dessert

Recipe – Creamy Peach Bake

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Peaches

  • The peach is a member of the rose family and is a close relative of the almond.
  • There are over 300 varieties of peaches in the US and over 2,000 varieties worldwide.
  • California produces about 50% of the peaches in the US, but Georgia is still famous for their peaches nationwide.
  • In Japan, white peaches are highly prized and often given as luxurious gifts, sometimes even costing upwards of $10 each for the most perfect specimens.
  • There are hundreds of varieties of peaches in existence today, but all peaches are categorized into two types: freestones and clingstones. The flesh of freestone peaches separates easily from the pit, which makes them ideal for eating fresh. In clingstone varieties, the flesh of the peach clings to the pit. These varieties are best for canning.
  • It is a common misconception that a peach/plum hybrid is the nectarine. A nectarine is actually just a variety of peach with smooth rather than fuzzy skin. In this case, fuzzy skin is a dominant trait; whereas the smooth skin of a nectarine is a recessive trait. Only one gene separates peaches and nectarines and this gene variant causes peaches to have a fuzzy skin and nectarines to have a smooth skin.
  • Peach fuzz is a survival tactic, providing protection from the elements. It stops water and moisture from reaching the delicate skin, preventing premature rot, and ensuring development of a fully mature seed. It also acts as an irritant to destructive insects, preventing them from eating the fruit.

Aside from jams, tarts, pies, cobblers, crisps, cereals, and smoothies, peaches also lend themselves to savory dishes such as salads, pizzas, and soups.

https://veritablevegetable.com/just-peachy-fun-facts-about-peaches/; https://fruitguys.com/blog/ten-tasty-facts-you-probably-didnt-know-about-the-peach/

Recipe – Creamy Peach Bake

Ingredients

16 oz. canned peaches (reserve juice), thinly sliced, or 2 cups fresh peaches, peeled and sliced

1½ cups rolled oats, uncooked

1/2 cup pitted dates, chopped

1 cup non-dairy vanilla milk

6 oz. firm silken tofu

1/8 tsp. cardamom

1/8 tsp. coriander

2 tsp. vanilla flavoring

1/4 tsp. almond flavoring

1/2 tsp. salt

Process

Oil an 8”x 8” casserole dish and set aside. Mix peaches, oats, and dates in a bowl. Transfer to prepared dish. Combine reserved peach juice with just enough milk to make 1½ cups of liquid and blend with all remaining ingredients until smooth. Pour into the oat mixture. Cover and bake at 350°F for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake for 15 minutes more. Allow to cool 10 minutes. Serve with additional non-dairy milk. (If using unsweetened non-dairy vanilla milk, add 2 Tbs. maple syrup if desired.)

Recipe – Holiday Carob Cranberry Peppermint Bark

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Cranberries

When you think of cranberries, your first thought may be of Thanksgiving. Every year 20 percent of the more than 400 million pounds of cranberries Americans use are consumed during the week of Thanksgiving. However, there are many surprising health benefits beyond enjoying them just one or two times a year.

Since the early 20th century, cranberry consumption has been recommended as a way to promote urinary tract health. A 1994 study by Harvard Medical School found that cranberry consumption made it more difficult for certain harmful bacteria to linger on the lining of the bladder. For women especially, research has shown a reduction in urinary tract infections (UTIs) when consuming dried cranberries every day. By 1998, another study conducted by Rutgers University had identified proanthocyanidins as the key component of cranberry that was making it more difficult for E. coli to attach to the urinary tract.

Because these proanthocyanidins can decrease bacteria in the urinary tract, there is some research indicating that cranberries may have a similar impact on the bacteria in your mouth. While more research will be necessary, if true, it could make a case for cranberries helping to decrease cavities.

Dried cranberries are a great source of fiber and hold a similar sugar content as other dried fruits.

Only five percent of cranberries are eaten as fresh fruit, with the remaining 95 percent processed into juices, jams, sauces, and other products. It takes about 4,400 berries to make a gallon of juice.

