Posted by Lynsie Watkins
Mon, 12 May 2008 13:49:00 GMT
In the June 2008 issue of Food & Wine, Jeni Britton was featured in the magazine’s “Master Cook” section. For those of you who don’t know Jeni, she makes gourmet ice cream in Ohio. Her business is Jeni’s Ice Creams. I’m really glad to have seen her in this prestigious magazine, but not because of its notoriety and her potential fame. Instead because the article, and her recipes included in the article, epitomize the crisis we have currently in the food industry: a crisis of industrial food and sadly, some gourmet as well. It’s the use of unnecessary ingredients, like corn-based sugars, starches, etc. It’s Food Fakery, as Julia might say. Using an ingredient not intended in the use of ice cream, to replicate the smooth texture that real ingredients are meant to provide is sad. We should be angry, or at the very least, upset about this.
In the article, which briefly discusses Jeni’s use of “in-season” produce and “locally pasteurized milk,”* there are included a number of ice cream, frozen yogurt, and sorbet recipes that, according to Food & Wine, took Jeni 75 tries to get right. Hmmmm….I guess she’s been producing her ice creams in massive quantities lately, because if Food & Wine asked me for a recipe for the home cook, I’d just use the one I use now.
In Jeni’s recipes I found the material that really got me heated. She suggests using ingredients like cornstarch, gelatin, and corn syrup in her creations because she doesn’t like the taste of eggs in her ice creams, and also because the gelatin “gives an appealing whipped texture” to the yogurt. Stop the bus! Since when did gourmet belong in the same sentence as factory food??? I am here to prove to all of you that you need none of the above to make incredible, dare I say, healthy ice cream and sorbet. How do I get around the great puzzle that is ice cream making?
Easy. I use real ingredients and let them speak for themselves. In fact, my recipe for french custard contains the same ingredients as Thomas Jefferson’s. He was, after all, the person who introduced ice cream, the ice cream maker, and the vanilla bean to America. As for corn syrup? Yes, there are recipes that I use that call for corn syrup…my solution? I use my homemade simple syrup instead. I combine organic evaporated cane juice and water to form a pure, unadulterated syrup that works as a perfect substitute. Check out my recipe for simple syrup, as well as my recipe for strawberry rhubarb sorbet. I just made some today and it was the best one yet!
Lynsie’s Simple Syrup (use, by weight, as a substitute for corn syrup in any recipe)
2 cups water
1 ½ cups organic cane sugar
optional: a vanilla bean, scraped. (All parts-the caviar (black tiny dots) and the shell-can be added.)
Bring the water and sugar to a boil, whisking occasionally. Boil for 5 minutes and remove from heat. Cool and place in an airtight container. The syrup will keep for up to 3 months in the refrigerator.
–note: this recipe can be doubled, tripled, whatever you like. Just remember, it’s two parts water, 1 ½ parts sugar. To tone down the sweetness of the sugar while maintaining the syrup’s viscosity, add fresh rhubarb juice, 1 tablespoon at a time. To make rhubarb juice, which is much better for the environment than lemons shipped from across the country and world, simply macerate chopped rhubarb with 1 tablespoon salt and three tablespoons sugar. Let sit in the fridge for at least one day and up to three. Remove, blend and strain. Leave the pulp behind and take the juice.
In-season AND Local Virginia Strawberry Rhubarb Sorbet
2 ½ cups strawberries, hulled and halved
2 ½ cups fresh rhubarb, chopped
Simple Syrup recipe (yields approximately 2 cups)
Combine all and let sit overnight in the fridge. The next day, blend in a blender or food processor, strain, and freeze juice according to your ice cream maker’s instructions. If you do not have an ice cream maker, freeze this sorbet in popsicle molds, or pour unfrozen sorbet in a container, cover and repeat this process until frozen: freeze for one hour, remove from container and blend, refreeze for one hour, remove from container and blend. Repeat until lighter in color and mostly frozen.
*As an aside, Jeni neither sticks to the use of local, in-season produce nor is she really capable of controlling the pasteurization process of her milk. I know she’s not using in-season, local produce because I receive her email newsletter and in December, her customers were encouraged to purchase ice creams with ingredients like strawberries, figs and cherries, none of which are in-season in Ohio at this time.
