Winter is well known from how it depletes our vitamin and nutrient levels. To keep them at the "feel and look good" level, we try to introduce more green smoothies in our diet, so here are some tasty (it may not look like that always) inspirations we've done:
Sprout smoothy:
Juice 1 large carrot and 1 grapefruit and pour into blender
Add small handful of leftower buckthorn berries (toddler dinner)
Add almost whole leftower banana (toddler dinner)
Add bunch of sprouts: green pea sprouts, wheat grass
Blend it well, strain if neccessary
Cheers!
Creamy greens:
Juice couple of oranges and pour the juice in the blender, add kefir
Add handful of spinach and beetroot sprouts
Add a spoon of bee pollen
Add half of banana
Notice: bee pollen keeps the very characteristic taste in this smoothy! Skip if don't like it, but it's a super-super-food..
Extra tip: Do not wash the blender after you've done with making home made peanut butter for "no waste" smoothy! Make a smoothy right afterwards or next morning, it really tastes great and wont go bad!
As promissed, here is the cookie recipe that will help you to save the food from waste. Juice pulp is a wonderful ingredient!
Carrot cookies:
700g carrot juice pulp
3 eggs
50-100g butter
60ml olive oil
50-100g walnuts
200ml seed mix (pumpkin, sesame, sunflower, linseed etc.)
150g almond meal (can use tapioka flour, oatmeal flour or any roughly ground flour, or even a ground coconut with any flour of your choice)
0-100g sugar (or coconut sugar, other eco-and-health-friendly alternatives like agave syrup, just use according to your taste)
vanilla
ginger
Mix all the ingredients together. Heat the oven to some 200 C. Put small bits on the baking sheet and pat them thin. Bake them in the oven until look crispy and the edges have started browning.
Time of baking will depend on how thick or thin you make the cookies, and also how large. I like mine sometimes large and thick to remain a little soft, but then I sometimes make them very small and thin so if not eaten immediately they would turn into kind of crackers.
Baking advice: first make a test pan with some 4-6 cookies, if they tend to fall apart, add some more flour to the mix, because it also depends how wet is your juice pulp.
Keeping in mind alterations you can make, it is easy to keep these lovely bits also gluten free!
Bonus tip: To green your home and your wallet: In our kitchen we use the baking parchment multiple times, until its really torn or cannot be used due to some other cake/cookie residue on it. For example, my mom baked a honey cake on my brothers birthday on 7th december, then we used the same sheets for Christmas gingerbreads, and last week I baked carrot cookies on the same sheets. Some of them got too wet, but most of them are folded back in the drawer.
In case someone in your household must eat gluten free foods only, keep in mind where you put your gluten free used baking parchment sheets, and keep them separate from the ones that are used for 'regular cookies'.
I hope you enjoy your cookies!
I think I'm gonna see how they turn out if I add some goji berries to the mix!
While I am not participating in Jason Vale's global detox this year, one of my resolutions was to juice again EVERY day. We have been too stuck on the schedule of drinking fresh juice in the morning as the first "food" of the day. Well, our little one has lately changed her sleeping pattern and now she loves to sleep sometimes even until over 10am. In our city apartment at least that means no loud noises in the morning- so no juicing, no blendind.
So now I am learning to turn myself into "fresh juice ANY time of the day" drinker, and have it in the evening if not able to juice in the morning.
Just for some inspiration I wanted to share our juiced rainbow:
I am still very, very thankful to last years Pumpkin harvest. Cheers!!
Recently there have been a lot of posts in the blogosphere and around in social media about the idiosyncracy of wasting the food. There are many ways to preserve food that would otherwise for some reason go to waste, and I have my own three favorite ones.
1. Cook from scartch and eat your food with the next meal, take it in a lunchbox to work etc.
Even though sometimes that one piece of meat that would be too much for me or three spoons of potatoe mash that my toddler didn't disregarded on the plate, or half a bowl of breakfast porrige, etc.- can all look as "there's nothing I can really do with it", so many people waste. Sometimes I find it ok, if that's part of your pets or animals diet, because you have to feed them well anyway. But even if it would go to compost, I have a heavy heart seeing it dumped, let alone, having it to dump there myself.. Or even worse, to put it in "household rubbish" as in city apartment (yes, unfortunately we don't take our compost part back to the countryside anymore).
But it does not have to be so daunting! You can easily incorporate that one piece of meat and three spoons of mash in your lunchbox to work, or a handful of cooked pasta. I know it would be harder to fit it in your family dinner, but it is very easy to add some larger salad or some other food pieces you like to have wonderful lunch at work! And even bits of oatmeal porrige- what to do with some leftower porrige half a bowl? Add some chopped banana or other fruits or berries depending on a season, and you will have even better meal than just full bowl of porrige. And believe me, there's even nothing wrong to have it as lunch at work, in case you eat breakfast at home all together freshly cooked. Yumm!
