National Blueberry Month

July is National Blueberry Month and I have been eating a ton of blueberries lately. I love them. I have them every morning in my breakfast (Gluten Free Cereal w/ Blueberries, Almond Milk, and Chia Seeds) and I eat them for snacks, and dessert.
Tonight I decided to experiment in the kitchen and try to make a Gluten Free/Grain Free, Sugar Free, Vegan, Blueberry Muffin.
I came up with a recipe I thought would work, and I divided it to attempt making only one muffin (that way I don't end up wasting ingredients if it doesn't turn out good, and if it does turn out good I won't have a ton of muffins in the house tempting me and making me overeat).

Anyway, before I get to the Experimental Blueberry Muffin Recipe (I am writing this as it bakes and I don't know how it's going to turn out yet) I thought I'd share some of the bentos I have posted lately with Blueberries!!!

Lifes a Beach... Bento

July 4th Star Bento

 

American Flag Oatmeal Bento

 

Summer Fruit Salad Bento

 

Fruit Bento Love

YUM! Looking back at all those Fruity and Blueberry filled bentos has made me want some blueberries even more now! I just took the Experimental Blueberry Muffin out of the oven, and here are the first Pictures. It's clear that I overfilled the muffin cup, and I probably could have made two smaller muffins with the amount of batter I had. Well, I'll make a note in the trial recipe to split it between two muffin cups next time.

First impressions, besides the fact that I overfilled the cup, are that it puffed up a lot during baking and I expect it to fall a lot while cooling. I guess we'll see. Also I'm worried it wont have the set/baked goods texture because of the wetness of the ingredients. Maybe it'll be dense like a spice cake... or maybe I'll have to eat it with a spoon like a pudding. I'm looking forward to finding out.

 Well, I started to peel back the muffin liner but stopped because I realized it was way too soft to be a muffin. So I grabbed a fork...

The first thing I noticed was how the blueberries popped and the juice oozed and mingled with the baked pudding-like texture of the 'muffin'.

 Besides the texture not working out, the taste was very good. And I ate the rest of it like a baked pudding.

MMM, Just change the name from 'Muffin' to 'Pudding' and I have a yummy dessert! The Blueberries definitely pop in this recipe, and the other ingredients make a smooth not overly sweet taste that work well with the blueberries.

Either I can keep tweaking this recipe and try to make a muffin, or I can leave it this way and be happy with the yummy pudding.

I think I might write the recipe as a pudding and be happy with it. There are tons of blueberry muffin recipes out there (and most of them are the same), but how many Blueberry Puddings are out there like mine?

Here are the ingredients I used for this Blueberry 'Pudding' (at 164 Calories, If I had split it in half it would have been 82 calories each)

• Teddie Peanut Butter w/Flaxseed (Smooth, no sugar added)
• Banana (Mashed)
• Applesauce (Unsweetened)
• Blueberries
• Vanilla Extract
• Apple Cider Vinigar
• Baking Soda

Well, I hope you enjoyed my trip through Blueberry Lane, and I also hope you liked seeing a taste of my Kitchen Expierimental process. This is what I do when I come up with a recipe...

• I get an idea for a recipe
• Either search for similar recipes and alter them, or start from scratch
• Cut the recipe down to one or two serving sizes so I don't waste ingredients.
• Try the recipe
• Take notes as I go on what I can tweak, what was good, what wasn't good, how long it took to bake, appearance of final product, texture of final product, taste/smell of final product, Then I Figure out Calories/Nutritional Content of final product.
• If it went well I may try the recipe again without cutting down the servings and ask my fiance (and sometimes friends) to try it and tell me what they think.
• I also may take pictures and write a blog about it.
• Sometimes I try the recipe again with the changes I wrote about in my notes. But usually the recipe sits saved on my computer for another time.

Lifes a Beach... Bento

With summer in full swing, I thought I could make a Beach themed bento... actually I was eating breakfast and I thought my rice krispies looked like sand and as I munched on a blueberry I thought 'Hey I could easily make a beach themed bento using cereal as the sand and blueberries as the water.' So that is exactly what I did.
I rummaged though my kitchen and gathered a few other items that I could add to make it more 'beachy' and here is what I came up with.

