Lunch Box Chronicles: Day One-Hundred Seventy-Six (Blizzard Blues: Spelt Blueberry Banana Muffins)

Blizzard Blues.

Experiencing a major blizzard in coastal Maine is a different experience than in the Big Apple. 

In Maine, Tim would have shoveled the drive and walkway, shoveled them again, shoveled them again, loaded wood in the woodstove, and we all would have hunkered down to stay snug in the house all day.  I probably would have baked something too. 

In NYC, we had no shoveling (except for digging a car out), have no woodstove, and had tickets to see Blue Man Group.  So, we hailed a cab, met some friends, and went to a very bizarre off-Broadway production.  A little loud for my taste.

But, the habits of Maine linger.  So before embarking on the Blue Man adventure, I felt compelled to make blueberry muffins– appropriate for a snowy blue-themed day.

Problem #1, there was no organic sugar in the house, and I was not about to use bleached white sugar, nor was I going to pay $7.99 for a pound and half of organic sugar at our local grocery store.

 

Spelt Blueberry Banana Muffins with Honey

Problem #2, we had very few blueberries, and as with the organic sugar, I was not going to pay triple for the convenience of buying them in our neighborhood.

Solution #1: create a recipe with honey

Solution #2: use blueberries in combination with some other fruit we have in the house: bananas!!

Here is a recipe for Blueberry-Banana Spelt Muffins – made especially to prevent stormy day blues, and to keep you from going bananas.

Blueberry-Banana Spelt Muffins – with no sugar

1 and 1/4 cups white spelt flour

1 cup whole spelt flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1 TBL baking powder

1 cup buttermilk (made with 1 tbl fresh lemon juice and 1 cup milk, mixed and set aside for 10 minutes)

7 TBL honey

1/2 cup melted butter

1 cup blueberries

1 and 1/2 ripe bananas

Combine dry ingredients in a medium sized bowl.  In a larger bowl (I used the Kitchenaid), combine all the other ingredients, except the blueberries, and mix the dry into the liquid until blended.  Stir in the blueberries. 

Scoop enough batter to fill the muffin pans 3/4 way either lined with muffin papers or in well oiled muffin pans.  Bake at 400 degrees F for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of muffin comes out clean.

Lunch Box Chronicles: Day Seventy-Two (Happy Birthday Spelt Lime Cake)

Yesterday Spencer turned 13.  I cried at strange times, talking on the phone with my sister, meeting with the sales rep from Sunrise Guide.  Perhaps, it was the complete lack of sleep last night, or perhaps, the fact that the little three year old who was once screaming out for help is now the thirteen year old who reaches out to help.  Or, maybe it was just the relentless humidity?  Not quite sure, but it was just a day for crying. 

Tim and Spencer made a great tofu stir fry while I was on the computer sending Emma and Sophie directions for their three days of demos in Connecticut.  I give these girls a lot of credit.  It's not easy out there convincing people to try a product that you have thrown your heart and soul into.  Yet, it is gratifying, especially when the customers' mouths are too full to talk, but they signal you with the universal sign of approval - a thumbs up.

I asked Spencer what kind of cake he would like.  "Just, something really, really special,"  he said.  I threw together a typical yellow cake recipe, but modified it to make it quite tasty (and special), but a bit solidly gooey.

Fresh Lime Spelt Cake with Fresh Lemon Drizzle
3/4 cup butter - softened in a bowl
1 3/4 cups organic cane sugar or organic evaporated cane juice (same stuff as far as I can tell)
2-3 eggs (depending upon size)
1 1/2 cups Vita Organic Spelt Flour
1 cup Vita Organic Whole Spelt Flour
2 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla (which I did not put in)
Juice from one fresh lime
1 1/4 cups of milk

Preheat oven to 375.   In a bowl blend the butter and sugar until creamy.  Add the eggs, keep blending.  Mix together the flour and baking powder in another bowl.  Alternately pour milk and flour into butter mix.  Squeeze in a full lime, alternately add in with milk, flour, etc.   Butter to round cake pans, pour in batter.  Bake at 375 for 30 minutes or until done.

WARNING!!!  DO NOT PUT THIS IN A BUNDT PAN like I did (to make it very very special), because it will leak through and SMOKE up the entire house.   We tell you this from experience.

We then made a lemon glaze, recipe is a little of this and that, but take about 2 TBL butter, melt, add some milk, add some confectioner's sugar, add some fresh lemon juice, mix until glazey.    Pour over top of cakes after cooled.   You can stack these cakes.  Sprinkle with confectioner's sugar.  Spencer garnished with slices of fresh lemon and lime.  YUMM!!

Lunch Box Chronicles: Day Fifty-Five (Vita Spelt Pasta with Homemade Cheese Sauce)

Ingredients:  Two 8 ounces Boxes of Vita Spelt Penne.  This stuff is AWESOME and is far better than any rice pasta out there.   Check out your local health food store or supermarket for VITA SPELT pasta.  If they don't carry it, ask them to do so!!  Prepare according to instructions.

