Just a quick post about freezing bananas. Why would you even want to do this? I use half a banana and a handful of frozen blueberries in a breakfast smoothie. Since it’s a real pain to keep ahead of bananas to use them before they spoil, I’ve found that if I slice and freeze them, they make the smoothie even better!
I try to buy bananas that are about the same ripeness so I can cut them up all at once. Folks must think I run a restaurant or have a big family!
I get the small snack-size Ziplock bags and start slicing.
I have a bowl ready for all the peels and an extra paper towel to put all the stickers on. Since I will add these peels to the compost bin, the stickers need to be removed. One year I did not remove them and after we had put the compost into the garden, I was finding the stickers intact years later!
I slice the bananas into 3/4″ slices and lay them flat in the bag; one banana will fill two bags (approximately).
When finished, the stickers go in the trash, the peels go into the compost bin and the bags of slices go into the freezer!
These slices are great for my smoothies and they also can be used in other recipes that call for mashed bananas. They thaw quickly and are easily incorporated into baked goods…and no over-ripe bananas sitting around my kitchen! Give it a try! Enjoy!
Trying to find an energy bar that is safe to eat (for me that means no egg and no dairy) and actually tastes good is no small task! I have bought multiple assortments of bars that just try too hard to do everything…low carb, vegan, no sugar, high protein, etc. I’ve decided to just skip trying to find a commercial one that actually tastes good. I don’t need a bar for protein since I can eat meat and fish just fine. Actually, I’d like something that is not full of extra ingredients but will satisfy like a cookie. I just tried a recipe I found at this site, https://thepaleodiet.com. I think it will work!
Ingredients:
1 cup Cashew Butter (could substitute Almond Butter)
1 cup Medjool dates, pitted (I just got pitted dates at the health food store)
1/4 cup cashews, chopped
1 1/2 cup finely shredded unsweetened coconut
(Optional: Chopped walnuts, almonds or pecans; a dash of cinnamon).
Instructions:
Add the cashew butter, dates, cashews and 1 cup of the coconut to a food processor. (I also added 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts.) Blend just until a workable dough is formed.
I just couldn’t believe that the sticky dates would chop up, so I put the 1 cup of coconut in a bowl, added the chopped dates and stirred them up. Then, I put them in the food processor.
Dates cut into 2 or 3 smaller chunks.Sticky chunks of dates, coated with coconut.Amazingly, it worked just fine!
2. Use a tablespoon to scoop the mixture out evenly. Roll into 10 balls. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
This stuff was so sticky I quickly coated them with coconut just to get them off my hands! I ended up with 16 energy balls.
3. Roll the balls in the remaining shredded coconut.
Since they were already coated with coconut I didn’t have to do it again.
This recipe made 16 energy balls. The smaller ones chilled faster and were easier to eat.
My assessment of these Coconut/Cashew Butter Energy Balls:
These tasted great and were a very satisfying snack. They took only a few minutes to mix up. It probably took longer to wash the cashew butter mixture from the food processor container than to mix them up!
If you need a handy snack this summer, I would highly recommend whipping up a batch of these no-bake energy balls! Enjoy!
It’s always encouraging to see how much the garden has grown in two weeks…especially with enough rain on a regular basis! Two weeks ago (May 21) this is what the lettuce and radishes looked like:
May 21, 2021
Today, the radishes are ready to pull and I could make a small salad with the lettuce:
June 3, 2021Radishes ready for a salad!Ready for the next batch of seeds!
These are the seeds I planted. I’m pleased with how they did.
The raised planter gets two thumbs up from me! It was easy to keep an eye on the plants…easy to water, thin and harvest without breaking my back! Thank you Kathy and Steve!
Most of the garden looks pretty good too:
SpearmintCucumberChamomileLemon Balm and Stevia (I’ve had to cut back the Stevia. It kept trying to make blossoms and I wanted a bigger plant).Basil and RosemaryRosemary and ThymeLavender with carrots on the left. Barely poking through the ground!Close up of the carrots.. 🙁 Green and Wax beans perking up.Tomatoes have blossoms!The Echinacea we started from seed still looks tiny compared to the three plants I bought. Oh well!
