Green Tea: Make Ahead Tip

This was my last email list post and I thought I would share it here as well :) 

One thing I have been working to better myself on is a more holistic approach to daily living and as a homemaker. What I mean by that, is working to stay aware of things on all levels (spiritual, emotional, mental, and physical) so I can grow in each and have a more successful whole.

Have you ever noticed how rare it is to see a dedicated homemaker (stay at home moms, wives and mothers working in the home and out) take proper care of herself? Even adequate self tending seems few and far between. I know this has been an area I've struggled with a lot over the years. How do you get enough sleep with little ones waking all night? When do you carve out time and KEEP AT IT when the tasks needing done over take the hours to do them?

There are no exact answers for these and a zillion similar questions bec/ each of us are so different BUT each homemaking heart can start looking at things in her own life and begin to make stacks of changes. Step one... do this... make your stack. Step two... keep up with Step one and add something else... second stack. We want a growing life but snapping our fingers and having it appear will probably yield little results.

Getting things prioritized and planning to have daily progress towards a more whole place in life can do wonders.

This is deep and wide and far reaching so I won't write a book on it... at least not yet. (smiles)

For right now, I will share something I am doing to keep my energy up and pour health into my body to keep going.

Today's Tip:

Green tea.

I've been trying to drink more of this for years! My daughter loves it but I have not seemed to get into it unless it is in a latte and how healthy is that usually? I tried something awhile back that I LOVED and it has made consuming green tea a treat! I drink fresh fruit and vegetable juices and I read or heard somewhere that you can sometimes add water to your juices or herbal teas. This hydrates more and/or adds nutrition and flavor.

I cut some of my juices in half with an equal amount of green tea and the taste was just amazing. I enjoy other cold, herbal teas but green tea is my present favorite. I was making a cup or two at a time and waiting for it to cool but it took awhile to cool and longer to get cold.

Now?

I brew 1-2 quarts of green tea and strain the bags (they go in our compost) and the tea goes in the fridge. Now, every time I make a juice, smoothies (some kinds do well with this) or just need a splash of green... I have it on hand. I have also frozen it in ice trays and that works well but I usually prefer the cold liquid. I already freeze yogurt, greens, herbs, pureed fruit, and some blended vegetables in ice cube trays for smoothies, soups, stews, stocks, teas and more. 

Our garden progress!

These are the beginning shots and stages of our gardening this year. Things are changing so quickly that I haven't been good at keeping up with recording the progress. I will post the most recent when I get back to this computer!


My husband tilling our second garden. The first was tilled in rows and this was sectioned off in squares.


These are some of our peppers (hot and mild --- I hope our labels help us at harvest time!) and tomatoes with the mulch around them. The picture on the right shows our zucchini, one eggplant, our yellow squash and what will hopefully turn out to be a tiny melon patch.

The left shows a more close shot of the zucchini or yellow squash plants and a tree stump with mushrooms just bec it looked neat :)

Left is the some nasturtiums, a sage plant and a rosemary. On the right is a cilantro plant and a lemon balm. There are tiny dill plants coming up in between!

On the left, we have our scraggly, miscellaneous space where we planted extras. There are two tomato plants, two green bean plants, some sweet peas hanging on for dear life and a lot of weeds. On the right, is a tri-colored sage (now withered and gone :( and I think a parsley plant.)

Two chamomile plants and they have already grown two lovely flowers! On the left ... is one of cucumber plants.

Right: Rainbow chard... this is something I have been SO excited about and even though it is very tender to care for... I planted a lot and it is looking delicious! Left: Two parsleys and a basil along with some broccoli!

 Green beans, broccoli, watermelon and yellow squash

 Old rose bush

 Japanese maple - gift from my heart sister that she 

planted from a baby from her tree! Thyme - I have one

German thyme and one lemon thyme... love!

 Peppermint

 Hanging strawberry (have two) and this one has a 

wandering jew peeking out!

 Sweet mint

 Cuban oregano: a first and an instant favorite!

My DIL learned about this from a local nursery

and now we both have one and love them!

 I have one of these rosemary plants on each side of 

our back door and we have two more in the gardens. 

 I forget the name of these beautiful peppers. I started

these from seeds I got from Seeds of Change!

 Cilantro I started from seed

 Dukat dill I started from seed. Most of the seeds 

came from Seeds of Change!

 Grand-littles herb garden. The whole kit was $1.00!

 Basil from seed!

 Dukat dill

 Bird on a stump 

 Chocolate beauty bell peppers 

 grandlittles herb garden growimg

 sage, parsley, rosemary, lavender and red lettuce

 row garden 

 Garden in squares

Our food this Saturday...

