Coyote

I know some of you are thinking "No... she didn't."

Yes. I did.

As I mentioned previously, my nephew is a trapper who occasionally provides me with a variety of meats. My food adventures have ranged from rabbit to kangaroo, and now includes coyote. I've been waiting a very, very long time for this, and thankfully it was worth the wait.

My co-workers give me a hard time about being willing, nay, eager to eat a coyote. Most people who hunt look at coyotes in disgust. They wouldn't even consider eating such an animal, let alone taking the time to clean one for me after shooting it. I even offered to pay them! Needless to say, coyotes are not highly regarded by people in these parts. They're considered stinky carrion-eaters, and worse... but not by me.

In some ways I identify with the coyote. They're one of my favorite animals for a number of reasons. Topping the list are that they're scavengers (much like myself), and that unlike wolves, coyotes have learned to adapt to human invasion of their environment, making use of us as a food source. They're quite ingenuous. They're highly intelligent and learn quickly, and can often fool or take advantage of other animals.

While I love the adventure of trying all kinds of meat for the sake of pushing my own boundaries, and being able to say "Yes, I've eaten _________," there are other reasons for going to such great lengths for meat. Part of my interest in consuming coyote, and other "exotic" meats, is spiritual. I believe that when I eat the meat of an animal, I also take in some of their spirit, their mana. Different animals have different mana and I think when we consciously consume certain animals, they become part of us. When I eat raccoon, I take in raccoon wisdom. When I eat boar, I take in boar wisdom. When I eat fox, or coyote, I take in fox or coyote wisdom.

So what is coyote wisdom?

Coyote is the keeper of the magic. He is the teacher, the shapeshifter, the illuminator that uses pranks to teach people to laugh at themselves, and learn from their foolish mistakes. Coyote is the great trickster, and expresses the balance of foolishness and wisdom. Wanderer, glutton, lecher, thief, cheat, outlaw, clown, pragmatist, survivor.

Coyote plays a large part in Native American spirituality and is featured in many of their myths. This is one of my favorite coyote stories. It's a Ute creation story as told by Soul Guardian.

"Once, there were no people in the world. So, Sinawaf (the Creator) began a project. He began to collect and cut sticks into little pieces and put them in a large bag. He did this for a long time until the bag was full.

His brother, Coyote, was watching him the whole time. Sinawaf, knowing his brother, told him that this was a special project and not to look in the bag.

One day, when Sinawaf was away, Coyote could no longer hold back his curiosity. He crept over to where Sinawaf had left the bag and peeked in. Many people burst out of the bag. They were wild and would not listen to Coyote, who was pleading for the people to return to the bag. The people only kept pouring out and running wild. They spoke different languages and scattered all over the world.

When Sinawaf returned, he found his brother and the empty bag. He was so angry with him for not listening to him. He said, "The people were not ready to come into the world. They were to be placed evenly across the land. The trouble you have caused will create wars and the people will try to gain land from each other."

As punishment for Coyote's mischievous ways, the Creator sent him to live in the world. He made him what he is today, a coyote. That is why Coyote cries to the sky. He wants to go home.

Sinawaf picked up his empty bag and discovered that deep within the bag a few people remained. To these people, Sinawaf said, "This small tribe shall be known as the Noochew (Ute). They will be very brave because the people in the world are not complete and you will be able to overcome them. I will place you high in the mountains so that you will be close to me." That is how the Utes came to live high in the mountains of Utah and Colorado."

There are many, many coyote stories floating around the net. This one happens to be my favorite because it reminds me of the story of Pandora, and it's an excellent example of how coyote tends to get himself into trouble.

So with coyote wisdom in mind, I prepared a special dish for my birthday, which also fell right before the Full Moon.

Coyote, First Try
Ingredients:
1 lb coyote meat, chunks
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
1/3 cup wheat-free tamari sauce
6 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 large onion, diced
Salt & Pepper to taste

Mix your liquid ingredients, garlic and onion together to make a marinade. Rinse coyote meat to remove any hair if you haven't done this already. Trim extra fat and tissues. Soak the meat in the marinade for 1 hour.

Heat your oven to 350 degrees. Put coyote meat and marinade in a baking dish, season with salt and pepper, and cover with foil. Bake until meat is well done. Baking time is variable depending on the size of your meat chunks. You will want to cook it well done.

The trick with coyote, as well as certain other wild meats susceptible to rabies, is that it must be cooked well done to kill any possible disease. It helps to only eat a clean, healthy animal of course. Also, to decrease risk of parasites it's a wise idea to freeze coyote meat for 90 days before consumption.

I was pleasantly surprised by the taste of coyote, especially after not being able to find any references or recipes on the internet. I find it very hard to believe nobody out there is eating coyote. With no recipe or any sort of guidelines to follow, I just had to wing it and hope for the best. The results were better than I expected, and all that I hoped for.