It is so easy, and all it takes is to remember that leftowers and bits may make your lunch a special meal from your favorite world cuisines!
2. Make a freezer stoup!
When I stumbled upon the stoup I was surprised at the simplicity of such delight, and I was even more surprised how I did not come to think of it myself! I have been putting forgotten half onions, a little "tired" herbs, crunched pieces of celery, only couple potatoes that we have that moment at home in soups or stews.. But this was next level. Now I too have a stoup box in a freezer- everything that we cannot for some reason finish or incorporate in next few meals, goes to in the box. Bits of meat, sausages, cooked vegetables, pasta, single leftover canned tomatoe, etc. There are also some foods excluded from it- usually sauces and foods including milk or cream.
When the box is becoming fuller or you just want to cook something like that- defreeze the box, fry some spices and extra onion and maybe a grated carrot in butter or olive oil in the pot, add the contents of the box (cut in cubes or pieces if neccessary) and some extra meat or vegs if want to, then add tomatoe puree (home made frozen, preserved or store bought), canned or dry cooked beans and some stock if neccessary for more soupy consistence. It is a hearty, filling meal, and particularly nice if you grate some drying cheese bits that sometimes can be found in corners of the fridge. To make it even more special, serve with toasted garlic butter bread!
Another bonus- sometimes we can't find time to cook recipes that include 10 or more ingredients, no matter how we'd like to. Well, this is a way to do it in no time! And you can make the box contents selective to the recipes you like best, like, being inspired by Rachel Ray for one or another nice stoup!
3. Be creative with the juice pulp!
Juice pulp is not a waste, it can be a wonderful ingredient! I have shared the carrot pancakes (fritters) with you before. But there are so many more ways to use the pulp! In our kitchen, sometimes it goes into muffins or cakes or breads (these are usually things my mother bake), I incorporate them in soups (especially pumpkin and carrot pulp). My favorites are pumpkin soups with Indian spice. It can even be used in cookies! I promisse to share the carrot and seed mix cookie recipe as soon as we bake another batch, because it would not be fair to post it without the picture, but the first batches just disappeared so quickly..
I recently found some more recipes to use juice pulp, and this is the one that inspired me to post this here too: http://mindfulmomma.com/2013/05/easy-juicer-pulp-minestrone-recipe.html , so thank you, Micaela!
Be creative!
For a while now there has been a constant debate on green carpet about maybe going raw or at least trying to add more raw to our daily food consumption and we tried some recipes several times..
With all the wonderful berries and fruits available now in season it has been fairly easy and pleasant to keep our raw food levels up on daily basis. However, during our National XXV Song and XV Dance Festival week where I had to dance all day and sometimes night long, and during the "recovery week" I managed to indulge in more of those foods I'd never eat otherwise. Looking for excuses? Maybe.. But as much as I tried to keep a healthy diet (bringing health snacks and smoothies to the stadium, carrying almonds in all my pockets), the "other" foods kept creeping up on me..
So this week I felt already fully recovered from the amazing experience of dancing, and decided- time to get back to proper moonphase detox days and add more raw. After trying some soups and smoothies mostly a while ago, this time I dared myself into "cooking" raw dinner maincourse.
I have to say- it was fantastic!!!
So here's the recipe I used:
For rice:
2small heads of cauliflower
1 red bell pepper
4 stalks of celery
2 handfuls of mushrooms
1/2 large courgette
For pesto:
2 handfuls of basil leaves (from my windowsill)
pine nuts and walnuts as much as you prefer
2-3 cloves of garlic
olive oil
pinch of pink himalaya salt
Chop the cauliflower in a food processor until rice-like consistence (small grains). I used a tip to pulse 10times and do it by small portions not to turn it into a paste.
Dice the bell pepper, celery and courgette, chop the mushrooms. Mix it all in the cauliflower rice.
Blend basil leaves, garlic and nuts all in a thick paste, add a pinch of salt and drizzle in olive oil to gain the perfect substance. My suggestion is to 'stretch' it a little with more olive oil to make it really a sauce for the 'rice'.
Today is the World Environment Day, and we are going to celebrate it on green carpet too!
I was thinking of what activity would be the best for our family and our planet..
And I realized that I just simply have to address the two concepts of what UNEP has also suggested- Sustainable consumption and Food waste!
