Simply Rurban

Grapeseed Flour & Oats Pancakes – Done The Right Way

Posted on September 13, 2012 by simply0637

I try to soak my grains, oats, flours and beans, but sometimes I am in a rush and use canned beans or non soaked grains and flours. I keep some sprouted flour on hand for when I am time restricted, but it is expensive and I can’t use it all the time that I am running short on time. I do the best I can – just like most of us. In our house – food is one of those things that is a top priority and I will find a way to buy the best for us – we only have one body and I want to do my part in keeping it healthy.

Each Sunday I make a big batch of pancakes – usually enough to get us through a little over a week – which is wonderful. Even in the summer I do this, but now that the fall weather seems to be here – I will again do all day cooking on one weekend day at the beginning of each month and stock the freezer with breakfast and dinners! I love to cook – so to spend a full day is a treat – turn on some good music and I am set!

I have changed up our pancakes recipe by adding a couple more ingredients – so yes this recipe has many ingredients, but it is worth it. Even though the ingredient list has increased it still takes all of 10 – 15 minutes to put the batter together, after soaking the oats of course!

The two new ingredients are grapeseed flour and hemp seeds.

Grapeseed Flour – is a rich source of magnesium, iron and calcium. It also has OPCs, yeah I didn’t know what they were either. OPC, oligomeric proanthocyanidins, which are powerful bioflavanoids – they are known to help reverse the physical signs of aging, combat stress and fatigue and increase blood flow and circulations. It is also great as a beauty product. When using, replace 3% – 7% of flour the recipe calls for. It is also gluten free.

Hemp Seed – are the richest known source of polyunsaturated essential fatty acids. They contain all 20 amino acids, a good source of protein, omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids and phytonutrients.

Grapeseed Flour & Oats Pancakes

Ingredients

3 cups rolled oats (not quick)
3 cups cultured buttermilk (preferably, whole raw)
6 Tbl unsalted,butter (melted and slightly cooled)
3 eggs (lightly beaten)
1/2 cup unbleached flour
1/4 Grapeseed flour (preferably Assured Organics brand)
3 Tbl organic sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
2 Tbl cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt (only if using unsalted butter)
1/4 cup flaxseed meal
1/4 cup Hemp seeds
1/4 cup Chia seeds
Blueberries or cut apple (optional)
Coconut oil for cooking

1. The evening before – combine the rolled oats and buttermilk in a glass bowl. Mix well and cover with a dishtowel or aluminum foil. Leave on counter for 12 – 24 hours.

Oats & buttermilk

Mixed together

Soaked 12 hours

2. The next morning, heat the butter and allow to cool slightly.

3. Beat the eggs and add to the oat mixture.

4. Add the butter to the oat mixture and mix well.

5. Add sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon and mix well.

6. Add flaxseed meal, hemp seeds and chia seeds – mix well.

7. Add unbleached flour and grape seed flour – mix well, scraping sides and bottom of bowl.

8. If batter is too thick add a little buttermilk at a time until desired consistency. You can also add blueberries, other berries or cut up apples.

9. Preheat griddle over medium-low heat and lightly coat with coconut oil.

10. Ladle batter onto griddle and spread batter out with the back of the ladle.

I serve 2 pancakes, drizzled with about 1 – 2 Tbl of coconut oil, cut up banana, a drizzle of maple syrup and some shredded, unsweetened coconut. This will keep me full for 5 – 6 hours!

The rest I place in a freezer bag or 2 and keep either in the fridge or freezer. In the morning I place them on the toaster oven tray and heat at 175 degrees. This is perfect and allows us to have a hot, nutritious breakfast before the start of our work/school day!

Stella said she liked these more than my previous recipe, which did not have the grapeseed flour!

Posted in Breakfast, Recipes | Tagged breakfast, grapeseed flour, pancales | 1 Comment

Kids Craft Corner – Imagination Boxes

Posted on September 12, 2012 by simply0637

As we sat down to create our weekly kids craft – I had one idea in mind, but Stella had another one! I have started to do the fall cleaning and purging and as I was cleaning out some drawers I came across two wooden boxes leftover from last Christmas. Well, these boxes had to be used, decorated, turned into creations! Sitting on the treasure table was the bag of shells that came back with us from the Jersey Shore. Wooden boxes and shells, hmm shell box?

