Marvelous Mint: A Berry Minty Smoothie and Vanilla Mint Ice Cream

I have been experimenting with mint a lot lately and I just can't believe I've gone my whole life without trying real mint leaves. The flavor is so refreshing and sweet! I've been making these berry smoothies for awhile and one day I just decided to add mint to one to see how it would taste. Wow, it made the smoothie addicting! I randomly find myself craving the smoothie as I would normally crave chocolate. 

So here's the recipe (with very approximate/adjustable measurements):

Ingredients: 

A cup or two of plain yogurt

1/2 cup to a cup of orange juice (or water)

1/2 cup of mixed berries, frozen

A bunch of mint leaves

A little maple syrup to sweeten

A few drops of vanilla extract

A few drops of almond extract

1. Put first the liquid ingredients into a blender. 

2. Blend the ingredients. 

3. Add the non-liquid ingredients. 

4. Blend. 

5. Voila, you have your smoothie! 

This Vanilla Mint Ice Cream recipe is from the Nourished Kitchen blog. I love this so much! It is what ice cream should be, light texture and intense flavor (due to the mint!). Now that it's summer, definitely try this recipe with your ice cream maker! 

The Art of Fermentation

Fermentation is something I knew nothing about until a little over a year ago. I finally read the introductory section of the 'Nourishing Traditions' cookbook, which I'd had for months but had not really opened much. I've just started experimenting with different recipes of late, and so far they have turned out pretty well!

Fermentation was the way the ancients preserved vegetables for longer periods before there were freezers or canning machines. The reason the vegetables stay preserved is due to Lactic acid, which is produced by the lactobacilli bacteria that are present when you let something lacto-ferment. The health advantage to eating lacto-fermented vegetables is that they are made easier to digest by the lactobacilli, they increase vitamin levels, they produce enzymes and antibiotic and anti-carcinogenic substances and most importantly, they promote the growth of healthy flora in the intestines. 

The ones I've made so far, pictured above, are Ginger Carrots, Kimchi (Korean Sauerkraut) and Ketchup. The main thing you need besides the veggies is homemade whey (made from milk/buttermilk/yogurt), a food processor to shred the veggies, and about 2-3 days. 

For the Ginger Carrots and the Kimchi, I used the Nourishing Traditions cookbook (see my sidebar widget for Real Food/Cookbooks to order on Amazon), and for the Ketchup, I used the recipe section from the book 'Beautiful Babies' by Kristen Michaelis (also on my Amazon widget). 

However, here are some other very similar recipes:

Ketchup:

http://nourishedkitchen.com/homemade-ketchup/

http://wellnessmama.com/4999/easy-homemade-ketchup/

To make whey and cream cheese: (you need whey for most ferments)

http://wellnessmama.com/2402/how-to-make-whey-and-cream-cheese-in-one-step/

Sauerkraut: 

http://wellnessmama.com/663/homemade-sauerkraut/

Grain-free Chocolate Chip Cookies

Even though I'm not technically 'grain-free', I've been making some items without grains just because it's easier than soaking/sprouting, etc., which I believe is necessary to properly digest grains. Some people, like the Wellness Mama, believe that grains cannot ever be properly digested, which I want to research some more, but for now I do eat some grains (mainly brown rice and sprouted grain English muffins). 

Anyway, I wanted to share this recipe with you because it's really good and for those who are trying to eat less grains or grain-free, it's a great option! I don't think those who've tried these cookies even knew that they were grain-free. They are also very soft and the chocolate chips are luscious!

Here's where I found the recipe: 

http://wellnessmama.com/5810/grain-free-chocolate-chip-cookies/

I did everything the same as the recipe except I used dehydrated coconut sugar instead of cane sugar.

And yes, Wellness Mama again! I love her site. Check it out and get your fill of nutrition, exercise, and general health information! Some of my favorite posts are :

Eat Your Sunscreen: http://wellnessmama.com/4621/eat-your-sunscreen

Eat more Coconut Oil: http://wellnessmama.com/8858/how-to-eat-more-coconut-oil/

10 minute a day workout plan: http://wellnessmama.com/5560/10-minute-a-day-workout-plan/

Barefoot Running: http://wellnessmama.com/4764/barefoot-running-101/

Farm fresh!