The majority of cranberries are generally available from September to December. Freezing allows accessibility throughout the year. All forms of cranberries are easy to incorporate into the diet such as in salads, yogurt, sandwiches, sauces, casseroles, and desserts.

https://integracareclinics.com/health-benefits-of-cranberry-why-you-should-eat-them-all-year/https://www.cranberryinstitute.org/about-cranberries

Recipe – Holiday Carob Cranberry Peppermint Bark

Ingredients

2 cups carob chips

1 cup creamy almond butter, or cashew butter

¾ cup dried cranberries, or cherries, chopped

¾ cup sliced almonds

1-1 ½ tsp. peppermint flavoring

¼ cup shredded unsweetened coconut, or coconut flakes, for topping

Process

Melt carob chips and nut butter in a heavy-bottom saucepan. Remove from heat and stir in fruit, almonds, and peppermint flavoring. Spread unto parchment paper-lined baking sheet or casserole dish. Top with coconut shreds or flakes. Refrigerate or freeze for 20 minutes. Break into pieces. Store in a container in the freezer.

Recipe – Flourless Strawberry Apple Breakfast Crisp

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Strawberries

Strawberries are the only fruit with seeds on the outside. Berry seeds are on the inside, so strawberries really aren’t true berries.

The average strawberry has 200 seeds. Each seed is considered by botanists to be its own separate fruit. Most strawberry plants reproduce from runners despite the fact that seeds can grow into plants.

Strawberries are low fat, low calorie, high in vitamin C, fiber, folic acid, and potassium. Strawberries contain more vitamin C than oranges. As part of a 5-a-day fruit and vegetable program, they can help reduce the risk of cancer and heart attacks.

Eating strawberries, which are rich in nitrate, can increase the flow of blood and oxygen to the muscles by 7 percent. This prevents muscle fatigue, making exercise easier, helping the muscles work more proficiently. In a test, subjects who ate nitrate rich foods like strawberries before exercising burned 100 more calories than those who did not.

Ninety-four percent of U.S. households consume strawberries. Over 53% of seven to nine-year-olds picked strawberries as their favorite fruit.

 www.londonstrawberryfestival.com/strawberry-fun-facts.html

Recipe – Flourless Strawberry Apple Breakfast Crisp

Ingredients

Filling:

3 large Granny Smith apples, chopped

2 cups fresh strawberries, sliced; or cherries, rhubarb, or fruit of choice

1/4 cup Sucanat, or sweetener of choice

1/8-1/4 tsp. ground cardamon

1/4 tsp. salt

1 Tbs. lemon juice

1 Tbs. + 1 tsp. arrowroot powder or cornstarch

1/2 tsp. vanilla powder

Topping:

1 cup almonds, or nuts of choice

1/2 cup rolled oats

1/8 cup Sucanat, or sweetener of choice

1 Tbs. maple syrup, optional

2 Tbs. olive oil

1/4 tsp. vanilla powder

pinch of salt

Process

Spray a casserole dish with oil. Place apples and strawberries in a bowl and add the rest of the filling ingredients. Stir well. Into a food processor, process almonds until chunky. Add the rest of the topping ingredients and pulse for a couple seconds until just mixed, keeping mixture chunky. Take ½ cup of the topping mixture and stir into the apple filling mixture. Pour the topping/apple mixture into a prepared casserole dish and sprinkle on the remaining topping. Cover, keep covered, and bake at 375°F for about 35-40 minutes.

Recipe – Vegan Rice Pudding

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Cardamom

Cardamom is a member of the ginger family, and is the third most expensive spice in the world after saffron and vanilla. Commonly used in Indian cuisine, it has earned the nickname “The Queen of Spices.” Because of its complex flavor profile, it is used in both sweet and savory dishes. There are two types of cardamom—green and black.

Green cardamom has a warm, herbal, citrusy—with a touch of spiciness, and a hint of mint—flavor. Bleach green cardamom and you have white cardamom, which is a favorite in the Scandinavian countries and much of northern Europe.

Black cardamom has a smokier flavor, and is used more often in savory dishes, such as soup.

Cardamom also has a number of health benefits. It contains high levels of antioxidants that may help lower blood pressure. Cardamom powder increases the activity of certain enzymes that help fight cancer and enhances the ability of natural killer cells to attack tumors.

It is often used as a breath freshener, and has been shown to have anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory properties that disrupt the bacteria in the mouth that cause gum disease and other periodontal infections, and it can help relieve digestive problems, including ulcers.

