SALADITOS AKA SALTED PLUMS

I remember running around with the other kids on the block sucking on salted plums as a little girl.  I forgot all about them until someone mentioned them and how expensive they are now for just a few dried plums.  I thought since I had a bag of dried but soft prunes I would make some.  They came out wonderful.  So with that, I thought I'd share. This is not for all folks but 4 dried prunes holds a lot of potassium.

Ingredients:  

• One bag soft dried prunes. Pitted is best but not necessary about 3 lbs
• One cup salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoon citric acid 
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne red pepper (Optional)

Instructions:

• Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl.  
• Add prunes and mix well. 
• Let sit  12 hours in the bowl. Then brush off excess salt
• Put on a cookie sheet to let air dry. Or put in oven lowest temperature to desired texture. 3 to 6 hrs.
• Store in a air tight container once cooled.

It makes a great stocking stuffer, or a nice tray at a party.or to just reminesque old time memories. Just pop one of these salty sour dried plums.  It would make every hair on your body stand on its ends.  Lol.

 Well, for those interested now you know how easy it is to make.  Please feel free to share with others on Instagram, facebook, Pinterest, or your own collection of recipes...be my guest.  Thanks for stopping by.  Till the next time...many blessings.

Sincerely,

Mary Helen

#maryhelenstestkitchen 

CHUNKY TOMATO /JALAPENO PRESERVES

Sweet & Spicy Chunky Tomato & Jalapeno Preserves

I've been in the mood for some sweet and SPICY CHUNKY TOMATO AND JALAPENO  PRESERVES.  It's been a while since I have made it.  It reminds me of  my old cherry tomato patch back at my old home.  I sure miss the home grown taste of fresh tomatoes. I used to make gift baskets and always had a jar of this in there.  You cannot find these preserves in your local markets. You would have to pay a pretty price for just a few ounces of this at a specialty store.   Here it cost me $3.00  for 28 ounces of my preserves.  Right now I'm thinking of a grilled cheese sandwich with a smear of this inside, or with cheese and crackers.  You can always multiply this recipe and can this for shelf storage using your favorite canning method and store this in your pantry or food storage.
Okay, ready?  Lets do it.

Ingredients:

• Tomatoes 16 oz of cooked and peeled
• Jalapenos diced and seeded  Use according to taste. (I used  1/3 pound and threw in some seeds.  Hot! HOT! HOT!
• Red onion  1 medium diced
• Garlic 2 large cloves minced
• Sugar 2 cups.  (I used brown sugar, and yes it's a lot but that's why I make it hot to use less.  Lol)
• Lemon juice 1/2 cup
• Salt 1/2 tablespoon
• Pepper 1 teaspoon

1.  Here I mashed  whole cooked
tomatoes by hand  leaving me with
chunky tomato pieces.  Perfect.

.

2.  Put all the ingredients in a
non aluminum pot and simmer on low.
Stirring occasionally, scraping the bottom,
making sure not to let it burn.

 3.  This has been reduced by  about 2/3.
You can now see the tomatoes
have a translucent look like candy
and looks ready to eat

4.  Voila!!   Homemade Chunky Tomato & Jalapeno Preserves!!
Store this in the refrigerator, or you can can this for shelf storage.

See?  So easy to make, it just took a few ingredients, low heat, time, and love.  Nothing artificial here.  Just a bunch of tomatoes full of lycopene and vitamin C.  You get the Selenium in the jalapenos and onions.   Then there's the natural antibiotics with the garlic.  Yes, it's processed but you do get concentrated benefits of most of the nutrition here.  Best of all, it tastes good, and is a delightful alternative to other jams, jellies, and preserves. I hope you like this recipe as well.  Simple, cheap and delicious.  It makes great gifts especially for the holidays in a gift basket with  cheese and crackers.

Please feel free to share this blog as this is what I love to do...share.  After all, when you are in service of others, your in service with our almighty Heavenly Father.  I thank the Lord for all my many blessings.

Thank you  for visiting my blog and for allowing me to be of service.
Many blessings to all,

Mary Helen

SPICY RAW-FERMENTED PEAR RELISH

I picked up quite a bit of beautiful bosc pears Saturday morning.  I love to can for food storage, but I also wanted some of these pears in raw form.  I know I can't eat that many pears before they go bad.  So I'm going to ferment these for it's probiotic effects. I'm trying to get healthier, and every bit of  raw probiotics helps.  Remember, FOOD IS MEDICINE.

