In praise of blueberries…

When I was a kid, we spent the whole summer  at the cottage. Within a day or two of school letting out,  our van was packed to the brim with everything we’d need for eight blissful weeks. I’d spend entire days at the beach, devour books, play hide and seek and ride my bike, hunt for cans to return for pocket change to spend on comics, candy and the arcade.

The cottage is right in the middle of one of the best blueberry territories on earth. I’d snack on them straight from the bush when building tree forts in the woods. I’d run out with a mug to gather a half cup when my mom caved in and  make pancakes. less fun, I remember sweating in the bush while horseflies buzzed our heads when my mom would take us out to to a big harvest. If you wanted the blueberry cake, or blueberry pie or blueberry dumplings (oh my, just typing that last makes me salivate) or blueberry jam that would come of them, you wouldn’t complain about the heat or the flies or the time you were missing at the beach; you’d just shut up and pick.

My mom considered the harvest a precious batch. They were apportioned out for specific purposes and they were never to be snacked on or eaten by the handful. The cottage was the only place in the world I ate blueberries that weren’t jam-ified or served at a restaurant because my mother declared cultivated blueberries inferior and WAY too expensive for purchase. Now that I’m grown I buy blueberries all the time, but the legacy of my mom is still around. Every Saturday morning, my husband makes whole grain, flaxy pancakes for us, and the blueberries are always bought for them. I don’t snack on them, I don’t use them for other things – I was very well trained as a kid.

The other day when having a little granola and milk as small, high fiber snack in lieu of a full meal between brunch and a late dinner. I saw the blueberries when I was getting the milk and on impulse scooped out a few to add to the granola (a banana nut, storebought Muslix variety) and… wow! So delicious! Each berry a little burst of delight amid the crunch. Ever since, there’s a little handful of them on my breakfast… low cal, low GI, high antioxidants… and wow!

I love me my blueberries.

Granola

I love granola… it’s a staple for me these days. Most weekday mornings I eat three quarters of a cup of plain yogurt and a half cup of my home-made granola. The stuff available commercially, while yummy is full of fat and sugar.  I thought it would be good to post the process for it here. Most of the time I cook,  I feel through the cooking rather than measure things out exactly, so this recipe isn’t exact, it’s a best guesstimate and that means you can make adjustments as you like.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

In one giant bowl, mix up the bulk of the granola:

I generally start with  a local, commercially available “porridge mix” that consists of large rolled oats, rolled rye, flax seeds & bran,  but that’s not available everywhere, so I’ll break it down:

-3 cups of large rolled oats (not instant oatmeal or short cook oatmeal, can also substitute part for other rolled grains such as rye)
-1/2 cup flax seeds
-1/2 cup bran flakes
-1/2 cup wheat germ (optional)
-1/2 tsp salt
-Optional: if you want something more protien rich, you can add up to a cup of powdered milk. I have done so but don’t usually.)

In another bowl, mix up the wet/flavour/binding ingredients:

-1/2 cup vegetable oil (I use canola)
-1/2 cup sugar free table syrup
-1/2 cup Splenda
-3 tbsp cinnamon
-3 tbsp vanilla extract
-3 tbsp maple extract
-Optional Substitutions: You could use real maple syrup, agave or honey in lieu of the SF table syrup & Splenda depending on your tolerance for sugar. I’ve never done this, so can’t instruct on amounts.

Once the wets are mixed together, slowly combine them with the bulk ingredients, mixing thoroughly. Spread the mixture out into large baking dishes (I use 2: a 8×11 and a 9×13) so that the bulk is only an inch or so deep. Bake for 30-40 minutes, stirring every 10. You’ll know it’s done when the mixture is totally dry, but not burned. Then take it out of the oven to cool.

While it’s cooking & cooling, prepare the yummy ingredients:

-2 cups of dried fruit. I use something like:

• 1/2 cup raisins (sultanas or thomsons)
• 1/2 cup chopped dried papaya
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 1/4 cup chopped dried apple rings
• 1/4 cup chopped dried apricots

-1 cup cashew pieces, roasted, unsalted (or other nut/seed like: pecans, walnuts, pepitas, or sunflower seeds)

Once the grain bulk is cool, add the yummies and mix thoroughly. Store in an airtight jar. That’s it! There’s so much of it, that I end up using a large Costco pickle container.

I frequently make my own yogurt too. Don’t let the marketing folks at Activia fool you with their patented “B. Regularis” culture. Good old acidophilus is all the yogurt probiotic that you will ever need for a healthy digestive system. It’s simple, much cheaper, and healthier to make your own – the probiotic culture is live and stronger without preservatives or distribution time to kill it off or weaken it.

If you want to start making your own yogurt, post below and I’ll consider posting about it in the future.