Wednesday, June 18, 2014
detangler spray (for hair)
This can be used instead of conditioner for average hair or in addition to for dry hair and can be rubbed on dry winter skin to moisturise lightly.
You will need a clean spray bottle (Unless you implicitly trust the manufacturers of what ever was last was in it AND washed it out really well..I'd pony up the buck for a spray bottle)
Pour this in there
1 cup rose water (bc it has the glycerin, smells pretty and is shelf stable)
1- 2 tb skin appropriate oil (from lightest to heaviest... argan, apricot,almond, olive, avocado)
10-15 drops of essential oil for scent...you can totally skip this
shake before each use.
spray on skin or hair that needs moisture.
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
freezer primping..how to get the most from a cold place
rule 1.
label stuff- After they freeze most soups look alike . Greens and herbs are even more impossible. Also knowing when it's dead will help avoid tragic mishaps.
rule 2- Wash produce and leaves before freezing.In an ideal world you might slice up the stuff or blender your herbs and throw them in ice cube trays and then in freezer jars but you are very likely tired and need to make dinner. If you rinse off the herbs and shake most of the water off before shoving them back into the produce bag they gave you at the the store you can use scissors to remove the parts you need later. Whenever you find red or yellow peppers cheap they should go in here or be added to pasta sauce. If you are concerned about herbs going off before you finish a bunch put them in cold storage
rule 3
keep a scrap bag/bin
bits of onion, cabbage leaf, asparagus stumps, half a tomato, and a half eaten corn cob make good soup if you know where they are and how to use them. Keep your cheese ends and bones/shells in different bins from your veg. if you save eggshells for making coffee or for boosting your garden store them in yet another bag. Only freeze leftovers if you can think of ways to use them later...otherwise this is freezer hoarding
rule 4 you'd be surprised what goes in here. Butter is protected from overuse and onion smell, large amounts of oat flour as it goes rancid awful quick after grinding, flax, sesame seeds, bread and beans can be stored in the freezer if you are willing to deal with texture changes and any jars of lemon curd you plan on eating more than a month out from making it (the fat protects the eggs in it from going weird), homemade cookie dough or pastry crust also fits in well. Dried mushrooms and seaweed also stay fresher longer in the freezer.
rule5
Figure out a system that works for you. I tend to put often used pre prepped ingredients in the door with butter and a jar of ground flax and bread to the upper right. Your diet and therefore your plan should look different. Whatever your plan try to clean it out at least once a season to prevent realizing you have 5 year old flax in there.
label stuff- After they freeze most soups look alike . Greens and herbs are even more impossible. Also knowing when it's dead will help avoid tragic mishaps.
rule 2- Wash produce and leaves before freezing.In an ideal world you might slice up the stuff or blender your herbs and throw them in ice cube trays and then in freezer jars but you are very likely tired and need to make dinner. If you rinse off the herbs and shake most of the water off before shoving them back into the produce bag they gave you at the the store you can use scissors to remove the parts you need later. Whenever you find red or yellow peppers cheap they should go in here or be added to pasta sauce. If you are concerned about herbs going off before you finish a bunch put them in cold storage
rule 3
keep a scrap bag/bin
bits of onion, cabbage leaf, asparagus stumps, half a tomato, and a half eaten corn cob make good soup if you know where they are and how to use them. Keep your cheese ends and bones/shells in different bins from your veg. if you save eggshells for making coffee or for boosting your garden store them in yet another bag. Only freeze leftovers if you can think of ways to use them later...otherwise this is freezer hoarding
rule 4 you'd be surprised what goes in here. Butter is protected from overuse and onion smell, large amounts of oat flour as it goes rancid awful quick after grinding, flax, sesame seeds, bread and beans can be stored in the freezer if you are willing to deal with texture changes and any jars of lemon curd you plan on eating more than a month out from making it (the fat protects the eggs in it from going weird), homemade cookie dough or pastry crust also fits in well. Dried mushrooms and seaweed also stay fresher longer in the freezer.
rule5
Figure out a system that works for you. I tend to put often used pre prepped ingredients in the door with butter and a jar of ground flax and bread to the upper right. Your diet and therefore your plan should look different. Whatever your plan try to clean it out at least once a season to prevent realizing you have 5 year old flax in there.