Coyote meat can't be called "tender" in my book, mostly because I generally dislike well-done meat, but in the case of coyote I don't have much choice. The marinade gave the meat a slightly Asian flavor, thanks to the tamari. The balsamic vinegar did a nice job tenderizing the meat. Dog meat tends to need it, as I learned last year with fox. Slow, gentle cooking seems to help as well.

An interesting side experiment happened in the kitchen before baking the coyote. I trimmed and rinsed the meat, removing several fairly large chunks of fat. A lot of people say wild animal fat is bitter, so I wanted to taste test the coyote fat out of curiosity. We cut the fat into bits and began to render the fat and make cracklins. While the fat did have a slightly "gamey" flavor that most people oppose (but I rather enjoy,) the cracklins weren't the least bit bitter. We did note that the drippings had a slighty fishy smell and concluded it probably had something to do with that animal's diet. The cracklins made for a good snack while we were cooking the rest of the meal. I also ended up with a lovely jar of coyote fat. What I'm going to do with it, I'm not really sure, but I bet I can think of something.

I have 3 more meal-size chunks of coyote meat left, so there will be more coyote cooking in the future.

Also, I wanted to share with you the start of my April Primal Challenge. For a couple weeks now I've been planning a personal challenge to cut out all non-essentials out of my diet for 30 days. I have been eating far too many treats. Dairy, fruit and nuts have become a staple- a trend I'd like to reverse. This 30-day challenge will be an opportunity to cleanse my palate of sweet flavors, perhaps jumpstart my fat loss, and make me appreciate fruit, nuts, dairy and sweets as treats once again, rather than taking them for granted.

Here are the rules. No coffee. No kombucha. No chocolate. No alcohol. No nuts. No fruit. No dairy. No sweeteners (stevia, erythritol, honey, etc.) No meals on Wednesdays. No weighing. I'm hiding the scale. More sleep. TV and computer gets turned off at 10pm, no matter what.

So what CAN I have?

Meat from any animal. Any vegetable. Water. Green or herbal tea. Tomatos and avocados are permitted. Olive oil. Tallow and lard. Eggs. Hot sauce, mustard, home-made mayo. Salt, pepper and spices.

Workouts are changing too. 20 minutes of FUN cardio, 6 days a week. Monday, Wednesday and Friday will be heavy lifting days. Tuesday and thursday will be sprinting days, outdoors, rain or shine! Sundays will be long walks, either hiking or a trek to the grocery store. I think keeping to the workout schedule will be the harder part of the April Primal Challenge, but a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do!

Let the Challenge begin...

Happy Birthday To Me!

I have to say, I have the most supportive family when it comes to my Primal lifestyle. They are absolutely wonderful. I had the best birthday celebration last night.

My day started out a little crazy, gathering up half of my kitchen to take to my parents house, where all the cooking and celebrating would take place. Cooking at my parents house makes me realize how much I really love cooking in my own kitchen. But because of cirumstances the birthday couldn't be at my house this year, so I packed up a box full of essentials and out the door I went.

Not being a fan of your typical floury, processed, store-bought birthday cake, the day started out with mom and I making one from scratch. Flourless of course... with a yummy cream cheese frosting. It wasn't low carb really, with the inclusion of lots of honey, but hey... it's once a year.

So we broke out our ingredients and this is what we created.

Nutty Pumpkin Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Cake Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups of pumpkin
2 cups of nut butter
2/3 cups of honey
2 eggs
2 tsp baking soda

Frosting Ingredients:
8 ounces of cream cheese
1/2 stick of butter
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp lemon juice
honey to taste (about 1/2 cup)

Heat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease a baking dish. If you plan on turning the cake out, grease a cake pan and "flour" it. Arrowroot powder works well for this. Any "floury" substance will work but I used arrowroot.

Mix your cake ingredients together until well mixed and fluffy, and pour into your pan. With my cake I used 2 cake pans and split my batter in half for each pan. That way I could put frosting between the layers. Bake for 20-25 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Remove from the oven and let the cake cool. Mix your frosting ingredients together and frost your cake.

With my cake we allowed the cakes to cool and turned them out of their pans. We frosted the top of one cake and placed the second layer on top of it, then frosted the second cake. Then we sprinkled the top with shaved chocolate, a few slices of kiwi and some golden raspberries.

This is a really yummy, fairly dense cake. You'll want something to drink with it since it has a more brownie-like texture. Sort of like banana bread.

About the same time Mom and I got the cake done, Dad was home from work and we started cooking up dinner. He began with a venison meat loaf- Primal style. Just a pound of venison, a couple eggs, some onion and lots of spices. While he prepared that, I put some of my treasured coyote meat in a marinade. Yes, more about that in a later post. There will be a coyote blog very soon, I promise. :)

Besides the venison meat loaf, and coyote, I roasted up some carrots, daikon and GBrussels sprouts. Gigunda Brussels sprouts! Those things were HUGE. I hope mine grow that big this summer. Dad also decided to cook up some wild salmon. Oh, and there were a couple beef rib bones in there somewhere too. It was a fantastic Primal feast like you wouldn't believe.

