pickles!

SO. I made refrigerator pickles for the 1st time and even used some of my own cukes that I grew. VERY satisfying, indeed.

I tried 3 different recipes:

Front Left: (#1)

http://www.thekitchn.com/small-batch-recipe-cucumber-pickles-urban-preserving-with-marisa-mcclellan-173303

Front Right: (#2)

http://foodinjars.com/2011/06/urban-preserving-refrigerator-dill-pickles/

Rear: (#3)

http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2014/07/easiest-fridge-dill-pickles/

Front (#1), Back Lf (#3), Back Rt (#2)

What I used in the experiment: lemon cukes and odd ball green cukes from my garden and some nice little kirby picklers I received in my CSA. I don't have a pic of the kirbys unfortunately, but that's what I'm going to try to grow next summer, now that I know those are good for pickles.

So the verdict. They are all delicious, but to me there is a clear winner. 

They were all super easy recipes. 

The #1 and #2 recipes called for blanching the cucumbers after cutting for about 30 seconds. I think the idea is that this keeps the pickles crispy. Also, both of these recipes used a hot pickling brine. But even in doing this added task, they were super easy. Also, these two use apple cider vinegar, the other uses regular. They have the darker color that some pickles have. I wondered if this is from the heat, ACV, or maybe both. The ACV does give them a different flavor, but I liked it.

The #3 recipe was cold packed and required a bit of shaking every couple hours the first day.  

I tasted them all on the 2nd day. All were so tastey. All were crisp. For flavor and ease, the #3 batch was the winner. I've already made a second batch. I add them to everything. I may experiment with the SmittenKitchen Recipe and try it with ACV for kicks, or a blend.....but I have to admit, I really like the white vinegar flavor.

If you make these or have a recipe you love, I'd love to hear about it.

PS: In the second batch I made, I added some thin cut carrot sticks because I was a little short on cucumbers. They turned out AMAZING.


Up Next:
Vegan Lasagne

eeeep!

green drink

Today I made what is I think, the BEST green drink I've had so far. I almost drank it all before I took the picture.

here's what's in it:

juice of 1 lemon
juice of 2 oranges
romain  3-4 leaves
1 teaspoon green superfood powder
1/4 teaspoon reishi mushroom spore powder
1 kiwi

so good.

As long as I can get kiwi, this will be my go to green smoothie.

strawberry crumble

It seems that winter isn't ready to leave. I had some strawberries but really wanted something warm and cozy and sweet. I have made many rustic tarts with fruit, but this time, I didn't want pastry, I was craving something more cobbler-like. My mom used to make an apple crisp, and I made a mixed berry crumble when I worked at the Quay Co-op in Cork, Ireland. I'll have to tell you about that sometime. It was my 1st job as a baker and everything was at least vegetarian, and often vegan. I learned so much while I was there, and it was one of the best experiences of my life!

Anyways, I decided to try my hand at a strawberry crumble. This is the first time I've created a dessert recipe from scratch! I'm pretty excited about it. I have followed many recipes over the years, so I thought this might be an easy start. It is so stinkin' good, and I'm a little bit proud of it. It's the perfect combo of sour, sweet, warm, crumbly goodness. It'll definitely go in the book!

STRAWBERRY CRUMBLE

Ingredients:

for the fruit mixture:

1 pound of strawberries,  cleaned and sliced
1 granny smith apple, washed, cored and chopped small (I leave the skin on)
1 c coconut sugar
a couple shakes of ground cinnamon
2 tbsp chia seeds
3 tbsp almond flour
juice of 1 lemon

for the crumble:

10 dates, pitted
1/2 c coconut oil (it's winter so the oil is hard: if it's summer and it is soft, put in fridge for a few minutes)
3/4 c walnuts
1 c rolled oats
1 tbsp flax seeds
4 shakes of ground cinnamon

Method:

heat oven to 350 degrees

Using a large bowl, stir together the ingredients for the fruit mixture. Place into a baking dish.

Using a food processor, chop the dates. They may be super sticky, I had to stop and break them up a bit once or twice.

Add the FIRM coconut oil and walnuts and pulse chop.

Add the rolled oats, flax, and cinnamon and pulse chop one last time.

It should be a nice crumbly mixture. It'll be a little sticky still because of the dates.

Layer the crumble on top of the strawberry mixture.