I set out the boxes, paint brushes, shells and then we picked out our paints…

Imagination Boxes

Items Needed

Wooden boxes
Paint, assorted colors
Paint brushes
Shells
Feathers
Glue
Imagination

1. Decide on what color or colors you want to paint your box and start painting. This might take some time – you may have to paint one part of the box, allow to dry and then paint another part – you might also need 2 coats of paint.

2. If using shells, make sure they are washed and free of sand – easier to glue on. And design away.

3. When I asked Stella what shells she was going to use for her shell box, she told me she was not using shells. Looking at her a little confused I asked then what are you going to use for your shell box decorations – feathers, was her reply! So then get your feathers out and glue on.

4. Allow to dry and then display your Imagination Box!

Posted in Kids Crafts | Tagged crafts, kids, paint, wooden boxes | 3 Comments

Our Pollock Inspired Canvas Placemats

Posted on September 11, 2012 by simply0637

After creating our canvas place mats I have wanted to make another set – and we just finished them!! I love these! They work great both inside and out, easy to clean, add color and fun to the table -what’s not to like? This time I made them just a little smaller and in addition to the place mats made coasters. I love Pollock’s art work and wanted to some paint splattering – well, really I thought Stella would love to splatter paint. Part of being creative is making a glorious mess that turns out to be beautiful and artistic!

Pollock Inspired Place Mats & Coasters

Items Needed

Artist canvas (can buy the roll on Amazon)
Paint (I get the small sample paints at Home Depot)
Stencils, sponges, etc.
Paint brushes
Water based poly-acrylic
Sewing machine
Matching thread or not (we used purple to match our dragon flies)

1. Cut a strip of canvas 72″ x 20″. Then cut that in half. The first set of canvas place mats I made I left it one long strip and found it was hard to maneuver in our small space.

2. Decide what color you want your base to be and paint at least 2 coats – allowing plenty of time to dry in between coats. You can paint on either side and make that your top, but the “real” top is the whiter side.

3. Since the focus art of this set of place mats was going to be the splattered paint – I went “light” on the other art work. That being said, I decided to so one stencil of dragon flies in purple of course, our favorite color! Allow to dry completely.

4. Choose several colors of paint and gather your paint brushes. You will need one paint brush for each color, plus one extra for the splattering. Dip your paint brush into the paint – you want paint on the brush, but not overly excessive amounts. Taking the other paintbrush, knock against the brush with paint – be careful – the paint with splatter. Keep doing this until you have enough of that particular color and then move on to the next color. Allow to dry.

5. Place some of the base paint in a cup, add water and paint the back of the canvas. The sides and ends will curl – that is ok. When it had dried some I then hang on the clothes line and pin the sides to straighten it some.

6. Cut your 4 place mats, they should measure approximately 20″ x 15″ and then your coasters. I was able to get 7 coasters. To cut the coasters, I used a coaster as the template and cut a little larger. Turn over each edge about 1/2″ and sew on the sewing machine. Not all of my turned edges were the same width, but they were close.

7. Using the poly-acrylic, paint 3 coats on the top and 1 on the back. These are especially great to use at the outside table. All you need to do is sponge them off and that’s that – no laundry and they last a long time!

Posted in Crafts, Dining Table, Sewing | 2 Comments

Baked Coconut Shrimp

Posted on September 10, 2012 by simply0637

A couple of weeks ago I finished up a class with Sally Fallon Morell, the Nourishing Traditions author and President of the Weston A. Price Foundation. The second to last class, Sally did meal planning and one of the recipes she did was a coconut shrimp dish. Ever since then I have not been able to get the idea of coconut shrimp out of my head and I finally had to act on it. I went to the kitchen and realized I was out of coconut milk, which is pretty rare for me – but I just had to have coconut shrimp!! I thought about the coconut shrimp that comes as an appetizer – all fried up and yummy!! Ok – I could probably do something like that, but I didn’t want to fry it, mainly because I wanted something simple and labor-intense free. I figured I could bake it. I went to the freezer, took out some shrimp, placed in a bowl with cold water, dinner was started!

