bread crackers & wraps

i just scheduled a class
a basic dehydrator class
to make bread (onion bread, mmmm)

crackers (sweet & savory)

and wraps (my FAVORITE!!)


sunday 3:30 pm for 2 hours
raw vegan food, yum!

i am always excited to teach
but this will be an especially fun class
with take away samples

i think people going raw tend to miss the
convenience of the sandwich


the crunch of snack foods
and the ease of a wrap (one more satisfying
than a lettuce leaf.)



so i am about to pre-make all the recipes
so that we can have a finished product available for tasting
since these recipes can take 5+ hours in the D.

i have already gotten some excited responses
and am really psyched to have sunday here!

have a super day!!!
xoxoxo
snowdrop

healing balm

in continuation of my calendula blog
i got my mountain rose herbal order yesterday afternoon
ripped open the box (everything looks so good!)
and gathered everything i needed to make a healing balm.

the first thing i did was strain the soaking calendula petals
(1 oz petals in a pint glass jar covered with good olive oil,
capped and shaken daily for 2 weeks)
i netted 1-3/4 c golden oil

then i powdered some beeswax in my coffee grinder
and weighed out 1/2 oz on my digital scale
i put this powder in my 1 c saucepan
along with 3/4c calendula oil
and set it on my woodstove to slowly melt

once it was melted and stirred
i poured it into little blue glass jars
labeled them and let them cool.
the balm became semi-soft, semi-hard
perfect for a finger dip and spreads
perfectly on warm skin



i got the measurements from
the herbal medicine-maker's handbook



what a treasure this book is, with all the how-to's
i actually bought my copy in a very small bookstore
along the way on an anniversary trip to old forge ny
it was a book i hadn't seen and was more modernized than
my "back to eden" book that i had been using for 20+ years now.

another very good herb book!

i then made a lotion also for the sweet little baby
with the excema that is making his little 4 month old life difficult.
this i made from an strong tea of healing and cooling herbs, oils and vitamins
along with some of the healing balm i had just completed.
when i gave the balm & lotion to the mommy
i did mention that it is not cortisone and herbs take longer to
take effect, but, being the ingredients were all organic
and well researched, it is SAFE
and even if he licked some
he would come to no harm.


i am now about to make some super-fatted soap for the same use.

when i was cleaning up i rubbed the remnants from the mini
food processor onto my hands and face. it absorbed well.
and i was ultra-delighted at how soft and smooth and young
the skin felt immediately!
thinking i may make another batch just for me! :)

oh, & by the way-
beeswax does not seem to come off in the dishwasher
so you'll have to hand wash to clean up well. :)

i will let you know if this helps the wee one.

till next time, stay well!
xoxo
snowdrop

Calendula

i am about to begin making a special salve for a sweet baby.
he is 4 months old and had had quite a time with excema.
poor little pumpkin.
i began by buying an ounce of calendula petals

because the ones i grew & harvested this year are all used up.
they are VERRRRY easy to grow & come back every year from self seeding.

i am covering the dried petals with good olive oil in a glass jar.
then i have been giving it a few shakes every time i walk by.
this will be the basis of my special skin soothing salve.

here is an article on how calendula works:

Calendula has a long history of use as a wound-healing and skin-soothing botanical. This lovely marigoldlike flower (although called pot marigold, it is not a true marigold) is considered a vulnerary agent, a substance that promotes healing. Calendula also has anti-inflammatory and weak antimicrobial activity. It is most often used topically for lacerations, abrasions, and skin infections; less commonly, it is used internally to heal inflamed and infected mucous membranes.

and here is a nice article on making salves from herbs:

Herbal Salves

Salves are made by adding an herbal oil to beeswax in proper-like proportions to make a firm salve. Herbal salves are used externally to heal cuts, scraps, skin irritations etc. I like a nice mild salve just for winter chappies.

* Mix 1-1/2 oz. dried/powdered herbs or 3 oz. fresh herbs with 1 cup olive or sesame oil in a non-reactive pan (non-reactive = stainless steel, glass, porcelain).

* Simmer on low for 20 minutes.

* At the same time, melt ½ oz. beeswax in another pan or double boiler.

* Pour herbal oil over beeswax. Mix together.

* Add 1/8 teaspoon vitamin E oil as a preservative.

* Test for hardness: dip teaspoon into oil and place in the fridge until it gets hard, about 3-5 minutes. If it’s too hard, reheat gently and add more oil, too soft, more beeswax.

* Pour it into a small container with a lid.

Helpful herbs and essentials to add on in: calendula, comfrey, mullein, lemon balm, yarrow, plantain, echinacea, lavender, frankincense (I love the smell of frankincense and it's good for acne, rashes, and more), chickweed, etc.