I baked mine on a jellyroll pan incase it bubbled over, but it didn't. But it also makes the dish easier to take out of a hot oven when it's done.

Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 35-45 min, then remove the foil and let the top brown for another 15 minutes. I kept my eye on it so it wouldn't burn, but it was fine. Ovens can cook differently, so you might need to adjust the times to suit.

I dug in immediately!

PS: It was delicious the next day for breakfast, and I took some to the office today for a little between client energy boost!

If you need it to be gluten free, substitute the oats for gluten free oats. Adjust it to your liking. I think I'll experiment some more with this basic recipe.

Enjoy!

tuesday

I love how these little purple flowers continue to bloom all winter.

There's an herb garden under all that snow.

I did some cooking yesterday. Made another version of the Spring Green soup. I had some dandelion greens and some broccoli so added that to the mix. The dandelion greens gave it a really deep earthy green color. 

This was so delicious! Btw, I have been keeping up with the Daily Water Quota from my cleanse and it's amazing! I had a green smoothie yesterday so need to have 2 more this week. I think when the weather turns warmer I'll up that number. 

I was also craving something sweet and warm, and needed to use some strawberries. I can't wait to show you what I came up with in tomorrow's post!

cleanse 1/day 5

I had coffee this morning with a little coconut sugar and it was so amazingly good.

Sigh.

I have figured out a good way for me to get the required amt. of water in, though. I have a glass the size that if I drink 6 and 1/4 glasses of water from it, I'll get my quota. I drank one upon waking. Just chugged it down. In fact, that's how I take them all, like a giant shot that takes 7-10 swallows to finish. I always count my swallows, don't you? I have all but 1 and 1/4 finished now and it's only 9:19 pm! As i write this I'm drinking some red chia tea. I'm not sure if other liquids count as part of the water quota so I'm not counting them unless I get to the end of the day and need them. :)

I also got in my green smoothie. More of the cucumber, cilantro, arugula ( I LOVE arugula) and s&p.

Oh, I also got some greens in (double because I had it for lunch and dinner) when I had some soup.
I just chopped up some arugula and put in bowl. When soup is hot, pour over greens. It wilts them a little but they are often still a bit crunchy so it's a really nice texture and flavor addition.

I made another soup yesterday.

BUTTERNUT AND SWEET POTATO SOUP

cut butternut squash in half long ways and put into a 350 degree oven for about 40 min (until soft), I cooked mine on a jelly roll pan (cookie sheet with edges) and poured a little water in it to keep it from drying out. It worked!

remove from oven when done and allow to cool a bit.

in a heavy bottom pot add:

knob of coconut oil
1/2 onion, diced
1 leek, chopped small

cook until they soften and begin to caramelize, at this point I added about 1/2 cup water to keep them from burning.

next add:

2 sweet potatoes diced
5 carrots, chopped into small pieces
1 butternut squash, use a spoon to scrape out the flesh, it should come out really easily
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp ground coriander
about 20 fennel seeds, use a mortar and pestal to break them up a bit
1 tsp ground mustard
1 tsp black pepper
sea salt to taste
about 8 cups of water

cook for about an hour, covered, and stir occasionally

once it's done, let it sit for another 30 minutes covered, then using an emersion blender, blend the soup till creamy. You may need to add a little water.

Isn't it beautifully orange? And so delicious with some arugula.....mmmm....

cleanse 1/day 4

I wanted coffee so bad this morning that I just stood and stared at the tea kettle for a few minutes till I got over it.

I made the Life Changing Bread today. I love this stuff. It's just nuts and seeds basically, plus a few other things, and vegan and gluten free. It ticks all the boxes, more than I'm even trying to tick for that matter. MyNewRoots written by Sarah Britton, is one of my favorite blogs and you can find the recipe here. There are so many things I love about this blog. She has the most amazing recipes, they are almost always vegan, she gives substitutions for special diets, and she understands the science of nutrition.

I have the method down as I've made it so many times now. You'll have to get the recipe from her, but here are my pics of the process.

The two things I do differently:  I roughly chop the nuts. I find the bread holds together better for me that way. Also, I use a glass pan, only because that's what I have. She recommends a flexible one and I bet they work great. To get the 'bread' out of the rigid pan, I run a knife around the edge and then I use a flexible spatula and go around the sides and slip it underneath. The it pops out beautifully every time.

