Eat Simply, Eat Well

Healthy recipes & tips to help you live the good life. by Ann Plough

Search Results for: blueberry cacao

Blueberry Cacao Smoothie

April 1, 2015 by aplough

Happy April Fool’s Day!

But let me tell you, this smoothie is no joke.  It’s packed with serious flavor and nutrients to have you sailing right on through your morning or to pick you back up off the floor after a tough work out. Use blueberries or bilberries, whichever you have, toss in the remaining ingredients and blend up a drink full of fiber, antioxidants, good healthy fat (from the avocado), Omega 6 (thank you Chia seeds).

Have you been feeling forgetful?  New studies on blueberries (and their wild friend the bilberry) show that eating blueberries help are great for brain health and improving memory. Very nice.

Need a little more oomph?  Then grab that bag of Maca Powder and toss in a little of that, too and it will give you the all-over energy boost that you just might be missing.  Especially at 6 AM. What exactly is Maca?  Nutrition stripped offers the complete overview of this excellent nutitrion source here.

To top it all off, toss in a generous spoon of Raw Cacao Powder for a smooth chocolate flavor that blends perfectly with the blueberries while packing in some extra iron, magnesium and antioxidants for your health.  For more information about Raw Cacao, take a look here.

What about that kale, you say?  You won’t even taste it.  But you’ll get the benefits of perhaps the most nutrient-rich vegetable on the planet, so don’t hold back!

This can be made the night before for an instant breakfast in the morning, or pack it in a glass jar with a tight-fitting lid and take it with you for a snack on the go.

Blueberry Cacao Smoothie

1.5 cups cashew milk, almond milk, or other nut milk of choice
1 heaped cup fresh or frozen blueberries (frozen makes for a nice, thick, cold drink)
1/2 avocodo, pitted and peeled
3 leaves kale
2 tablespoons Chia gel (or 1 teaspoon Chia seeds soaked in 2 tablespoons of water for 5 min)
1 tablespoon raw cacao powder
1/2 tablespoon Maca powder
2 teaspoons pure maple syrup or 1 fresh, pitted date

Put all of the ingredients into a high-speed blender.  Process until completely smooth, about 1 minute. Divide between 2 tall glasses and enjoy

Makes 2 servings.

Filed Under: Breakfast, Drinkable, Snack Tagged With: leafy greens, smoothie, superfood, vegetarian

Blueberry (Bilberry) Buckle

July 27, 2015 by aplough

Blueberry_Buckle_20150727

Even the mention of Blueberry Buckle brings back fond memories from my childhood. Every Summer, the fruit crop most anticipated was the blueberry crop. Down the hill from our house – oh, 7 miles or so toward Snohomish, was, and still is, the Mountain View Berry Farm. For my siblings and me, not only was this the source of our beloved blueberries, it was also the source of our Summer income. Starting in July with the first ripening berries until just into August when the fruit was picked and the bushes emptied, we’d ride down to the farm with my Dad, who would drop us off on his way to the office. We’d pick all day, in the company of other junior high kids like ourselves, and get paid by the flat.

Our goal starting at the very beginning of the Summer was to pick as fast as we could to get that first flat of the season into the row bosses, racing to see who could get card #1. That set the tone for the season: the more we picked, the more money we’d have for school clothes. So we’d pick and pick and pick – and although this may sound agonizing for some, I loved it. I’d wear one of my dad’s old leather belts around my waist, from which I’d hang 3 gallon-sized coffee cans fitted with a heavy-duty wire hook provided by the farm. Typically it was suggested that you carry one bucket, but that was inefficient: running to the end of the row and emptying the bucket took time, and when you had an 8-hour picking day with a 30-minute lunch break and were there to make Summer cash, well, you figured out how to eliminate any inefficiencies. Plus, 2.5 cans made a flat, which meant that once all of my cans were full, I’d have a flat-plus – a full box plus a start on the next one – always a motivating factor. The blueberry bushes were huge, and so were many of the berries. They hung from the bushes in grape-like clusters, and once you learned how to use both hands to coax the ripe ones off directly into your bucket, leaving the raw ones behind, you could fill a bucket in 5-8 minutes, popping a few in your mouth to provide sustenance along the way.

The other inefficiency came when you had to switch rows – something that increased in frequency if you shared a row. You needed to notify the row bosses that you were done; have them check the row to make sure you hadn’t scatter-picked the whole thing (leaving good berries behind); and wait while they found the next one. So I’d negotiate at the beginning of every season that I’d always pick the row by myself and that I would pick it clean so that they didn’t need to check my work. Then, as I was nearing the end of the row, I’d ask them where I was going next so as to not waste precious money-earning time.

