Foraging Garlic Mustard

One of my wonderful neighbours brought me a salad last week.  It contained Garlic Mustard, Dandelion Greens, Cherry Tomatoes and Apple Slices.  It was a beautiful salad complimented with an outstanding dressing of Rice Vinegar and Udo Oil (http://udoerasmus.com/products/oil_blend_en.htm).  Gorgeous, Healthy and Reviving are words that come to mind when describing this salad and wonderful act of kindness from my neighbour.

I was interested in hearing further about the Garlic Mustard Plant.  This plant was first used as a culinary herb dating back to the year 1868.  It has a wonderfully pleasant garlic taste which becomes apparent approximately 5 - 10 seconds after first munching on the leaves.  It is a very invasive plant and has been outlawed in some states in the U.S.  It's supposed to have a slightly bitter taste, but we love it so much we don't even notice! 

Just 2 weeks ago, I was weeding and did not realize that I was removing copious amounts of Garlic Mustard from a corner of our backyard.  I could not believe that what I thought was a weed was actually beneficial food for us!  This plant spreads quickly each year, however we have it on the opposite side of our garden in order to keep it under control.  Because of the underlying hint of garlic, it naturally repels insects and fungus.  It is very easy to recognize.  If you are not sure, just rub the leaves between your fingers and wait for that great garlic scent.

Garlic Mustard is high in Vitamin A and C.  It can be used on cuts and minor abrasions, the same way you would use regular garlic.

You can also use it to make a fantastic Garlic Pesto, or add to salads, stir fry's, soups, casseroles, omelets or wherever your heart desires!  We have started adding this to dishes where we would normally use garlic or onion for extra flavour and vitamins.

If you are a person who retains fluid easily (like myself!), Garlic Mustard contains diuretic properties which should minimize fluid retention naturally - without paying the cost of a prescription or having any undesirable side effects.

In my search, I have found a wonderful and easy recipe for Garlic Mustard Pesto:

Ingredients

3 packed cups of garlic mustard

½ to 1 cup walnuts (or other nut of your choice)

1 cup olive oil

2 cloves garlic

1 cup Parmesan cheese or Romano cheese, grated

Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Combine garlic mustard, garlic, and walnuts in a food processor.
2. Slowly add olive oil until desired consistency is reached.
3. Add cheese and process briefly.
4. Taste and add salt or pepper if desired.
5. Serve over pasta or spread on crackers or sandwiches.

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Plastic Bags? No Way!

Whether you want to preserve all of the goodness from your garden or save those leftovers, what is the first thing you reach for?  Is it the Plastic Wrap or the Ziplock type bags?

Always remember that "when you buy plastic, you are buying future garbage".  Plastic does not break down easily.  It will break and wear out, but the pieces will continue to exist.  It will develop an unusual "sticky" feeling when it starts to break down and makes a terrific black smoke if melted or burned. 

Why pay hard earned dollars for anything that is destined to end up in the trash?  Whether is it a day, a week or months from now - this is money down the drain.  Might as well throw it out the window. 

The prices for Oil and Energy are rising and you might find yourself wondering where your paycheck is going lately.  Now is the time to sit down and start to evaluate where you would like to spend those dollars.  The biggest savings begins at home.  All of the little things will amount to a bigger dollar amount if you take a closer look.  Why pay for what you don't have to?
Our family does not like to spend additional money on special packaging in order to preserve our foods for the refridgerator or freezer.  We save our plastic containers from yogurt, margerine and cream cheese, etc.  Sure you can't see what's in them, but a nice label made out of masking tape and a pen works well for us. 

Plastic Grocery Bags?  A thing of the past.  We use reusable cloth grocery bags.  They cost about $1.00 which can be a slight investment if you need several of these.  You do have options:  Your local thrift store will sell them for $0.25, or you can fashion an old t-shirt by cutting off the sleeves for handles and sewing up the bottom - easy peasy!

We save on not having to spend money on fancy bags or labels and have extra money to spend on more food!  Completely Fool Proof!

Reducing Paper Products in Your Home

It never ceases to amaze me as to how much people are willing to pay for things like Paper Towel, Toilet Paper, Tissues, Napkins, Plates and Cups...

Interestingly enough, Kleenex and Papertowels didn't even exist before the year 1925.  How did people cope with those runny noses and messy kitchen spills?  The answer is simple: Cloth.

It's easy to lose track of the fact that many major Companies are offering products that are almost impossible to resist - especially if "convenience" is going to make life easier.  These Companies claim to have a "hold" on civilization, trying to lure us into thinking that we would not be able to live without their products - they make a lot of money from this marketing concept.

It is interesting to note that upscale restaurants have linen tablecloths, linen napkins and warm towels in the restrooms.  Why does this feel luxurious to so many individuals when it should be a part of our daily routine at home?

