Homemaking Skills for our Girls (III) - 5 Easy ways to get started!

In the past, we've written a few posts about teaching our daughters homemaking skills.  You can find part I here and part II here. 
Planning and implementing a schedule to teach these skills

Our Family's After-Meal-Cleanup-Checklist

I wanted to post our After-Meal Cleanup Checklist that we have posted up in our kitchen.  Our daughters follow this checklist after

Rose Hips

 Learning to cook and eat healthy food overseas can be quite a challenge.  I like to feed my family whole, nourishing, foods.  Since our recent move to Argentina, it has been an exciting, yet challenging, opportunity for me to discover what and where to buy foods to nourish my family of (soon to be) 7. 

 

During a recent trip to a local "dietetica" (or what we would call a nutrition store), I found that they were selling dried, whole, rose hips from the Patagonia region.  As I attempt to find the "go to" herbs we are used to consuming I am learning the "substitute" herbs that are grown in Argentina and in South America.  This has been quite a challenge.  Needless to say, seeing my old familiar friend, Rose Hip, was very satisfying.

 

I bought 1/4 kg and brought them home so that we could begin using them in our herbal teas, etc.  There was only one problem.  Every time I have purchased rose hips in the past, they have come semi-ground and do not contain seeds nor "hairs."  Did I say there was only one problem?  Well, there was another one...I didn't have a grinder in this little missionary apartment.

 

God is good and helped me do my research.  He also helped us find an old blender for use by the missionaries in these apartments.  I ground the rose hips up and placed them in the freezer where they sit until we use them.

 

Did you know that rose hips have been used for hundreds of years for the prevention of scurvy?  They have two and three times the vitamin C content of citrus fruits and are a powerhouse for antioxidants, according to several authors.  I have read countless studies on the chemical constituents of rose hips and I find that many conclusions differ from each other according to which type/variety of roses are used for the study, as well as according to the sample state (fresh, dried, ground, etc).  It is easy to generalize but I thought it best to include a little excerpt from drugs.com

 

"While some accounts suggest that rose hips are the richest natural source of vitamin C, a number of more concentrated sources have been identified. Citrus fruits contain approximately 50 mg vitamin C per 100 g; uncooked broccoli, kale, and kiwi fruit, approximately 100 mg; black currants, guavas, and some tropical vegetables, 200 to 300 mg; rose hips ( Rosa canina ), 1250 mg; acerola or Barbados cherry ( Malpighia punicifolia ), 1000 to 2330 mg; and Terminalia ferdinandiana , up to 3150 mg.

Rose hips also contain vitamins A, B ₁ , B ₂ , B ₃ , and K. Other ingredients include pectin (11%), tannins (2% to 3%), malic and citric acids, flavonoids, red and yellow pigments, especially carotenoids, polyphenols, invert sugar, volatile oil, vanillin, and a variety of minor components."  Brand JC, et al. Lancet 1982;2:873.

 

Anyway, it is my goal to find other uses for rose hips.  I'd like to learn to make a rose hip syrup.  The Patagonia region of Argentina is known for it's rose hip jelly production.  Do you have any ideas or recipes of how to use rose hips? 

 

- Kristi 

What's for Breakfast?

If you're like me, there are mornings when allowing the kids to have cold cereal is the easiest way to start the day.  Whether it's been a long night (say, up with the baby) or it will be a long day...cold cereal CAN be healthy!  It's called: granola!  The great news is that you can make it yourself, adding wholesome and nutritious ingredients while tailoring it to your family's nutritional needs.  Don't believe me?  Read on!

I've created lots of different variations of granola for our family: "Pum-Berry Granola" (full of yummy raw pumpkin seeds and cranberries), "Fall Harvest" (with maple, pecans and apples), "Almond-Cherry," "Tropical" (mangoes and coconut), and "Cinnamon Bun" (cinnamon, nuts, and honey).  Mmmmmm! 

Granola is one of the most versatile foods in my opinion.  You can use it to top your homemade yogurt or Greek yogurt, as a streusel topping (with butter added), or as an addition to fruit desserts like baked apples or fruit salad.  The possibilities are truly endless. 

