Fresh Berries with Citrus-Mint Dressing

This is another recipe that I came up with out of necessity for a few reasons.

One.  It's to stinking hot to even consider turning the stove on. The thought of it makes me tired and cranky.

Two.  My budget is less than glamorous at the moment and so I'm having to get really creative with my meatless dinner recipes so as not to have a full on revolt happening. Four meat loving kids and a hungry husband can be dangerous unless I come up with something filling and flavorful for dinner.

Three.  I have a big bag of barley in my pantry that has been staring at me for the last several weeks asking me why it's been neglected.





Well, necessity is the mother of invention right? And this one turned out so very good that I decided to share it with you lovely people. Barley is a whole grain and very healthy. When I think of barley my mind goes straight to barley soup made with mushrooms, carrots and maybe beef. I can't even imagine eating soup while it's 118F degrees outside so I went with my usual flawless plan; a crock pot, more veggies and a bit of fruit to sweeten it up. Bravo!



Throwing the barley and dried mushrooms (best invention ever) into the crock pot with home made chicken stock was simple and sweat free. I tossed in some summer squash and sugar snap peas, raw and threw together a simple mint vinaigrette using my cute little hydroponic mint plant really pulled this together into a sweet dinner. Even the kids liked it!



TIME    4 HOURS (CROCK POT)        SERVES 6

Ingredients:

1 cup dried barley
3 cups chicken broth (preferably home made)
handful of dried mushrooms (I used shitake)
1 teaspoon salt
3 summer squash (yellow)
large handful sugar snap peas
large handful fresh blueberries
4-6 fresh strawberries, sliced
1/2 cup slivered almonds or nut of choice
chopped lettuce to serve on (I used a head of red leaf because it was cheaper)


Place barley, broth, salt and dried mushrooms in crock pot. Cook on med-high heat for about 4 hours checking after 3 hours.

Meanwhile, chop squash into small bite size pieces, slice strawberries and sugar snap peas. When barley is done spoon on top of chopped lettuce and sprinkle veggies and fruits and nuts over top. Serve with Citrus Mint Dressing.  (A Strawberry Vinegraitte would be nice too)


FOR THE DRESSING

1/4 cup fresh mint leaves from your cute little indoor herb garden
1 clove garlic or shallot
1/3 cup freshly squeezed lime or orange juice depending on your fancy
1/4 cup EVOO or  grape seed oil
if you prefer you could use vinegar instead of citrus. I've used both.
1/3 cup white wine or champagne vinegar

Blend all ingredients in a blender until combined. You can whisk if you'd like but I find the ingredients tend to separate much faster.

This post is linked to:

Fresh Food Friday
Seasonal Saturdays
21st Century House Wife
Tasty Tuesday's

Coconut Almond Oat Crunchies: Teacher Appreciation Week ideas and downloads.

This week is Teacher Appreciation Week. Yay for all of our wonderful teachers! My son Jack is in Kindergarten and his school is having a different theme each day to celebrate the teachers. Today is 'Fruit of Knowledge Day'.  We made these wonderful cookies that I got from Anja's Food for Thought and just added  fresh berries to the cut out flowers and butterflies. We packaged them up cute and sent them to Jack's wonderful {very patient} Kindergarten teacher Ms. G.

 

Teachers just don't get paid enough!  I can't imagine trying to keep all those little kids quiet and focused all day long. I have a hard time doing it with just 4! Other nice ideas to give to your favorite teacher would be school supplies or a gift card to an office store. Or a gift card to a restaurant or coffee shop.

What are you doing for your favorite teacher? OR If you are a teacher what are your favorite gifts?

Tomorrow is 'Plant or Flowers Day' I came across this cute idea on Barefoot by the Sea's blog for personalizing a little plant for your teachers. It comes from Skip to my Lou. She has kindly offered a free PDF download so you can personalize these cute flower tags with your child's name and print them out.

I used shredded coconut instead of grated to make them chewier and for the

 coconut to stand out more.

