Fire Cider - Take Two

Happy Sunday!  Yesterday was a wonderful day that involved lots of football and a little bit of napping. Cozied up on the couch with a blanket on a cold winter night. Bliss.

                                       

Yesterday also involved a little time in the kitchen, which made me happy. For dinner, I made this Asian Zucchini dish from a Good Housekeeping website. Only change I made to the recipe was to add Watercress in with the Cilantro and sprinkle the finished product with black sesame seeds.  The recipe was great and I was able to add three new plants to my list for the week.  

But y'all, even with all the great things I have had this week, I was only at 33 plants for the week!  In the twelve weeks I have been doing the "40 Different Plants in a Week" challenge, I don't think I have ever been this short on a Sunday morning. I tried to think back on my meals this week to see if maybe there was something I forgot to write down during the week, but I don't think I have missed anything.  I have eaten leftovers quite a bit, which is good for not wasting food, but not for the plant list.

So, first meal of the day today I needed to knock it out of the park.I blasted past 40 plants this morning with a bowl of oatmeal that was loaded with plants and seeds and attitude! This bowl had oatmeal, chia seeds, flax seed, moringa powder, hemp hearts, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, coconut, cranberries and oranges. Take that plant list! If I don't eat another thing today, we hit 41 on the plant list! Woo Hoo! 

Yesterday, I also put together my next batch of Fire Cider to start fermenting! I am guzzling down the first batch - trying to pace myself while we wait on this next batch to be ready in four weeks. I was able to get fresh horseradish root this time, so that is a new twist for my Fire Cider. The picture below is everything that went in this batch. Onion, oranges, horseradish, ginger, turmeric, lime, lemon, peppers and garlic. I grinded in some chunks of black peppercorn, too. You know turmeric loves some black pepper. 

Once all the veggies are in the jar, you just cover them with Apple Cider Vinegar and put it on the kitchen counter for four weeks. Shake it whenever you think to do it. Do your thing, Fire Cider.  Get to fermenting. 

No idea, what the Fire Cider is doing for me, but I feel great and I like it.  So, if nothing else it is a little vinegar pick me up during the day! 

After the slow, relaxing day I had yesterday I have lots of things to get done today.  Presents to wrap, leaves to pick up, house to clean! Monday is coming!  

Hope your weekend has been awesome! 

It's FRIDAY!

It is finally Friday night. Whew, what a week. My snoring dog is beside me and I am sipping on a glass of Crown. So grateful and happy that it is Friday. It has been another really busy, but productive day in a really busy and productive week that makes me feel tired in the best way. I started off the day with an early morning walk with Martha. Friday walks with Martha are the best. It was so cold this morning and honestly I could not have cared less. We talked non-stop and covered all the things and the miles went by much too fast. Great start to the morning! 

Speaking of great starts to mornings...have I talked about a tofu scramble?  I am new to the tofu scramble and y'all it is good!  I made this on Thursday morning. You put all your standard breakfast veggies in a pan with some olive oil to get soft and yummy.  Crumble up some tofu and throw that in the pan. Add some garlic powder, turmeric, salt and pepper and get the tofu all golden and looking like a scrambled egg. Turn off the heat and splash in a little oat milk to make it creamy and even more egg like. Serve it with a nice side of avocado, tomato and cilantro, sprinkled with "Everything But the Bagel" seasoning....and of course, a piece of sourdough toast. That is an A+ breakfast right there!  Plant heavy and scrumptious. 

This morning, after our walk, I made my most favorite vegan pancakes. I made the recipe from memory!  That is how many time I have made these pancakes!  They are fantastic.

Look what I did with mine...topped them with warmed blackberries, raspberries, blueberries and just a couple dollops of leftover whipped cream from Thanksgiving. I put the tiniest amount of sugar in the fruit so it is a magical combination of tart fruit and sweet cream. So good. Such an indulgent breakfast that fills me right up! It also adds to my plant list for the week!  

I am only at 31 plants at the close of business tonight!  I need nine more plants before Sunday evening! I better get eating! 

