blueberry zucchini bread

two summer gems baked into one moist and delicious treat!

blueberry zucchini bread
adapted from allrecipes

ingredients

3 C flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1 T cinnamon
3 pastured eggs
1/2 C coconut oil
1/2 C applesauce (unsweetened)
1 C sugar
1 C brown sugar
1 T vanilla extract
2-3 C grated zucchini
1 pint blueberries

method

• grease and flour pans*, and preheat oven to 350°.

• sift flour, salt, baking soda, powder and cinnamon in a bowl.

• beat eggs, oil, applesauce, sugar and vanilla together in another bowl.

• add sifted ingredients to the creamed mixture and beat until mixed.

• fold in zucchini and mix well. gently fold in blueberries.

• pour batter into prepared pans and bake for 50 to 70 minutes or until tester inserted in the center comes out clean.

* this recipe made one 8x4 loaf and 12 cupcakes. the cupcakes were done in about 25 minutes. you could also make 2 8x4 loaves or 4 mini loaves.

zucchini bread recipe

yields 2 loaves

ingredients

3 C unbleached flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder 
3 tsp ground cinnamon
3 pastured eggs
1/2 C coconut oil
1/2 C unsweetened apple sauce
1 C sugar
1 C brown sugar
3 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/2 C grated zucchini
1 C chopped walnuts (optional)

method

grease and flour two 8x4 inch pans. preheat oven to 350°. 

sift flour, salt, baking soda, powder and cinnamon in a bowl.

beat eggs, oil, applesauce, sugar and vanilla together in another bowl.

add sifted ingredients to the creamed mixture and beat well.

fold in zucchini and walnuts. pour batter into prepared pans.

bake for 50 to 70 minutes or until tester inserted in the center comes out clean.


enjoy!=)


*recipe adapted from mom's zucchini bread with mommy from seattle's modifications

rumbly in my tumbly

my belly was not happy that we skipped breakfast this morning, or that i chose to watch cooking shows while the baby i sit napped. thoughts of fresh onion and green pepper bread, ranch kale chips and nut tuna waiting at home had it even more grumbly. heading to my house, i may or may not have surpassed some speed limits - but for good reason of course - this meal is phenomenonal!

recipe sources

carmella's ranch kale chips from delightfully raw
ocean's nut tuna from the raw freedom community forum
lisa's onion bread from raw on $10 a day (or less!) with sliced green pepper added

raw soup, onion bread and sea spaghetti

spring is coming - can you feel it?! it's nice to be able to take photos of our dinner with natural light and birds chirping above.

tonight we had a warm raw soup and fried vegan chick'n patties on lisa's fantastic onion bread.

the soup consisted of spinach, cucumber, cilantro, celery, carrot, chia seeds and white miso topped with hemp seeds, cooked corn, black beans, and edamame. john and i both really enjoyed it. per carmella's recommendation we added boiling water and blended quickly. the cold veggies cool off the mixture to preserve the enzymes, but not so much that the soup isn't nice and warm.

during a shopping trip today i spotted spicy crispy vegan chick'n patties made by boca. when i missed burgers their vegan version really hit the spot. i had planned to make carmella's hemp burgers later in the week (and now bitt's zuki burgers) to go on my onion bread, but when i saw those chick'n patties i took the easy route for tonight's dinner. they were really tasty fried in a little bit of olive oil - they actually reminded me of wendy's or burger king. (there you go, clint!)

inspired by elizabeth, i gave lisa's onion bread recipe a try. oh my onion-y goodness, is it good! imagine a bread of onion rings minus the grease. i was especially pleased with how easy and inexpensive it is to create. (if you don't have a dehydrator, i bet this bread could be baked on low.)

in not so yummy news, we tried our sea spaghetti the other night. the verdict - not good. i really wanted to like these as they're so nutritious and easy to prepare, but the taste of chewy seaweed was too much for john and me. the addition of cilantro made it more palatable, but i still couldn't get past the texture. it's like seaweed fettucini, and i'm not usually a fan of the thicker pastas. please don't let this deter you from trying it yourself, though. many others rave about the stuff, but i'll stick to zucchini pasta or kelp noodles for gluten-free spaghetti!

sunny bread, kale chips, and buckwheat granola

this was breakfast today. 

sunny bread sandwich with sliced avocado, tomatoes, carrot, and lettuce.

served with a crunchy side of kale chips.

