02 September 2011

Blueberry Recipes!

Recipes for those farm fresh berries! 
Mixed Fruit with Honey Orange sauce

Mix well in large bowl:
3 Granny Smith apples chopped  into small cubes
1 pound strawberries cut into halves or quarters (depending on size of berries)
2 cups blueberries (fresh are best, but frozen would also work!)
Zest and juice of 1 orange
Zest and juice of 1 lime
1/4 cup honey (you can add more is you'd like it a bit sweeter)


Great mixing tip: If you have a bowl with a lid, get all ingredients in bowl, seal the lid on tight and shake to mix! 
This is a wonderful compliment to shortcake, waffles or french toast, granola and greek yogurt, or delightful as a stand-alone sweet, but healthful, treat. Feel free to add other favorite fruits like nectarines, peaches, raspberries, or whatever you and your family enjoys!

And now the wonderful, and extremely delicious fruit bread! To pack this bread with even more fruits and veggies, feel free to add a 1/2 cup of apple sauce, and/or maybe the same amount of grated zucchini or carrot! (Doing this will make the bread more dense and moist, almost making it more of a pound cake consistency.)

Blueberry Banana Bread
Preheat oven to 350ยบ
Sift together in a medium bowl:
4 cups whole-wheat pastry flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp cinnamon OR pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp salt
In large mixing bowl cream together (with wooden spoon):
2/3 cup vegetable shortening 
1/3 cup canola or vegetable oil
Add to shortening mixture:
4 eggs, slightly beaten
1 1/2 c dark brown sugar
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
and mix well
In a small bowl, smash:
2 large (or 3-4 small) over-ripe bananas
Incorporate dry mix in 3 small batches alternating with smashed banana in two batches (dry-wet-dry-wet-dry) and be sure to fold in each addition until just incorporated to avoid over-mixing.
After all dry mix and banana is mixed in, carefully fold in:
2 1/2 cups blueberries (fresh are best, but frozen would also work!)
3/4 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)
Spread evenly into two greased and floured loaf pans
Bake for 50 minutes (until cake tester comes out clean)
Cool in pans for 15 minutes, remove from pans and place on rack until completely cooled. Wrap tightly in cling wrap OR Store in airtight container in the fridge (unless your house is like mine and it's gone before you need to worry about storing it! )