Yum!

The kombucha turned out wonderfully! The ones with tighter fitting lids turned out more carbonated than the ones that vented air. But all of them had great flavor! I highly recommend it! Fizzy, fruity, and refreshing!

Kombucha Update

Well, so far so good! 

Although, the instructions said the kombucha would be ready for the second stage at the 5 day mark, it also said it would be ready when it tasted more sour than sweet. This is day 8. Today is the first day I thought we hit that sweet spot...or the sour spot, I suppose. 

Here's what the batch looked like prior to bottling it for the second stage of fermentation:

Ewww. 

I drink this stuff?!?

I gotta say. It tasted AWESOME! 

So the second stage is adding fruit juice for flavor, putting it in smaller, sealed bottles, and letting it do it's thing for another 2 days. Sealing the bottles allows the carbonation to build up and make it pleasantly fizzy. 

Here's the bottles with the juice. I am trying blueberry pomegranate, apple cherry, and one plain. 

I varied the amount of juice in the bottles to see what happens. 

Here's the scoby after I removed it in order to pour the kombucha into jars...

Lovely. 

And here is my bottled brew! 

2 more days to wait. 

Talk about delayed gratification! 

(Oh, and now the brewing process starts all over again from step one. It's a never ending cycle of fizzy goodness!)

Empty Tomb Rolls

These were fun! And really yummy!! I just had to try hard not to think about the ingredients I was ingesting. But for a once a year treat, I figure it was worth it!

The How - To:
http://almostunschoolers.blogspot.ca/2012/03/sunday-science-resurrection-rolls.html?m=1

The pics are somewhat self explanatory. But let me just say, that those cans lie! They are NOT easy open! They required fiddling, sharp knives, muttering, and fumbling!

Kettle Corn

Yum! And the best part is that it wasn't any harder than making regular popcorn! (we make ours on the stovetop.) I found the recipe on allrecipes.com (my standby). It was delish! Tasted just like the stuff at the fair!

1/4 C oil
1/4 C white sugar
1/2 C popcorn kernels
Salt to taste

Place oil in a large pot over medium heat (so the sugar doesn't burn) When the oil is hot, add the popcorn and the sugar. Shake the pot continuously (again, so the sugar doesn't burn). When the popping slows to 2-3 seconds between pops, remove from heat and salt to taste. Tada! Kettle corn!

Blackberry Vanilla Oatmeal

...yum!

I crave variety. The same breakfast every morning drives me batty. So, this morning, on a whim, I added some freeze dried blackberry powder (that I had around for making smoothies...also delish!) and a touch of vanilla extract. The purple color was ideal for exciting a certain 3 year old!

What a treat!

Silly me...

So what's the key ingredient in cinnamon rolls? Eh? Yeah, that's right. Cinnamon. Whoops! I guess somewhere between the potty breaks, the "don't put your finger in the sugar!" and the crying baby at my feet, my 3 yr old helper and I forgot the cinnamon. But they were still pretty tasty!

Comfort Drink

It's kind of like a comfort food. :)

Best road trip food!

...for a 1 yr old, that is. Normally, I pack food for a road trip...chopped apples, sandwiches, chips, etc. And when traveling with a little one lacking in teeth, I pack a couple jars of baby food for convenience. But this new development in baby food packaging was a hit! Libby had her 4 oz. of blueberry bananas down in less than a minute! No spoon necessary! She just sucked right from the pouch. I'm all about a little thing that makes life just a tad more simple.

Bakings!

We've been trying to eat less white flour and sugar lately. After reading Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon again recently, I'm convinced (again) that the white versions of sugar and flour are NOT so good for us. (though they are oh-so-delicious and my favorite things to bake with!)

Thus these scones...whole wheat cinnamon current! Yum! And baked with sucanat, an unrefined sugar. I believe it is actually dehydrated sugar cane juice--just the straight stuff! Unlike white sugar, which has all of the good-for-you stuff stripped out of it, sucanat still has all of the naturally occurring vitamins and minerals.

So, guilt free baking, right?

Chocolate Pudding!

I admit, I am writing this while licking out the bowl!

So, Jon & I have been trying to avoid refined sugar as of late. Lately, we've been greatly missing dessert! This morning, I got desperate and altered a chocolate pudding recipe to my liking. Here it is...

2/3 cup Honey (or if you're trying to be really good...1/2 tsp Stevia extract powder)

3 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 cup cornstarch

1/8 tsp salt

2 3/4 cup milk

2 tbsp butter

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp hazelnut extract

1. Mix honey, cocoa, cornstarch, salt, and milk in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to boil and cook til the mixture will coat the back of a metal spoon. 

2. Mix in butter, vanilla & hazelnut extracts.

3. Serve warm or chill.

 

Yum!!

Oh, also! I recently met a woman who is on a gluten free, dairy free, sugar free diet. (poor woman!!) When I was dealing with Evie's allergy issues, I was on a similar diet. She took pity on me and shared her fudge recipe with me. Surprisingly, it was quite good. So here's that one too...

"Sugar-free Fudge"

1 Cup coconut oil

3/4 Cup cocoa powder

1/4 Cup honey

1/4 Cup almond butter

1. Melt 30-60 seconds in the microwave. 

2. Pour into bread pan. (It's best when the fudge is about 1/4 inch thick.)

3. Chill, serve cold. (The coconut oil will melt at room temperature.)

MmmmMmmm!

In an effort to give me a few more options for "indulgence" in my baby diet, I got to experimenting with ice cream last night! ...coconut milk ice cream! My oh my was the creamy, smooth texture and delicious taste welcome on my diary-free taste buds! 

At first, I was just going to freeze some sugared coconut milk, but then Jon inspired me. I put my bowl of milk in another bowl of ice and salt, and then I stirred! About 20 minutes later, I had ice cream!! It was quite delightful!

Evie is doing quite a bit better. Her skin has really cleared up well since I cut out pretty much everything yummy. ;) She still has a few small patches on her forehead, but everything else is looking great! Hoorah for cetaphil cream 4-5 times a day! It really keeps her moist. Ah, also I have been able to add eggs back in with no negative effects on Evie! That really opens up a lot of baking option. 

Things I've learned since being on the diet:

1.) Black beans do not belong in brownies. 

2.) Millet flour doesn't make very good cookies. 

3.) Rice "milk" is really just rice flavored water.

4.) Salads and potato chips are where it's at!