Kale Chips

Kale is an affordable vegetable that is usually available year round. It makes a great addition to stir fry and soups but my favorite way to prepare it is in the form of kale chips.

These are really easy to make! They keep fairly well and are great to keep in mind if you have kale in the refrig that needs to be used. Kale is full of vitamins and minerals. All that adds up to make kale chips a very practical recipe!

To make kale chips 

you'll need:

Kale

Olive Oil

Salt

(Other Optional Seasonings)

Start by washing and thoroughly drying your kale. I spread it out on a big tea towel and blot the leaves dry. Pull out the tough stem and then separate the larger leaves into manageable pieces. You can do this all by hand - grasp both sides of the leaf in one hand and gently tear the stem with the other hand.

Place your dry and de-stemmed kale in a big bowl. Spray or sprinkle olive oil over the top. Using tongs or your hands, toss the oil to cover all the leaves as thoroughly as possible. Add a little oil at a time until the leaves are fairly well coated. You'll be working with teaspoons of oil here, not cups.

Now sprinkle salt or other seasonings on the leaves. Toss again to cover the entire bowl full.

Place the kale in a dehydrator at about 130 degrees until dry and crispy. The time will vary based on your kale and dehydrator but you're looking at 2-3 hours for this.

If you don't have a dehydrator, you can dry the kale chips in your oven. Preheat the oven to the lowest setting possible. Spread your kale in a single layer on a baking sheet and pop them in the oven. Once in, turn the heat off. Remove the chips when they are crispy. If you have a lot of kale, you may need to turn the oven back on after it cools below 130 degrees to get to the desired crispiness!

That's it! Store kale chips in a sealed container so they stay fresh and crispy.

Seasoning Suggestions:

Salt and Pepper

Nutritional Yeast

Italian Seasonings

Herbal Tea That Promotes Restful Sleep

I've had mixed results with herbal remedies, but this tea is one that has worked well for my family and me. It only has 4 ingredients and works wonders when you are feeling too keyed up to fall asleep. It's not the greatest taste combination in my toolkit, but it works well enough that the flavor is easily accepted!

Sleep Tight Tea

Ingredients

Equal Parts of each herb:

Hops flowers

Lavender flowers

Chamomile flowers

Valerian root

Break up the hops flowers so they are close in size to the other ingredients. Combine everything together and mix well. Use 1 tsp. of Sleep Tight Tea in an 8-10 oz. cup. Add boiling water and steep for 5 - 10 minutes.

Drink just before bedtime and enjoy a really good night's sleep!

The hops, lavender and valerian all have a relaxing, calming affect. The chamomile flowers are great for a nervous stomach and improve the somewhat "herby" flavor of this tea.

Crockpot Taco Soup

Everyone needs a few practical, go to recipes in their arsenal. My definition of practical would include the following attributes:

• The ingredients can be kept on hand all the time, 
• It can be easily assembled, and
• It doesn't need much attention while cooking.

The crockpot is the simplest solution to the cooking requirement and canned or frozen ingredients make keeping things on hand possible.

This Easy Taco Soup meets all of the requirements to put it in the "practical" category. Like most of my favorite recipes, this has a lot of potential for flexibility. If you only have one can of beans or one of the toppings on hand, no problem. The soup still tastes great!

Taco Soup Ingredients:

2 cans Black Beans (drained and rinsed)
2 cans Corn (drained)
2 cans diced tomatoes
1 can Tomatoe Sauce
16 oz. Chicken Stock
1 lb. Cooked Hamburger
1 heaping T. Taco Seasoning (Click here for a recipe to make you own.)

Put all the ingredients in a crock pot and cook on low all day. That's it! Easy, practical and oh so yummy!

Toppings:

Shredded Cheese
Sour Cream
Tortilla Chips
Chopped Cilantro

Substitutions:

Use cooked Chicken or pork instead of beef.
Use your favorite canned beans instead of black beans.
Any broth or stock can be used.

This recipe makes a pretty good sized batch but it freezes well so don't worry about leftovers. I freeze it in small individual size containers that are easy to thaw and reheat for lunch or dinner on your own!

The Best Kombucha

So, kombucha is one of the most forgiving ferments you'll ever work with. Over the years, I've tried multiple methods and the following practical guidelines yield what I've found to be the best results!

