Wordless Wednesday: Things that are Growing

 

 

 

 

 

 

Technorati Tags: Apple Family Farm,cows,elephant garlic,Wordless Wednesday

A New Approach to Sauerkraut

I had a beautiful experience making sauerkraut.  And I thought the outcome would be beautiful, too.

(Sea salt, cabbage, zucchini, carrots, and dulse)

And I was going to teach you how to make this lacto-fermented dish that aides in digestion. 

Such as, chop up a head of cabbage. 

(Pulverize any fresh vegetables.)

 

(Sprinkle dulse {seaweed} and sea salt on the cabbage.)

(Pound ingredients down to release natural juices.)

(Cover with a plate, apply weight to top of plate to keep oxygen from entering underneath the plate, and store in a remote and dark location for 2 weeks.) 

I heart sauerkraut . . . as long as it is made the old fashioned way.  Don’t give me the stuff from a factory.  I want your cabbage that has sat around for days, if not weeks.  I typically dump some blue corn chips on a plate, add a whopping dollop of sauerkraut, pour some pumpkin seed oil on top, and sprinkle on some sea salt.  It makes for a GREAT lunch.

But something went awry with my last batch. 

I had planned on letting it ferment 23 days, the perfect duration according to my friend, Bridget. 

 After 2 weeks, check on your sauerkraut.  I’m not sure what I was looking for . . . but it wasn’t . . . .

some sort of weird mushroom that I had managed to grow. 

Sigh.

And the kraut SMELLED bad!

Well, my mom has since stepped in and is seeking to act as the Health Department in charge of micro-organism control. 

I’m going to start over.  But this time, I am going to use a REAL sauerkraut crock.  (Thanks Mom!)

Isn’t it cool?  A 2 gallon crock.  The stomper is on its way.

 

I won’t have to use towels this time to create a dark habitat.

Even the lid is cute.  Is it wrong to admire my new crock so much?  It probably is a little sick.  I sooooo need to be a pioneer or live on a farm.

Technorati Tags: sauerkraut,crock,fermentation

Mason Jar Mustard

I like to make my own condiments for several reasons.

• They taste better.
• They are fermented.
• I personally acquired the ingredients used in said condiment.
• I can actually pronounce ALL of the ingredients in my mayonnaise, ketchup and mustard.  (By the way, you can click on the link to go to my other Mason Jar recipes—I warn you the formatting is off on those posts . . . back before I used Live Writer.)

Did you know that mustard seed is a cousin to your broccoli and cabbage? 

When you grind a mustard seed, watch out!!!  I discovered that the mustard seed is almost like a skunk.  What happens during the grinding process is that the friction from the blender blades encourages a rather pungent compound to be released that assaults your nose and eyes.  For this very reason, mustard used to be used to help treat lung disease and sinus issues. 

While homemade mustard does have a bit of “kick” to it . . . it is yummy.  A small bit goes a long way.  (Note:  the Hottie Hubby likes to mix our Mason Jar Mustard with some mayonnaise.)

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cup ground mustard
• 1/2 cup filtered water
• 2 tbls whey
• 2 tsp sea salt
• juice of 1 lemon
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 tbls honey

Directions:

Mix all of your ingredients together in a food processor.  I ground my mustard before adding any other ingredients. 

After the majority of the seeds are pulverized, all of the other ingredients can be dumped into the (my) Vita Mix.  (You don’t have to have a Vita Mix to make this recipe.  A blender should work or a food processor of some sort.  You might want to mash your garlic prior to entry into the blender.)

Whey

Add more water if necessary to obtain a consistency that you would like to  spread on your homemade bread for the perfect sandwich.

Place your newly created mustard spread in a pint-sized jar.  The top of the mustard should be 1 inch below the top of the glass jar.  Seal tightly and keep at room temperature for 3 days.  Transfer to the refrigerator and enjoy! 

   

Technorati Tags: homemade mustard,mason jar mustard,fermentation

Giveaway #3: An Absence So Great

The cover of this book made my husband groan. . . for two reasons:

1. He knew I would stay up late reading
2. I was reading another supposedly “Christian romance” novel

And he was correct on both accounts.

