Dinner in a hurry......

In my house there are no real food labels.  We are not gluten, or dairy free, we are not on the paleo plan, and we are not really vegetarians.  We eat healthy, wholesome food, and are learning and progressing with the rest of the population.  We get new information that is available all of the time.  We have researched Genotype eating, paleo, practice wholesome whole food eating, and ferment.  Cross-Cultured (no pun intended) I say.

Tonight I was in a hurry, I had a baby in one arm and a toddler at my feet and it was dinner time!
I had to think fast.  I googled traditional Mac and Cheese to please the toddler and ran with it.  I put about a 1/4 cup of coconut oil in the pan to melt on medium heat and start my sauce, and went to the pantry to find a thickening agent.  Because we are not perfect and transitioning our grains we still had all-purpose flour.  "Use it up!" I thought.  It is not very frugal minded to waste because you are moving on.  I whisked in 1/3 cup of flour into my coconut oil to thicken for the base of my cheese sauce.  I haven't experimented with coconut milk sauces yet, so I stuck with the whole(pasteurized not ultra-pasteurized) organic milk that we use for yogurt and my husband's occasional glass with dessert.  Three cups of milk whisked in slowly. I then grated one clove of garlic in the warm milk. OK here's where I added two cups of cubed very sharp cheddar Tillamook cheese.  When it melted, salt and pepper, chili powder, done.  I poured it over a pot of cooked organic penne with some frozen organic peas.  Didn't have breadcrumbs so I crushed some stale garlic croutons.  Being frugal here.  Voila!  Then slice some garden beets, Farmer's Market strawberries and plate it all.  Everyone happy!  :)

There is no such thing as teaching!

I received an email from my mom the other day.  She always sends me tidbits that she finds interesting and inspiring to read.  I love reading them because they spark lots of good conversation between the two of us.  She sent me this email, and what a risk to send to someone in the teaching profession without knowing their own philosophies on teaching.  :)  My mom knows me well, and was willing to take the risk.  Education is such a controversial topic these days and to think that there is no such thing as teaching could go right to the top of every one's "don't spend any more money on education list".  Here is the catch.......


My University where I received my Teaching Education was right in line with these thoughts and beliefs of "There is no such thing as teaching".  There are teachers, and there are students but no perfect method or one size all approach to being a conduit of information.  The Student learns the information through personal inquiry and through books and experimentation.  I was taught to create a learning environment.  There are many different methods of instruction to help construct that learning environment for every student.  The Teacher must have all of their goals and objectives for learning and methods for teaching in place.  They scout different learning styles of leaners so that they may gear instruction to those learners.  If the teacher is doing all of those things, here is the bald-face truth in life.  The old adage, "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make them drink"; applies here.   No matter how much work you put in, we are all creating learning and interest for children, and they are in charge of the results.  If we create these environments well and get them excited about learning, hopefully we have created lifelong learners.  Once they leave the classroom, they have to be excited about learning in the outside world.  There is no environmental control outside of the classroom.  So poke and prod and demean education, but also think: They have home and school to create these opportunities to love learning.  Extend and enrich their environment as much as you can, but they are in charge of their own learning.  


Here is what the subscribed for newsletter she received said:




"'There Is No Such Thing As Teaching'… I ran across the title quotation in a story told by Monty Roberts, the famous "horse whisperer," in which he recounts something he learned from his best teacher that he later applied to his work with horses. It's a rather shocking assertion to say that there is 'no such thing as teaching'… especially to those of us who have given our lives to the profession. Here is the full quotation in context…

Sister Agnes Patricia was the most influential teacher I ever knew. What I will always remember about her is her statement that there is no such thing as teaching — only learning. She believed that no teacher could ever teach anyone anything. Her task as a teacher was to create an environment in which the student can learn. Knowledge, she told us, standing very straight in her long black habit, her face framed by her white wimple, pointed at the top like the spire of a cathedral, needs to be pulled into the brain by the student, not pushed into it by the teacher. Knowledge is not to be forced on anyone. The brain has to be receptive, malleable, and most important, hungry for that knowledge.

"How closely related that is to some of the 'eternal verities' that guide Golden Apple's Inquiry Science Institute: 'Teaching and learning are not synonymous.' 'We can teach, and teach well, without having students learn.' 'Knowledge is seldom transferred intact from the mind of the teacher to the mind of the student.' 'Knowledge is CONSTRUCTED in the mind of the learner.'

