About time I start eating Day Lilies!!

• I have always heard that you can pick and eat the unopened day lily flower 'buds' (a.k.a. pods) raw or cooked and that cooked they are to taste similar to asparagus. I'm still thinking on this asparagus thing, I don't know. There is something in common with it but I think it really has a more unique fresh green taste of it's own. I do suppose it is a good reference to decide what to do with them since they are prepared the same way. Now I am learning that not only can the flower buds be eaten but also the flowers, the tubers, and the greens when they are young in the spring(I will have to try eating the greens next year since I learned about that too late this year but I also hear they can be used as a painkiller and has a mild uplifting effect, I will have to also try and add to my medicine kit, next year!)
• The orange flowers can be eaten raw, cooked, stuffed raw with yummy fillings( savory ones like leftover rice and veggies with cheese or nuts) or more on the sweet side(cream cheese with green onions) try filling with ice cream and berry layers! I haven't tried this yet but I definitely have some ideas going and will be trying them soon. Also you can dehydrate the flowers for later use, the Chinese did this and they were referred to as 'golden needles' adding to soups and other winter foods! The flower part has a sweet flavor(just think sweet lettuce when trying to get cooking ideas) and does taste good raw and is a colorful addition to salads, sandwiches or just about anything else!!!
• I have heard that you can make a batter of flower and water and dip the bulbs in and then fry tempura style but I have not tried this yet. Also can be fried in a little oil (just plain buds) until lightly browned(this is the famous asparagus style). I have also heard some ambitious people pickle the buds, if I ever have time to try this I will write about how it turns out. For now mostly I just enjoy snacking on them while walking through our garden since they are everywhere growing like weeds!!
  
• While weeding our garden we often just pull these lilies out and throw them in the compost pile not having time to do anything with them. I am trying to be better about using them but really there are so many of them it hardly matters, I could still pick enough for a giant meal any day! A couple of days ago Javi and I were weeding and I decided to bring in a pile of the tubers and use them. There are still a bunch sitting in a bowl of water on my counter but some we did wash, chomp on raw(they taste sort of like water chestnuts) and also we sliced up a bunch and added them to some black bean burgers we threw together last night, gave them some more texture and tasted really good. I have heard you can also boil them or use in any way like potatoes but I have not tried this yet, though being a big potato fan I sure plan to!! Also when you boil the tubers the skins supposedly pop right off(though you can eat them) and they acquire a buttery flavor, sounds good to me!
• I also heard a pretty dye can be made out of the flowers and in the fall the bigger green leaves get very strong and can be used for weaving baskets and even used to make footwear, day lily green sandals sounds pretty cool to me, I hope I find time to try that out:)
• Oh I almost forgot to mention day lilies are high in protein and vitamin C and also have vitamin A, Beta Carotene and iron!! Pretty exciting so everyone go try them now and let me know what you think! I would also love to hear if anyone has any good recipes! I could use some more ideas for eating these yummy flowers!
  
• Happy foraging!!
  

Edible wild mushroom heaven!! Mmmmmm............

• White Coral Mushrooms!
  
• Went out walking in our backwoods today plugging trees and rotting downed logs and stumps with mushroom plugs(wooden dowels with mushroom mycelia). This is an experiment Javi came up with to try and get all sorts of edible mushrooms going back there. We sell plugs for 9 different types of edible gourmet mushrooms on our ebay stores(http://stores.ebay.com/Rainbow-Seeds) and our bonanzle store(http://www.bonanzle.com/booths/RainbowSeeds), as well as complete mushroom growing kits(but sticking them into rotting logs is not what we tell our customers to do with them!). Often when we get our bulk plugs in when we separate them for resale we have some uneven amounts leftover, these we are using for backyard experimenting. So we stuck them everywhere, covering our whole 5 acres, we will see what happens!
• Being that this is our first Spring living on this land, I have been going for short walks through our small wooded acreage(behind our house and to the side, about 3.5 wooded acres) and through our front meadow/turning into our garden area(about 1.5 acres) then there is the cleared .5 acre our house and lawn live on, nearly everyday! Takes me about 10-15 minutes to walk briskly through while keeping and eye out for new mushrooms popping up all the time. I have been taking pictures(ideally every day) everytime I see a new one or just a pretty one that I can't pass up! Lots of days it takes much longer than 15 minutes because I keep finding new things to look at and wonder about, and then I'm reluctant to go back in the house, back to work!
  
• Then I scan through pictures online and in my mushroom books trying to figure out if they are edible or not. If I know for sure what kind they are and they are not poisonous we'll venture back out and pick a few to eat! I want to make a record of the one's growing here(when they come out)and also share them with other wild food hunters!!
• Being a fellow mushroom fan I find it especially exciting when I find other people's blog's and websites describing their hunting trips, especially when it is in my region and there is a slight chance that I might come across the same delicious mushrooms! I love to see other hunter's pictures and hear their amazing stories. Just makes me want to go out there again, seems there is always a new one I didn't seem to notice before!
  
