Somewhat of a Fruit Leather Miracle

One sunny day this June, we made strawberry apple fruit leather.

Now getting from here:

to there,

was somewhat of a miracle.

Here's my photo tutorial.
I followed the recipe from Vintage Chica.

First, rinse

Next, chop
Then, place in a sauce pan and cook down with water
(I added apples to extend the recipe.)
Blend!
Spread and bake for 5 hours at 170 degrees
(or your oven's lowest temp.)
Roll it up. Now at this point, the despair set in.
Although it was delicious, our fruit would not separate from the wax paper I had used (instead of plastic wrap.) We were eating more paper then fruit and I thought it was undercooked and mushy in the center. The edges were hard and cracked. Next time, I would cook it less than my 6 hours. I now know more mushy like thick jam is fine and less hard edges are better.At this point, I put it in a glass jar in little ita's snack drawer and thought, "Oh well, we've got a yummy activity that takes a lot of time and patience."

Then, with much surprise, we opened it the next day to find the fruit had moistened enough in the jar to pull away from the wax paper and it was perfect, east to peal real fruit leather!So now I say, making fruit leather is flexible (as it should be) and even if it doesn't bake or dry evenly, it all works out great in the end. Enjoy the fruit season!

My Holly Hobby Moment

Anyone remember the Holly Hobby Easy Bake Oven circa 1975? Did you have other Holly Hobby gagets? I've been having some strange holly hobby moments lately. Specifically, I remember making super-sugary concoctions in this little oven when I was a little girl and loving it. Then, of course, needing to re-create the moment for my daughter. (It's so strange what pops up out of my subconscious from my own childhood now that I'm a Mom.)

Although it's not the same as the Holly Hobby oven, I put our toaster oven on the table, put all the ingredients out and let her make her muffins. This last part being the tricky one. Let her make her muffins.

I love her Holly Hobby fashion sense

stir


wait

test

cool

yum

Okay, my Holly Hobby need has been satisfied.

We made our favorite gluten-free mini muffin recipe from my friend Lara and the Seattle Waldorf School.

Mini Muffin Mix ~gluten free
Makes about 12 small muffins

Tips:

• These muffins are a great way to get more protein (replace the brown rice flour with garbanzo bean flour or coconut flour) and healthy stuff (adds nuts, sunflower seeds or shredded beats) into your kids.
  
• Only turns out well in small muffin tins, or small amounts in regular muffin tin.
  
• I have been using milk and butter, and like it better, but water and oil are fine too, and cheaper. Frozen blueberries and mashed old banana are recent fave additions. Shredded carrot/apple is good too.
  
• I always double it.
  

DRY: 1 cup brown rice flour, ¼ c tapioca flour, ¾ teasp xanthum gum, ¾ tsp baking soda, ¼ tsp salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.
WET: ½ c milk or water, 1/3 c olive or coconut oil or butter melted, 1/3 c maple syrup, shredded apple or other additions.

Very important: 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar, *****add apple cider vinegar just before spooning into small muffin tin. Stir to blend in vinegar.

Mix dry. Blend in wet. Stir all together. Bake in preheated 375 oven for 10-15 minutes.

Enjoy!

Culture

There's a bit of kraut-making happening around here, which I was elated to see illustrated in my favorite local artist's yearly calender, Nikki McClure of Olympia, WA. If you're not familiar with her, please check out her fabulous prints and other works.

Now back to the fermenting cabbage. I've been reading about the amazing probiotics and digestive enzymes available in cultured vegetables. With the plethora of cabbage from our CSA last year, I tried homemade sauerkraut. It took a few tries, we had a lot cabbage to spare! Finally, the bitter flavor I kept getting went away and now it's pure salty sour deliciousness. My daughter gobbles it up and I watch in amazment, since I know this is not just food, but medicine.

I invite you to let these college kids inspire you!

I feel so progressive and handy in the kitchen when I crack open one of these jars. Which has not always been the case! Especially my summer time attempt at pickling: cucumbers + brine in jars left inside the cooler for a few days (who knows why) = very moldy pickles. For successful sauerkraut, I follow the directions from this site. She explains lacto-fermentation and how to use the whey from store bought yogurt. The process is about patience. Just let the ingredients sit on the counter for a week and watch as it bubbles, froths and overflows. Fermentation is happening! I make my sauerkraut in quart jars placed on a plate. Be sure to keep all the pieces of cabbage submerged in the brine by filling a tall glass with water to weight it all down. Once a day, check the sides of the jar for loose pieces of cabbage and push them back down to be submerged (cabbage that is partly out of the water will mold.) This is one of those things that I NEVER thought would work. Letting something ferment on my counter was really a process in me letting go. If I can do it, you can do it.