At the moment, the rain barrels are full to the brim, the big tank in the garden is full too. So, when it decides to stop raining (which often happens in the middle of the summer when we need it most) we’ll be able to keep the garden consistently watered.
Thanks for letting me share the garden with you! Enjoy!
Memorial Day in Boalsburg, for those of us who live here, usually involves multiple days of the Fire Company’s Carnival; a parade through town; a full day of activities throughout the downtown area, with over 130 venders selling crafts and food; music on the Diamond; and tours of the Heritage Museum, the Boal Mansion Museum and the Pennsylvania Military Museum. Thousands of people descend on the area each Memorial Day holiday. Until last year, when everything was cancelled due to the Covid pandemic ravaging the country.
Last year when events were cancelled, it was decided to still hold the simple program honoring Memorial Day, with a brief service that was conducted by key people in the community. Our lost loved ones were still honored and the graves were decorated, just as they had been since 1864.
A statue of the three women who first decorated the graves of their loved ones in 1864.
This year, the decision to hold or cancel events had to be made in early April and at that time States and communities were in different stages of opening up to travel and group gatherings. Thus, the large group festivities were cancelled again, except for the Memorial Day service. Tonight, there will be a simple service honoring all the loved ones who were lost during war time. The graves are now decorated, just as they have been since 1864. It’s a beautiful sight to see the church yard all decorated with flags and flowers. It really keeps the meaning of the holiday front and center in our minds. If you’d like to know more about Boalsburg, go to http://historicboalsburg.com.
This year, Kathy, her mother-in-law Karen, Ben and Anna spent the day with me in Boalsburg. With only a few extra people in town we were able to enjoy touring the Boalsburg museums and appreciate the whole meaning of the holiday.
We started at the Pennsylvania Military Museum. We first saw a 10-minute video of all the action seen by Pennsylvania service men and women over the years. The kids loved the big tanks and the gift shop (of course!). To learn more about this museum, go to http://pamilmuseum.org.
We had a private tour of the Boal Mansion Museum and the Columbus Chapel. Amazing backdrop to the whole history of the area. Incredible artifacts and documented stories of the Boal family genealogy that would be of interest to historians as well as locals. It’s only been the last five years or so that so much material has been unearthed and documented. An amazing treasure trove! To see information and many more photos about this site, go to http://boalmuseum.com.
The Boal MansionThe Columbus Chapel.
We ended our day with dinner at Duffy’s Tavern.
Duffy’s Tavern.What a smiley bunch!Mary and Anna.Ben and Karen.
A great visit with my family! Happy Memorial Day to all of you! Enjoy!
Everyone says we should drink more water…from weight loss gurus to medical professionals. I know that! But how many of you really reach for a glass of water instead of a soda, iced tea or coffee? I really don’t mind having a bottle of spring water nearby most of the time, but it really isn’t the same as a cold, fizzy diet soda! However, I’m trying to make better choices.
I’ve had this book on my shelf for several years, Infused Water by Dalila Tarhuni (2017). It was a pretty book…lots of great pictures! However, given the choice, I always seemed to choose a diet soda over making (and drinking) infused water.
This book has a few short statements about why we should drink infused water, the benefits we might get from drinking infused water and how to make it…followed by 75 recipes! The pictures were so inviting. Certainly, I could find something that would appeal to me.
So, I found my special pitcher that I bought about the same time I got the book. It has an insert to hold cut fruit. When I checked on Amazon to see how much it cost I discovered almost 50 different models of infused water pitchers! Of course, this one was not listed any more. However, they all do pretty much the same thing…separate the fruit from the water so it can be removed easily after infusing.
Then I went to the grocery store to get some fruit. I found strawberries, kiwi and pineapple. I already had a few blueberries and apples, but I thought I’d start with just the first three.
I cut enough to fill the insert and filled the pitcher with filtered water from the tap. Then I set it in the refrigerator overnight.
The recipes in this book often include several fruits and an herb for additional flavor, like mint leaves, a sprig of rosemary or chamomile flowers. Sometimes a sweetener is suggested. My taste buds are probably out of touch with reality after years of artificial sweeteners, so I’ll have to re-sensitize my palate. Maybe then a sprig of stevia might be noticeable. Of course, none of those additives include caffeine! Yikes…how to find a natural substitute for that! I don’t care for coffee or tea so I may never wake up!
