We all work long days, and the temptation to grab a quick take-out lunch or another slice of the office birthday cake is something that we can all relate to. Consuming unprocessed, whole foods in the modern office environment is a task that takes incredible willpower and a knack for planning ahead. But [...]]]>

We all work long days, and the temptation to grab a quick take-out lunch or another slice of the office birthday cake is something that we can all relate to. Consuming unprocessed, whole foods in the modern office environment is a task that takes incredible willpower and a knack for planning ahead. But there’s good news: there is evidence that your willpower muscles can be strengthened! October is the perfect month to start, since over 1,000 of us have already pledged to eliminate unprocessed food from our diet for October Unprocessed.

This is the second year that Andrew from Eating Rules has hosted the October Unprocessed challenge. But what does “unprocessed” truly mean? Everyone’s interpretation might be a bit different, but Andrew had a great discussion on his blog with some examples of why certain foods meet the criteria. The “Kitchen Test” is an excellent concept. It has worked for me in eliminating quite a few processed foods from my diet. The basic idea is that you don’t have to make EVERYthing yourself, but the items that you buy could theoretically have been made in your kitchen. Take a look at the ingredients, and make sure that you don’t see anything artificial in there.

My goal for this month is to eliminate the few processed foods left in my diet, primarily dry cereal, milk, and sugar. Over the last couple of years, The Boyfriend and I have slowly but steadily eliminated most processed food from our diet. For those of us who work a full week, that means designating an entire weekend day (sometimes an entire weekend!) to prep food for the work week. My work days last 14 hours, including commute time, so there’s not very much time during the week to make food.

Sundays are a busy and sometimes stressful day in our house, as I work to bake multiple batches of healthy muffins, quick bread, or other snacks for the week. We’ll usually make a big pot of soup with our bounty from the farmers’ market, or another entree that can keep well in the fridge all week. Every morning I leave the house (way before sunrise!) with my backpack stuffed full of muffins, fresh fruit, and my homemade lunch. This may seem like an extraordinary amount of work (and it is), but the payoff is that I generally feel much healthier and happier when I eat whole foods that I have made myself and with the help of The Boyfriend.

Over the course of the month, I’ll post about our progress in finding substitutions for the processed foods that we still buy. I’m hoping to try making my own non-dairy milk. Can anyone suggest a good recipe for rice or almond milk, or a suitable alternative? It seems that the organic rice milk we get at our store still has some questionable, potentially processed ingredients. Ideally we’d have our own goat to provide milk, but that’s not a viable option with our current living situation!

Would you like to join me in this challenge? You don’t have to commit to the entire month, and you don’t even have to eliminate everything at once. How about just a day of consuming only unprocessed food? Or maybe picking just a few processed foods to eliminate for the entire month? By the end of the month, you might not even miss them anymore. I’ve noticed that as I decrease the amount of processed food in my diet, I simply don’t crave it as much anymore. Give it a try!

To kick off the month, I’m posting a blueberry buckle recipe that substitutes a natural sweetener (pure maple syrup) for some of the processed sugar. I do use an organic minimally-processed sugar, but it’s still fundamentally a processed food. I’ve used it in the streusel here mostly because I didn’t want to end up with a syrupy mess. Any thoughts on how to make streusel with a natural sweetener?

Blueberry Buckle
Adapted from The King Arthur Flour Baker’s Companion
Yield: 4-6 servings

For the batter:
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup, room temperature
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup unbleached, unbromated flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup milk
1 cup fresh blueberries

For the streusel:
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons unbleached, unbromated flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold

For this recipe, use a pan that’s about 4″ square. I used a small oval pan, but you could use any pan that has a similar volume. Or, double the recipe and use a 9″ square pan. Butter and flour your pan, and set aside.

Preheat the oven to 375°.

With an electric mixer, beat the maple syrup and butter on medium-high speed until well combined. Add the egg and mix for a minute. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.

Add the milk and vanilla extract to the butter mixture alternately with the dry ingredients, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Beat until well combined. Gently fold in the blueberries. Spread the batter into the pan.

To make the streusel, stir together the sugar, flour, cinnamon, and salt. Cut the butter into 1/4 inch chunks. Use your fingers to rub the butter into the sugar mixture until it resembles pea-sized crumbs. Sprinkle the streusel over the batter in the pan.

Bake the buckle for 40-50 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool the buckle in the pan on a cooling rack. Slice and enjoy!

1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233, 377, 610, 987…

Have you deciphered the pattern? Each term is the sum of the previous two terms, creating the Fibonacci sequence. I find the graphical representation of this sequence beautiful and intriguing. Using squares whose sides correspond to the [...]]]>

1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233, 377, 610, 987…

Have you deciphered the pattern? Each term is the sum of the previous two terms, creating the Fibonacci sequence. I find the graphical representation of this sequence beautiful and intriguing. Using squares whose sides correspond to the numbers in the sequence, each consecutive square is placed in an outwardly spiraling manner. There is something satisfying about the way that each square nestles against the previous squares, and the pattern seems to contribute equally to the fields of mathematics and art. Since baking is a bit of both, I used this pattern as the inspiration for my berry dessert pizza.