Wait, we can't forget about the prezzies! It's not a birthday without a few gifts, and my family was so kind to me this year. My sister got me a lovely big, red flower pot packed FULL of fruit. Apples, various pears, blood orange, an avocado, kumquats, a papaya, grapes, and raspberries. From my parents 

I got a dozen wire-top bottles, ideal for bottling my kombucha. I can't wait to finish a batch and get it bottled. Also from my parents, a leg of lamb- pastured -and fresh rosemary, and a beautiful new chefs knife! It cut through daikon like butter. It's my new baby.

Oh yeah, and I got a hula hoop! We couldn't wait to try it out!

Of course you can't have birthday cake without ice cream. I didn't plan ahead enough to make my own out of coconut milk, so I bought some So Delicious Coconut Milk ice cream... Cherry Amaretto flavor. It was delicious and it cooperated with my stomach. Yay for no bubble guts! My only qualm was the inclusion of agave syrup in the ingredients list. Hopefully by next year I'll have perfected some ice cream making skills enough to have my some home-made ice cream.

It was a very filling, and fulfilling day for sure. I can't say enough how grateful I am for my family, and how much I enjoyed my birthday. Thank you to all my friends for the wonderful birthday wishes. It was indeed a very special day.

Josh's Dilly Beans

I'm really thrilled to bring you this recipe today. It's not my recipe, and I've yet to attempt it, but I can tell you the results are absolutely delicious. I'm not the only one in my family who likes to play in the kitchen, and this recipe actually belongs to my nephew, Josh. He's the guy I have to thank for providing me with wild game that ranges from fox to raccoon, and nearly everything in between. Besides being an excellent trapper, he makes some fantastic wine and even better dilly beans.

For anyone new to canning, I'll do my best to walk you through the process. I'm still pretty new to it myself.

Josh's Dilly Beans

Brine Ingredients:
1/2 to 3/4 cup of salt
5 1/2 cups of vinegar
9 cups of water
1/2 tsp alum
1 Tbsp red pepper
1 Tbsp dill
1 Tbsp mustard seed

Optional Ingredients:
White Onion
Garlic
Jalepenos
Green Peppers

Start out by sterilizing your canning jars. Always sterilize extra jars, just in case you need them. They can be sanitized in the dishwasher, dried and placed in the oven at 250 degrees for about 20 minutes. Boil your lids and rings for 15 minutes. After the jars are sterilized handle them with clean hands, avoid touching the rim, and allow them to cool while you prepare your dilly beans.



Wash and trim your green beans to fit into the jars. Some people prefer bite-size beans, so you can trim them into any length you like. A half bushel will make nearly 7 quarts.

Prepare your brine in a large pot, mixing all your ingredients together and heating over medium heat until hot but not boiling. Allow it to cool. You don't want to pour hot liquid into your jars, especially if they're Ball jars. The bottoms are known to break.

Pack your green beans, and any of your other cold pack ingredients into your jars. Using a ladle and canning funnel, add your cooled brine to your jars. Lightly cap your jars and gently shake or tap your jars on the counter to get all the bubbles to come to the top. Do this until you no longer see bubbles. Remove the lids and top off your jars with brine. If the top of your liquid has bubbles, lightly scrape them off with the back of a butter knife. Put the lids back on and tighten them with moderate pressure.

Put all of your jars in a stock pot. They can be touching but give them a little room. Add water to the pot until your jars are covered by at least an inch of water. Cover the pan and heat to boiling, then reduce the heat until you have a nice, gentle boil. A harder boil can break your jars. At this point let boil for 90 minutes to 2 hours. Quart jars will take closer to 2 hours.

Spread a dish towel out on the counter. Carefully remove your jars from the hot water. A jar lifter is ideal, but a sturdy pair of tongs will work, if you've got a good grip. This can be tricky! If you have to use tongs, try to remove as much of the water from the pot as possible before attempting to remove the jars. Use oven mits if you have to hold the bottom of the jar. Set your jars on the towel and cover them with another dish towel to keep heat in for as long as possible. As your jars cool you will hear them "pop," telling you the jars have sealed.

After your jars seal, remove the rings and place them in a baking pan. Put them in the oven and heat to 200 degrees, then turn the oven off. Wipe your jars dry with a clean cloth or paper towel. When the rings have cooled, replace them on the jars and lightly tighten. Overdoing it can break your seal. Label the lids with a date, and your beans should keep up to a year.

I love pickled veggies. While cucumbers are an old favorite, I've come to love pickled cauliflower and Brussels sprouts. This is the first time I've ever heard of pickled green beans. Last year we had so many green beans we didn't know what to do with them. You bet I know what I'm doing with them this year!

Happy Ostara!

Happy Ostara!

