food

The Pantry is still very full which makes me so thankful for the bountiful garden that we had last year.

This January morning finds me thinking of spending even more time in the garden this summer.

Lists have been started all the different things that I want to have in the garden this year, kale being at the top of that list!

Working on eating more veg and less meat ( although I have no intention of giving up meat altogether!)
This week I made a wonderful filling lentil soup and Thai cabbage salad

Recipes ~

Lentil soup
1 1/2 cup diced carrots
1 cup diced Celery
1 cup mushrooms sliced
1 cup onion sliced
3 cloves garlic minced
2 cups lentils rinsed
1 cup brown rice
10 cups chicken stock
Basel, thyme, oregano, salt, red peeper flakes, and 2 bay leaves
cook altogether for 35 min. or until rice and lentils are tender  remove bay leaves add one can tomatoes and enjoy!

Thai Coleslaw Salad
Dressing
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup unseasoned rice wine vinegar
1 Tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon Asian sesame oil
1 tablespoon peanut butter  
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sriracha sauce
1 tablespoon minced ginger
1 large garlic clove minced

for the Slaw
I bag prepared coleslaw
1 red pepper thinly sliced
3 green onion sliced
1/2 cup chopped peanuts
1/4 cup chopped cilantro

make dressing and slaw separately  then mix together let sit for about ten min before serving.

happy hump day!

Growing

Minnesota in the winter  gets to be a pretty bland place. Usually it's just white snow

this year however its just brown, brown, brown. hardly any snow

 It's times like this  that I'm especially thankful for the growing that's going on in my home.
African Violets~ this is the very first African violet that I've been able to keep alive let alone have it bloom for me and its done so several times   I picked this one up at Wal Mart 2 years ago and it's bloomed 5 or 6 times and it just keeps getting bigger and bigger.

 While Christmas shopping this year I picked up some paper whites,  they have been well  worth the 4.99 that I paid for them.  I put the bulbs in a tall vase with rocks at the bottom and just watered them making sure that the water did not get above the rock line.

 The first week of January I got these guys going, They are Hyacinthia's I picked them up at the grocery store clearance rack. they were 1.00 for a box of 10 bulbs so I picked up 2 boxes.  I looked around the house and found some old candle jars (that I can not bring myself to ever throw out )   and there you have it.  Every single bulb is blooming!

I didn't even put them in dirt I just used the sawdust stuff that they were packaged in to keep them in place and then watered the sawdust stuff .   yeah! now I have color and life in the "dead" of winter.
how about you do you need a little extra color and life in the winter months?

Making

Making these things in the kitchen right now!  winter in Minnesota means cold and dry.  This homemade lip balm is the perfect cure.  I found the tutorial and recipe here you'll need to scroll to the bottom of her post if you want to give it a try.  I found the containers at JoAnn fabrics in the beading section                                                 

 I've been having fun in the kitchen with this culinary adventure, It thrills me every time I make it and it turns out... Homemade yogurt! I love the taste of this stuff! only wish I were making it with raw milk. I found the recipe here

 and finally this stuff that my family and their friends can't seem to get enough of,  Granola.  I'm still tweaking the recipe and trying to make it a bit healthier  but as of now here is the recipe

Granola
6 cups rolled oats ( not the instant )
4 cups nuts~ what ever kind you like or have on hand I use almonds pecans walnut most often
1 1/2 cups shredded coconut~ I use the unsweetened kind that you can find in the health food section.
1/2 cup brown sugar
4 Tbls Ground flax seeds ~ note, you must grind your flax seeds to make them nutritionally beneficial to you other wise they just slip threw your system unused.
MIX THESE INGREDIENTS IN A LARGE BOWL
In a small sauce pan gently heat 
1/2 cup + 2 Tbls of honey
1/2 cup coconut oil
1 1/2 Tsp sea salt
when heated and oil is melted then pour over oat mixture and mix
dump out onto two large cookie sheets
and bake at 250* for about one and a half hours  mixing often
when mixture is finished baking mix in 2 cups dried fruit  ( what ever you like )
Store in an air tight container  and enjoy!!