Breakfast. Enough said.

California Cider

For each serving:

1 cups fresh grapefruit, tangerine, lime, lemon, or orange juice
½ cup or less of water. (We don’t use any, but it’s got a lot of power.)

Cut, seed, and juice your fruit (finely grate some of the rind of one fruit, for the Raw Horchata Bowl, below). Stir the juice and check for remaining seeds. Add the water

Separately, mix, multiplied by the number of servings:

1 tsp honey

¼ tsp cinnamon
Pinch of nutmeg

Pinch of ginger

Add to heated juice, stirring until dissolved. Adjust seasonings to taste, depending on the fruit. Serve with a stirring stick, to keep the spices from falling to the bottom.

Raw Horchata Bowl

2 dry cups rice

2 cups almond milk

2 tsp cinnamon

¼ cup or less sugar

Finely grated citrus rind, from your fruit above

½ cup slivered almonds

Cook rice according to package directions. When finished, set aside. Mix almond milk, cinnamon, sugar and some of the citrus rind. Mostly dissolve the sugar by stirring the milk occasionally as you wait for the rice to cool to a slightly warm temperature. Pour milk over rice and stir. Chill thoroughly, place in bowls, and top with remaining citrus rind and almonds before serving.

If making the night before, cook rice and soak in half the almond milk mix in the fridge overnight. Add the rest of the milk and serve as above. Will probably result in a softer rice texture. Try cooking the rice only until almost done.

OR

Coconut Barley

Cook desired amount barley according to package directions. Allow to cool. Drizzle lightly with honey and serve with coconut or coconut-almond milk. Perhaps this would be good with fresh coconut chunks/flakes and a tiny drop of lemon extract?

My Youthful Hope...Jeune Esperanza's!

Here at R&C, we LOVE international food. I don't know what it is. Something about living life and doing things the way they do in far away times and places is very exciting, and makes us feel more enriched as people.

Near our sister's workplace, there is a man with a little taco stand. Suddenly the idea seemed so fun to me. Just a little trailer that's a couple decades old, and small and clean and mobile, maybe with a few tables set up under an awning, a string of lightbulbs, and funny foreign music crackling out from a nearby radio. A place not many know about, but secretly has really great food for a ridiculously good price. In this little world of dreams there is a place called...

Every night of the week has a menu from another country, as well as classic American fare! Gourmet this isn't, but you'll find cherished favorites and everyday flavors from all over the world. It's dinner on vacation, any night of the week. So come chat, laugh, dance, sing, and of course eat with us at Jeune Esperanza's!

With local musicians as special guests, dancing space, silly games and prizes, I don't know what all... Plus, with all the international students from the nearby university, and an extremely high number of missionaries here who've served all over the world, we'd have a great resource for ideas and feedback. And it might be a way to bring everyone together. Practicalities aside, of course, as always, it sounds so delightful. Sigh...


liv-cate

Random Recipes--Making not-so-healthy foods better

Because I'm sure ramen and salad dressing are not on the winners list of what to eat.

Honey Ginger Vegetable Ramen
I know that there’s really no way to get past the fact that those noodles can be extremely bad for you, but at the end of the shopping week, or pay period, you work with what you can. This is of course how I had the opportunity to try this combination.

Add your noodles to the boiling water. Add a cup or so of vegetables (I usually use a frozen broccoli-cauliflower-carrot mix. This is a great way to get rid of what’s in your freezer/fridge/cupboards), boil until they are thawed or softening. Drain. Crack in an egg, returning to a low or medium heat if needed for thorough cooking. Stir in 1/3 of included spice packet, a tsp. of honey, and a small slice of fresh grated gingerroot. Or add what seasonings you will.

Sweet Summer Salad Dressing:
I was surprised to discover how well this one worked. I had a bottle of raspberry vinaigrette that I loved, but it was just a bit too flavorful. Also I was going through something of an applesauce phase, trying it with everything. This one was a winner! And it’s so light, too.

Mix 1 tsp raspberry vinaigrette into ¼ cup unsweetened applesauce. Measurements are approximate; you may alter to taste. Works well served over dark lettuce types with firm, red grapes and plain or honey-coated walnuts.

As alternatives to dressing, there are some fruit/veggie combinations which are so good, I can personally eat them without anything, and that's saying something. Or, of course, everything goes great with cottage cheese. Working with this idea, once for a church event, I wrapped these combinations in romaine lettuce leaves, with a little bit of creamy poppyseed or raspberry vinaigrette. You can do what you will. I used:

Broccoli florets and quartered red grapes
Carrot slivers and sliced strawberries
Chopped gala apples and walnut pieces

Any of these are also amazing thrown into a tortilla with spinach and mozzarella.

Eat up!
liv-cate

Infinite Cookbook!

Idea of the day:

Rosewilde and Canderley’s Infinite Cookbook:
We’ve been given to an obsession with foreign cooking styles. Also, as the eldest children, we’ve had plenty of opportunities to help prepare meals for our large family. We’ve realized that food in any culture falls into a variety of patterns of cooking methods and ingredients. Based on these patterns, comes Rosewilde and Canderley’s Infinite Cookbook, which allows you to take a set list of common ingredients and methods, for any listed type or nationality, and use them to formulate your own recipe. Of course, included you’ll find classic recipes, thorough directions for preparations, and lists of combinations known to work well together. But after that, the world is yours!

Something about this concept strongly appealed. And it also seemed to apply itself well to another love of ours. Which brings us to:

Rosewilde and Canderley’s Infinite Gift-finder:
We've been talking about this one for a long time. Since that autumn we went to five weddings and three baby showers. We realized--we REALLY like putting together gifts. Unusual ones. Ta-dah! Rosewilde and Canderley’s Infinite Gift Finder! Use your knowledge of your intended recipient along with a list of both common and original items for any occasion to formulate unique and meaningful ideas to help direct your shopping. Find thoughts on appropriate handmade items, how to personalize your gift, and how to package it in delightfully unexpected ways! Honor memorable moments with something perfect to the people and location. The options are infinite and easy-to-use!


Now to get this written and--self publish?