Coconut Almond Oat Crunchies

recipe from Anja's Food for Thought

Ingredients:

2/3 cup whole wheat flour


2/3 cup rolled oats

2/3 cup fresh grated coconut (plus more for sprinkling)

1/2 cup almonds, finely chopped

1/3 cup palm sugar (Raw sugar)

1/3 cup melted butter

2 teaspoons maple syrup or honey  {*I used brown rice syrup}

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2 tablespoons boiling water



Yields 15-20

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Preheat oven to 165C/325F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, combine flour, oats, coconut, almonds and palm sugar. Set aside.

Melt the butter. Take off the heat and stir in maple syrup. Set aside.

In a small bowl or cup combine baking soda with boiling water, then add to the butter mixture. Mix wet ingredients with dry ingredients until well combined.

Press the batter into the baking sheet, about 1/2 inch thick. Sprinkle with grated coconut. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until lightly brown. Remove from the oven and cut into squares. Return crunchies into the switched-off oven, and let them dry out for another 10 minutes.

Remove from the pan, once they are cooled completely.

 
 
What is brown rice syrup?


Brown rice syrup is a vegan and gluten-free liquid sugar substitute that can be used in baking and cooking to sweeten foods with less calories and to avoid the use of refined sugar. Vegans may prefer brown rice syrup to refined sugar, which is sometimes refined using bone char from animals. With a sticky, gooey consistency similar to honey, brown rice syrup tastes very sweet, but has a flavor much different from other sweeteners, such as honey and agave nectar. It is low on the glycemic index and it is all-natural, nearly always organic, and probably one of the healthiest sugar substitutes available, with the exception of stevia.


 
 
 

Kefir vs. Yogurt. Put This On Your Grocery List Today!

Kefir is a fermented milk drink. The word kefir is said to have originated from the Turkish word "Keif" which means "good feeling". Kefir dates back many centuries to the shepherds of the Caucasus Mountains who carried kefir grains in milk stored in leather pouches where it would ferment into fizzy sour yogurt. Doesn't sound appetizing? Well actually it is! A diet of kefir grains is what's been attributed the long and healthy life of the people of the Caucasus Mountains.


What makes kefir so good for you? Inside the kefir grains are billions and billions of live beneficial bacteria.
When ingested, these bacteria literally cleans your body of bad bacteria and other harmful things that shouldn't be there. Immediately after drinking kefir you feel fresh and relaxed.

In addition to beneficial bacteria and yeast, kefir contains many vitamins, minerals, amino acids and enzymes. Particularly calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, B2 and B12, vitamin K, vitamin A and vitamin D. Tryptophan, one of the essential amino acids abundant in kefir, is well known for its relaxing effect on the nervous system.

So, how is Kefir different than the yogurt that we all know and love?

Click 'read more'  below to find out!

Well, when comparing probiotics, kefir has about 5 times more friendly bacteria than yogurt. And the diversity of those beneficial bacteria are much wider than those in yogurt. Think of it as really, really smart yogurt!

Most yogurts that people buy contain a ton of sugar or artificial sweeteners, even the ones labeled 'healthy'.
Kefir is absolutely positively wonderful tasting and contains no added sugars or artificial additives.
Instead of buying those flavored yogurts or yogurt smoothies, buy some kefir next time instead!

Also, the abundance of enzymes in kefir brings more health benefits than yogurt, especially to lactose intolerant people, many of whom can tolerate kefir without difficulty, as long as the kefir is raw and not cooked (cooking destroys the enzymes). How is this possible? Kefir's beneficial yeast and bacteria provide alctase, an enzyme whic consumes most of the lactose left after the culturing process.


Unlike yogurt, kefir can help protect and repair your gut after you've taken antibiotics! I drink kefir daily as do my kiddos. I attribute this along with a diet rich if fruits and veggies to the fact that none of us get sick nearly as much as we used to, and when we do it's much less severe and short lived.

