Blueberry Crumb Bars

Day three of Vegan eats! I am feeling great – and have zero cravings for meat! It’s not really that huge of a difference for me, since I usually don’t eat any meat or animal by-products before dinner anyways. Although, I think Adam would approve of the amazingly delicious dinners I’ve made so far. I’ll have to make them again next week for Meatless Monday when Adam gets home from Ontario.

It really isn’t hard to avoid animal products. I’ve shared before I already have a dairy and egg allergy so no worry there. I made the switch to Almond milk about four years ago and have never gone back. I think one of my next ‘firsts’ will be making my own homemade almond milk! I have a large bag of almonds in the cupboard that are just asking to be made into delicious milk.

I’ll post a recap next week along with some recipes. Adam’s sister came over yesterday with our little niece Molly for a visit. I made an amazing zucchini lasagne for lunch (I’ll post the recipe soon) and we had blueberry smoothies for dessert. Molly was a fan of the smoothie, I think she just really loves using straws right now. We also went for a short walk in the sun and picked some blackberries along the way. There are so many – it’s a running joke with our neighbours that we’re going to pick all the blackberries before they can along the side of our houses. I love summer fruit when it’s in season, there is such an abundance and it is so much cheaper than the off season sales!

We have a ton, and I mean a TON of frozen blueberries in the freezer. I had to move a load from our fridge freezer to our deep freeze in the garage yesterday because I couldn’t fit the ice cube tray in the freezer. I’ve begun chopping up some nectarines and cantaloupe and freezing them along with the blackberries and blueberries. Freezing fruit is perfect for the fall/winter – they’ll be great for crumbles, baking and my new favourite obsessions, smoothies! I think I bought one too many zucchinis on our way home from Osoyoos last weekend, they were 3 / $1. So I bought six – three green zucchini and three yellow zucchini. This week has been a zucchini-heavy week.

On the last day of my Language Arts course this semester we had a ‘literary luncheon.’ A literary luncheon is when each person brings in a food-themed children’s book and bakes/cooks a dish that goes along with it. I had seen the idea before online for baby showers and thought it would be perfect, the new-mom gets to keep the children’s book to begin the baby’s library, and the food dishes are endless! As a new teacher I already have plans for food-themed books and lesson plans to go with them… along with baking or cooking as a class.

I was obviously excited to make something but needed to get a book first. I actually found this one on sale for 4$ at my local bookstore and decided to make something with blueberries since they are in season for the book Blueberries for Sal.

The luncheon was a great way to end our semester and there were so many great book+dish pairings.

If you want to hold a literary luncheon, or a book-themed baby shower here are some book and food ideas:

• Blueberries for Sal, blueberry dish/baked good
• The Vey Hungry Caterpillar, each of the foods he eats along the way
• Mrs. Spitzer’s Garden, a variety of fruits and veggies
• Apple Pie ABC, apple pie
• If You Give A Mouse A Cookie, chocolate chip cookies
• If You Give a Moose a Muffin, muffins
• Catcher in the Rye, rye bread with antipasto
• Life of Pi, pie
• Cookies: Bite Size Life Lessons, cookies
• Little Pea, pasta salad with peas
• Strega Nonna, Pasta
• Sam’s Sandwich, mini sandwiches
• Eating the Alphabet or Fruit, fruit salad
• Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, mini meatballs
• Green Eggs and Ham, green devilled eggs
• Dim Sum for Everyone, dumplings

I’ve made these bars a few times before. The first time was with Blackberries, the second with Cranberries. All are delicious. I used wheat-free and gluten-free flours this time and it was just as good.

Blueberry Crumb Bars
adapted from AllRecipes.com and Smitten Kitchen
*Wheat Free*Gluten Free*

Ingredients:

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup white rice flour
• 1 1/4 cups brown rice flour
• 1 cup coconut flour
• 1 cup butter, cut into small pieces
• 1 egg
• Zest and juice of a lemon
• 4-5 cups fresh blueberries
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Spray a 9×13″ pan.

2. In a food processor, add 1 cup sugar, flour, and baking powder. Add in lemon zest, and butter and egg. Pulse until well blended, dough will be crumbly and resemble small pea-sized pieces. Pat half of this dough into the pan gently.

3. In another bowl, stir together the rest of the sugar, cornstarch and lemon juice. Gently mix in the berries. Sprinkle the blueberry mixture evenly over the crust. Crumble remaining dough over the berry layer.

4. Bake for 45 minutes, or until top is slightly brown. Cool completely before cutting into squares.

These tasted even better once refrigerated, but feel free to dig in while their still warm! Best if kept in the fridge, or freeze. I would suggest making these the day before the event, and keeping in the fridge. Best if eaten cold.