Incredible Chocolate Cookies

These fab cookies are made from leftover bits of other food projects.

I cook with butter if I use oil at all. This is a blend of equal amounts of butter and nut butter (in this case almond).

From the milk liqueur I have the ginger puree. It is sweet and spicy. There are no exact ingredients or measurements because when you make the cookies it will be your special offering.

I like nuts (and prefer pecans, but always have walnuts on hand), chocolate chips, coconut, and chia seeds. I add chia seeds to everything. They are my justification for indulgence.

I save the pulp from juicing and generally have carrots remains. This week I added raspberries to the juice and strained out the seeds.

I keep cake or muffin mix on hand, but oat flour with 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder per cup will work as well. (Add cocoa powder if more chocolate is desired.) Mix.


Without the eggs, the cookies were crumbly. These will be great mixed with yogurt or vanilla ice cream. They reminded me of Seattle Chocolates - my favorite candies. Instead of one flavor, it was a taste explosion in my mouth!

Yum!

More Milk Liqueur

The pictures and the process - Milk Liqueur

A couple of weeks ago I started the process again - equal parts milk, sugar, and vodka. Add a whole piece of citrus. I add ginger as well. Yesterday, (more than ten days later of shaking nightly), I started the straining process. It takes several hours and in the top frame I have my lunch of new potatoes and spinach.

Bottom right - it looks pretty clear but I strained it one more time. It is very sweet. I had a shot last night - on the rocks. I bottled and refrigerated the nectar to rest for the next four months. My last batch tasted best in that time, so I will save it until November.

Wasting nothing. I added the ginger puree to a cookie mix. Recipe in the next post.

Yum!

Ferment Update

The ferment from my previous post was ready in three days. I stored it in the frig and began sampling occasionally. Fabulous! Next I was eating it by the bowl full. With about two cups left, I decided to chop it up for salsa. It tasted great. Add some home canned tomatoes. Magic! Taste like those fresh salsas they serve with endless chips and margaritas. (Great recipe for that as well. Later.)

Onion, Zucchini, Garlic, Gypsy and Jalapeno Ferment - chopped

Added home canned tomatoes

Salsa behind. Toasted cheese and fermented veggie sandwich

What have you decided to ferment?

Yum!

Spinach Cheese Casserole

This is an incredibly easy and versatile recipe.
Mix one package of thawed and drained frozen spinach with 16 or so ounces of cottage cheese.
Spinach used to come in 16 ounces as well, but now seems to be cut to 12.

 Add a couple of eggs (2 or 3, purely personal),
a cup of shredded cheese. I used a Mexican blend, but Italian blend works as well. If a single cheese is chosen consider how well it will melt or if that matters. Include fresh onion and garlic, if available and seasonings. I use a seasoning salt that I made but this recipe can adapt to the flavor you choose by shifting cheeses and seasonings.

Turn the lot into a baking dish. I prefer this two quart glass dish with lid. I have also used an oiled square baking pan, uncovered.

Bake until solid. Glassware bakes at 350 degrees. An 8 inch square, at 375. Either dish bakes for 30 minutes. Open and stir, then return to oven. Re-check at 20 minutes. Allow to set before serving.

As you can see, the spinach comes through in the end product. The casserole remains moist and can be served with garlic toast as a side, on a rice bed with garnish, or as it. Of course, low carb and gluten free, if it matters. As for the fat, well, those don't count. Taste great!

This is also a great sandwich topping. I love a panini that includes turkey and artichokes.


YUM!

Ferment Everything

Zucchini Ferment

It finally rained  and rained good. First a slow sprinkle, then a deluge. My yargen will be happy and the weeds have dug in.

I hear the thing with having a large zucchini crop is the harvest, harvest, harvest. We had been just going out and eating them off the vine. Then we kept then on the table for snacks. These are small, about six inches long and round as a thumb. Perfect for salads. As I am not interested in eating more zucchini today, it is a great time to try out a ferment.




Pictured above in the right are the gypsy peppers from earlier this week. They started in a pint jar and this morning I sliced and pressed into a six ounce jar. On the left is the new batch. Zucchini, jalapeno pepper (one), onion, and garlic. They are floating in a mix of whey and salt water. I used the liquid from the batch on the right and added fresh salt water to fill the quart jar. The jar is topped with an onion slice to keep the rest submerged. For the next three days or so, the quart jar will set on a dish to catch the overflow as it ferments. The pickled peppers are in the frig.

YUM!

Want more inspiration and information? Check out kulturedkaraite.blogspot.com.

What will you ferment?

Fermenting Fun

Peppers pickling

I have finally found a plain yogurt. Yes, I was all about making my own, but I hit a snag. I had a long run of "no-gurt" - milk that turned but didn't curd. I found plenty of uses for it, but it was not my love.

So, I have been searching for a PLAIN yogurt, meaning it contains only cultured milk. This yogurt can be strained into to thick creamy love. I added some Blackberry Jelly I found tucked in a cabinet at my FOR. It was dated 7 AUG 00 and tasted great!



The resulting whey (liquid from straining yogurt) is now fermenting my gypsy peppers - grown in pots and a Topsy Turvy planter. In three days I will see how the peppers taste. Here's a look at the label for plain yogurt, which is much thicker by the way.

And on my internet travels I found this wonderful video:

I followed her directions. We'll see...

Yum!

Cinnamon and Honey Cures

Honey is the only food on the planet that will not spoil or rot. What it will do is what some call ‘turning to sugar’. In reality, honey is always honey. However, when left in a cool dark place for a long time it will “crystallize”.. When this happens loosen the lid, boil some water and sit the honey container in the hot water, but turn off the heat and let it liquefy naturally. It is then as good as it ever was. Never boil honey or put it in a microwave. This will kill the enzymes in the honey.