Compounds in cardamom may help to increase airflow to the lungs, improving breathing by relaxing the airways. This is particularly helpful for treating asthma. Cardamom can decrease elevated liver enzymes, reduce anxiety, and is generally safe for most people.

Sources: allrecipes.com/article/what-is-cardamom; healthline.com/nutrition/cardamom-benefits; sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1075996419301490

Recipe – Vegan Rice Pudding

Ingredients

1 cup arborio rice

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

1/4 tsp. ground cardamom

3 1/2 cups almond milk

2 Tbs. maple syrup

4 Tbs. jam of choice

Process

  1. In medium saucepan stir together the rice, nutmeg, and cardamom. (This will stop the spices from clumping). Add the almond milk and bring to a simmer on medium-high heat.
  2. Once simmering, reduce the heat to low and cook the rice, stirring often for 20-25 minutes, or until soft and pleasantly chewy. (Add splashes more almond milk as needed during cooking, if consistency is getting too thick for your liking). Once cooked, drizzle in the maple syrup to sweeten and stir to combine.
  3. Divide into 4 bowls and top each with 1 tablespoon of jam. Drizzle with more maple syrup to sweeten to taste.

Rice pudding will keep in fridge for up to 5 days, and can be frozen for up to 3 months. Source: twospoons.ca/the-creamiest-vegan-rice-pudding

Recipe – Blueberry Apple Fold-Over Pie

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Blueberries

Research reveals that there is a serious amount of interesting evidence to support eating a lot of blueberries—improved memory, reduced depression, prevention of diabetes and the formation of new neurons. There are nutrition scientists who have devoted their careers to studying blueberries.

They have found that rats who ate blueberries for two months showed improvements in working memory, did better than their peers at remembering how to navigate a water maze, became better at balancing on a narrow rod and walking on a rotating rod. And lest these findings be dismissed as a coincidence, researchers found blue anthocyanins—among the plant chemicals widely attributed with health benefits due to antioxidant properties—scattered throughout their cerebellum, cortex, hippocampus, and striatum.

Human studies have shown that blueberries lower blood pressure after eight weeks of daily ingestion and that children do better on cognitive tests after eating blueberries. In small trials, people who drank blueberry juice found a reduction in depressive symptoms, improved blood-sugar levels, and improvements in recalling words. Older adults who ate two cups of blueberries daily reportedly saw cognition and mobility improvements.

If any fruit is deserving of superfruit status, it is the blueberry. They are heroic. www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2017/11/blueberries/545840/

Recipe – Blueberry Apple Fold-Over Pie

Ingredients

1 cup Granny Smith apple, cored and thinly sliced

¼ cup coconut sugar

1 Tbs. water

1 tsp. fresh lemon juice

1 Tbs. whole wheat pasty flour, or flour of choice

¼ tsp. salt

1 Tbs. plant-based butter or coconut oil

½ tsp. vanilla flavoring

1 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen

2 pie crusts

2 baking sheets

Process

  • In a saucepan, combine the apple, coconut sugar, water, and lemon juice.
  • Cook over medium heat until bubbly. Cover, lower heat to low, cook 6-8 minutes, stirring often.
  • In a bowl, mix flour, and salt. Stir into apple mixture until it thickens. Remove from heat; add butter or oil and vanilla. Fold blueberries into mixture. Let cool about 10 minutes.
  • Lay one pie crust on a baking sheet, lay the other crust on a second baking sheet.
  • Spoon half of filling onto center of one crust. Fold over pie crust to meet other edge. Press edges with fork tines. Cut a few small slits on top of crust. Repeat with the second crust.
  • Bake at 375° for 25-35 minutes, until crust is golden brown. Remove from oven. Let cool. Cut into desired servings.

Recipe – Creamy Vegan Banana Pudding

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The Banana

Bananas are one of the most versatile foods available. They come in their own container and can be eaten right out of the peel.

The banana plant, also called a banana tree, is technically regarded as an herb, not a tree, because the stem doesn’t have true woody tissue.

Bananas are the most popular fruit in the world. Over 100 billion bananas are eaten every year. The majority of them are eaten around breakfast time.

Americans eat more bananas than any other fruit, with an average consumption of 26.2 pounds of bananas per person per year. In fact, Americans eat more bananas than both apples and oranges combined.

A cluster of bananas is formally called a hand. A single banana is called a finger.