Scrumptious recipes for kimchi and more...



Nourishing Traditions: the cookbook that challenges politically correct nutrition and diet the dictocrats by Sally Fallon with Mary G. Enig

Green Smoothies

What is a Mama to do with this much chard and kale in her garden?
As well as all the greens from the CSA membership?

First, put one little urban farmer to work,

carefully harvesting kale.

then send it to the super-munching machine, along with
blueberries and lots of good fats for those skinny little ribs.
Alita controls all the buttons on the blender and adds all the
greens and fruit into the small opening of the rubber lid.

and wa la!

Green Smoothie Recipe
Ingredients:

• 5 leaves of greens (purple kale is sweetest, trim stems from all kale and chard, use only leaves. Spinach and chard are mild tasting and easy on your blender. Most lettuces end up tasting bitter, just add more sweetener)
• 1 cup yogurt, cream and/or milk
• banana
• 1 cup frozen or fresh berries, apple or other fruit
  
• 1/4 cup maple syrup or honey
• 1 Tablespoon molasses

Blend yogurt, milk and banana, sweeteners and molasses. Have your child add the greens and fruit. This is our basic morning recipe, but avocado, flax seed, nuts, leftover cooked oatmeal or quinoa also make it into our smoothies. I love adding molasses, the flavor takes the edge off the bitter greens and adds a little iron boost. I also add good fats (avocado, coconut oil, summer butter or your favorite dairy) so we can more easily absorb the nutrients from the greens.

We also like to use these glass straws that are extra wide (new to me, they have a fabulous Lifetime Guarantee Against Breakage for a glass drinking straw, awesome.
We will be using that!) They are not only beautiful,
which helps Alita joyfully sip her drink, but physically necessary. Cheers to you and many more mornings of adorable miracle vegetable intake.

Watch Out! Wonderful Nettles.

Ita and I have been loving our stinging nettles infusion each morning (the ones that inevitably sting a toddler once in while and a harrowing cry ensues). It's a nourishing herbal infusion that "goes to work right away giving you the vitamins and minerals we need." Susan Weed of the Wise Woman Tradition and author of two very accessible and informative books on herbs. She says, "Stinging nettle is the energy of the earth... many people who drink it say they fall asleep more easily and sleep more deeply. It rebuilds core energy, the adrenals, which are responsible for how much energy we have. "

I drink it for my allergies, asthma and for an easy way to get readily absorpable food-based minerals like calcium, 250 mg. per cup! Susan Weed believes many of the edible plants that grow near us, heal us. I must say I do feel better. She notes that within 7-10 days you will see the effects.

As an expectorant, it's recommended for asthma, mucus conditions of the lungs, and chronic coughs. Nettle tincture is also used for flu, colds, bronchitis and pneumonia. Nettle infusion is a safe, gentle diuretic—considered a restorative for the kidneys and bladder.

Makes 1 Quart Stinging Nettles Nourishing Infusion:

1 oz. dried nettles (available locally at PCC)

1 qt. boiling water

For kids add: 1 tablespoon of maple syrup or honey (if you prefer sweetener) and a splash of lemon to taste

Mix the nettles in the boiling water, add more water to decrease air and close with a tight lid. Allow to steep overnight or atleast 4 hours. Strain and drink throughout the day. Click on this link to watch Susun Weed make a batch with her grandaughter. "Once again the nourishing herbal infusions are a wonderful way to bring the plants into our lives on a daily basis. I often say to parents, if you go to a cupboard everyday and you take out a jar of pills and you say to your child, take this pill it will keep you healthy, then we shouldn't be surprised if as a teenager they go looking for happiness in a pill because we have trained them to look there. Where as if we go outside and say this is dandelion we eat it to be healthy, then when our children are teenagers and in the experimental stage they are going to be more likely to go looking for interesting plants rather than drugs." An interview with Susun Weed from the Raw Mom Summit The Evolution of Motherhood has Arrived.

The following books by Susun S. Weed are helpful in learning more about safe herbs for the whole family.

Healing Wise

Wise Woman Herbal for the Childbearing Year