Anyhow, I was uncertain what I would do with my garden cucumbers until I found a recipe for refrigerator pickles a few weeks ago.  No canning is required!  I made one batch of them and wow.  They are so good.  You can make them with cucumbers, zucchini, yellow crookneck squash, onions, peppers and probably so much more.  They are easy, they are cheap and my kiddos love them.

Jaden and I harvested 4 cucumbers today and decided to make more pickles.  Let me know if you try them yourself!

Refrigerator Pickles

1.5 c. distilled white vinegar OR apple cider vinegar

1/2 – 1.5 c. sugar, depending on how sweet you like your pickles.

1 T. pickling salt OR kosher salt  (do not use regular table salt)

Sliced cucumbers (&/or combination of other veggies listed above)

1/8 t. mustard seed

1/8 t. celery seed

dash or two of turmeric

Heat the first 3 ingredients in a saucepan on the stove over medium high until the sugar dissolves, approx. 10 minutes.  Meanwhile, slice the veggies and fill a quart sized canning jar with them.  Add the spices to the jar.  When the liquid mixture is ready, pour it over the top of the veggies.  You can add more vinegar to the top if needed.  Put lid on the jar and set out on counter until cooled a bit.  Place jar in refrigerator for 5 days.  Now you can eat your yummy, crunchy pickles.

These pickles are supposed to keep for several months in the fridge and I’ve read that you can reheat the liquid mixture and reuse it to make another batch.  Anyone tried this?

In line with that, I found this campaign online that I wanted to share with you.  Can you even imagine how much healthier our children would be if they had daily access to real food in our school’s cafeterias???   Food that wasn’t laden with artificial chemicals and preservatives.  Food without corn syrup, corn fillers, msg.   And food with colors other than brown.   Maybe one day this will be a reality for the US.  I certainly hope and pray that it will be some day.

“Organic. It’s Worth It In Schools.”

Want to join JCnaturals in helping schools access and offer students more organic food? The Organic Trade Association (OTA) is calling on teachers, parents, students, educators and others to join the “Organic. It’s Worth It In Schools.” initiative and vote for their favorite school to win an organic garden complete with seeds, soil and expert gardening support; or a fully stocked vending machine, featuring items like milk, fruit, cheese, yogurt and organic snacks.

Through May 1, 2010, when you visit www.OrganicItsWorthIt.org you can “vote” for a school by signing up for an electronic newsletter featuring organic tips, recipes, news and more. Your school must receive a minimum 1,000 votes (or newsletter sign-ups) to win. Full details on rules and regulations are available athttp://www.organicitsworthit.org/join/current-campaigns.

Just last week at market, the side of Jaden’s little finger got stuck in the pole mechanism of my canopy while we were setting it up.  It took us a while to dislodge his hand and his poor little finger was quickly starting to swell and bruise.  I sat him down in my lap and gently pinched his finger for about 10 minutes.  After that, the bruising was gone, the swelling was gone and you could hardly even tell that he had hurt himself.   Later that evening, I asked him how his finger was doing and he had completely forgotten that it had been hurt.  There was no mark on his skin or anything!

Today I was helping Scott install our window ac unit and the support popped off of the window sill and landed on my foot.  It hurt like crazy.  My foot was bleeding and had a dark purple indentation when the metal had crashed into it.  I sat down and grabbed onto my foot and held it for about 5 minutes.  The bleeding stopped and there was no swelling at all.  It still hurts a little… but not too bad!

This blog post was my husband’s idea.  He is still amazed at how simple and effective the whole procedure is and said that I just had to share it with you.    Anyhow, give it a try next time… I think that you will end up amazed, too!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2sgaO44_1c

There are so many benefits to eating raw!!  You naturally eat more fruits and veggies.  You have so much more energy.  Plus, when you cook your food, you destroy most, if not all, of the valuable enzymes.  And it just tastes good!

One of the best raw treats that I’ve found recently is from Ani’s Raw Food Kitchen, which I swiped from off of my friend’s blog.  (I swiped her photo, too.  It was prettier than mine.)  It is super simple to make and it is delicious.  You can swap out the dried pineapple with dried apricots and it tastes just as yummy.   Give it a try and let me know what you think!

"Donut" holes

“Donut” Holes

1 3/4 cup almonds (soaked in fresh water overnight)
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups dried pineapple, chopped
2 cups pitted dates
1/3 cups plus 1/4 cup shredded coconut

Strain the almonds and discard the water.  Put first 3 ingredients in food processor and process into a fine powder. Slowly add pineapple and dates, mix well. Place mixture into a large bowl and mix in 1/3 cup coconut. Roll this into little 1 inch balls and roll them in coconut.