Getting Crafty -- Part Duo

Mother's Day weekend was another long weekend of crafts. While the men did some gardening, the girls did some serious creating. We made another round of beauty products including: Chocolate Brownie Lip Gloss, Hemp & Lemongrass Soap, Clove Soap, Bath Bombs, Lemon-Sugar Hand Scrub and Eye Makeup Remover. The Eye Makeup Remover is awesome. I didn't realize how effective it would be. 

(12 completed projects)

We made some jams including: Kiwi-Lime Jam, Strawberry Spice Jam (my favorite), and Blackberry-Apple Jam. We made the Chai recipe from the Jam it, Pickle It, Cure it book. The Kiwi-Lime Jam is pretty while it is cooking.

The most amount of work was when we made Salsa Fiesta and Homemade Tomato Sauce. Oh Man, Oh Man, peeling 40 LBS!! of tomatoes was quite the chore. Not sure if we will do that again this year. However the Salsa and the sauce came out delicious. Check out the stack of tomatoes we peeled, seeded and chopped, & the rest of the pictures.

April 27th Share

The share we received on April 27th was full of fixings for a Mediterranean  or Greek meals. We received Pineapples, Bananas, Apples, Blood oranges, kiwis, Cucumbers, Tomatoes, Avocado's, Blueberries, Fava beans, Rainbow Chard, Arugula, Raspberries, Lemons and Garlic. Yum... I made the most delicious meal with Rainbow Chard and Fava Beans.

Ginger-Braised Bok Choy

Bok Choy is a type of Chinese cabbage, which has a delicate flavors. This cabbage is featured in all sorts of Asian dishes from appetizers to soups to Stir-Fry's. Bok Choy is a great source of Vitamin A, Vitamin C, calcium and it is super low in calories. Look how pretty this delicate cabbage is.

Ginger-Braised Bok Choy

Adapted from Food to Live By

5 heads, baby bok choy, cut in half lengthwise

1 teaspoon of sea salt

2 tablespoons toasted sesame seed oil

1 tablespoon of grated peeled ginger

1 garlic cloves, minced

1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

Bring 2 quarts of water to a boil over high heat. Add 1 teaspoon of sea salt and the bok choy. Cook for 1 minute.

Drain the bok choy in a colander and pat it dry with a towel

Heat the sesame oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the bok choy, ginger, garlic, and red pepper flakes and cook.

Stir occasionally until the bok choy is crisp-tender and lightly browned on both sides (5-7 minutes)

Lightly drizzle Teriyaki sauce over the bok choy and serve immediately.

**I used the recipe below for the Teriyaki sauce.**

Better than store bought Teriyaki Sauce

As promised the homemade Teriyaki sauce that I made to go with the Shrimp-Daikon Fritters. This recipe doesn't even come close to commerical teriyaki sauce. It's so easy to make. I will never buy Teriyaki sauce again. I used an empty soy sauce bottle to store it -- Just make sure you label & date the bottled sauce.

Teriyaki Sauce
adapted from Food to Live By: The Earthbound Farm Organic Cookbook (Earthbound Farm Organic Cookbk)Food to Live By by Myra Goodman

1 cup of low-sodium soy sauce
1/3 cup of pineapple juice (no sugar added)
1/4 cup of packed dark brown sugar
1/4 cup of honey
1/4 cup of light corn syrup
1 1/2 tablespoon grated peeled fresh ginger
3-4 cloves garlic, minced

Place all the ingredients in a medium saucepan and stir to combine. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat, the reduce the heat to low. Let the mixture simmer gently for about 10 minutes, until thickens and reduces. Let the mixture cool to room temperature. Refrigerate, covered for up to 3 weeks.

Makes 8 ounces.

Shrimp-Daikon Fritters

Daikon is a type of Asian radish that looks like a large white carrot. It's commonly used in many Asian dishes, it is the main ingredient in these daikon fritters. We received these radishes in one of our Annie's Organic Shares. After doing some research, here's the recipe I came up with. It's an adaptation from the Nook and Pantry Blog.

Shrimp-Daikon Fritters

About 3 cups of grated daikon (about 1.5 pounds)

1 TBL salt

3/4 shiitake mushrooms, thinly sliced

3/4 cup cooked shrimp, chopped

3 green onions, finely chopped

1 egg beaten

2 Tbsp flour

1 tsp sesame oil

1/4 tsp white pepper
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
Vegetable oil for frying

Mix grated daikon with tablespoon of salt in a colander. Let the mixture sit with a heavy pot pressed on top for about 30-40 minutes.

Sautee shiitakes until fully cooked, about 15 minutes. Let cool and chop.

After 30-40 minutes, squeeze the water out of the daikon with your hands. You want most of the moisture out of the shredded daikon.

Mix the daikon with chopped green onion, egg, flour, sesame oil, and white pepper. Make 8-10 fritters with your hands.

Completely cover the fritters with panko bread crumbs.

Heat 1/4 cup of vegetable oil in a non-stick skillet over medium heat. Pan fry the fritter until they are golden brown on both sides.

Serve Hot with soy sauce or Teriyaki  Sauce

(Stay Tuned for the Homemade Teriyaki Recipe)

April 12th Share

During Tax week, we received a great organic produce share. This share gave us the staples we needed to get through a rough week for me. The organics we received included: Strawberries, Mangoes, Pears, Grapefruit, Baby Carrots, Celery, Romaine Lettuce, Asparagus, Cucumbers, Squash, and much more.