Let's not get too wrapped up in the plant list. Instead, let's look at this amazing sky!  I took this picture last night on my evening walk with Judy.  Look at those clouds and those colors! It was breathtaking!  

Finally, I leave you with this quote that hit me right in the feels. We are all just walking each other home.  I LOVE EVERY SINGLE THING ABOUT THIS. 

 Hope your week was great and you the weekend ahead is fabulous!

Fire Cider is Ready!

Hey all!  How was your Hump Day? Mine was good. Good solid work day. Got a couple of hard things off my to do list and the day flew by again. 

We had some real excitement in the kitchen today that I can't wait to tell you about. The Fire Cider we put together about a month ago is done fermenting and it is time to strain that stuff and get to drinking!  I know, I know....I have been counting down the days, too.  But hold your horses....let's chat about some plants we ate today before we get to the Fire Cider. 

I really wanted to start working early this morning, which means I didn't work out today. That sentence is small on purpose.  I am whispering. Trying not to give myself any dumb ideas about tomorrow morning!  Tomorrow we ride before we do anything else. Get in your routine sister! 

Because I was in a bit of a rush today, I just warmed up the veggies from yesterday in the microwave and threw them in a fire warmed corn tortilla.  No Just Eggs - No Spinach.  Just heat and go.  It was still great. No new plants. I ate all of these yesterday.

Right after I scarfed down my taco, I put on a pot of collard greens to start cooking for lunch. This will be a new plant for the week!  

Collard greens are so easy to make and man are they ever good. I don't have a recipe...but here is basically how I make them.  Sauté a little onion in some olive oil in a soup pot. Once the onion cooks for a few minutes, dump in an obnoxious amount of fresh chopped garlic. Like four giant cloves. Let that warm up a little - maybe a minute.  Dump in an entire giant bag of pre-washed collard greens. Collard greens do that thing that spinach does. You can barely fit it all in the pan and in five minutes you are wondering if you will have enough for a single bowl. It would be a big bowl, but seriously it shrinks down a ton. To the pot of veggies, you add a full carton of Vegetable Broth. Salt. Pepper. Red Pepper Flakes. Be generous. 

Then the secret ingredient that my sister turned me on to years ago...WASABI POWDER.  It only takes about 1/2 of a teaspoon for the entire pot of collards, but man does it give it the most lovely flavor and heat!  A little goes a long way.  This picture below is the Wasabi Powder that I have and honestly mine has been expired for years and I am still using it. I don't know what that says about anything, except it still packs a punch and I hope being expired doesn't mean it is going to kill me. 

So you put all that goodness in a pot, turn the heat on low, put a lid on it and walk away. Like you can walk away for a long time. I popped in and out of the kitchen warming up my coffee and cooking breakfast for Chip and I stirred it occasionally, but I don't think stirring it is even necessary. 

I let mine go for a couple of hours and then turned off the heat and just let them sit on the stove until lunch time. 

 

Between meetings, I threw together a batch of vegan cornbread from Nora Cooks - adding in some frozen corn, fresh jalapeños and pickled jalapeños. I really wanted to add in some green chilis, but didn't have any in the pantry. 

The cornbread was delightful....but the collard greens were the star of the day!  I moaned when I ate them. Do you know how good food has to be to elicit a moan from a person?  So dang good!  And I have some leftovers!!!  You know I will be thinking about them in the morning. Might just eat them for breakfast. 

I added collard greens, corn and garlic to the plant list.  I need to have a smoothie or something tomorrow to jump up my plant counts. Seems to be a slow start to the plant week for me. 

Okay, okay, let's get to the Fire Cider.  Remember how I chopped up a ton of healing, inflammation reducing peppers, lemons, turmeric, oranges, garlic, onions and who knows what all else and put it in this jar covered in apple cider vinegar?  No?  Well I did.  I have been shaking it every day for about a month and today was the day to strain it and take my first shot! 

I put a strainer over a glass bowl and was honestly expecting all the veggies and things to come rushing out. But mostly they stayed in the jar and it was pretty easy to just drain the juice. 

