Zucchini to Noodle

While I would like to believe I am really 75-80%  nutritionally"good" on a regular basis I never fail to learn that I can do much better than I do.  This first week of the six-weeks of "strict" paleo has been kicking my butt from here to next week.  It's funny because I'm not working out any harder, sleeping any less or drastically changing my diet, I didn't eat bread every day or drink sodas as part of being hydrated, I ate fairly clean (except for some grilled cheese binging last week, but that was abnormal) on a regular basis.   I am not doing a Whole30 per-say but I actually have been eating the same way without noticing it so reading the "stages" of Whole30 reminded me that I always feel a little tired, cranky, etc. when I start over.   I'm starting to feel the "I need a nap" phase a bit more strongly than I would like to admit but that's fine, it's almost the weekend.  I'll just have to refrain from trying to "paleo-ize" (and why it's bad when you're first getting rolling) everything that looks tasty on TV...come to think of it I think I'll steer clear of some of my favorite lazy-tv time (cooking channel anyone?) to avoid the temptation. 

In the meantime I'm looking forward to getting my meal planning for the week done and doing some prep, I might even be really nice and prep some food for a certain boyfriend who doesn't cook much for himself.  After coming home from the gym I was far too tired to want to make the Cinnamon Beef Stew (from Well Fed) that I had intended to make, it'll just have to wait till tomorrow.  Instead I cut the portions in this delicious Carbonara recipe down to suit dinner for myself.    I used one of my new favorite tools, a julienne peeler to cut some Farmhouse Delivery zucchini into "noodles" and tossed the Carbonara sauce over the top. 

While I don't do a lot of "paleo" noodles (too much work unless I can buy them) I do love turning squash, zucchini and sweet potatoes into noodle shape and sauteing them until they are the right texture to serve as a delivery vehicle for my favorite sauces.  Let's face it, all noodles do is deliver sauce to you...delicious amazing sauces, so who cares what the noodles are made of?  Veggie noodles just mean more veggies which is never a bad thing!

My two favorite tools for turning veggies into noodles are both Amazon.com finds (I admit I'm a bit of an addict when it comes to Amazon):

1. Kuhn Rikon Julienne Peeler

2. Spiral Veggie Slicer

The peeler does a bang up job with cucumbers and zucchini, the spiralizer (as we call it in my family) does a great job with everything but I have gone through one already because the plastic doesn't hold up well to repeated use with stubborn sweet potatoes.  I have thought about getting a really fancy metal one but for $23 I can't beat this, even if it only lasts a year.   Both of these are invaluable to me and help me turn random produce into a quick and easy dinner on a regular basis.

90 degree Spring?

Somewhere the weather here took a turn for summer much faster than it should have, perfect illustration of that fact: yesterday my sister, mom and I met up with my grandmother in San Antonio for the day.  We packed a picnic, wandered some of our favorite thrift stores, a normal  spring day I could've gotten by with a t-shirt and jeans and not been sweating to death...no, yesterday I wore a tank top and shorts and there were a few times where I think I might've been overdressed still.  It's a really good sign that it's ungodly hot here already and it's just April 2.  Needless to say cooking with a stove hasn't really been at the top of my list in this weather, lots of grilling, plenty of cold meals and salads. 

I'm kind of picky about salad, I hate iceberg lettuce, it's void of any flavor in my opinion, isn't quite as nutritious as it's pretty dark green cousins (or red ones for that matter) and frankly it's boring.  No wonder I don't love salad, iceberg, ick.  For years salad meant pasty looking iceberg lettuce to me, no my mom (who is an amazing cook) didn't force-feed us iceberg but it's just what I associated salad with.  As I've learned to expand my definition of salad I've become a bigger advocate of them, you'll see, perusing any salad recipes I post, many don't even have lettuce in them but iceberg is definitely not featured here!   This salad is no exception, a few weeks back I was getting head after head of cabbage in my Farmhouse Delivery boxes, green, napa, red, you name it, I got it.  So I made slaw, a lot. I wouldn't call this a slaw since I feel like slaw is another one of those terms with not so pretty connotations but I'd say it's a cabbage salad instead. 