I filled each square with a different berry: blueberries, pomegranate seeds, raspberries, cranberries, and strawberries. Atop a honey whole wheat crust with a layer of sweetened mascarpone cheese, each of the berries adds a different degree of tartness. A drizzle of caramel sauce balances the flavors perfectly!

Berry Dessert Pizza
Created by Simple Math Bakery
Yield: 8 servings

Dessert Pizza Dough
Adapted from King Arthur Flour

2 teaspoons instant yeast
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 cups unbleached bread flour
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons honey
1 to 1 1/4 cups lukewarm water

In a large bowl, or the bowl of your mixer, combine the yeast, whole wheat flour, bread flour, and salt. Add the olive oil, honey, and 1 cup of the water. Stir with a wooden spoon or the paddle attachment of your mixer until the dough comes together. If necessary, add more water 1 tablespoon at a time to get the dough to come together.

Knead the dough by hand or mixer until it becomes a cohesive dough. It may still look a little rough, but should hold together well. This will take about 5 minutes with the dough hook of a mixer.

Place the dough into a lightly oiled bowl, cover, and let rise for 1 hour. It should be very puffy and not quite doubled in size.

Lightly flour a piece of parchment paper (if you are baking the crust directly on a pizza stone) or grease the pizza pan of your choice. Stretch the dough into shape. If it won’t hold its shape, cover it and let it rest for 15 minutes then try to stretch it farther.

Cover the shaped dough with lightly greased plastic wrap and allow the dough to rise for about 1 hour. It will puff up quite a bit. Preheat the oven to 450° for at least 45 minutes during this last rise.

Use a peel to transfer the pizza directly onto a baking stone (or place the pizza pan in the oven) and bake for 10-12 minutes. The crust should be golden brown. Remove the crust from the oven and allow it to cool on a cooling rack for 10 minutes before adding toppings.

Dessert Pizza Sauce

3/4 cup homemade mascarpone cheese
1 tablespoon pure maple syrup

Whisk the maple syrup into the mascarpone until combined. Spread a thin layer over the pizza crust.

Top with berries of your choice. Fibonacci sequence art is optional.

Place the pizza back into the oven for about 5 minutes. The mascarpone sauce should be bubbly and just starting to turn brown. The berries will soften ever so slightly. Place on a cooling rack and allow to cool for 10-15 minutes. Slice and serve with a drizzle of warm caramel sauce.

Caramel Sauce
Adapted from Simply Recipes
Yield: 1 cup

1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup water
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Make sure all of your ingredients are ready and accessible before starting. Boiling sugar is extremely hot and can go from caramel to burnt very quickly. You don’t want to be trying to measure the cream while your caramel burns!

In a 2 or 3 quart saucepan, combine the sugar and water. Heat over medium-high heat, stirring constantly. When the liquid comes to a boil, stop stirring and allow it to boil until the sugar starts to brown. Gently swirl the pan if necessary to keep the liquid heating evenly.

When the sugar becomes a dark amber color, carefully add the butter, stirring vigorously. It will bubble up and then subside as the butter melts. When the butter has melted completely, remove the pan from the heat. After 3 seconds, stir in the cream and vanilla extract. Again, the mixture will foam up. Keep stirring vigorously until the mixture is smooth.

Allow the sauce to cool for 15-20 minutes before drizzling over the pizza. When completely cooled, the sauce can be stored in the refrigerator.

Challenge #5 of Project Food Blog prompted the remaining 72 contestants to put their own spin on a common theme: pizza. Voting starts Monday, October 18th at 6AM Pacific Time, and runs through Thursday, October 21st at 6PM Pacific Time. As always, I truly appreciate your support!

I miss fresh berries during the winter. Luckily, I found some strawberries in my freezer. My first instinct was to make strawberry muffins, but I decided to try a quick bread instead. Of course, I didn’t have enough strawberries, so I added some frozen blueberries as well.

This bread is quick and easy. [...]]]>

I miss fresh berries during the winter. Luckily, I found some strawberries in my freezer. My first instinct was to make strawberry muffins, but I decided to try a quick bread instead. Of course, I didn’t have enough strawberries, so I added some frozen blueberries as well.

This bread is quick and easy. It doesn’t get much simpler than this. Two mixing bowls, one loaf pan, and into the oven it goes. An hour later, you’ve got a healthy snack!

While your bread is baking, you’ll want to check out this cookbook:

Lauren from Celiac Teen has compiled an ebook to benefit survivors of the earthquake in Haiti. All proceeds will be donated to the Canadian Red Cross, earmarked for Haiti earthquake relief efforts.

Lauren compiled 87 recipes, donated by 71 individuals (one of whom is me!). She asked foodies to donate recipes that make us think of home, so that we may remember those who lost their home in the earthquake. I am proud to be a part of this amazing fundraising effort. I hope that you’ll make a donation!

And now, without further ado, I bring you a bread recipe.

Blueberry Strawberry Quick Bread
Adapted from The King Arthur Flour Baker’s Companion
Yield: One loaf

1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
2 eggs
1/2 cup mashed strawberries
1/2 cup blueberries
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup canola oil

Preheat oven to 350°. Grease a 9 x 5 loaf pan with butter, or spray with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg. In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, strawberries, applesauce, and oil. Fold in the blueberries.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, and stir until combined. Pour into the pan, and bake for 50-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool the bread in the pan for 5 minutes, then remove from the pan and cool on a cooling rack.