 My Kefir Parfait 

Some of the ways we enjoy tart, creamy and delicious kefir:

• Kefir Parfait's with fresh berries and home made granola
• In a banana-strawberry smoothie
• I switch out my babies cow milk bottle for a bottle of kefir every day.
• Straight out of the bottle for a mid-morning pick me up, Yum!

picture from Lifeway Kefir

For those of you who want to lose weight,  having kefir as part of your diet could make you shave unwanted weight faster. Because kefir has probiotics, it speeds up the your body’s metabolism letting your body burn more fats and calories even if you’re only spending your normal workout time.





Amazing Health Benefits of Kefir You'll Feel Right Away:

1.Strongest natural remedy against any allergy


2.Strongest natural antibiotic without side effects

3.Treats liver disease

4.Treats gallbladder, dissolves gall bladder stones

5.Clears the body of salts, heavy metals, radionuclides, and alcoholic products

6.Cleans the body of chemical antibiotics

7.Treats kidney stones

8.Good bacteria in kefir are able to fight off pathogenic microorganisms

9.Lowers level of LDL cholesterol

10.Cleans the gastrointestinal tract

11.Irritable Bowel Syndrome

12.Treats gastritis

13.Treats pancreatitis

14.Treats ulcers

15.Prevents and treats colon cancer

16.Improves digestion

17.Improves the body functions

18.Improves the human immune system

19.Cures Candida yeast infections

20.Cures hypertension

21.Stops growth of cancer cells

22.Speeds up healing process

23.Treats psoriasis

24.Treats eczema

25.Treats inflammatory diseases

26.Reduces size of tumors

27.Treats heart disease

28.Reverses calcination of blood vessels

29.Clears the blood vessels

30.Boosts the bodies energy

31.Natural “feel good” food

32.Treats lung infections

33.Normalizes metabolism thereby can be used as for weight loss

34.Cures acne

35.Has anti-oxidants and anti-aging properties

36.Nourishes hair

37.Treats the gum disease parodontosis

38.Lessens effects of medicines

39.Replenishes body of good bacteria after antibiotic

40.Balances the microflora of the body’s digestive system

41.Regulates blood pressure

42.Lowers blood sugar

43.Lowers blood lipid levels or cholesterol and fatty acids

44.Treats diarrhea

45.Treats constipation

46.Promotes bowel movement

47.Anti-stress properties

48.Treats sleeping disorders

49.Treats depression

50.Treats attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

51.Improves the brains neuro functions like reflexes, memory retention, attention, the five senses

52.Reduces flatulence

53.Lactic acid fermentation enhances the digestibility of milk based foods. People who cannot otherwise digest milk, can enjoy the vital calcium rich Kefir.

54.Treats yeast infection

55.Eliminates vaginal odors

56.Cures wrinkles

57.Treats arthritis

58.Treats colitis

59.Treats gout

60.Cures migraines

61.Treats rheumatism

62.Treats other stomach disorders

63.Detoxifies the body

64.Improves protein quality of milk, and enhances absorption and digestion

65.Good bacteria manufacture B vitamins such as B3, B6 and folic acid.

66.Aids in treating tuberculosis

67.Treats stomach cramps

68.Treats chronic intestine infections

69.Treats liver infections

70.Treats asthma

71.Treats bronchitis

72.Treats sclerosis

73.Treats anemia

74.Treats hepatitis

75.Healing effects on catarrh, digestive nodes, astral nodes, bilious complaints

76.Treats leaky gut syndrome

77.Prevents metastasis

78.Cures bad morning breath

 
 

Think it's to good to be true?

Don't take my word for it, start drinking kefir regularly and you'll quickly see the many benefits for yourself.

 
 

So put Kefir on your grocery list right away and get feeling better!

 

 
 
 
 
 

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This post is linked to

La Bella Vita's 'Seasonal Saturday's'
Paisly Passion 'Fun with Food Friday'
 
 
Resources
 
Seeds of Health
Your Kefir source
Be Well Buzz

Berry Stella Cookies from Eden Kitchen!

Why do you blog? To share stories and pictures, to journal your thoughts or travels, for a creative outlet?