The most important thing to know about making granola is the ratio of wet/dry ingredients.  I learned this from one of the best "cooking-from-scratch" recipe books, More With Less!  Knowing this, and the basic method, you can change ingredients and tweak the recipe to your own taste. The dry ingredients would mostly be made up of your oats, of course, but could also include nuts, seeds, freshly ground flax seeds, wheat germ or bran,  unsweetened coconut, wheat flour, other fresh whole grain flours, spices.  The wet can include your choice of sweetener(s) (honey, molasses, maple syrup, pomegranate molasses, agave, applesauce, fruit sauce, apple butter, apple juice concentrate, etc), fat (coconut oil, canola oil, walnut oil, butter, peanut butter, etc) and other flavorings (vanilla, etc).  I do not include the dry fruit as part of the dry ratio because I add these at the end of the baking.

Kristi's Basic Granola

In large mixing bowl, stir together:

4 1/2  cups old fashioned cooking oats
1 cup coconut (shredded, un-sweet)
1 cups chopped nuts
1/2 c freshly ground flax seeds
*note: I choose my spices and add these to the wet ingredients instead of adding them here.

In a saucepan, over medium-low heat, stir until blended:

More-with-Less Cookbook, 25th Anniversary Edition, Trade Paper

1/2 c. raw honey
1/4 c. molasses
1/4 c. oil
1 T. cinnamon (or other seasonings)
1 tsp. salt

Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix well.  Pour granola into two 9x13 inch pans (metal seems to brown the granola faster than glass).  You want to try to keep your granola no thicker than 1'' so that it can toast evenly.  Bake at 300 F for 1.5 hours.  Set your timer for 20-30 minute increments so that you can check for browning and stir the granola around each time.  Bake until granola is light to medium gold color.  Cooking times will depend on the size of pans you use as well as on your oven "character."  The key here is to check frequently!

Once done, sprinkle with 1 cup of dry fruit and allow granola to cool before storing it.  I store mine in easy-to-pour plastic containers.  Let me know if you have tried any yummy granola variations lately!

Lo-Fat variation:  Whenever we were on the "Daniel Fast," I made a batch of granola that didn't have fat (from added oils) in it and it came out really well.  I simply omitted the oil and added applesauce instead.  It tasted great!       

"Nourishing Traditions" Variation:  If you have read Nourishing Traditions, you know the importance of soaking your grains so as to decrease the phytic acid for better absorption of the nutrients.  I have tried to do this with my basic granola recipe (by soaking the oats in yogurt before proceeding with the recipe) and it came out well but the granola browns faster so the baking needs to be at a lower temperature and it needs to be checked/stirred frequently.             - Kristi

Relaxing Evening

Kristi's Night-Night Tea

Do you ever wish for a relaxing and calming evening?  If you have little ones around, you KNOW what I'm talking about.  Sometimes, even when the dishes are washed, the laundry is put away, the house is tidy, and it seems as though everything is going as planned, there are still those nights where we all have trouble winding 

down.  Whatever the reason, it happens to all of us and, when it does, at our house this calls for a special treat.  "Night-night tea."  Now, I don't mean the little boxes of pre-bagged teas you find at your local grocery store.  I am talking about delicious, organic, healthy herbs you buy in bulk to mix up on your own.  Come on, even if you aren't an "herbal tea" fanatic, stay with me here.  If you are completely new to the wonderful world of herbs and don't know where to begin...let me suggest one of my favorite beginner herb books, written by Rosemary Gladstar:

Herbal Remedies for Children's Health

Rosemary is an internationally known herbalist, a mother, and grandmother.  I love this book because of the 

simple recipes for specific child and baby ailments, the easy to understand format, and the thorough job she does covering issues such as safety and dosages.  

OK, so back to our "night-night tea" (which is enjoyed by kids and adults alike in our home). It is a mix of chamomile, passionflower, spearmint, peppermint and lemon balm.  I like to sweeten it with either a pinch of our home grown stevia (steeped in with the herbs) or with raw honey.  There's just nothing like it!  Sometimes my kids ask for theirs "iced!"  After steeping the herbs, we all sit down at the table sipping our tea while chatting over the day's events. It becomes a time of fellowship. A time to connect.  A time to listen to what's on their minds.  Every moment counts!
  


Kristi's Very Strawberry Tea

I don't know if you can tell yet or not but I LOVE HERBS.  I love involving my kids and teaching them about herbs.  We also like to grow some of our own herbs!  Soon, I'd like to share some of my other yummy herbal tea concoctions with you.  You know why?  Cause herbs are healthy? Check.  Easy to make? Check.  Fun to do and learn about with your kids? Check. Healthy? check. (oops, already said that!).  Until next time! - Kristi

*** Can anyone guess which herb is responsible for giving Kristi's Very Strawberry Tea it's beautiful bright color?  Let's see what you think; send in those replies! ****