Asian Red Cabbage Salad with Pan Roasted Chicken

Salad:
1 Small Head Red Cabbage, Chopped
1/2 - 3/4 Cups Green Onions, Chopped
1/2 Cup Chopped Dried Pineapple (no sugar added)
2 Tbsp Black Sesame Seeds
2 Tbsp Hemp Hearts

Dressing:
1 1/2 Tbsp Coconut Aminos
2 Tbsp Coconut Vinegar
1 Tbsp Rice Wine Vinegar
2 Tbsp Sesame Oil
1/2 Tsp Minced Garlic
1/2 Tsp Minced Ginger

Chicken:
3 Chicken Breasts
1 Tbsp Sesame Oil
1 Tbsp Rice Wine Vinegar
1 Tbsp Coconut Aminos

1. Coat chicken in sesame oil, rice wine vinegar and coconut aminos, let it marinade for at least 30 minutes.
2. Once chicken is ready, head a cast iron skillet over medium high heat with 1 Tbsp Sesame Oil, once skillet is hot add chicken and brown well on each side, cooking time will vary based on thickness of chicken but mine took about 8 minutes on each side before it was cooked through.  As it was cooking I poured the leftover marinade over the chicken.
3. Once chicken is cooked, slice and set aside. 
4. To make dressing, mix vinegars, coconut aminos, garlic and ginger together.  Slowly add oil in, whisking continuously so that the oil is well incorporated and doesn't separate.
5. Toss salad with dressing, top with sesame seeds, hemp hearts and chicken.

A quick note about one of the salad toppings listed above (and shown below), Hemp Hearts.  I stumbled across these in my local Whole Foods recently, they are a great nutty, crunchy topping for things and I've just started using them.  I loved the nutty flavor and they have super healthy benefits, they are rich in Omega's with a great balance of Omega-3 to Omega-6 and also are a great source of gamma-linoleic acid which has been shown to support healthy skin, hair and nails. Tasty and good for you, double win!

First Day of What?

Here in Austin it's been "spring" for a while...I've been working out in shorts and t-shirts and sweating to death for at least three weeks, maybe more because Texas doesn't seem to know that the first day of spring was actually today.  Ha, someone let me know when we officially hit summer too, I'd bet $10 it's summer here much earlier, ahh the pleasure of living in Central Texas.  While I moan about the heat I should stop to consider the irony of posting this recipe, who knew I'd be so behind that I would be posting pumpkin recipes the first day of spring...

So why pumpkin? Besides the fact that I'm completely obsessed with them every fall and that the seeds make tasty tasty snacks, they are hugely good for you, just a few things you should know:

• Just like all brightly colored fruits and veggies, the gorgeous orange color of pumpkins is a key indicator that it's loaded with beta-carotene, which may reduce the risk of certain types of cancer, offers protection against heart disease and the degenerative effects of aging
• Just one half cup serving of pumpkin contains 5 grams of fiber which helps decrease cholesterol levels, control blood sugar and promotes healthy digestion
• Pumpkin is rich in vitamins C and E which boost immunity, reduces risks of high blood sugar and promotes healthy skin
• Pumpkin is also rich in potassium and magnesium which are extremely helpful to the body in a range of ways from promoting a healthy immune system to contributing to bone strength

Do you want to be less healthy? No, didn't think so.  Isn't pumpkin tastier than taking a fist full of pills to supplement your diet? Yes, it very much is. 

With a pretty little pumpkin that came in my weekly Farmhouse Delivery box I set to finding something to do with it.  I was a little unsure at first, pumpkin is something I don't cook with a lot, love carving them but cooking with them was a little foreign.  Inspired by the Farmhouse Table (Farmhouse Delivery's Blog) I grabbed some green curry paste and a good knife and went to work.

Thai Green Curry with Pumpkin
inspired by Farmhouse Table

4 oz green curry paste
2 14 oz cans coconut milk (full fat)
1 6 oz can coconut cream
1 Tbsp fish sauce (or to taste)
½ small pumpkin, peeled and cut into chunks
1 pound cubed chicken
1 bunch basil, leaves picked

1. Place thick coconut cream in a large cast iron skillet or dutch oven, add curry paste and fry til fragrant.
2, Add remaining coconut milk, simmer for 5-10 minutes, then add fish sauce.
3. Add pumpkin cubes and meat.
4. Simmer til pumpkin is tender, then stir in basil leaves

The original recipe is served over rice, I roasted some cauliflower in the oven while the curry was cooking and served it alongside.