Ingredients & Supplies for the Best Kombucha

Black Tea - 6 teabags
Sugar - 1 heaping cup
Kombucha SCOBY - procure from a friend or grown your own!
Kombucha - 1/2 cup
Water

Gallon size glass bowl
Masking Tape
Kitchen Tea Towel
Rubber Band

Kombucha bottles
filter
funnel

Instructions for making

The Best Kombucha

Start by bringing 1 gallon of water to a full boil. Boiling the water helps eliminate chlorine in the water which will hinder or prevent fermentation. Add 1 rounded cup of sugar and stir well. Allow the sugar mixture to return to a boil. 

Add 6 regular tea bags to the sugar water. I use the inexpensive, tagless black tea bags most of the time but loose leaf tea can be used as effectively. Let the tea and sugar water gently boil for about 10 minutes. Tea aficionados often recommend not boiling tea, but I've found the stronger flavor to be preferable to merely steeping.

Remove the tea from heat and without removing the tea bags, allow to cool for 2 to 12 hours. You can brew your tea in the evening and then let it sit overnight and finish the process in the morning.

Remove the tea bags or strain out the tea leaves and pour the cooled sweet tea into the gallon glass bowl. (Do not use metal or plastic.) Add 1/2 cup of kombucha to the mixture. Lay the Kombucha SCOBY on top of the sweet tea. It should float but don't worry if it sinks; it will make no difference in the final product. Try to spread the SCOBY out flat to cover the maximum surface area. If you are using a smaller SCOBY from a different size brewing container, that's fine; it won't affect your kombucha.

Wipe the edges of your brewing bowl dry and tape two pieces of masking tape across the top of the bowl in the form of an X. The masking tape will prevent the tea towel cover from sagging in on top of the brewing kombucha.

Lay the tea towel over the top of the bowl and secure with a tight rubber band. The tea towl cover will allow the gas created in the fermenting process to be released but will keep bugs and dust out of the brew. (Fruit flies especially love kombucha!)

Set your glass bowl in a warm, dark location where you can leave it undisturbed. Most ferments don't like to be jostled around during the brewing process. Allow it to sit for 5 - 10 days. The time it takes will vary depending on many factors including:

• the room temperature
• the strength, age and size of your SCOBY
• the amount of starter kombucha you add
• the degree of sourness that you prefer

After 4 or 5 days, taste your brew. Just uncover the tea towel and moving the SCOBY aside, dip in a teaspoon. The kombucha needs to be just a little bit sweeter than you would like the finished product to taste.

When the kombucha is fermented to the desired doneness, you are ready to bottle! So now a word about the

best kombucha bottles

You can use almost any glass container to bottle your kombucha, but the best carbonation will occur if you choose a bottle with a narrow neck and a tight seal. Bail top bottles are perfect for this. If you have a capper, beer bottles can be used as effectively. Growlers and gallon wine jugs also work well although carbonation develops somewhat better in a longer neck bottle.

Uncover your glass bowl and remove the masking tape. Lift the SCOBY off the kombucha and set aside for your next batch. If you aren't going to use it right away, be sure it is covered with kombucha so it won't dry out. Strain the kombucha to remove any strands or sediment. I use a fine mesh, reusable coffee filter. Cheesecloth is also a good option. 

Pour the strained kombucha into bottles using a funnel if necessary. You can add flavorings to the kombucha at this point but I think the best kombucha is plain. Leave about an inch of airspace in the top and seal the bottles. Set aside at room temperature for 1-2 days then refrigerate.

Kombucha will keep for weeks in the refrigerator. If left unrefrigerated, it will ferment more and become increasingly sour. Each batch of kombucha tends to be a little different in flavor so expect some variation and enjoy drinking the best kombucha ever!

Practical Tips and Techniques for Ongoing Kombucha Brewing

• Don't separate your SCOBY with every batch. Allow the layers to build up over 4-6 batches before pulling them apart. A thicker SCOBY makes a better tasting kombucha.
• Wash your brewing bowl/container and change out your tea towel with each batch.
• You can experiment with different flavored teas but give your SCOBY restorative batches of plain, black tea.
• Your SCOBY or brewing kombucha can be transferred at any point in the process to the refrigerator to slow down fermentation. Bringing it back to room temperature speeds the fermentation back up.
• For more time saving tips (but not necessarily the very Best Kombucha, see my blog article "So You Think You Don't Have Time to Make Kombucha?"
• Find an abbreviated version of Kombucha making instructions in my very practical post "Basic Kombucha Recipe."

Grow Your Own Kombucha SCOBY

What Is a SCOBY?

If you want to make homemade kombucha, you have to start with a SCOBY: A Symbiotic Combination of Bacteria and Yeast. Some folks refer to this kombucha starter as a "mushroom." It doesn't have anything to do with fungi.