In our home, we try to minimize the use of all paper products.  To us, paying for paper products is like throwing money into our trash bins.  We use cloth whenever we can - and feel like we never have to do without.  The best part?  We never feel that sense of "panic" because we have run out of paper products because cloth is easily washed, dried and ready to use!

Here are some examples:
Papertowels - We use 100% Cotton Terry Cloths
Paper Napkins -  We use Linen Napkins
Tissues/Kleenex - We use 100% cotton hankies/bandanas
Toilet Paper - Cloth Wipes
Paper Plates/Cups - We use Stoneware and Mason Jars

Curbside Find - Flying Machine

Wow, this is a fantastic find!  In the package, never opened and ready to fly!  It doesn't get much better than this.
Our family doesn't have any use for this, however I am certain that a child would love to spend a windy afternoon flying this colourful and wondrous kite around their local park.
Left at the curbside for us to salvage, we have posted this on our local classified ads and have already had a couple of inquiries!

Today's Appreciation: Fresh Baked Bread

I bake all our family's Bread and Buns from scratch.  I have been doing this for over a year and a half and would likely choke on a piece of "store bought bread" because of the change in taste. 

We have adjusted to our homemade baked food to the point that it is now difficult to even look at the bread aisle in our local grocery store.  This goes for cakes, muffins and pastries as well.  Interestingly enough, while at a neighbour's home, I opened up a package of store bought bread and it took my breath away.  It smelled like a cross between vinegar and formaldehyde. 

I was prompted to write this post after meeting with a neighbour this morning who wanted to make her own homemade bread, however, had difficulties kneading dough for any period of time.  While speaking with her, I remembered an older Bread Machine that I had in my garage.  Today, I gifted the machine to her and walked her through how to use the machine on the dough cycle - this would do the kneading quite nicely.

I look forward to hearing of her breadmaking adventures as her skills evolve - I get excited about this kind of stuff.  Plus, it makes me feel good to help someone else learn new sustainable skills.

I do have to admit that breadmaking is somewhat of a skill.  In the beginning, I remember baking loaves that could have been used only by a brick layer, however I was determined and it has paid off.  I have also mastered the art of making Sourdough Bread which I will be describing shortly in one of my posts.  There are a lot of tricks with making sourdough that you won't always find online - it's all trial and error.

Here's a super easy recipe that we use for our Daily Bread.  You can make it either by hand or by using a Bread Maker.  We like to bake our bread at a lower temperature if baking in the oven as it helps to ensure that our bread is cooked all the way through and is golden - without burning the outer crust.

White Bread Recipe (1 lb loaf)

1 cup of lukewarm water
1 tbsp. oil (butter or margerine will also do)
2 cups of white flour
1 tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. traditional yeast
1 tsp. salt

For Bread Machines: 
Put all of the ingredients in breadmaker in the order given.  Set machine for "light" and 1 or 1 1/2 pound loaf.

By Hand:
Dissolve the yeast and sugar in water.  Add remaining ingredients and knead for 10 minutes.  Place dough into a large and lightly oiled bowl.  Turn the dough to ensure that it is lightly coated in oil.  Place a teatowel over the bowl and let rise for 1 1/2 - 2 hours.  Punch down, then form into a loaf and place into a lightly greased loaf pan.  Cover again with a tea towel and let rise for another hour. 
Bake for 20 - 30 minutes at 350 degrees F.  Voila!  Don't forget the butter!

Sock Monkey Wine Bottle Cover

I have made so many stuffed Sock Monkeys for the children in our lives that I feel I have "Mastered the Art".

One of my girlfriends who is one of the most creative, innovative and endearing of all has asked me to design  a couple of Sock Monkey Wine Bottle Covers for her upcoming Wine Tasting Event. 
The main reason for the wine bottle covers would be to "hide" the types of wines that the tasters would be sampling.  Plus, who can resist anything that is "Sock Monkey!"

I went online and found that a typical Sock Monkey Wine Bottle Cover is sold for approximately $10.00 US and it looks like someone sewed 2 buttons on a sock and slipped it over a wine bottle.  Our Family is all about quality and I felt that adding "ears" would kick things up a notch!

I then took it upon myself to design my own version and have to admit that I am very pleased with the results.  I can't wait to hear what the Party Guests think of my latest creation!
My daughter kept me company in my design room this evening.  She counted and sorted buttons for the "eyes".  When she wakes up in the morning, my lucky girl gets to give each cover its own personal name!

Curbside Find - Garden Hose

This is the first of many new posts celebrating useful items found on the curbside that are destined for the trash.
Today I found a wonderful Yardworks garden hose in excellent working condition and it was right around the corner from our home!
I was so excited, I could hardly contain myself knowing that these retail for over $30.00 (CAN). 

Our previous one was so full of kinks and knots that I eventually cut it to make a siphon for our rain barrel.  I have since purchased a manual pump siphon to extract the water from our rainbarrel - but hadn't replaced the garden hose. 

Here's the proud pic of my curbside find!