Whiteley Creek Homestead

Here's an easy one. Orange juice-infused slaw sweetened with a touch of honey. Crunchy, chewy, a little sweet. The recipe is from a January 2006 issue of Delicious Living-a free magazine often available at health food stores.  

1/2 cup orange juice (I increased to 3/4 cup.)

3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil (I omitted the olive oil and subbed 1 tbsp honey.)

1 Granny Smith apple, unpeeled, cored, and shredded (I used 2 Gala apples. Any sweet, crunchy variety like Gala, Pink Lady, or Honeycrisp would be pefect.)

1 pound carrots (about 4 large), peeled and shredded (I used unpeeled carrots.)

1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced (I omitted.)

3 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro (I omitted.)

1/2 cup dried cranberries (I used apple juice sweetened.)

1/2 cup raw pumpkin seeds (I used 1/4 cup raw pumpkin seeds + 1/4 cup raw sunflower seeds.)

 freshly ground black pepper (I omitted.)

In a large bowl, whisk together orange juice and honey. Add all of the remaining ingredients and toss well to coat with slaw dressing.

This split pea soup recipe comes via Rosemary, a guest who stayed at our B&B several years ago. The original name for the recipe is Green Velvet Soup… which it is. Velvety, that is. If it is pureed post cooking. However, I may have pureed one too many culinary delights that I have placed in front of Dick. He reminded me recently that he still has his teeth. So, I made Rosemary's recipe as printed, but I didn't puree it. It is honestly the most flavorful split pea soup on this planet. I am sure of it. (Note: Check out Rosemary's paintings, thought-provoking quotes, and healthy recipes on her blog. She is a gifted watercolor artist who captures life's oft missed details in a world that is so easily blurred in our busyness.)     

Split Pea Veggie Soup (aka Green Velvet Soup if pureed)

1 onion, chopped

2 celery stalks, diced

3/4 cup split peas, rinsed

2 bay leaves

6 cups water or vegetable stock* (I used 2 cups vegetable stock + 4 cups chicken broth + 1 cup water.)

3 potatoes, cubed (I subbed 2 medium sweet potatoes.)

2 medium zucchini, diced

1 medium stalk broccoli, chopped

1 bunch fresh spinach, chopped (I used a large handful of Super Greens.)

1/2 tsp dried basil

1/4 tsp black pepper

1 tsp salt (I subbed 1 tsp garlic salt.)

Place onion, celery, split peas, and bay leaves in a large soup pot with water or stock and bring to a boil. Lower the heat, cover, and simmer for 1 hour. Add the potatoes, zucchini, broccoli, spinach (or Super Greens), basil, black pepper, and salt. Simmer 20 minutes. Enjoy as is, or cool then puree in batches in a blender. Super Greens is a mix of five superfood baby greens: red and green Swiss chard, tat soi, arugula, and spinach. *For an equally amazing, flavorful vegetarian version, here's how I adapted the original. For the soup's liquid, I used 32 oz Imagine Organic No-Chicken Broth, 1 cube Edward & Sons Garden Veggie Bouillon, and 3 cups water. 

Oh, I'm in love… with these sweet bees party printables. The kit includes: 1) cupcake wrappers and toppers  

2) drink labels-I hand stamped* the word honey on a label then secured it to my honey jar with several rounds of lightweight jute. 3) garland 4) pennant straw toppers 5) envelope printed on white cardstock with coordinating stationery 6) envelope front printed on brown kraft paper/grocery bag  7) envelope back printed on brown kraft paper/grocery bag  NOTE: Click on photos to enlarge.

I chose to make honey-sweetened carrot cake cupcakes. It is a bee-themed party kit, afterall. The recipe uses almond flour, making them gluten-free, with only 2 tbsp oil and 1/4 cup honey. You can spread with frosting, but it's not necessary. They taste perfectly wonderful with a sprinkle of raw sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds. I covered the table with a chicken wire print fabric. I think it looks like a honeycomb, too. I don't remember where I purchased it since it has been lying in my fabric stash for a mere 20 years or so… waiting for the perfect project. Oh, yes. If you hold onto something long enough, you will surely find a use for it one day.    

These hand drawn sweet bees printables are available in my daughter Heather's you-make-do shop. She has created two versions… one kit with a slightly darker color suitable for printing on brown kraft paper/grocery bags to compensate for ink absorption and another kit with a slightly lighter color for printing on cardstock. The brown kraft paper/grocery bag version results in a natural, earthy-looking product.