 

and this was lunch.

 

buckwheat granola cereal topped with almond milk.

sometimes my belly can be very strange! =)

~*~

i created the sunny bread recipe using matthew kenney's cumin bread recipe as a guide. i call it sunny bread because 1) its got sunflower seeds in the recipe and 2) it was a nice, warm(er) sunny day here yesterday when i made it. =)

Sunny Bread

1 C. golden flax meal

3/4 C. sunflower seeds, soaked

3/4 C. walnuts, soaked

2 small squash, roughly chopped

3 Tbsp olive oil

1 Tbsp nutritional yeast

1 Tbsp agave nectar

1/2 tsp salt

1 clove garlic

place flax in mixing bowl. process remaining ingredients in food processor until smooth. add to bowl with flax and stir until well combined. spread batter on one teflex sheet, score bread into 9 (or more) slices, and dehydrate for about one hour at 145°. turn temperature down to 115°, and dehydrate until top feels dry. transfer to screen and dehydrate a few more hours, until bread is dry but still pliable.

~*~

john came into the kitchen yesterday saying "i want chipsss" (meaning tortilla or potato chips). i felt a little sorry for him because we had neither, but then i remembered we had kale chips in the dehydrator! we gobbled those chippies until our tongues turned green!

(you may remember this dish from the salem county arts festival post. i love the way the kale chips look on the orangey plate!)

 

Kale Chippies

a bunch of kale

1 Tbsp agave nectar

1 Tbsp olive oil

1-2 garlic clove

few pinches of salt, to taste

trim off the tough stems and break kale into chip-size pieces. place in a large mixing bowl and drizzle with agave and olive oil. (you may need more or less than 1 tbsp of each, depending on how much kale you're working with.) massage kale a few minutes, making sure each piece is saturated. allow to marinate (i marinate my kale overnight in the fridge, but a half hour or so should do). spread kale in a single layer on teflex sheet and dehydrate at 115° until dry and crispy.

~*~

after trying many different raw granola recipes, i've finally come up with one i absolutely love! it's tasty as a dry snack or topped with milk for a yummy cereal.

the main ingredient of this granola is buckwheat. despite its name, buckwheat is a gluten-free fruit seed, so it should be safe for those with wheat allergies.

"o-tay!"

Buckwheat Granola

6 dates, pitted and soaked

1 Tbsp soak water (reserved from dates)

1 Tbsp maple syrup

1 Tbsp agave nectar

1/4 tsp vanilla

1 C. raw buckwheat groats, soaked

1/2 C. almonds, soaked, then roughly chopped

1/2 C. sunflower seeds, soaked

1 C. shredded coconut

1/2 tsp salt

2 Tbsp hemp seed

handful of raisins or dried cranberries

process first 5 ingredients in a high speed blender until a paste is formed. place remaining ingredients in a large mixing bowl. add date paste and mix thoroughly. spread onto 2 teflex trays and dehydrate at 115° until dry.

i'm not much of a recipe writer, so if you have any questions, just ask! i'm happy to help! =)

dehydrated yummies

clockwise from top:

Rainbow Flax Crackers, Herb Pizza Crusts, Raw Cheez-Its, Cumin Flatbread, and "The Best Granola in the Universe Plus One"

Rainbow Flax Crackers

by diana stoevelaar of www.awesomerawsome.com

here is the recipe halved to make 2 trays. i also needed to make a few minor changes to avoid running out to the store for ingredients. i'm sure the original recipe is great, but everyone (including myself) loved these!

makes 2 dehydrator trays

2 1/2 C. water

2 C. golden flax seed

1 1/2 medium tomatoes, coarsely chopped

1/3 C. purple cabbage

1 red pepper, coarsely chopped

1 orange pepper, coarsely chopped

1/3 C. parsley

1/3 C. spinach

1/3 C. cilantro

2 T. white onion

1 clove garlic

2 T. lemon juice

1 tsp. basil

1 tsp. oregano

1/2 tsp. poultry seasoning*

1 tsp. salt

* i did not have poultry seasoning so i used a 1/2 tsp. equal parts sage, margoram, rosemary, black pepper and celery seed. i would have added thyme if i had it.)

