I have written previously about my work to prepare home-made lunches for kids at my daughter’s school (a project called “Lunch Bunch”).
The kids have loved the food, but they ask, “please, can we have a special dessert?”
I am definitely more in the “moderation camp” vs. deprivation (you can read the story about how my stepmother put “Do Not Eat” signs on jars of chocolate chips jars -which I believe led to my chocolate chip addiction- in my book, Make Nutrition Fun. I hope it makes you laugh.
I’m here to tell you about a recipe I got from my awesome mother in law, Terry, called Blueberry Crumble. This is the recipe I chose to serve for my “Lunch Bunch”. Yes, it has a lot of butter, but as Terry says, “nothing tastes good without the butter”.
So grab the organic variety (or grass-fed, as suggested by the “Bullet-proof guy” Dave Asprey) and live a little! 🙂
Just a tiny bit of background on why I choose Blueberry Crumble. I wanted to follow the theme of “Eat a Rainbow“.
To ensure the kids eat and enjoy a rainbow of colors, I came up with this menu by popular demand:
White: potatoes (we “bake” them in a slow cooker)
Red: tomatoes and kidney beans (keep this topping warm in a slow cooker, almost like a chili; the beans provide a protein source)
Green: Chives and tons of fresh herbs (a variety- you can’t have enough green options)
Yellow: Yellow peppers (and shredded Mexican blend cheese, although that is not a veggie…)
Orange: Orange peppers
And what to do about blue/purple? Here is where the Blueberry crumble comes in!
This recipe can easily be cooked and be served from a slow cooker (can you tell I LUV slow cookers?) that will sit in their classroom until lunchtime.
Here is Terry’s time tested family recipe– delicious and so easy! (Note: for the gluten-free version, please read to the bottom).
Ingredients:
-Butter (1 stick)
-Sugar (1/2 cup brown and 1/2 cup white)
-Cinnamon (~1 tsp)
-1 cup flour
Directions:
Mix ingredients and pour over a generous amount of blueberries (or any type of fruit–at least 4 cups worth) in a pyrex dish. Bake at 350 until bubbly (about 45 min).
I tweaked the recipe a bit since we had just learned about whole grains with the kids, and I wanted to include some in the recipe. So I substituted the 1 cup flour with: 1/2 cup rolled oats, 1/2 cup white flour and 1/4 cup whole wheat flour. I also added some vanilla (about 1 tsp) because I felt like it. You could also add some lemon juice, or play around with different spices. Be creative!
Because we were serving it at school and there is no oven, I tested this recipe in a slow cooker (on high for several hours) and it worked out great. I hope the kids at school love it as much as everyone in our family did!
My final step before next week’s lunch is to make a gluten-free version of this crumble. One of the kids in the class is gluten-free, so I was excited to challenge myself with creating a version that was just as delicious. All I did was to follow the original recipe, but exchange the 1 cup flour as follows:
-1 cup flour–replace with 1/2 cup rice flour, 1/4 cup almond flour, and 1/4 cup Bob’s gluten-free flour.
Want to learn how “Food Feelings” affect your health and how to eat for optimal energy and well-being? Please check out this FREE Make Nutrition Fun Course on teachable!
