One new thing ...

 

 I'm back with another One New Thing post, inspired by Becki at Field Lilies.  Recall, Becki is posting weekly about one new thing in her life.  She wrote, "I’m not going to set goals or make rules.  I want this to be a discovery process, not a to-do list.   Actually, the challenge may be better worded this way:   I’m simply challenging myself to record here one new thing I explore, or learn about, or interact with… each week."

So I've been trying to also post about one new thing each week.  This week it's something really, really new to me -- getting a start to making maple kombucha.  You can see all of the how-tos here at Souly Rested.

Years ago, I used to make my own kombucha pretty regularly.  As you may know, kombucha is basically fermented sweet tea.  The sugar gets "eaten up" in the process, so it's actually a very healthy beverage and so good for you in so many ways.  Back then, I stuck to the basic flavor using either black or green tea and never experimented with fruit flavors and so on (which can be done using actual fruit or with fruit juices, doing what's called a "second ferment").  

As Michelle, at Souly Rested, points out, drinking kombucha has been shown to rid the body of toxins, improve energy levels, prevent the body from absorbing heavy metals, and help us better absorb nutrients from our food.  You can read more about Michelle's favorite kombucha products here, and even download a free ebook about this amazing beverage.  And it's delicious and inexpensive too (that is, it's inexpensive if you make your own -- but not if you buy it at the grocery store).

With all these benefits, you may justifiably wonder why I ever stopped making kombucha.  I made it for a few years and successfully managed to even go on vacation more than once without ruining anything.  Then one day a batch of kombucha went moldy.  I traced the problem to a fruit fly that must have gotten into the sweet tea as it was steeping.  

But I just didn't have the heart to try again.  I'm thinking that life got really busy right about then, with eldercare responsibilities.  We drank up what kombucha we had on hand, washed the jars and bottles, and put them away.  

Fast-forward to 2021, when my young friend Jennifer got started making kombucha.  As we talked by phone one day in December, I asked if I could get a SCOBY [symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast] from her so I could begin again.  Her prompt reply: "I'm already brewing one for you."

So just like that, in 2022, I have gotten into kombucha-making again.  I've now made 3 gallons and we're going through it quickly.  I've learned how to do a second ferment using fruit juice (which will probably turn into another One New Thing post) and discovered how easy that is.  

From the start, though, I was so intrigued with the idea of maple kombucha.  My hubby and I are trying to increasingly eat less sugar, so I wanted to learn to make kombucha without refined sugar.  I knew that in order to make kombucha using maple syrup, I would need to grow my own maple SCOBY.  As you can see from Michelle's post here, the simplest option for coming up with a maple scoby is to grow your own -- scroll down to the section titled Growing a new scoby with maple syrup.

So the moment I got my new scoby from Jenn, I followed the directions and snipped off a tiny piece to begin growing a maple one.  And it worked!  You can see it in a pint jar below.

Not the best photo, so I placed the jar on the hutch at eye level and tried again:

The scoby is now, I believe, thick enough to use in beginning a half-gallon batch of maple kombucha.  We have a busy week coming up, so I'll likely wait until the second week in March to begin the process.  I'll keep you all posted on how it turns out!

One new thing ...

 

 So here goes with another One New Thing post, inspired by Becki at Field Lilies.   My plan as of now is to post about one new thing every Monday.  We will see how it goes!

For today, my One New Thing is learning to substitute maple syrup for refined sugar in baking.  If you are interested in learning how to do this, visit Michelle at Souly Rested, where you can print out a free conversion chart to help you do it right.  I took a screenshot to show you what it looks like.

Now I realize not everyone has a "free" source of maple syrup like we do.  And ours, of course, isn't really free.  Family members work hard to produce it.

If you read Michelle's post you will see that maple syrup has a lot of minerals and other health benefits, so it's really worth your while to learn to bake with it.  She has many other great-sounding ways to use maple as well, including maple kombucha which I plan to try very soon.   If you are so inclined you can even learn how to make your own maple syrup!

Ordinarily when we are on a sugar fast as we are now, I just don't make very many baked goods.  But recently I found myself with some truly overripe bananas that just had to be used up, and I didn't want to take time to research a healthier recipe online.  So I adapted a banana muffin recipe, and we just couldn't be more pleased with the results.

BANANA WALNUT MUFFINS

1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
2 very ripe bananas, mashed
2/3 cup pure maple syrup
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1/4 cup chopped walnuts

Heat oven to 350º.  Line 12 muffin cups with either foil liners or parchment liners.  Sift the dry ingredients into a bowl.  Add the bananas, maple syrup, oil, and eggs and beat on low speed until mixed.  (I actually used a whisk.)  Stir in the walnuts.

Divide the batter evenly between the prepared muffin cups.  Bake at 350º until tops of muffins spring back when touched lightly, about 23 minutes.  Serve warm.

Have you ever tried substituting pure maple syrup for refined sugar?  If not, I encourage you to give it a try!

Cozy camp breakfasts

 

This morning as we were eating breakfast at our little camp, I happened to think that others might like to know how we've been making breakfast happen there on the mornings after we stay over.  Usually, our breakfast there has been extremely simple: a supermarket bakery muffin (oh, so healthy!😊) and two mugs of coffee.  

But once we embarked on a 40-day sugar fast, we needed to do something a little different -- but it still had to be quick and easy.  One thing I did was to research refined-sugar free muffins.  Chocolate-Covered Katie has some great ones.   The first recipe I tried was Coffee Cake Muffins.  They turned out perfectly!  I used xylitol instead of sugar in the muffin part and coconut sugar in the crumb topping.  I also substituted frozen raspberries for the chopped strawberries.  

