Berry Patch Pie

A delightful, colorful pie I easily reduced the fat and sugar by replacing part with greek yogurt and allowing the berry flavor to take the center stage instead of too much sugar. The calories are reduced because this is a single crust pie with a simple lighter topping. It has an abundance of flavor and all of my children loved it, even those who weren't big raspberry fans! Try it out, enjoy and please let me know what you think!

Preheat oven to 450 degrees

1 unbaked pie shell
1/2 cup sugar
6 oz cup of Greek yogurt
1/4 cup sour cream
3 tablespoons flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups fresh raspberries
2 cups fresh blueberries
1/4 cup plain bread crumbs
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon melted butter

Line the bottom of pastry lined pie with a doubled sheet of foil and bake at 450 degrees for five minutes, uncover and bake for 5 more minutes. Remove from oven and cool. Reduce oven temperature to 375.

Wash berries and set aside. In a small bowl combine yogurt, sour cream, sugar, flour and salt.

In a small bowl combine bread crumbs and sugar with melted butter.

Place berries in prebaked and slightly cooled pie shell. Spoon yogurt mixture on top. Sprinkle bread crumb mixture on top.

Cover edge of pie and bake at 375 for 25 minutes. Remove edge covering and bake additional 25 more minutes or until top is golden and berries are bubbling.

Cool and serve, it is wonderful warm or cold the next day. Keep refrigerated. Do use fresh berries, frozen makes too much juice and will result in a soggy pie.

Scottish Scone & Berry Pudding

A delicious simple dessert or leisurely brunch and lovely way to use up an abundance of berries. In America this would be recognized as more of a cobbler. Feel free to use a variety of your favorite or seasonal berries.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees, lightly grease a 2 to 2 1/2 quart dish, a pretty one for serving.

Mix together in baking dish:

5 cups fresh strawberries, preferably organic, rinsed and hulled, cut in half if very large
1/2 cup fresh cleaned raspberries (blackberries, blueberries)
1/4 cup white or brown sugar

Measure out 1 cup of Greek Yogurt and place large dollops atop the berries.

Scone Topping:

1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon lemon or orange zest
1/2 cup melted butter
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 teaspoon almond extract

In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder, sugar and zest. Combine the butter, egg and extract then add the the dry mix until a dough forms. Place dough dollops atop the yogurt and crumble any straggling topping around the edges.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until the top is golden and the berries are bubbly. Cool and serve warm or chilled, store any remaining in the fridge, covered.

Gourmet Pizza Sauce

This has been a long process and finally I have a product I'm quite pleased with. A good pizza sauce is hard to find, the store bottles are sub par at best. I find most to be too bland or too sweet. This sauce marries a beautiful combination of rich, flavorful, a touch of sweet and is perfect for dipping, topping or pizza.

In a bowl combine:

1 6oz can Muir Glen organic tomato paste
1 6oz can of warm water (use the tomato can)
2 tablespoons of honey
3 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
2 teaspoons Italian Seasoning
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Dash of cayenne pepper
Salt & Pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients and allow to set for about a half an hour. Taste and adjust salt if needed. Enjoy!

Ideas for sauce use:

Pizza
Panetini appetizers
Dipping cheesesticks, breadsticks
Sandwich spread for panini's or subs

Honey Roasted Pecans

I've been hooked on these very since I had them in a salad once with dried cranberries and feta. I went searching for them and didn't care much for the price tag! Recently I was thrilled to come across two pound bags of raw almonds, pecans, walnuts and pine nuts at amazing prices at Costco. I figured it can't be too difficult to create the raw nuts into tasty roasted nuts.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

Ingredients:

1 pound pecans

2 tablespoons honey
1 1/2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 1/2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons of sugar
extra salt for sprinkling

Warm to melt: honey, maple syrup and butter. Add salt, vanilla and cinnamon.

Add raw nuts to large bowl, pour mixture over and toss to coat. Spread evening on the parchment lined baking sheet.

