Preservation Has Begun

I found this great chart Here.  It gives you a formula to use your dried tomato powder.  How do you get Dry Tomato Powder, you ask?  You have an abundance of tomatoes in your garden, cut and dry them for 1 to 2 days in a dehydrator, place the very dry tomato slices in your handy dandy blender and Whala!  You have dried tomato powder.  Now you can use the powder in all your winter cooking.

I also have an abundance of Kale in my garden.  I decided to grow it for the first time, and I planted several rows.  What I didn't know is that Kale is a plant that keeps on giving.  You pick the bottom leaves and more leaves grow on the top, so you don't need to have two rows, just a few plants.   This explains the abundance of Kale. 

Many soup recipes call for 2 cups of Kale, so I decided to freeze the Kale in 2 cup packages.  First I picked and washed lots of my Russian red kale.  I snapped off the long stems and put them on a towel to drain.

Now take a leaf and fold it in half and lay it on the cutting board

Draw your knife down the edge, cutting out the largest portion of the stem.  Since I will be making this for soup, I chose not to have the woodier stem.  It is perfectly fine to eat the stems in stir fry type dishes.

Chop into slices.  I did a single leaf so you could see the slices, but you can stack a great big pile and slice them all at once.

Big bowl of sliced Kale waiting for blanching.

Heat a large pot of boiling water.  I used two pots to make it faster.  When the water boils, throw the kale in and set the timer for 2 minutes.  As soon as the timer rings, drain the kale quickly in a colander and then plunge it into an ice water bath.

Swish around until the kale is very cool.   Drain and squeeze the kale gently to release most of the water.  If you want you can let it drain on a kitchen towel to remove the majority of the water.

Now it is ready to freeze.  You can put it into freezer bags, or containers.  Try to get as much air out of the packaging as possible.  I will use the frozen kale in my soup recipes, so I placed it into two cup measures and vacuum packed it with my foodsaver.  Now it is ready for the freezer.

That huge bowl of chopped Kale made 4 two cup servings.  Kale Potato Soup here I come.  (recipe coming soon)



More From the Garden and a TLT Sandwich

Here is what I picked out of the Garden on my Birthday.  You can see the cute table decoration that Craig put on the table for me.  I have the best Husband!  Now what should I make from this harvest? 

Ok, I blanched all the summer squash and vacuum packed and froze them.  Same with the green beans.  I shared some of the bowl of cherry tomatoes and regular tomatoes.  The collard greens made the wrap for our bean and pepper spread with cucumber, carrots, peppers, radish, sunflower seeds, and salsa.  It was yummy.  The peppers are sitting on the counter with the rest of the tomatoes they will be chopped and made into salsa.  That leaves me the cucumbers to devour on Sunday.  Yummmm   Oh, I almost forgot the melon that you can see right by the basket.  I thought it was a cantaloupe, but it was a honeydew and very ripe.  It was fine one day, and the next day it was bright yellow and ripe. 

Now for the TLT Sandwich recipe

Start with two slices of Great Harvest Bread (mmmm my favorite)  Add a gigantic slice of homegrown tomato on one side and lettuce on the other.  Add whatever dressing you would like for the bread.  We used a no fat ranch dressing. 

Slice some firm smoked tofu in thin slices and sprinkle with real maple syrup and a dash of smokey paprika.  Grill in a pan (Tiny bit of spray oil) and turn several times till firm and browned.  Place on paper towel until cool.

Add several Tofu slices on top of your Giant Tomato Slice and put the top on your sandwich and dig in.  Yummmmmm  Best Tofu Lettuce Tomato Sandwich around.  What does the tofu taste like (not chicken) it substitutes for Bacon.  It is yummy.

Hot and Sweaty? Try Drinking Healthy Homemade Beverages

Did you know that Caffeine and Sugar pull the water out of your cells and make you more thirsty and dehydrated.  Carbonated drinks reduce the minerals in your bones.  Why not try some alternative homemade refreshing drinks.

Barley Water is an ancient refreshing drink.  The Greeks used it in their celebrations and  many cultures use it for the ill and infirmed.  The British drink it as a refreshing drink.  Barley Water is used also for ill babies, children and adults and it provides excellent health benefits.  Check out the healing power of Barley Water.

Refreshing Barley Water

2 quarts water

1 cup hulled barley

2 lemons

1/4 cup honey

Place the water and barley into a medium saucepan; cover, set over high heat and bring to a boil.  Once the barley comes to a boil, decrease the heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes.  While the liquid is cooking, peel the lemons, being careful not to cut into the white pith.  Juice the lemons and place the juice along with the peel into a 3-quart pitcher and set aside.

After 30 minutes, strain the barley water through a fine mesh strainer into the pitcher. Discard the barley (save and add to your homemade soup, bread, or cereal). Add the honey and stir to combine. Refrigerate until chilled.

For other refreshing barley flavored drinks visit this site.

And to know more about the Health benefits of Barley Water go here and here.

Electrolyte Drinks from the grocery store are full of artificial colors, harmful sweeteners and chemicals.  Here is a recipe to make your own.  Add some citrus or fruit juice and ice and you have a duplicate of the fancy sport drinks.  Drink after long effects of the sun, illness, or you just can't quench your thirst (sign of dehydration). 

If you are on a sodium restricted diet, or medications, check with your doctor before consuming as the baking soda and salt can interact with medications.

From Bob Harper

 Electrolyte Drink

Ingredients:

1 liter of water
1/2 tsp of baking soda
2 tbsp of agave nectar
1/2 tbsp of sea salt

Combine all ingredients in water bottle and sip as needed

Simple Refreshing Electrolyte Drink

 1 cup coconut water (not milk, you can find this easily at a health food store)

1 cup pure water

1/2 tsp Himalayan salt (contains the minerals, essential to rehydrate- do not substitute)

Mix together and add sweetener and flavors as desired.

optional items:  stevia, orange juice, lemon juice, lime juice, pomegranate or other berry juice

Vitamin C Drinks.  Why not try some refreshing citrus drinks to cool off in summer heat.