Cinnamon and Honey Bet the drug companies won’t like this one getting around. Facts on Honey and Cinnamon :It is found that a mixture of honey and Cinnamon cures most diseases. Honey is produced in most of the countries of the world. Scientists of today also accept honey as a ‘Ram Ban’ (very effective) medicine for all kinds of diseases. Honey can be used without side effects for any kind of diseases.Today’s science says that even though honey is sweet, when it is taken in the right dosage as a medicine, it does not harm even diabetic patients. Weekly World News, a magazine in Canada, in its issue dated 17 January,1995 has given the following list of diseases that can be cured by honey and cinnamon, as researched by western scientists :

HEART DISEASES : Make a paste of honey and cinnamon powder, apply it on bread instead of jelly and jam and eat it regularly for breakfast. It reduces the cholesterol in the arteries and saves the patient from heart attack. Also, those who have already had an attack, when they do this process daily, they are kept miles away from the next attack. Regular use of the above process relieves loss of breath and strengthens the heart beat. In America and Canada , various nursing homes have treated patients successfully and have found that as one ages the arteries and veins lose their flexibility and get clogged; honey and cinnamon revitalize the arteries and the veins.

ARTHRITIS : Arthritis patients may take daily (morning and night) one cup of hot water with two tablespoons of honey and one small teaspoon of cinnamon powder. When taken regularly even chronic arthritis can be cured. In a recent research conducted at the Copenhagen University, it was found that when the doctors treated their patients with a mixture of one tablespoon Honey and half teaspoon Cinnamon powder before breakfast, they found that within a week (out of the 200 people so treated) practically 73 patients were totally relieved of pain — and within a month, most all the patients who could not walk or move around because of arthritis now started walking without pain. 

BLADDER INFECTIONS : Take two tablespoons of cinnamon powder and one teaspoon of honey in a glass of lukewarm water and drink it. It destroys the germs in the bladder..

CHOLESTEROL :Two tablespoons of honey and three teaspoons of Cinnamon Powder mixed in 16 ounces of tea water given to a cholesterol patient was found to reduce the level of cholesterol in the blood by 10 percent within two hours. As mentioned for arthritic patients, when taken three times a day, any chronic cholesterol is cured. According to information received in the said Journal, pure honey taken with food daily relieves complaints of cholesterol.

COLDS : Those suffering from common or severe colds should take one tablespoon lukewarm honey with 1/4 spoon cinnamon powder daily for three days. This process will cure most chronic cough, cold, and, clear the sinuses.

UPSET STOMACH : Honey taken with cinnamon powder cures stomach ache and also clears stomach ulcers from its root.

GAS : According to the studies done in India and Japan , it is revealed that when Honey is taken with cinnamon powder the stomach is relieved of gas.

IMMUNE SYSTEM : Daily use of honey and cinnamon powder strengthens the immune system and protects the body from bacterial and viral attacks. Scientists have found that honey has various vitamins and iron in large amounts. Constant use of Honey strengthens the white blood corpuscles (where DNA is contained) to fight bacterial and viral diseases. 

INDIGESTION : Cinnamon powder sprinkled on two tablespoons of honey taken before food is eaten relieves acidity and digests the heaviest of meals.

INFLUENZA : A scientist in Spain has proved that honey contains a natural ‘Ingredient’ which kills the influenza germs and saves the patient from flu.

LONGEVITY : Tea made with honey and cinnamon powder, when taken regularly, arrests the ravages of old age. Use four teaspoons of honey, one teaspoon of cinnamon powder, and three cups of water and boil to make a tea. Drink 1/4 cup, three to four times a day. It keeps the skin fresh and soft and arrests old age. Life spans increase and even a 100 year old will start performing the chores of a 20-year-old..

RASPY OR SORE THROAT : When throat has a tickle or is raspy, take one tablespoon of honey and sip until gone. Repeat every three hours until throat is without symptoms.

PIMPLES : Three tablespoons of honey and one teaspoon of cinnamon powder paste. Apply this paste on the pimples before sleeping and wash it off the next morning with warm water. When done daily for two weeks, it removes all pimples from the root.

SKIN INFECTIONS : Applying honey and cinnamon powder in equal parts on the affected parts cures eczema, ringworm and all types of skin infections.

WEIGHT LOSS : Daily in the morning one half hour before breakfast and on an empty stomach, and at night before sleeping, drink honey and cinnamon powder boiled in one cup of water. When taken regularly, it reduces the weight of even the most obese person. Also, drinking this mixture regularly does not allow the fat to accumulate in the body even though the person may eat a high calorie diet.

CANCER : Recent research in Japan and Australia has revealed that advanced cancer of the stomach and bones have been cured successfully. Patients suffering from these kinds of cancer should daily take one tablespoon of honey with one teaspoon of cinnamon powder three times a day for one month .

FATIGUE : Recent studies have shown that the sugar content of honey is more helpful rather than being detrimental to the strength of the body. Senior citizens who take honey and cinnamon powder in equal parts are more alert and flexible. Dr. Milton, who has done research, says that a half tablespoon of honey taken in a glass of water and sprinkled with cinnamon powder, even when the vitality of the body starts to decrease, when taken daily after brushing and in the afternoon at about 3 : 00 P.M., the vitality of the body increases within a week.

BAD BREATH : People of South America, gargle with one teaspoon of honey and cinnamon powder mixed in hot water first thing in the morning so their breath stays fresh throughout the day..

HEARING LOSS : Daily morning and night honey and cinnamon powder, taken in equal parts restores hearing. Remember when we were kids? We had toast with real butter and cinnamon sprinkled on it!

From: http://foxy955stl.com/healthy-lifestyles/diabetes/niecydavis/who-knew-cinnamon-and-honey-has-medical-benefits/