Sorry this one is a little bit late. It's been a crazy, busy, very festive weekend. Spring is finally, officially here and I'm loving every sunny moment of it.

I've been thinking for a week how I wanted to approach this post. I knew I didn't want to give you the same "This is what Ostara is" spiel that you can find with one quick google search. That's boring. If you want to know the history of Ostara and the technical information, Wikipedia has a pretty good explanation. Instead I think I'm going to go with a more personal approach and just mull over how the Spring Equinox matters in my life. Maybe it'll give you some things to consider as you celebrate spring.

Every year my Sabbat celebrations look different from the years previous. I haven't yet built any real traditions, not having children to pass traditions onto. My family largely doesn't celebrate my holidays either, so it gives me the freedom to go with the wind on how I want to honor the seasons.

This year my family's St Patrick's Day dinner got pushed back a few days due to work schedules, so it landed on Ostara. The table was decorated green and gold, with lots of food and even more drink. To the family it was St Patrick's Day dinner. In my head, we were celebrating the first day of Spring. I even provided myself a bottle of last year's dandelion wine, and some Green Goddess pudding for dessert. It was more of a personal celebration than anything, but enjoyable none the less. We enjoyed each other's company, spent time outside in the fresh air and sunshine, and I even got to play on the teeter-totter! (In my new Vibrams of course!)

Today is the real treat! I attended my friends' open circle put on by their Coven, complete with feasting and merry making! A true Ostara celebration in the company of fellow Pagans. I couldn't think of a better way to welcome Spring. Well, I could... but it's not appropriate for all audiences. Again, I'll be toting along a bottle of my home-made brew, and perhaps a few other springtime gifts. Not to worry, I'll be all about making dandelion wine very soon. I just have to wait for the dandelions to appear, then I'll share my project with you!

So what does Ostara mean to me, outside of all the fun and feasting? Of course there's the whole "Fertility Festival" side of the Sabbat, but being single and not wanting to be fertile and raise babies yet, I'm not all that focused on bunnies and whatnot. No breeding like rabbits here! I have been up to my eyeballs in eggs, but alas brown eggs aren't that great for coloring. The colors all come out a little... well... brown. Who wants to eat a dirty-looking Easter egg? I'd rather pickle them.

Mostly my celebration of Ostara consists of jumping clean into the renewal and rebirth aspects of the holiday. I'm expressing a good deal of it through my obsessive Spring Cleaning & Cleansing. I have to say, the house is looking and feeling so much better! But it's more of a spiritual, emotional and relational spring cleaning that I need to do.

Taking stock of friendships and relationships, or the lack there of is hard work, but it's gotta be done. It's time to dust out the cobwebs and start putting a little elbow grease on those! No time like the present, right? And of course there's that business about being single. I suppose springtime is a good time to take care of that. I am working on preparing for the planting season and getting the garden going, and as part of that I planted an avocado seed, with the hope that it'll maybe bring me a little springtime love. You remember in the movie, Bambi, that when spring came around, all the animals got "twitterpated?" Yup, that's what Ostara is really all about. Nature and people getting "twitterpated." It really is something in the air. Can't you feel it too?

And let's not forget the spirit. If there's one thing that needs some renewal after a long, dreary winter, it's the spirit. The Unitarian Universalist fellowship I've been attending (I still hesitate to say "my church" as it doesn't really feel like it yet) is organizing a fantastic workshop called "Building Your Own Theology." It sounds like just the thing I need- really, truly analyzing what I believe and why. Nothing like a good old scrubbing of the belief system, right? If anything, it'll come out a little bit cleaner than it went in, I hope.

But in the end you know it wouldn't be a holiday celebration without a lovely treat to celebrate it with. Remember that Green Goddess Pudding I mentioned a moment ago? You're gonna love this...

Green Goddess Pudding

Ingredients:
1 ripe avocado
1/4 cup coconut milk
3 Tbsp erythritol
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon lemon juice

Pistachios, craisins, chocolate chips, almond slivers or other goodies are optional.

This is really easy, I swear. Just put all of your pudding ingredients into a large bowl and beat the heck out of it with a hand mixer. You can do it manually, but the mixer makes it so much easier.

Really, that's all you have to do to make a sweet, tasty pudding. If you want to dress it up a bit, fold in any of the goodies listed above. I used some chopped pistachios (about half a cup) this time, but I'm thinking dried cherries and chocolate bits would be fantastic.

I topped mine with a dab of home-made whipped cream, and garnish with a few whole pistachios to make it pretty.

This recipe is very versitile. You can use regular milk, almond milk, or any other kind of milk. In place of erythritol you can use honey, sugar, stevia. Increase or decrease your sweetener to taste. Maybe use a really ripe banana instead? It's a really good recipe to play with. Feel free to get creative and experiment!