So this is what I registered at UNEP as my activity:
The change starts at the grassroots level right? So I am starting there- with myself and my family. I am discussing how food production impacts the Environment and what we can do, especially discussing food waste. Even though my mom assures we don't have much food waste since we have pets and grandmom nearby has also hens and ducks, and my mom has a worm compost "farm" too.. but still- I am on the path of finding the ways to show my family how every scrap of food can be used and how leftowers can be incorporated in further meals.. In addition I am talking with them about reducing store bought produce, reducing bread, meat and ready made items, and even reducing cooking and benefits of eating more raw food! It might not help saving hungry children in developing countries, but what we must change is the overall eating patterns of our whole planet, especially "the West"..
Copyrights BERAS
Additional motivation for this I also found in Tallinn last week where I attended Policy forum on BaltAdapt project, and one of the participants was presenting the BERAS- Baltic Ecologycal Recycling Agriculture and Society and the concept of a Diet for a Clean Baltic:
As a consumer changing what you eat is the most important action you can take to save the environment. The following criteria can guide your choice of food weather you are an individual consumer, a professional responsible for purchases in the public sector, or running a restaurant.
First of all the food should taste good and be healthy. Organic food is good both for us and the environment. Local food and food according to season minimise transports and support our local producers. Most likely seasonal food will also cost less and give us the opportunity to stay more connected with our natural environment. Leftover food is a waste of energy and we should try to reduce it. Producing vegetables and grains is much more energy efficient than producing meat. Therefore reducing our meat consumption is the most important thing we do.
We call it Diet for a Clean Baltic.
In short, Diet for a Clean Baltic means choosing food that is produced within the natural boundaries of our ecosystem.
I'm in!!!
So- eat organic, eat local, eat seasonal, eat vegetarian and I would also like to add- eat raw!
I don't mean that you have to go 100% on any of these at once, but just start replacing step by step, introduce the good things and you'll see how the bad ones fall away real quick ;)
Let's eat food that's good for yourself, your family and your planet!
I've had "Food Matters" film on my shelf for couple of years now I think, and I absolutely loved that movie. And so I came to love the newest piece of "Food Matters" creators- "Hungry for Change". This film should be on video library of every family. This is hard hitting, stripping of lies and inspiring piece that is meant to make every person healthy and happy.
Sounds cheesy? Not really. Kirs Carr, David Wolfe, Joe Cross, Jon Gabriel, Dr.Alejandro Junger, Daniel Vitalis along with others tells the story why people try to eat better foods, but fail, put on weight. They not only talk about crisis in our health or lack of it, but also provides guidance how to return to the natural state of health.
One of the speakers I enjoyed the best is Jason Vale, commonly known as Juicemaster whose lovely book we have at home and who inspired me and my husband to do the Juicemasters three day detox in January. By the way, I plan to participate in the next juice detox challenge in April now!
Jason also tells why juicing is so important for our bodies. "It is a 15minute nutrient express to health."
It was kind of surprising to listen about the actual addictions. And when I come to think about it- I recognize the feeling inside. And honestly, at parts of the movie I wanted to reach for the chocolate (natural dark chocolate, not the "chocolate bar" that has everything but chocolate in it.. but it is still sugar!!!).. that is crazy.
I agree to Jason and to Jamie Oliver that it is an abuse of people, especially children, that we allow the stores to sell those things! The cheating by the food, diet and weightloss industry is increadible- hiding sugars under different names, taste enhancing chemicals, smg, aspartame, wrong fats...
I'm never having a diet coke again in my whole life. I've never been fond of it, but I still would have few times a year. Since now I know that it kills your brain cells and is addictive too- thanks, but no thanks!!!
There are more new things I got to know, for example, about the connections of toxins to fat. So when you sweat out the fat, you still have the toxins inside and body produces more fat to link to the toxins. Hence you have to find a natural way to detox the body first instead of just loose the fat. Green vegetables and naturally gelatinous plant fibres are basic to clean your body. Adding two more herbs- parsley and cilantro- can do wonders aparently. Due to the last comment I will hopefully expand on herbs some time soon.
I particularly loved the suggestion how to deal with this problem- instead of putting yourself on a diet that would just turn you more hungry of fats and sugars, replace things you eat one by one. Instead of cutting things out, start by adding fresh vegetables, fruits, unprocessed dairy and meat. Add that cucumber, add that avocado and apple to your meals. And slowly the good things will push out the bad ones, you won't need the bad alternative that does harm to your body, because there will be plenty of good ones and your body will know how to choose.
Can we start by swapping the foods we purchase in store to some more natural, organic ones from local producers, health shops, farmers markets?
According to the film, if you want to go healthy, go simple. If it grows in the garden, it's edible. If it's created in a lab, it takes a lab to digest. If it has a shelf life longer than you, it's a common sense you shouldn't eat it.