Baked Coconut Shrimp with Julienne Squash and Carrots

Ingredients

12 – 15 large shrimp with tail on (fresh or frozen)
1/2 cup Flour (white or sprouted)
1 Tbl Garlic powder
1/8 tsp Cayenne pepper
1 egg
1/2 – 3/4 cup Unsweetened, shredded coconut
1/4 cup Almond meal
Honey
Hot sauce
Carrots
Squash
Ghee or butter

1. If your shrimp are frozen, place in a bowl of cold water and let defrost. This does not take very long and better for conserving water than to run them under water until they are defrosted.

2. Cut up your carrots and squash – I did julienne – I like the looks. Place in a bowl and set aside.

3. Line a baking sheet with greased parchment paper. I have a misto and just sprayed some oil on.

4. In a small bowl mix 1/2 cup of honey with 1 tsp or so of hot sauce. I added hot sauce a little at a time until I got the hotness I wanted. Let this sit and marinate while you are preparing the shrimp.

5. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

6. Drain the shrimp and toss in a bowl with salt and pepper.

7. In a shallow bowl combine the flour, garlic and cayenne pepper. For the garlic and cayenne pepper – add as much or as little as you desire. If it had just been me eating these I would have added more of both.

8. In a shallow bowl add 1 egg and a splash of water – scramble.

9. In a shallow bowl combine the coconut and almond meal. Depending on your love of coconut you can either do a 3 to 1 ration or a 2 to 1 ratio with the almond meal.

10. Dredge the shrimp through the flour mixture, tapping any excess flour off, then through the egg and lastly through the coconut/almond meal – tapping any excess off. Place on the parchment paper.

11. Bake the shrimp for 10 – 15 minutes. If you want them a little browner, place under the broiler for the last minute or two – watching closely.

12. While the shrimp are baking, place some ghee or butter in a cast iron pan. When hot add the veggies – tossing to coat. I placed a top over the cooking veggies to steam them at the same time. Take the top off and stir several time. Season to your liking.

12. Place the veggies and shrimp on your dinner plate. Drizzle the shrimp with the honey hot sauce.

Posted in Dinner, Fish, Recipes | Tagged coconut, recipe, shrimp | 2 Comments

Kids Craft Corner – Needle Felting

Posted on September 7, 2012 by simply0637

Over the summer, the phone rang and it was Mateo. He asked me if I had anymore wool left for felting and a sushi roll mat – which I answered yes to both. Great, can I come over and I can show you how to make felted coasters? I told him we would have to do it another day. Well I have now set aside several afternoons, but the kids have had other things to do – the pool, play outside, prepare for their fundraiser (stay tuned on that one!) and just being kids. Well, I decided I wanted to learn how to do the wet felted coasters – so to the internet I went. Ok – looked easy enough, a call went up the stairs – Stella do you want to felt with me – yeah, mom. So Stella came down stairs and we got all the stuff out and placed on the table. As I had been doing my research I came across a great listing of felting tutorials and ideas – I decided before we started I would show Stella a couple I thought were very cool. As we went through them she saw one that she wanted to make – a needle felted hotdog dog. I have been a little hesitant about the needle felting with her – mainly because it really hurts when you jab yourself with the needle – but I figured she was going to do it sometime, why not now!

We went ahead and set up our work areas – me for wet felting and Stella for needle felting.

Needle Felted Hotdog Dog

Items Needed

Brown wool roving for the body and legs
Orange wool roving for the nose
Pink/red wool roving for the ears
Blue wool roving for the eyes
Felting needle
Felting pad
Chopstick

Note: You do not have to use as many colors as Stella did.

1. Taking some brown wool roving, roll in your hand to form a long oval – this will be the body, including the head and tail. Needle felt the roving until firm and you have made the desired shape. You may have to add more wool as you go. To avoid poking your finger – you may want to try holding the wool with a chopstick instead of your other hand.

2. Take small pieces of the brown wool roving and make four (4) legs. You want to make sure they are close to the same length and diameter. (Forgot to take a photo of the legs, but you can see the wool roving pulled and one leg made in picture.)