Also, regarding her mandate that her milk be “gently pasteurized” according to the article, I really don’t see how she can have any say into how her milk gets pasteurized. We pasteurize our own at Perfect Flavor, which means we know and understand the rules and regulations regarding pasteurization in the state of VA backwards and forwards. Pasteurization is pasteurization. The only difference is what kind of machine is used. At Perfect Flavor, we have a batch pasteurizer, which pasteurizes our milk in small 15 gallon batches for 30 minutes at 145 degrees Fahrenheit. The alternative would be a flash pasteurizer, which pasteurizes milk for two minutes at a temperature of 175 degrees or more. This, in our opinion, damages the milk, so we don’t do it this way, not to mention the fact that using a machine this large would be cost prohibitive to us. For Jeni or anyone else to say, however, that their product is “gently pasteurized” is bending the truth, because what they really mean is that they’re using a batch pasteurizer instead of a flash. Doesn’t it seem unfair as a consumer to be fibbed to?
On one more note of worth, my guess as to the reason why Jeni does not use eggs in her recipe for ice cream is simply because she would have to pasteurize them, and she doesn’t have a pasteurizer. Interestingly enough, in her press kit for the last two or more years she has stated her imminent purchase of a pasteurizer as “news” for the business. Somehow I have a feeling we shouldn’t hold our breaths. It costs A LOT to do things the right way, but for Perfect Flavor, the right way is the only way.
Posted in Business, Ice Cream, Recipes | Tags cream, food, gourmet, ice, industrial, recipe, wine | 2 comments
Posted by Lynsie Watkins
Thu, 10 Apr 2008 01:17:00 GMT
Why buy it when you can make it yourself? That is a question that has driven me to try to make just about anything I can myself. In fact, I have a rule when shopping at the grocery store: if I can't make it at home, I won't buy it. (Which leaves me buying very little and making a lot.) After all, I don't know anyone who's got gum carrageenan or maltodextrin or carmine lying around in the pantry just waiting to be used. Do you?
Nope, that's right-chemicals and scary unpronounceable substances are just NOT my thing. This comes in handy, of course, if I'm out of some store-bought item at home, but need to make potato salad with mayo. When this happened the first time, and I didn't have the mayo, I decided to learn how to make it myself, using a Julia Child recipe, of course. I have not bought a single jar of mayo from the store since.
Not only is it incredibly rewarding to learn something new and put it to good use, like feeding yourself, your family, or unannounced guests...BUT by making things at home, you're in charge of the ingredients that go into them. No chemicals here, just foundation ingredients that, in combination, actually DO create a healthy product. (And just so we're all clear, mayo isn't actually supposed to be white as I discovered, it's yellow.)
This level of curiosity mixed with much ambition has put me where I am today at Perfect Flavor. I put this ideal to use each day in my kitchen, where we make everything- from our own peanut butter and caramel to marshmallows, bread, buttermilk and vanilla extract. Yes, I did just say vanilla extract.
After having carefully researched vanilla extract, I have learned some disturbing facts. For instance, there are many names that mean many different things. They all use the word "vanilla," even if there is no vanilla at all. It sounds confusing, and you'd be right to feel that way, because it is.
There's artificial vanilla flavoring, imitation vanilla flavoring, natural vanilla flavoring, vanilla extract, and pure vanilla extract. Most of these names translate to the following: wood pulp made to synthesize the taste and flavor of pure vanilla, vanillin which is a cheaper, lower grade vanilla substitute, and vanilla beans infused into vodka or other liquors. The latter being the best choice, I started from there when I was deciding what to use in my ice cream. In the process, I was in direct contact with Vicki, the owner of Organic-Vanilla.com, a small, family owned and operated business which specializes in the curing and selling of organic, fairly traded vanilla beans from Mexico and Tahiti.
Through talking to Vicki, I discovered that in fact the "organic pure vanilla extract" that I was using from the store still only contained 35% alcohol. According to Vicki, real vanilla extract should contain 100% alcohol, since that's how it's made. All the big businesses thin the extract out with WATER so that they can spend less on ingredients and make more money. Of course once I discovered this I asked Vicki what to do. She very obligingly gave me her family's recipe for making vanilla extract. From now on that is all I will use in my store and at home. It's super easy and actually quite inexpensive. You may not believe me...but see for yourself:
You will need 12 vanilla beans (Bourbon, Grade A), a fifth of 100 proof vodka (according to Vicki, more expensive vodka does not make a difference, so go cheap and save the good stuff!) and most importantly, patience. The infusion process takes as little as three months and can go as long as twelve. I'd say start with three and work your way up from there. Chances are, your extract will taste so much better than anything you've used even at three months that you'll never be able to go back to store-bought again.