Self love is big issue for many people and I liked that this film made a point on that too. All the psychological aspects are important too. What is eating you? Why eating is a solution and what is that something that you solve by eating? Importance of sleep during stress periods is so very connected to piling up the pounds. Do you excersise? It's not just about the burning fats, it's the psychological solutions, decrease of stress hormones, decrease of pain etc.
The idea of comfort food comes from the childhood. And one of the best advices that this film gives to me is to really care what I give to my child so in case she needs a comfort food, she chooses healthy instead of box of cookies or french fries. I'm happy that at the moment her comfort food is breastmilk, raisinis and variety of berries..
The film constantly reminds that health is our natural state and that we can actually become healthy and beautiful. At the beginning I didn't really understand, why they have to "sell" all the good ideas under the beauty banner. But when they spoke on our natural attractions and where ideas of beauty come from, I thought that it was good that they didn't skip the beauty part.
This film has been both a reminder of things we know already, and an eye opener too about the connections in our bodies and the ugly truth of processed foods. But most importantly, it is a true inspiration to do better, to treat our bodies according to their needs instead of what producers want to sell us.
Many of the speakers have made this important turn in their life after getting to the tipping point. They got really sick, obese, almost died. And that made them realise what are the things they must change. So they are sharing this knowledge with us. And I believe that us, the average people with no high overweight and connected diseases, are the ones who are the most difficult to turn to the healthy eating. We eat kind of healthy, so we think that because of that we can afford to have the dead foods, the highly processed foods with refined sugars and bad fats. Including myself. But this film really is an inspiration.
My husband who is currently on juicing tour again, is probably going to laugh about me now and give me that "I told you so" look.. But I know that also for him the above problem is big- he can go juicing for a week and then just crush on meat, cakes, junk food. But with a propper and I should say regular guidance and understanding of connections we should be able to do better.
I want to heal my mind and body having natural divine flavors. It is wonderful to have speakers like this on my computer now! I hope they will inspire you too to clean up and turn away from chemistry and towards living more natually.
p.s. - I think I will pick up the book too!
I am hungry for change!
I have been recently thinking about ups and downs of my efforts to live green. Particularly about downs, as ups are usually posted around here or so taken for granted as a part of my life.
Down No 1- Composting problem. I was planning last Summer to have the worm compost on my balcony, but since I ended up spending most of the days in Summer at my parents house, it was not neccessary. However, during Fall and Winter I spend most of my days in the city and there is this problem of not being able to compost properly. As for those who complain that they can't recycle paper or plastics, that's just excuses, because there are containers around, you just have to want to recycle. And be intelligent to want it. But in Riga there are no composting facilities. So at the moment, I still freeze parts of our food remains like carrot and pumpkin leftowers from juicing and potatoe peels etc on our balcony. Then I take them to my mom's worm compost as "food". But I have to tell you, it is not very comfortable. And you have to follow the weather that the bags don't defrost before you carry them away. It is really a down for me. I wish we had houses like some innovative places in Denmark that has all the biodegradeable matter going down the shaft to the facility that turns it into the heating energy for the same building. That would be wonderful, right?
Down No 2- I still use our car a lot, especially in winter. I mean, a lot. As little one is getting heavier most of the walks are occuring in quite close area, so for the rest I try to plan running my errands all combined as much as possible. I can't wait for Em to start walking longer distances. And spring to return on streets so we can use the pushchair and bicycle again properly. Sling is great, but during longer walks due to thicker clothing- not very comfy. I agree that I could use more public transport. But sometimes price and comfort of being able to carry all the stuff I'm getting or having already (including Emily) comes first and if I calculate my trips, car sometimes is less. At the moment I put up with this down and I try to use less car, as little as possible actually. While I don't have better options at the hand, I am trying to plan better and better my trips, drive eco friendly and look ahead to have a slow drive.
OK, I think two downs is enough for a day like this. It's time to talk about something positive and maybe tasty? It is the Valentine's in the end!
I love chocolates. I truly love good chocolate in every possible form. But I find "surprising" your loved one with box of chocolates that usually is neither orgainc, nor eco friendly in it's packaging, is a little boring, it doesn's carry any surprises if I tell the truth. Unless they're made by your own two hands and placed in a nice reused box..
So why not surprise your loved ones with some other treats? Something you can make yourself. Something that doesn't come wrapped in paper, but home made and served straight up for a moment of indulgence?