gf green tea cake and green tea or strawberry buttercream frosting
Green tea cake
altered from
http://www.thevintagemixer.com/2013/07/matcha-green-tea-pound-cake-recipe/
mix together
Frosting (if desired) green tea or strawberry buttercream
1 stick ozs room temperature butter (fully soft) or same amount quality margarine
1 1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 stick ozs room temperature butter (fully soft) or same amount quality margarine
1 1/4 cup powdered sugar
1ttb milk
1 tbsp matcha or ground green tea (or 3 tb strawberry preserves or 2 tb pureed strawberries or raspberries in which case omit milk)
cream together sugar and butter until fluffy and uniform.
mix in fruit or matcha
blend until uniform.
pour into piping bags/ a bowl/zippie bags and chill 1/ hr
frost your cooled cake.
adorn with some mint or thin fresh fruit slices
If you need to avoid gluten be especially careful on checking baking powder, sorghum flour and powdered sugar as many brands are co-processed with wheat flours
If you need to avoid gluten be especially careful on checking baking powder, sorghum flour and powdered sugar as many brands are co-processed with wheat flours
Saturday, November 23, 2013
oat flour
In
my area oat flour is 3.50-5 dollars for a 22 oz bag, hence my
previous tendency to avoid making ground oat dishes despite really
liking them and of course the stellar nutrition of oats. A 32 oz
container if rolled oats is 1.30$. I'm not sure why it didn't occur
to me before that I could make that a 32 oz container of oat flour
for shortbread, cookies and quickbreads by using our old spice/
coffee grinder for 5 minutes. If you are celiac please make sure your
oats are gf as cross contamination in fields or on rollers is dangerous
for you. Since there are currently no gmo oats
on the market this means I can indeed go grab the cheapest rolled
oats and still not expose my household to that crap. We've barely
used the spice grinder since Rabbit got a burr grinder for coffee 2
years ago...except when I mix up packets of spice mixes like curry
powder or enchilada seasoning.
To make oat flour :
1. Wash the grinder cup and cover
really well. Spice smells will stick to oats like crazy. Allow to dry
well as introducing grains to dampness encourages mildew and mold.
2. Attach the basin and fill 3/4 full.
3. Press to grind until you reach the
desired texture, in my case about 30 seconds.
4. repeat until you have enough for the
next week or two's use or for the recipe
5. if storing make sure the jar or tin
is clean, airtight and dry
Sunday, October 20, 2013
cleansing grains-for faces
grind 1 large handful lavender and a hand of dried rose petals if you like (mostly it's grit and smells pretty)
mix in 1/2 cup oat flour
2 tb bentonite clay....
shake in a jar
for very oily skin or in summer you may like to add 4 tb of buttermilk powder. (baking aisle) or use yogurt/ buttermilk for the liquid you mix in.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ta da! 'cleansing grains'
with makeup...apply oil of choice(apricot(oily), coconut(dry), olive(average) to makeup area. remove with warm wet wash cloth rinsing until excess oil and crud are removed.
On makeup less skin....
mix 1-2 tb with water (most of the time),or honey(dry/damaged/ broken out skin) or buttermilk (dull/oily skin) til it's a paste.
rub into face with hands. rinse thoroughly. splash with cool water or toner of choice. (rose water is nice) can also be worn longer 3-5 minutes as a mask.
Oats reduce swelling and have saponins so it does clean your skin pretty well and exfoliates. Since my other go to is goat milk bar soap (which does not exfoliate) I like it a lot.
mix in 1/2 cup oat flour
2 tb bentonite clay....
shake in a jar
for very oily skin or in summer you may like to add 4 tb of buttermilk powder. (baking aisle) or use yogurt/ buttermilk for the liquid you mix in.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ta da! 'cleansing grains'
with makeup...apply oil of choice(apricot(oily), coconut(dry), olive(average) to makeup area. remove with warm wet wash cloth rinsing until excess oil and crud are removed.
On makeup less skin....
mix 1-2 tb with water (most of the time),or honey(dry/damaged/ broken out skin) or buttermilk (dull/oily skin) til it's a paste.
rub into face with hands. rinse thoroughly. splash with cool water or toner of choice. (rose water is nice) can also be worn longer 3-5 minutes as a mask.
Oats reduce swelling and have saponins so it does clean your skin pretty well and exfoliates. Since my other go to is goat milk bar soap (which does not exfoliate) I like it a lot.