Fully ripe bananas with dark patches on their yellow skin produce a substance called Tumor Necrosis Factor, which has the ability to combat abnormal cells in your body. The darker the patches it has, the higher will be the immunity enhancement quality. Therefore, the riper the banana, the greater the anti-cancer properties.

Humans share about 50% of their DNA with bananas.

A diet of potassium rich bananas can help beat high blood pressure because bananas speed up the rate at which salt is excreted from the body.

Source: Tonsoffacts.com

Recipe – Creamy Vegan Banana Pudding

Ingredients

Pudding:

2 cups coconut milk or non-dairy milk of choice

1 ripe banana

1/4 cup chia seeds

1/2 cup raw cashews

6 pitted medjool dates

1 tsp. vanilla flavoring

For layering:

Roasted pecans

2 ripe bananas, sliced

Coconut whipped cream

Process

In a blender, combine the pudding ingredients and blend briefly. Leave mixture in the blender for 10-15 minutes to soften the chia seeds and cashews, and then blend again on high until creamy and smooth. Pour into a container and refrigerate until thickened, several hours, or overnight. Layer the pudding into glasses with the pecans, sliced bananas, and coconut whipped cream.

Recipe – Creamy Cantaloupe Ice Cream

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Cantaloupe!

What a yummy summer fruit! “Cantaloupe is truly a high-volume food. An entire large melon has only 277 calories, way less than most desserts, and more than most people can eat at one sitting. About 90 percent of the melon is water. But that water in the melon goes a long way toward filling you up. Water in foods seems to do this more than water that you drink alongside foods. Hence melons and soups do a better job of appetite control than solid food plus a glass of water. No one really knows why.

“But cantaloupe is not a great food just because it’s high-volume and low-calorie. It is also a potassium and vitamin A heavyweight. One cup of melon cubes gives you a whopping 427 mg of potassium (not to mention a little calcium and magnesium).

“Many studies show that people who eat potassium-rich foods have lower rates of heart disease and stroke. Potassium is also a key component in maintaining healthy blood pressure. … There is vitamin A and beta-carotene, both of which are plentiful in cantaloupe. Though a lot of people know about the role of vitamin A in vision and growth and bone development, what is not as well known is how terrific it is for the immune system. I consider it one of the best immune-system boosters around.” Excerpts from The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth, 103, Jonny Bowden, Ph.D., C.N.S.

Recipe – Creamy Cantaloupe Ice Cream

Ingredients

¼ of a whole cantaloupe

1 banana

Process

Cut the banana and the cantaloupe (remove the skin and seeds) in pieces and freeze overnight.

Pulse or blend frozen banana and cantaloupe pieces until completely smooth.

Enjoy the ice cream!

Recipe – Berry Cobbler

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Place in a large saucepan:

1 can crushed pineapple (20 oz.)

1 1/2 lb. sliced strawberries (unsweetened, fresh or frozen)

1/2 pkg. frozen peaches, diced

1/2 tsp. sea salt

1 1/2 cup date sugar

2 Tbsp. lemon juice

2-3 Tbsp. Agar Agar (or Cornstarch)

Bring to a boil, stirring constantly until thick. Pour into a large baking dish, and top with Cashew and Oat Pie Crust. Bake at 350° until golden brown. For variety, blackberries, boysenberries or blueberries may be substituted.

Food For Life – Common Sense in Dietetic Reform

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“There is real common sense in dietetic reform. The subject should be studied broadly and deeply, and no one should criticize others because their practice is not, in all things, in harmony with his own. It is impossible to make an unvarying rule to regulate everyone’s habits, and no one should think himself a criterion for all. Not all can eat the same things. Foods that are palatable and wholesome to one person may be distasteful, and even harmful, to another. Some cannot use milk, while others thrive on it.* Some persons cannot digest peas and beans; others find them wholesome. For some the coarser grain preparations are good food, while others cannot use them….

“The practice of eating but two meals a day is generally found a benefit to health; yet under some circumstances persons may require a third meal. This should, however, if taken at all, be very light, and of food most easily digested. `Crackers’-the English biscuit-or zwieback, and fruit, or cereal coffee, are the foods best suited for the evening meal.