3. Attach the legs to the body. On the underneath side of the body – use your felting needle to flatten it out some. Place each leg (one at a time) where you want it on the body. Hold the leg in place and with your felting needle – stab the needle around the base of the leg into the body – this will intertwine the fibers of the leg and body – making it secure.

3. Pull two small pieces of the pink/red wool roving for the ears. With your felting needle, felt two ears in a solid “U” shape. Make sure they are close is size. Take 1 ear an attach on to the side of the head. You will do this by poking the needle through the top of the ear into the head- this will intertwine the fibers. Do the same thing with the other ear.

4. Take a small piece of the orange wool roving, roll into a ball, place where the nose would go and needle felt it on.

5. With the blue wool roving – pull off 2 pieces, relatively small and roll into tiny balls. Place one ball where the left eye will be and using your felting needle – felt the eye onto the face. Do the same with the right eye.

Stella did jab herself with the needle a couple of times and it hurt. She had a great time creating her dog and I only helped a few times – mainly showing her how it works and how to use the needle the “correct” way.

Posted in Kids Crafts | Tagged kids crafts, needle felting | 2 Comments

Probiotics, Anyone? – Make Your Own Kefir

Posted on September 6, 2012 by simply0637

I recently started buying raw milk from a co-op and since the order overlapped with milk already in the fridge – we were literally overflowing with the white stuff! It seemed that the raw milk was not going to “make” it and would most likely start to turn before we drank it all – so what to do? I have been doing a lot of reading on the benefits of gut flora and probiotics – so decided I would try making my own kefir. You can make kefir by using kefir grains or a kefir starter (more like a powder). I wanted to use the grains, but could only find the starter at the local health food store. I will need to get the grains, either on-line or from my food co-op – which I will do when I am done with the starter I have.

Probiotics are friendly bacteria similar to those found in people’s guts. Most friendly bacteria come from the Lactobacillus or Bididobacterium groups. There are several different species of bacteria in each group. Some probiotics are also friendly yeasts. Taking probiotics is a way to keep your friendly bacteria population up to full strength so it is always at the ready to defend you. If you have taken antibiotics, taking probiotics is even more important because you probably have unfriendly microorganisms living in your gut that your reduced levels of friendly bacteria are having difficulty handling. Taking probiotics will increase and strengthen your friendly bacteria population to a level that will allow it to oust the intruders.

Kefir is a creamy, drinkable yogurt style fermented milk that tastes a little sour or like buttermilk. You can buy plain or natural fruit flavored kefir in the health food stores and most grocery stores, it is fairly expensive. I may, down the road make flavored kefir – but since I am adding it to our morning smoothie that has plenty of fruit – I will leave plain for now. You can make kefir from cow milk, coconut milk, or almond milk. Kefir is full of naturally occurring bacteria and yeast living in sharmony as the result of the fermentation process.

Kefir is a balanced and nourishing food, loaded with vitamins, minerals and easily digested protein. It can even be consumed by the lactose intolerant because the yeast and bacteria provide the enzyme lactase, an enzyme which consumes most of the lactose left after the culturing process. Kefir is fermented by kefir grains that contain the bacteria and yeast mixture clumped together with casein (milk protein) and complex sugars. The bacteria and yeast mixture can actually colonize the intestinal tract, whicht yogurt cannot match. Several of the strains of bacteria in the kefir culture are not even found in yogurt. The yeast in kefir is able to deal effectively with pathogenic yeasts in the body. The bacteria/yeast team cleanses and fortifies the intestinal tract making it more efficient at resisting pathogens and other bad guys!.

Making Kefir

Items Needed

Kefir starter
4 cups whole raw milk
Saucepan
Wooden spoon
Glass container (large enough to fit 4 cups of liquid)
Thermometer
Coffee Filter
Rubber band

Note: I could not find kefir grains at the local health food store and I needed to use up the last of of my raw milk. Once I finish the box of kefir starter I will order kefir grains on line. Kefir grains can be used over and over again and the other benefit is that you do not have to heat the milk.

1. Heat 4 cups whole raw milk in a saucepan to 180 degrees. Do this slowly – it took me about 30 minutes to get to that temperature.

