Orange / Chocolate mint Fruit Water

I’ve shared how we tried a few flavor combinations of the newly discovered fruit / herb water …

Today we tried Orange with Chocolate mint.

Not too bad.

I used about half of an average sized orange, cut into about half inch thick slices, then cut in quarters.

I added a handful of mint leaves.

Kinda mushed the stuff in the jar & added 2 trays of ice cubes & filtered water.

I really enjoyed how mild this one tasted. 

I’m sure with more fruit and/or mint the flavor would be more robust. 

But that’s the beauty of making this water… you are in complete control & there is no right or wrong amount.

Life Without ... store bought granola bars!

compacted & pressed

Several weeks ago, or maybe longer now, I saw conversation about making your own granola bars. It has been on my list of new stuff to try for some time so I perked up when reading about it again. Presented in the conversation was a simple recipe to try. I copied it into a document & saved it. So there it sat, on my desktop, quietly waiting for me to open it back up & have a go at it.

ready for the oven

That day finally came over the weekend. I had to either go buy more or make some, as our stock pile was … gone. Hubby takes one to work every day as part of his lunch. I enjoy one on occasion & we always take a few with us when we go walking/hiking or for long rides.

fresh out the oven!

Let me say right now that I will not again buy any from the store. Not when homemade tastes this good & is so easy.

There are more varieties/recipes out there for granola bars than I know I’ll ever have time to try… and that is way cool to me. The varieties are now truly endless. No more limits by brand or price from the store. I love that.

Here is the recipe I used …

1/2 c pure cane sugar (I use organic sugar)

1/2 c softened butter (organic unsalted is what I used)

1/2 c real maple syrup (organic pure maple/agave blend I used)

1 egg  (farm fresh!)

1 tsp real vanilla extract (we have some organic on hand)

3 1/2 c oats

1 c optional add-ins (dried fruit, nuts, chocolate chips)

 (I used 1/3 cup each of chips, fig pieces & organic raisins)

Cream sugar and butter; add other ingredients one at a time in order of appearance. Mix well (using your hands is a treat :). Press onto cookie sheet. Bake for 20 minutes at 350. You can stir it about halfway through baking if you want "granola" or let it bake through and then cut into bars.

fully cooled & cut

Sounds simple enough right? It was. I used my jelly roll pan, lined with parchment paper. To get the thickness of what we’re used to in a granola bar, I pushed everything together more which is why the pan was not full. When it came out of the oven, it was obviously hot, & soft still, in the center. I put the whole thing on a cooling rack for maybe an hour. Then I pulled it out of the pan to let it finish cooling completely before I cut into it.

wrapped & ready!

My only issue right now is how to store them & make them portable as individual servings. I opted for plastic wrap but I really don’t like that. You know … that whole plastic thing. I’d be happier if it were wrapped in something else. Just not sure what.

I know one thing tho … with this new granola bar I could easily eat one every day as well. That means I’d be making more once a week!  This might not be a bad thing … And I am certainly looking forward to experimenting with all kinds of recipes & varieties!

Viable alternative to soda?

Ready for the Fridge

I was catching up on my Facebook feed the other day … just scrolling along when some beautiful jars of colored water with fruit & herbs caught my eye. A friend had posted a link to a blog where the writer was looking for something else to drink. Something other than plain water, soda, or fruit juice.

Enter this fruit water concoction. I loved it from the first word. Now, normally I would just read stuff like this, bookmark the page & sometime later maybe go back, find it & eventually try it out.

This time … I read about it & promptly got up to go make some. Yeah, just like that. See, I don’t drink nearly enough water. It gets boring. Just like the other blogger had mentioned. Here was something simple & fun to try.

So I wondered what I’d make my first batch with. The blogger had all kinds of recipes (well, okay, 5) & my mind was thinking to what I had on hand at home. And I did not add nearly as much fruit or herb as was listed in the recipes.

ready to drink

Batch one was raspberry, pineapple mint, & lemon.

