Most Refreshing Summer Drink Ever

So, I'm sitting here drinking the most refreshing summer drink, ever.

Water Kefir! (Also known as homemade fruit soda.)

This batch is lemon/mint. Yums.

Here's the recipe:

1/2 cup turbinado sugar
12 raisins or so
1/4 lemon or if you're lazy, some lemon juice
1/8 tsp baking soda or so
A few sprigs of fresh homegrown mint (from my neighbor!)
1/2 cup water kefir grains (email me if you want some)


Dissolve the sugar in a cup of hot water. Add 3 cups cold water and the rest of the ingredients. Add 1/2 cup water kefir grains. (Water can be warm but not hot.) Cover with cloth and set in a warm place for 1-3 days. (I used to do 3 days but with the warmer weather, the grains are growing & fermenting all over the place. I like the drink after 2 days.)

Strain the kefir - you can reuse the grains - this time for 2 batches. My friends like to keep the kefir bottled tightly at room temp for another day to get it really bubbly. Then stick it in the fridge. Drink within a week or two.

More Recent Chickies

Still not laying eggs...

Clip Art

There's something very satisfying about trying something new, that you're slightly uncertain about or scared of, only to find that you have what it takes. Yes.

Today I clipped my chickens' wing-feathers! Now I don't have to worry about my soon-to-be-egg-laying-investment flying away.

And it really was a piece of cake. You can learn how to do it here. Or, I can come over and help you.

The only real hard part was catching them (in the first place) and then telling them apart when I was done with some but not all!

Arugula out the Ears

What do you do when you have Arugula growing like crazy in your garden? (I must have some freaky microclimate, perfect for this member of the Brassicaceae family, in my backyard).



You. Make. Pesto.

The first photo was taken after I was DONE! So I gave some away, ate some in a salad, and then started sauteeing the rest with garlic and olive oil. Yum.

Arugula Pesto (Nut and dairy free)

A BUNCH of Arugula*
A BUNCH of Spinach
A bunch of cloves of garlic
Some salt
Some olive oil (enough to get it to all blend together)
A little water (for the same reason as above)

Blend.

I warmed it on the stove on low to get it all nice and um, nice. Then froze it in '1 family meal' portions. The spice of the Arugula makes me forget all about the Pine Nuts and Parmesan!

I've tried this recipe with Cilantro, too. The kids loved both kinds!

*You can even eat the flowers! They're slightly sweet, slightly spicy.

Spinach for Lunch

Here's Bubba with our most recent Spinach harvest. I have 3 barrels of spinach growing. I wish I'd planted more! We've had fresh homegrown spinach since about Thanksgiving.

Bubba likes to help harvest the Spinach with his little kid-scissors. And he even eats it! Whoo hoo, little veggie child.