2. Once it has reached 180 degrees turn the heat off and allow to cool to about 75 degrees.

3. Take some of the cool milk and add the kefir starter – mix really well.

4. Add the kefir starter milk back to the saucepan of milk. Mix really well.

5. Pour the milk into a glass container and cover with a coffee filter and rubber band. You want the gas to be able to escape.

6. Allow to sit on the counter for about 24 hours. This will allow the curds to form.

7. After 24 hours, refrigerate your kefir to stop the fermentation process.

Stir before serving. We are using ours in our morning smoothies, replacing the whole milk yogurt.

Our Morning Smoothie

Ingredients (quantity of each depends on how many you are making – we do not measure when making ours, just eye it in the Vitamix/blender)

Whole, raw milk kefir
Whole milk plain yogurt
Frozen blueberries, peaches, mangoes, pineapple
Flax oil
Organic coconut oil
Banana
Morning juice blend (optional and only if needed to thin some)

We make enough for 2 people for 2 days with recipe. We have it either as breakfast or lunch. Stella could drink them all day long!!

Posted in Breakfast, Drinks, Recipes | Tagged how to, kefir, raw milk | 1 Comment

Beeswax Candles

Posted on September 5, 2012 by simply0637

I love candles! As the days are getting shorter – it is almost time to start lighting the candles. We do not light candles very often in the summer, not because I don’t want too, but because of the heat. I use the lanterns outside when we eat dinner or I am hanging out with friends over a glass of wine. Several years ago I took a candle making class with Stella and we used all of our candles, but they were not made with beeswax or essential oils, but with some kind of wax and synthetic scents and colors – they were nice, but not like the good quality of a beeswax candle.

Since I had some beeswax on hand from making natural sunscreen – I decided it was time to make some candles. We were driving by the local Goodwill and decided to go in – they had just remodeled the store and made it bigger. I went to the housewares section and found some nice glass containers – perfect for candles and they were each $0.99 – so couldn’t beat the price. The holidays are right around the corner – and figure these could make nice gifts!

The benefits of a beeswax candle are many. They are economical, really in the long run they are, because they burn brighter, longer and cleaner than other candles. The flame from a beeswax candle emits in the same spectrum as the sun. They give off very little smoke and the smoke that is given off contains no carcinogens like other candles. Beeswax candles also clean the air!

Beeswax Candles

Items needed

Double boiler (used a pot that I did not care about for the wax)
Beeswax
Wicks (ones that are made for beeswax, preferably cotton or you can make)
Essential oil (optional)
Glass containers

1. Fill the bottom pot of the double boiler with water, turn burner on. Fill top pot with wax. Turn burner on medium-high.

2. Line your glass containers up on counter – placing a newspaper or a paper towel under the containers, to catch drips.

3. When the wax begins to melt, dip the metal end of the wick in the wax and then secure the wick in the container. The wax will harden and adhere the wick to the container.

4. When the wax has melted, pour into the container.

5. If you are using essential oil – allow the wax to cool slightly, then add some drops of oil.

6. Continue melting wax until all your containers are filled.

7. Allow to completely cool and the wax to harden. Store in a cool, dark location.

A couple of mine split and I added some more wax. I need to figure out why they split.

Posted in Crafts | Tagged beeswax, candles | 3 Comments

I Made My Own Tomato Sauce!

Posted on September 4, 2012 by simply0637

Do you ever have one of those moments when you think of something and then wonder why and how it took you so long to think that? I had one of those moments last Wednesday. Wednesday night is the night I go through the refrigerator and either throw things out or add things to the grocery list. On one of the shelves in the very back corner was a half used jar of tomato sauce. First, I wondered how did it get there – I keep jars on the door and then secondly, another jar that had started to grow mold!! We just do not go through tomato sauce very fast in our house. We are not big pasta eaters and pretty much the only thing that we use tomato sauce for is pizza. In the summer, pizza making is pretty rare, come fall and winter we make it almost every Friday night – and still when we are making it that often I can not use up a jar of sauce before it starts to grow mold! Tomato sauce usually comes in quart size jars – so I thought I can make my own sauce and can it in pint size jars! Wow, really – it took me that long to think that up?! I guess my brain cells are not what they used to be, but really I didn’t think of that when I was 20 years younger – ok – nothing is wrong with my brain cells! Phew!

