Every summer my mom made us go berry picking.

I grew to dread it over the years, as I would anticipate hours upon hours in the hot sun (it was probably more like 45 minutes total), endless pokes from thorn covered bushes and the pink stained hands that remained for days after the job was done.

Aren’t there laws against child labor?

John Mark always tried to make it a competition to see who could pick the most berries the fastest. Somehow he always won… Rebekah would compete with everything in her and give John Mark a good race…

I spent most of my time eating the berries I picked…

And Matthew played NERF guns the whole time…

Not much has changed.

My mom would then spend days making homemade jam and stocking the freezer full of berries so we had enough to keep us satisfied with cobblers until the next summer.

After all those summers berry picking (and promising I would never do that to my children), where did I find myself this past week? Yep, berry picking. And making Duke help me.

I could eat fresh berries by the bucket and you can’t beat the price when you pick them yourself! Now I actually enjoy the whole ordeal and plan to follow the same summer tradition.

Duke and Scarlet can blame their “Amma”.

This week’s recipe is my Great Grandma Stewart's recipe and we have all been making it for years! It is so easy and always tastes amazing! It may not be the healthiest due to all the sugar but you need a reward for all that berry picking, right?

ENJOY!

Elizabeth

PS: Here are a few local farms that are really easy to swing by and pick the berries dripping off the vines!

Smith’s Berry Barn

Rowell Bro’s

Lolich’s

Sauvie Island Farms

GRANDMA'S BERRY COBBLER

 INGREDIENTS:

• 1 C flour (I use whole wheat or oat flour)
• 1 C cane sugar
• 1 t baking powder
• 1 egg

• 5 - 6 C berries – fresh or frozen (peaches and rhubarb work great too!)
• 1/8 C cane sugar (sweeten to taste)

TO MAKE:

Preheat oven to 350F. In a medium baking pan, combine berries and sugar. If you are using frozen berries, defrost them most of the way first. In a medium bowl, mix together flour, sugar, and baking powder. Add the egg and use a pastry knife or fork to combine all together.

Spread topping mixture over the berries and bake for about 45 minutes. The top should be golden brown and crispy.

TO SERVE:

It is delicious by itself but even better with vanilla ice cream!

ENJOY!

It’s funny how traditions form.

It seems the ones we try to start on purpose never stick and the ones that stick we don’t start on purpose.

Well “day off” pancakes have stuck at our house.

As I’ve mentioned before, we are oatmeal fans around here and we usually keep breakfast simple with a bowl of oatmeal and a green drink.

But when Brook’s day off comes around every Friday we are always in the mood for something fun. Sometimes we go out to breakfast but most weeks we make these pancakes.

They are quickly devoured by Duke (as he attempts to convince me that his two month old sister “needs” some too) and slowly savored by Brook and I.

We all know that feeling when we go out to breakfast and feel like we need a nap after grease filled eggs and hash browns and heavy “carb cakes” (aka pancakes) but I promise these won’t give you that sleepy sensation.

However…. I can’t promise that you won’t eat way to many in one sitting.

Not that I would know from experience or anything.

ENJOY!

Elizabeth

DAY OFF PANCAKES

makes: 8 medium pancakes

vegan, wheat free, dairy free

 

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 C oat flour (or 1 1/2 C whole wheat flour)
• 3 T cane sugar
• 1 1/2 t baking powder
• 1/4 t salt

• 1 1/2 C almond milk (I use unsweetened vanilla)
• 2 T ground flax seed - mixed with 6 T warm water
• 3 T coconut oil (melted a bit to make mixing easier)
• 1 T vanilla

TO MAKE:

Combine ground flax seed and water and let it sit for a few minutes. It will turn into a thick paste.

Combine dry ingredients and set aside.

Combine almond milk, coconut oil, vanilla and flax seed mixture. Add dry ingredients mixture and stir until combined.

Grease a non-stick pan or electric skillet (I use olive oil spray) and cook on medium heat. When they start to get bubbles on top, flip them over.

Note: due to the lack of gluten in them they can be tricky to flip… but no matter how they look, they will taste delicious!

TO SERVE:

The possibilities are endless!

Here are some ways we enjoy them:

• Earth Balance Butter
• Real Maple Syrup
• Natural Peanut Butter
• Bananas
• Shredded coconut
• Fresh Fruit

(in case you didn't know, bananas can also be used as guns)

My house is full of boys.

Cousins to be exact.

My brother and sister-in-law (John Mark and Tammy) are currently in Uganda to bring home their new daughter and their two boys, Jude and Moses, are having a giant sleep over at Duke’s house for a few days.

All the boys were full of energy this morning (wait… when are they not full of energy?) and the clouds were pouring buckets outside. So, after hours of Nerf gun wars, action figure battles and karate matches… we decided to bake.

Growing up, my Grandma Sue would always bake us fresh loaves of her famous banana bread whenever we came to visit. Her banana bread is hands - down the best there is. So good in fact, that John Mark would take a loaf for himself and hide it strategically in the house to ensure that he got his fill during our visit. Yep, he is the oldest.

So, the boys and I attempted a somewhat healthier version of banana bread this morning. I don’t usually make up recipes for baked things because I have found several blogs that do a much better job then I do… but the overly brown bananas on my counter where taunting me to put them to good use and make my own recipe… and we had a whole lot of fun in the process!

ENJOY!

Elizabeth

BANANA BREAD: dairy + gluten free

(the three little monkeys)

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 overly ripe bananas
• 3 T ground flax seed + 1/4 C warm water
• 1/4 C melted coconut oil
• 1 T vanilla
• ¼ C sugar
• ½ C brown sugar
• ¼ C unsweetened applesauce
• 1 ½ C oat flour (It is sold in bulk at Whole Food and New Seasons or Bob’s Red Mill sells it by the package at most grocery stores. Or, you can grind old-fashioned oats in blender or food processor to make your own. If you use whole wheat flour instead, you may not need to bake it quite as long.)
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp salt
• 3 tsp cinnamon

TOPPINGS: optional but highly recommended!

• cinnamon sugar + coconut flakes

Preheat oven to 350F.

In a small bowl, combine ground flax seed and warm water. Stir and set aside to thicken for a few minutes

In a mixing bowl, peal the bananas and mash well with a fork.

Add coconut oil, vanilla, sugar, brown sugar, applesauce, and flax seed mixture to the mashed bananas and stir.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon and stir well.

Add flour mixture to banana mixture and stir until combined.

Go ahead and sneak a taste of the batter like Duke. I won’t tell.

Pour batter into a greased loaf pan.

Sprinkle cinnamon sugar and coconut flakes on top. Feel free to be generous with the cinnamon sugar…. It’s for the kids, right?

Bake for about 45 minutes.

Duke and Moses got a little bored while it was baking and thought this would be a good idea...

Enjoy fresh out of the oven with a hot cup of tea in front of the fire…

Or, like this…

Off to have another fort making competition… see you next week!