6-8 Lemons, Limes, Oranges, or Grapefruits - fresh squeezed.

Water to dilute to taste

Agave, Stevia, or Honey to taste

Heat 1 cup water and add sweetener till dissolved.  Mix into juice and add ice to dilute to your favorite tartness.

Optional:  Add crushed mint leaves, fresh smashed raspberries, strawberries, or blueberries.

Refreshing Fruit Drinks are a summer must.  Here are a few recipes to get started.

Green Cooler

4 Kiwi fruit
2 cucumbers
2 Celery sticks

1/2 inch piece Ginger
crushed pepper to taste
salt to taste
2 scoops crushed ice
1 cup water

 Peel fruits and cut all ingredients in little pieces. Blend in a high power Blender add water as needed and ice to cool.  Don't over blend.  Optional additions:  Parsley, alfalfa sprouts, or mint.

Melon Cooler

2 cups cubed watermelon (no rind)

2 large stalks of celery

1/2 cup ice cubes

Blend in powerful blender

Watermelon Heaven

2 ¼ cups watermelon flesh, de-seeded and roughly chopped

2/3 cup cucumber, peeled and roughly chopped

4-5 teaspoons lime juice

1 cup coconut water

12 fresh mint leaves, rinsed

A pinch of paprika

Unrefined sweetener such as stevia, agave, coconut/palm sugar or maple syrup to taste (optional)

 Place all ingredients into a blender and blend until mint leaves are thoroughly incorporated.Strain and serve over ice. Add sweetener to taste.

Fruit Waters are very light and refreshing.  There are endless possibilities.

1 gallon of pure water

1 orange (organic because we are using the peel) scrub and wash

Cut the orange in half and cut off a small sliver at each end.  Squeeze into the water dropping the whole orange and peel into the water. Do not let the seeds into the mixture. Steep in the fridge overnight or for at least 4 hours.  Strain if desired and enjoy.  Optional: add small amount of stevia or agave.

Substitute any citrus fruit, cucumber, celery, or berry and continue as directed.  (chop any veggies into small pieces to maximize flavor).

Also try mint, ginger, basil  or herbs like rose hips, hibiscus, spearmint, catnip, lavender, lemongrass, lemon balm, lemon verbena, rosemary, thyme or parsley to add a vitamin kick. Try other fruits such as apples, grapes (halved), pineapple, peach, plum, cranberries... you get the idea.  Also, a few spices can be added sparingly: cinnamon sticks, whole cloves, whole nutmeg, etc. 

Wrap herbs and spices in cheesecloth if desired.  If you are really brave you can try evergreen pine, spruce, and fir sprigs, juniper berries, and edible flowers - rose, nasturtium, pansy (make sure they are edible) 

To add more flavor you can add caffeine free herbal tea bags, Honeybush and  Rooibos red tea. (Rooibos and Honeybush are  actually a bush, not a leaf.  They do not contain caffeine or tannin)

Teddy Bear Quilt

Gardening has taken over my sewing time, but I managed to finish this baby quilt.  This was a challenge quilt.  we were given the brown fabric and challenged to use all of it in a quilt.  I had a cute pattern from McCall's sewing patterns.  I don't usually buy patterns that are in the fashion book, but they were on sale and I had it stashed away in my sewing closet.
I wasn't happy with the pattern.  Most quilts give you instructions on how many blocks to cut and what sizes etc.  This pattern gave you pattern pieces printed on the thin tissue paper.  It made the job much harder.  I started using the pieces and realized that it would be easier to just measure the squares and use the rotary cutter and ruler to make the blocks.  This took extra time, but was much more accurate.  The rest of the pieces were applique and I traced them onto some fusible webbing.

This would be a really easy quilt to copy and use as a background and change the teddy bear design and add anything you like.  I used Pink Chenille for the flower blocks and some cuddle fabric for the muzzle.  You could use all kinds of texture fabric or felt if you wanted.  I think it turned out cute.  I love the bees.   The pattern called for small buttons, but I don't believe buttons should be on any quilt that is given to children.  It is just to much of a risk for choking.  Sew the eyes with embroidery thread.

The florescent lights changed the colors a bit.  It is a pretty pink, green and yellow pastel quilt.

August A Whirl

Now that summer has come, it seems to be passing me by more quickly than I desire.  Sorry about the lack of posts.  Vacations, gardening and just plain old summer fun is to blame. But lets just get to the fun stuff.

The last 2 weeks, I have picked some amazing produce from the garden. This is my favorite part of gardening!  Pick and share and Eat Eat Eat those tomatoes.

Here is the Garden at the first part of August, it is looking a little tropical.

First week I picked this haul of summer squash.  My favorite are the flying saucer shaped Patty Pan.

More squash and green beans from the second week of August.

Chinese Cabbage leaves.  I add these to our Udon Noodle Soup

First Cabbage and Japanese Cucumbers of the year.  This is actually really late for the Cabbage. Coleslaw anyone?

Tomatoes are just starting.  These were my first picks

We were on vacation all week last week, and I came home and picked the garden and all I can say is WOW!  Anyone for a tomato Sandwich for breakfast?  Oh yes I did!

First Corn in my little corn patch, and look at those long Chinese green beans.

Lovin the peppers.  I have to figure out how to keep them from getting the sun scald, though

Turnips and Rutabaga.  Has anyone ever cooked Rutabaga?  I have to find a recipe, this is my first year planting it in my garden.  I think they taste similar to turnips. 

Veggie Dinner tonight, Honey