More Food Processor Love

The love affair with my food processor certainly isn't dying anytime soon. In fact, day by day our love grows (ha, now you know I've taken a dive off the deep end!). I've been using my new gizmo for everything, from turning my paleo cocoa bites into something even more delicious to stuffing dates with "almond cream cheese" to making paleo "rice."  Ahh the marvels of the food processor.  So, to start off (and no, there's no picture of these), two Saturday's ago we had a 1/2 way mark potluck at Milestone Crossfit, it was a little paleo celebration of being half way through our eight week challenge.  Since we've all sworn off sugar and everyone else was bringing meat and veggies I decided to do a variation on my paleo cocoa bites.

Mexican Hot Chocolate Truffles
2 6oz Bags of Pitted Dates (nothing added to them)
1 5oz Bag, Unsweetened Coconut
2 Cups Cashews
1 Cup Pistachios
2 Teaspoons Cinnamon
2 Teaspoons Chipotle Pepper Powder
1 Tablespoon Mexican Vanilla
1 Teaspoon Kosher Salt
1/4 Cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder

This one is easy - it's really one step...throw everything in the food processor and pulse until it's chopped up nice and tiny and can be formed into balls, bars, etc. If your mixture needs a little moisture to come together, add hot water by the tablespoonful slowly (1 tbsp at a time).

These were a huge hit at the potluck, once of our coaches swore it was better than chocolate and one of my fellow challenge members told me 'bless you' for bringing them.  Ha, guess we are all surprised at how much we missed the sweet goodies!

My next feat from the food processor was to make some paleo 'rice' - using the fabulous instructions on Nom Nom Paleos' post about cauliflower rice, I  whipped up a big batch of 'rice' with one of the monstrous heads of cabbage in my weekly Farmhouse Delivery box.  I was really surprised at how simple it was to create rice.

A slightly blurry photo of just the rice:

What did I eat with my 'rice' you ask?  Well some amazing and quick Chicken Tikka Masala!  That recipe will be coming along shortly, I promise :)

Finally, to round off my food processor related creations, almond stuffed dates.  Nope it's not just an almond stuffed in a date.  In an effort to keep the book club snacks paleo, healthy and tasty I keep trying to find something interesting to take along.  With a few of the leftover dates from my truffles I searched for inspiration.  Interestingly, the vegan nut 'cream cheese' recipes I've seen provided just the right inspiration.

There are tons of variations on how to soak nuts and turn them into a cream cheese type texture, this is just the way I did it, I can't wait to experiment though to find new ways to do this and new flavors.

1 Cup Raw Almonds, soaked overnight in water
1-2 Teaspoons Apple Cider Vinegar
3-4 Tablespoons Lemon Juice
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
1/4 Teaspoon Pepper

1. Soak almonds overnight in water. After they have soaked, blanch them for 5 minutes in very hot water.
2. Pour off the hot water, pinch off the almond skin and set aside the almond meat.
3. Blend almonds with all remaining ingredients in a food processor.

*If it does not reach the texture you want, add a little bit of water (teaspoonfuls) until it does.  I added basil infused sunflower oil at this step to give it a little basil flavor.

Bacon-Wrapped, Almond Cream Cheese Stuffed Dates
1/2 Cup Almond Cream Cheese
14 Dates, Pitted
7 Strips Thinly Sliced Bacon

1. Split a date in half like a hot dog bun, leaving it intact.  Fill with a teaspoon or two of the almond cream cheese and freeze for at least one hour.
2. Remove from freezer and turn oven to 375 F.
3. Cut bacon into halves, use one half strip of bacon per date and wrap around.
4. Place dates on a baking rack (raised above cookie sheet) on a foil-lined (easier clean up) jelly roll pan.
5. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until bacon is crisp or close to done, if bacon is not yet ready feel free to crisp it under the broiler.

When Your CSA Hands You Lemons...