I made this recipe on Saturday evening. Today is now day 3, and it has been sitting in a warm corner to ferment since then.  Yummy  I get to "Reap what I sowed" now.  Well, it looks good.  It still is sweet, yet tangy. It smells very mouth watering, and tastes even better.  You can still taste all the pieces of prunes as well.  Even though it is raw, the hard grated pears have softened quite a bit, but not mushy.  I can just imagine all the juices in harmony, because I can already taste it.  I'm planning on letting it ferment another couple of days though because I like real tangy food, or at least in some of my ferments.  So I'd say this is coming right along.  By the way, This Pear Relish/ like salsa goes great with chips, or crackers.  But for me I would have added (and I'm going to in a minute) a lot more cayenne chili.  Ok, here goes...

Preheat oven...just kidding.  Just checking to see if anyone is reading this.  lol.

12  Pears, washed, dried, and grated
1   onion large (I used green top and bottom)  Chopped small
1   tomato diced small
1   lemon large, just the juice
1   tbsp Ginger grated
1/2 cup Prunes large, pitted and chopped
1   tbsp Salt
1   tbsp Parsley, fresh or dried
1   tbsp Cayenne red pepper  Fresh crushed or powdered. Note, can use jalapeno or serrano.
1/4 cup  Kombucha vinegar, but any will do.
1/4 cup water

I put the grated pears in a bowl and let it air till slightly browned.  It happens quite fast.  Start adding the ingredients as you chop, or dice them.  The fruit will release a lot of it's own juices by now. I saved the kombucha vinegar for last and used that liquid to top the relish once I put it in sterile jars, and cover with a non metal lid in a warm place for 3-5 days.  Then refrigerate after  It will continue to ferment in the refrigerator but at a slower rate.  No worries, it will only get better.  Can last a long time safely, but it's so good it probably won't last that long.  At least not in my home.  My family loves it.  If they only knew how healthy it is.  Lol.  Shhh don't tell them.

By the way, I rendered 70 oz of my Spicy-Fermented Pear Relish.

All this would have cost a bundle purchasing this elsewhere.

Thank God.  Waste not, want not is my motto.

Peace, and many blessings...

Mary Helen.

P.S.  Just a quick update...
Yes I said 3 to 5 days.  But just to let you know, it's best fermenting for 10 days out before putting it in the refrigerator.  It's really fermented and it's bubbles keep popping up.  It's so tasty besides good as in healthy probiotics too.  Their both good, you try it and decide for yourself!  I had extra jars fermenting, so I did try it:))

OAT MILK KIFER

Hi, I made Oat Milk earlier, and it looked like milk, so I did substitute cows milk with Oat Milk and made the creamiest kifer ever.  Yummy for my tummy kifer!  Another wonderful  probiotic drink. I will readily admit the most tasty too. My kifer grains danced around in this so they also loved the change. I added my milk Kifer grains to 2 cups of room temperature Oatmilk for 18 hours and let time do the rest.  So easy.  The taste and texture was similar to a soft plain yogurt.

Just like yogurt, the longer you let it set the more tart it becomes.  The more tart it becomes means the culture is a lot healthier and is growing rapidly.   I am quite happy with something a little more tart than, lets say Yoplait brand. No wait. It was more like a rich creamy buttermilk. Yes that's more like it. Look at the jar. Just like buttermilk culture right?  It was refreshing just like buttermilk too.  It's so good that I am already culturing my next batch of Oat Milk Kifer.
























So who said you can't get healthy on a low budget?  Guess what?  I drank it all for dinner.  It was my dinner and it was filling as well.  What more can I ask for.  lol.  So in the long run buying my Milk Kifer Grains has been a very healthy investment.  I have used my Milk Kifer Grains with Cows Milk with great success.  I like milk but I can't drink it because I am lactose intolerant.  Kifer changes the lactose to lactate making cultured Kifer Milk easy to digest without discomfort. I have also used my Milk Kifer Grains with Soy Milk and it was hmm okay, drinkable.  But I haven't made it again.  Actions speak louder than words right?  I've also made Almond Milk Kifer and I don't lie.  It was not to my liking at all. But I must be fair.  I was not ready for that taste at all.  So I should never say never.  But this one.  Yes, in my books a winner:)

I hope you enjoyed this.
Many blessings.

