One Small Garden: Over 300 Delicious, Nutritious Recipes by Lillian and Dave Brummet is a timely collection of recipes now as more and more fresh produce is coming on to the market. Described as the ultimate guide to using fresh fruit and vegetables from backyard gardens to farmer’s markets, the book is guide to using what’s in season to create wholesome meals, the recipes here use the freshest and purest sources of food available.
“I hope to inspire others to buy fresh local food and to cook it in ways that are even better than going out to a restaurant,” says Dave Brummet of Brummet Media who with his wife has also authored the Trash Talk series about green living and saving money and time through better waste and resource management. “We want to inspire people to spend more time feeding themselves quality, nutritious food instead of the lure of expensive over-packaged convenience foods. In your car, which can be rebuilt with numerous replaceable parts, would you try to run it with dirty kerosene? No, so why do we put junk in our system when we have no hope of replacing those parts we might ruin by doing so. How we eat has an impact on our world – it affects equality, poverty, farming practices, the health of the soil, the purity of the water and air – and of course your own personal well-being.”
The book, loaded with lots of interesting tidbits of historical and nutritional information, is more than just a collection of recipes, it’s also a way of learning how to treat yourself to the healthy, delicious rewards of one small garden.
“The most important thing for me is to have a general feeling that I used the time I was given to create a positive legacy–be it through writing, supporting others, donating, sharing garden harvests, greening our property and making a more eco-friendly home, or daily actions such as dedicated recycling and so on,” says Lillian. “Part of being conscious includes self-sufficiency – not being reliant on aid programs, or living in heavy debt to others, looking after one’s health the best one can, etc. So I try to live proactively in my home life, but also in business – with the idea that what I choose to do now will have a ripple effect on the direction our world takes tomorrow. What I choose to buy now, whether I grow organically, what I choose to write about and blog about all has an impact on tomorrow.”
STRAWBERRY WHEAT GERM MUFFINs
Authors’ note: “Perfect strawberries when in season, frozen strawberries can also be used– just chop, thaw and drain before using. This will yield between 18-22 muffins depending on how large your muffin tins are. I prefer to use muffin cup liners that are compostable, which will help reduce the amount of waste heading to the landfill. Feel free to experiment, I have used reconstituted powder milk, rice milk and almond milk for this recipe with great results. White chocolate chips work well with this combination, however I personally prefer dark, flavonoid-rich chocolate.”
3 eggs
1 cup brown sugar
2 cups milk
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup oil
1 teaspoon pure vanilla
1 cup bran
1 cup wheat germ
2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cup white flour
1 1/2 cups chopped strawberries
1 cup chocolate chips (optional)
Beat eggs briefly then add sugar and beat for 3 minutes. Add remaining liquid ingredients and then use a wooden spoon to stir in the germ and bran. Allow to rest for 10 minutes while you tidy the kitchen and prep the next step. In a separate bowl, combine all the dry ingredients together, and when the timer goes off – combine all the ingredients together, including the strawberries and chips.
Preheat oven to 400˚.
Place 22 paper liners in 2 muffin tins and spoon out the batter evenly. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until an inserted knife comes out clean, and the top has a light golden color. Cool completely before serving.
Thank you for sharing this excerpt