Pepper Paints

Happy National Pretzel Day!!

April 26 is National Pretzel Day—who knew there was such a holiday?!

So in honor of National Pretzel Day here is a blast from the past (May 2008!)

Homemade Soft Pretzels

We followed a recipe that promised Aunt Annie’s Pretzels-like from the mall.  They weren’t exactly Aunt Annie’s but not too bad either.  I used white whole wheat flour for ours-white flour definitely would have been better.  Ours were really heavy.  And as far s the amount this recipe makes-unless you are feeding an army cut this recipe in half as this makes at least a dozen pretzels and they don’t save well.

Aunt Annie’s Soft Pretzel Recipe

In a large bowl combine 1 1/2 tsp live active yeast with 1 1/2 cups 110 degree water, 1/2 teaspoon brown sugar and dash of salt.  Let sit 5 minutes

Add 4 cups flour mix well and knead for 5 minutes

Put in greased bowl and cover with damp towel and let sit 1 hour in a warm place.

Divide into 8 to 12 pieces -we divided into 16 pieces-and they were still pretty thick.

Roll into rope and shape , dip into 1/4 cup warm water that has 1 tablespoon baking soda mixed in.

Bake at 500 degrees for 8 minutes

Brush liberally with melted butter and sprinkle with kosher salt or 2 tablespoons mixed with melted butter and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar or parmesan cheese and garlic salt and serve with marinara sauce.

Mmmmmmmm!

Thursday’s Recipe …. Live, cultured, Fermented Foods!!!!

I am so excited!! I am sort of a geek about healthy food, and fermented food is my latest health food.  It seems like I am not alone. I  have been seeing and hearing so much about fermented foods lately, I couldn’t wait to try to make some of my own. Fermenting foods makes them more nutritious. These cultured foods grow bacteria, probiotics that are so good for your gut.  I found this book at our library–WILD FERMENTATION  THE FLAVOR, NUTRITION, AND CRAFT OF LIVE CULTURES   by Sandor Ellix Katz.  He also has a very informative website called Wild Fermentation. There is so much more to say about how good these foods are for you, Sandor covers it well in both his book and website.

And I also read a yummy blog post by my friend Sheri.  But sometimes I have trouble getting started with something new. I can research things to death. Very un-unschooley of me!! So I have been looking on-line and at blogs gathering info. Today I decided to just try it–and really it was easy.

I  started with Ginger Carrots.

I grated 4 cups of organic  carrots (not peeled as there is lots of good stuff especially minerals you don’t want to wash or peel off)   Put into a bowl and add 1 T grated ginger and 2 T salt.  Immediately the juices started to release from the carrots. This is just what you want to happen. Then I filled my wide mouthed mason jar and added just a tiny bit of water to make sure they were totally covered in liquid.

Look closely—can you see the bubbles–it’s alive!! Really-that’s what makes it so healthy!

I left plenty of head space and capped loosely to let some of the gas escape.

I used good salt. Look it says ALIVE!

I read that you don’t want to used iodized salt. You need to use large, wide mouthed jars which I have not invested in yet nor have I found any at the thrift store-so I used mason jars and an old pickle jar.

Next I made sauerkraut. I used both green and purple cabbage. I grated it up in the food processor and put it in a large bowl.

To that I added 2 T of salt and  1 t of dill seed and 1 t celery seed ground up in a coffee grinder.

After thoroughly mixing it all up with my hands I packed it down into a jar and topped off with a bit of water. Again leaving head space and not sealing too tight.

I put these into a bowl to catch any overflow that might escape. And set them in a dark spot on my counter.

I can not wait to taste these. I will do a taste test in 3 days to see how they are coming along. I read to test at days 3, 6 and 9. When it suits my taste refrigerate. I am so excited at the possible combinations and to try other fruits-yes fruits and veggies and spices Mmmmm.

Last Thursday’s Recipe……..Greens in Cashew Curry Sauce

Sorry for the lack of posts but I’ve been having computer issues. Hopefully it’s all fixed now!

This recipe may seem a bit time consuming, but once you make the curry paste it’s smooth sailing! And the curry paste recipe will keep for months in the fridge so next time you want to make this it will be even more simple!

Both of these recipes came from my new favorite cook book FEEDING THE WHOLE FAMILY

Homemade Curry Paste

makes 2 cups

1 cup extra virgin olive oil, 1 lb onion finely chopped, 1/4 cup whole cumin seeds, 1/4 cup whole coriander seeds,       1 teaspoon whole fenugreek seeds, 1 teaspoon whole cloves, 2 teaspoons black peppercorns, 2 Tablespoons whole mustard seeds, 2 teaspoons allspice, 1 teaspoon cardamom, 4 teaspoons ground cinnamon,  1/4 cup turmeric,               2 teaspoons cayenne, 1/4 cup peeled, finely chopped ginger.

whew-that’s a lot of spices!!

Heat the oil and saute the onion until very soft.

While the onions are cooking, grind the following whole spices to a fine powder in a coffee or spice grinder— cumin, coriander, fenugreek, cloves, peppercorns and mustard. Add to the onions along with all the other spices and ginger. Let cook for 5 minutes while stirring.