How to make vanilla extract at home:
Open your vodka bottle, pour out a small amount (about a 1/4 cup). Cut your vanilla beans down the middle, and with a pairing knife, scrape out the seeds (or caviar as the pros call it). Carefully drop your caviar into the vodka bottle, then add the remaining vanilla bean skins. Put the lid on, shake, and leave in a cool dark place. I put my bottles in the fridge, in the back. This way they remain cold and as little light hits them as possible. Every few days, shake them about and put them back to sit and steep. In three months, try your extract out on a batch of cookies. Remember, though, that one of the benefits of using pure, 100% alcohol extract is that it will make whatever you're baking, ice cream especially, smoother and softer. If using in ice cream, your ice cream will be softer since alcohol freezes at a lower temperature than most of your freezers are set to. When all of your extract is done, which will take awhile, Vicki suggests grinding the rest of the beans and using those in your baking as well. They're a great replacement for vanilla extract when you're in a bind.
Now, the best part of all. Does the thought of buying expensive grocery store vanilla beans scare you? It scared me...until I found out about Organic-Vanilla.com! They sell online, the beans ship fast, and the best news of all is that they're not expensive. I got 30 beans, Grade A, 7-8 inches long for $23 (including shipping)!!!
Go for it, do something satisfying, and MAKE your own vanilla extract!
Organic-Vanilla.com
Posted in Recipes | no comments
Posted by Lynsie Watkins
Thu, 20 Mar 2008 11:47:00 GMT
For those of you who are feeling maybe more than a little timid at trying to make pastry at home-this is the most perfect place for you to start. Brioche really takes on a life of its own. It longs for solitude. It is very patient and understanding. Perhaps not the perfect companion-but a great friend for the pastry novice!
I make this one in my shop, and instead of forming the dough into rolls or loaves, I create cinnamon buns out of it, which I'll give you the recipe to as well! Here we go...
Before you do anything, walk straight to the fridge and remove 2 1/2 sticks of unsalted butter, making sure to place them on your counter top away from spouses, children, and small curious cats with mammoth appetites and an obscene ability at smelling dairy product anywhere. Your butter must sit out undisturbed for at least one hour. When it's ready to use, you want it pliable and only slightly cool/warm, not hot and melting. If it does begin to melt, throw it in the freezer for 5 minutes while you prepare your other ingredients.
Personally, I like to cube my butter into walnut-sized pieces immediately after pulling it from the fridge. This helps the warming process speed up and also ensures uniformity. Don't wait until the butter has warmed to room temp to cut it, as you will have a rather large, buttery mess on your hands.
While your butter is warming, read a little of your favorite book...and then prepare the rest of your ingredients. You will need:
3 cups flour (unbleached, pastry or all purpose)
1/2 teaspoon sea salt (fine)
2 1/4 teaspoons active yeast (one packet is fine)
1/4 cup warm whole milk (110 degrees)
3 tablespoons sugar (I use organic cane sugar)
5 large local eggs (the local eggs lend a rich golden color to the dough)
Warm the milk over low heat until it registers 108 degrees, then remove it from heat, it will rise the rest of the way. Add the yeast and stir. Then add the sugar, stir, and allow the yeast to dissolve and prove (5-10 minutes). In the meantime, combine your flour and salt in the bowl of a mixer fitted with a dough hook. You can (of course) try this recipe by hand, but for a new pastry chef, it's tough because the dough is so sticky. I strongly suggest using your mixer or borrowing a friend's.
Once the yeast is ready, pour it over the flour mixture. Add two eggs and mix until combined. Leaving the mixer on medium speed, continue adding one egg at a time until all are incorporated. Once all eggs have been added, mix for 5 minutes on medium speed.
Next, if your butter feels ready, turn the mixer on the same speed and begin to drop in individual pieces, one at a time. Watch the butter spread throughout the dough in streaks until you can no longer spot it, then add more. (If you add too much at one time...for all of you impatient pastry chefs-myself included-the butter will be unable to be absorbed into the dough, and you will have to turn off the mixer and incorporate the butter by hand with a spatula, a dirty ordeal!
Once all your butter has been added, lift the dough hook out of the dough and run a spatula through it. You're on the lookout for butter clumps, which often turn up on the sides or at the bottom of your bowl. If you find them, use your spatula to mix them in by rubbing the lumps into the dough. Drop your dough hook back down and cover your dough loosely with a towel or plastic cover. Go run an errand for an hour and a half.