Next, I tried Katie's Applesauce Muffins.  I used xylitol in these.  They also turned out very well.  In each case, I packaged the muffins all together in a plastic container and froze them.  Then I put the number of muffins we wanted to take to the camp each time in a smaller plastic container for transport.  In the morning we put the desired number of muffins in a round foil cake pan and placed it atop the woodstove to warm a bit.

 I also made Katie's Apple Bread.  That was very good as well, and I liked being able to pour the batter into a loaf pan rather than taking time to fill individual muffin tins.   I brought the loaf along (frozen in between uses) and in the morning we just sliced off a slice or two and warmed it in the foil cake pan the same way as the muffins.  It is not super sweet (I didn't add the coconut butter "frosting" pictured in the recipe) but is quite tasty.  I upped the cinnamon to a teaspoon (recipe called for 1/2 tsp.) but I think another time I would add at least 2 teaspoons.  It just didn't taste cinnamon-y enough to me.

As time has gone on and the weather has gotten colder, we've found it seems really important to have a warm breakfast.  The two smaller rooms are uninsulated, so it gets rather chilly "around the edges" away from the woodstove.

One sugarless breakfast that really fills the quick and yet warm requirement is crockpot oatmeal, so some mornings we've been having that.  I will share the best recipe I've come up with for it, which I adapted from one in Gooseberry Patch's Fall, Family and Friends:

COZY CROCKPOT OATMEAL

2 cups almond milk
1 cup old-fashioned oats (uncooked)
1/4 cup brown sugar or alternative sweetener; I used xylitol in the best version I made
1 Tablespoon butter
2 Tablespoons maple syrup, honey or agave
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 medium apples, cored, unpeeled, chopped
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Spray the inside of a 3-quart slow cooker with non-stick vegetable spray.  Place all ingredients in slow cooker and mix well.  Cover and cook on Low setting for 7 or 8 hours.  Stir before serving in bowls.  We topped ours with a pat of butter and some half and half cream.  Makes about 4 servings.

Probably no one but me will need these details, but since we brought this over in the late afternoon and wouldn't start cooking it until bedtime, I put the oats, sugar, butter, cinnamon, raisins and walnuts in the slow cooker for transport.  I brought the apples separately and put the milk and maple syrup into a quart jar, refrigerating the jar when we reached camp. 

(I had previously tried it the other way around -- placing the milk and syrup into the slow cooker and bringing the dry ingredients in a ziplock bag.  Well, the camp is located on a very bumpy dirt road and by the time we reached there, milk had spattered all over the inside of the crockpot lid.  Not a huge deal, but it worked better bringing the liquids in a jar.)

Just before bedtime, I chopped the apples and mixed everything together in the slow cooker.  It was ready in 7 hours and we enjoyed every bite.

If you are trying to avoid sugar too, you might find that one or more of these recipes will add interest to your breakfast routine.  Our sugar fast finishes tomorrow, but we'll be starting another in January, so we will be enjoying these breakfast treats again soon!

Monday musings

 

Image by Abby at Little Birdie Blessings.  Perfect for Flag Day!

 

 Just a few musings on this rainy-ish Monday that can't seem to make up its mind.  The scent of baking cookies is in the air as my hubby, inspired by the cool day, whips up a double batch of Chocolate Mint Crisps.  This has been on his to-do list for weeks.  He has so many people he wants to share some cookies with!

One of the cookie jars at our little camp is nearly empty of these (the other contains Oreos in the Peanut Butter Pie flavor) and they are much enjoyed by the grandchildren.  Last week, Arielle (age 6) was meditatively nibbling at a cookie and offered this observation:  "I think these might be my favorite cookies."

This morning, the flag wave group Mr. T is part of met for a special flag wave in honor of Flag Day.  At least one sign read,  "Happy Birthday Mr. President"!  The photo below is just a shot of a few of the folks at Saturday's flag wave.  They have been doing this on Saturday mornings for many months now and they always get an overwhelmingly positive response.

We had a nice weekend -- Saturday we went to an outdoor concert our granddaughter was in -- sadly, I got no pictures.  On Sunday we enjoyed services at our own church, as well as at Grace Baptist in the afternoon, where the same granddaughter was playing a solo on her violin.  Such a blessing to spend time with other believers around God's Word, worshiping Him in song, and just enjoying Christian fellowship.

Quinoa with Roasted Vegetables is a recipe I've made a couple of times this summer.  

 

It makes a great light main dish and uses a lot of nice fresh vegetables.  I like that it includes eggplant and yet is so much easier than making eggplant parmesan or moussaka.  There's an herb drizzle that goes on at the end and adds a ton of flavor.

 Speaking of flavor, our chives are in blossom and I am so tickled to have a great recipe to make them into Chive Blossom Vinegar.   I made some a couple years ago.  It comes out a pretty pink and adds nice flavor to a salad.

I'm beginning to work on Christmas in July posts for my Christmas blog, Mrs. T's Christmas Kitchen. 

 

 As I began writing and scheduling the posts for July, I got to wondering how many years I have been doing this Christmas in July thing.  A little research revealed that 2021 will be the 10th year.  I'm thinking some celebratory gifting to blog readers may be in order.  We will see!

Guess those are all the musings I have time for today.  What's happening in your world today?