Here is a little ditty (summary) provided by Waterbrook Press:

While growing in confidence as a photographer, eighteen-year-old Jessie Ann Gaebele’s personal life is at a crossroads. Hoping she’s put an unfortunate romantic longing behind her as “water under the bridge,” she exiles herself to Milwaukee to operate photographic studios for those owners who have fallen ill with mercury poisoning. 

Jessie gains footing in her dream to one day operate her own studio and soon finds herself in other Midwest towns, pursuing her profession. But even a job she loves can’t keep painful memories from seeping into her heart when the shadows of a forbidden love threaten to darken the portrait of her life.

This book is easy reading.  Vacation reading.  But I was surprised by two things:

1.  There was a mention of God but not much actual Scripture.  God always seemed to be somewhat present throughout the book, but the characters didn’t seem to allow Him to reign fully . . . or at least that was not a focal point in the main characters lives. 

Probably what bothered me most was that there was no climax or “crisis of belief” that showed a 180 in the lives of these pretend people. 

Author Jane Kirkpatrick dealt with a very real issue of habitual sin and the struggle to overcome those sins we don’t want to do but keep on doing.  Yet, I don’t feel she fully disciplined her characters and made them obedient to the Word of God.  I guess I kind of felt like our culture seeped into this book, though it took place in the early 1900’s.

2.  Jessie Ann Gaebele, the main character, was a photographer.  I love photography.  But for some reason . . . I just couldn’t connect with her. 

I don’t know what my deal was with this book.  I did enjoy reading it.  I don’t feel it was WRONG to read it.  But I am not sure that it was profitable for me.  Like I said, a great vacation book. 

Want to win it?  I have an extra copy . . . and seriously try to win it.  Surely you have a vacation coming up?

How to Enter (and yes my friends and family can enter . . . I use www.random.org to pick the winner . . . and you aren't friends with Mr. Random.  No one is. So enter to win ON MY BLOG NOT through a FACEBOOK COMMENT.)

Mandatory:  Tell me where you would like to go to on a dream vacation. 

Optional Entries (meaning write a new and separate comment for each)

1. Become a fan of my blog (look over on the right sidebar) and tell me that you are or already were.  A little avatar will show up when you follow me through Google Connect.
2. Subscribe to the Granola Mom 4 God Feedburner – meaning you will get me in your in-box! 
3. Blog about this giveaway linking to this post.
4. Tweet about this giveaway, being sure to leave the URL or your Twitter ID.  (Mine is GranolaMom4God—don’t be offended if I don’t follow you back.) 
5. Become a fan of Granola Mom 4 God on Facebook.
6. Place my Granola Mom 4 God button in a visible location on your blog.

 

Giveaway Ends:  Thursday, April 15, 2010

Sorry US residents only!

Technorati Tags: Waterbrook Press,An Absence So Great,Jane Kirkpatrick

Family Mint: A Review

Let’s start with two statistics taken from an email that I received several weeks ago.

• 18 - 24 year olds are the fastest growing age group filing for bankruptcy
• Only 5% of adults learned the vital life skill of money management in elementary or high school.

If you find this concerning, then you might be interested in introducing your family to Family Mint.  Family Mint is a free online website that provides a useful tool in assisting parents in the process of teaching money management to their children.

I found it very easy to set up an account at Family Mint.  There are three simple first steps:

1. Create a profile for each of your children.
2. Have your children gather up their physical cash and give to you--the bank--and make their initial deposit.
3. Set up two or three goals with them. 

Family Mint is a way to introduce your child to the world of online banking (even though the parents hold the money).  Parents can offer interest, a matching fund, automatic allowance, and goal planning.

It’s free.  You should check it out. 

Now, I will be honest with you . . . though I think that this is a GREAT concept I did not put this program to its full use.  Right now one more reason to be on the computer just doesn’t motivate me.  Additionally, with Mr. Smackdown only being 5, he is just excited to to help out around the house and occasionally earn money.  The boys have a piggy bank and they are content to feel how heavy it is.  There will come a day when we will teach them about saving, giving, tithing, multiplying . . . but for now . . . we are just letting them be kids.  I just don’t want to rush childhood.

For more reviews on Family Mint be sure to visit:

This product link was provided to me for free.  I did not receive any compensation for this review.

Technorati Tags: Family Mint