This Valentine's my plan is as follows- put the little love angel to sleep and then enjoy some home made masala chai ice cream and raspberry- coconut milk smoothy with my husband. We don't do gifts on Valentine's day, not only because it's not green, but it's also less intimate and much more commercial then. We plan some quality time together instead, the treats and experiences we can give to each other rather than buy in store.. like a special bath or a massage with some ayurvedic oils at home.. some edible treats is what I have on my part tonight.
Very yummy Masala Chai Ice Cream-
the base is the same as I have posted before - the Custard base (Fatty Milk- Cream- Sugar- Egg Yolk- Vanilla Bean). Depending on the amount you are making and how strong you want the taste, pour couple of spoons of boiling water over couple of spoons of Masala Chai. Even though I am a fan of loose teas, this time I'd suggest to have teabags, it's easier to extract the strong flavors in very little water for ice cream. Leave them to soak and get all the flavor, then squeeze the goodness right into the custard base. Check the taste and add more extrac or base if needed. For more fluffy ice cream, fold in some whipped cream in all that and put it in a tray with a lid that closes well. Off we go to the freezer! Or outside it you have proper minus degrees.. Stir few times in the freezing process. Serve with pomegranate and cinnamon stick. My suggestion though is to prepare the ice cream well in advance next year!
For a Raspberry- Coconut smoothy
you'll need a can of coconut milk, two cups of frozen raspberries (preferrably picked in wild during the Summer), honey or agave syrup to taste and some water if you prefer the smoothy to be more runny. You might want to add some banana or other berries like blueberries to all that as well. It's filling, yet light (important if you have any activities planned), and taste is awesome. Blend it all together, serve in a beautiful glass and enjoy the moment!
Happy and green New Year all!
We here have been very busy on green carpet during the festive season making gifts and celebrating. As the holiday spirit is slowly fading away, new resolutions and initiatives always kicks in. I'm not going to make a list of my hundred resolutions for another year that has come. Instead, I just wanted to share my inner initiative that I have already fulfilled!
After lot's of nice food on tables during winter solstice celebrations I really, really felt like having a detox again. I haven't had a propper one since.. well, since pre-pregnancy.. I used to do the moonphase based detox days, but this time I opted for something a bit longer- a three day juice only detox.
Many thanks to Juicemaster! Recipes were really tasty and well planned.
A comment on how we (yes, my husband participates) feel- first day was great, day two as well despite the fact that I had a friend over and I was cooking both for her and our kids. Felt a little light headed, but really nice, literally felt everything unnecessary leaving my body.
Third day, however, was a bit hard already- Emily's porrige was really tempting. It really was the worst. I But saw it through! And was looking for the next day when I would be able to eat something solid again..
Today is this next day and with yesterday's crisis over I made a wonderful juice this morning adding some thicker ingridients to juicemaster suggested- some more avocado, half of the little banana, few spoons yogurt and handful of soaked almonds and blended it all together. And I continued to feel absolutely wonderful!
If the weekend with grandmom's birthday was not coming up and I was not a little concerned about milk (still breastfeeding), I would probably continue. My husband does, hurray to him! :))
I planned my next meals as salad for lunch, yogurt with some fruit for linner (between lunch and dinner), and a light mixed veggie mash for dinner. Now I have just finished my lunch. Actually I haven't- I ate only half of it and proved my intuition to be right when it tried to convince me that steamed veggies are easier to digest than fresh celery etc. I'll listen to myself next time.
The only thing today I really enjoy a lot is having as many cups of tea as I want! I'm no caffeine addict, I don't really drink more black or green tea than maybe a cup a day. But my lovely herbal teas! Oh, so good to have them back.
A comment on recipes- I'm not sure if that would be fare or legal to publish the recipes here, but since you can download the shopping list for the 3day detox at http://www.juicemaster.com/ I don't see why I couldn't have a word on it.
There's also a low fat no additives yogurt on the list that's missing. And we skipped the mineral water and used tap instead. We managed to have all carrots, beetroots and berries from our own garden, all apples were local and you could see and trust they were not toxic since worms have been eating them too. We found part of the veggies and lemons organic.. but the rest unfortunately- available only conventional produce.
I also think that the fruits and veggies in the recipes are more convenient for other locations than Latvia. However, I believe I'll mix these in future with locally more available things!
Good luck if you decide to take on the three day juice detox challenge, I can promise- it is worth it!
Well, everybdy talks about superfoods that can make you super-healthy, super-slim, super-energized and so on. When you eat them. But what about the superfood that you can eat AND cover youself with it to get more benefits?
Well, my personal favorite- hempseed or simply hemp oil.
I buy locally grown and manufactured hemp oil that comes in a beautiful brown ceramic bottle with a cork. But what's inside? Lovely, dark green, cold pressed oil.
Eat it!
