Apples in Caramel!

Okay, so.. it's not really caramel. Well, sort of. But it's amazing!!

Two apples, cored and chopped
2 Tb. honey of your choice*
4 Tb. Earth Balance, halved
1/4 C. apple cider (or so, a few splashes)
a splash of vanilla extract
a couple shakes of cinnamon
a nice healthy squeeze of lemon

Melt 2Tb Earth Balance in a pan on medium/med. low heat. When it is melted, toss in your apples. as they're frying, add the cinnamon and vanilla. Then, add the cider, and bring back up to a simmer. Add honey, lemon, and the rest of the Earth Balance. Simmer, stirring constantly, making sure to scrape up any spots that might start to stick. Once it gets nice and thick, take off the heat and serve!

*I used creamed honey, because we inherited a giant tub of it. Personally, I prefer blackberry or eucalyptus honey. If you don't eat/like honey, you can use brown sugar or grade B maple syrup for a similar effect, but you might have to adjust the proportions of the other ingredients.


Seriously easy. I'm eating it now just plain, but you could put it over ice cream or something similar. It's delish!

Almonds

So... They really are pasteurized.

At least in the states, I'm not sure about Canada yet.


I soaked some "raw" almonds to have some almond milk, and I've been trying to sprout them for about two days now. I'm seeing NO germination. At all. The sunflower seeds I sprouted are happy and sprouting away, but wow. This makes me really sad. No more sprouted almonds?!

Grr.

An Article on almonds in California, A petition you can sign


More sadness.

Hummus Sushi! *esplode*

Holy energy-giving vitamins, Batman!!

So, I've been sick for the past couple days. Not really sick, but sore throat and vitamin depletion from all the stress of moving up here. Enough to make me sleep until noon and have little energy. Today I got up at 9:30 (Goddess help me) against my better judgment and haven't stopped doing things around the house until about now. I drank some flax* and just finished eating some hummus sushi. And. Holy. Crap. Talk about a vitamin rush! I'm a little light-headed from the wondrous feeling all the raw veggies gave me. I have to admit that this is one of the only times feeling light-headed has felt so good. :)





Hummus Sushi

First, I made up a huge bowl of hummus from a mix. You can do whatever you want to it, but I made it basic so everyone in the house can enjoy it if they wish. To make this completely raw, I'd soak some nuts and seeds and grind them down to make something similar. To the mix, I added:

Hemp and Olive oils
A handful of dried Botija olives, minced
A huge clove of raw garlic, minced
A splash of Bragg's apple cider vinegar
Juice of half a lemon

For the filling:

1 carrot, shredded
1 small beet, shredded
2 purple kale leaves, chopped fine
A nice hunk of purple cabbage, chopped fine
Onion and Daikon sprouts

Layered it all, and rolled it up in nori!

Here's a fun pic of the shredded veggies:


*Drinking a mix of ground flax and water (or apple juice) is a great way to flush out the intestinal tract. I usually do a mix of 2-4 Tb, ground in a coffee grinder, then mixed with enough water to be drinkable. Make sure you drink it before it coagulates! :)


Blessings!

Update: Canada! (With Mandarin-Date Sweet Potatoes)

Wow. It has been a long while since I've posted here. But I have good reason! Jeremy and I moved to the Sunshine Coast, in British Columbia. Powell River, to be precise. Jeremy got a job at The Peak, which is the local newspaper, as a reporter. We've been looking to move to Canada for awhile now, to start a sustainable farm, but didn't think we'd get here so fast! The Sunshine Coast lives up to its name, but it was as if Winter rose up to greet us. The Day after we arrived, we got 4 inches of snow! It was definitely a white wonderland.

Here's Jeremy and I at our new home:

More photos coming soon!

I'm VERY excited because of this particular town. There are many good things going for it:
- First city in the world to ban GMO crops
- High population of people who follow the 100 Mile Diet, shortened to 50 Miles to accommodate the isolation - Only accessible by ferry (a must if strange, apocalyptic things happen[like zombies]) with a population of about 14K proper, 20K with surrounding towns
- Right-wing parties make up about 10% of the population, last to the Green, Liberal, and Socialist parties
- 600 musicians in the local musicians' directory (slightly irrelevant, but awesome!!)

and because of all (okay, well.. most) these things, there is a very high demand for more farms! I'm very pleased, because I can start with making food for the Farmer's Market and it looks like there aren't really any businesses around here that do lacto-fermented and cultured foods. So, I'm going to try my hand at cultured veggies! I've always wanted to do that, but never really had the fire lit under my ass to really do it. So, I've started my sourdough starter, and in a couple days will be able to make some breads and things to begin with. :) Yay!

AND, how could I post without a recipe? I mean seriously. I made this for US Thanksgiving, and is was a huge hit! Much better than your typical, gelatin-filled marshmallow stuff.

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Mandarin-Date Sweet Poatoes

3 sweet potatoes
juice of four mandarin oranges
half-package of dates (about two dozen)
two thin sliced mandarin oranges
two tablespoons earth balance
a light dusting of cloves and cinnamon

Chop the sweet potatoes and dates, and throw them into a rectangular baking dish. There's no need for peeling the potatoes; the skin is good for you!
Squeeze the oranges all over the potato mixture, then mix it all up really well with your hands*.
Top the mix with little dollops of Earth Balance (or smear, your hands are dirty after all), arrange the slices, and dust the spices across the top.

Bake in a 400 degree oven, covered, for about 30-45 minutes, 'til desired firmness.

Serve warm and enjoy! We loved this. :)

(*I tried mixing this with a big spoon, but quickly failed miserably, since the pan was so full. I prefer using my hands anyway. :P)


I hope everyone is having a wonderful winter season! <3