It was a great experience for a young kid: I learned the value of hard work and of negotiating up front so you didn’t have to deal with a set of rules that didn’t always apply; to build good relationships with people who could make your life easier; and to be independent. I learned I didn’t like being told what to do, and the surest way to avoid it is was to demonstrate respectfully that you were capable of doing the right thing and doing it well, when left alone.

I also learned that picking blueberries (or manual labor generally), while a decent job for a teenager, was no way to earn a good living in the long term because your earning power was capped by what you as an individual could create in a day, and there was only so much tweaking of the existing system that was possible for your potential was maxed out. Further, your work was only good for that one day. Every morning, you started over. On the best of days, I’d pick 18 flats of berries, so 180 pounds of blueberries. On the worst days, I’d eke out 11 flats. At the end of my 4 summers working there, the going rate was $2 per flat, which felt like a lot for a teenager hoping to earn enough for a cute pair of Gap jeans and some crisp, white Keds. And when the minimum wage was $4.25 per hour, I could earn just slightly more than that on most days.

Bilberries_20150727

By then end of the Summer, I’d have somewhere around $400 in the bank, and what I felt was a great Summer behind me: spent outside, working hard, producing something. If you’ve ever worked on a farm picking anything, perhaps you know what I mean. It was a good life, then.

With blueberries in abundance all Summer long, my Mom would go down and pick on Saturdays as well, taking advantage of the U-pick option to fill our freezer with berries for the Winter. And we’d have Blueberry Buckle.

Always at some point in the season, someone at our house would make a Blueberry Buckle and it would land on the table at coffee/snack time. If we were lucky, there would be vanilla ice cream to go with it, though ice cream is by no means necessary with this cake as it is really delicious all by itself.

Some things never change: while I no longer earn cash picking berries, I still love to pick them, and it’s something I look forward to all year long. Harvest time is now in full swing, and with the first of the season’s Finnish bilberries (a small wild cousin of the domesticated blueberry), I made a Blueberry (Bilberry) Buckle. Since I didn’t have quite enough bilberries, I used 1 cup of wild strawberries and 1.5 cups bilberries. Absolutely delicious; but I still prefer this with only those beautiful blue berries – whether they are bilberries or blueberries in your part of the world.

Nowadays when I make it, I change a few things to make it even more delicious:

  • Bilberries instead of blueberries, because in Finland, the forests are filled with them starting in late July
  • Add lemon and lemon juice because the flavor is perfect with blueberries/bilberries
  • Use unrefined sugar instead of white sugar, or at the very least, brown sugar (still refined; better flavor)
  • Part whole wheat flour for slightly better nutrition
  • Use a crispy crumble topping with oats instead of a cobbler-style topping because I like it better
  • Use fresh berries when possible; otherwise add them to the batter frozen and increase the cooking time 5-10 minutes
  • If you want to make this gluten-free, substitute 2 cups of your favorite gluten-free flour mix for flour in the recipe and use certified gluten-free oats
  • Make it dairy-free by substituting coconut oil for the butter and non-dairy milk for the milk

Blueberry_Buckle_2_20150727

Blueberry (Bilberry) Buckle

Preheat oven to 190°C/375°F. Oil a large spring-form pan (the size should be 8″-9″/23-25cm)

Make the cake batter:

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together:

  • 1 cup/120g/2.5 dl whole wheat flour
  • 1 cup/120g/2.5dl all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

In another mixing bowl combine:

  • 1/4 cup/60g butter, softened
  • 3/4 cup/150g coconut sugar or Indian sugar (can use brown sugar if you don’t have unrefined sugar)
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/2 cup/120 ml milk (can substitute oat, soy or almond milk)
  • zest of one lemon
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice

Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and mix to combine. Add:

  • 2.5 cups/0.5 liter bilberries or blueberries

And mix thoroughly. Pour the thick batter into your prepared springform pan.

Make the topping:

In a bowl combine:

  • 1 cup/75g/2.5 dl old fashioned oats
  • 1/2 cup/60g flour (can substitute gluten-free)
  • 1/2 cup/100 ml coconut sugar, Indian sugar or brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 cup/60g butter, melted

Stir the ingredients together until everything is wet and sticks together. Spoon the mixture evenly over the top of the cake batter in the pan.

Bake in the preheated oven for 50-60 minutes. The time will vary depending on size of the pan, the accuracy of your oven temperature, and whether or not your berries are frozen. To check if the Blueberry (Bilberry) Buckle is ready, insert a toothpick or knife into the center. If it comes out clean or with small crumbs attached, it’s done. If it has wet batter sticking to it, put it back in the oven and cook for 5-10 minutes longer.