Why make it yourself?
Have you noticed how many brands and flavors of “water” are on the shelf at the store? Every brand advertises a different benefit, like detoxing your system or balancing the pH of your body; and for only $1.00 (or more)!
I’ve tried many of these brands and frankly I’d rather just drink our filtered tap water. However, I would still reach for my diet soda! Frustrating!
Are there health benefits to drinking infused water?
Bert had a few questions about why I thought this would make the water better or healthier, so I decided to do a little more research about infused water so at least I was informed about its REAL benefits, if there were any!
Diet soda on ice is very cold, which I like. When I put our filtered tap water on ice it’s good, but basically the ice doesn’t taste great, so the filtered water doesn’t either.
I’m hoping having really cold, better tasting water available will give me a healthier option to choose. We’ll see!
According to webmd and healthline,
“The main benefits of drinking infused water come from the simple fact that it’s water! Adequate hydration is absolutely key to being healthy. By infusing tasty flavors, many people tend to drink more water. Infusion can thus be a way to make water more appealing.”
Great! Every glass of cold infused water I choose is one less glass of diet soda I drink. I guess that’s a good thing.
After I took the fruit out of the pitcher and tried a glass of infused water, I could taste the faint hint of the pineapple and strawberry. It isn’t sweet but it’s cold and wet. I’ll keep you posted!
After suffering all weekend with a sore tooth, I finally made it to the dentist to find out, YES, I need a root canal! Phooey! Of course the first available appointment is June 11! It’s going to be a long three weeks!
With a swollen gland, a sore tooth and puffy face I was reaching for a cold damp washcloth just to ease the discomfort. I decided it was time to find a different solution. I had seen many versions of a small pillow stuffed with various things, from popcorn to rice to flax seeds with lavender buds mixed in. Some of those things work well in the freezer but not so much in the microwave (like popcorn!).
I had a bag of flax seeds ready for just such a project and I had ordered some fresh dried lavender buds recently, so I thought I’d give it a try.
Materials:
1 cup flax seeds
1/4 cup lavender buds (optional)
1 piece of cotton fabric…9 1/2″ by 5 1/2″
2 layers of cotton flannel…9 1/2″ by 5 1/2″. Treat as one piece of fabric.
Instructions:
Make a pouch by sewing the fabric and flannel pieces wrong sides together, leaving a 3″ space to turn right-side out. Trim the corners.
Close up of the opening.
When turning the pouch right-side out use a stuffing stick or pencil to poke the corners out completely.
Top stitch on three sides to reinforce the seams…don’t want those flax seeds to poke through the seam. Top stitch the top edge after stuffing.
Close up of top stitching before stuffing.
Put 1 cup of flax seeds in a bowl. Add 1/4 cup of dried lavender buds and mix them up. If you don’t care for the smell of lavender, use less or skip them and use a drop or two of your favorite essential oil directly on the fabric bag. No scent at all is fine too.
Use a funnel poked into the opening of the bag and scoop the seed/lavender mixture into the bag (oops…no picture of the funnel).
Stitch the bag closed with two rows of stitching just for reinforcement.
Close up of top stitching after stuffing.
That’s it! The bag is only about half full so it’s flexible and easily molded to my eyes (for sinus pressure) or in my current case, my jaw!
I’ll put this into a zip bag and put it in the refrigerator (or freezer). I’ll enjoy it later this evening!
If I decide I need it warm instead, I’ll let it warm up naturally and then pop it in the microwave…maybe 10 seconds at a time at first. Flax seeds are supposed to hold the warmth quite a while. On the other hand, I may have to make a second one just for the warm version!
I’ve always said most of my projects are inspired by a need. I certainly had a need today! Enjoy!
Do you find yourself collecting t-shirts with pictures of the places you visit? Or maybe you’ve saved t-shirts that your child has outgrown that just have special memories? Working with t-shirts presents a few unique issues that are not found in regular quilt-making.