Cook 6 minutes at 350 degrees. Stir around and spread evenly again, cook 6 more minutes.

Pour nuts into bowl, you can easily do this by picking up the parchment and sliding the nuts into the bowl, toss with the 2 tablespoons of sugar and a sprinkling of salt.

Cool and store in mason jar. I usually pour them back onto the parchment to hurry the cooling process because the kitchen is usually full of willing tasters by that time!

This recipe would work with almonds or cashews too. If you like sweet/spicy you could toss in a little cayenne pepper. To make it more of a harvest spice flavor, add a dash of nutmeg, allspice or ginger.

Vegetarian Southern Red Rice, Beans & Sausage

Headed into the oven!

Beautiful colors mingle here to create a hearty, satisfying meal.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 13 x9 baking dish.

3 tablespoons organic butter
1 cup chopped red onion
1 can diced green chilis (4oz)
2 links of Tofurky Kielbasa links, cut into chunks
1/2 cup canned organic pinto beans
1 cup white rice
1 can fire roasted tomatoes
1 1/2 cups veggie broth (a cup if you don't live at high altitude)
1 tsp hot sauce, or a bit more if you like it hotter like we do!
Salt & pepper to taste

In a saucepan melt butter and saute the onion, peppers and sausage. Add remaining ingredients and simmer until sauce thickens in about ten minutes.

Pour into prepared baking dish, cover with foil and bake 40-45 minutes until rice is tender.

This goes perfect with my Sweet Corn Bread or Indian Fry Bread would be great too!

Soft gingerbread cookies

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease three baking sheets. Recipe makes three dozen cookies.

1 cup unsulfured molasses
1/2 cup sugar
6 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons milk (I used almond milk)
4 cups unbleached flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon cinnamon (the Vietnamese Cinnamon from Penzey's spices is Amazing!)
3/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground ginger

In a medium saucepan heat the molasses to the boiling point. Remove from heat and add the sugar, butter, and almond milk. Mix flour, baking soda, salt and spices. Add to the molasses mixture. Add 4-6 tablespoons of water until the dough comes together.

Using a cookie scoop or tablespoons place a dozen on each sheet. This is the fast method. You can also roll them on a lightly floured surface and cut them out with cookies cutters if desired.

Bake at 350 degrees about 5-7 minutes if using cutouts or about 7-8 minutes for cookie scoops. Cool on cookie sheet for a minute then remove to rack to finish cooling.

Dust with powdered sugar or a confectioners glaze of powdered sugar and water mixed to drizzling consistency. Add a touch of extract for extra flavor if desired.

As with many spice desserts, the flavors will be more pronounced the next day, if they last that long.

Pumpkin spice muffins

These are perfect for snacks, breakfasts or treats to have for Christmas company. They also make lovely gifts.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Get out two 12 cup muffins tins and line with paper baking cups- I like to use fun holiday colors. Recipe makes 24 muffins.

Ingredients:

3 cups flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
4 organic eggs (To make vegan, replace the egg with EnerG or ground flax seed mix)
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 can of organic pumpkin (2 cups)
1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
Chopped nuts for topping
Cinnamon sugar for sprinkling on top

In a large bowl combine: white sugar, brown sugar, pumpkin, vegetable oil and extracts- stir to combine. Beat in eggs until thoroughly mixed. In a medium bowl combine flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, salt and baking soda. Add dry mix to wet and stir just until incorporated.

Scoop into the 24 muffin cups. I use a spring-action ice cream scoop, it is the perfect amount for each muffin cup. Sprinkle chopped nuts and cinnamon sugar over each muffin.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. They will keep at room temperature for several days, although I doubt they last that long.

*Another variation is to cut 24 small (teaspoon) sized pieces of cream cheese and press in the center of each muffin before topping with nuts and cinnamon sugar. This makes the muffins similar to the coffee house version.

*For reduced fat you can substitute applesauce for up to half of the vegetable oil.

*I have also added a 1/2 teaspoon of espresso powder when I had it on hand.