Strawberry Orange Popsicles

Beautiful simplicity (two ingredients—maybe three if you wanna get fancy) and a gentle exercise in planning and patience (gotta think ahead and wait for them to freeze) followed by an exercise in focus (gotta eat it before it melts). Homeschooling looks like this sometimes…activities that serve me just as much as my kids and are best completed outside in the sunshine. So, here it is—a flexible Strawberry Orange Popsicle recipe (adjust proportions to your liking):

1 cup strawberries (chopped)

2 cups orange juice

ideas for a third ingredient—mint, basil, or even microgreens (we’ve got purple kohlrabi this week!) if you’re feeling adventurous or are looking for ways to get your kids to eat more greens.

Instructions:

1. Blend all ingredients.

2. Pour into your popsicle mold. Here’s an article with ideas of how to make popsicles without a mold.

3. Wait a few hours.

4. Go outside, sit in the sun and enjoy.

Orange Thyme Mermelada

Orange Thyme Mermelada is cooking!

Ok, I told my kids this morning that we were making “mermelada” today. They were thrilled and had no further questions. But, if I’m sharing this with a broader audience (beyond the ears of my five and two year olds!), then, i feel I should do my due diligence to make sure I’m calling this what it really is…so, I did my research: The recipe I came up with was inspired by this jam recipe but I cut the sugar by more than half, more than quadrupled the amount of zest and tripled the thyme. Since the sugar is so low, it’s no longer a jam because I doubt it would keep the way jams should. We will be sure to eat ours this week! Maybe it’s more of a compote…it’s definitely citrusy deliciousness. Doesn’t even need the toast…we’ve been eating it by the warm spoonful this morning.

Ingredients:

6 oranges (zest four of them and set the zest aside, then peel and chop those 4 oranges into 1 inch pieces getting rid of as much of the white pith as you can; use only the juice of the last two oranges and compost the rest)

1/2 lemon (both zest and juice, no pulp or pith)

1/2 cup brown sugar (or any sugar, really)

6 sprigs of fresh thyme (if you’ve got it) or 1 tbs dried thyme, or leave it out…

1/2 tsp salt

Instructions:

1. In a small pot, add chopped orange segments, orange juice, lemon juice, salt and sugar.

2. Uncovered, bring to a boil and let simmer on low heat stirring occasionally for about 30 minutes.

3. Add orange zest, lemon zest and thyme leaves and continue to simmer, stirring every few minutes until it thickens (maybe another 30 minutes, but stay close because it could be sooner).

4. Grab a spoon and enjoy. Refrigerate and it should keep a few days!

How to eat it up? Spread it on toast, top your pancakes or crepes, flavor your plain yogurt, pair it with cheese (maybe even in a grilled cheese sandwich!), mix it with olive oil and vinegar for a salad dressing or glaze a savory dish—maybe roasted tempeh, meat or mushrooms…

Makes about 12 ounces, a little over a cup.

Brainstorming Kale--A Summary for Many Moods

Check out this Types of Kale art print by Marcella Kriebel.

Not counting, but it’s been many days of staying in and as much as I enjoy my home life and the freedom to create daily rhythms with my two kids as I see fit—I might be feeling a little stir crazy. I am confident this is the worst of it since the cold weather is on its way out and today’s sunshine, alone, has done wonders for my spirit. Anyway, this is the backdrop to my approach to this week’s recipe. I feel disconnected from the outside world and, as such, I’m not sure what type of recipe to share with all of you, given you may be going through any assortment of situations and feelings amidst this moment in history. So, I’ve decided to share my brainstorm and a summary of my findings rather than a single recipe. Here goes:

COMFORT Sweet Tooth and Chocolate-Fixes-Everything KALE

If you’re also feeling in a pit when it comes time to approach your kale of the week, maybe it’s time to make Kale Brownies. Based on my research, I think you can pretty much add 1 to 3 cups kale to your favorite brownie recipe. Raw and finely chopped is the way I’d go, but a more refined approach could also be to steam the kale until bright green and just wilted, then blend it up before adding it to your brownie batter. If you’ve got any floppy carrots that you didn’t get around to eating last week, you can steam one or two and mash it in, as well.

GREEN JUICE Keeps the Blues Away KALE

If you’re feeling good and want to eat light and clean (no added sugar, please), then maybe juice is the way to go. Slow juicers are fancy and nice, but you can also just use a blender and add kale, lettuce, any other veggies you want to consume—last week’s chard, and/or a stick or two of celery which gives it a yummy saltiness, a dash of lemon or orange juice. After a glass of green juice, I always feel more grounded and ready to make the best of my day.

BED OF KALE—A Foundation for Balance

If you’re wanting to keep a balance in your life through healthy, hearty and complete foods, you might feel good starting with a bed of kale as the foundation for your meal. What to put on your kale bed? Root veggies (try roasting the radish along with sweet potato with olive oil, salt & pepper), your protein (roasted garbanzos! eggs…or glazed walnuts or any other nut or seed, think pecans or pepitas), pasta or quinoa…Just chop and steam the kale, salt and season to taste, and top your bed of kale with whatever you like. Here’s a simple recipe for tilapia on a bed of kale you might want to try.

