March is National Nutrition Month and some of the the key messages for this month are: Include healthful food from all food groups, hydrate more and pay attention to the food you are eating and take time to enjoy your food.
I have been trying to add more plant foods into my diet and luckily have been making more grains like faro, recipe to come soon.
Since my first love is baking and fortunately fruits are also part of the plant family, I decided that I would only bake if the dessert had some plants in them. Unfortunately the fat and sugar does play a role but I firmly believe the quality of the dessert is the most important and the portion size. So in short practicing mindful eating and moderation. Sharing the baked goods with others also feels good.
I felt like eating a fruit crumble and the addition of oats, almonds and hemp seeds added protein and fiber, they also are beneficial for heart health. I used strawberries and blueberries instead of apples as they were for a dollar and all berries have antioxidants which play a role in brain health. I used almond flour to cut down the flour.
Berry Crumble
Ingredients
- Strawberries 1 pound
- 1/4 cup almond meal
- 2 tbsp. sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup plain flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 cup oats
- 1/2 cup slivered almonds or sliced
- 4 tbsp. brown sugar
- 1/2 stick of cold butter or 8 Tbsp
- 3 tbsp. hemp seeds
- 3 tbsp. coconut shredded
- Method: Heat the oven to 400 degrees and then slice the strawberries and sprinkle with sugar and almond flour and add to a square baking dish. For the crust, add the flour, baking powder and salt to a bowl and mix in the cold butter, till it resembles crumbs. Then add the sugar, oats and sliced almonds, mix well. Now add the hemp seeds and coconut. Sprinkle the oat mixture onto the berries, covering all the berries. Bake in the heated oven for 30 minutes. The aroma will fill your house. You can eat alone or add ice cream like my husband did. Todays crumble is for my niece who enjoys fruit desserts.