Monday, October 14, 2013
rhubarb compote
1lb rhubarb-trimmed and sliced into bite sized pieces. Please note that rhubarb leaves are poisonous so be careful to remove the leaves.
add either 1/2 tsp stevia powder or 1/4 c sugar
and 2 cups water
simmer until rhubarb begins disintegrating into pink mush. serve on bread, over waffles, as a sauce or as a snack. You can also blend this with buttermilk for crazy good popsicles.
add either 1/2 tsp stevia powder or 1/4 c sugar
and 2 cups water
simmer until rhubarb begins disintegrating into pink mush. serve on bread, over waffles, as a sauce or as a snack. You can also blend this with buttermilk for crazy good popsicles.
Handroll night: Sushi/ kimbap for the rolling impaired. GF if careful
My secret shame is that any food requiring a tightly rolled pile of ingredients with a fragile shell tends to break under the weight of my enthusiasm. When I smoked, I was bad at making handrolled cigarettes. My jelly rolls always turned into trifles which, while delicious, were not the yule log I was actually attempting to make. It has taken almost a decade for me to consider my home made rolled omelets passable for handrolled sushi night. I am good at making sauces and fillings for maki and my rice is even good but I cannot master the art of rolling. While Rabbit is the past master of making maki look gorgeous I just suck at it. I love sushi. I thought I was going to have to submit myself to begging Rabbit to roll every time we made it or ponying up for what was an extremely expensive taste in the plains even though at the time I was rarely eating the fish kind and mostly stuck with veggie sushi.
About two years after I met my Rabbit, I was hanging out with Rabbit, Sisterlady, Lawyer Duo, and Yeti Lawyer. Sisterlady introduced me to The Editor, her best friend. After a nice day with them hanging out in KC we adjourned to The Editor's house with newly purchased fish. Sisterlady and I helped finish up the veggie chopping while the Editor finished up the miso soup and prepped some fish fillings. When we got to the table there was a soup, big rice cooker full of seasoned rice, several plates of veg filling and two kinds of fish fillings. The Editor then took out 2 pkg of Nori (under 2$ a pkg there as it is here) and cut them into 1/4ths with a pair of scissors and put that on another plate. We folded the squares diagonally stuffed in little bits of rice and fillings and rolled them into cones ...all of which is way easier than making maki, at least for me. Thus was born my habit of making sushi for random dinners, my love affair with the rice cooker and the standby of handroll potlucks (where everyone brings a different topping and the host provides miso soup, rice, nori and beverages. I usually also make sure to make the sauces. The appeal here is that everyone gets what they want. The meaty people get their fish. The vegans can avoid the egg and the soup is still good without the tuna. Sushi is generally dairy free, veggie rich, and gluten free provided one carefully reads labels.
The ingredients:
2 cups Rice + 4 cups water
cook rice as usual In my case this means pulling out my rice cooker
you may stove top..be careful not to stir too much
when cooked mix in
2 tb sugar
3 tb rice vinegar (don't try and sub here...it's foul)
1shot sake or mirin
into your cooked rice
fan with a hand fan (or stir in front of a very clean box fan) as you slowly stir this in until the surface rice is slightly sticky but dry -you will be familiar with the texture if you have eaten sushi
Usual suspect fillings
Shitake- soak dried mushrooms in warm water until plump. squeeze out and stack 3-4. Roll these to slice as you would chiffonade.
Cucumber. Peel or not to peel. That is the question. Either way make 1-2 inch by 1/4 in vertical match sticks pieces and remove the seeds. Use them in gazpacho or something.
Avocado. Save making this until your guests are arriving. Slice in half Vertically.Remove pit by thwacking your knife into the pit and twisting gently. Then remove flesh of avocado with a spoon. Cut into preferred shapes. Assume for 2X as many avocados as you think is reasonable as I have literally only met 1 person who hates avocado enough to pass it up in Sushi.
Kimchi and other pickles- shred so it doesn't bust open your rolls
mung beans sprouts-just wash them
Carrots. Peel and shred.
green onions=cut into 1-2 inch segments and shred vertically.
Spicy tuna filling-
I eat fish. Rabbit does not. There is no local place close enough for me to trust that my tuna will be safe and so I go without most of the time. This is not worth getting if it's just us. If you happen to live near a fishmonger with sushi quality tuna then grab 1 filet of sushi quality tuna on the day you will have your fish/ keep cool and refrigerate immediately.