• Sometimes I just take pictures of plants, I love to learn about edible wild plants and their medicinal properties and vitamin content. I will be posting some of those as well!
• Today our big find was Coral Mushroom(also called club fungi, antler mushrooms or doghair mushroom...). I took the pictures of it growing(above), found it easily online. Scanned about 10-20 sights with pictures and description. What I thought was strange was that everyone said they don't have much flavor, I almost found them to be as flavorful as MORELS(if that is possible!) and 10 year old Lili(who only likes morels) pronounced them her new favorite mushroom!!
• We picked them, leaving then bottom of stems where we picked them(in hopes of keeping the mycelia going) and washed them in a bowl of water which we will take and sprinkle around our land later to get more of these spores going(hopefully! another experiment), we only had about 1 cups worth but still wanted to try them!
• 
• Javi also peeled a fresh head of garlic from our garden today, getting big! He sauteed the coral mushrooms in butter, then sauteed the garlic in butter and then a minute combined. We thought it tasted sort of like tamari seasoned ramen noodles, or a stringy meat like pulled pork texture(from what I remember it was like anyways). We just ate them like that, and savored every bite! We left a few small ones when we picked them, I hope they get big enough so we can eat them again! The would make really great vegetarian sandwiches, maybe a mock Reuben? Some sort of BBQ Sloppy Joe?? With a white sauce on pasta???
• Most coral fungi are tan, whitish or yellowish, a few are pink or purple. They grow in clusters up to 8 inches high in Summer and Fall. You can find them in wooded areas growing on the ground or on decaying logs.
• CAUTIONS: Some coral fungi have been reported having a laxative effect on some people(some people are more sensitive and others not effected at all). Avoid bitter tasting corals and ones with gelatinous bases. NO serious poisoning from coral fungi have been reported, (neither Javi, Lili or I felt any laxative effect or any stomach issues), happy eating!!

Easy Falafel Recipe

• If I'm trying to figure out what to make for dinner and can't think of anything, I look to see what I have a lot of, or what needs to get used(before it goes bad!). Then I look up this item in my favorite cookbooks index, or do an online search. Next I find a recipe that I have most(rarely all) of the ingredients for and then I adapt it to my tastes and go for it! Sometimes this means converting a recipe from a meat one to vegetarian or just making one without the dairy or eggs. I can't stand it when recipes are vegetarian, which you would think would make it healthy, and then all of the food is put into a microwave! Or (just as bad) sometimes the ingredients include instant name brand food(i.e. 1 box of betty crocker au gratin potatoes, or add 1 box chex cereal etc..). I like to cook from scratch whenever I can. Cheating for me is cooking with vegetable bouillon cubes. The kind I use are vegan and contain no salt, which I can quickly make a tasty soup from adding whatever else I have in my fridge! Or, on a busy day when I have no energy left for cooking I'll buy a frozen cheese pizza and then put my own toppings on it, fresh veggies! Ok also sometimes we buy box mac and cheese(the good brands all natural no preservatives, white cheddar) and then add frozen organic peas or corn. Everyone has these busy days where you can only do what you have the energy for...
• Anyways, I had a pack of tofu sitting in my fridge for a couple of weeks and figured I should use it up before it goes bad. I have this Giant Book of Tofu Cooking cookbook that I don't think I've ever used before (I have a lot of cookbooks) and opened it up to a tofu-falafel recipe that I had most of the ingredients for, I've made falafel before, but never with tofu!
• It was easy and tasted great. Javi made a simple tahini sauce to go on it(he did this while I fried up the falafel), and we had some feta cheese(totally optional),a tomato, some spinach and whole wheat tortillas so we made wraps but could of just as easily made burgers(on bread) or served the falafel on rice or other grain. Just use what you have!
  
• Recipe:
• 16 oz firm tofu, mashed
• 4 cups chickpeas(garbanzo beans)(2 cans drained and rinsed)
• 1 cup water
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1/3 cup tamari(or soy sauce)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 5 cups bread crumbs(I used mostly some leftover croutons, pre-made which I rarely ever buy but had leftover from holiday meal, and a few bread butts I tore into crumbs)
• 1/2 cup flour(I used wheat but any would work)
• veggie oil for frying
• fresh greens, tomatoes, sweet peppers, sprouts or whatever you have that you normally would top burgers with, chop all

Tahini Sauce(optional, but really good!)