Week 4 of 8 weeks of hardcore, sugar-free paleo life isn't too bad, some days I end up stretching myself creatively....but sometimes the best solution is right smack in front of you, simplicity is the best answer. When my Farmhouse Delivery box appeared with some beautiful Meyer Lemons and greens aplenty I scratched my head a little.  Normally I'd turn those amazing lemons into something sweet, a pie or tart (mmmm) but since adding sugar isn't in the plan right now I had to think of another way to enjoy their special blend of sweet and tart.  Greens, well those are easy, olive oil, crushed red pepper, garlic - boom greens solved!

After a little thought I figured I'd make a chicken piccata type dish, with my Meyer Lemons at hand there was no breading needed to make this dish sing! Come to find out, piccata doesn't actually need breading, the word piccata just simply means to pound flat, so any protein can become a 'piccata' without losing the spirit of original dish.

Paleo Chicken Piccata
4 Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
1/4 Cup Dry White Wine
1/2 Cup Chicken Stock
1/4 Cup Meyer Lemon Juice (freshly squeezed)
2 Tbsp Capers (rinsed and drained)
1 Tbsp Freshly Chopped Flat Leaf Parsley
1 Cup Frozen, Halved Artichoke Hearts
Salt & Pepper to taste

1. Lay chicken breasts between two pieces of plastic wrap or wax paper, pound out to about 1/4 inch thickness.
2. Saute chicken in olive oil and brown the outside, approximately 2-3 minutes per side. Remove chicken from pan.
3. Return pan to medium heat, add white wine and chicken stock and scrap bottom of pan with a wooden spoon to remove the brown bits. After wine has come up to a simmer, add artichoke hearts.
4. Add lemon juice and bring artichokes up to temperature.
5. Remove from heat, stir in capers and parsley, serve sauce over chicken.

Along side the chicken I served some sauteed greens and a braised eggplant dish (easiest thing on the planet!). I cut the eggplant into cubes, doused them in an entire jar of fresh marinara sauce (sugar and creepy unpronounceable ingredient free!) and let that bake in the oven at about 350 until the eggplant was cooked.

Sometime the answer is simple :)

A Duo of Resolutions

While the New Year is upon us and so many of my friends and family are resolving to be healthier and active I am renewing my commitment to my healthy lifestyle.  I am already fairly active, crossfitting (yes its a verb!) pretty much four days a week and running the other three, I found myself slipping back into bad nutritional habits over the week between Christmas and New Years.  While I don't feel guilty cheating occasionally I also know the difference between doing whatever and having a bit of discipline, which I had none of during that week!  In an effort to right myself and get back on track I decided to pull together a few salads that are combinations of my Farmhouse Delivery box goodies and my favorite Asian flavors. 

Beyond my continued resolution of being healthier I wanted to find other self-improvement type resolutions, this year I've decided to get more organized (granted I'm completely inspired by all the fun organization boards and pins on Pintrest) and second, I will get my sweet puppy Sam trained, actually trained not just haphazardly making him sit when need be.  Sam is now 10 months old and while he's really good natured and relatively well-behaved we had a scare last week that has made getting him trained all the more necessary.  Last week Sammy had to have an unscheduled abdominal exploratory surgery to remove pieces of two dog toys he had eaten along with some garbage....he's doing well now but I have since removed all plush and rope toys from the house, switched all the trash cans to the type that require you to step on them to open them and am watching him like a hawk.   Sam now is learning how to live with a nice plastic cone hat, so stylish!  He'll have that off on January 13 but until then he's busy running into things with it.

He's ok just sleeping it all off anyway!

First up, a take on a recipe that was featured on the Farmhouse Delivery blog (such a great place for ways to use the fabulous produce I get from them week after week).

Vietnamese Chopped Cabbage Salad

2 chicken breasts, bones and skin removed

1/2 head cabbage, finely shredded

1 small bunch green onion, sliced thin

1 handful cilantro leaves

1 handful mint leaves

1 Tbsp toasted sesame seeds, for garnish

1 apple, julienned

2-3 radishes, sliced or julienned

juice of 1 lime

4 Tbs. grapeseed or sesame oil

1 Tbs. soy sauce

3-4 Tbs. fish sauce

1 tsp. siracha chili sauce (substitute chili flakes or tabasco sauce)

2 Tbs. rice wine vinegar

1. Season chicken breasts with salt and pepper and either broil or saute in sesame oil until cooked.

2. Whisk lime juice, sesame oil, soy sauce, fish sauce, rice wine vinegar and siracha into a dressing.

3. Toss cabbage, green onion, cilantro, mint, apple and radishes, dress with vinaigrette and top with sliced chicken and toasted sesame seeds.