It smelled so strongly of vinegar and ferment.  I don't even know if I know what ferment smells like, but I am pretty sure that was the smell. I could not wait to take a shot, because we have already established that I am a big fan of vinegar. 

It was good.  It was not as hot and spicy as I thought it would be.  I will have no trouble drinking a shot of this a day. No honey needed. I do however, need to remember to put a little black pepper in my shot every day to activate the turmeric or accelerate the turmeric or be friends with the turmeric.  I don't know why turmeric needs black pepper but it just does. 

So this bottle holds the fruit of my Fire Cider fermenting labor and I know I will not have any trouble going through this batch. You know what I did have trouble with? Figuring out how this damn stopper went on this bottle!  I was on zoom with my sister trying it every which way but loose. She was sending me how to videos, I was watching YouTube. Finally figured it out. Brain teaser.

Hopefully Fire Cider will help the old brain work a little better. Work some magic turmeric and black pepper!  I am pretty sure turmeric has nothing to do with brain power, but we just don't know. I will keep you posted on how I feel after taking a shot of this a day for a week or so.  

Also, I am going to start another batch this week so when this bottle is empty I will have more ready to go. 

Let me close tonight with this text exchange I had with my long time friend Liz. We worked together probably 25 years ago and still keep up with each other. She lives in Florida and one of these days I am going to visit her! I mean it.  So she sent me the sweetest text today telling me that my food pictures looked great and made the food look high end from a fancy restaurant.  I busted out laughing and sent her this picture of my actual kitchen sink. 

I am ridiculous with these dishes. I dirty everything! Does this make you never want to eat a meal at my house?

I have already cleaned the kitchen tonight and it is sparkling and ready for another day tomorrow.  Heading to bed because tomorrow starts early!   

Merry.

Hi guys! Hope your Tuesday was lovely!  My morning routine went well again today. I didn't set any records, but I got some exercise in, got showered and dressed before coming downstairs. That continues to  feels like a win every time I do it and gets my day off to a good start. 

But don't you know that already tonight I am thinking, maybe tomorrow I will just do some stretches...while in bed...under the covers....with my eyes closed. How easy it would be to abandon the new routine. I am going to stick it out and before you know it, the morning routine will become automatic.

On the plant list front, I only added a few plants to the list today, even though I had some veggie packed meals.  I started off with a new batch of lawnmower eggs for breakfast.  These had potatoes, spinach, mushrooms, red pepper, jalapeño, asparagus and onion.   

I diced up all the veggies and threw them in a skillet. Started off with potatoes, because they take a little longer. Then threw in the mushrooms, onion, jalapeño, asparagus and bell pepper. 

Let those visit for a while and get yummy. Once they cooked for a few minutes, I threw in a gob of spinach. A "gob" is a big heap of the green stuff. 

Within just a few seconds, spinach wilts down to nothing. How? 

I pulled out half the veggies to save for tomorrow and then brought out the Just Egg.  I drizzled it all over the veggies and let it cook for a while.

It does not take long to cook! Then I plated it up and topped it with fresh avocado and tomatoes.  And also, I had a piece of sourdough toast. Because toast is good and it works as another vehicle to get the eggs to your mouth. 

Terrific breakfast! 

 

Look at this cute new Christmas sweatshirt I put on for this chilly December 1st!  Isn't it so cute?  I got it on Etsy and it is comfortable and snuggly. I will wear it a lot and no one will ever see me.  COVID! 

I had a super busy day at work and only stepped away for a few minutes to grab some toast with jelly and a giant handful (or two) of peanut M&Ms for lunch. That is not a healthy lunch. But as we continue to learn...WE CAN'T DO EVERYTHING.  So, I ate the toast, ate the M&Ms and we move on. Let's move on to our next meal and do better! 

For dinner, I marinated a portobello mushroom in a delicious sauce, sautéed it up with some shallots and garlic and served it with rice noodles and roasted veggies. I need all the veggies to counter act all the peanut M&Ms! 