"If these assertions are true, what's a teacher to do, particularly in the current high stakes test environment? One of the most difficult lessons for us to learn as teachers is to step back from being the asker of all questions and the font of all answers, and to let students explore, question, design, ponder, and grow in their own way and in their own time. To an extent, some of this is beyond our control, given the rigid testing schedules and prescribed curricula most teachers must follow. But there is always a significant portion of the classroom experience that is within our control, and that's where our professional responsibility kicks in. Because the struggle is more often with our own need to control and direct the learning process than with external directives. But when we can challenge that need in ourselves for the benefit of our students, something wonderful happens…

"A counter point is that everyone is a 'teacher' by how they live and what they communicate but it doesn't stop there for it must be converted to learning by hard thinking." – Paid-up subscriber JA

Strawberry Butter

Recipe:

1 pint strawberries
3 tbspns honey
2 tspns Orange Juice
3/4 cup Coconut Oil (melted)

Makes 2 half pint or 1 pint jar of Strawberry Butter.

I placed all ingredients into a container and used the handstick blender to incorporate them.  They blended nicely.  The coconut oil does set up in the fridge where you should store this but if you leave it out for a short amount of time it spreads nicely on warm homemade toast.  Enjoy!

How to make your own Yogurt

I make my own yogurt and save a ton of money.  Not only can I make batches of vanilla and add fruit or preserves, but I make refrigerator oats, yogurt cheese to spread on crackers, and I save the whey in ice cube trays for my son's smoothies.  In the future I hope to use this whey for the lacto-fermentation of garden vegetables.

I will reveal my own method that has been successful in making yogurt and accompany with some pictures.  I culture my yogurt in my crockpot that has a warm setting.  Withe the lid off and a couple inches of water the temperature stays pretty consistent at 110 degrees.

In a stainless steel pan I cook 3 cups of whole organic milk on medium.  Make sure your milk is non ultra-pasteurized.  You want to keep the beneficial properties of the milk in tact.  You are going to heat tis milk to 160 degrees to get it ready for your culture.

The milk will bubble at 160 degrees.

I use three half pint size mason jars.  Here I poured boiling water in them to sterilize them.

Add captionI use ball plastic lids for my mason jars when I make yogurt.  You can find them on Amazon and at www.culturesforhealth.com  I stick them in the water in my ceramic crockpot dish to sterilize and keep them clean before putting them on my jars.

You need a starter culture for your yogurt.  Lately I have been using a store bought one and getting a whole lot for my money when I make so many batches out of it.  I have been making greek yogurt.  If you want to know how to culture other varieties of yogurt, please visit the education section of cultures for health's website and watch their videos.  You can order starter cultures through cultures for health as well.

Your milk needs to cool from 160 to 110 before it is ready for your culture.  Once it gets to 115, I usually add 1/2 cup of powdered milk to keep the yogurt creamier.   Then I pour the milk halfway into each half-pint jar.  I add two tspns of yogurt from the starter container.  Then I pour the rest of the milk in each jar to fill it.  I usually leave an inch headspace.  If I want vanilla flavored yogurt I add two tsp's maple syrup and one tspn vanilla to each jar and stir very lightly to incorporate.  Then I dry the lids off and screw them onto the jars tightly to incubate.  I place the jars in the water in the crockpot like the picture below. 

I use a dymo brand label maker to place the date on my lids, so I know when the yogurt was made.

I hope you enjoy making your own yogurt.  It gets used so quickly in my household because we make refrigerator oats for breakfast.  I will post some really yummy refrigerator oats soon! :)

Coconut Lemon-butter Sea Scallops

I love this one-pot meal.  It is simple and quick for those night when you are scratching your head when they ask "What's for dinner?'  The best part is it still a delicate and delicious flavor that feels like a special occasion.

What you will need:

1 stainless steel pan
Sea Scallops (I used frozen Raw Sea Scallops)
Spinach
4 Tbsp Coconut Oil (I get mine at Mountain Rose Herbs www.mountainroseherbs.com) 
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 tsp Thyme
1 tsp Rosemary
Sea Salt and Pepper to taste
I used stir fry noodles here, but I have also used organic semolina pasta before.

In the pan on Medium heat melt the 4 Tbsp of Coconut oil, add water and lemon juice.  Once they are incorporation place as many scallops are desired inside the sauce to cook.  I had to wait for my scallops to thaw a little and I started by sprinkling thyme over them lightly.

At this point I filled the pan up with Spinach to cook down.  You want the scallops to brown, so while they are simmering you can boil your pasta with a teeny bit of oil.  I used coconut oil.  This way it doesn't get sticky.  When you are done strain it and set it aside.

The spinach will create excess water in the pan as it simmers down.  I dumped a little out because the water evaporates but not at a rate that will help the oil brown your scallops.  Once your scallops have browned nicely, pour this mixture over your noodles and stir.  I sprinkled the finished product with some rosemary.  I liked the light herb mixture with the lemon and it didn't overpower the flavor of the oil and scallops, which both have a little sweetness to them.

Bon Apetit!

