im back. with blueberries and more inspiration

I'm back. I've had a few people asking where my blogging went. After a 6 month or so sabatical / uninspired to blog..or even cook, I am back.

I have been working at a local bakery around here, and when I get home from work, the last thing I want to do is bake more. This meaning, I'd put the almonds, and the kitchen aid to sleep, but as of this week I am back with so much creativity flowing I can hardly keep up.

Last week I made the most luscious Blueberry Crisp.

Perfectly "buttery" (or lack of butter) crust, amazingly juicy blueberries and just the right amount of cream.

I love this recipe because it is a great American inspired dessert that is easily made gluten free, dairy free and refined sugar free, and the best part, it taste amazing!

Blueberry Crisp:

Crust:

2 cups of almond flour or ground almonds

1/2 cup of melted coconut oil

1-2 tbl. of raw agave (depending how sweet you like it)

1/2 tsp. of sea salt

mix all of the ingredients in a mixer until it turns into a dough, depending how coarse your almond flour is, you may need a little bit more of the coconut oil to make it come together well.

Press the dough into a pie pan, just as you would any pastry dough.

Cook in a pie pan for 15 minutes at 350.

Cashew "Cream:"

1 1/2 cups of unsalted, raw cashews (soaked in water for a few hours is best)

1/4-1/2 cup of warm water

1 tbl. of raw agave

1/4 tsp. of sea salt

take the cashews and strain, then put in any heavy duty blender, or food processor and blend with 1/4 c. of the warm water, add more as needed until the cashews are smooth (make take up to 5 minutes) then add the agave and salt until you like the taste of it.

Once the crust is baked, spread the cashew cream on the crust, I like a really thick layer because it's so yummy, but you may want to save some to put on top when the crisp is done.

(If you aren't dairy free, you could easily just use whip cream instead of the cashew cream and not bake it!)

Blueberries:

2 cups of blueberries

1/4 c. of lemon juice

1 tbl. of raw agave or stevia

1 cup of water

I take 2 cups of blueberries and cook them on the stovetop with the water, lemon juice and agave on LOW until the blueberries get soft. Then I strain the blueberries and put on top of the Cashew Cream.

Cook at 350 for another 15 minutes or until the crust begins to brown and the blueberries are really tender.

This dessert goes great with some vanilla coconut ice cream!

Enjoy!

more pears + french toast.

pears: i love them. especially right now, they are just too perfect.



[some yummy organic pears]




[round 2 of the pear tart!]



this morning we had our dear friends Sarah + Josh Rhodes over and my sweet husband made French Toast!
Gluten, refined sugar, and dairy free! Was so delicious!





[adorable little vintage milk pourer i just got! love it!]








pritchards gluten, dairy and refined sugar free french toast!

6-8 pieces of Ezekiel bread
6 large organic, free range eggs
1/2 cup of almond milk
2 tsp. gluten-free vanilla
4-5 shakes of cinnamon [shakkke more if you like!]


mix eggs, milk, vanilla and cinnamin in a shallow, wide dish or pan.
dip both sides of the bread into the egg mixture.
get a frying pan nice and hot and cook the toast on both sides until the egg is cooked completely.

enjoy with some Organic Agave!

glorious saturdays.

[gluten, dairy and sugar free blueberry muffins and brownies]

~

i love saturdays.

they are full of sunshine, bike rides, baking, flowers, and my sweet husband.

this weekend we attempted to cut a van that we just bought in half and put it on top of our bus.

although the cutting the van in half did happen, placing it on top of our school bus did not.

we will have to wait until we can proceed with that task.

gluten and dairy free chocolate brownies.

this flour bag is from Robert's hometown Mcpherson, KS!

a couple better pictures of my paper globe that I made.