The second recipe is inspired by one of my favorite sandwiches, a Vietnamese Bahn Mi.  I don't typically miss bread, etc. much but this sandwich is one of those things I do miss when I see them.  Typically featured on a baguette and stuffed with tasty meats, pickled diakon radish and carrot, lettuce, mayo and spiciness they are heavenly!  So, after seeing a recipe (thanks Serious Eats!) that looked evil and good for a Bacon Bahn Mi I decided I needed to make a Bahn Mi salad to quell my cravings.

Chicken Bahn Mi Salad

Pickled Veggies (courtesy of Bahn Mi Battle)

1/2 lb. carrots -shredded in food processor, sliced in thin rounds or thin match-like strips.

1/2 lb. daikon radish – cut same as carrots.

3 cups warm water

3 Tablespoons distilled or rice vinegar

2-3 tablespoons sugar, depending on how sweet you want your pickles

2 tablespoons salt

Salad Ingredients
1 head romaine lettuce, washed and torn
1/2 medium red onion, sliced
Broiled or Grilled Chicken Tenders
1/2 cup Cilantro, washed and chopped

Dressing:
4 tablespoons almond butter
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 tablespoon siracha (or more to taste)
1 to 2 tablespoons water

To make veggies:

1. Mix warm water, vinegar, sugar and salt until everything is dissolved. Choose a pitcher or bowl with a lip that can be used for pouring mixture.

2. Peel, wash and cut daikon & carrots to desired size. Combine both together in bowl and blot dry with paper towel.

3. Fill carrot & daikon mixture into a tight lid jar, bowl or similar container.

4. Pour liquid salt mixture into carrot & daikon container till full. Close lid and let it pickle for about 3-5 days, or till desired sourness. For immediate use, let marinade for about 1 hour.

To make salad:

1. Whisk almond butter, rice vinegar, siracha and water together to create dressing.

2. Toss all salad veggies in dressing, top with chicken strips.

Quick Tuesday Braise

Most Tuesday evenings I can be found heading to Milestone Crossfit, well let's be real, three nights a week and most Saturday mornings I can be found heading there ;) What that means for my cooking is not too much in the summer when I usually want quick, small, not too cooked bites.  What it means in the winter when I usually want a slowly braised hot meal is that I have to either start using my crockpot more (yes I need to do that) or figure out ways to achieve the same flavors as a good braise with less time/effort required.  The latest attempt to quickly braise something arose from the need to do something tasty in little time and the need to use up an ever growing pile of veggies coming from my Farmhouse Delivery box.  In honor of my quick Tuesday night meals here's one that will certainly make the rounds again...


Quick Braised Cabbage

Head napa cabbage, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 med onion, chopped
1/4 cups chicken stock
Salt, pepper to taste
2 smoked ham hocks
 
1.  Saute ham hocks in olive oil until browned, remove from skillet
 
2,  Add onion, celery and carrot, saute 2 min 
 
3,  Add cabbage
 
4.  Shred pork off hocks, add to skillet
 
5,  Add stock and season, let stock boil down till its nearly gone and serve

ENJOY!

Apples to apples

Somewhere between Halloween, the time change and today I realized the holidays are about to come crashing down upon me.  Scary thought, 10 days to Thanksgiving...OMG what is a girl to do?  Well this girl will start arming herself with all forms of delicious veggie sides, some kind of turkey recipe (we usually turn to a brined turkey but maybe something new) and of course a dessert.  It doesn't seem so overwhelming yet but just wait, I'm sure the stress will start getting to me.