Spotlight on Dr Seuss

I thought I would take the time to highlight the very important Children's Author Dr Seuss.  It is true that I am two classes post graduate from a an endorsement in Reading, and that I find many reasons that his books build early reading skills in phonics, building vocabulary, and much more.   I am writing this post as a parent however and thought I would pay tribute to what it has done for my son to introduce him the the beginning readers before the age of two.  Lets review the imagination of Dr Seuss.

 Just a few of the books introduced before age 2......

and some good internet games at:
www.seussville.com

Dr. Seuss ABC's.........  I love that they mix upper case and lower case to help children identify uppercase and lowercase together.  I love the buzzy words that make the Alphabet fun.  My toddler says the letters on each page with me.  Some of them are hard, like X, and H, and W, but it's fun when we do it together.

      
The pictures are silly, and create character to the letters.  I like that they form complete sentences that start with each letter instead of one word.  Each sentence is vocabulary rich and doesn't give the child a memory of A is for Apple.  Well....."What else starts with A?" Names and people do too.

This book is so silly and thoughtful.  My son says "Think"!  It sounds like he's saying "Sink!"  The point of the book has however been reached.  There are so many Word families.  He got the -ink part.  There is also -eft, -op, -ink, -ight. 

When we get to this page, he says "Daddy!"  and points to the tall snuvs, and then he points to the little snuvs and says his own name.  What an imagination!

When we get to this page with the Rink Rinker Fink, he yells "Doggy!"

Then there are the sneaky vocabulary lessons placed in each book.  This one has taught him some household words.

He is not only learning the word family and sound for -amp, but also since reading the book,  he says "lamp!"

When we got to the Zlock, he learned the word "Clock!"

There are so many reasons why this collection of books introduced my child to a love for early reading, building new skills, and foster a vivid imagination!  I pay tribute to Dr. Seuss!

My Water Kefir

Water Kefir is a delicious way to get some of that good bacteria into your diet.  I have been brewing some water kefir throughout this spring from dehydrated grains.  So far I have gotten wonderful results.  There are many ways I would like to progress in the art of making kefir moving forward.  I have started with a basic method that I will share and with some tasty flavors that have been tested by myself and my husband. So far he doesn't mind.

This morning I awoke and had to change my batch to new sugar water.  I posted some videos of how to start from the beginning with dehydrated grains on my page, but here I will walk you through my own process with pictures.  The videos were made by a great company called Cultures for Health.  This is where I ordered my dehydrated grains:  www.culturesforhealth.com

This is what my beautiful kefir grain water looked like this morning.  The grains were in the bottom, and they had eaten all the sugar after 48 hours.  Time for a new batch!  Let me show you how it's done in my house.

We need supplies first.  I collected two extra quart mason jars and a strainer.  Make sure you sterilize your jars with some hot water.  You want to start with fresh sterilized jars when you are working with cultures. I got two because I need one for my water kefir that I am going to flavor and one for my new batch of sugar water to feed my kefir grains.

First I strain the sugar water batch that has fermented for 48 hours,.  I have the fermented sugar water in the jar to be flavored and the grains are in a strainer.  I have a stainless steel strainer pictured here.  The preferred strainer for kefir grains would actually be cloth mesh and they have them for sale at Cultures for health.

Here are the beautiful grains, they have been called many things in other cultures and the only one I seem to remember is Japanese Water Crystals.  They do look like water crystals.
I should add that the foreign object that is in there is in fact an eggshell.  After some research there are a few things I do to my water to make the mineral content high for the grains to eat.   There are other methods to getting this desired result once you get your feet wet.

Next I am picking a flavor for my batch that has finished its process.  I picked lemon and fig.  Mmmmm new recipe.   I am using 1/4 cup lemon juice and a handful of dried figs cut in half.  If you were doing lemon on it's own (which is delicious), you could use a full half cup of lemon juice.  I have tried a few I liked.  Lemon, Huckleberry, and dried pineapple (all separately) have been my favorite flavors.

Here are the lemon juice and the dried figs.

This is how it looks once in the jar, just put them in whole.

Lid on and give it a tip to incorporate your new flavor into your batch. This is going to sit for 24 hours to flavor.

I skipped a few pictures, but I will give the directions for your new sugar water.  You want 1/4 cup of high quality sugar with high mineral content.  I used this raw organic sugar, found at Costco.  You could also use or rapadura or molasses.  I boil my tap water to get rid of the chlorine content.  I use the warm water to dissolve the sugar and then fill the rest of the quart jar with cool water with about a 2 inch head space.  I then put in my grains, and secure the top with a coffee filter and a rubber band.  Set in a space out of direct sunlight and away from all other forming cultures at room temp for 24-48 hours.

This is what the color of my lemon and fig batch is after giving it another tip.  Happy brewing!  Feel free to contact me with any questions.