Blueberries

One of my favorite summer superfoods is the blueberry. We've been eating quite a few of these this week, since our trip to Indigo Farms last weekend. This farm is known locally for it's blueberry fields, and there are days that you can go pick your own. We haven't done that yet, but it would be a fun adventure! They also have a produce market, with some great prices, and what seemed to be a flower market, though we didn't go to that side of it.

Before I go on, let me point out that I have NO education in nutrition, other than what my nutritionist has taught me and what I've learned myself online. We all know you can't believe everything you read on the internet, but I believe the links I'm going to post here are reliable. Just remember - I'm no expert!

On WebMD, I found an article regarding Superfoods that was the basis for the list I previously posted. This is what they say about blueberries:

Blueberries -- Antioxidant Superfood

Packed with antioxidants and phytoflavinoids, these berries are also high in potassium and vitamin C, making them the top choice of doctors and nutritionists. Not only can they lower your risk of heart disease and cancer, they are also anti-inflammatory.

I'm not sure what a phytoflavinoid is, and couldn't seem to find a good definition online anywhere. So I kept looking for more articles on blueberries that had words that meant something to me. I found a great article here. It sets out all the health benefits of blueberries, their nutritional information and even a history of blueberries. I found it interesting that they weren't marketed as a food until 1916! This site also has a link to some recipes, though I haven't checked them out yet.

Here's a recipe I featured earlier in my blog, but only with a link:

















Banana Blueberry Bread
Ingredients
1 3/4 cups flour, all-purpose sifted
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/3 cup Butter
2/3 cup Sugar
2 large Eggs
1 cup Bananas mashed
1 cup Blueberries


Directions
60 minutes Prep: 10 minutes Cook: 50 minutes
Sift together flour, baking powder, soda, and salt. Set aside.
Cream butter and gradually beat in sugar until light and fluffy.
Beat in eggs one at a time. Add flour mixture and banana alternately in three parts. Gently stir in blueberries.
Turn into oiled 9 x 5-inch loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes. Turn out of pan to cool.
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And finally, though it actually has nothing to do with food, here's a video preview of a new book by one of my favorite authors.

Blueberry Girl, by Neil Gaiman

Mmmmm veggies!

Well, so much for trying to keep up! It's Sunday and I haven't posted since Thursday! We've been pretty busy since Friday, so I haven't really had time to get on here.

Friday morning started with breakfast at work, as usual. Lucas bought some Grape Nuts cereal, and I was excited because I had never tried it before. I made a bowl of it for breakfast and topped it with some of our homemade banana chips.


Looks yummy, but I wasn't a fan. I ate the banana chips, but got rid of the rest of it. I think they'll be good to use in recipes though, as breading, stuffing, etc. I was still hungry so I grabbed a Larabar that I had purchased. Kath, over at Kath Eats, eats these all the time, and I was curious so I picked up a few on my last trip to the store.




SOOO good! It only had dates, peanuts and salt, but tasted just like a peanut butter cookie! It was absolutely delicious!

We had an early lunch for the office at Olive Garden. I shared some artichoke spinach dip with Michelle, and had the portobello mushroom ravioli with cheese and sun dried tomato sauce. It was so good, and not too much to eat. We all decided to get dessert and share. I had a bit of the Black Tie Mousse cake, Lemon Sponge cake, and an amazing donut square dipped in chocolate.



After work we went to have some drinks with friends, then had to hit Walmart to buy some cleaning supplies for my cleaning job on Saturday, and something for dinner. Friday marked our first day of a week of pretending we are vegetarians, so we needed to pick up something quick and full of veggies. We decided on quesadillas, which were delicious and really quick to make. We didn't cook the veggies before putting them on the quesadilla, so they still had a bit of a crunch. It was so good we didn't even use the salsa we put on the plate! Tortilla, chedder jack cheese, red onion, jalapeno pepper, red pepper, green pepper toasted in olive oil just until the cheese melts and the tortilla is brown. Delicious!



Saturday I stupidly skipped breakfast and headed right to my cleaning job. That was HARD work. I cleaned a 6 bedroom/6 bath house and a 3 bedroom/3 bath house in 3 hours and was ready to DROP. I was starving when I got done, so I ordered some Vegetable Chow Mai Fun from the chinese place down the road. It was loaded with broccoli and hit the spot. Then we headed out to our weekly shopping trip. Holden Brothers Farm Market, Indigo Farms, and Lowes Foods were on the list. As always, we got a HUMUNGOUS bag of veggies at Holden Brother and then went in search of Indigo Farms. There we bought some blueberries and a huge watermelon, which was just $2! We also grabbed an eggplant for dinner later in the week. It's a really nice little place, and I'm sure we'll be going back! Lowes Foods was great as always, and we got some great help from Customer Service, especially from Paula, the manager. We had been having trouble with our Esavings, and they fixed it all right away.

Last night my sister came over and we had the Portobello Mushroom burgers that she had been begging for. We topped the night off with a bottle of wine and followed the Browns game online - then headed to bed.

This morning we woke up and decided to make Oatmeal Blueberry Pancakes. Another win!! I found the idea on Kath's blog, and changed it a bit to make it my own.

Here's the recipe, and some pics:

1 1/3 cups oats
3 eggs
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 banana, mashed
cinnamon to taste
Blueberries

Mix all together, make into pancakes (makes 5 medium size). Melt butter in pan. Add pancakes to hot pan. Flip when they start to get firm and won't fall apart when flipping. Serve with preserves, mashed banana or maple syrup.





I figured out a great way to mash bananas that aren't quite overripe enough to be mushy. Squeeze the banana slightly while it's still in the peel. Eventually the peel will split and a half-smashed banana will come out. Finish the rest of the mashing with a fork and it's easier then trying to mash a firm, ripe one!

Well, I think we're all caught up now! Today I plan to be lazy. I'm going to throw together some jalapeno cheddar bread - in the bread machine (cheating again!) and vegetable lasagna for dinner. Then it's True Blood!! I love Sunday nights!!