Today: Coffee with cinnamon and honey mixture and half-n-half. Oatmeal for my husband with a small amount of brown sugar and half-n-half. Juice for me: celery, carrots, cucumber, jalapeno, ginger, lime and parsley. I didn't love the taste of this (even though it was spicy and I do love that) but I would have probably loved it with one piece of fruit to balance out all the heat. I made it bec I have been battling symptoms similar to sinusitis and I wanted to knock it out without antibiotics. I made our 10 year old son Annie's macaroni and cheese and chicken breast bites. He loves chicken nuggets from just about anywhere but I am trying to feed him healthier options so I bought chicken breast and sauteed them in a skillet (cut in square, bite sized pieces) with some seasonings and non stick spray. I added a bit of liquid aminoes and worcestershire sauce to keep them from being dry. A whole chicken (4.5 lbs.) was put into the pressure cooker and when it cools, I will get the meat and save the bones and broth to make chicken stock with some of the vegetables pieces I've been saving in the fridge. I am making Black Bean Stew for dinner and it is made in the pressure cooker as well. The set up on this has changed and isn't allowing the options I usually have so forgive how plain this looks!

Raw Nut Meat Lettuce Wraps

Raw Nut Meat Tacos

Source: theblissfulchef.com

Course: Main Course

Serves: 1

Ingredients

• Lettuce leaves
• Tomatoes
• Avocado, Carrot Cucumber
• Salsa
• Whatever you like on your tacos
• Makes about 2 cups "meat
• 1 cup almonds soaked 2 hours
• 1 cup walnuts soaked 2 hours
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon coriander
• Dash garlic powder or fresh garlic to your liking
• Dash cinnamon
• Dash cayenne for a spicy meat
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 1 tablespoon tamari if you are soy-free use a dash of sea salt to season

Directions

1. Nuts can be soaked together. After 2 hours drain nuts. Blend in a food processor (not blender) for about 20-30 seconds to get the nuts chopped well. Add the rest of the meat ingredients and blend, scrapping down the edges of the bowl a few times to incorporate all the ingredients. Blend until your preferred level of chunkiness. I like my meat crumbly and not a smooth paste (see photo). Season with salt if needed.
2. Pile the meat into the lettuce leaf with toppings and enjoy!

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Everything is everywhere and I am still starting my garden!

We eat too much produce to not garden. I haven't been the best gardener in the world but I am going to strive this summer (starting today) to be a better one. I will pray to the the best gardener I can be so I reap a harvest on all the work we spend plowing and planting and weeding and watering! I also have been organic gardening for many years (with flowers even before starting berries, trees and vegetables) and will continue on with that. We are getting another compost bin and I already have bags of composting goodies to add. Today, I am planting two rows and looking up what goes well with what because I have quite forgotten since last summer when I researched the same information... and the year before and the year before. Why don't I just remember all of it and be done with it?! So far, I have been reminded of these companion tips from an organic gardening site: Roses and chives: Gardeners have been planting garlic with roses for eons, because garlic is said to repel rose pests. Garlic chives probably are just as repellent, and their small purple or white flowers in late spring looks great with rose flowers and foliage. Tomatoes and cabbage: Tomatoes are repellent to diamondback moth larvae, which are caterpillars that chew large holes in cabbage leaves. Cucumbers and nasturtiums: The nasturtium's vining stems make them a great companion rambling among your growing cucumbers and squash plants, suggests Sally Jean Cunningham, master gardener and author of Great Garden Companions. Nasturtiums "are reputed to repel cucumber beetles, but I depend on them more as habitat for predatory insects," such as spiders and ground beetles. Peppers and pigweed or ragweed: Leafminers preferred the weeds to pepper plants in a study at the Coastal Plains Experiment Station in Tifton, Georgia. Just be careful to remove the weeds' flowers before they set seed or you'll have trouble controlling the weeds.

Chick pea sloppy joes... on my menu this week

Sloppy Chicks (Chickpea Sloppy Joes)

Source: keepinitkind.com

Course: Main Course

Serves: 1

Ingredients

• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1/2 red onion diced
• 2-3 cloves garlic minced
• 1/2 red bell pepper diced
• 2 15oz cans of chickpeas rinsed and drained
• 1 15oz can of fire roasted tomatoes diced
• 1/4 cup tomato paste
• 2 T Bragg Liquid Aminos
• 2 T Sriracha Sauce
• 1 T Maple Syrup
• 2 tsp dried oregano
• 1 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp liquid smoke
• 1 T nutritional yeast optional
• salt/pepper to taste
• 4 vegan hamburger buns gluten free, if required

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Testing ...sending a recipe from my files with html

Paprika Chicken Recipe

Source: www.learningherbs.com

Course: Main Course

Serves: 1

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup smoked paprika powder regular paprika works too
• Teaspoon cayenne depending on how hot you want it, use less if you want it milder
• Teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 1.25 pounds chicken thighs or whatever cut of chicken you prefer

Directions

1. Stir them well until they form a thin paste.
2. Put the chicken pieces in the pan and coat them well with the paste. Let them marinate at room temperature for at least 30 minutes.
3. We cook them in the broiler with the thermostat at 3500 F for ten minutes, then flip them and cook for another ten minutes. (Or bake until the chicken is thoroughly cooked and the meat thermometer reads 1650 F)

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