An easy morning

A house for bunbun's "girls". bunbun says radish seedlings look like butterflies. A new picture for her bedroom wall. Our nearby grocery store has these amazing pre-made stuffed portobello caps. Quick soft tacos for an easy lunch for me.



Ordered some of these adorable paper balloons to brighten up bunbun's room. (Click image for link)

xoxo

me

Won't turn your tongue blue

Won't turn your tongue any color for that matter.

I know its a little early to be worrying about school lunch snacks and the like - bun bun is only 2. But I saw this post and couldn't resist making a batch of natural fruit roll-ups. They're ridiculously easy to prepare - you just have to find of a big chunk of time to do other things while they dry out in the oven.



This was an impulse recipe, so I went with what I already had, but I have a million flavor combinations brewing in my head for later. The one Green Kitchen Stories suggested - kiwi, mango, and mint leaves - is first on my list, for sure. This time around I threw together a small bag of frozen mangoes, a handful of fresh raspberries, and a single serving size cup of unsweetened granny smith applesauce.

I heated the mixture on low and stirred until the mangoes were thawed and getting slightly smushy, and then I ran the whole mix through the food processor. I chose not to sieve the mix, as we don't mind seeds in our snackies. Then, on a baking sheet lined with a silpat, I spread the purée thinly and evenly, smoothing out any thicker parts. The lowest temperature my oven goes is 175°F, which worked out just fine with the oven door propped open. It took a little over 5 hours for my roll-ups to dehydrate completely. I cut the sheet into strips with scissors, rolled up, and nom nom nommed. To my surprise they taste just like the real thing, only a little seedier! Bun bun loves them too.



A few tips:

You can do this with whatever fruit choices you like - just aim for a consistency that is pourable, but thick enough that it doesn't run out to the edges of the pan when you try to spread it. Mixing thicker fruits, like bananas, with juice or softer fruits, like papaya or berries, is a good way to go.

Keep the color in mind when you're dreaming up flavor ideas. As good as strawberry kiwi might taste, I don't know how attractive a brown fruit roll would be! ^_^

Spreading evenly before baking is very important - if the thinner parts become too dry while you wait for the wetter parts to cook they will become brittle, and then burn. Watch it closely towards the end.

Leaving the oven door open helps to let the moisture out and speed things along, but you're still looking at a 5-8 hour baking time, depending on how thick your mix was. It's worth it though - you really don't need to babysit it much, and you can keep the finished product in an airtight container for a week or two, maybe more... mine just won't last that long with hungry tummies around!

Happy snacking!

xoxo

me

Dandy

As in dandelion. The bane of beautiful lawns everywhere.

I'm sure you have heard that dandelion leaves are edible. Maybe you've heard the words "dandelion wine" thrown around somewhere. You might have even seen today's recipe, as it has been mentioned several times on this wonderful blog. But maybe, like me, you weren't aware that every part of the plant is edible, and that our little commonplace roadside weed in fact packs a burst of vitamins and medicinal properties. Besides that, when we're talking about foraging around our neighborhoods for free pick-your-own snackies, no plant is easier to find and identify as safe. Even the false dandelions are completely edible. Just be sure to choose spots that are free of herbicides and far enough away from roads to not be absorbing oil runoff. More complete instructions on picking dandies can be found here.

This recipe is another off my to-do list, and I'm glad I got to it in time. Those ubiquitous yellow puffs have been staring at me every time I drive around for weeks now, but I just haven't had the chance to get up early enough for the flowers to still be closed. Apparently you have to sneak up on the little guys. Luckily I was able to recruit my skeptical but happy-to-help sister to get her hands all yellow with me at the crack of dawn today, and I finally got this recipe tested.

The bread is less sweet than I would have imagined. It is moist and chewy, with an almost buttery taste from the petals, and it has a really nice flavor overall. Just perfect with a cup of soup on the side. The sunshine-y color of it doesn't hurt it's appeal either! We will definitely be baking this again, especially as my toddler gets bigger and finds as much silly joy as I do in baking with common flowers.


Dandy Bread

2 cups unbleached flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup dandelion petals, any greenery discarded
1/4 cup canola oil
4 tbsp honey
1 egg
scant 1 1/2 cups milk

Combine dry ingredients in large bowl, including petals, and mix. Make sure to separate clumps of petals. In separate bowl mix together wet ingredients. Add liquid ingredients to dry and stir. Batter should be fairly wet and lumpy. Pour into buttered loaf pan. Bake at 400°F. Bread will take 25-40 or more minutes. At 25 minutes, check doneness of bread with a toothpick. If still too moist inside, lower oven temperature and continue to bake, checking every five minutes. It should be a nice golden brown on the outside when done.



This sunny bread would go beautifully with a sunny soup, like say, this one.

xoxo

me