Start with a 2 quart mason jar (or equivalent)

Raspberries were frozen from our bushes last year. I used a small handful. Less than a cup for sure.

The mint is from the yard. I used maybe 10 leaves.

The lemon was juice … maybe a teaspoon worth.

Now you are supposed to use a muddler to mush the fruit & crush the leaves … to release the flavors from both. I don’t have a muddler yet so I just used a wooden spatula/spoon thing… worked fine for now.

Add ice … I used 2 trays worth.

Add water to fill jar. I used filtered water.

Now you just stick it in the fridge & wait. When reading the bloggers post, she said it tastes best after 24 hours. Well, to be fair for a first time, we waited almost 24 hours. It's my understanding from reading more that 4 to 6 hours is sufficient.

Pineapple mint ready for fridge

Wow. Not bad at all. Hubby & I were both pleased with the results. What a wonderful fresh taste it had. Now, is it something we could replace soda with? I think perhaps we could. I do crave that fizz every now & then so perhaps we can mix this with some sparkling water or something on occasion.We could certainly replace the more concentrated big ol bottles of grape juice we're drinking.

We were so happy with the first batch, we looked to see what we had to try another. Batch 2 was pineapple & spearmint. It’s in the fridge now ….

There is a book out which has something like 50 recipes for flavor combinations to try. It’s on my Amazon wishlist … until then I will wander the internet looking for more flavor combos.

One small problem ... if we keep this up, I'm going to need my mint plants to grow faster. Or plant more. Or both!

Life Without ... store ketchup, try 3

Wow. Who would have thought making such a simple thing could be so much fun. The last recipe I tried came out pretty good & hubby loved it. The only thing I found kinda odd about it, to me, was the cinnamon in it. So, here it is time again to make more. This time I made just a few small changes to that recipe.

I added:

1 Tbsp of Vinegar

¼ tsp of mustard powder

¼ tsp of onion powder

I left out:

Cinnamon

Results? Not bad at all.

I’m not sure what else it is that makes it taste a little “off” to me. Maybe it’s the difference between store bought & homemade. But maybe it’s the all spice & clove. Something else funny … we went out to eat recently. Hubby used some of their ketchup for his fries. To see his face was funny. He could not believe how he used to think that stuff was good. We laughed & commented that maybe next time we need to bring our own.

After seeing & tasting the result of a mish-mash recipe of mayo, I think I am very inclined to try my hand at that next. The kids had tried to make some, but had no blender. Without the blender (or mixer perhaps?), it doesn’t mix very well… no matter how hard you try to whip it by hand. We brought their attempt to our place & poured it into the Ninja. Added a few bits of ingredients & had mayo. Pretty cool. Not quite how I want it to taste, but hubby liked it so its being used. Certainly good enough to make me wanna try. Of course I’ll share the results.

Productivity

socks, shorts, top & pants ... all fixed!

It feels good when several small things can be crossed off a list that’s been neglected for far too long. That was today. While I did not get quite as much done as I’d hoped, I did accomplish a few things that have either needed to be done or just should be done, for some time.

I have this weird thing about a sewing (machine) phobia. I can’t quite explain it, but its there. Stupid, silly, unnecessary … yeah, I know. I’ve talked to several people about it. Apparently I’m not completely alone in this one. While I have all these fun ideas in my head to try out for a new avenue for Nicole’s Visions, I have a fear of things not coming out perfect or just making mistakes. Kinda sucks. Today I took a step in the right direction. I took the small pile on the sewing table that I could hand mend, & did it. Now I have 3 things left that need machine mending. I figure its just our clothes & if I goof or mess up, its not as big a deal. Then the desk will be clear & I can cut into some practice fabric & get some sewing done. Hopefully, then there will be no stopping me!

few of the containers in the storage room

Another thing I managed this morning was finally playing with my new label maker. I bought it months ago when it was 50% off on sale. So, I finally got some labels put on containers. I love it. The business containers will also get some detail labels below the names. That of course, means I need to actually make sure the contents are more organized within them! LOL It wont be too bad as they are already semi organized. Whew!