I really have to admit, of all the ways you can eat an avocado... turning it into a thick, decadent pudding is probably my favorite. It just comes out so creamy and smooth, with a very light nutty flavor. And the best part of all? It's good for you too.

Eat, Drink & Be Merry! Happy Ostara everyone! I hope Spring brings you lots of growth and beauty in the coming months. Now I'm going to kick back, relax with a bowl of pudding and one more glass of dandelion wine, and be thankful that winter is finally over.

Spring Cleaning & Cleansing

I knew it was that time of year when I found myself standing on my kitchen counter, dust pan in hand, attempting to open my recessed lighting fixture to remove flies. Spring cleaning has begun.

What is it about spring that seems to switch on this primative nesting instinct in women? You don't see too many men going on a spring cleaning spree, not like we women tend to go about it. It's an interesting phenomena. From top to bottom, back to front, nothing evades the duster, broom, mop or sponge. Windows are thrown open to welcome the fresh, cool springtime air in, and as my mother would say, "blow the stink out." Clutter becomes uncluttered. The disorganized, organized. Husbands and boyfriends wonder if we've lost our minds, all while trying to avoid being made to participate.

This year I decided I'm going to do things a little differently. As I mentioned previously, I'm finding myself drawn more and more to traditional methods of getting things done. Spring cleaning will be no exception. Long gone are the chemical cleaners with noxious fumes and nasty residues. It's all natural this year.

Pretty much all of my new cleaning supplies were easy to find. Some of them I already had right in my own kitchen! The "ingredients" are simple. For a fume-free, healthy clean you will need the following:


Liquid Castile Soap
Cooking Oils
Borax
White Vinegar
Baking Soda
Toothpaste
Salt
Lemons/Lemon Juice
Essential Oils

With these few ingredients you can clean your entire home, and the best part is... it's also extremely cheap! Sure, there are a lot of new "natural" cleaning products on the market today. Some of them are "greener" than others. The real good stuff is expensive, so for those of us on a budget, you can't get any better than the cheap multi-purpose cleaning supplies above.

As you clean, keep yourself in a positive, cleansing, refreshing mindset. Focus on getting the old dirt and negative energy out of your house, and welcoming in fresh air and positive energy. You'll be able to feel the difference when cleaning is a joy rather than a chore. Making your spring cleaning a magical, meditative act will do wonders for your mood, as well as the mood of your home.

In the Kitchen:

Cut a lemon in half and dip the cut side in baking soda. Scrub your countertops, wipe it clean with a wet sponge and towel dry. Avoid using this on stone or stainless steel though. It can discolor.

To clean marble countertops, mix 1 tablespoon liquid castile soap to 1 quart of water. Wipe with a cloth, rinse and wipe dry with a clean cloth.

Got a funky-smelling garbage disposal? Throw half a lemon in there and let 'er whirl. It'll clean and make it smell good.

Freshen and de-scent your diswasher sprinkle borax in the bottom and let it set overnight. Wipe it clean with a damp sponge. It'll rinse itself the next time you run the diswasher.

Disinfect your dishwasher by running it empty with 1/2 cup of vinegar in the soap reservoir.

Dislodge gunk from your can opener by mixing 2 tablespoons of baking soda and 1 teaspoon of water. Scrub with an old toothbrush.

Clean your coffee pot with equal parts water and white vinegar. Pour the solution into the water tank, and turn the coffeemaker on. When it's halfway done turn it off and let the solution sit for half an hour to an hour. Turn it back on and let it finish "brewing." Run plain water through the coffeemaker before making coffee again.

Squeeze lemon juice onto discolored cutting boards to remove stains. Let sit for 20 minutes then rise.

Clean tarnished silverware by polishing it with toothpaste on a soft cloth. Rinse with water and dry with a clean cloth.

To clean a spill in the oven pour salt on the spill to soak it up. When the oven is cool wipe it clean with a damp sponge.

Cut greasy buildup on the stovetop and vent hood by mixing 2 cups of hot water with 2 tablespoons liquid castile soap.

Cast iron pans should never be washed with soap. Instead use a teaspoon of salt and some cooking oil to scrub off cooked-on debris. Rinse with hot water and gently heat on the stove until dry.

To clean your drains and pipes pour white vinegar down them, then flush with water 30 minutes later.

For super-clean dishes and to cut grease, add a teaspoon of lemon juice to your dish soap.

Clean china by soaking them in a dishpan of warm water and 1/2 cup of borax. Rinse and towel dry.

Clean stained tea cups by soaking them in a solution of 2 parts water to 1 part baking soda. Soak over night and wipe clean in the morning.

Make stainless steel shine by buffing it with a soft cloth and a little olive oil.

To clean stove burner grates soak them in a dishpan with 1 gallon of water and 1/2 cup of baking soda. Soak for 30 minutes. Rinse and towel dry.

Remove scuffs from floors with 2-4 drops of tea tree oil. Wipe with a cloth and rub in some white vinegar.

