Faux Wendy's Frosty

If there is one thing I look most to "in the form of snacks and drinks" this IS IT!!!

I look forward to these all year long. My absolute favorite..

Its not very often I can talk myself into a frosty from Wendys...So this is the identical healthy version.

Start saving all your ripe bananas now...When they get ripe, break them into halves or thirds and throw them all into a ziplock bag and freeze. When you get more ripe bananas, do the same and add them to the same bag...

recipe

About 2 or three handfuls of frozen banana pieces

(Ground chia seed) (Use a coffee grinder) (2 tablespoons)

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup of milk

1 tablespoon of raw cocoa....

(They said u can substitute the bananas for icecubes, but ive never tried it)

blend all in the blender

B

Faux Tuna Fish Sandwich

For a year or so after the Japanese Fukushima radiation leak, I stopped eating seafood. I missed it terribly, but the news articles of it showing up on the west coast terrifies me. I had to think of the safety of my family and kids. Even though it sucked terribly and I missed seafood I came up with alternatives to fight those cravings in the mean time. One of my biggest cravings were tuna fish Sammies (or so they are called in our house.) I found this recipe in some of my searches and I was so surprised with the taste I ate it every single day for a week.




One can of drained garbanzo beans (save the juice in a cup).....then add a couple scoops of mayonnaise, salt and pepper...Blend in your blended until slighty chunky (like tuna fish)...if it is having a difficult time blending add a little of the cans juice to it.....then..I mixed in diced up pickles, onions and celery...(you can do your own toppings however you like)..I toasted my bread the dark brown I love...add it to it and mmmmmmmmm!!! My kids loved it, I loved it, tasted just like tuna fish ...my husband was reluctant to try it, but actually enjoyed it after a lot of convincing to just try it....

Sourdough Lunch

I love making this for lunch in the summer when my garden is bountiful....I toast a slice of sourdough bread and top it with a slice of tomato..Then top the tomato with slices of mozzarella cheese...for the sauce..I use a small handful of oregano (no stems), a small handful of rosemary (no stems) about 2 or 3 cloves of fresh garlic cloves, enough olive oil to give a good sauce thickness, salt and course pepper....puree and top over the cheese...... 

Father Figure

Over the years, I've had many wonderful father figures show up in my life. Wonderful men who taught me things; whether is was to be more fun and free, how to do a project, to be loved or just to be an amazing listening ear.


Its been going on a year now since my father hasn't been in my life anymore and never will be again...
It still to this day, amazes me at how influential and necessary a fathers love is. Especially on the day you need it the most.
I have a wonderful husband who guides me in life, teaches me thing and provides unconditional love, but there is a huge difference between a father figure and a husband figure.
There are so many times in a day that I wish I could pick up the phone and call a father, not my father, but a father figure. Those moments where I say "My bathroom faucet has been leaking for a week now after replacing our faucet and we can't figure it out."(which it has been, ugh) The moment the father would say "Im on my way over" the figure who selflessly drops everything to come to the rescue, and lets me watch as he works and teaches me those valuable lessons in life, so that I can relay the knowledge to help someone else one day.
The moment where my husband isn't home but there is a snake in my yard, or a spider on my wall or I need help getting something down from the attic. Those moments...Those moments where I need to talk to a father figure because their advice is different on so many levels than a mother, friend or a husband...They say things differently, they give different advice.
How about the moment when, I want to learn to use a tool for a project. I don't want to ask my husband, I want a father to show me these things. Its different...
I want to not only talk to my mom when I bicker with my husband, but I want that other person.
Mothers are teachers, nurturing and caring, Husbands are honest, Friends I feel obliged to and well fathers are nurturing, honest and teachers.


We can post an ad for Help Wanted, Dog walker wanted, Children nanny wanted, Lawn Service Wanted, Acts for Elderly wanted, Foster Parents Wanted...But I've never seen Father Figure Wanted..
So here goes...Im sending this Wanted Ad into the abyss....