It was fantastic!  Big, big fan of the portobello mushroom and also roasted vegetables are candy.  With just a little drizzle of olive oil and some seasoning - something magical happens in the oven.  They get caramelized in the most fabulous way. I need a bumper sticker that says " I love roasted veggies".

Crispy Cauliflower Tacos

Hey, hey, hey! We survived the Monday after a long weekend. It is always hard to get back to the grind after a nice long weekend, but we did it!  

I am working on a new morning routine and getting up a little earlier to ride my Peloton before I even come downstairs. I was worried I would not be as energetic in the morning, but I had a new PR this morning so I think it is going to be fine. After my workout, I run through a quick shower, do my hair, throw on some makeup and get dressed. All done before setting one foot downstairs. I then have a cup of coffee while cooking breakfast and am at my computer well before 8:00 a.m. Hopefully, getting exercise done first thing will take the pressure off the busy evenings when I am trying to wrap up work, take the dog for a walk and get dinner on the table. I will keep you posted on how the routine shakes out.

I am also happy to report that I squeaked by Thanksgiving week with 41 plant varieties on my list. With all the eating festivities of last week, it seems like I should have set a new plant variety record, but I was barely meeting the minimum.  I need to work on that. 

I started out this week strong with a great lawnmower breakfast taco with eight plant varieties. Not sure what happened to this picture, but it looks like it is from the 70s. Anyway, I am a big fan of lawnmower tacos, but from 2020, not 1970. 

You know what else I am a big fan of? Crispy Cauliflower Tacos by A Couple Cooks!  I have made these a couple of other times, but I don't think I have shared them with you.  They are so dang good and the cauliflower is really, really crispy.  

The ingredient list is a little weird - but just go with it!  Don't question that the marinade for the cauliflower has soy sauce, coconut oil, maple syrup and peanut butter!  Just do it.  Then toss the marinaded cauliflower with the panko, cornmeal, spiced up dry mixture and be happy you followed the recipe! 

Pop these little nuggets  a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and into a 400 degree oven for 30 minutes. 

While they were cooking, I whipped up some garlic, cabbage, bok choy goodness to go with them. 

I sautéed the veggies in a little olive oil.  Splashed in some soy sauce and red pepper flakes. Cooked it for maybe 90 seconds until it got good and wilted. Once that was done, I made a quick little vegan yum yum sauce to drizzle on top of my creation. 

I still had time to empty the dishwasher! 

When the cauliflower was almost ready to come out of the oven, I grabbed my corn tortillas and threw them straight on top of my gas burner.  Flipped the tortillas a couple times and got them hot and charred. 

I split the cabbage mixture between the two tacos, piled them high with cauliflower, drizzled them with sauce and sprinkled on a few green onions. 

The combination was fantastic.  Reminded me so much of a Chuy's fish taco!  That is good eating right there. Try it! 

I added cauliflower, purple cabbage, bok choy and garlic to my list for dinner. I could probably also add corn for the tortillas and the corn meal in the coating, but it just doesn't feel like a plant so I am not adding it. Regardless, it sure was a tasty dinner.   

I have to leave you with this story.  Remember last week when I made veggie spring rolls with all the colorful veggies wrapped in rice paper?  Bob called me and told me it looked like I had wrapped up a little man inside the rice paper.  I had no idea what he was talking about until he showed me this picture.  Do you see the little man in the spring roll on the left?  Zoom in.  It looks like a Lego figurine with his face trapped against the rice paper! So funny. I won't be able to eat a spring roll again without looking for a little fellow! 

I hope your Monday was great and you started your week with a blank plant list!  This is week 12 for me of eating 40+ different plants a week. Feels great! 

Locking Up Christmas

With Thanksgiving in the rearview mirror, it is time to look forward to Christmas. We won't be traveling for Christmas, so I have to get gifts purchased, wrapped and mailed to our family in Bama. 

I think I mentioned that I was going to torture my nieces and nephews with the gift of cash. I am just not a fan of giving them cash in an envelope, so I have to make it challenging for them. The youngest is 16, so they are old enough to figure it out. 

I had a friend ask if I could give a little bit more information about my plan so maybe they could torture someone in their life. I am more than happy to oblige. 

