Here in Calgary, the weather hasn’t been exactly conducive to spring flowers and barbecues – we’re still getting snow storms and that biting edge in the wind just won’t let up.  Even if it is nice and sunny where you are, there’s always a place for a breakfast that warms the belly – or a simple dessert that will go with any meal.  (You might even want to try these on the grill!).  

Baked Apples  

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  

Allow one whole apple per person.  Use your favorite baking apples.  Slightly tart apples are the most flavorful.  Wash the apples thoroughly.  Peeling them is optional, but I like to leave the peels on.   

Slice the apples down the centre, and remove the core, stem, and seeds.  Place the two apple halves cut side up in a small ramekin or baking dish.  (If you’re making a whole bunch, you can place them all in a large baking dish side by side).  Now, here’s the fun part – adding the toppings!  Choose your “liquid” addition first:  A generous drizzle of honey, agave syrup, maple syrup, or even homemade salted caramel if you’re feeling really decadent.  Follow this up with a sprinkle of finely chopped pecans or almonds, plump raisins, dried cranberries or cherries, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, or cardamom.    

Cover the dishes with aluminum foil.  Bake the apples for 25-30 minutes.  Remove from oven and allow to cool for five minutes before digging in.  Enjoy!   

What is your favourite quick breakfast? 

I always say I'm going to bake a whole bunch of muffins to grab and go, but either the muffins don't get baked, or they don't make it to breakfast.  ;)  I like granola and muesli but I can't eat commercial brands due to my allergies...and for some reason, I never get around to whipping up a nut-free batch.  This is where fruit smoothies come in...and in particular, smoothies with added shoots and leaves. 

My current favourites are smoothies containing corn shoots.  I've been growing batches of corn shoots on the windowsill, in full sunlight, as well as in the darkness of the closet (not sure if my hubby enjoys having corn growing on the floor below his freshly washed and hung shirts, but hey! he ought to be used to my weird experiments by now).   

The blanched corn shoots are definitely sweeter in taste, but I must admit I almost prefer the "grassier" notes of the shoots grown in sunlight.  Either way, they are absolutely stellar in smoothies! 

Here's the recipe if you want to give them a try:  

Fruit Smoothie with Corn Shoots 

1 frozen banana, roughly chopped 

1 handful corn shoots, thoroughly washed 

2 oranges (I like Cara Caras), peeled, seeded and roughly chopped 

1 cup plain yogourt 

Throw everything into a food processor and pulse until thoroughly blended. 

This recipe can have a ton of add-ins and substitutions - the sky's the limit!  If you don't like (or grow) corn shoots, try sunflower shoots...or kale...or spinach.  If you wish to go dairy-free, use almond or cashew milk.  If you want a thicker smoothie, use Greek yogourt instead of regular.  If you're substituting a less sweet green such as kale or spinach, you can add a bit of honey, agave syrup, or maple syrup.  I'm going to put in some coconut next time I make this - I haven't seen fresh coconut in the grocery stores here just yet, but I think some finely shredded unsweetened baking coconut would give the whole thing a pina colada type of vibe. 

Mmmm...pina coladas.... 

Do you like breakfast smoothies?  What greens - if any - do you put in your smoothies?  

I guess we’ve had blueberries in the freezer for for about 4 or 5 months. They have taunted us by keeping their shape and brilliant color. We have used a few for some waffles and a gallon or two more for jam we gave out at Christmas. But by in large they have remained in their frozen state just waiting for a chance to really be enjoyed.

I think the cold weather has been good for us and bad for us. Good because it has allowed Pan and I the opportunity to eat a lot of our freezer foods and dried foods, but bad for us in that we have found ourselves baking more and more and eating even more. NOT GOOD considering we have seriously changed our eating and benefited in both health and weight. So, yesterday with the skies darkening for rain and the thermostat sticking at 41 degrees, I thought it would be a great chance to reach for the blueberries and make some Blueberry Wheat Skillet Cake.

Inspired, in part, by the recipe Ms. Chiot laid out (including beautiful pictures) I set about making something a little different from our normal eggs and spinach.

We chose to go with a skillet cake because cast iron is a lot more fun, cooks a lot more thoroughly and doesn’t have the aluminum byproduct found in so many non-stick pans. Besides, it feels a little more “real,” if you know what I mean.

Keep in mind that I used whole wheat flower predominately and not a whole lot of sugar as I didn’t want the S’bucks sweet muffins that are often high in glucose and low in real flavor. Not to mention I made a blueberry sauce/powdered sugar “dressing” to finish off the top.

Blueberry Wheat Skillet Cake

2 cup of wheat flour
2/3 cup white flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 cup of sugar (double this for sweeter muffins)
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
2 eggs, room temperature (I used brown eggs from the *girls* outside)
1 cup + 2 Tablespoons of room temperature buttermilk
3/4 cup melted butter
1 1/2 – 2 cups berries (fresh or frozen, allow to thaw a bit if using frozen)

Heat oven to 400. Put cast iron skillet in oven for 5 minutes. In large mixing bowl combine flour, baking powder, sugar, salt and lemon juice. Stir to combine.

In another bowl crack eggs and whisk. Add vanilla extract and buttermilk to eggs and stir to combine. Remove cast iron skillet from oven and melt butter in skillet swirling around to coat skillet.

Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and lightly fold until almost combined. When almost combined add berries and stir to incorporate. If batter is too thick add a little regular milk. You want this batter to be too thick to pour, but not too thick to smooth into edges of pan.

Spoon batter into cast iron skillet and put in oven. Bake for 30-40 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on wire rack for 5-10 minutes.

I have to admit that the taste was wonderful. Oh, I almost forgot. I made a topping by taking 2 Tablespoons of blueberry jam, microwaving it for 25 seconds. I spooned that across the top of the cake. I then sprinkled powdered sugar liberally over the whole cake. Served with a cup of hot coffee this was an ideal way to start a busy day of rental movie watching, pants hemming, chicken coop cleaning and Facebook checking!

So? What are you waiting for? Go get some berries, get some eggs, and start cooking! Bon apetit.