Wanted: Father Figure
Duties:

• Will answer the phone when I need help with something, will selflessly drop everything to come help
• Will come to my house to kill spiders for me when I'm having an anxiety attack
• If I need advice, you will listen and give your most honest opinion, even if it hurts my feelings
• When I am having a fight with my husband, you will tell me it will all work itself out
• You will give me your honest opinion before big purchases like vehicles, toys and houses
• You will help me fix my leaky sink pipes (Yes both) (Well because my husband and I fall short in the plumbing department)
• You will teach me to use power tools (Ive already mastered the jigsaw and the drill, but my next goal is the skilsaw ) (No, not my husbands help, because he is impatient and a terrible teacher and its just not the same)

P.s - After a fishing trip, you will feel compelled to drop some of the extra fish off


Signed,
Your future daughter figure

Harvesting Nettles

Two of my favorite wild harvested edibles are cattails and stinging nettles, both which are picked in different seasons from each other and really give me something to look forward to in February(nettles) and june(cattails)


Every February we get our scissors and plastic bags ready and we go to our favorite patch of spring nettles.
First, you don't want to eat nettles after they flower.
So early spring is when they first shoot up with the most tender, nutritious leaves.
You'll want to harvest the ones that are under knee length.


You will use you scissors to cut off the top of the plant (new leaf cluster) carefully use your scissors to pick it up and put it into your bag.


Then trim the other leaves off with your scissors and pick them up carefully with scissors and put them in the bag...leave the last 2 inches of stalk with leaves still on it.


Once you get a bag or two fulls of leaves and crowns. You will have more than enough for a family of 4 or more...


I then take them home and fill a large bowl with water and (do this in batches)
Ill take a couple tongs full of leaves and submerge them and agitate them a tad to clean them, then put them in the pot you will be using to boil them in....


Keep doing this until all your leaves are in your pot...


Fill your pot with water and boil for 10-20 mins until wilted and as tender as you desire...


Strain and season with butter, salt and pepper......


(Yes, you can still see the stinging bristles but they don't sting and wont bother you once they are wilted.....)




This is a picture of my pot full of nettles before smashed down and water added

 I chopped a complete stalk off, about 2 inches above the ground to adequately show the process in pictures (this is the crown of the plant which you would snip off from the stalk of the plant while still upright

 Bag full of nettles, makes for happy bellies

 Here are the chopped off tender leaves of a stalk ready to be put into the bag carefully

 My scissors are marked as a guide to show you, take leaves above it and the crown, leave everything below

 A beautiful new shoot

 Ive only been stung twice in my life by nettles, once as a child while helping my parents harvest them and once as an adult....If you happen to have this occur...find the closest plantain plant and pick a leaf...mash, rub, bend, rip it and make a mess of it until it begins to let its liquids run and rub it all over...it will help bring relief....

Lavender blueberry pancakes

This is how finely chopped you should cut your lavender flowers....you can see the size difference from the tiny dried flowers in the back and the finely chopped in the middle

 The final product

 The blueberries will mostly shrink and pop while cooking, its alright if they are sticking out and not completely smothered in batter

1 cup of flour
Couple pinches of pink Himalayan salt (or salt)
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoon baking powder
Mix dry ingredients together well

Chop 1 teaspoon dried culinary lavender flowers
Chop until it is powdery and ground

Add to dry ingredients

In a different bowl
Beat 1 egg
Add 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons melted butter

Mix together and add to dry ingredients, mix all together well

Then add approx. 1 cup frozen blueberries and mix well with spoon until your batter turns a faint blue tone.

Lightly oil your skillet and preheat skillet to med. temperature

When it is hot, add your batter and cook until dark golden and flip for a dark golden tone on opposite side..

No butter or syrup...

Just dust the tops liberally with powdered organic sugar (if it isn't organic, the cornstarch will be gmo)

Walnut Meat Tacos

We have two huge walnut tree's on our property, so we use a lot of walnuts all year long. Here is one of my absolute favorite recipes.

You take raw walnuts. I use one quart size bag full for a family of 5 people.

Heat up a can of organic refried beans on your stovetop.

Then I take my walnuts and put them in a food processor and blend until it turns the consistency of ground beef.. Then add about  1/2 teaspoon of cumin and salt and pepper...mix  well with spoon.


add walnuts to beans....then add to your taco shells and garnish.