Since this was my first time making sauce – I did not go overboard.

Tomato, Garlic and Basil Sauce

Ingredients

10 pounds of tomatoes
1 head of garlic
Basil
Olive oil
Lemon juice

Items Needed

6 – 7 pint size canning jars and lids
Cutting board
Knife
Canning pot
Soup pot
Funnel
Jar lifting tongs
Timer
Immersion blender
Ladle

1. Wash your canning jars and lids in a sink of hot, soapy water. If you have a dishwasher you can use that for both washing and sterilizing.

2. Place the clean jars in the canning pot, fill with water and turn the heat on high. When the water boils, turn off, but leave the jars in the hot water bath.

3. In your soup pot, fill about half way and get the water boiling.

4. Wash and dry the tomatoes. I purchased my tomatoes at the farmer’s market – picking the firmest ones.

6. Fill the sink with cold water and ice.

7. When the water is boiling, place several of the tomatoes into the water for about 45 seconds, remove with a slotted spoon and place in the sink. Continue doing this until all the tomatoes have been heated.

8. The above process is to making peeling the skins off the tomatoes easier and it does! Peel the skin off the tomatoes.

9. Cut the tomatoes and remove the seeds and water. You will also want to cut any bruises, spots, and the top off. You want to remove as much water as possible, I did not do this – but I would recommend placing the cut up tomatoes into a colander and allow to drain further.

10. Peel and cut up the garlic. I used a head of garlic that I harvested about a month ago – it peeled so easily.

11. In the soup pot, add some olive oil and saute the garlic until it is slightly browned.

12. Add the cut up tomatoes. Stir and bring to a simmer. Can’t believe I forgot to take a photo, but I did (ok, maybe my brain cells are going a little!)

13. Wash and cut up the basil. How much basil depends on you. I used about 20 leaves. Add to the tomatoes and stir.

14. The tomatoes with cook down – do not cover. You want the water to evaporate in the cooking process – this will make the sauce thicker. The less water you have to start with the shorter time it will take to “cook” the sauce. I was really wishing I had drained the tomatoes further.

15. When the tomatoes have cooked down about 1/3 turn the heat off. Using an immersion blender, puree the sauce. If you do not have an immersion blender, allow the sauce to cool and then puree in a blender.

16. Turn the heat back on and allow to cook down a little more and get thicker.

17. Take the jars out of the water bath and place on a towel on the counter. Turn the burner back on and bring the bath water to a boil.

18. Place the lids of the jars in a small saucepan, cover with water and heat to almost boiling. Turn water off and leave in the water until ready to pour the sauce into the jars.

19. When the sauce it to your liking – turn the heat off and get everything ready to fill the jars.

20. Place the funnel over a canning jar and using the ladle, ladle the sauce into the jar. Fill to just below the neck of the jar.

21. Fill all jars.

22. Pour a tablespoon of lemon juice into each jar, this helps to reduce the chance of spoilage and helps with keeping the color.

23. Place the lids on the jars and then screw the tops on.

24. Using the jar grabber, place the jars back into the boiling bath water. Once the water is back to boiling, let the jars cook for 30 minutes.

25. Pull the jars out with the jar grabber and place on the towel lined counter. Listen for the popping of the jar tops – this is the jars sealing. I love that sound! If a jar does not pop, turn over for about 30 minutes – when you turn it back up-right is should have sealed, if not this is the jar you will use first.

Allow jars to cool completely before storing.

Posted in Canning, Preserving | Tagged canning, tomato sauce | 4 Comments

Chilled Avocado and Cucumber Soup

Posted on September 3, 2012 by simply0637

I have wanted a Vitamix for sometime now and I finally saved up my money and purchased one. When it came I was so excited – like a kid on Christmas morning – I couldn’t wait to open it and start playing!

I have made some veggie smoothies – very different from my juicer – but had all the fiber packed in. The making and cleaning up was so much easier than with my juicer – and I felt full longer with the smoothies than the juice. Stella thinks the fruit smoothies I make for her are delicious and at first she thought I bought them at the shop down the street that makes smoothies. The really nice thing about the Vitamix is that it is so easy to use – Stella is now doing her own smoothies in it – yeah!