 

It looks more like 'Dawn on the Beach' because of how dark the picture is and how there is a slight shadow over the sand. If you have never been to the beach to watch the sun come up I strongly recommend it. So beautiful and peaceful. And the only people you'll likely come across are locals exercising or walking their dogs. (Make sure to bring a blanket! It can get very chilly at the beach without the sun glaring).

• Sand (1/2 Cup GF Brown Rice Krispies)
• Water (20 Blueberries)
• Surf Spray (1 tsp Fat Free Whipped Cream)
• Lost Beach Ball (Cherry w/ Whipped cream)
• Shells (3 Pistachio Nuts)
• Rocks (4 Plum Amazins)
• Dried Coral (2 Walnut Halves)

I added the yellow spoon not only because it has a fish on it, but also to act like the 'Sun'.

Patriotic Snack Bento

I'm back again with another Red White and Blue! Check out this snack bento with star Yogurt!

• Very Berry Yogurt Star (See below)
• 5 Cherries
• Stars and Stripes Sandwich (Udi's GF Bread toasted and cut into a star, Tofutti 'Cream Cheese', Raspberry Fruit Spread w/fiber)

To make the Very Berry Yogurt Star I took one of the yogurt popsicles I made out of the freezer and let it soften a little bit. Then I cut a few slices with a knife (being careful not to cut the popsicle stick) and I placed the stars into a blue star cup.
I think I let it soften a little too much because it was a bit melty, and the star appears misshapen. Oops.

July 4th Star Bento

Happy 4th of July to all my American readers. And to everyone else, I hope you have an awesome day as well! ;)
I went to bed planning an Independence Day themed bento, and I woke up bright and early to start making it! Here is what I came up with using the limited red/white/blue foods in the house. (Good thing we eat a lot of fruit in this house, so I had a lot of berries to work with!)

• 5 Cherries
• Blue Star Cup w/ Blueberry + Strawberry Star Salad
• Strawberry
• Blue Cup w/ Almond Milk (to pour over fruit Salad)
• Firecracker Skewers (w/Strawberries, Blueberries, and Blackberries)
• Star Sandwich (Udi's GF Multigrain Bread [Toasted], Toffutti 'Cream Cheese', Raspberry All Fruit Spread w/ Fiber)
• Blackberries + Strawberry Slice

 Here is my star sandwich and the firecrackers! I sliced a few small strawberries and alternated strawberry sliced with juicy blueberries, and ended it with a blackberry. I used my white heart pick to add a bit more white to the bento.

 Here is my fruit salad. I sliced some strawberries and used my tiny star cutter to cut stars out of the slices. I filled the blue star cup with blueberries and topped it with the strawberry stars. I packed my blue/star container with some almond milk to pour over the salad in my version of berries and cream. And it makes it red/white/blue. Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of the berries and cream when I ate it.

But I did take a picture of the firecracker! YUM!
My favorite part of this bento was the star sandwich though. I never eat things with cream cheese AND fruit spread. it's usually either/or... Now that I know how yummy it can be I will probably be buying some gluten free bagels at the grocery store!

I hope you all enjoy this bento as much as I did. I am pretty happy with how it came out. Wish I had time to make another one... maybe I will have another one for lunch...

American Flag Oatmeal Bento

Tomorrow is Independence Day, better known as 4th of July, and I scrambled to get a bento made in time. I had a great idea but my mother-in-law ate all my bananas, and we didn't have any other white fruit in the house, so Iif I do make the bento I was planning it'll have to be after I go grocery shopping on the 5th. :(
Anyway, I managed to come up with a different patriotic bento idea. I just hope no one else has done it yet.

American Flag Oatmeal Breakfast Bento!!!

• 1/4 Cup Gluten Free Oatmeal
• Cinnamon
• 1/2 Tbsp Milled Flaxseed
• 9 Blueberries
• 1 Med-Lg Strawberry (sliced into strips)
• 2 Tbsp Sliced Almonds

I boiled the water with the cinnamon and flax, then I added 1/4 cup gf rolled oats. While that was cooking I washed the berries and sliced the strawberries. When the oatmeal thickened I scooped it into my rectangular bento box that was perfect for this job. I added the strawberries to represent the red stripes, Then I added the blueberries for the blue, And finally I finished it off with the sliced almonds for the white stripes.
I'm pretty happy with how this came out, but I do wish I could have made my original idea.