OAT MILK, A NON DAIRY DRINK

Good morning friends. Nope, that's not cows milk although it looks like it. Sometimes I feel silly blogging this because it is so easy.  But someone got to show you just how easy it is, right?  I ran out of cows milk, thanks to my son.  Actually I did buy it for him and  to feed my milk kifer grains.  But that's another blog.  This is a cheap, yet healthy alternative to dairy milks, as well as other non dairy milks.  It's good to use a variety of milks like soy, almond, or rice because each one has it's own nutritional value. If we stick to just one milk, we deprive our body of other nutrition.  And in my opinion, we need all the nutrition we can get.  So here goes my way of making oat milk.

• 2 cups of presoaked whole grain rolled oats. (no need to soak if using instant oats)
• 6-8 cups of water (according to taste and thickness)
• pinch of salt

Optional ingredients Note:
I added this because dairy milk has Calcium and Vitamin D. So, it is a good way to use those vitamins the doctor gave me last year.  Haha.   I added the fat because, hey dairy milk is loaded with fat, and its good.  But coconut fat is another healthy alternative since oatmeal has zero fat.  And now I could use the extra nutrition. and feel satiated too:))

• 2 tsp brown sugar (optional, you can use any sweetener)
• 6 Calcium with Vitamin D tablets (optional)
• 2 tbsp. Coconut Cream (optional, I used powdered, because it's easy to store and keep on hand)
• 2 tsp Vanilla (optional)

Add the oats in the blender using just two cups of water to start.  Blend well before adding the additional water.  Strain with a cheese cloth, or strainer. NOTE:  If adding vitamins, add after straining. May be served hot or cold.

There are countless was to serve this nutritios non dairy milk.  You can use it plain as is, or spice with cinnamon. Try adding almonds or raisins for a treat. It's great over cereal too.  Whatever suits your fancy. Just try it, you might like it.

As for me, one mission accomplished today....I'm going to attempt to make yogurt out of my oatmeal milk soon.  I will post the results later once I complete that mission successfully.

I hope this was helpful to you...wishing you all many blessings.

Mary Helen

FERMENTING SALSA

• 6 colorful bell peppers
•  chili peppers any variety any amount 
• 1 bunch cilantro but parsley will work too.
• 1 whole head garlic.
• 1 large onion
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 heaping tbsp cayenne red pepper (optional but darn healthy)
• 1/2 -1 cup unpasteurized vinegar (optional)  I used my kombucha just because I have it in abundance.

Today as I was preparing a salsa (Dominican) style that I usually store in the fridge. It seemed like quite a bit for just me and I didn't want any to go to waste.  I wanted raw vegetables, so canning it was not an option today.  I wanted to save my raw food. Soon I was on another quest for knowledge, I happily went online. There it was, many sites on FERMENTED SALSA.   Of course I did my own thing, right? I washed, chopped and blended with one cup of kombucha vinegar. I added 2 tsp salt per quart. I used some today (yum), then  I set the rest of the jars in my "fermenting bucket",(6 gal bucket, holding my other ferments), in the dark and wait 3 days. It will be ready to use as a probiotic food that I can store it in the refrigerator for later use.  There it will slowly continue to ferment into a very healthier probiotic.  Now it can last a very long time, and I no longer have worries about spoilage.

The ph is at 3.0 because of the kombucha. Haha no chance of an unhealthy bacteria surviving this ph.  However, I have to check the ph again in three days because I don't want the ph to drop.  I might have to add some water to dilute this if it drops.  I think a ph of 4-5 will be good too. These already healthy vegetables to begin with are full of "phyto-nutrients as well as vitamins and minerals. Now in three days it will be ready and will have more probiotics than any yogurt around. Whoopie!  Another super food and I'm a happy camper.

PEAS AND CARROTS DEHYDRATED

See the frost?

And the crinkley

Ready for storage or use

This is so easy, it reminds me of a shake and bake.   I'm dehydrating a 2 lb bag of frozen peas and carrots for food storage, and to save freezer space without using any expensive dehydrating equipment or electricity. Why dehydrate frozen veggies?  Because a frozen bag of veggies is already, washed, chopped, parboiled and ready for drying. That is a good enough reason for me and my food storage.