My first soup…..

Chilled Avocado and Cucumber Soup

Ingredients

1 avocado, pitted and peeled
1 large cucumber, sliced and quartered
1/4 fresh dill
1 Tbl fresh lemon juice
1 stalk celery, halved
Pinch of good sea salt
1 cup filtered water

1. Place all the ingredients into the Vitamix in the order listed and secure the lid. If you do not have a Vitamix you can do in a blender or food processor.

2. Put your Vitamix on variable 1, turn machine on and slowly increase speed to variable 10, then to high.

3. Blend for 45 seconds or until desired consistency is reached. Thin with additional water.

4. Pour into a container or bowl and chill.

Serve with a garnish of dill and/or a slice of cucumber.

Posted in Raw Food, Recipes, Soup | Tagged avocado, cold soup, raw food | 2 Comments

Another Mode Of Transportation – The Amish Scooter

Posted on August 31, 2012 by simply0637

Last summer I spent many an afternoon running around the dirt track in the park. I was running around the track, not as part of my exercise routine, but holding Stella’s bike up and teaching her how to ride. When becoming a parent – I have to say I was oblivious to all the jobs I would have and all the teaching hats I would wear. There are so many things that I just take as a given that I can do – run and kick a ball, walk, ride a bike, ski, swim, climb the monkey bars, take a shower – and the list goes on and on. Last summer Stella got pretty good at riding her bike – but mostly around the track. Our town has a lot of steep hills and crazy drivers!

This spring it was back to riding and mastering. Stella can now ride her bike, but she can’t get started! She has trouble balancing herself, the bike and pushing off to get going. She got pretty frustrated with it and pretty much put her bike away and was using a very old scooter – really meant for a 4 year old – but that is what she wanted to use.

While at the Jersey Shore, Gail rides her bike along the boardwalk every morning and I joined her a couple of times and I was telling her about the frustration Stella was having and she mentioned they had a scooter. When we got back we asked Stella if she wanted to ride the scooter and she said no, but could she ride a bike. Jeff, Gail’s husband, took a bike out of the garage, adjusted the seat and they headed to the sidewalk – the bike was just a little too big. They headed to the basement and there was a bike her size – but it needed air and a little work – it would have to wait until the next day.

The next day came and Stella spotted the scooter in the garage – she wanted to ride it!

Color coded – purple, her favorite color!

Again we headed to the sidewalk and I demonstrated how to ride it – she got on and she was off. She never put her other foot up, but just kept pushing herself with it. She did this for the first outing. On the next outing – I showed her how to balance. She tried it, practiced and got it! Then any chance she got she was out to the garage (she even figured out how to open the garage door – manually) on the scooter and off!! She got to know neighbors, made friends and we have no idea how many times she road around the block.

To explain about this scooter – it is an Amish Scooter. Jeff was traveling in Pennsylvania with his brother and they were going through Amish country – it must have been date night, because he said all the kids were riding them and they were all polished up. He came home told Gail about them and they decided to buy one. This scooter has a basket, rides low to the ground and the wheels are designed so the girls, who wear long skirts – will not get their skirts stuck in the wheels.

Stella asked if we could get one of the scooters so she could ride it to school and to her after school program instead of taking the bus – I asked Gail where they purchased one and she offered for Stella to use the one they had for the year! When I told Stella she was beside herself. On the last day she road it on the boardwalk – people stop and stare.

We got home and she has been riding it everyday! Her friends, and their parents, all think it is so cool and want one – I have even snuck a couple of rides! One of the great things about the scooter is that there is a hand brake.

We went to the hardware store – I walked, she rode – so we could get a cover for it – they measured it and a tarp was purchased. When we got home, the rain was coming, we took the tarp out and it didn’t cover it! We will figure something out. I also had to show Stella how to use a bike lock – she has decided she is going to wear the key around her next everyday!

If you are interested in finding out more or want to purchase one http://www.hoffman-house.com/store/store.php/categories/Amish-Scooter

Posted in Life, Outings | Tagged amish scooter | 3 Comments

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