2 cups of cooked chickpeas
1 tsp of sea salt
1 garlic clove
1/4 cup of tahini
1/4 cup of fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp of paprika
1 tsp of thyme
Puree all ingredients in a food processor. Top with a pinch each of thyme, paprika, and sea salt. Enjoy!
We use the grain of the day, or the color, in order to establish a daily rhythm. Steiner believed these colors and grains were associated to the astral bodies that each day is named after. Each one is also tied into a different aspect of the body, but I won’t get into all of that right now. One of the major reasons we use this approach is to create a daily rhythm for the children. These rhythms help make the transitions of the day and week flow a bit more smoothly. A child will associate Mondays with a purple table cloth and know it’s rice pudding day for example. These rhythms and routines help the child feel secure by knowing what to expect. With so many new things to take in daily there is great comfort in consistency for a small child.
Color and Grain of the Day:
Sunday: White, Wheat, Sun
Monday: Purple, Rice, Moon
Tuesday: Red, Barley, Mars
Wednesday: Yellow, Millet, Mercury
Thursday: Orange, Rye, Jupiter
Friday: Green, Oats, Venus
Saturday: Indigo, Corn, Saturn
I recently took on the task of cooking for the LifeWays Training Class in Wisconsin, it was a really wonderful experience and a great opportunity to head back into the kitchen and share what I’ve learned.
We normally use the grain of the day to keep our daily rhythm, however, with the rise in gluten allergies I decided to take on a different approach and try to use the color of the day instead. Why hadn’t I thought of that before?! Every day I had to figure out a recipe that matched what produce was available to me in the color of the day. What a challenge! I chose to cook a vegetarian diet for a variety of reasons, but mostly because that’s what we provide at LifeWays for the children. I also encourage raw fruits and vegetables with every meal, so each day we served a side salad with a variety of fruits and vegetables in the color of the day. On some days I used both the color and grain of the day. You can easily have a different bread to go with the salad using each grain of the day. The possibilities are endless and it proves to be a fun challenge provoking you to use those creative problem solving skills! Colors are a simple and fun way to create routine. They can be added through foods, aprons, or even table settings. Whichever you decide to use, make sure you have fun with it and involve your children. While you may not follow Steiners beliefs in anthroposophy, I do encourage you to establish your own home meal time rhythms. It will create cherished memories and traditions for your child.
This is my latest addiction, it’s soothing, satisfying, and feels like a treat especially on a stressful day.
Honey Vanilla Early Grey Lavender Tea Latte
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp honey
1 earl grey lavender tea bag, or tea of choice.
1 cup milk
Over the stove top heat the milk, honey and vanilla, stirring slowly with wisk at first until honey is melted and combined. As milk reaches simmer, wisk to add a bit of froth and remove from heat. Pour over tea bag and allow to steep for 5-10 minutes. Enjoy!
This was an experiment that worked out pretty well. Purple carrots and turnips. I added them to a sweet spiced honey butter. I added a dash of thyme but it probably isn’t even necessary. They turned out very tasty. My ingredients may be a bit off, as I was kind of dashing this and that, but it should be pretty close. The tender walnuts really matched the roots well. I am a fan of turnips now. I bet this would be good with apples.
Ingredients:
3 carrots
3 turnips
2 tbsp honey (please make sure you’re using local honey)
3 tbsp butter
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp cloves
1 tsp thyme
dash of salt
2 tbsp chopped walnuts (optional)
Chop your carrots and turnips into thin slices. Add ingredients, toss. Place in small baking dish. Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes or until tender.
The Thieves blend (an essential oil mix) is a popular and old fashioned way of keeping the germies away. At first I was skeptical, as I am about most things. However this blend was worn by “thieves” during the plague as they looted the dead. A bit morbid, but it worked for them and it works wonders for us. We rarely get sick and if we do it doesn’t last long. When my daughter wasn’t feeling well I made her this adorable little aromatherapy owl packed with oats, rice, lavender and thieves blend oil. She loved him, takes him everywhere, and named him Hooty Hoo, the owl. You can sew whatever you’d like. I used a soft wool blend felt so he’d be cuddly. I had a bit of filling leftover as he’s only pocket size. Put it in a vase, or a canister. The scent keeps really well. Depending on the materials and details you sew onto yours, you should be able to heat or cool the mixture, similar to any aromatherapy thing you might buy at the store. Enjoy!
Filling Ingredients:
1/4 cup brown rice
1/2 cup rolled oats
pinch of lavender
1-2 drops essential oil from: lavender, eucalyptus, lemon, clove bud, cinnamon, tea tree, & rosemary.
This recipe was inspired by the book “Nourishing Traditions” by Sally Fallon. I omitted the creme fraiche (a type of sour cream) and changed the chicken stock to vegetable. I also mashed the potatoes instead of putting them into q food processor because I don’t have a hand held one. It turned out absolutely delicious. I topped mine with chives and cheese and that made it even better. It really hit the spot on this cold and rainy day!