I will be working on the 4th, so I won't be seeing any Fireworks or going to any parties, but I hope those of you who are will have a lot of fun and be responsible! Drive safely!

HAPPY 4th OF JULY!

Summer Fruit Salad

This is the BEST fruit salad I have ever eaten. I'm not joking about this, I am actually surprised at how delicious this fruit salad is. I usually go for the fruit salads filled with different kinds of melons, but this fruit salad doesn't have ANY melons in it at all and I still think it is the best fruit salad I have ever eaten in my entire life.
Of course it is made with fresh ripe fruit, and that makes all the difference.
I mean it, If you do not have fresh/ripe fruit, do not bother making this recipe because it will not taste anywhere as good as this fruit salad!

 

I am serious, ONLY use Fresh and Ripe Fruit to make this salad. That means you might want to take a trip to your local farmer's market before making this salad.

Ingredients:

Makes 2 Servings Under 200 calories each

• 1 Medium-Large Peach
• 1 Medium-Large Plum
• 8 Cherries
• 8 Medium Strawberries
• 1/2 Cup Blackberries
• 40 Large Blueberries
• 2 Small Bananas (or 1 extra large Banana)

Directions:

1.  Wash all of your fruit before preparing.
2. Cut Peach and Plum in half, and remove/discard the stones. Then cube the fruit (do not remove the peel) and set aside in a large bowl.
3. Pull the stems off of the Cherries and discard the stems. Carefully cut run a knife all the way around the cherry and separate the two halves, remove/discard the pits. Slice the cherries into fourths and add to the bowl.
4. Remove/discard the greens from the Strawberries, then cut them into chunks. Add to the bowl along with the Blueberries and Blackberries.
5. Gently stir or toss the fruit in the bowl to combine.
6. Peel the Bananas and discard the peels. Cut the bananas into even slices and add a few slices at a time into the fruit salad. Gently stir or toss the fruit salad after adding about half of one banana. Try to get the bananas to not stick together, but don't let them get squished either.
7. Continue to alternate adding banana slices and tossing the fruit until all of the bananas have been added and the fruit is well combined.
8. Serve immediately. If you do not want to serve your fruit salad right away, you can make everything besides the bananas ahead of time and keep in the refrigerator. Then right before serving add the banana. You want to prevent the bananas from discoloring or getting too soft.

 Doesn't that look awesome? This is one giant serving and it's only about 185 Calories! Plus it is healthy, full of fiber, has no added sugars, and is super filling. You can have it for breakfast, snack, dessert, add whipped cream, ice cream, granola, yogurt, or anything you like to it... Personally I would eat it all by itself because it IS THAT AMAZING!

I put my portion into a bento box to eat as my snack with lunch, but since it is so large and filling, it became my lunch.  :)
I hope you all enjoy! And have a wonderful July!

Sweet Potato Tamagoyaki

My fiance and I went to this restaurant that serves delicious breakfast foods, and I tried a Sweet Potato Omelete. It was amazing, and it made me wonder why I've never added sweet potato to my omeletes before. And for that matter, why haven't I ever made sweet potato homefries? I am going to try it, just you wait!
Anyway, I got the idea this morning to make a Sweet Potato Tamagoyaki, and a summery fruit salad for breakfast, so here is what I came up with.

I think it came out beautifully, and I just had to add a background to the picture to make it more pretty and special. I am sooo happy with how this tamagoyaki came out that I am even going to share my secret to how I prepared the sweet potato...
It's Frozen Sweet Potato Fries!!! That's right, I took Sweet Potato Fries from the freezer and tossed them in my frying pan with some non-stick spray. I cooked it just enough so that they were no-longer frozen and the outsides got slightly crisp. Then I removed them and prepared the egg beaters in the pan, I laid down a few large spinach leafs and laid out the sweet potato fries, then I wrapped them up in the egg and made Sweet Potato Tamagoyaki. It turned out beautifully, and it tasted even better. I will definitely be making this again. I loved it!

• Sweet Potato Tamagoyaki
• Stone Fruit Salad (Peaches, Plums, and Cherries)

The Fruit salad was the perfect compliment because it carried the sweetness over to the sweet and savory tamagoyaki, but it wasn't overpowering at all. Also the Peaches and Plums were soooo ripe and delicious, and the Cherries were sweet. Fresh fruit makes all the difference!