Use this recipe
tamago-good recipe also on this site
http://www.howtomakegreatsushi.com/2009/12/how-to-make-spicy-tuna-filling.html
Instead I ask for 1-2 tiny slices of lox at the deli and slice it- yes I know this is cheating. It's still yummy in the rolls
we always also add sriracha mayo- or equal parts sriracha and mayo or veganaise stirred with a fork until pinky orange.
Note for gf reader DO NOT buy Aka miso if making miso along side your sushi...there is barley in it. Read the labels to make sure your miso has no modified food starch, msg, barley, or added soysauce as unless labeled otherwise soysauce contains wheat. Generally you will have two or three brands of white miso to select from after reading the 30 varieties usually present as most pan asian markets. Miso lasts for about 6 months so be prepared to use it in a variety of contexts or to make alot of soup (no hardship in my house).
About two years after I met my Rabbit, I was hanging out with Rabbit, Sisterlady, Lawyer Duo, and Yeti Lawyer. Sisterlady introduced me to The Editor, her best friend. After a nice day with them hanging out in KC we adjourned to The Editor's house with newly purchased fish. Sisterlady and I helped finish up the veggie chopping while the Editor finished up the miso soup and prepped some fish fillings. When we got to the table there was a soup, big rice cooker full of seasoned rice, several plates of veg filling and two kinds of fish fillings. The Editor then took out 2 pkg of Nori (under 2$ a pkg there as it is here) and cut them into 1/4ths with a pair of scissors and put that on another plate. We folded the squares diagonally stuffed in little bits of rice and fillings and rolled them into cones ...all of which is way easier than making maki, at least for me. Thus was born my habit of making sushi for random dinners, my love affair with the rice cooker and the standby of handroll potlucks (where everyone brings a different topping and the host provides miso soup, rice, nori and beverages. I usually also make sure to make the sauces. The appeal here is that everyone gets what they want. The meaty people get their fish. The vegans can avoid the egg and the soup is still good without the tuna. Sushi is generally dairy free, veggie rich, and gluten free provided one carefully reads labels.
The ingredients:
2 cups Rice + 4 cups water
cook rice as usual In my case this means pulling out my rice cooker
you may stove top..be careful not to stir too much
when cooked mix in
2 tb sugar
3 tb rice vinegar (don't try and sub here...it's foul)
1shot sake or mirin
into your cooked rice
fan with a hand fan (or stir in front of a very clean box fan) as you slowly stir this in until the surface rice is slightly sticky but dry -you will be familiar with the texture if you have eaten sushi
Usual suspect fillings
Shitake- soak dried mushrooms in warm water until plump. squeeze out and stack 3-4. Roll these to slice as you would chiffonade.
Cucumber. Peel or not to peel. That is the question. Either way make 1-2 inch by 1/4 in vertical match sticks pieces and remove the seeds. Use them in gazpacho or something.
Avocado. Save making this until your guests are arriving. Slice in half Vertically.Remove pit by thwacking your knife into the pit and twisting gently. Then remove flesh of avocado with a spoon. Cut into preferred shapes. Assume for 2X as many avocados as you think is reasonable as I have literally only met 1 person who hates avocado enough to pass it up in Sushi.
Kimchi and other pickles- shred so it doesn't bust open your rolls
mung beans sprouts-just wash them
Carrots. Peel and shred.
green onions=cut into 1-2 inch segments and shred vertically.
Spicy tuna filling-
I eat fish. Rabbit does not. There is no local place close enough for me to trust that my tuna will be safe and so I go without most of the time. This is not worth getting if it's just us. If you happen to live near a fishmonger with sushi quality tuna then grab 1 filet of sushi quality tuna on the day you will have your fish/ keep cool and refrigerate immediately.
Use this recipe
tamago-good recipe also on this site
http://www.howtomakegreatsushi.com/2009/12/how-to-make-spicy-tuna-filling.html
Instead I ask for 1-2 tiny slices of lox at the deli and slice it- yes I know this is cheating. It's still yummy in the rolls
we always also add sriracha mayo- or equal parts sriracha and mayo or veganaise stirred with a fork until pinky orange.
Note for gf reader DO NOT buy Aka miso if making miso along side your sushi...there is barley in it. Read the labels to make sure your miso has no modified food starch, msg, barley, or added soysauce as unless labeled otherwise soysauce contains wheat. Generally you will have two or three brands of white miso to select from after reading the 30 varieties usually present as most pan asian markets. Miso lasts for about 6 months so be prepared to use it in a variety of contexts or to make alot of soup (no hardship in my house).
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