Potato Leek Soup
3 Leeks, peeled and chopped
3 tbsp butter
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
4-6 potatoes peeled and chopped (I ended up with about 5 cups chopped and used a gold and red potato variety)
6 cups vegetable broth
3 sprigs of thyme
sea salt & pepper to taste
chives, cheese etc to top
Saute leeks in butter and oil until tender.
Add broth, potatoes, thyme and salt and pepper.
Simmer until potatoes are tender.
Remove sprigs of thyme.
Using a potato masher, mash the potatoes to your liking.
Serve in bowls topped with cheese and chives or anything else you fancy. I imagine bacon and sour cream would also be delicious, but it’s also great without anything added.
Enjoy!
Fresh, crisp, and tasty. One of my favorite side dishes. Try it on top of a garden fresh salad or in a pita for lunch. Delicious!
Curry Chickpea Salad
2 cups cooked and rinsed chickpeas
1/2 cup sliced or chopped tomatoes
1/2 cup chopped peppers (we used red, yellow, and orange bell peppers)
1/4 cup fresh cilantro
1/4 cup chopped vidalia onion (or other sweet onion)
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tbsp curry
1 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tbsp fresh ground pepper
Mix all ingredients except spices in a bowl to cover with oil.
Add spices.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
If allowed to marinate over night it will be twice as flavorful.
This is a very nice play clay. Not too sticky, and you can let it dry out to create sculptures. Simple, natural, and so cheap to make. Give it as a gift for the upcoming holidays!
Natural Home Made Play Clay
2 cups baking soda
1 cup cornstarch
1 cup water
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp tumeric (optional for coloring-makes pink or red if you add more, you can also use food coloring)
Mix baking soda, cornstarch and water in a saucepan. (Add food coloring or scents.)
Bring to a boil, constantly stirring.
Dough will start to resemble clumpy mashed potatoes, keep stirring until it forms a dough.
Remove from heat and allow to cool.
Store in an airtight sealed container.
Tips:
~If dough becomes hard or clumpy, spray with some water and knead.
~If allowed to dry you can use this dough to make ornaments or sculptures.
~For faster drying, dry in oven on cookie sheet at any temp below 200.
~Adding a drop or 2 of essential oils can be a great way to introduce some aromatherapy to play time. I’d recommend some lavender or thieves blend play clay.
My parents neighbors are proof that nice people do in fact still exist. Not only did they offer us all the pears we wanted from their pear tree, they also donated the remaining ones to local food shelters because they know they can’t possibly eat all of them. So instead of letting them waste, as many people do, they put in the harvest work to help people out. Genuinely nice people. I sincerely wish more people helped each other out. I also wish we utilized our land more to produce our food needs locally but that’s a whole rant for another day. So what in the world am I going to do with 3 bushels of pears I thought. I told them I’d make them a pie.. and pear bars.. and pear jam.. and and and.. hmmm. Time to experiment in my laboratory! Today we made all of these, though I realize the pear jam was more of a hybrid from applesauce so I figured it best to call it pear butter. I had no idea what I was doing, I totally winged it and tried to take some decent notes. I’m glad I did this time because I could easily eat a ton of this. I only made a small batch though because I was using it for pear bars which I will post the recipe for later. So here’s pear butter:
Ingredients:
3 cups peeled, sliced pears
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 tbsp butter
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp each of cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice
1 1/2 tbsp low or no sugar pectin
Mix all ingredients in a saucepan on medium heat until pears are tender.
Move to food processor and puree to the texture of your liking. (I pureed mine pretty smooth so it would spread easily.)
Move back to saucepan and heat to a rolling boil that cannot be stirred down. (this part can get messy-I recommend a deep saucepan if you have one, otherwise be careful of splatters)
Add pectin and continuously stir on high heat for 1 minute.
Remove from heat.
Ladle into a sanitized glass canning jar, wipe lid and allow to cool for at least 20 minutes.
Seal and refrigerate.
This is the way you’d make it to enjoy now. If you wish to can it there are directions on the pectin for proper boiling/sealing etc. I use Ball low or no sugar added pectin and it gives me great results.
Pumpkin spiced latte’s are delicious, but something about digesting that syrupy gunky stuff never sits well with me. Have you ever left your cup out for awhile and seen it separate? Not very appetizing. So let’s make one that’s good(ish) for you with REAL pumpkin! The idea came from Organic Authority but I modified it a bit.
Original Version: http://www.organicauthority.com/eco-chic-table/how-to-make-an-organic-pumpkin-spice-latte.html
My version:
Ingredients:
1 cup strong brewed coffee or espresso
1 cup half & half
1/4 cup pureed pumpkin
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 tsp cloves
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp all spice
1 dash of nutmeg
-Whipped cream
Steam your milk/pumpkin/spices in a small saucepan leaving coffee or espresso out.
Whisk until frothy.
Add coffee or espresso. (makes 2 cups or 1 big I deserve it cup)
Top with whipped cream and add a few nutmeg or cinnamon sprinkles.
ENJOY!