Use it instead your regular oil or butter with food and forget about the fish oil supplements- in addition to tasty replacement of other oils in your kitchen (apart from the one you fry things in, it's not supposed to be heated), it's richer. It contains omega 3,6 and 9 in their best possible proportion, therefore hempseed oil is to be considered the most valuable one. Take into account also that its manufacturing is ecologically clenaer than eg. fish oil. It will strengthen your heart and give some extra energy.
Fats from hemp oil are especially healthy for women. It contains a quite rare gamma-linolenic acid that is taking care of the feminine processes in the body (regulating hormones) and also 'feeding' the skin from inside and improving its elasticity. It also works as a natural anti-aging agent. Gamma-linolenic acid also activates calcium absorption, but vitamin E that is also found in this oil is a natural anti-oxidant that helps fighting free radicals.
It is a wonderful choice for vegetarians and also during prengancy and breastfeeding to enrich our fatty acid levels. that are so important to keep up for healthy mama and bebe.
If you really do not like the taste of it, try out roasted and ground hemp seeds that contain both the oil and proteins, carbs and fibres. You could actually survive from this and water for extended periods of time. Not recommended though! It's just to illustrate how much of a superfood it actually is. And it's really tasty. I like to sprinkle it over my salad. However, my real treat is a slice of bread, little butter or ghee and then really thick coating of grind of hemp seeds.
Apply it!
Everywhere. It will smooth and moisturise your skin. I like to pour it in my bath with some essential oils. Or apply it on damp skin after morning shower and then let it dry. In winters when skin is getting drier due to cold weather and heating indoors, it's exactly what I need!
I also apply it on my hair as a mask. Comb your hair, apply preferably lightly warm oil throughout hair and skin of the head. For a quick one you can wrap your hair with towel (beware, it will be greasy!) or just tie it back for few hours before washing. I'm too lazy for that. I apply oil before bed and leave it there overnight for extra nutritients for my hair. Wash it in the morning! My hair have become much less frizzy, much less dry and much more healthy!
And, of course, feel free to use it as a part in your scrubs and masks!
I even have replaced my baby's body oil with this and her dry skin is thankful to me for that.
Find out where you can buy this dark green elixir of health and enjoy!
Some time in winter a great blogger Tiffany from Nature Moms Blog with her post on Freeganism and Eating Your Way To A Healthier Environment got me thinking on my own Freeganism habits. One of them being fond of free foods. Now with summer here the topic is on the list again.
I'm not at all into Dumpster Diving, nor I have tried to talk to local shops or restaurants since lately I live most of my days in the countryside far away from those. I love free foods that grow out there on wild that just need some time in the forest with a basket and some patience. It may not be Freeganism according to the definition Tiffany posted, but I strongly consider it to be since it's truly free, it is 100% natural and it reduces food overproduction (and also your own food miles).
I grew up in countryside and it has been my legacy to go herb tea, berry and mushroom picking. I found it weird when I moved to other places, cities and countries, that people have no idea that they can eat also foods that are not coming in a plastic boxes on a store shelf. Loads of blackberries are growing in even in semi-wild parks and woods in London and people pass them by. Worse- they look at me as if I were some lunatic for eating them! So I just wanted to come up with a basic list of my very favorites of free food!
Berries:
Wild strawberries
Blueberries
Blackberries
Cowberries (or lingon berries)
Cranberries
Mushrooms
Teas you will find in this post- many are picked in wild.
I intend to expand my free food list next year and I'll keep you updated on it!
If you think you might like my favorites- or you know you like them from the shops before- learn them and remember them in summer. And believe me- they taste incredibly good, much better than watery farm grown and store bought. They have bright and warm sun, refreshing rains and natures best in them! And many of them last through the winter in your freezer or just in glass jars in your fridge. I know what I'm saying here, because I just popped a handful of fresh cranberries in my mouth that were picked in wild last summer and stored in my fridge. Be smart, be freegan and prepare for next summer!
P.S. - a special thanks to Tiffany for the inspiring post, I intend to try out some of the practices described in the post when I move to the city.
It was a while ago when I promised to share my experience of home made rhubarb yogurt on green carpet. It was after my trip to London and eating Rachel's super-tasty yogurts again.
Well, I must say- our home made version is fantastic!
We use the yogurt recipe my mom got in Ayurveda cooking lesson:
Take one liter of fresh milk (unpasteurized, straight from the farm)
100g of natural yogurt (I used from dairy Daugava, use a good one that still has the neccessary bacteria)
Bring the milk up to the boiling point and remove from heat and let it cool until about 40 degrees C (to the point you can put your finger in it and hold it there)
Add the yogurt, stir and pour in jars
Leave the jars open on the table for 2-4 hours, depending how sour you want it to become
Eat it or close the jars and put it in the fridge
I like adding the flavors only for the portion I eat instead of mixing it all for one taste.