KALE SALAD—Keeping it Fresh for the Sunny Days Ahead

Some of us love salads. I must confess, this isn’t always me! But, with the promise of sunshine ahead (my kids were so excited about today’s sunshine, they took to running around the backyard naked for the better part of the afternoon) does make me feel better about eating cold food. A kale salad is quick, nutrient-dense, long-lasting and oh so flexible. My favorite version involves, at its simplest, chopped kale, orange and/or lemon juice, salt and a splash of balsamic or apple cider vinegar. Other ingredients might include nuts, seeds, avocado, carrots, apple, radish, and any kind of microgreens you’ve got around. Here’s a more specific Kale Salad recipe that runs along these lines.

I Need Food Now! KALE QUESADILLAS

This keeps happening, especially on days the kids and I get lost in the backyard working on projects. We hit a wall and need food NOW. Corn tortillas, cheese that melts and chopped kale (very finely chopped for the picky little ones, fat strips for me). Somehow, the kale helps me see this quick dish as more of a complete and healthy meal versus a hold-you-over junky snack. Sometimes, it’s cilantro, chard, or other leafy green instead of kale, but kale is my go-to favorite for this meal. Cholula hot sauce is my in-a-pinch salsa. I’ve switched to that over other hot sauce brands because it’s the only one I’ve found that doesn’t have a bunch of weird preservatives.

Guava Spinach Muffins

Our guava harvesting crew at work!

I don’t bake muffins very often, but my basic muffin recipe (that started out inspired by a protein-rich zucchini bread back when I was a high school teacher looking to feed my kids well on those long testing days) has seen several funky incarnations. This is a new one, now that I’m looking to use what I have around (I’m learning to eat with the seasons!) and feed my two hungry, growing little kids. My goals: it must be sweet enough for them to love it, not so sweet that I feel guilty about feeding it to them and enough protein and greens in there that it’s almost a meal for my stubborn little newly-turned two-year old. Sigh! Ok, so here’s the late fall recipe—-

Ingredients:

1 cup walnuts

⅓ cup coconut oil

2 tbs molasses

1 tbs maple syrup

2 tbs fruit preserves (I used strawberry, and only added this ingredient because I ran out of maple syrup…you could skip this and add two more tbs maple syrup instead)

2 eggs

½ cup almond milk

2 tsp vanilla

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 tbs cinnamon

¼ tsp nutmeg

zest from one orange

1 cup chopped guava (which is about three large guavas, de-seeded…here’s how)

1 cup spinach (finely chopped)

1 cup oat flour

1/2 cup almond flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Warm up the coconut oil until it’s liquid. I did this by placing the metal mixing bowl on the stove top while the oven preheats.

3. Crush and toast walnuts for two minutes in a cast-iron pan with a little syrup or fruit preserve to candy them up. You can also do this step in the oven by laying out the walnuts on some parchment paper, drizzling with syrup and toasting for about 5 minutes).

3. Take the liquified coconut oil and add the molasses, maple syrup, fruit preserves (if using), eggs, almond milk, vanilla, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Mix well.

3. Stir in the guava, spinach and orange zest.

4. Stir in the flours.

5. Pour mix by the spoonful into muffin tin lined with baking cups.

6. Sprinkle tops with the candied walnuts.

7. Bake for about 20 minutes. Check with a fork when you start to smell them. If the fork comes out clean, then they’re done.

Makes about 16 small muffins

Simple Guava Punch

Guava fruit (in Spanish, guayaba) comes in different flavors and colors, and its leaf, in particular, has many traditional medicinal uses.

So, today, the weather finally turned cool and my bones are already asking for warmth! The abundance of guavas in our backyard and our friends’ farms provides a key ingredient in the most exciting drink to warm up to—Ponche! The traditional recipes are delicious and complex—something to plan ahead for holiday parties. But, in just a little while, you can make this warm, sweet, aromatic drink that people young and old enjoy. You can keep it simple, or get fancy with it and experiment! Here’s a little recipe to get you started:

Simple Guava Punch

Ingredients:

5 guavas

4 cinnamon sticks

1 small piloncillo or 1/4 cup brown sugar (plus a tsp molasses, if you have it around) Note: While this ingredient is essential to the traditional versions of ponche, for those of us working to reduce the amount of sugar in our diets (Too many diabetic elders in my family for me to feel good drinking super sweet beverages anymore!)—I’ve made this without the added sugar or piloncillo, or with half the sugar, and since that’s the only version my kids have around at any given moment, they love them all!

Additional options to experiment with—oranges, apples, pears, raisins, prunes, hibiscus, tamarind, clove, tejocote…(You can add any, all or none of these!)

Instructions:

Slice up guavas (and other fruit you might want to add) as thin as possible and put in a pot with 2 cinnamon sticks, 1 liter (that’s about 4 1/4 cups) water, and any other ingredients you’re trying out including the piloncillo or sugar.

Cover, bring to a boil and immediately reduce the heat to simmer for at least 20 minutes.

Strain and serve hot. Makes about 4 cups.

Final tip—if you make this at night and let it sit overnight in the covered pot, it will taste even better in the morning when you reheat, strain and serve.