It is so easy! Just put all the dry together, add the liquid, and after coating the bread pan with coconut oil, put in the "dough". Cover and leave on the counter over night.

In the morning, I pop it in the oven, first in the pan, then again upside down on the rack.

She recommends waiting till it's COMPLETELY cool and I echo this. It stays together perfectly if I wait to cut it after it's room temp. And I use a really sharp chef knife to cut it. Anyways, if you like it you can see how it works for you.

One last word, if you try this, you will want to be sure to drink your quota of water! It is very dense and  cleansing in it's own way. It's awesome:)

I had so much more to share today, but I'm so tired I keep making typos and it's annoying! I'll have to get to it tomorrow or over the weekend.

Enjoy!

cleanse 1/day 2

today began well. i actually got up earlier than i have in months (not that early mind you) but i have been wanting to start to rise a bit earlier to get more out of the morning hours. morning is SACRED to me and on top of it, i take a while to get going. probably as a result of staying up so late, but i always have been a night owl. i get so much done when i know the rest of the world is sleeping. it does gives me an unusually late start to things, at least in terms of our culture. although i don't see myself becoming a 5 am type gal, i would like to become a 7 am'er. that seems a bit more civilized and doable.

my mornings are comprised of:

get up
feed baxter and squeeker (my kitty companions)
make hot lemon water
sit (meditate)
sun salutation
prepare black tea with honey (up until yesterday it was black coffee with sugar, sigh)

this extra time each day would allow me to add a couple yoga classes to my week.
that is a main goal for this year. i'll let you know how it goes.

2 things about me i didn't mention:

i am a studio artist and my studio is at my little house. i don't even think of it as a house. i basically live in a studio and that is just fine by me!

i am a massage therapist and my office is a 10 minute drive or 40 min walk from my house. i love this. it's tucked away, but central to the neighborhood and it feels like a tree house (from the inside).

this morning i received a fantastic massage from a friend. we only just got acquainted and she is awesome, and among many other things, a massage therapist. lucky me! we set up a trade and viola! i feel like a million bucks. i'm so happy to have this trade. i traded for years with a good friend who moved away and i had not had any luck (read: made time) finding a new barter partner. massage is such an important part of self care and i tell all my clients this and i BELIEVE it and KNOW it to be true. so i'm super stoked that this is back on my books.

i made a delicious green smoothing when i got back from the massage:

cucumber

mixed greens

cilantro

pinch salt and pepper (i'm not sure if this is kosher for smoothies, but it was damn good)

it was like a liquid salad.

i had to add a little filtered water to get it going and i almost drank it all before i snapped this last pic.
btw, the gadget is a magic bullet blender and i have wanted one for a year. ever since i visited my friend allison in pittsburgh last year (you can check out her blog here). no, they are not that expensive, but i like to stay on my budget and other things kept taking priority. you know how it is! my sister gave me one for my birthday in january. bless her!

i had a request to post the recipe for the spring green soup from the first post and so, here it is.

SPRING GREEN SOUP

in a heavy bottom pot add:

a knob of coconut oil

1/2 onion, diced

1 leek, with the outer dark green removed, i used part of it though from the inside pieces. btw, leeks have a lot of sand and dirt so the easiest way to clean is to chop, then rinse in a bowl and then shake water out in a colander or spinner.

after the onion and leek have softened and started to caramelize (5-10 min), add:

1/2 a bunch (is celery a bunch?) celery, diced

cook about 5 min, then add:

2/3 bag of frozen peas

2/3 bag of frozen corn (i don't usually purchase fzn veg, i had this in my freezer and needed to use it)

2 medium yellow gold potatoes, diced. i don't know if that is the official name, but it's what they looked like:)

3 good sized handfuls of any greens you have on hand, copped

water or veggie broth to fill the pot

a good shake of black pepper and some salt to taste

all ingredients are ORGANIC and NON-GMO

that's it. after cooking it on low for about an hour, i let it cool a bit and then used my emersion blender to puree about 1/2-2/3s of it. it will have a slightly chunky creamy texture. the flavor was amazing and i admit i was a little surprised b/c i didn't add any herbs or spices (other than pepper). 

i make most of my soups with what's on hand. if you need to use up carrots or some other veggie or herbs, by all means, DO IT!

also, i often make too much and freeze soups. after freezing, the texture of a veggie soup is not always a delight. luckily, i prefer a blended soup, and the texture of these never disappoints!