I started Simply Healthy family just a few short months ago. I have always loved cooking from scratch. I love how I can create so many wonderful, savoury meals from so many cultures in my very own kitchen. I also wanted to catalogue our family's favourite recipes and maybe make a recipe book someday for me and my friends and family. Lastly, I am passionate about healthy eating and wanted to share just how easy it is to make home made, healthy meals in hopes that people will see that I have 4 children who actually eat healthy and be inspired to give healthy a try.

Those are the reasons I started this blog. In the last few months I have grown to LOVE all of the wonderful foodie sites out there and meeting some really wonderful people. Some of whom I really feel like I know and consider friends. Weird huh?

Lately, I have been cooking quite a bit from fellow foodies blogs and have come across some seriously wonderful dishes and snacks! I feel fortunate to have come across these recipes from all over the world that I would never have otherwise tried.

This brings me to my point. Stick with me....

 I so appreciate that these people have taken the time and love to share their recipes, I know how much time goes into food blogging! I have read about some fellow foodie friends frustrations with people who comment without even reading the posts let alone with the intention of actually trying the recipe. If your anything like me, I really would love people to try my recipes and let me know what they think. In return, like I already mentioned, I cook at least once a week from others blogs/sites and love to let them know how wonderful it was and especially to give a "shout out" on my blog so that others can find these recipes too. I try to only post recipes on Simply Healthy Family that are "family friendly".  This means, they are fairly simple, inexpensive and my kids will eat them (some days are better than others). This does NOT mean that they are bland or boring or your typical "kids foods" like chicken nuggets and mac n' cheese, I don't want to eat that crap.

So, I hope your still with me!! I usually try to keep it short so as not to lose people's attention.
THIS IS THE BEST PART OF THE POST, I PROMISE!!!
 I recently came across a wonderful site with so many amazing recipes I just had to share. Joe from Eden Kitchen who shares my passion for healthy yet delicious foods and I really wanted to do a Shout Out or Guest Post or Simply Share The Love.

Fellow Foodie Friends, meet Joe. I sure hope you check out his wonderful site!

Hi there, my name is Joe Rich. Based in Auckland, New Zealand, edenkitchen.com is all about my favourite recipes and food discoveries.


I am passionate about healthy food. I love cooking with natural, whole foods and fresh produce that's in season - creating food that has real flavour and natural goodness. Thanks!


I wasn’t sure what to call this recipe. I don’t usually go for gimmicky names; I much prefer to call out the predominant or unique characteristics of a recipe and work that into the name. But these oatmeal cookies have a lot of good things I just can’t squeeze into the name. First, they’re about the healthiest cookie you can make before it really stops tasting like a cookie. I used a little maple syrup in place of cane sugar and a good dose of coconut oil, macadamias, flax seed and berries. So these cookies pack in a lot of goodness; protein from the nuts, fibre from the oats and flax seed, lauric acid from the coconut oil, and phytonutrients in the berries. Whoa!



Then there’s the wonderful crunchiness thanks to the medley of oats, desiccated coconut, macadamias and flax seed. And finally, each cookie is bejeweled with a small handful of raspberries and black currants, giving them a lip-smackingly good berry tang. Trust me – they are as good as I’m making them sound.

So what should I call them? Macadamia Berry Oatmeal Cookies? Coconut Macadamia Berry Oatmeal Cookies? You get the idea… It just won’t all fit. So I settled on Berry Stella Cookies. I think it has a nice ring to it and seems to sum up both the flavor and the health(ier) factor.



Berry Stella Cookies Recipe


My cookie cutters didn’t cut through the oats very well and made the edges crumble a little so I ended up pressing the dough into each cutter and working it into the desired shape. It is a little time consuming but gives a much better shape. If you don’t have OCD you could simply roll them into balls, flatten them a little, and be done with the cutters altogether.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour (or zentrofan fine wheat flour or all-purpose flour)


• 1 cup desiccated coconut


• 1 cup rolled oats


• ½ cup macadamias


• ¼ cup flax seeds, ground


• ½ teaspoon fine ground sea salt


• ¾ teaspoon baking soda


• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract


• ½ cup maple syrup


• ½ cup virgin coconut oil


• ½ cup black currants and/or raspberries (fresh or frozen)

Preheat oven to 350°F/ 180°C. Position a rack in the upper third of the oven and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Pulse the macadamias in a food processor until they resemble coarse breadcrumbs. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, desiccated coconut, oats, macadamias, flax seed, salt and baking soda.