1. presoak flax seeds in 2 1/2 cups of water for at least 1 hour or overnight. place in a large mixing bowl.

2. puree fresh tomatoes, lemon juice, garlic and seasonings in the food processor. add to the flax mixture.

3. process all the vegetables individually in the food processor until finely chopped but not pureed. add to the flax mixture.

4. stir the flax mixture until well combined.

5. using an offset spatula, spread the mixture about ¼” thick onto Teflex sheets on the dehydrating trays. score into squares or triangles with a plastic utensil so as not to damage the Teflex sheet.

6. dehydrate for at least 12 hours. the crackers easily separate from the teflex sheets without stickiness, usually after 12 hours. remove the dehydrator tray. flip the crackers by placing a mesh and another tray on top of the crackers. hold both sides of the sandwiched trays and flip them towards you so the top tray is now at the bottom. remove the new top tray and the mesh. now peel off the teflex sheet from the crackers, which are now facing downward. return the crackers to the dehydrator for approximately an additional 4 hours until completely dry.

7. let cool before storing by leaving them on the dehydrator trays outside of the dehydrator or inside of the dehydrator with the door open.

8. store crackers in an airtight container in a cool dark cupboard, fridge or freezer.

~*~

Herb Pizza Crusts
this is my variation of the recipe to fit one dehydrator tray

(9 pizza crusts)

1 1/4 C. buckwheat, soaked overnight

2/3 C. sunflower seeds, soaked overnight

5 T. ground flax seed

1 C. zucchini, chopped

1/4 C. water

1 T. olive oil

1 tsp. herbs

1 tsp. garlic

1 tsp. sea salt

1. blend all ingredients in a food processor until smooth.

2. spread batter about 1/4 " thick on dehydrator tray covered with teflex sheet. score into 9 squares.

3. dehydrate at 125 for 2-3 hours, then flip onto mesh and turn the temperature down to 110.

4. dehydrate until dry.

~*~

 

Raw Cheez-Its

(batter covers 3 teflex sheets)

1 C. sunflower seeds (soaked overnight)

1 C. almonds (soaked overnight)

1 C. brazil nuts

1 big tomato, chopped

1 red pepper, chopped

1/4 C. sun-dried tomatoes, soaked overnight

1/4 C. ground flax

1 garlic clove

1 tsp. cumin

1 tsp. salt

2 tsp. taco seasoning

2 tsp. nutritional yeast

1 tsp. onion powder

blend all ingredients in food processor, then spread batter fairly thin onto teflex sheets. score into squares. dehydrate at 110° until dry, flipping cheez-its onto mesh screens after a few hours.

~*~

Cumin Flatbread
from Matthew Kenney's
Entertaining in the Raw

~*~

The Best Granola in the Universe Plus One

2/3 C. sprouted buckwheat
1/2 C. sprouted sunflower seeds
1/2 C. sprouted oats
1 C. chopped soaked almonds

1/4 C. melted coconut oil

1/4 C. maple syrup

1 T. vanilla
cinnamon to liking
sea salt to liking

 

mix everything together with hands. spread on teflex sheet and dehydrate at 115 for 8-12 hours.

(you can put this in the oven at a low temperature if you don’t have a dehydrator… it may not still be “raw” but it will still taste awesome and is still a pretty healthy alternative to Twinkies and Mountain Dew…=)

serve with a nut milk and dried or fresh fruit!! enjoy!

kelli's notes: i added  1/4 C. dried coconut flakes and only soaked the buckwheat overnight. the granola was pretty tasty, but i'm not sure it's the best in the universe. my granola did not stick together too well but it did make for a yummy, crunchy cereal (topped with dried cranberries or raisins and almond milk...yummity yum!=)