Before pilgrims, turkeys and cornucopias come flying my way I want to share some non-turkey influenced recipes centering around my favorite fall ingredients...apples!  I have always enjoyed apples in the fall, between caramel apples, apple cider, apple baked goodies and just plain delicious apples it feels like fall when they are around.  I was super excited the last few weeks to receive apples in my Farmhouse Delivery box, who can beat local apples after all?   For those of you unfamiliar with Farmhouse Delivery, they are a very cool service from here in Austin that delivers bi-weekly or weekly produce boxes to your home or office.  While I am slightly outside their delivery zone I get a weekly box delivered to my parents house; each Thursday. I greedily look forward to the contents of that box  starting long before pickup on Thursday and then happily share it with my family.  It is a constant reminder of the diversity of products available in this area.  On top of the produce that is routine (and ever changing) in each box, you can order meats, canned goods, eggs, cheese and other extra grocery goodies to be delivered as well.  It's amazing how a $39 box has decreased my grocery store trips!  The other neat perk to this is that while they will swap out items due to dietary constraints, having that box delivered with whatever is available, fresh and seasonal means you have to work with it.  Just like other CSA-type programs I have opened up my box to find everything from pears to grapefruits and greens or even turnips (no, I don't know what I'm doing with those yet).

Running backwards after my trip down the Farmhouse Delivery rabbit hole...the main event today, apples. 

First up, a twist on a Cooking Light recipe, Savory Baked Apples.

Stuffed Savory Apples
Inspired by Cooking Light

2/3 cup chicken broth

4 large Honeycrisp apples, cored

1 lb ground pork 

3/4 cup finely chopped sweet onion

1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper

3 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 cup chopped walnuts, toasted

3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon dried rubbed sage

1/2 cup sharp white cheddar, shredded (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Using a small spoon, carefully scoop out centers of apples, leaving a 1/2-inch-thick shell, and chop apple flesh. Brush the inside of apples with a small amount of broth. Place apples on a baking sheet, and bake at 350° for 25 minutes or until just tender.
3. Preheat broiler to high.
4. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add pork, and sauté 5 minutes, stirring to crumble. Remove from pan; drain. Add chopped apple, onion, sage, salt and red pepper, sauté 4 minutes. Add garlic; sauté for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add pork, onion mixture, walnuts and divide mixture evenly among apples; top with cheese. Broil for 5 minutes or until golden.

This year the Honeycrisp apples have been delicious, I will eat two maybe three in a day (if they aren't the massively big ones).  Apples appear in stuffings (haven't found my 'paleo' alternative to the bread yet), soups, stews, baked with cinnamon and agave nectar over the top and now as a main dish.

Apart from the stuffed apples, I also made a mean pork-apple soup a few nights back.  I don't mind soups, as a rule I used to love them as an excuse to have a nice crusty loaf of bread around, I think that's part of why I've avoided having a lot of soup since switching to my mostly-paleo diet.  Frankly this soup was delicious and would've been tasty with some crusty warm bread but being a good girl there was none to be found!

Pork & Apple Soup

Adapted from Martha Stewart's Pork and Apple Stew

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 pound pork sirloin, cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes

Salt and pepper

1 onion, chopped

1/4 teaspoon caraway seeds, (optional)

4 cups chicken stock

1 cups water

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1/2 pound green cabbage, shredded (about 2 cups)

2 tart green apples such as Granny Smith, unpeeled, cut into 3/4-inch chunks

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

1. In a Dutch oven, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium-high heat. Toss pork with 2 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Add meat to the pan, and brown, turning occasionally, about 6 minutes. Transfer to a plate.

2. Reduce heat to medium-low, add remaining 1 tablespoon oil, onion, and caraway seeds, if using, and cook until onion softens, about 3 minutes. Stir in stock, water, mustard, cabbage, pork, and 3/4 teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer, covered, for 15 minutes. Add apples, and continue cooking, covered, for 10 minutes.

3. Just before serving, stir in chopped parsley. Be careful not to simmer soup too long, extensive cooking will turn the pork tough.


The final recipe isn't as detailed, or even a recipe so much but instructions on making one of my favorite desserts.  It's quite simple really, core an apple (or two or three or pears or both), put it into an oven safe dish.  Put a few teaspoons of agave nectar or honey as well as flax seed granola (one of my favorite local finds - Flax Z Snacks) and then toss it in the oven (350F) until the fruit is tender.