One little moment from my week that I am in love with. A moment I am grateful I caught on film. A moment I embraced, discovered and felt connected.
If you'd like, please feel free to share your moment in the comment section.
This moment, inspired by Soulemama...
One little moment from my week that I am in love with. A moment I am grateful I caught on film. A moment I embraced, discovered and felt connected.
If you'd like, please feel free to share your moment in the comment section.
This moment, inspired by Soulemama...
Is there anything sweeter than strawberries off the vine? We are loving our very first harvest!
In a culinary rut, I went to Apples for Jam and was inspired. Thus my rendition of a Berry Cake was born.
Berry Cake :: a gluten-free, dairy-free, healthful cake
2 1/4 c. brown rice flour
1/4 c. organic corn starch
1 T. baking powder
1 t. xanthan gum
1/3 c. evaporated cane juice
fresh ground nutmeg
2 eggs
1 c. (minus 1 T.) unsweetened almond milk
1 T. unfiltered apple cider vinegar
2 T. non-hydrogenated margarine (I use organic Earth Balance), melted
2. T. high heat coconut oil, melted
grated lemon zest from one lemon
Toppings...
1 c. or more of fresh berries (local, seasonal would be ideal)
2 T. raw sugar
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Mix ingredients down to the toppings together until everything is nice and folded in. Pour into a greased 9 x 13 pan or glass dish. Enlist a child (or childish) helper to sprinkle the berries on top, followed by the raw sugar. Bake for 25-30 minutes.
Enjoy in your favorite twirly skirt.
Yours in health,
Hillary
I frequently get the question..."What do you eat?" We don't eat gluten or meat. And I am currently not eating dairy as it does not agree with baby. Anyone that knows me, knows that I eat, cook, prepare healing foods for my family and myself. I strive for nutrient dense foods and loving preparations. So here is a little run down of what kind of healing is going on in our kitchen this week.
:: Tomato Risotto (x3 the recipe and froze some, minus dairy, +extra basil from our garden, used fresh pureed tomatoes instead of canned ones, recipe from Apples for Jam)
:: Many green salads from our garden/yarn (spinach, aragula, clover buds, dandelion leaves, a pinch of wood sorrel and some sugar peas).
:: Kombucha (am thrilled with how easy this is, and loving the range of B vitamins)
:: Sunbutter Cookies (a variation of my PB cookies...going for more nutritional density)
:: Feel-Better Pops (I made a lemon balm + chamomile medicinal tea mixed with orange juice for T's fever)
:: Eggs in a basket (a heart shaped basket, to be precise, using my *favorite* commercial Whole Grain-GF bread)
:: Potato and Cauliflower Burritos (from this month's Vegetarian Times, again roasted my own tomatoes instead of canned...see this for my aversion to canned tomatoes)
:: Vegetarian Sushi take-away (love the British term, makes more sense to me than "take-out")
:: A stargazer lily that opened up (thanks Liz!) and...
:: Berry Cake...delicious! I plan to share the Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free recipe here on Monday.
What kind of healing is going on in your kitchen?
Hillary
After seeing 3191's photo of the stack of sweet potato biscuits...I couldn't help myself but embark on a gluten free sweet potato biscuit recipe of my own. It took quite a few tries (although strangely enough...no one here is complaining) to get them light and fluffy.
Gluten-Free Sweet Potato Biscuits
Adapted from 3191’s adaptation of Martha Stewart’s recipe
1 ¾ c. cooked and pureed sweet potato*
2 c. rice flour
½ c. gluten-free cornstarch (organic or non-GMO)
1 t. xanthan gum
2 T. baking powder
1 t. baking soda
1 t. salt
¼ t. paprika
1 T. apple cider vinegar
8 T. unsalted butter (chilled)
¼ c. milk
Stir the dry ingredients together. Cut in butter with a pastry cutter until it resembles coarse meal. Add apple cider vinegar (it will bubble a bit). Mix milk with sweet potato puree and add it to the other ingredients. Mix dough with hands (much more fun than a spoon) to incorporate.
Turn dough on a (rice) floured surface and knead a few times. Pat out to no less than ½ inch thickness. Cut biscuits with a biscuit-cutter or glass. We used a 2” biscuit cutter for nice bite sized biscuits.
Place on greased cookie sheet and refrigerate for 10 minutes. Place in preheated oven and cook until risen and slightly brown, about 12 minutes (longer for larger biscuits).
Serve warm.
*1-2 large sweet potatoes, peeled, chopped and boiled until a fork goes in easily. Cooled and then pureed in a food processor.
These little biscuits are such a treat. We have eaten them with just a pad of butter, with jam, and with a little slice of white cheddar cheese.
For the past few days T has kept one on the corner of the kitchen table (right next to the door outside) for her to enjoy throughout the day.
I haven't mentioned here our sweet potato success...but we dug up a LOT of sweet potatoes from our little garden...over 60 lbs. So I am loving finding creative ways to prepare them. I have a feeling that I will be making several more batches of biscuits for the freezer. I am thinking little batches of biscuits that I can pull out of the freezer, pop on a baking sheet and bake will do just perfectly.
Onwards and forwards with sweet potato makings and bakings...
In abundance,
Hillary
Watermelon sorbet to be more specific. I made it using this recipe...although next time, after consulting some of my experienced sorbet making friends, I will leave out the water.
I also cooled the syrup to fridge temp before adding it to the sorbet. I didn't want to cook the watermelon. I wanted it to still be live and retain some nutrients.
Staying cool,
Hillary
Do you ever think something is bigger than it really is? Gosh, I do.
I felt this way particularly about gardening. I was certain that it was not something I could do on my own, that I would need the advice of books and experts. While the advise was certainly helpful, it was me that was stuck...stuck in fear of failure.
However, if you have seen my gardening pictures, you'll know...I overcame that fear. Dove right on in, made some mistakes, pulled up some plants thinking they were weeds, fed some fruits to nature, and still received a yield of items to fill our table.
(My cilantro has gone to ceed...coriander seeds! Not to mention it is a natural pest deterrent).
Our local farmer's market has been a wealth of information. That's where I learned about letting cilantro go to seed, how to use comfrey as fertilizer and how to get my compost to decompose a bit faster.
And yesterday at the market, I may have gotten my favorite lesson yet...that a seed given the right elements will grow anywhere.
Certainly makes sense that this little guy would pop up in the back of a farm's pickup.
And just to think...just a few years ago I had made it all so hard (in my own head) that I though certainly I would fail and almost (almost) vowed to not try.
Here's to trying and casting fear to the wind,
Hillary
I padded outside this morning in my bare feet and white cotton nightgown to do some gardening. I mean really...does life get any better than this?
Now to enjoy nightgown dishes...
Welcoming the bounty of summer,
Hillary
Have I mentioned how much I love my dehydrator?
It makes all of my garden herbs nice and dry for year long storage. Glad I cleaned out my spice rack a few weeks back...certainly can use the room!
In wellness,
Hillary
Sometimes I just have to pause and savor the fruits of my labors.
Reflecting in sweetness,
Hillary
