Eating Acorns

The day I found those Giant Puffballs we were actually out collecting acorns. My husband was interested in learning how to make them palatable since we have so many in this area. He is into trees the way I am into healing plants. 

The White Oak is the one to collect, they are naturally less bitter.

First we froze them, that made the skins come off easier. The skin is the layer just under the shell. My husband shelled them.

Next began the process of  making acorn flour. There are different ways to do that. First the bitter tannins must be removed. Some people boil the acorns multiple times until the water runs clear. We went with a non cooked method of leaching out those tannins. 

First we ground them up in the wet Vitamix. More water was added to them in a jar and this sat for 24 hours. Each 24 hours fresh water replaced the old until the water was clear.

Once the tannins were cleared out, we dehydrated the wet acorn meal. I have an Excaliber 4 tray. It came out really nice, nutty and tasty. (I snacked on some.) The grain was quite rough still, so we ground it to flour consistency in the dry Vitamix. It is came out very smooth, with a feel and look of cocoa powder.

My first test was on some cookies. Some GF friends were dropping by for tea. I grabbed everything that I had that was GF and went to work experimenting. 

I kept it simple, much like a shortbread: butter, sugar, vanilla, with cashew meal, acorn and oat flours. They were so good! Even the smallest of humans wanted more, which is really how I judge a "healthy" cookie.

Next was a recipe from the book Acorn Pancakes, Dandelion Salad, and 38 Other Wild Recipes. A simple classic, pancakes with butter and maple syrup. The acorn is so mild and nutty. It doesn't have that extra bitter taste that many of the darker grains have.

Yesterday's yummy breakfast. I had some leftover pancake batter. I waffled it and topped it with butter and smoked salmon. Again, it came out really good. 

Acorn flour is a winner!I love the idea of eating wild foods that man has not tampered with. Everything that fed that tree is now feeding me and my family. It is nutritionally excellent and it is extremely tasty and versatile. Oh, and the acorns were free!

Morning Mushroom Walk

 We are experiencing a NY heat wave, so we haven't been in the woods lately.  The heat makes us droopy and the most annoying loving bugs are out.  My family is missing the nature walks that are such a integral part of our life. This morning we set out extra early to avoid the heat and the bugs.

I didn't think that we would see so many mushrooms, the burning sun dries them up quickly. 

We were happily surprised that there were so many.

We stopped to eat our breakfast and the girls fed the fish.

Enjoying my morning tea on a nice shady rock, looking forward to autumn.

a sucker for mushrooms

With the variety of shapes, colors and flavors, I just can't resist mushrooms. They are so clean and easy to cook.

Especially when they are packaged like this! So cute and tasty, I can't say no.

Breakfast is one of my favorite times for mushrooms, with scrambled eggs and basil...

or cabbage and fried egg.

In salad

In soup

Anywhere is right for mushrooms!

Green Morning

You have to use your veggies while they are ripe and fresh. Herbs and avocados are especially prone to deteriorating. It's miserable to let that window of opportunity slip by and have to dispose of good food. This morning my cilantro, basil, kale and avocados where ready to go. The rest of my week will be busy. I figured I might as well go ahead and make them into things that will keep that I can use later on. 

I made some kale chips, guacamole, pesto and a cilantro lime salad dressing. It made a big mess, but it was one big mess to clean and I was done. Instead of many small messes over a couple of days. 

We had the kale chips for breakfast as soon as they were done. The girls had theirs with sourdough rolls and fried garlic. I had them with a mushroom omelette and continued munching on them throughout the day.

For lunch I had the cilantro dressing on salad and some of the guacamole on a raw seed cracker. There is plenty leftover for whatever meals or snacks come next. The point here is to make a few things all at once. Since you're making a mess you might as well go for it and then you can reap the rewards for days to come.

Soup's On!

 Chicken soup has always been a cure for the common cold. At this time of year I am making some sort of soup everyday. We all love soup and it's good medicine to keep the sniffles at bay. Soup can be a bit fancy, like my mulligatawny with crispy sweet potato on top or a super simple breakfast broth loaded with garlic.

We call this breakfast soup "Ponyo" soup, if you've seen that movie you know why! Good, no chemical natural meats are pricey. Instead of a big, fat, meaty sandwich you can garnish your meals with a little. I think it's a healthier way to eat meat and it stretches your food budget too. We like this soup with spicy tofu also. 

If I am rushing around and don't feel like dealing with cooking noodles and the kids are asking for soup for breakfast I'll go with a quick miso. Good old tried and true chicken soup is good, but I go for Asian soups not only for taste (which I prefer), but I can add so many healing herbs and spices to them. 

I have an especially heavy hand with fresh garlic and ginger.  Seaweed too! Sea vegetables are sooo good for you. Many people aren't getting enough iodine in their diets. Most of my soups start by boiling water with a piece of kombu or wakame in it. You can take it out, like with a bay leaf and all the nutritional benefits remain. If you like the taste, chop it up and put it back in your soup and get even healthier!

Vietnamese Pho is a fun soup for a company lunch. Everyone can add what they want to their own bowl of hot broth. It's perfect to make this on a snowed in day. Make a big pot of pho broth and eat all day long. Another benefit is that it makes the house smell great because of the star anise and ginger. 

This soup is on heavy my rotation right now, it's called Senegalese Peanut Soup. If you are interested in that recipe link I must say that I always lessen the peanut butter and up the garlic. (I add ginger too, which isn't called for.) 

 I am frequently asked to bring this soup to potlucks once people have tried it. It's the kind of thing that you keep craving long after you eat it.  It freezes well so I make a large pot and put some away for quick lunches. I usually have some bread dough stored up as well, so this yummy lunch was pulled out of the freezer as "fast food" when I needed it.

What's for breakfast?

 I don't have a huge appetite in the morning. I like picking though. A cup of good tea is essential. After that we pretty much eat whatever our bodies want. That could mean anything from soup, salad, salmon, to the more traditional oatmeal. Our tastes are seasonal. Pancakes are definitely a fall thing. Fresh baked buns, winter. Tea is the only constant in my breakfast offering. My littlest one needs the most food in the morning. She can't sit still, always burning energy. She wants miso soup, my goat cheese, berries and olives. So she gets it. It keeps her busy and satisfied.

One of my summer day breakfasts. I wake up with a craving for very vinegary salad, so that's what I eat.

During the summer we enjoy pesto bread for breakfast, tea and bedtime snack. My daughter could live on this stuff and sometimes she does. Along with our daily salad dressings it's another way to get loads of fresh garlic into us.

Some days (quite often), this is all I want. I crave good butter. Every day. Some fat is needed in the diet. This is how I take mine, with no guilt. 

We do eat "real" breakfast foods too, like oatmeal or waffles. When the mood strikes I make my all time favorite Vitamix recipe whole wheat waffles. While my girls are having oatmeal with maple syrup I might be eating my oatmeal raw, with lots of seeds or nuts and a shredded apple. Food, like all of life is best lived when it is not monotonous. When I wake up I never know exactly what the day will hold, there are so many choices, so many possibilities. As the seasons and our moods change, why not what's on our plates?