Mop floors with 1/4 cup liquid castile soap mixed in 2 gallons of warm water. Add 1/4 cup of white vinegar if your floor is greasy.



In The Bathroom:

Prevent limescale buildup on your faucets by rubbing them with lemon juice and letting it sit for 24 hours. Wipe clean.

For nasty soap scum on shower doors, wipe the glass with a few drops of lemon oil twice a month.

Make your own soft scrub for sinks, tubs and showers by mixing 1 tablespoon liquid castile soap with 1/3 cup of baking soda.

Polish chrome fixtures with a dab of toothpaste on a soft cloth.

Toilets could use some freshening up. Add 2 teaspoons of tea tree oil to 2 cups of water in a spray bottle. Spray along the toilet's inside rim and let sit for 30 minutes. Scrub and flush.

Rid rust stains from toilet bowls by pouring borax in the bowl and letting it sit overnight. Scrub with a toilet brush and flush.

Remove buildup from shower heads by filling a plastic grocery bag half full with vinegar. Knot the handles over the neck of the showerhead and secure it with rubber bands. Let it soak overnight and rinse it off in the morning.

Combs and brushes could use a good cleaning too. Fill a bowl with 1 1/2 cups of water, 1/2 cup of white vinegar, and 15-20 drops of essential oil (eucalyptus, tea tree or lavender.) Let them sit for half an hour, rinse them off and let them dry.



Around The House

2 ounces of water and 10 drops of lavender oil will clean grime off windows AND repel flies.

Wash windows with a mixture of 1/4 cup of vinegar, 2 cups of warm water and 2 tablespoons liquid castile soap. Spray onto windows with a spray bottle and wipe clean with newspaper.

It's easy to make your own furniture polish. Just mix 2 cups of olive oil with the juice of one lemon. Gently work it in with a soft cloth.

To buff out scratches in light-colored wood, rub them with 2 teaspoons of olive oil mixed with 2 teaspoons of lemon juice.

Clean walls with 1/2 cup of borax mixed in a gallon of hot water. Spray onto walls and wipe with a damp cloth. Allow to air dry.

Got moldy walls? Spray mold with vinegar, wait 15 minutes and rinse. Let it dry thoroughly.

Want brighter whites? 1/2 cup of lemon juice to the rinse cycle in a medium load of laundry will whiten those right up.



Are you exhausted yet? Not to worry. I haven't done all my cleaning either. I barely got past getting the flies out of my fixtures. Here's a little tip for the other procrastinators out there. Just do one or two things per day. Commit to it and get it done. Remember, just one thing. Two if you're feeling ambitious. Your house will be sparkling clean before you know it.

For the magically inclined, there are extra cleansing steps left to do. By now your home should not only look cleaner, but feel cleaner with all that emotional buildup being wiped out.


Magical Cleansings

Using a sage smudge is a great way to clear out negative energy and emotional "clutter." Start at your front door and smudge every inch, corner, cabinet and crevace in a clockwise route around your home. Don't forget to get the closets!

A pinch of salt in dark corners will absorb and eliminate negative energies that accumulate, like dust, in small spaces.

Candles are a good way to cleanse a room of unwanted energy. Black candles absorb negative energy, and white candles promote positive energy. Burn black first, then white.

Grind pine needles to powder and sprinkle on lit charcoals to cleanse an area of negative energies and entitites. Throwing pine cones into a fireplace will have a similar effect.

Hang bells or wind chimes near doors or windows to promote cleansing sounds. Drums and percussion instruments are also cleansing.

For continuous cleansing, place a cup or bowl of vinegar in every room that needs cleansing and replace it weekly. Frankincense, sandalwood or Florida Water can be added to improve fragrance. (It doubles as an air freshener!)

There are many more cleansing options out there, but I like to keep it simple. These are just a few things I like to do to keep my home clean and free of emotional clutter.

Do you have any suggestions, tips or tricks, either magical or mundane? Is there anything I've forgotten? I can be a bit scatterbrained sometimes, I'll admit. Give some of these cleaning (and perhaps cleansing) solutions a try and let me know what you think!

Scalloped Daikon & Sausage

One of the biggest challenges and joys of being Primal is seeking out variety in the foods I eat. Occasionally I like to challenge myself with a new vegetable, and there seems to be an endless supply of new and interesting plants to eat. This one comes as a recommendation from my dad. He's highly supportive of my lifestyle, and the other day he introduced me to daikon, as a potato substitute.

I'd never heard of daikon, so I looked it up. This east Asian radish is huge compared to its easily recognizable cousin, and is very mild. As I mentioned when roasting radishes, I never cared much for the sharp bite of traditional radishes. Daikon is very easy to eat raw. Light, crisp, and really quite refresshing. I bet it would make a lovely slaw come summer.

Intrigued by the idea of a low-carb potato subsitite (1g carb per ounce of daikon), I started mulling over potato dishes that I missed after going Primal. Scalloped potatoes had been one of my favorites, so I decided to give it a shot with this new radish.

