Chia Jello

I'm not sure if all the exercise that I've been doing since January has finally started paying off or if it's the glassful of super healthy chia seeds I've been drinking every morning before my runs, but I've been feeling really good lately.

Just in case it is the chia, I've been finding ways to get more of it into my body. So I've been working on perfecting chia jello. Not using the boxed stuff, but real fruit juice, so I can tell myself that it's actually good for me.



And I think I've finally got it.

Ingredients



1/4 cup chia seeds
3/4 cup fruit juice
3 cups fruit juice (to boil)
1 cup fruit juice (this needs to be cold)
4 envelopes gelatine (I use Knox brand)

Directions
-First, you'll want to put the chia seeds into a container that holds two cups of liquid. (I mixed these in a one cup measure which made one of the steps below a bit more difficult.)
-Add the 3/4 cup of juice to the seeds and stir well.
-Let sit for 3 minutes and then stir again. Now let it sit in the fridge for an hour or two to give the seeds time to plump up.


-Remove the chia and juice from the fridge and stir well, making sure there are no clumps.
-Put the 3 cups of juice in a pan and heat til boiling.
-While the juice is heating, sprinkle the gelatine over the 1 cup of cold juice.


-Let sit for a minute and then stir til it's nice and smooth.


-In a heatproof bowl (or the pan itself), mix the boiling juice in with the gelatine and juice and stir for 5 minutes until all of the gelatine is dissolved and the mixture has cooled down somewhat.
-Now add some of this liquid to the chia seeds, maybe a quarter cup at a time, stirring well after each addition. This thins the mixture and keeps it from clumping when it's all combined.
-Stir the thinned chia seed mixture into the rest of the liquid.


-Pour in your mold(s).

I used wide mouth half pint jars because I liked the idea of making individual serving sizes. I was guessing that they'd be handy to pull out of the fridge after each day's run, and you know what? I was right.

Joey

I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls.
-Audrey Hepburn

Me

I'm no model lady. A model's just an imitation of the real thing.
-Mae West

Spicy Pickled Carrots

I had my first taste of these this last winter, when Jenny, Aurora and I stopped off at a little burrito place in my neighborhood.

Soon I started thinking that I ought to figure out the recipe for myself, because, while they're not that expensive at the restaurant, I knew they'd be even cheaper to make at home. And the idea of having them as close as my refrigerator door was wonderfully appealing.



These are so addictive. I could sit and eat an entire bowl of them. And since I'm at home during the day, having carrots that actually taste good to snack on is brilliant.

My internet search turned up various recipes, which I've combined into this one. The one that makes me happy.

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups white vinegar
1 1/2 cups water
3 cloves of garlic (peeled and sliced)
3 bay leaves
8 peppercorns
1 teaspoon Mexican oregano
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 to 3 jalapenos (sliced)
1 pound carrots (peeled and chopped into whatever size your heart desires)
Optional Vegetables to try instead of carrots
1 bunch radishes (cleaned and trimmed)
1 onion (sliced)
cauliflower



Instructions
-Add the vinegar, water and all the spices (including the jalapenos) to a pot and bring to a boil.
-Add the carrots (or whatever other type of vege you want to pickle... radishes, onion, cauliflower) and simmer until they are the texture you prefer. Joey likes them pretty crunchy. I prefer them cooked a bit more. I went ahead and added a few radishes in with the carrots for this batch, but I would suggest doing them separately so that they each get cooked to the right texture.
-Use a slotted spoon to scoop the vegetables into a mason jar (or two).

-Pour in the liquid until everything is completely covered (note- you most likely won't need all of the liquid unless your vegetables take up more than one jar)
-Screw on a lid and pop in the fridge.
-Really, you can go ahead and eat these as soon as they've cooled, but know that they do get better the longer you can let them sit. If you *can* let them sit, that is.

What other vegetables do you think this would work with?

Cabbage or Zucchini, maybe? But those wouldn't really need to be cooked for more than a minute or two, if at all.

Maybe I'll have to try those today.

Happy 4th of July

The wave of the future is not the conquest of the world by a single dogmatic creed but the liberation of the diverse energies of free nations and free men.
-John F. Kennedy

Chocolate Decorations

Yesterday was Miranda's 16th birthday, an event which made me feel crazy old, especially since she's the youngest of my 3 stepkids.



And even though I haven't been around for her *entire* life, I have been helping to raise her since she was like 3.



Consider my mind blown, especially since she's grown into a gorgeous young lady who can do this.


(just about to catch a sword after dropping into the splits, something, though I've never actually attempted, I'm pretty sure would land me in the emergency room, one way or another.)

Anyway, for her birthday her daddy thought she needed a homemade Boston cream pie (one of his birthday specialties). I thought she needed pretty little decorations (as opposed to yet another birthday portrait).

Here's what we came up with.



These look somewhat like fondant, but since I think fondant is a bit yick, I stuck with chocolate.

To do this, I first created a page with circles and letters and other designs on the computer. Then stuck that underneath a piece of parchment paper, just like we did for Jeff's birthday. Though this was much easier and didn't require a light box.

Basically, you'll want to make sure that you end with a contrasting color to the frosting (white in this case), so start with the other color.

The trickiest part of all this is getting the chocolates to the right temperature. I just heated them individually in the microwave, 10 or 15 seconds at a time, stirring in between.

I found that dark chocolate worked best at about 85 degrees, while white chocolate needed to be up near 105. Basically, you'll want it to flow out pretty easily, but not so much that it spreads too much after you make the design.



Once you've done the first color, move them to the fridge, otherwise it takes way too long to set, especially in the summer. Then fill in the rest of the design with the contrasting color. That's it.



And don't worry that this side is ugly. It will be facing the cake. The side that's facing up will be all pretty and smooth like in the first picture.

Which brings me to, Yay, another Don't Do What Donnie Don't Does. Don't forget to horizontally flip the letters so they appear backwards.

Which I did.

Forget, that is.

Otherwise you'll end up with this.



And will need to start all over.

These also make fun individual toppers for cupcakes.


Fun and accessible project for the kids to do!

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Chocolate Portrait

Kenzie

Being me is all I know.
-Jeff Kinney