A SCOBY appears as a thin membrane that floats on the top of brewing kombucha and continues to grow and reproduce as you make subsequent batches.

You can buy these online or procure one from a friend, but you can also grow your own using a store-bought bottle of kombucha!

Any kombucha that states on the label that it is "raw" should develop a SCOBY of it's own under the right conditions.

How to Grow Your Own SCOBY

1. Choose a kombucha. If you can find it, get a plain variety with no flavoring added. Some stores don't carry plain kombucha so choose a flavor that has the least sediment in it. For example, I would not choose kombucha with chia seed added for this project. Look for something relatively clear.

2. Pour the kombucha into a glass jar. Cover with a cloth and secure with a rubber band. This allows the brew to "breath" but keeps insects and dust out.

Set your jar in a warm, dark location where it will be disturbed as little as possible.

Leave for about 5 days.

3. Check your kombucha to see if a SCOBY has formed. You'll be able to see this by tipping the jar a little or removing the cloth and observing. If no SCOBY has formed, let it sit for another few days. Continue checking until you have a substantial SCOBY for your brewing!






4. Use your new SCOBY to brew a batch of kombucha.and use the kombucha that you grew it in to inoculate the new batch!

A Beautiful, New SCOBY!

For information on making kombucha, check out this

basic kombucha recipe.

For tips on speeding up your kombucha making, read
So You Think You Don't Have Time to Make Kombucha?

The Best Popcorn

How to Make

The Best Popcorn

You have to start with the best variety of corn kernels and you can usually bet that smaller is better. Our favorites include (in order):

• tiny white
• lady finger
• tiny red

For a good source try Amish Country Popcorn out of Indiana. You can order it online or go through a retailer close to you. Notice that the variety names are "tiny," not "small." If you can't find any of these tiny, hulless varieties and are just buying from the grocery store, I recommend white popcorn.

Next, you need non-hydrogenated coconut oil. If you don't have coconut oil (or don't like it) you can try lard, avocado oil or peanut oil (again my preferences are listed in order.) My husband also likes to use bacon grease ocasionally for popping. - We just agree to disagree on this point.

Next, you need a whirly popper. You can buy these online. The aluminum models will cost $20 - $30 and you can find stainless steel poppers for  $40 and up. You can use a deep saucepan and lid but better and more consistent results come with a whirly popper. If you are serious about popcorn, you'll want to invest in a whirly type popper!

Instructions for Popping Popcorn

1. Start by melting a generous tablespoon of coconut oil in the popper over medium low heat. When the pan is hot and the oil melted, add 1/2 cup popcorn kernels. Stir and shake until the kernels are completely coated with oil and spread evenly across the bottom of the pan.
2. Transfer the pan to a medium high heat and stir and shake while the corn heats up. You don't need to be too aggressive about this, but do not leave the popper unattended!
3. When you hear the kernels begin to pop, turn the heat up to high. At this point, stir the corn continuously while it pops completely. As soon as the popping ceases remove the pan from the heat.

Dump the popped corn into a large bowl for serving. Return the popper to a medium low burner. 

In the warm popper melt 1/2 stick real butter. When the butter is completely melted, pour about 1/3 of it over the popped corn. Toss or stir the popcorn to incorporate the butter. Repeat 2 more times with remaining butter. 

Finally, top the popcorn with salt. Use a good quality salt and try different types. My favorite for popcorn is a french salt call Fleur de Sel. You'll find the flavor changes a little with different kinds of salt.

You can also add other toppings to change up the flavor! Try different combinations of things you already like.

Popcorn Toppings

Fresh Ground Pepper

Nutritional Yeast

Soy sauce or Braggs Amino Acids

Powdered or Shredded Cheese

Dried Herbs

Garlic or Onion Powder

Colloidal Silver

Yes, I use colloidal silver.
No, I am not scared of any side effects.
Yes, it is expensive, but I make my own.
Rather than repeat the arguments or instructions, I'd like to point you to a really thorough web page that

1. discusses

Colloidal Silver

2. gives the 

History of Colloidal Silver

3. has detailed instructions for how to

Make your own Colloidal Silver!

For all the information visit 

https://healthwyze.org/reports/633-making-and-using-genuine-colloidal-silver

I'm not sure why the use of colloidal silver is more controversial than other natural remedies, but I'm making no claims about it here. If you want to try it, the information is available. If you are adamantly against it, hey, no one is forcing you to use or admit to anything.