I started off with the basic supplies shown below + some cold hard cash.  

You need:

• Plastic box with lid - IRIS USA Medium Modular Supply Case on Amazon. If you can't find this one, you can get something similar.  The dimensions are 5.24 x 8.4 x 1.98 inches.
• 4 ft 3mm luggage security wire with loops at both ends
• Luggage lock with a four number combination
• Small Box to put the cash in and wrap - I got 3.5 X 3.5 X 1 size boxes but anything smaller than the plastic box would work. 

Then the fun begins! The only way I could think of that the kids would not be able to wiggle the cable off the end of the plastic box to get it opened, was to drill a hole through the box. Judy helped me think through the best way to do it. She has an engineering brain that works great at figuring things out. 

I used my biggest drill bit! Look at that thing! Made me feel like a boss! I opened each plastic box and braced the end I was going to drill against a 2 X 4 to support the plastic so it would crack under the pressure of the drill. Then I just pressed down gently with the drill and let it rip! On some boxes, the drill made a nice clean hole - on others it was kind of a raggedy mess with pieces of plastic that had to be cut off with scissors. Never quite figured out what I was doing different that was causing some to go great and some not so great.  But in the end, they all had holes big enough to run the wire through. 

I put the cash in the smaller box and wrapped it with a ribbon.  Then I ran the wire through the holes on the end of the box and over the box and then shut the lid. 

Next up is the only tricky part...figuring out how to wrap the wire all around the box and make it tight enough to just barely meet for the lock to go through both loops of the cable.  I ended up twisting the wire over and over and over on the top of the box to tighten up the cable so it would just barely meet.  I wanted it to be snug. 

I picked four random numbers out of thin air and followed the directions on the lock to set the combination for each lock. I made a list of all the combinations with each person's name, just in case they can't figure it out. 

For the final step I used a black and red sharpie to write the four numbers of their lock in random order all over the outside of the box. I am not sending any clues or instructions.  The four numbers on the box entered on the lock in the correct order will open the lock and let them access their gift. 

Two down....eight to go! 

Doesn't this make you happy that I am not your Aunt? 

Hopefully, this will be memorable - and not too hard!  I will keep you posted on the response I get from the kids! 
 

The Happiest of Thanksgivings

We had the most relaxing, wonderful, Thanksgiving ever.  In all of my life, I have never been responsible for the entire meal for Thanksgiving. My boys are not very hard to please, so our menu wasn't anything too elaborate. I tried to focus on what they really liked. 

They both got up bright and early and we were in the kitchen together all morning. I was the head chef, making sure we were organized, so that we prepped and cooked in a logical order and everything was ready to go for lunch. I gave them recipes and pulled out all the ingredients for them and they did the rest! They sliced, diced, chopped, shredded, boiled, measured, whisked, whipped, sautéed...the whole nine yards. We had a couple of uh-ohs, but nothing we couldn't recover from.  

There was laughing, yelling, a little cussing, people going on and off break, a few spills and dirty dishes out the wazoo! But y'all we made a fabulous meal!  Here is what was on our menu! 

Honey Baked Ham...Crunchy Romaine Salad...Asparagus Wrapped with Bacon...Macaroni and Cheese (hit of the day!)...Mashed Potatoes and Gravy...Vegan Sweet Potato Casserole...Rolls....Cheesecake from Junior's in New York....Brownie Trifle.

This is my carb heavy plate! I stayed away from the meat. No honey baked ham or bacon on my roasted asparagus....but I did eat some of that delicious sugar crisp from the honey baked ham! And I did indulge in plenty of dairy. 

This picture of them eating cracks me up!  They were into it!  I think all three of us were impressed with our efforts and the results! We did it! 

After we had our fill, we rolled over to the couch and took a nap! The boys went to their Dad's later in the afternoon and I took my time cleaning up the kitchen. 

I had a smile on my face all day and into the night. I loved spending the day in the kitchen with my boys. They are hilarious and make me laugh more than any other humans on earth. I think they had fun too! 

I hope you had a lovely day with your people! Bring on the holidays!