Cheese Sauce Recipe:  4 TBL butter, 4 TBL VITA SPELT FLOUR, 1/2 teaspoon salt, dash black pepper, 3 cups milk, 2 and 1/2 to 3 cups of grated cheddar cheese (we used a yellow Wisconsin cheese).   In a saucepan, melt the butter and flour together. Add the milk and seasonings. Cook on low heat and stir until thick and bubbly.  Add cheese and mix until fully blended.

Pour cheese sauce over pasta.  Toss lightly.  Garnish with parsley.

Family comments.  Spencer "It was like gourmet macaroni and cheese you get at a restaurant."   Olivia, "amazing."  Tim, who usually is the optimist and cheerleader said "it was great for macaroni and cheese, but I don't really like macaroni and cheese."  For me, it hit the spot.   It would have been great to serve in a Thermos for lunch, but there was not a drop left for the next day.

Lunch Box Chronicles: Day Forty-Six (Spelt Waffles - Breakfast, Lunch or Dinner!)

The Best-Ever Spelt Waffles

1 cup VITA SPELT white spelt flour
3/4 cup VITA SPELT whole spelt flour
2 TBL organic cane sugar
1 TBL baking powder
2 eggs
1 and 3/4 cups milk
1/4 cup melted butter
1 teaspoon real vanilla

In a bowl, mix together the flour, sugar and baking powder.  Make a well in the center and set aside

In a separate bowl,mix together the milk, eggs, melted butter and vanilla.  Make sure that the butter is melted, but not hot because you don't want it to cook the eggs.

Put the liquid mixture in the well of the dry mixture and mix until it all moistened.  Don't over mix.

Put 1/2 cup of mixture onto waffle iron.

You can double the recipe and freeze left over made waffles.  The left over waffles can be toasted for an easy breakfast.

Benefits of eating spelt

In response to the many people who ask me what are the benefits of spelt, I provide this summary in plain language rather than scientific terms.

Benefits of Spelt (triticum spelta) versus Common Wheat (triticum aestivum):

Spelt (triticum spelta) is a lesser known grain than its modern cousin common wheat (triticum aestivum) Spelt has significant health benefits and many people who switch to spelt based products rather than wheat based products notice improvement in their health.

There are some amazingly tasty spelt products in the marketplace, often found in the frozen section of health food stores, including bagels, breads, and pizza dough. You can also find spelt pasta, pretzels, and flour. Spelt can also be substituted for wheat in many favorite recipes. It is a bit idiosyncratic, so check in with companies that work with spelt on advice on how to best use. Purity Foods, the producer of Vita Spelt, is a good source.

As an ancient grain, like quinoa, millet, amaranth, and others, spelt has not been manipulated to meet manufacturing needs. Rather, it is a food that our body recognizes as food, not one that was created for modern conveniences. As we like to say, “Eat spelt, your body will thank you.” Spelt is one of the oldest cultivated grains tracing is roots more than 6,000 years back to ancient Mesopotamia. Spelt has kept many of its original characteristics which provide an impressive nutritional profile, along with ease of digestibility leading to anti-inflammatory qualities.

According to the World’s Healthiest Foods website, “[m]any of spelt’s benefits come from this fact: it offers a broader spectrum of nutrients compared to many of its more inbred cousins in the Triticum (wheat) family. Spelt features a host of different nutrients. It is an excellent source of vitamin B2, a very good source of manganese, and a good source of niacin, thiamin, and copper. This particular combination of nutrients provided by spelt may make it a particularly helpful food for persons with migraine headache, atherosclerosis, or diabetes.”

People with a range of health issues, including digestive problems, arthritis, Lyme’s disease, migraines, behavioral issues, skin irritations, irritable bowel syndrome, and others report that they feel better eating spelt rather than common wheat. Because spelt has gluten, however, it is not appropriate for people with celiac.

There are many reasons why spelt is easier to digest than common wheat. The gluten in spelt is water soluble; it is degraded by heat and is easily broken down by mixing action. Wheat gluten, in contrast, does not break down in water and only relaxes when exposed to heat and seems to get stronger as it is mixed – bakers refer to it as “developing the gluten.” If you over mix spelt, it will break down. If you over mix wheat, it will get stronger. Something similar happens within the digestive system. Spelt’s relatively fragile gluten is easily broken apart during the chewing and mixing action which allows the enzymes and acid secreted during the digestive process to work on the surface of the food. During the digestive process, wheat forms a bolus which remains a ball making it harder to digest.

Further, as an ancient grain, spelt has retained its hard outer hull, which protects the inner grain from pests and the elements. Common wheat (modern wheat) no longer has a hull so it is easier to harvest, but without that hull, the grain needs to protect itself from insects. Modern wheat has an enzyme inhibitor to fight off those pests. Enzymes are what we use to digest foods. Spelt, by its nature, does not need enzyme inhibitors.

Both properties of modern wheat contribute to the problem creating digestive and inflammatory issues. First, common wheat has tough gluten which gets stronger with mixing and remains in a ball like mass interfering with digestion. Second, the enzyme inhibitors further retard the enzyme activity that is needed for complete digestion.

Thus, the anecdotal reports by many people claiming they feel so much better eating spelt as opposed to common wheat, makes scientific sense. It is the nature of the spelt grain that makes it naturally good for you.


For more information about Spelt Right, see our web site at speltrightbaking.com