I’ve been processing some things for several days now and apparently I’m still not done, so I really have nothing to blog about. When I have nothing to blog about I usually revert to food. I have juiced every day since the juicer came home with me and I love it. Everything I have tried, we have loved, however, beats do not agree with my tummy. I read that they have a natural source of chlorine that stimulates the muscles in your abdomen. In other words, they make you poop when consumed raw. In my case, they made me throw up and have severe diarrhea. TMI I know!
I love mixing fruit juices with my greens. Spinach is awesome juiced with some green apple, pineapple, and cucumber. My favorite is still carrot, orange, and pineapple with a gala apple tossed in. On mornings when I juice I drink less coffee and feel much more awake. This morning I have been too lazy to juice so far and have noticed a HUGE difference.
I am doing another food experiment. I am experimenting with making homemade vanilla. I love Mexican Vanilla, but it’s hard to find the real stuff. The closest match for it is Rodelle’s organic vanilla, but at 12 bucks for a 8oz bottle (that was on sale) I am not as free with its use.
So I took a basic recipe from Cook’s illustrated and I’m experimenting with it. I changed the proportions just a little bit. I took 2 and a half whole vanilla beans, split them in half and scraped out the vanilla caviar. I placed the beans and seeds in a ball jar for jelly. Then I heated one cup of Vodka in a small sauce pan until it was just starting to bubble. I poured this over the vanilla beans and then let it sit till it cooled to room temp. I put the lid on and gently turned the jar back and forth about 4 times. This jar will sit on the counter at room temp for the week and each day I will gently turn the jar over to agitate it and allow more of the vanilla to infuse into the vodka. On Monday I will strain this mixture through cheese cloth or coffee filters and then I will bake the most awesome chocolate chip cookies on the planet!
I also got another jar and placed two scraped beans with their seeds with sugar to almost fill the jar. I left about an inch at the top to leave room for shaking. This sugar I shook violently in the jar and will continue to shake it each day for about a week. This sugar can be used in coffee, tea, mixed with cinnamon for toast…whatever suits your fancy!
This weekend I am going to buy some amazing croissants at a cute little French bakery up the street and then I am going to mix softened butter with apricot preserves for an awesome breakfast treat. My family will immediately be in love with that!