Scalloped Daikon & Sausage

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp arrowroot powder (optional)
1 1/2 cup of cream
salt & pepper to taste
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
1 large daikon, sliced
12 ounces sausage
1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and butter a baking dish.

Saute your sausage in a large skillet, chopping into large chunks like ground beef. Or, you can do what I did, and make your own using this fantastic recipe from Joyful Abode.

In a saucepan melt 2 Tbsp butter over medium-high heat. Stir in arrowroot as a thickener. This is optional. Cook for 30 seconds. Remove from heat and whisk in cream. Return to heat and simmer while stirring. When thickened (if using arrowroot,) remove from heat, season with salt and pepper.

Spread 1/3 of your sauce in the bottom of the baking dish and top with 1/2 of your sliced daikon. Then layer 1/2 of your onion, 1/2 of your sausage, and 1/2 the cheese. Add another 1/3 of your sauce, and repeat your layers. Top at last with the last of your cream sauce.

Cover baking dish with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake for 25-30 more minutes until daikon is tender.

How was it? FANTASTIC. Not quite the same texture as potatoes, but all the same familiar flavors. The daikon had that neutral flavor that potatoes have, but the texture was a bit more firm. I will certainly be making this one again, perhaps next time with ham. Ham would work very well with this recipe, or bacon. But then again, what isn't improved by pork?

I have another large daikon in the refrigerator yet to experiment with. I would love to hear ideas or suggestions for what you might like to see.

Another Kombucha Blog

It seems like everybody's doing a blog on kombucha anymore. Yup, I'm going to do it too. Why? Two reasons. One- people are asking "What's this kombucha stuff?" and Two- I find it hard to accept people out there don't know about this "kombucha stuff."

Kombucha is fantastic, once you develope a taste for it, that is. I'd been curious about it for a while when one day I felt sick and sluggish, and I decided it was what I needed to jump start my system. I didn't want to spend the whole day feeling like crap, so I went to the store and bought a bottle. They didn't have a plain one, so I got one chuck full of spirulina and other green goodness. Being the adventurous type, the floaties in the bottle didn't bother me. I popped the cap and took a gulp. Woah! Tart, fizzy and WEIRD! I've been in love with the stuff ever since.

I spent a lot of money on kombucha before I learned I could make it at home, and that it's actually quite easy (and cheap!) I'm sipping a glass as I type this. It's become a staple of my diet now that I have a constant rotation brewing in my pantry. So what is it? It's a fermented tea. But don't worry, there is barely any measurable alcohol.

Getting started is easy. You can do one of two things. You can buy a scoby, or you can grow one. I bought my first scoby, then accidentally made one. I'll tell you how you can buy one later, but making one is pretty simple. All I did was buy a bottle of raw kombucha from the grocery store, drank some and forgot about the bottle on the counter for about a week and a half. Before I knew it, baby scoby! Really, that's all there is to it.

You're probably wondering what a scoby is.  "Scoby" actually stands for "Symboitic Colony Of Bacteria & Yeast." Some call it a "mother" or a "mushroom." It sort of looks like a big rubbery pancake. I've had people compare it to a jellyfish as it sometimes grows root-like tentacles on the bottom.

Once you have your scoby, making kombucha is really easy. All you need is:

6-7 tea bags (green or black only. No herbal teas.)
A gallon of hot water
1 cup of sugar
A scoby
1 cup of kombucha OR 1/4 cup white vinegar

Start by bringing a gallon of water to a boil. I use a big steamer pan and simmer the tea bags right in the pot.

Pour your hot tea into a large jar (be careful, Ball jars are known to break! Use a clean gallon pickle jar instead.)

Add a cup of sugar and either your kombucha or vinegar. Don't put your scoby in yet! You have to let your hot tea concoction cool to room temperature first. I usually cover my jar with a paper towel to keep dust out, and let it rest over night, or while I'm at work.

When the tea is cool, add your scoby.

Secure cloth over the top with a rubber band, place your jar in a cozy space and let it brew. My "booch" seems to brew happily at about 75 degrees in my pantry, as you can see. The jar on the right will be ready next weekend. The jar on the right I just removed the scobys from and secured the lid to begin carbonation.

Over the last couple months of dabbling with kombucha, I learned a few things.

- Ball jars break, even if the water isn't hot. Pickle jars are better.

- It helps to tie your tea bags together so you don't have to gather loose ends.

- Spigot jars are worth their weight in gold! The spigot makes sampling easy without disturbing your scoby.

- Ball's wire-top jars are great for adding carbonation, but the spigots on "sun tea" jars are easier to use.

- Dates are very important. Since I have about 4 jars brewing at any given time, writing the date your "booch" is done on a slip of paper or piece of masking tape and placing it with the jar is ever so helpful.

