Seeing Red

Did you know that until recently, red food dye was banned in the US? It is STILL banned in the UK for being a carcinogen and linked to ADD/ADHD and other diseases.
. I recently started trying to wean us off of food coloring because it has to be better for our health. DH is not going to well with it, he loves colorful candies and I can't find many that are all natural and colored in blue and green and red and pink and yellow. We also love Red Velvet cake which contains...GULP-2 bottles of red food dye when I make it.
I am on the search for natural alternatives for the next time I make a RVC. I found many online shops that sell natural colorings, some do say they will deposit flavor into the cake. I don't want a cherry flavored RVC and definately not a beet flavored one.
I came across a website that not only gave an alternative, but said it is being used in some foods as well and we may not even know it...
That red popcicle you are holding may be colored with bug guts!

"The way for you to know if you're consuming red beetles is to check the label. Although it won't read, red beetle, it can appear under several different names that unless you know what they are, you'd never suspect what it is." http://organic.lovetoknow.com/Natural_Food_Coloring

Red Beetle Color:

• Red 4
• Natural Red
• E120
• Carminic Acid
• Crimson Lake

They give them a clever name to disguise what it really is!
Now, I know that these bugs are, they live in cactus and if you squish them, which I have, they turn pretty purple red and you smear them on your face as war paint while you play cowboys and Indians, or you draw on your brother's arms with them when he isn't looking. But I never would have considered smooshing them up in my batter to make it red.

I have a feeling if I call it red bug blood, Corey will refuse a slice of Red Velvet, no matter what it looks like.

Homemade Marshmallows

I did it! I made marshmallows. This started last year, around my birthday. Austin is knows for their Trailer Eateries and we went to one that has cake balls. I got Lily homemade marshmallows, which I never thought about making from scratch. The taste of this fluffy, squishy white powder coated square was enough to send me to Google for some recipes. I came upon one that gave trial and error about the mess involved and to not expect clean beater, bowls or spoons.

http://smittenkitchen.com/2009/06/springy-fluffy-marshmallows/

Makes about 96 1-inch cubed marshmallows

About 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
3 1/2 envelopes (2 tablespoons plus 2 1/2 teaspoons) unflavored gelatin
1 cup cold water, divided
2 cups granulated sugar (cane sugar worked just fine)
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large egg whites or reconstituted powdered egg whites
1 tablespoon vanilla (alternately: 1/2 of a scraped vanilla bean, 2 teaspoons almond or mint extract or maybe even some food coloring for tinting)

Oil bottom and sides of a 13- by 9- by 2-inch rectangular metal baking pan and dust bottom and sides with some confectioners’ sugar.

In bowl of a standing electric mixer or in a large bowl sprinkle gelatin over 1/2 cup cold cold water, and let stand to soften.

In a 3-quart heavy saucepan cook granulated sugar, corn syrup, second 1/2 cup of cold water, and salt over low heat, stirring with a wooden spoon, until sugar is dissolved. Increase heat to moderate and boil mixture, without stirring, until a candy or digital thermometer registers 240°F, about 12 minutes. Remove pan from heat and pour sugar mixture over gelatin mixture, stirring until gelatin is dissolved.

With standing or a hand-held electric mixer beat mixture on high speed until white, thick, and nearly tripled in volume, about six minutes if using standing mixer or about 10 minutes if using hand-held mixer. (Some reviewers felt this took even longer with a hand mixer, but still eventually whipped up nicely.)

In separate medium bowl with cleaned beaters beat egg whites (or reconstituted powdered whites) until they just hold stiff peaks. Beat whites and vanilla (or your choice of flavoring) into sugar mixture until just combined.

(IT WAS THICK!)
Pour mixture into baking pan and don’t fret if you don’t get it all out (learning from my mess of a first round). Sift 1/4 cup confectioners sugar evenly over top. Chill marshmallow, uncovered, until firm, at least three hours, and up to one day.


Run a thin knife around edges of pan and invert pan onto a large cutting board. Lifting up one corner of inverted pan, with fingers loosen marshmallow and ease onto cutting board. With a large knife trim edges of marshmallow and cut marshmallow into roughly one-inch cubes. (An oiled pizza cutter works well here too.) Sift remaining confectioners’ sugar back into your now-empty baking pan, and roll the marshmallows through it, on all six sides, before shaking off the excess and packing them away.


These are her directions, mixed with my images.
I used my hand mixer, for the mixing and a regular knife (not oiled) for the cutting.
The best part was bouncing the fluffy white squares in the powdered sugar. I toasted my first one on a shish-kabob skewer, over my stove's flame. It was delish~! I boxed them up in Christmas containers and gave them to family and friends to eat alone or with cocoa. The next time we get the fire going, I will be sure to have a batch of these for smores. Maybe I'll even make graham crackers...!