   I also went thru some of hubby’s wood working magazines that he decided he only wanted an article out of them, not the whole mag. So, I took care of that small stack today too. All nice & organized in a 3 ring binder!

these need details labels still, but its a start!

Then … I kinda stopped. I did manage to get a load of clothes hung out on the new metal rod clotheslines hubby got put up last weekend for me. I love being able to put the laundry back outside to dry again.You can see them in the picture, if you look close. Neat thing is I can remove them & lay them down in the grass along the edge when not in use. that way we dont hang ourselves & the birds dont rest there & poop everywhere!

rods hung between posts.

So now here I am telling the world about what I managed to get done today… tomorrow morning I plan to get the sewing machine mending done … a few errands & maybe even get one of the new project items cut out!

Life without ... store bought Ketchup

 It was time again to make more ketchup on Monday. I had maybe enough left to make one more sandwich for hubby for work on Tuesday. Yeah, he likes mayo on one side & ketchup on the other. Not to mention he enjoys ketchup on many other things as well.

So Monday I tried another recipe. I found this one online somewhere …

This one was so simple. Directions stated to simply mix together & let chill overnight for flavors to meld together. Seriously? That simple? We’ll see.

6 oz tomato paste

1/4 cup water (used ¾ c total, great consistency)

2 tbsp vinegar

1/4 tsp dry mustard

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt         

1 pinch clove

1 pinch allspice

1 pinch cayenne pepper (didn’t use, I had none at home)

1/4 cup brown sugar

This time, I made no alterations other than the amount of water used. Using the quarter cup just made it way too thick for us. And I had no cayenne pepper at home (can you believe that?). I mixed everything together with a wire whisk, as the recipe said. Had a small taste & was impressed. So I stuck the whole bowl & whisk in the fridge. Hubby would be home in an hour & I’d let him taste. He too was impressed, letting me know he liked this one much better than the last one.

This time, I got 2 very full half pint jars out of it. I went & bought some lids for refrigerator use so I was not always using the lid & seal deal … save those for actual canning use!

So yes … seriously that simple.And I do believe I can now say we have a life without ... store bought ketchup!

Making Ketchup at home

It’s been on my “make it” list for awhile now. But, I was waiting to use up my stock of store bought organic ketchup before I started making my own.

My store bought ketchup was the Private Selection brand from my local Fred Meyer store. Well, the last bottle was about to be gone, last week. So, the hunt began for a recipe to try for the first batch. I didn’t want to make a lot until we found a recipe we both really liked.

I asked on my Facebook wall if anyone had a recipe. My friend from a coupon group I belong to, shared hers with me.

Rani’s Ketchup

6 oz can of tomato paste

2 tablespoons brown Sugar Twin (organic brown sugar, 3 Tbsp total)

1/4 teaspoon allspice

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder (didn’t have, left out)

1 tablespoons apple cider vinegar (organic acv, 3 Tbsp total)

1/2 can of water, divided (used a whole can, full 6oz, could use more)

1/2 tablespoon oil  (left out)

1/8 teaspoon salt (optional) (used, sea salt, just a dash)

Combine all ingredients and quarter a can of water.

Cook over low-medium heat in a sturdy pan, until it cooks down a bit and begins to darken slightly.

Add more water as necessary and continue cooking down.

Adjust the allspice and Brown Sugar Twin to taste.

Continue adding water and cooking down to desired consistency.

Okay, so I had a starting point. I made a few alterations, which gave us a nice flavor & consistency, for a first try. My changes are in the ( ) above. The taste will change slightly as it sits in the fridge it seems. So, next time, we’ll use just a tad less ACV if we make this recipe again.Or, we'll try it with just white vinegar.

There are a ton of recipes out there for homemade tomato paste ketchup. Depending on what you like, you’ll be sure to find one that suits your taste to a tee … and the best part is you can use whatever you want! All the recipes are just a starting point!

The photo above got taken after we'd already used up some ... there was enough to almost fill that second jar. And, it was thick. Thinner ketchup will obviously get you a bit more.