Once the cake is fully baked, remove from the oven and allow it to cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Then run a knife around the outside edge of the cake between the cake and the pan to release it from the side of the pan. Release the spring on the springform pan and lift the top from the cake. Allow the cake to cool for another 20 minutes or so before serving. Garnish with extra berries, if desired. Serving with ice cream is optional but delicious. Freezes well.

Serves 10-12.

Love blueberries and bilberries and want more recipe ideas? Try these:

  • Bilberry Almond Cake with Bilberry Sauce
  • Bilberry Lime Muffins
  • Bilberry Rhubarb Sima
  • Blueberry/Bilberry Ginger Superfood Smoothie
  • Blueberry/Bilberry Cacao Smoothie

Love this recipe? Please let us know in the comments below and share it with your friends – we’d love to hear from you!

Filed Under: cake, Dessert, Snack

Healthy Cookies!?! Oh Yes. Rye and Almond Thumbprint Cookies

June 2, 2015 by aplough

Healthy_rye-almond-thumbprint-cookies_2015June01_2

It’s a bit of a sad truth, but I’ve been avoiding cookies lately. When my sweet tooth strikes, I’ve been reaching for dark chocolate, or Lemon Vanilla Coconut Bites or Raw Cacao Nib & Almond Energy Bites, or whipping up a quick smoothie. But there are moments when I just really want to sink my teeth into a nice cookie – do you know what I’m saying, here?

What I’m not a big fan of anymore is all the empty calories most cookies contain, in particular sugar and white flour (which is basically sugar since that’s how you body processes this fiber-deficient powder). I’m long over any interest in milk chocolate – too much sugar and not enough chocolate. Dark chocolate, on the other hand? Sign me up. I’m in. I have a small (usually) piece nearly every single day. Imagine how thrilled I am when one health report after the other lauds the benefits of dark chocolate – in moderation, of course. It’s a beautiful thing to be able to pat yourself on the back when the experts makes a virtue out of a vice.

So let’s get back to those cookies, shall we? My dear husband has a sweet tooth even worse than mine. Since we’re pretty active, the hunger strikes that hit between the dinner and lunch hours create the risk of having us binge on snacks without sustenance…so these cookies are designed to sweetly fill that gap, especially when one more carrot stick just isn’t going to satisfy anybody.

Loaded with nutrition dense rye flour and heart-healthy almonds, sweetened with a little honey with an olive oil, egg, and milk (feel free to use non-dairy milk here) for tenderness, these cookies are just mildly sweet with a nice little crunchiness too them and the wonderful essence of orange and vanilla that may make it difficult to eat just one.

But then, at just 60 calories a piece, we won’t need to feel guilty about that at all. Don’t expect a super sweet cookie, here, though: these little morsels are lightly sweetened to keep them on the healthy side and to let the other awesome flavors shine through.

And that healthy dark chocolate? Definitely present here…in moderation.

Healthy_rye-almond-thumbprint-cookies_2015June01

Healthy Rye and Almond Thumbprint Cookies

  • 200g / 2 cups rye flour
  • 115 g /3/4 cup almonds, finely chopped
  • 85 g / 2/3 cup almond flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • zest of one organic orange
  • 1 egg
  • 1/3 cup liquid honey
  • 1/3 cup olive oil
  • 1/4 cup dairy or non-dairy milk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 30 g / 1 oz dark chocolate; more if you want more drizzle on the cookies
  • 1 teaspoon coconut oil

Preheat oven to 190°C/375°F.

In a large bowl, combine the rye flour, almonds, almond flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt. Whisk until well combined.

In a small bowl, combine the egg, honey, olive oil, milk and vanilla. Whisk until smooth.  Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour the wet mixture into it. Using a wooden spoon or spatula, stir the mixture until all of the dry ingredients are moistened and the mixture clumps together.

Using 2 spoons or a small ice cream scoop, spoon the mixture out into 1 tablespoon sized portions and roll each into a ball. Set these on parchment-lined baking trays, and using your thumb, gently press down in the center to form a small well or “thumbprint”.

Bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown.

While the cookies bake, melt the chocolate and coconut oil, either in a microwave safe bowl in the microwave (stirring after every 10 seconds – should take about a minute) or over a double boiler. Whisk until smooth. Remove the cookies from the oven. Dip a fork into the chocolate mixture and drizzle a swirl of chocolate over each cookie.

Makes 45-50 cookies.

Nutrition info per serving: 60 calories, 8g carbohydrates, 4g fat, 2g protein, 27mg sodium, 4g sugar.

 

Did you like this recipe? We’d love to hear from you. Leave a note in the comments below!

Filed Under: Appetizers, Dessert, Snack

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