“Some are continually anxious lest their food, however simple and healthful, may hurt them. To these let me say, Do not think that your food will injure you; do not think about it at all. Eat according to your best judgment; and when you have asked the Lord to bless the food for the strengthening of your body, believe that He hears your prayer, and be at rest.

“Because principle requires us to discard those things that irritate the stomach and impair health, we should remember that an impoverished diet produces poverty of the blood. Cases of disease most difficult to cure result from this cause. The system is not sufficiently nourished, and dyspepsia and general debility are the result. Those who use such a diet are not always compelled by poverty to do so, but they choose it through ignorance or negligence, or to carry out their erroneous ideas of reform.” The Ministry of Healing, 319-322.

Recipe – Millet-Oat Cookies

Place in Blender:
1 cup water
1/3 cup pineapple concentrate
½ cup date rolls or pieces
2 apples peeled and cored
1 t. sea salt
2 t. vanilla

Blend thoroughly then add:
1 cup walnuts or pecans

Blend again and then add:
1 ½ cup millet flour
1 ½ cup oat flour
1 cup raisins
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
1 cup unsweetened coconut
2 t. coriander powder

Drop by spoonfuls on baking sheet and flatten with fork. Bake at 350º for 35-40 minutes

*Further statements about dairy foods: “We know that a free use of these things [salt, sugar and milk] is positively injurious to health, and in many cases we think that if they were not used at all, a much better state of health would be enjoyed.” Counsels on Diet and Food, 468. “Let the people be taught how to prepare food without the use of milk or butter. Tell them that the time will soon come when there will be no safety in using eggs, milk, cream, or butter, because disease in animals is increasing in proportion to the increase of wickedness among men. The time is near when, because of the iniquity of the fallen race, the whole animal creation will groan under the diseases that curse our earth. God will give His people ability and tact to prepare wholesome food without these things. Let our people discard all unwholesome recipes.” Ibid., 356.

Food for Life – Brownies

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“If February gives much snow,
a fine summer it doth foreshow.”
English Rhyme.

This year we will be looking through “Counsels on Health” to see if we can keep our hearts tuned to the divine blueprint.

“When Christ first saw the multitudes that gathered about Him, He was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted and were scattered abroad as sheep having no shepherd. Christ saw the sickness, the sorrow, the want and degradation of the multitudes that thronged His steps. To Him were presented the needs and woes of humanity throughout the world. Among the high and the low, the most honored and the most degraded, he beheld souls who were longing for the very blessing He had come to bring; souls who needed only a knowledge of His grace to become subjects of His kingdom.

“Today, the same needs exist. The world is in need of workers who will labor as Christ did for the suffering and the sinful. There is indeed a multitude to be reached. The world is full of sickness, suffering, distress, and sin. It is full of those who need to be ministered unto…the weak, the helpless, the ignorant, the degraded.

“Many of the youth of this generation, in the midst of churches, religious institutions, and professedly Christian homes, are choosing the path to destruction. Through intemperate habits they bring upon themselves disease, and through greed to obtain money for sinful indulgences they fall into dishonest practices. Health and character are ruined. Aliens from God, and outcasts from society, these poor souls feel that they are without hope either for this life or for the life to come. The hearts of parents are broken. Men speak of these erring ones as hopeless; but God looks upon them with pitying tenderness. He understands all the circumstances that have led them to fall under temptation. This is a class that demands labor.

“Nigh and afar off are souls, not only the youth, but those of all ages, who are in poverty and distress, sunken in sin, and weighted down with a sense of guilt. It is the work of God’s servants to seek for these souls, to pray with them and for them, and lead them step by step to the Saviour.

“But those who do not recognize the claims of God are not the only ones who are in distress and in need of help. In the world today, where selfishness, greed, and oppression rules, many of the Lord’s true children are in need and affliction. In lowly, miserable places, surrounded with poverty, disease, and guilt, many are patient bearing their own burden of suffering, and trying to comfort the hopeless and sin-stricken about hem. Many of them are almost unknown to the churches or to the ministers; but they are the Lord’s lights, shining amid the darkness.” Counsels on Health, 13, 14.

Recipe – Brownies

1 pound nuts (walnuts, pecans, peanuts)
1 pound dates or date pieces
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon nonalcoholic vanilla
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
3 tablespoons (heaping) carob powder
soy or cashew mild to hold together

Mix thoroughly and bake at 275° for 1 hour.