DIY Coconut Milk

After a friend told me about doing it, I wanted to try too.
I made my own coconut milk...well, Coconut flavored water at least.
I started with a brown coconut (then later read that I should have started with a younger one that has more water in it)

After breaking it and getting out all the meat I peeled the brown skin off as much of the coconut meat as possible. This was a little hard because the skin is so tough, but using a small paring knife made it easier. Then you toss it in the blender and add water.

As you blend, you have to get your hand and squeeze out some of the "milk".
You can also use cheesecloth, but what is the fun in that?

I felt like I got a really nice moisturizer for my hands with all the coconut oil and there was oil and coconut snow on everything in my kitchen.

After you strain off the milk, you have milky white juice and flaky coconut meat.
I tried making granola bars with the coconut, using oatmeal, raisins, walnuts and chocolate chips. They didn't hold well, but they tasted great and ended up more like granola than bars. I guess I could have tried to bake them to make a crunchy bar.
The milk was used in my fruit smoothies and added a great flavor and creaminess.

It did NOT come out the consistency of the canned coconut milk, either because of what I used, or the lack of power from my blender, but it was usable.

The best part was Lily wearing her coconut hat. I didn't get a picture because I was busy with my mess.

Simpler days

Paul Harvey Writes:

We tried so hard to make things better for
our kids that we made them worse. For my grandchildren, I'd
like better.
I'd really like for them to know about
hand me down clothes and homemade ice cream and leftover
meat loaf sandwiches. I really would.

I hope you learn humility by being
humiliated, and that you learn honesty by being cheated.
I hope you learn to make your own bed and
mow the lawn and wash the car.
And I really hope nobody gives you a brand
new car when you are sixteen.

It will be good if at least one time you
can see puppies born and your old dog put to sleep.
I hope you get a black eye fighting for
something you believe in.
I hope you have to share a bedroom with
your younger brother/sister. And it's all right if you have
to draw a line down the middle of the room,but when he wants
to crawl under the covers with you because he's scared, I
hope you let him.
When you want to see a movie and your
little brother/sister wants to tag along, I hope you'll let
him/her.

I hope you have to walk uphill to school
with your friends and that you live in a town where you can
do it safely.
On rainy days when you have to catch a
ride, I hope you don't ask your driver to drop you two
blocks away so you won't be seen riding with someone as
uncool as your Mom.
If you want a slingshot, I hope your Dad
teaches you how to make one instead of buying one.

I hope you learn to dig in the dirt and
read books.
When you learn to use computers, I hope
you also learn to add and subtract in your head.....
I hope you get teased by your friends when
you have your first crush on a boy\girl, and when you talk
back to your mother that you learn what ivory soap tastes
like.
May you skin your knee climbing a mountain
burn your hand on a stove and stick your tongue on a
frozen flagpole.

I don't care if you try a beer once, but I
hope you don't like it.. And if a friend offers you dope or
a joint, I hope you realize he is not your friend.

I sure hope you make time to sit on a
porch with your Grandma/Grandpa and go fishing with your
Uncle.

May you feel sorrow at a funeral and joy
during the holidays.

I hope your mother punishes you when you
throw a baseball through your neighbor's window and that she
hugs you and kisses you at Christmas time when you
give her a plaster mold of your hand.

These things I wish for you - tough times
and disappointment, hard work and happiness. To me, it's the
only way to appreciate life....


> What is greater than God, More evil than
> the devil, The poor have it, The rich need it, And if you
> eat it, you'll die?
(80% of Kindergartners can get this right, and only 17% of Stanford Students!)

Going Green

Not the Green you're thinking of- we are already eco-friendly.

We have always been a healthy family but have gotten off track and started indulging in more processed, cooked and sugary foods that are "quick". This means lots of bread (albeit whole grain) and for the holidays, pies, cakes, cookies and the like.
For Christmas we got a one cup smoothie maker and the book "Green Smoothie Revolution". The book peaked my interest in health again and to see if we can actually consume 8 servings of fruits and greens- raw...daily.
Today was my first batch of green smoothies. Mine was made with mango, banana and purple kale. It was super tasty and I felt full from it and took less than 3 minutes, including clean up.

When the girls got up, I made them "monkey smoothies" which was spinach, banana and apple, with the peel intact. They turned a really bright green which promoted the question from Lily

"Why is this green?".

It reminded me of a book I read as a kid where this little boy hated veggies, or at least the green ones so a scientist found a way to turn his veggies different colors
and he loved them all.
So I put her smoothie in her new Santa cup with a straw so she could not see it, only slurp up the tasty goodness.

Chloe had a TBS and cried for more. I gave her 1 more TBS and she still was not sated. I didn't want to over do the raw greens and have it come out in her diaper though.

Once Corey gets home, I'll fix him up one too and see what he thinks.
This may be the beginning of something beautiful (and I hear I may lose some weight too)