[all the pictures from this post are compliments of our dear photographer friend]

[mary nell powell]

belgium + france

november is a time to cook for me. things and meals that i never cook any other time of the year.

i dont usually eat breakfast, although I know it's so important for me to.. but this weekend robert and I cooked breakfast like never before! my oma's famous crepe's with strawberry preserves and raw sugar. oh my gosh they were delicious. and the trick is, if they look like lace, or a doillie, then they are good crepes! mine are getting there. they are so fabulous!

so we celebrated france yesterday. and on saturday we celebrated belgium! with homemade belgium waffles. i woke up to the smell of maple syrup and blueberries in my house. wish i could bottle that fall smell up.

compliments to my husband's mad skills!

also this year, being our first christmas married we have decided to make our own stockings, decorations, and ornaments! we are starting our own traditions and we are so excited!

above: my stocking

below: wizard and the top of robert's stocking!

the fruits of the soul

oh i am preparing a fabulous meal for my kiwi friends! a royal thai experience! full of fusion flavors and to explode the taste buds!

so i have been busy all day and started preparing some food last night!

ginger chili chicken (and veggie) lettuce wraps

home made wonton spring rolls with ginger pomegranate dipping sauce

steamed edamame with a salty garlic butter

and

pineapple goji berry martini's!

oh my tongue doesn't know the bang that is about to hit!

and of course, the sprinkle of sweetness will be banana pudding!

(i wanted to do brown sugar fried bananas but robert has been craving banana pudding for weeks! and honoring our 6 month anniversary from this week i craved!)

now for the banana pudding recipe and more pictures to follow with the food!

the yummy home made vanilla pudding:

1/2 cup of organic sugar (raw does not work as well)

3 tablespoons of cornstarch

2 cups of organic milk

2 pinches of salt

2 egg yolks

2 tablespoons of unsalted butter

2 teaspoons of all natural vanilla extract

wisk the sugar, cornstarch and salt in a saucepan.

pour 1/4 cup of the milk into the saucepan, stirring until smooth

wisk in the remaining milk and then the egg yolks

cook the pudding mixture on low heat (so you don't burn!) and stir constantly- until thick.

(wooden spoons work best!)

do not let it boil!

remove from the heat and stir in the butter and vanilla.

put in a bowl and cover tightly and refrigerate at least an hour!

then of course cut the bananas

and get some vanilla wafers and alternate the 3 layers!

cover and i think it is best served after being in the fridge for at least 24 hours! so cold and yummy!

new season. new things

i love november. probably my favorite month.

all the leaves have turned, the weather is just perfect.

no humidity, no sweltering days, just refreshing gust of cool air on my rosy cheeks.

my lips are always chapped but it feels so nice when I apply the almond butter. so comforting

pumpkin bread, banana cookies, hot apple cidar, strong coffee.

such a beautiful feeling.

well after a exasperating week of stress and moving, we are finally settling in.

it feels so nice to have a warm cozy home that i love.

our new house is comfy, carefree, colorful. oh so many words!

it was made for fall.

we have our bedroom and kitchen set up, of course the most important rooms to me.

things are changing and we like it.

we have already decided where to put our christmas tree.

~

now for my recipe!

pumpkin bread:

*suggestion- when cooking breads, especially once with spices and such, its worth the money to get fresh spices that will burst in flavor! (ie- Saigon cinnamon, far more flavorful then generic cinnamon)

1 pound fresh organic pumpkin puree
3 ½ cups pastry flour
1 cup organic canola oil
3 cups raw sugar
4 free range eggs
2 teaspoons organic baking soda
1 teaspoon organic baking powder
2 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
2/3 cup cold water

Oven: 325 degrees.

take the pumpkind and peel, sedd and cut into pieces, then steam until soft.

puree the pumpkin in a food processor until there are no lumps.

in a large bowl, beat the sugar, oil, pumpkin and eggs together.

in another bowl sift together all the dry ingredients.

fold the two mixtures together and the water.

Great and flour two loaf pans and pour batter into the pans.

bake for 1 hour or until cooked in the middle (you know the tooth pick trick)

cool in the pans on a cooling rack for at least 10 minutes, then turn our of pans and let them finish cooling.

serve warm but wrap in foil to keep moist!

Also!

as it has gotten cold recently I've needed something fall to put on my toast in the mornings, something different.

so i made this little mixture up and its wonderful!

Pumpkin Spice Spread!

I have not tried it on the pumpkin loaf, but if you love pumpkin, im sure its fabulous!

I haven't measured it all out yet, but it's very simple and you can do it to taste!

4-8 oz (depending on how much you want to make!) cream cheese

3-5 tablespoons of brown sugar

a couple spoonfuls of pumpkin

2-3 tablespoons of maple syrup

1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon of vanilla

soften the cream cheese, sugar and syrup in a bowl until creamy.

add the rest of the ingredients and beat until smooth. refrigerate at least an hour!

thats it for today, more bites tomorrow!