For now I've tried such additives as blackberries, buck-thorn and maple syrup, pear jam and rhubarbs, of course.
For rhubarb option just take fresh rhubarb, cut in small peaces, add sugar, let it soak, boil until rhubarbs soft and let it cool. Then add to the yogurt. Mmmm, perfect!
Note- do not add rhubarb mixture to yogurt before it has cooled, it will change the consistence from yogurt to rhubarb compote with cheesy bits! It still tastes good though, in case you still want to experiment...
Home made yogurt is perfect for summer, since it's plain natural you can add either berries and fruits or put it in green salad, so I hope you try and enjoy this recipe!
Let me know if you have tried any interesting flavors and whether you liked the yogurt!
Cowslip (Primula Veris) is one of the favorite teas on green carpet and it is the one we are going for during Spring season.
Spring time is a period when our bodies have been starving vitamins and all the goodness of natural greens. Cowslip are great addition to other Spring weeds that are so healthy to eat as salad, so try out some fresh as well!
But mostly we are collecting these tiny yellow flowers for winter tea cups when their sweet scent will release memories of warm sunshine. And not only that- they are one of the best natural remedies in cases of various colds, especially for children. They are also considered as light, calming remedy for sleepless nights.
Recently there has been some traveling on green carpet.. unexpectedly I had to pack, take my always smiling baby and go to the lovely city of London. I must admit, I was a little afraid, but it all passed- apart from smells and smokers, London is very much baby friendly city, at least people are!
Not going much into detail, but just a note about what surprised me.. When I left London for going back to Latvia with its countryside goodies, healthy environment at least while we're out of the city, and all the natural stuff available here, I never imagined I will miss.... food stores in London... Honestly.
Even though I have much better veggies, wild berries, mushrooms, dairy products form nearby farms, there are still some things I really miss. Like Rachel's organic yogurts.. Like Whole Foods stores with such a wide choice of everything.. Like Yantra, the organic, vegan cafe near the Soho Square..
The variety of organic products in everyday chain stores in Latvia is growing so slowly, while, for example, Tesco now offers I think almost everything! In terms of selling organic, our stores here are still at the level London was at least couple of years ago, but I'm staying positive about their growth towards greener products on their shelves. But for now during winter I don't really trust the veggies and fruits there, so I really enjoyed having fresh organic salad while there.
Lucky for me, we now have Baltais Eko Jogurts in various tastes and of course Daugava's production. But I still miss Rhubarb yogurt. My plan this summer when our rhubarb bush is gonna be as huge as always- make my own. I'll let you know if we succeed!
Note for others living or visiting London- enjoy your opportunities to shop and eat organic, there are many and great!
Spring has been here for a while now and hopefully we all have managed to enjoy the goodness it offers. One of the favorites of Spring delights on green carpet is sap from trees. Or so commonly called- birch juice.
Here in Latvia we particularly like maple that is available very early in season and birch that comes a little later. Overall Latvian season for tree sap is April.
So what is the sap?
It is a fluid that is transported in special cells of a plant -xylem cells- they transport water and nutrients through the plant. Therefore the sap is a thin sirupy liquid and slightly sweet for it is full of mineral elements, sugars, amino acids, enzymes, proteins, fitohormones, vitamins.
Birch sap must be collected during a short period of the year that lasts approximately one month, depending on the species and climate. Start at the break of winter and spring when the sap moves intensively, but definitely before first green leaves appear.
Uses of the sap- drink it!
Birch sap is best consumed fresh and it is delivering it's best at first few hours of collection, so we drink it all day long. Suggestions vary from at least 2 glasses per day to at least 2 liters per day for about 10 days . To be on the safe side, I drink about 2-3 liters every day all the season, it is a fantastic detox tour after the long winter and especially after traditionally heavy Easter treats! Just be sure you have the availability of bathroom somewhere near. I don't call it "natural therapeutic irrigation" for no reason!
If you have lots of it, try using the sap instead of water for your tea, coffee, soup and other cooking!
The sap contains water that is encoded with trees energy, so when this energy is transferred to you, you might find yourself detoxified not only from physical toxins but also form anxiety, anger and all that replaced with positive senses.
My little one developed some fever due to teething and I also gave her a little of the birch sap that I recommend it to anyone suffering ills and fevers. It has more medicinal properties than that, you can rinse the throat with sap in case of angina and similar ills. Drink it and use it on skin in cases of eczema, psoriasis, other skin problems. It's normalizing acid levels in guts and helps dissolve various stones.