After your kombucha is done brewing (about 3 weeks, depending on how strong you like it,) remove your scoby and put a tight lid on your jar. Allow it to brew for an additional 3-7 days. This is where the carbonation builds up and makes your kombucha fizzy. It tastes fine without the fizz but most people prefer the carbonation.

If you want to add flavors to your kombucha, this would be the time to do it. Always add flavors AFTER you're done brewing.

After each brew you will find that you have grown a second scoby, so really when you obtain your first scoby that's all you need to start a rotation. One will beget two. Two will beget four, and so on. Sometimes scobys get old or look ugly. I just toss those ones out and keep the pretty ones.

Oh, one more note on the subject. Watch out for mold! If your kombucha develops mold, which doesn't happen very often, you have to start all over with a fresh batch and new scoby. You do NOT want to risk making yourself sick, or worse.

Lastly, I'd like to direct you to two other very helpful kombucha blogs. They were a HUGE help to me when I first got started in making kombucha. First check out Castle Grok's video. It's a very helpful how-to. Then take a look at Food Renegade adding flavors.

If you don't want to, or can't grow your own scoby, I do occasionally have extras on hand that I sell for $10.00. Just go through the "donation" button on the left. Be sure to tell me you want a scoby, and let me know where I should send it.

Just so you know all donations, sales and ad revenue from this blog are allocated to my post-weight loss reconstructive surgery. I may not always have a nice one hand at the time you order, but I usually have one by the following week. I do try to get them out as fast as possible. Shipping is included in the $10 donation for the sake of convenience.

Go ahead and give it a try. It's really easy and I'm sure you'll be hooked. There are a lot of health claims made about kombucha, ranging from weight loss to fighting cancer. I won't say any of that is true, but I can tell you it tastes good- sort of a beer or hard apple cider without the alcohol taste- and it makes me feel good when I drink it. I think you'll find the same to be true.

Liver CAN Be Delicious!

After going Primal, I have been all about second chances with food I thought I didn't like. I will never try a food just once. Why let one not-so-super experience ruin a food for life?

In my defense, I had several experiences with liver. Most of them when I was less than a decade old. Nothing against my parents' cooking, but it was the same problem each time. Over-cooked liver with onions, and I had to smother it in ketchup just to make it tolerable to my young taste buds. Liver was always some foreign substance to be choked down, a second-rate "meat-like" slab that sat stiff on my plate. And it tasted funny.

Maybe my tastes have matured. After all, I enjoy radishes, brussels sprouts, kombucha and dark chocolate to an extreme. Maybe I'm just living with the reality that liver is cheap and I'm poor, and that I'd better learn to like it, because it's going to be around for a while. Opposed to what I believed when I was 5, being a grown up doesn't mean I can eat chocolate cake for dinner. But then again, does liver really have to be something to be endured, rather than enjoyed? No!

One of the secrets to enjoying food is to let food be food. Let cabbage be cabbage, and tomatoes be tomatoes. And yes, let liver be liver. It has a food personality all its own and it needs to be worked with as its own unique character. I find that giving liver a little (or a lot) of pre-meal TLC really does wonders. By that, I mean marinade!

The best marinade I have found for liver so far, is a fantastic Mojo marinade on MarksDailyApple.com. The garlic and citrus really works with the natural "irony" flavor that most people don't like. With liver, the longer you let it soak, the better. I like to give liver a good couple of days in the marinade, even up to a week. For this recipe, a week is worth the wait!

Along with your well-marinated liver, you will need:

3 Tbsp butter
1/2 cup of onions, roughly chopped
1/2 cup of mushrooms, roughly chopped
2 Tbsp heavy cream
1-2 ounces extra-sharp cheddar
Salt & Pepper to taste

Start with heating your butter in a large pan on medium heat. When it's hot add your mushrooms and onions. Saute until soft, adding salt and pepper to taste. After they cook through, remove them from the pan and set aside.

Fry your liver in the remaining butter, about 3 minutes each side. Don't over cook. This is one mistake most often made with liver. It shouldn't be tough or stiff, unless of course, you like it that way. I prefer mine cooked through but still soft. If cooking on medium, or slightly higher, you should get a nice crisp on the outside of the liver while the middle remains more tender.

Turn off the heat, plate your liver and remove the pan from heat. Grate extra-sharp cheddar over the top of the liver and allow it to melt.

While the pan is still warm, whisk heavy cream into your pan drippings to make a gravy.

Arrange your mushrooms and onions around (or on) the liver, and top with the gravy mixture.

It's really that easy and I promise it's delicious. Texture-wise, it's soft like veal and the flavor isn't overbearing at all.

Not only is liver a fantastic source of protein, but it's loaded with vitamins and minerals. It's high in iron, niacin, pantothenic acid, phosphorus, riboflavin, selenium, vitamins A, B6, B2 and zinc. I know liver often gets a bad rap, but I think if more people started stepping outside the traditional box, they'd find this is really some wonderful offal.