Come back and your dough should have doubled in size. Simply remove your towel, turn on the mixer for 30 seconds, and then dump out your dough into a 2 quart clear container with a lid that latches. If you can't find a lid that latches, use what you can but remember to place a brick or other very heavy item over your dough. Remember-this dough has a mind of it's own...and it can be very, very strong. Place your dough in the fridge, and leave it there overnight. It will be ready to be worked in the morning or afternoon, depending on when you have time.
Next, remove your sticky dough from its container and place it on a work surface that is highly floured. (Place one stick of unsalted butter in a saucepan and allow it to melt as you roll out the dough.) Form your dough ball into a rectangle with two long sides and two short sides. Begin to roll it out briskly. Your end dimensions should be a rectangle measuring 24 inches by 18 inches. (Long side top and bottom, short side left and right.)
With a pastry brush (or unused paint brush), spread out half the butter over the entire rectangle, making especially sure to cover the outskirts and corners. Sprinkle a mixture of 2 cups sugar, 4 tablespoons cinnamon over the entire rectangle EXCEPT the top, long side, which needs an inch of clear space for later. Next, dip the pastry brush into the butter and drizzle butter over the entire surface of the dough. You don't need to cover every bit of surface, just give it a light speckling. What this does is temporarily liquify the sugar mixture so that it doesn't dump out when you roll it up. Next, fold in the left and right sides and bottom side of the dough one inch so that the sugar mix is secured inside.
Now for the fun part...beginning at the bottom, roll the dough up towards the open flap at the top. I usually start in the center and work outwards. Once you've almost reached the top, brush the open top flap with butter one more time, and gently pull the flap out and over the log of dough you've created. Once the flap is secure and stuck to the log, flour your surface and roll the log, flap side down, onto the floured part. Using a serrated knife, make a cut in the middle of the log. Then cut each section in half, and then in half again. You should have 8 pieces total.
One at a time, remove each cut piece, place it flat, spiral side down and with a floured hand, pat each round down gently. Place each finished roll onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Once all are sitting pretty on your pan, give them one last final brush of butter on top. The helps seal them, so that when they are baked they will stay together and not spread out too much. (It also creates a very nice butter-sugar sauce.) You can place all the buns in the freezer, and once firm, you can bag them and store them that way. If you want once now-who can blame you?, just place on a parchment lined baking sheet and allow to proof (or expand) slightly while the oven is preheated to 350 degrees. For future baking, remove the required number of buns the night before and place in the fridge to defrost. An hour before baking, remove them from the fridge and allow to proof. Bake as usual.
For a quick icing, whisk 1 cup powdered sugar with a few tablespoons milk.
If this, or any of my recipes, seem a little overwhelming, or if you just want to learn more, I'll be offering cooking classes at my shop & kitchen beginning in May 2008. I'll teach everything from pastry to bread to ice cream to icing!
Posted in Recipes | no comments
Posted by Lynsie Watkins
Wed, 14 Feb 2007 20:01:00 GMT
Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!
Especially to you, Colin. You are the love of my life.
It's not everyday that we get to indulge in love, romance, and chocolate all at the same time. In the spirit of things, I'd like to give you a chance to make a special batch of ice cream for the loves of your lives. It's sweet and decadent, and most importantly, the memory of this perfect gift will stay with your loved ones long after all the ice cream has been scooped away...
Sheri's Mexican Chocolate Custard
6 eggs
4 cups sugar
6 cups cream
2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup strong coffee, hot!
2 teaspoons cinnamon (or more to taste)
1 teaspoon pure ancho chile powder
1. Beat sugar and eggs together until light yellow and fluffy.
2. Heat 5 cups cream over medium heat until hot, but not boiling. (175 degrees F)
3. Add 1/4 cup of cream to egg mixture while beating until incorporated.
4. Add in rest of cream and beat gently, then return to saucepan and heat until temperature reaches 175 degrees F. Make sure to whisk frequently, as the heat will be higher the lower it is in the pan. If the mixture boils, the eggs will scramble-which ruins the ice cream.
5. Remove custard from heat, and add final cup of cream to cool custard. Strain into bowl.
6. Brew coffee and pour over chocolate while still hot. Let sit for 10 minutes, then stir. Chocolate should be melted.
7. Add cinnamon and chile powder to chocolate mixture.
8. Combine chocolate mixture with custard, chill for at least 4 hours.
9. Follow manufacturer's instructions for freezing ice cream in a maker. If you don't have one, freeze ice cream in container for 1 hour, pour into blender and blend, return to container, freeze. Repeat 2 hours later, then allow to freeze for at least 4 hours more.
