Monday, March 17, 2014

Fresh, organic delivery from My Farmer's Market Inc.!

Friday night I had my first (but certainly not my last) order of fresh produce delivered to my door from My Farmer's Market Inc. They're a new, local business offering produce, groceries, pet food and other household items available for delivery (FREE if you spend $50+) with a focus on sourcing their items locally. They even now carry Just the Goods products! It all came in a reusable tote that I paid a $10 refundable deposit for and they even threw in some free stuff like an extra cucumber, local butter lettuce and a dozen free range eggs! Needless to say, the service and quality from this first order has certainly got me wanting more and highly recommending them to YOU! Check out their website as their list of products they offer is continually growing and they're always looking for suggestions.

This time around I got some local, fresh basil, organic cucumbers, local organic beets and onions, organic tomatoes, organic bananas (they're working on getting some from Unlimited Organics Fair Trade which would be AWESOME!), organic limes, organic corn grits, organic yams and organic kale.


Plenty of my produce from my food order made it's way into several of my weekend meals including my Saturday morning's sunny breakfast bowl of goodness!

A smoothie base topped with a couple scoops of my homemade granola, cacao nibs, hemp hearts, banana and pomegranate.


Another tasty breakfast bowl on Sunday morning! I never tire of the vibrant color a beet and blueberries gives my smoothies! This smoothie had more goodies from my My Farmers' Market Inc order that was delivered Friday night. Local beets, celery, blueberries, cucumber, kale, Vega protein powder, cayenne pepper, cinnamon, apple, banana and filtered water. Then I topped it with some chia seeds, homemade granola, cacao nibs, Manitoba Harvest hemp hearts and fresh kiwi and pomegranate.

Just a wee reminder that I'm much more active on my Dandee Eats Facebook page, if that's your thing. Come find me there and hit 'like' or comment here and there to make sure I keep showing up in your feed. Your food feed. teehee

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Granola Goodness!

I finally used up the frozen Carrot Cake Granola wet mix from a while back in this super goodness packed batch of granola. It's been a while since I've made granola and my honey was asking for some so I took the time to make it happen. I try to go easy on grains, even gluten free as it can be a bit hard on my guts and I've got the bloated tummy this week to prove I need to take it easy once again. But it's just SO DARN YUMMY!

Let's see if I can remember what I put into this bin of crunchy yums. The wet ingredients were carrots, dates, maple syrup, cinnamon, nutmeg, all spice, cloves, banana and coconut oil blended until smooth.
In a GIANT Pyrex bowl (like this one that I have and LOVE!) I added a bunch of sprouted buckwheat groats, gf oats, Manitoba Harvest hemp hearts, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, cacao nibs, dried cranberries and raisins and chia seeds. I think that's it!

So I mixed all the dry ingredients up and then poured on about 1/2 to 1 cup of the wet mix, mixing to make sure every bit is a bit wet. Then I spread it all onto a few dehydrator sheets and dehydrated it overnight at about 118 degrees until it was crisp and dry. If you don't have a dehydrator, you can bake it in the oven on a low temperature keeping a close eye on it so it doesn't burn.

This will keep indefinitely in a sealed container in the cupboard or fridge. It's such a versatile recipe so feel free to throw whatever you want into the mix!
I threw some of my granola in my Super Snack Mason Jar of Goodness today along with some hemp hearts, cacao nibs, blueberries, banana, peanuts, chia seeds, cinnamon and some brown rice milk. You can also add any kind of milk to the granola in a covered container or jar in the fridge overnight and warm it up in the morning for a toasty, powerhouse breakfast! Or blend up some frozen bananas and top with some granola. Or mix the granola with some fresh fruit for a bedtime snack. Or just grab a spoon and scarf that tasty stuff down any time of day! SO many ways to enjoy this energy packed snack!

Saturday, March 1, 2014

Gettin' my sprouts on!

It's time to start another couple batches of sprouted sunflower seeds! After soaking them in a big bowl overnight with some filtered water, I rinsed them in the morning and spread them in a colander sitting over a bowl and left them covered on the counter to start their sprouting process. I'll rinse them once in the morning and again before bed until they start to show some little tails. Then I dehydrate them in my dehydrator until they're totally dry and ready to eat! Easy peasy!
You can do the same thing with buckwheat groats, too! This is a shot of a batch I let get super sprouted. If you've never soaked and sprouted buckwheat groats before, be warned. They get.... well, snotty after being soaked. Just be sure to rinse, rinse, rinse until the slimy consistency is gone. Once they're dehydrated, be it in a dehydrator or on a very low setting in your oven under close watch, they can be used in any recipe like granola, stir fry, salads or use your coffee grinder to make buckwheat flour. And that's just the tip of the buckwheat ice burg for recipe uses! And keep in mind, despite the name, they are indeed gluten and wheat free and you can buy locally grown, organic buckwheat groats from DeRuyck Farms through the Harvest Moon Society or in the bulk section at Vita Health.
I use sprouted buckwheat in my Pumpkin You Up Granola and sprouted sunflower seeds in my How You Like Dem Apples Granola! And I've even sprouted chickpeas and lentils to make hummus and patties. I've got a sensitivity to both legumes but I love them too much not to try to find a way to enjoy them fully. Sprouting seemed to do the trick!
To educate yourself on all the things you can sprout and how to do it, check out this great chart by Better Raw. And to find out all the amazing benefits and reasons to sprout your grains, nuts and seeds, check this page out.
Twitter Bird Gadget