Store in sealed jar in the fridge for several months.

OK now on to the GREENS IN CASHEW CURRY SAUCE

1/4 cup cashew butter (I made this real quick in my food processor), 1 Tablespoon homemade curry paste, 1 Tablespoon tamari or shoyu, 3/4 cup filtered water, 2 cups quick boiled greens.

Blend cashew butter, curry paste, tamari and water in blender until creamy (I used my food processor)

Combine greens and blended sauce in a pan and gently heat before serving.

I chopped up a bunch of kale, chard and raabini and added it to about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of boiling water in my cast iron skillet with a top on it for a few minutes to steam.

Then I added the sauce.

I had some left over quinoa and added that to the greens and sauce.

I ate this for dinner several times this week. And now that I have 2 cups of homemade curry paste in my fridge, I can just whip this up real quick!

All Natural Fabric Softener

The little something for your dryer as promised in my Natural Laundry Soap post

Homemade natural Fabric Softener Pouch

I try to always credit recipes and ideas when I post them here and these fabric softener pouches  came from a book on SouleMama’s side bar which I checked out of our local library.  MAKE YOUR PLACE by Raleigh Briggs

Also-let it be known, that I HATE the smell of dryer sheets. When they waft out of the dryer vent and scent the whole neighborhood or  especially when you pass someone while out running and the lingering smell of Downey or Snugglie fills my nose!!! Really that should be outlawed. These pouches are in no way overwhelming or offensive.

The directions say you will need to make pouches out of tightly woven fabric. I have never sewed before so I thought this would be a great little first project for me!!

These really don’t need to be very big at all-maybe 4 x 3.

Fold  a rectangle of fabric in half and sew up the sides. Add a couple of spoonfuls of this mixture:

1/2 cup baking soda

1 T arrowroot powder

1 T rice flour or cornstarch

1-3 drops essential oils of your choice

Tie up the pouch tightly and pop it in the dryer with your clothes. Refill the pouch when the scent fades. I made a couple with different scents…Lemon-Eucalyptus and the other Lemon-Orange.

The scent from these pouches is very subtle, really just fresh smelling, soft laundry.

Easy, All Natural Homemade Laundry Soap

I have thought about making my own laundry soap for quite some time but thought it might be hard,  not really work as well as store bought detergent or in the long run, not really save me any money. Boy, was I wrong!!

I scoured the internet and books looking for a recipe. This is the recipe I decided to try. Only then I did a bit more digging because I am overly thorough sometimes, (my friends and family may even say anal!!) And found that Fels Naptha soap isn’t very natural.  So I decided to just use Dr. Bonners bars of castille soap. I have been using Dr. Bonners for so many things for so many years.  They smell great, are super concentrate, they get the job done and the bottles of the liquid soaps provide for some great reading material!!

I used my food processor to grind up the soap. Next time I will follow the suggestions to follow the shredding blade with the metal blade along with some of the washing soda to pulverize and “powderize” the soap.

You will also need a bucket to keep your soap in. Preferably one with a lid. I found my blueberry bucket to be just perfect.

The  ingredients are simple and all were found at my local Meijer store:

1 bar dr. bonners soap (your choice of flavor!) I made a double recipe and used 1 lavender bar and one citrus orange

1 cup washing soda

1cup Borax

1/4 cup Eco-store pure oxygen whitener or oxyclean

I then copied the recipe on to the lid so I would never have to go searching for it again when it is time to make a batch!

Note you only need 1 Tablespoon for a regular load and 2 Tablespoons for a heavy load!! So little goes a long way! I do start my wash cycle with hot water to get the soap dissolved and then switch back to cold.

The scent is so fresh! It reminds of summer time and line dried clean clothes! Ahhhhhhhhh!

Really this is easy, cheap and works just as well as store bought laundry products.

Tomorrow I’ll have a little something natural for your dryer!!

Thursday’s Recipe…..Homemade Sour Patch Kids, AKA Snowey Sugared Cranberries

I swear to heaven above that these really do taste like Sour Patch Kids. Only they are a little more healthy!

I saw this recipe on local, Columbus blogger Rachel’s,  Hounds in the Kitchen. I knew right away that I would love this sweet and Oh, so sour concoction!! And boy was I right! I barely have any enamel left on my teeth after eating almost a whole bag of these sugary, sour goodies.

You will need to mix :

2 T of honey with 2 T of hot water in a bowl. To that add grated orange peel, 1/2 t cinnamon (more or less)  and 1 teaspoon (more or less)  vanilla extract.

Rinse a bag of cranberries and add to the bowl, mixing to coat.

Line a cookie sheet with parchment and pour a mix of 1 to 2 cups of powder sugar and granulated sugar.

With a slotted spoon, add cranberries to the sugar mix and coat well.  Let sit about 30 minutes or until sugar hardens. Store in a jar for 3 to 4 days. I didn’t use a slotted spoon so  mine are still drying since this morning. But that didn’t stop me from eating them all day!!!