Juli Ford

apples...part four...applesauce

This was such a fun day for me.  I got really nostalgic about doing this as a kid with my mom and my brother.  When we went apple picking last week-end, I called my mom to see if she still had our old food mill but it was apparently long gone.  So I went on a search for one and it was not easy to find!  Of course, you can make applesauce without a food mill.  But I couldn't imagine doing it any other way.  So we ended up at Charlie's Hardware (doesn't that just crack you up?) where we finally found our Foley Food Mill and it was love at first turn for all of us.

Our recipe was ...apples.  Oh, and a little bit of cinnamon, of course.  Delicious!

apples...part two...muffins

We love the following recipe which we have adapted a bit from one given to us in our Waldorf parent-child class.  The original recipe was for zucchini muffins but it can be easily used for carrot or apple muffins as well.

Apple Muffins

1 c. organic white flour
1 c. organic whole wheat pastry flour
1 c. rolled oats
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
3 tsp cinnamon (we use less cinnamon with zucchini or carrot muffins)
1/2 c. honey or sucanat
2 eggs (or use 1/2 c applesauce instead)
1 1/2 c. milk (or oat,soy or rice milk)
5 Tbsp oil
1-2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups grated apples (we used about 3 good size apples)

Sift dry ingredients together (add oats without sifting). Mix wet ingredients in a separate bowl.  Mix wet and dry ingredients together and then stir in the apples.  Bake at 350 degrees.  This makes a LOT of muffins so plan to freeze or share some or cut the recipe in half if you don't want so many.  This usually makes about 18 regular muffins plus anywhere from 10-20 mini muffins as well.  Bake minis for about 10-12 minutes and regular for about 18 minutes.

vegan chocolate chip cookies

We keep experimenting with this recipe but, let's be honest, it is pretty hard to make an inedible chocolate chip cookie (there are chocolate chips in there, right?  it must be worth eating). 

The most recent evolution of our cookie is adapted from a cook book called Sweet Treats.  I like a lot of their recipes but I found their cookie pretty dry.  I am also experimenting with reducing or eliminating the oil in some recipes. 

So here is today's version of our vegan chocolate chip cookie.

Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

Mix together:
1 cup oats (grind in a blender to make an almost flour like consistency)
1 cup organic vegan chocolate chips

Sift into the above:
1 1/3 cup barley flour
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp baking powder (aluminum free)
1/2 tsp baking soda (you know the drill, get the healthy versions of these things)

Mix in a separate bowl:
1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp organic maple syrup
3/4 cup organic unsweetened applesauce
1/2 tsp vanilla

Mix the wet and dry ingredients together.  Scoop (I love our cookie scoop- get the kind with the single handle to squeeze which seems to be easier for little kids) onto cookie sheets lined with parchment paper.

Bake at 350 for about 16 minutes (I usually turn the sheets after about 10 minutes so they cook more evenly).  Makes about 18-20 cookies (depending on how much batter accidentally gets in your mouth on the way to the cookie sheet).

grapefuit

I remember when I was a kid that my Dad would drink grapefruit juice and I couldn't even stand the thought of it.  My mouth is puckering right now!  Later I liked the pink fruits with sugar sprinkled on them.  This week, Alexa spotted them at the market and asked to try them so I decided we would just go straight up- no sugar.  Not surprisingly, Alexa liked them.  Nick....well, we'll try again later.

Preventative Eating and My Favorite Snack

I'm not a big fan of eating when you are not hungry but I've had enough poorly planned meal times to know that if I don't think ahead, I don't always leave myself with great choices.

So I am sitting at my desk and having my tea (more on my no-coffee experiment later!) and I decide to run out to Target to pick up a couple things I need and take a break from my computer.

I'm not really hungry yet. BUT I know I am going to be gone for an hour or more and I will probably be starving before I get back. This all sounds pretty simple, doesn't it? But how many times have you left yourself stranded without a good choice of something to eat?

In these kinds of moments, you've got to either pack a healthy snack to bring with you or do what I call some "Preventative Eating". In this case, for me, it is my favorite snack in the whole world:

Ezekiel 4:9 Toast with Almond or CashewButter (I prefer Raw Organic Tree of Life) and a little bit of Agave Syrup or Raw Honey (buy Raw Honey locally when you can and check out this link for more on the benefits of raw honey!)

Yum!

Now I'm off to the store and I know I won't get hungry because, really, what in the world are you going to eat at Target? It kind of scares me to think about it...