First, t-shirt fabric is usually soft and stretchy. Second, the pictures are not all the same size. Sometimes the picture is small, like on a pocket. Sometimes it is huge, covering the whole front or back of a shirt. So, before you can begin putting the puzzle pieces together, you have to make the puzzle pieces!
The first time I was asked to make a t -shirt quilt it was with a box of shirts a friend had saved from a career in the military…a mix of shirts from bars, world travel and military mementos…63 in all! Every picture had already been trimmed and the rest of the shirt was pitched so they wouldn’t take up so much space in storage. It was very overwhelming, since I had never attempted to make even a small t-shirt quilt.
I decided I’d better try a small version before I cut into someone’s precious memories. I went to a local children’s resale shop and picked up a dozen cute t-shirts with interesting pictures on them.
I laid them out to get an idea of how they might look together.
I ironed and trimmed each shirt, leaving just the picture with as much fabric around it and still lay flat.
I used a lightweight non-woven iron-on interfacing and ironed a piece to the back of each shirt front.
I had to decide on the size of the blocks that would allow most of each picture to be shown. The pink shirt above had raglan sleeves, so I left the pretty seam as part of the design. I ended up with a template 8 1/2″ by 10″.
Once the fabric had been stabilized so it wouldn’t stretch, the blocks are assembled like any quilt top would be. I used strips as shown below for the inner borders. Of course, the flamingo’s foot was going to be cut off, so I cut around it and appliqued it to the border.
I ended up printing out the directions and offered the quilt to the resale shop for them to use as a display in case other mothers would like to try it.
Next, I offered to make a memory quilt for my daughter. She had saved a pile of t-shirts from my grandson’s elementary school years. This time I decided to not separate the blocks with an inner border. A few blocks had to be pieced or small pieces were appliqued to other blocks to make the size consistent and to make use of some smaller pictures.
Finally, I felt ready to attack the huge box of career-long memory t-shirts. I consider this a major accomplishment that took over a month to assemble. Because the pictures had already been trimmed it was impossible to make a design with consistent-sized blocks. After ironing the lightweight interfacing to each picture, I worked with long strips of backing material and arranged the various sizes of blocks down the strips. Starting at one end I methodically stitched each picture to the backing material…kind of like doing a crazy quilt…one piece at a time. As I worked, the pictures were rearranged multiple times until I got them all in!
I sewed the strips together to make one large quilt, one smaller quilt and two giant floor pillows. I especially loved the one from Bali! I was sorry to give that one back! Whew! Quite the learning experience!
A word of advice, if you are asking someone to make a memory quilt for you…don’t trim the shirts before handing them over! The extra fabric can be useful in piecing odd size pictures.
When finished, the extra t-shirt material can be disposed of (actually the soft knit material is great to make tiny doll clothes!)
Save those memory t-shirts, or start a new collection! A t-shirt quilt is a great way to preserve those memories!
Take a walk with me around the gardens. We planted all our seedlings and seeds last weekend, hoping that the cold weather is gone for good. My patio planter with lettuce and radishes is doing well!
Lettuce on the left, radishes on the right.
Right off the corner of the patio is a big pot with 4 Spearmint plants. I know this will get huge over the summer and the bees should love it.
Spearmint
The small garden beds near the patio with my herbs and cucumbers look sparse…but I know that will change by the end of the summer. It’s always tempting to fill in the spaces with more plants because I forget how big some of these plants will end up. For now, I’ll try to curb my enthusiasm!
These small raised garden beds have removable fences so I can weed easily but the greens are safe from roving bunnies! It’s funny to watch them hop all around the fence trying to find a way in.
CucumbersChamomileRed basil, regular basil, rosemary and thymeLemon balm and Stevia
The regular garden up on the hill will have flowers on both ends (Echinacea and Lavender).
Echinacea. The larger plant is one I bought at the plant sale. We’ll see how our little ones do.Super Sauce Tomatoes (from Burpee seeds)
Four rows to the left of this picture are planted with green and wax beans, carrots and beets. Nothing to see here until they sprout. On the right are 8 lavender plants. I’ll use the flowers for my projects!