• 3 garlic cloves
• 1/2 cup tahini
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 2 tbsp tamari(or soy sauce)

In a blender or food processor mix the chickpeas, water and garlic until creamy

• Pour mixture into large mixing bowl
• Mix in tofu, tamari, salt, pepper, onion and bread crumbs until all ingredients are moist
• Form into 1/12 inch balls, or flattened patties, or burger size then cover in flour
• In a large frying pan heat oil and fry flipping until golden brown

Put all ingredients for tahini sauce in food processor or blender, blend until smooth

• Put your falafel on your bread of choice(or grains) spread with tahini sauce, feta cheese(or other cheese, or no cheese!) layer with greens, tomato or other veggies and eat!!
• I noticed too late that this recipe makes 8-10 servings(I was cooking for 3) so we ate it a few days in a row, just frying up the falafel as needed and then keeping the rest of the mix in the fridge.
• Some afterthoughts: 10 year old Lili loved it(even though she had said she didn't think she liked falafel before she tried it)-kid friendly! I want to now try this easy vegan recipe with other beans instead of the chick-peas to make bean veggie burgers, they held together really well and could of easily been cooked on a grill!
  

Quinoa Freedom Cheese, our dog!

• Three years ago, as of next July 4th, this cute little dog walked into our yard, in the country! We reported that we found her and the authorities said someone had called the day before and said they found her and would keep her until the owner showed up. Strange because Javi had seen a car pull up in front of our house and open and close their car door. The people who said they found her lived miles away from us so there is no way she walked to our house from there.
• The city people said they would come pick her up, if we wanted, and take her 'to the pound!'
  
• We decided to hang on to her until owners showed up and they never did. At first it was hard because I never thought I would have a dog. It's a lot of responsibility and I never considered myself 'a dog person'
• This little dog soon adopted me as her new mom and followed me everywhere I went, including just up and down the hallway at my old house! She likes to burrow(weird for a dog, it seems) and is as I type curled up under my sweater!
• I couldn't help but get attached to her and we gave her the name Quinoa(after my favorite grain)Freedom(since she showed up on July 4th)Cheese(well because we live in WI of course!) and she is now a part of our family and goes everywhere we go, good thing she is small!!!
• Recently I was listening to a podcast about animals and the woman speaking said dogs are angels in fur coats and that they are just here to teach us unconditional love! What a great way to think of our little furry friends!
  

Dixie's Quinoa Recipe

• From 1993-1997 I lived in Golden, CO in a cooperative house called The Owl House. I moved there when I was pregnant with Keara, she was born in Denver. I had many different roommates who went through that house, several really great ones! Really it was, so far, my favorite and most cooperatively functioning household I have ever lived in.
  
• At one point in the Owl House we had 6 adults living there, Keara was a baby and another couple had a daughter who was 6 months older than Keara. Then there was another married couple who had no children yet then(they have 4 now!). Everyone worked 9-5 jobs except me and the other mom, we stayed home with the babies.
  
• My favorite part was the way we shared meals(other than just the great people I lived with!). Every adult picked one cooking night per week and that was your washing dishes day too. Also we each pitched in $20/per week for groceries and that was it. Everyone was vegetarian so it worked great.
  
• Basically for $20 a week we got a gourmet, balanced dinner every night and only had to wash dishes and think about 'what's for dinner?' once a week! We had some guidelines for making it a healthy meal that were so easy I often still go by them today. Since being vegetarian everyone says it is so hard to get enough protein THIS IS NOT TRUE, actually all you need to do is eat dark colored vegetables, whole grains and beans, seeds or nuts throughout the day and the combination of them makes complete protein!! Anyways, we made those our guidelines for our dinners and really it was so easy. For example lets say someone made rice and vegetables for dinner. All they need to do is make sure there is a dark colored veggie(carrots, spinach, yams, beets, kale, squash etc..) in it, brown rice is a whole grain and then for the bean, seed or nut you could at the very least just sprinkle on some seeds or nuts at the end(or add tofu, beans or tempeh etc to the dinner)..
  
• I always keep some sorts of raw nuts and seeds in my refrigerator to sprinkle on at the end if needed. It's amazing how much more complete your food tastes just adding a few seeds at the end!
  
• Try sprinkling on a few sesame seeds or cashews on your salad then serve it with a slice of whole grain bread for complete protein. Also if your salad dressing has nut butter or tahini in it that also would complete your protein. There are many simple ways to do this I wish everyone knew so I wouldn't have to hear ever again 'oh you're vegetarian, how do you ever get enough protein??' I'm so tired of hearing this over and over and over, like eating a steak is the only way or something...(sorry meat eaters but it does get a little annoying explaining my simple and easy diet over and over and over....) oh also I get alot of 'so what you just eat salad then?' this is so funny for a vegetarian to hear because there are so many things to eat out there. Yes I eat salads and it should be my main food(I would be so healthy then) but there is so much more...
• Ok so when I lived in CO I met a girl named Dixie and she introduced me to eating Quinoa(pronounced Keen-wah). This recipe is the first Quinoa dish I've ever eaten and since then I have made this same dish possibly hundreds of times. It is my favorite grain and I have even named my dog after it! I'm posting a picture of my dog also, speaking of Quinoa!!
• This simple recipe is a hit every time and you can easily make it ahead and chill it and bring it to a potluck! Everyone likes it and it is a complete meal, and protein, in itself!
• Let me know if you try it, it's a good one!!
  