Add the vanilla extract, coconut oil, and maple syrup and mix until well combined. If using cookie cutters scoop 2 tablespoons of the dough into each cutter following the instructions above. Otherwise simply roll the scooped dough into balls and flatten them a little.

Lightly press and small handful of frozen berries onto each cookie and bake in the upper third of oven for 13-15 minutes, or until golden on top and bottom.

Makes about 20-25 cookies.

Tofu-Berry Morning Smoothie

If your anything like me, you get completely bored with breakfast every once and a while. I don't like to give the kids cold cereal very often because most all of them are laden with sugar and processed flour. Also, if you could see how much these 3 boys eat you would know that they easily scarf down a big box of cereal and well, boxed cereal is like $4 ea. That adds up fast. So that leaves the old reliable oatmeal. Even though we doll it up with pecans, flax, honey and dried fruit you can only eat so much oatmeal. That goes for eggs too.
Smoothies are always a fun treat and perfectly nutritious when made with healthy ingredients. You can always use plain, non-fat yogurt or Greek yogurt as a base, then add fruit of choice.

This time I used some soft Organic Tofu instead of yogurt for the protein. I freeze fresh blueberries when they are in season and chopped up frozen banana so the smoothies are nice and cold. That's it, blend it all up, add a tablespoon of flax meal for added Omega's and you have a super power breakfast smoothie!
These will wake you up and keep you energized much longer than cold cereal. Perfect breakfast for kids going to school!

Baby Mona gives her smile of approval!

Berry-Orange Julius Smoothie

Isn't it funny what you remember from your childhood? Things that scared you half-to-death that you laugh at now. Things that you thought you absolutely, positively couldn't live without that seem so trivial in retrospect. Small things that brought you such happiness as a child so as that they imprinted a certain magic of sorts on your soul. And when you come across them years later you are flooded with nostalgic happiness. Few things bring such memories rushing me back to my childhood and Orange Julius' are one of them. We didn't get many sweet treats when I was little. A fact that I tolerated belligerently then but appreciate greatly now. A tradition that my children have begrudgingly been placed upon. Once or Twice a month at most my healthy conscience, and looking back budget conscience mother packed all four of us up and we went to the market or the mall for a sweet treat.

Orange Julius' were my absolute favorite, hands down. I could hardly contain myself as we stood in the always endlessly long line waiting for our Icy, sweet Julius treat. It's funny, back then I thought they were good for you, they were full of fruit right? Hmmmmm. Good thing I didnt' have to worry about that then.

Well , Orange Julius has long since been gone, replaced by another fad of the moment. I've been making my own various tropical smoothies and juices for my family for special treats and had all but forgotten about Orange Julius'. Then, last week, my mom handed me what I thought was our usual mixed berry-yogurt smoothie.  I took a sip........ and schazaaaam, was blasted into my childhood via my taste buds!

What was this magical concoction that has eluded me all these years? This simple recipe that brings back memories of happiness and childhood bliss. I'll tell you, and only because not only is it tear inducing delicious, but contains NO sugar! This may not mean much to you if you've never had a sugar-laden Orange Julius, but let me tell you, it's BIG TIME!


Berry-Orange Julius Smoothie 


1 cup mixed frozen berries

2 cups non-fat, plain yogurt

1 ripe banana

1 tablespoon Flax Meal ( ground, toasted flax seed)

3 small pieces frozen orange peel 

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine all ingredients in blender and blend on high till smooth. That's it! Simple, yummy happiness!!

Frozen orange peel is the key ingredient, vanilla too I guess. I've been giving my mom a hard time for peeling and saving orange peels. She gives a small amount of them to my kids as snacks occasionally and boasts that they contain super levels of vitamin C and antioxidants, only found in the peel. My little ones chomp them up to my amazement and now they have found an even greater purpose as far as I'm concerned!