It was great seeing Flo and having an hour of girl talk! Trust me, we covered a lot of ground and it was very needed and very fabulous. Thanks, Flo, and can’t wait til our next gabfest! We need to try it without kiddos some time, with wine in hand some night, I am thinking! We parted ways because she had to get to an appointment and I needed to come home. Because look what was waiting for me: an Oak Barrel that I ordered for my kombucha making, and a heating plate and thermostat. Heating Plate and Thermostat I put the warming plate underneath my current batch of kombucha and turned the ‘stat up to 80F and it started to warm up. I also ordered another Mother Scoby Mushroom. I wanted to see what theirs are like. It was time to Prep my Barrel. It has to Cure for 24 hours. Meaning, I filled it with water and put in two of these tablets. They will prep and sanitize the barrel so the bacteria and yeast will be happy. The water will cause the barrel to expand and once it has expanded and I am sure there are no leaks, I can brew my first batch of ‘booch in the barrel. It will be much easier than having all these glass jars on my countertop. I also have a 70 page book on everything you could possibly want to know about Kombucha and making it. Why an Oak Barrel you’re wondering? From the Happy Herbalist’s Site: So between the flavor that the Oak Barrel will impart and the fact that I will be using the continuous brewing method (dumping in fresh sugared tea daily and pouring off/drinking about 10 ounces or so per day) from the easy spigot dispenser, I am even more excited about my kombucha making! My fridge is well-stocked with ‘booch From Yesterday… I’m glad my Vegan Gluten Free Blueberry Streusel Muffins were a hit! When I create recipes, I try to think of busy people with basic ingredients on hand. This recipe is one bowl and a spoon, stir it by hand, and other than perhaps having blueberries (Fresh or Frozen on hand) you probably have everything you need to make these. And you can always use peaches, nectarines, plums, etc instead of bloobs! I’ve already had a report from two readers who’ve made these: And WinkingAnnie used strawberries instead of blueberries. And I enjoyed your comments about working out and Pushing Yourself vs. Taking it Easy. I was really proud that most of you seem to be on-board with Rest Days and Honoring Your Body and what it’s calling and asking for. As I said yesterday, I do love working out so I find it hard to take total rest days, but I am all for doing gentle yoga and a light walk rather than lifting like an ape and running 8 minute miles if that’s what my body needs. Good to hear most of you are in tune like that, too! I had mentioned I was going to be working with a virtual trainer, Lindsey of Lean Bodies, and it was interesting to see how many of you push yourselves on your own and how many of you need a little push. I would say it was about half and half, self-starters vs. needing a little help motivating. Moving On… My Stevia Plant has had a Growth Spurt! Here was what it looked like the day I brought it home, June 25, about 3 weeks ago. Dessert: Raw Vegan Almond Butter Cookies Gym & Weights Workout Today From This Tab: Arms/Chest/Back Tip of the Day: My $100 Shopping Spree CSN Stores Give Away! Questions 1. It’s always been my dream to own a Winery. If I ever stumbled into a million dollars, or more, I’d buy a vineyard. Oh the fun I would have! I love, love, love vineyards and wine-tasting and the whole wonderful experience. Elise, could you adopt me please? Before Skylar was born, Scott and I used to go to San Francisco, Marin County, the whole Bay Area, and would drive up to Napa or Sonoma and vineyard hop during the day, bar hop at night, and stay in swanky hotels or Bed & Breakfasts. It was kinda fabulous. I also joined plenty of wine-of-the-month clubs and had amazing wines showing up in the mail left and right. I love the Bay Area and if it wasn’t for the weather (too cold in the winter for me), I would move there in a heartbeat but I am a SoCal girl at heart. Plus, we have Temecula Valley here. Not exactly Napa or Sonoma, but it’s 45 minutes away and suffices. Do you like wine? Have you ever been to wine vineyards or would you like to go? Do you love tasting flights as much as I do? If you’re a wine drinker, do you have any favorites? 2. MicroClimates. Yesterday when I left my house in the coastal part of the city about 10am it was cloudy and cool. By the time I met Flo at 1:30pm in north county coastal, it was about 82F and super sunny. Then, I drove back home about 3pm and it was cool and overcast again. In the span of 5 hours and 10 miles, the weather was changing all day. Before I lived in San Diego, I didn’t realize that the coastline produces tons of fog and cooler weather and that inland it’s usually sunnier and hotter, but that there are pockets where it gets really hot, windy, stay cool, etc. compared to other areas. Have you ever lived in a place with MicroClimates? I carry shorts, pants, hoodies, sweaters, and tank tops in my trunk for both me and Skylar! 3. Fave Veggie (or Fruit) to buy that’s canned or frozen and not fresh? 99% of the veggies and fruit I buy are fresh. I buy canned goods about once a year. Just not my thing. If anything, I will buy frozen before canned. However, artichokes are one of those raw veggies that I can never seem to really get clean, by the time all the leaves are removed and it’s been cleaned, it just seems there’s very little left to the artichoke! Not to mention, I have ruined more artichokes from my CSA than you want to know about in years gone past do to not knowing how to properly cook them. So for now, I buy frozen. Another thing I do is that if I know a particular item is going to be used within a recipe, and not eaten on it’s own, i.e. blueberries for my Vegan Gluten Free Blueberry Streusel Muffins, then I purchase frozen berries rather than using fresh. The texture change on frozen and then thawed fruit can get a little weird but if you’re baking with it or using within another recipe there’s no sense paying money for fresh if I’m using it in something else. 4. How many minutes or hours is your limit in the kitchen from where it goes from fun to ohmygod get me outta here! I kinda hit that point today after 3 hours. And it was one of those sneak attack days that I never saw all that time investment coming at me. It was just chop, wash, bake, Vita, clean, unwrap, unload, baggie, prep, cut, boil, pour, and it just kept going and going. Normally, I can handle anything up to about 90 minutes at one stretch. After that, I just want to sit down and bail on the project! As a mom though, I am in the kitchen making food for everyone and prepping, chopping, washing, etc. all day long. 20 minutes here, 40 there, 30 here. It just goes on and on. And when I was in my early 20s, I lived on vodka, triscuits, and PB. I had zero time in the kitchen! Boy, life sure changed! 5. Do you consider yourself a gardener? Are you a Green Thumb or a Plant Killer? haha! Do you like to garden or want to get more into it? Or not your thing? I never used to garden at all but about 18 months ago I did a few container gardens on our urban front patio. Now that we’re back in San Diego I know I could grow lots of things in container gardens, but so far I am just rockin’ the stevia plant. Hey I make my own kombucha, my own salad dressings, my own chips, 99% of everything I eat, I make myself…so I cut myself some slack on not growing my own veggies and herbs. Stay Tuned For The $100 Give Away Winner…