Guess what everyone I know is getting for Christmas? Salves, baby. So you can see from here, is not a big stretch to lip balms. Just make sure the herbs/oils you use are safe for ingestion. I know you aren’t chomping on your chapstick but it let’s just say, licking your lips adds up. Vanilla, cinnamon, and honey make nice additions for your pucker slicker.

And if you haven't yet, check out http://www.MountainRoseHerbs.com. They have wonderful products and are a great company.


i actually am expecting my first mountain rose order
in the coming week. can't wait!!
once it is here with the remaining ingredients
the salve will be made. i will update you then.
until then i will keep shaking the oil with calendula petals.
i have made plenty of soap, lotions, salves and the like...
they are pretty easy to do and there are many books to help you
learn at the library, bookstore and articles on the internet.
if you haven't tried them yet- go for it! it is very satisfying.
you know what is in your product and it's waaay cheaper too.
save some nice little glass jars just for these treats.
the squat kind with wider openings are the very best kind
cause you can get your fingers in to scoop the last bit out.
:)

stay healthy!
xoxo
snowdrop

100:100 blue moon!!

100:100
the last day of the year and the last day of the 100 day challenge
what better time for a
Blue moon



From Wikipedia
This article is about the astronomical phenomenon.

A blue moon is a full moon that is not timed to the regular monthly pattern. Most years have twelve full moons which occur approximately monthly, but in addition to those twelve full lunar cycles, each solar calendar year contains an excess of roughly eleven days compared to the lunar year. The extra days accumulate, so that every two or three years (7 times in the 19-year Metonic cycle), there is an extra full moon. The extra moon is called a "blue moon." Different definitions place the "extra" moon at different times.

* In calculating the dates for Lent and Easter, the Clergy identify the Lent Moon. It is thought that historically when the moon's timing was too early, they named an earlier moon as a "betrayer moon" (belewe moon), thus the Lent moon came at its expected time.
* Folklore gave each moon a name according to its time of year. A moon which came too early had no folk name – and was called a blue moon – bringing the correct seasonal timings for future moons.
* The Farmers' Almanac defined blue moon as an extra full moon that occurred in a season; one season was normally three full moons. If a season had four full moons, then the third full moon was named a blue moon.
* Recent popular usage defined a blue moon as the second full moon in a calendar month, stemming from an interpretation error made in 1946 that was discovered in 1999.[1] For example, December 31, 2009 would be a blue moon according to this usage.

The term "blue moon" is commonly used metaphorically to describe the rarity of an event, as in the idiomatic expression, "once in a blue moon."


why blue??

When the Indonesian volcano Krakatoa erupted in 1883, it put so much dust in the atmosphere that the moon actually appeared blue -- an event so unusual that the term "once in a blue moon" was coined, according to NASA's National Space Science Data Center. The effect lasted for almost two years, Hiscock said.


and now a blue moon eclipse!

alas, not for me though.

hope you had a wonderful year!
xoxoxo
snowdrop

97:100 raw-llercoaster

97:100 raw-llercoaster


so here is the years end and i am looking over my pattern
over the last year. as usual, i have yo-yo-ed a bit
but almost 11 weeks ago i joined up raw food rehab in hopes
of making my raw life more constant.
(things seem to get away from me when not monitored)
it has helped so very much!
although i am not 100% raw- 100% of the time,
i have been able to boost my raw food intake tremendously
and in doing so my "downfalls" were less severe
and lasted much shorter than before.
i did not lose as much weight as i had dreamed of
....but i did lose,
and with a slower metabolism, that is always a plus :)

yesterday i went food shopping
and before putting the new fruits & veggies away
i took out the older ones that were still in the fridge
and put them to use.
so in the dehydrator overnite i had some:

red pepper wraps
(a recipe)


a spinach mushroom quiche
(a recipe)


cinnamon apple flax crackers

4 apples, cored
1/2-1 c raisins soaked in 1 c water
1 zucchini (peeled)
1/3 c maple syrup (agave or honey)
1/4 c cinnamon powder
pinch sea salt
blend.

1 c ground flax
1 c whole flax seed
stir in. add more water if needed.
spread on 3 teflex covered trays and dehydrate.


this coming week will be delicious!
also the cleaned out fridge looks extra good with only
the freshest produce in there
and nothing fuzzy and non-descript
a good day for all :)

as you finish the year out-
dwell on the positive changes you have made!
xoxo
snowdrop

94:100 where has the year gone?

94:100 where has the year gone?

it just speeds by once the winter is here
we have not gotten enough snow for my liking
seems the south... the midwest... well, practically anywhere
but here has been getting the snow instead of me.

how have you been doing for the last 100 days of the year challenge?
i find for myself that i was not perfect- i had lofty goals :)
but i am waay ahead of where i was when this began.
i wouldn't be at this position now if i hadn't set those goals

only a few days left
making the most of it!!
xoxo
snowdrop

90:100 dreams

90:100 dreams



dreams of gardening
left me smiling when i woke
:)