I hope your loved ones enjoy this treat as much as mine will!
This recipe is courtesy of Sheri Salatin (with some artistic collaboration on my part). Sheri works at Polyface Farm, one of our most well-known and well-respected suppliers.
Posted in Recipes
Posted by Lynsie Watkins
Wed, 14 Feb 2007 19:47:00 GMT
Upon starting Perfect Flavor, as with any new business, I began examining how ice cream is made all over the world. I compiled the recipes that I tested countlessly and approved of, and then began to compare my product with that of my competitors'. I began to notice a common trend in ice cream manufacturers, big and small.
We're all used to seeing ingredients on labeling that we don't understand. Strange names seemingly designed using random letters from the alphabet to form a name lacking both cohesiveness and explanation. We're especially used to seeing these names for ingredients in products manufactured by big food companies: Nabisco, Sara Lee, Kraft, Frito-Lay, etc. but in ice cream?
Ice cream's got one of the most simple combination of ingredients out there: eggs, cream, sugar, vanilla-right? Well, unfortunately, wrong. From companies like Breyers to “all natural,” environmentally friendly brands like Ben & Jerry's, Ciao Bella, and even La Loo's, ingredient labels across the board read names like guar gum, soy lecithin, carrageanan, and xantham gum. What are these ingredients? Where are they found?? And how exactly do they make a difference in a food that's easier than PIE to make???
These ingredients are labeled as emulsifiers. An emulsifier is an ingredient in a recipe that aids in the coming together and staying together of a product (a coagulator, if you will). A most common emulsifier in homemade vinaigrettes, for example, is mustard. The mustard fuses both to the oil and vinegar, allowing the dressing to stay mixed rather than separating every 10 minutes. In ice cream, the emulsifier is the incredible, edible egg. It's a beautiful thing, really. Depending upon how many eggs you use, the end result for your ice cream can be anywhere from thin, like ice milk, to thick, like gelato and french custard. Our gelato recipe uses the most eggs out of any other base we create-which is probably why people love our gelato so much. It's creamy, rich, and smooth-so why do ice cream companies who use the same ingredients as we do ALSO use un-natural emulsifiers for their ice cream? The answer is: I HAVE NO CLUE. I make ice cream the old-fashioned, truly natural way-and it tastes just fine. I've sampled all of my known competitors' ice creams, and I think mine is better. The best, in fact. Others agree...we sample our ice cream frequently to friends, family, and colleagues. Everyone that's had our ice cream declares that they'll never go back to conventional ice cream, and why should they? If ice cream companies out there are parading around with names like organic, natural, and environmentally aware-then why doesn't their one and only product reflect that? In fact, interestingly enough, when searching on google using guar gum, carrageanan, and soy lecithin together as key words, every major and minor ice cream brand comes up on a website called www.supercow.com, which displays all ingredient information, including the inclusion of an emulsifier, in web format.
Here's my advice. When shopping for ice cream, follow these simple instructions. Pick up a pint, turn it over and read the ingredients list. If you see anything other than eggs, cream, sugar, vanilla, and flavoring (like strawberries), set it back down and move on. Ice cream is best at its simplest, so don't settle for anything less than the best.
Following this blog is a recipe for my gelato that I am excited to share with you. If you were to purchase gelato from us, this is what you would get. But above all, remember, the number one ingredient that we put into each batch of a our ice cream is LOVE. Whether the FDA will let us put THAT on our ingredients list is another story altogether, but don't worry, we think our product speaks loudly enough for itself.
Lynsie's Perfect Flavor Gelato Recipe
5 egg yolks
¾ cup sugar
2 cups whole milk
1 cup cream
2 teaspoons organic pure vanilla extract
Plus 1-2 cups of your perfect flavoring
1. Beat eggs and sugar until light yellow and fluffy.
2. Warm milk over medium heat until hot, but not boiling.
3. Add 1/4 cup hot milk to egg mixture while beating. Add remaining milk and mix well. Return to saucepan and bring mixture to 175 degrees F, whisking constantly. DO NOT ALLOW TO BOIL-the eggs will scramble.
4. Remove custard from heat and strain into a clean bowl.
5. Add the cup of cold cream to stop cooking of custard.
6. Add vanilla, chill at least 4 hours, and freeze according to manufacturer's instructions for your ice cream maker. If you DO NOT have an ice cream maker, pour custard into container, place in freezer for an hour. Remove from freezer after an hour and blend in a processor or blender. Return to container, freeze for 2 more hours, and repeat process. After this, allow to firm up for at least 4 hours.