Spring (almost summer) brings flowers, vacation, warm weather (or here in Tennessee, HOT weather), and best of all, garden vegetables!

We've been excited the past few weeks to try the vegetables from our CSA (community supported agriculture), or at least I have. Each week you never know what you're going to get.

So, I've been experimenting with radishes and turnips, and garlic that looks like this:

Also we've had all kinds of greens such as bok choy, different kinds of kale, butter lettuce and swiss chard. 

To live on a farm; that would be the life! To be preparing dinner and simply walk outside, pick what you need and get cooking! But this is the next best thing, I suppose!

For about a year now, I've been getting raw milk from the farm, and recently, because of this http://www.cornucopia.org/egg-report/egg-report-exec-summ.pdf, I started getting eggs as well. (I also get butter, yogurt and occasionally buttermilk from the farm). The milk is so delicious, fresh, and even has a slight sweet flavor sometimes. If you haven't already, you should really try it! The yolks of the eggs are bright orange, compared to the paler yellow of even the most organic, free range eggs you can find in the supermarket.

This past week, my family was busy preparing for my sister-in-law's wedding, so I wasn't able to eat many eggs, so I made this delicious crustless crab quiche from the 'Beautiful Babies' book by Kristen Michaelis. I used the delicious farm fresh eggs, milk, and green onions. 

We also hadn't drunk much milk this week because I was sick (and there was no cereal for my husband) so to use up more milk and eggs, I decided to make some oh-so-delicious, creamy and spicy cardamom gelato!! (As if I needed an excuse to make this!) I was so excited to find this recipe http://realfoodhascurves.squarespace.com/food-blog/2010/11/24/cardamom-gelato.html because it reminded me of the marvelous gelato shop in Reston Town Center 'Pitango'. I had tried the cardamom flavor a couple of times and the combination of spicy and sweet is heavenly! 

Of course, in keeping with real food/no refined sugars, I used coconut palm sugar (found here: http://www.amazon.com/Wholesome-Sweeteners-Organic-Coconut-16-Ounce/dp/B007TGH4CK/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1371248461&sr=8-3&keywords=organic+coconut+palm+sugar) instead of regular sugar. And I only used 1 cup of sugar total instead of 1 1/4 that the recipe calls for, and it was fine. I just added a little honey so the gelato wouldn't freeze as hard. 

This gelato is a bit more work than regular ice cream, but it is so worth it! The point where you heat the custard concoction to 178 degrees seemed to take forever but I am glad I was precise because this gelato is soo much more creamy than the other ice creams I've made (and this is with mostly milk!)

Anyway, here's a photo of the delightful, farm fresh delicacy: 

Yay for local farmers, and the fresh, real food they provide us! Thanks be to God for quiche and gelato! :)

Delighting the Senses

Since my decision to not buy processed foods, I've been getting creative in order to still enjoy some old favorite sweets, such as ice cream and peanut butter cups. There are plenty of great recipes out there that do not involve refined sugar and other nasties. One that I found very refreshing on a hot day was this recipe [http://www.foodrenegade.com/no-churn-ice-cream-honey-cinnamon/] for honey cinnamon ice cream. It is 'no churn' but since I have an ice cream maker attachment, I used it. It is simple and the subtle flavor of cinnamon sweetened with honey is so pure and light.

Here's a photo of the delectable treat just before I devour it:

And the neat thing about this ice cream is that it is not so rock hard after it freezes probably because of the honey (but supposedly if you do not add honey you can add vodka to make it not so rock hard).

Then I found this great recipe for almond butter cups: http://www.savorylotus.com/2013/05/17/salty-sweet-almond-butter-cups/#more-1439. These are amazing! My husband, who loves processed sweets and is usually wary of the healthful sweet concoctions I cook up, was eager for another one of these, so they must be tasty! I used my new silicone cupcake liners, which were perfect for peeling out the cups, and they even look like Reese's cups with the brown liner!

Also, these are the opposite of your normal nut butter cups because the chocolate layer is on the inside. But they are perfect! I wouldn't want to change them a bit!

Well, hopefully this inspires some of you to create some delicious treats that are actually good for you, (in moderation)! Next on my list is this recipe for coconut popsicles: 

http://www.savorylotus.com/2013/05/15/coconut-freezer-pops/