Since we planted everything, we have had no rain. We’re grateful for the big tank of water at the corner of the garden. Bert has pumped the rain barrels twice so far so we should have about 200 gallons of water to work with. Now we just wait for the plants to grow!
Yesterday was HOT! Not the best time to have the oven on all morning, but I had put a frozen chicken in the refrigerator to thaw on Sunday and decided today and tomorrow would be even hotter, so into the oven it went! My plan was to cook the chicken and take the bones, etc. and make a big pot of soup stock. Why not keep the kitchen hot all day!
While the chicken cooked, I pulled out my biggest stock pot (12 qt.) and started pulling assorted vegetables out of the refrigerator that could be used in the stock. I had celery ends, onions that were too strong to eat raw, and I even had a handful of dried apples that had been shoved to the back of the shelf. If I had planned ahead, I could have saved other vegetable trimmings over the last few weeks and put them in the freezer instead of the compost bin! Next time! Then, I added the giblets from the chicken (neck, heart, etc.). They will add to the flavor. I set this pot aside until the chicken was done.
Next, I picked off all the meat for other meals and put everything else (bones, skin, juices) into the stock pot. I added about 1/2 cup of vinegar to help get the nutrients out of the bones. Then I added water until everything was covered and put the lid on. I brought it to a boil and reduced the temperature until it was just simmering.
For the first several hours the vegetables all float to the top, while the bones sit on the bottom. I stirred the pot about every half hour. About 3 hours into simmering I added about a quart more water to keep things covered.
After about 6-7 hours most of the vegetables had lost their color and the bones were separated and soft.
Doesn’t look very appetizing, but the broth will be delicious!
Next, I started scooping out the juice a cup at a time and straining it through a colander. I tried to avoid scooping up the soggy vegetables. Any bits of chicken that made it through the colander will stay in the stock. If I wanted clearer chicken broth, I would line the colander with cheesecloth and strain it again.
When I finished scooping out as much juice as I could, the leftover vegetables and bones are pretty soggy looking!
On a cold day/night I would usually put the lids on the pans of stock and set them in the cool garage before packaging them up. I like to skim the fat off the cool stock before freezing. Last night was too warm so I just packaged it up as is. When I use a container of the stock I might have to remove a layer of fat, or not. It was more important that I get the stock into the freezer before I went to bed. Warm chicken stock sitting around for hours is asking for bacteria to move in!
However, I ended up with 12 pints of stock to put in the freezer with another quart left over to make chicken vegetable soup today! Yea!
I’m sure it’s easier to pick up a container of chicken stock at the store, but I just can’t waste the opportunity to make my own. I’m set for a while! Give it a try!
Please comment or email me directly if you have questions. marykisner@comcast.net. Enjoy!
I’m in production mode today to make enough tiny guest soaps for a future greyhound event. I’m pretty sure I have enough molds to do it all at once, but I always have an extra mold ready just in case.
I decided to use plain goat’s milk soap base, since it seems to work for most everybody and did not need extra ingredients. The point of these soaps is the shape of the soaps…dog bones and paw prints!
Here’s the recipe:
I started with 3 pounds of soap base so I could do a double batch.
I chopped up the soap into 1″ cubes (approximately!) and piled them into two 4-cup glass measuring cups. This made 1 1/2 pounds of soap in each cup.
I set the cups into water in saucepans and brought the water to a boil. I turned the temperature down so the water would just simmer.
When the soap was all melted, I added the soap tint, the biodegradable glitter and the lemon essential oil. The glitter just gives the soap a little sparkle!
I poured the soap into the silicone molds. No need to be too exacting…it is hard to pour into these tiny cavities. The extra dribbles just lift off easily. I use a spray of alcohol at the end to disperse any bubbles that form on the surface of the soap.
And my double batch turned out OK!
Finally, I’ll package the soaps up with about three in a cellophane bag. I always make up a card to go with each item I make that includes a list of ingredients…you never know what folks may be allergic to!
This batch did not take too long…most of the time is spent watching the soap melt! Clean up with soap projects is so easy, compared to dealing with beeswax crafts. It just washes away!
You can buy goat’s milk soap base at craft stores and Amazon. Silicone molds can often be found with the candy making supplies. Have fun!