*The making memories "rummage" upper and lowercase alphabet stamps can be purchased where scrapbooking supplies are sold. I've had my set for several years or more, so I don't remember where I purchased it-probably Joanns or Michaels. The stamps produce an old-fashioned typewriter look. The letters' magnetized backing holds securely to the stamping tool.  

Upon watching this beet cake video created by Matt and Julie, husband and wife duo via their Tiger in a Jar venture where they "document life through film and pictures," the simple act of  measuring flour or cracking an egg will never be the same. Artistic expression. It's a beautiful thing. 

beet cake from tiger in a jar on Vimeo. The song is "Babe" by Evenings.

The cake is deeeeeliciously light and moist with a chocolate flavor and an ever-so-slight hint of beet… only because you know they're in there. The batter rises nicely and doesn't fall in the middle post baking.

The cake's two main ingredients are beets and melted chocolate. Although the batter is red from the beets, after baking it magically turns a deep dark brown. I sprinkled the top with hazelnuts instead of powdered sugar. 

Here's the original version of the tiger in a jar beet cake:

Here's my reduced fat and sugar tweaked version:

2 cups pureed beets (The 4 beets shown in the photo above produced just the right amount.)

4 ounces semisweet chocolate (I used 1 3.5 oz bar Green & Black's Organic Dark Chocolate 70% Cocoa Content.)

2 cups flour (I used whole wheat pastry flour, but experimentation with alternate flours will produce alternately happy results.)

2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup butter (I used 1/2 cup homemade butter + 1/2 cup homemade raw applesauce.)

1 1/2 cups dark brown sugar (I reduced it to 1 cup which I found to be perfect. The beets add their own natural sweetness.)

3 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

powdered sugar for dusting the cake's top (Instead, I used thinly sliced hazelnuts. Beets are earthy. Hazelnuts are earthy. A perfect pair. It also adds a wonderful crunch.)

Steam beets or simmer in a little bit ofwater until fork tender. Cool, then purée in a food processor or blender with the leftover simmering liquid. Melt chocolate in a bowl set into a larger bowl of
hot water. Whisk dry ingredients together. In a separate bowl, cream butter and brown sugar. Mix in applesauce, eggs, and vanilla then add pureed beets and melted chocolate. Pour batter into a 9-inch round springform pan. Bake at 375° for 40 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Sprinkle cooled cake with powdered sugar or hazelnuts.

Here's an easy one. Make your own naturally sweetened applesauce in the time it takes to open a jar of the store-bought variety. The bonus is that it's uncooked and the peels are included, so the nutrition is equivalent to eating a raw apple. I served it this morning atop buckwheat/quinoa pancakes with just a drizzle of real maple syrup. Sooooo good.

Homemade Raw Applesauce

4 apples of a sweet variety (i.e., gala, pink lady, fuji, honey crisp)

1 cup water

1 tbsp lemon juice, optional

1/4 cup raisins

1 tsp cinnamon

pinch nutmeg

Core apples, then cut into chunks. (Do not peel.) Place in a blender along with the remaining ingredients. Very quickly, it will look like applesauce. For a chunkier consistency, blend only briefly.

Did you know that there is a set of measuring spoons for when a recipe requires a  pinch, dash, or smidgen? Ace Hardware sells the set. Surprised? Nah.

I first "met" Robyn Openshaw, aka Green Smoothie Girl, when I visited her blog of the same name a couple years ago. Last evening, we truly met when I attended her seminar in Orlando.

A simple trick that I learned from Robyn's smoothie demonstration is to whirl the greens and the liquid first, then add the fruit and whatever else you're tossing in (i.e., protein powder, flax, chia seeds, hemp). I had been putting the fruit in first then piling the greens on top. Because of their light weight, the blender struggled to draw the greens downward to incorporate them into the fruit. I made a green smoothie today using the new method. Easy peasy. What took so long to figure that one out? I also discovered a new favorite product at the seminar… sprouted ground flax.

In the days preceding the seminar, Robyn had spent time with Hippocrates Health Institute co-directors' Dr. Brian Clement and Dr. Anna Maria Clement in West Palm Beach. Dr. Brian, who began working under the Hippocrates Institute founder Dr. Ann Wigmore in the 1970s, was guest speaker at last evening's seminar. He shared a DVD of our body cleaning out toxins and rejuvenating itself… a truly amazing ability, as long as we don't overload our system and give it more than it can handle. It was actual footage of the cleansing process… not animation. It reminded me of a colony of bees. Each worker knows its job and diligently, tirelessly performs it with utmost precision. To watch our body toil so hard for us, why would we not want to do our part and feed it properly and give it rest? Exactly.