I poured them on a cookie sheet spreading them out making sure not to overlap.  I then put the oven to the lowest setting and baked this for 16 hours, turning them twice, on the coldest time of day.  Then, I let them sit by the warm window for another 16 hours to air dry.

Now they are ready for storage. This was about 4 cups frozen peas and carrots.  However dried to almost one cup. They can be stored in a jar with a tight lid, or a good ziplock, or mylar bag.
Store in a cool dry place.  Keep away from light and moisture till ready to use.

To rehydrate,   add one part boiling water to two parts dried veggies.  Cover and let sit for 15 minutes, before adding to your meals.  If I know I am going to use them I soak them for a couple of hours in the fridge,  I like to add them to my rice, soups, or casseroles like mac and cheese.

I do want to point out that there are tasty frozen veggies, and there are those frozen veggies that do not have much flavor.  You get to choose.  The tasty ones cost a little more than the cheaper variety but what a difference in flavor.  Kind of like home grown, and commercially grown, big difference right?  So you choose wisely.  After all you are the ones who are going to enjoy this at a later date.

Again, I saved electricity, freezer space, and money while I prepared for my food storage in an inexpensive way.  I also did not need an expensive dehydrator, or any other supplies. Nor do I need any electricity to store them either. Told you it was easy.

Enjoy and Many Blessings...

Sprouting - Mung Beans

Mung Beans have a lot of nutrition. It has protein and calcium, and minerals like iron and potassium, and zinc, just to name a few. But once it is sprouted the whole chemistry of this little bean changes, and it become "A-LIVE" food. Our body loves live food as it is alive itself. We are constantly replacing dead cells every second. If you feed it dead food well you do feed it some nutrition, but eventually it will not be able to continue to flourish. Eventually they breaks down and can no longer perform as required. I'm not saying don't eat dead food. What I am stating is that is would be to your benefit to add more food that is alive to your diet.

This tiny little bean once sprouted also has a lot more of the "green nutrition" if left by a sunny window. similar to any leafy green edible like spinach or alfalfa. It is loaded with phyto-chemicals which are a power house of fuel for our body. Remember that one word. Phyto. Phyto means something that is Plant. And Phyto-chemicals. Easy, it = the chemicals that the plant has naturally. Phyto-nutrition = basically the same as chemicals, just easier to know nutrition then the chemical itself. Hopefully I didn't confuse you. It's all good.

I know when I eat foods high in Phyto-nutrition, I don't crave other snacks. I feel more satisfied in the long run because I feel more satiated (full) with just a cup of sprouts. Also, I have so much more energy because I fed my cells food they crave. I notice I have a feeling of wellness and find I can endure longer days. I sleep less, move more, therefore I burn more calories. Not a bad food right? Right.

Once sprouted, it becomes an instant snack food. You can put in in your salad, or you can make some soup and put it in right before you serve. Yummy. It's great in a quick stir fry. Also, I like to make sprouted fruit water with the sprouts. Did I say it's great in bread when its sprouted by the second day. So many ways to eat your sprouts. You can soak them to an almost sprouting point, season, then pop them in the oven to bake them, and eat them like nuts You can put them in beef patties or vegetarian in patties. Yes, so many ways to eat your sprouts.

So of course I am losing weight. I eat more foods, lower in calories, but higher in nutrition. You add that, plus the fact that I have more energy. Well i'm just burning those calories away. Hey, I'm not perfect so I do like my "dead food" too (sad). So for me it's all about moderation. It's progress not perfection. I have days that are really good, when i'm really good. And there are days when I eat a little too much "dead food", I feel like I just want to be a couch potato. I get to choose. I do not buy chips, sodas, cakes, candy, of any sort for almost a year now. I'm not saying I never indulge. I just don't cater to it in my home. There are other alternatives. Again I get to choose and so do you. Research it yourself. If you have any recipes or additional ideas please feel free to add to this or respond. Looking forward to a life of quality.

Note:  The above picture reflects the Mung beans soaked for one day, and has one day of sprouting.  It is edible as is, however I prefer them with a little longer tail, which will happen by day 3.

Below is a link re: Mung Beans- Sprout. Also I included some phrases you can use to search for more info.
fyi, Mung Beans
Health benefits of Mung beans
Health benefits of Phyto-chemicals
Health benefits of sprouting.
Have a beautiful day.:)