**As a special note: all of our ingredients are local when we can get them near us, and organic when we can't. Stay tuned for a listing of all the farms that supply us with our wonderful ingredients. We'll have contact info for each farm, and we encourage those living in Virginia to use these farms as their own personal suppliers either independently or through local CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) programs.
Posted in Recipes
Posted by Lynsie Watkins
Wed, 14 Feb 2007 19:04:00 GMT
I've just sat down from making a long awaited recipe. For years I've sampled a certain type of muffin in many coffee shops and have always loved the flavor. Some call it morning glory, some call it glorious morning, and others call it something else! I've even had the chance of baking a pre-made mix of morning glory muffins for a coffee shop that I've worked for here in Charlottesville, BUT I've never known the recipe.
What I do know, or notice rather, is the unhealthy product cloaked in a healthy ingredient list and amiable name. Who wouldn't want to start their day with a glorious morning muffin?? With carrots, apples, raisins, bran, and nuts, the selling point is pretty high to a foodie like me, and to the “quick-coffee” crowd, most of all.
As a woman who is constantly working on finding the BEST foods to put in my body, I was always wary of eating the muffins I happened to find in stores. In fact, when I did, my stomach would cramp up I would feel sick for the rest of the day. Why? Well, my first gut feeling (and reaction) was due to the inclusion of partially hydrogenated oils (trans fats/P.H.O.'s) in the product. I thought to myself...why did such a good list of ingredients have to get so badly ruined just for the sake of industrial food? That's a good question and one that surely cannot be answered in this entry alone. However, having become so frustrated over the years with P.H.O.'s getting in the way of the foods I love, I've decided to find new alternatives to the foods I find in stores. This is the reason I make my own bread, yogurt, caramel, tortillas, to name a few. Why not try glorious morning muffins?
As small asides go, it's important to note that since leaving the world of P.H.O.'s behind, and since also becoming a vegetarian, I've been finding it difficult to keep my body at a steady size and weight. I feel fine, but everything's all topsy turvy, and also a little curvy. I wanted to learn to regulate the reaction my body had to food in a better, more learned way. So I called on my wonderful friend, Lynn, for some advice. She is by training a nutritionist and personal trainer, and might I add, is in amazing shape! We have the same body type, so I asked her how she does it. She then asked me to keep a food diary of everything I ate for a single week. I began that very same day, and here we are a week later. I have submitted my results and will include a follow up blog to let everyone know my discoveries.
However, perhaps the results are not the important part of this exercise. Maybe just becoming more aware of what I was consuming simply through the task of recording everything I ate was all I needed. I look at food differently now. Sure, roasted carrots and parsnips are great-but drenched in olive oil?-not so much. In this awakening of a deeper consciousness on my part, I am learning that it is alright to want certain foods I see in coffee shops, restaurants, and stores. However, if I can make them and be in control of what goes into them, I can control my body's response to the food I consume in a much better and effective way.
I made glorious morning muffins, and I just ate two mini-sized versions still warm from the oven. Not only were they delicious, but my stomach feels great. In fact, as soon as I'm done with this blog I'm going to hop into some workout clothes and do some Bhangra. I don't have fat content, calorie counts, or sodium miligrams. I do have a better appreciation for my body and for the preperation of the food that goes in it. Perhaps by sharing my recipes with you over time, I'll be lending you the tools to take charge of what you eat and gain this higher level of food consciousness that I have found!
Bon appetit, and remember, it's just food: experiment, and don't worry about making mistakes. If you use good food, how wrong can you really go?
Lynsie's Glorious Morning Muffin Recipe
1 ½ cups organic whole wheat flour
½ cup oats
½ cup wheat germ
½ cup organic brown sugar OR honey
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground ginger (or 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger)
½ teaspoon salt
1 ½ cups peeled and grated organic carrots (1 large carrot)
1 medim organic zucchini, peeled and grated
1 large organic apple, peeled and grated
½ cup raisins, soaked in hot water until plump then drained
½ cup toasted walnuts
3 large organic eggs
2/3 cup veggie oil
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
It's easy.
1.Mix dry ingredients
2.Add fruit and veggies
3.Mix wet ingredients and add to mixture
Bake at 375 degrees F for 25 minutes. If possible, bake at the highest level of your oven (this allows for a crusty, peaked top).
Enjoy!
Posted in Recipes