Feeling low energy today...

• Ok, so yesterday I did the coffee enema and I was too high from it to sit and write the details, I had no idea it would be like that. Now I feel super low energy, I don't think it is because of the enema, but because I have been trying to cleanse for a week now and I feel the toxins are really coming out! This is normal so I am not surprised! Fortunately Javi went to run our store today, he's been so great, and I get to stay home and try to feel better.
• In my post yesterday I added a link to a site that gives good details of how to do a coffee enema so I will leave that as my directions, encase you want to try it.
  
• Just want to add first, I was chatting with a friend yesterday and she seemed to think it was gross that I would write about something so personal. I'm writing about it for a couple of reasons. One is because I truly think it is important to cleanse all of the toxins out and I feel if I talk about it more people will feel better about doing it. Two, well because I don't think our bodies are anything to be shy about since EVERYONE HAS ONE! So really, what is the big deal?? Hope that I'm not offending anyone!
  
• So we made our coffee, boiled water first instead of using distilled water, and about 4 heaping Tbsp of coffee total for the 2 of us, me and Javi. Then let it cool for about 2 hours, in a giant mason jar. Then poured it into our two plastic enema bags as evenly as we could.
  
• About the enema bags. It actually says right on these bags(which are disposable) that the type of plastic they are made of can cause cancer! We bought them online last summer and wanted to try it then but didn't because of the warning on them, we were confused! Finally we decided to just use them anyways, but now are hoping to find something re-usable that isn't made of plastic to do it again. I know a couple of years ago I heard on public radio that this type of plastic was being banned for food packaging and especially for making baby bottles in California because of the toxic cancer causing ingredients in it, no kidding! This plastic is still totally legal(as far as I know) everywhere else. Our enema bags were a CA product so I think that is why it had the warning on it. If it was from anywhere else it probably wouldn't have any warning, so be cautious, and try not to use any plastic whenever possible. I'm not joking, I know it sounds far fetched, but unfortunately it is true!
• I had brought a few pillows and blankets into our bathroom, a space heated(it's otherwise a little cold in there) and a radio. Then I laid some older towels down on the blankets, coffee does stain so keep that in mind! Javi and I were both pretty nervous at this point making bad jokes and trying not to back out.
• Next we put our tubes in! It did feel a little weird at first, then we hung our bags above us(mine on a drawer handle, Javi's on the shower nozzle) you have to do this for gravity to get the coffee to go in. Then laid down on our right sides, this is recommended, and started to fill up! Ok so it was a bit uncomfortable, and I had read that if you start to feel any cramping to take some deep breaths so we did this as needed and it did help. Eventually the uncomfortable feeling went away, mostly.
• After it is all in(don't feel too pressured to make sure it is all in, just do what feels comfortable enough, you can always work up to more later), then clamp off the tube, remove tube from body, and try to just lay there holding it in for up to 15 minutes! Again, if you can't it's ok, just do what you can and remember you can always work up to more time on your next try.
• I actually made it the 15 minutes, Javi didn't last quite that long but almost. Then you just release and start getting rid of all sorts of toxins and stuff that has been in your body for way too long!! Afterward I felt great! The caffeine buzz lasted atleast 4 hours, hard to say for sure because it just flew by. I was able to fall asleep at my normal time and Javi did too.
  
• I would totally recommend this to anyone who is wanting to cleanse and feel better! Make sure you do lots of research first(like I said earlier, just do a google search for coffee enema for all kinds of info, including instructional videos etc..). If you are really sensitive to coffee you might want to try a different type of enema, there are lots out there!
  
• Really I would love to hear from anyone who wants to chat about this, or hear anyone's story about trying it! Good luck!
  

I DID IT!!!

• First I want to post a link for some really good coffee enema info:http://www.treating-cancer-alternatively.com/Coffee-enema-recipe.html
• Just a few words, I am too caffeinated to sit here for long!
• Later all will give more details, for now, it went well!! It was fairly easy and took about 30 minutes total and I only felt some mild discomfort, just a little cramping. Now I do feel lighter, and yes, really caffeine buzzed!! WOW!! I'll write more after I come down a little!