It is well and truly autumn here in the Hawkes Bay; the first snows have been spotted on the mountains, and we even had some hail at Harmony Gardens in the recent storms! We hope that you are keeping warm and dry, and getting ready for the colder season.
Here at Harmony Gardens and Grub Ltd, we are very much enjoying the harvest, of all kinds of fruits and vegetables. We have been making some delicious chicken and corn soup, with fresh ginger, to keep us warm as we work, and we topped it off with a delicious, home-made, allergy-friendly, superfood apple crumble…. It was totally yum! Our lovely neighbour had some apples from a friend’s orchard, so we brought some into the kitchen and turned them into hot, nutritious, apple crumble for everyone. What a great neighbour story for our competition! (Remember to send us your best garden-to-table neighbour story - you could win a Healing Cbd Skin Balm with Lavender.)
Apples are in abundance at the moment, and as well as being yummy, they are also very good for you. Apples are full of fibre, vitamin C, antioxidants, and there is evidence that they help to protect against certain chronic diseases, including cancer, heart disease, and type 2 diabetes (www.health.com). Apple crumble is a great way to use them, and make a healthy delicious dessert, or even breakfast.
Yes, that’s right, you read that correctly - here at HG&G, we are all about nutrient dense foods. Our apple crumble recipe is actually more nutritious, and better for you, than pretty much all of the commercial breakfast cereals on the market, which are mostly carb and sugar-based, and full of artificial preservatives and sweeteners and colours.
So it is actually a good healthy food choice to have this particular apple crumble for breakfast! - it gives you:
Plant-based protein;
Natural healthy sweetness from fruit and honey;
Healing aspects from Arataki Manuka honey, saffron, cinnamon, ginger, tumeric;
Heart-healthy fats from coconut oil and almonds;
Plenty of essential complex B vitamins from hemp seeds;
Plenty of healthy fibre from LSA, almonds, hemp;
Heaps of anti oxidants;
Heaps of calcium for strong bones and teeth.
If you would like to make this healthy, superfood apple crumble at home, here is the recipe:
5-6 apples - approx 200g (you can substitute pears, peaches, feijoas, berries- or a blend of your favourite fruits)
100ml water
Cinnamon stick
4-5 cardamom pods
2 slices root ginger
2-3 whole cloves
2 tablespoons Arataki Manuka honey - 1 tablespoon for the fruit, 1 tablespoon for the crumble
1 tablespoon almond butter
Pinch Celtic salt
Few saffron strands
100g ground almonds
25g LSA (linseed, sunflower seed, almond mix - very good for liver cleansing and support)
35g hemp seeds
40g gluten/free flour
75g solid coconut oil
Chop and peel the apples (or fruit of your choice).
Place 100ml water in a pan, add the cinnamon stick, whole cloves, cardamom seeds, saffron strands, and ginger. Simmer for around 20 minutes. Strain the liquid, discard the spices, and add the chopped peeled apples (or fruit of your choice) to the pan. Add 1 tablespoon of Arataki Manuka honey, and gently simmer until the fruit is all soft, and pulpy. Add more water to the pan if need be - add just 50ml at a time to prevent the fruit getting slushy. When cooked, turn the fruit into a baking dish - it should come halfway up the dish.
Place the ground almonds, hemp seeds, LSA, salt, and coconut oil into a bowl. Rub the coconut oil through, until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Gently heat the honey in a small pan or double boiler - I do not recommend a microwave as I think they are the work of the devil and I won’t have them in the house! 😵 When the honey is heated, pour it into the dry ingredients, and work it through until it is evenly mixed. Then spoon the crumble on top of the fruit, and put into the oven at 180 degrees, until the topping is browned.
Green Fairy option: cannabis is considerably more effective for healing, and symptoms relief, when it is ingested. To make this a Green Fairy crumble, you can:
Substitute the solid coconut oil for your favourite Green Fairy infused solid coconut cooking oil
Use a Green Fairy infused honey
I recommend that you use a blend of strengths, to balance out the dish and prevent overdosing. I used a Green Fairy mild cbd fan leaf solid coconut oil to make the crumble, and I used a Thc 11% Canna-honey to add to the fruit mix and the crumble mix.
Please feel free to let me know how you get on with this recipe, and also please feel free to send through your favourite garden-to-table fruit crumble recipe.
Remember to get your entries in for the Best Neighbour Story competition - send us your best neighbour story of how you are building great relationships with your neighbours, using your garden-to-table produce, and you will be in to win a HG&G Healing Skin Balm with Lavender! For further details, and to be in to win, make sure to sign up to our email list.
If you would like to become a Green Fairy customer, please book in for a phone consultation.
We hope you continue to enjoy autumn, and we look forward to seeing you at our very special Green Fairy pop-up events throughout the year. These events are strictly by invitation only, and details are forwarded via our mailing list - they are not advertised on our website. To be in the loop, please sign up to our email list.
Happy gardening 🤓🌻🧚♀️👩🍳