Besides, she totally loved it. And what's not to love! It tastes light and sweet, it refreshes you like water but brings some extra energy and extra goodies within it. It is one of the reasons I love the Spring and I can't wait to have some of our frozen sap later on!
Preserve it!
Birch sap can also be naturally fermented and is traditionally drank on hot summer days, however, this year we opted for something new- freezing! Since it stays fresh very, very short time and you can't possibly drink all that the tree gives on time, it's better not to leave it to go off, it is a total waste. So we filled large and small plastic bottles that were left at our household by our guests or occasionally bought on the way by our family (yeah, I know, it is terrible, but my parents keep forgetting that water bottles may be refilled instead of buying new ones). A little green bonus point for giving second life to these bottles as well. We just flung them in our large freezer and will get them out when the juice time is over and hot summer days are here.
Beauty inside out!
But wait, that's not all yet.. there's not only nutritional or detoxifying qualities of this wonder juice that makes you look good after a good Spring juice tour, it has some cosmetic benefits as well. I use the easiest and most basic one- I wash my face with it instead of using bought facial toner, it increases the elasticity of the skin and moisturizes and feeds the good enzymes right into it. Just remember to rinse it off, otherwise your face will be a little sticky due to sugars of the sap.
For those that wake up feeling swollen I recommend freezing the sap as ice cubes and then massaging the face with them in the morning.
It is suggested to rinse your hair in the sap, however, I haven't tried that yet, so if anyone has, let me know on the effects!
Oh, and really, don't doubt the properties, as I have heard that already internationally known Latvian brand of organic MADARA cosmetics, is using birch sap in its latest anti-age line!
It's not only beauty treatment, but also a natural remedy for skin diseases and itches, and due to its antiseptic properties can be used to wash cuts and bruises.
How to get it?
I'm not sure how many are familiar with this process, so here's the basic detail on how we do it
Find a healthy full grown tree and ask the permission and be kind to the tree, it is a living being and will be generous with its energy for you (full grown birch can produce even 20-30 liters per day depending on the temperature and period).
Use a special hand drill to make a whole and insert a wooden tube in it (I don't like the modern plastic tube ideas, we use traditional ones).
Secure a bucket under the tube to collect the sap and depending on weather or insects nearby make some "shelter" for the bucket (some suggest plastic bottles, but I wouldn't recommend them since juicing is quite fast and bottle would be overflowing way too quickly).
When the juicing season breaks, repair the whole in the tree with wooden peg that fits tightly, cover it with clay, say thank you to your generous birch and let the tree continue it's natural life probably till next year if you will choose it then again.
Hmmm... isn't that a little funny that in summer we make hot apple crumbles, berry puddings, but in winter- ice creams? Well, I think it's not really important. What is really important here on green carpet is that we treat ourselves with something good. And that is- home made from scratch, only natural ingredients, delightful tastes, fun of making and that long "Mmmmmmm" while eating later with family and friends. Yes, I'm really talking about Ice Cream.
And a green bonus point- if you're an Ice Cream lover like me, home made from scratch is another step up against boosting consumerism of unnatural products.
Our customers in the guest house order Pavlova once in a while. That is also always my birthday cake. And what's usually the 'problem' with it? It takes many, many egg whites and leaves yolks unused. So we dived in the sea of Ice Cream recipes and picked our favorites that all have the Custard base (Fatty Milk-Cream-Sugar-Egg Yolk-Vanilla Bean).
Various recipes require various amounts of eggs, milk, cream, sugar, so we use this Custard base and modify it to every recipe afterwards by adding extra ingredients. It's much easier to do so if you have about 50 egg yolks and you want to make some 6 or more different Ice Creams.
After few evenings of making Ice Cream, our favorites so far in no particular order are:
Pure Vanilla Ice Cream Rich Chocolate Ice Cream with Whole Cherries Green Tea Ice Cream Vanilla Ice Cream with Wild Strawberries
Masala Chai Ice Cream Black Currant Ice Cream Dark Bread Ice Cream with Roasted Hazelnuts Vanilla Ice Cream with Cherries
Lavender Ice Cream Vanilla Ice Cream Ice Cream with Nuts and Raisins Saffron Vanilla Ice Cream Cow-berry Ice Cream (recipe in Autumn Delights post)
I thought it would be too long to post all the recipes here since it's quite easy to make Ice Cream according to your own tastes, but if you want to know specifics, let me know!
Nothing compares to home made Ice Cream and it is really easy to make! And you do not have to own an Ice Cream making machine to do that, just a regular freezer! Warning: it's delicious in all its forms, so be prepared to eat lots of it!
