Happy Home Update- Settling into that Winter Routine

Not a lot going on in the garden front here now that it's December, but I'm still trying to find ways to appreciate local foods and incorporate them into my diet! I've started receiving my Stone Soup CSA, which is a mix of root veggies and grains- it's been awesome so far! I'll have to share a picture of my new grain mill in an action in the next post; I made some yummy Pumpkin Muffins with local roasted pumpkins and locally grown, home milled whole wheat flour!

Here are some highlights of what I've been up to:

• Hitting my local Farmers' Market, which has expanded from every other week to each and every Tuesday in November and December- woohoo!
  
• Started back up on my annual Winter Routine of Saturday Local Grocery shopping, venturing out to the Ann Arbor Farmers' Market, the Food Cooperative there, to a locally-owned chain grocer (Busch's) and then to Whole Foods. I try to get as much local produce and products that I can from each stop!
  
• Exercising and really watching what I eat lately, and have lost some weight, which is great!
  
• Started another blog, where I can share all my new fitness interests, finds, & success!
  
• Changed Eating Habits- As a result of a more healthy and thoughtful diet, I've cut out a good deal of the grains and dairy products that I eat. I've had a lot more energy, and I can really tell the difference on a day when I over-indulge because I feel sluggish and my stomach is irritated!
  
• Trying out Juicing- Today I made homemade Carrot/Apple/Ginger juice thanks to a friend, who let me try out her juicer! Someone should probably just write a warning label on the cover of the Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead dvd. After-effects of watching DVD could include but are not limited to: May cause one to research juicers online for 2 hours, may result in juicer purchasing/borrowing from a friend, will most likely cause you to make an Apple & Carrot-based juice, exalting it's nutritive properties for the next hour to whoever will listen. 

I'll be checking in early next week with a home grain milling demo and a product review of the hand mill I recently purchased! 

Strawberry Jam Smoothies

Smoothies are pretty much the perfect breakfast- any time of year! My ability to make smoothies year-round depends greatly on how ambitious of a canner I've been the past summer and what kind of frozen, local fruit I can get my hands on.

I accidentally discovered Jam Smoothies when I was trying to fix a blender problem- when making smoothies in the past, I'd add yogurt and ice first. The ice wouldn't crush quickly or easily because it would get all clogged up at the bottom of the blender.

I had several jars of strawberry jam from last season that hadn't set right- they are more "strawberry puree"- so I tossed some into the blender with the ice and yogurt. Voila! Enough of a liquid base that the ice broke down much more easily, and the strawberry "jam" added a hint of sweetness to my drink! If you're not a canner with unset jam, you should probably substitute strawberry puree for your smoothie instead.

                                                                                                                        "Jam" Smoothies

Ingredients: 1 pint Jam of your choice/or fruit puree
1.5 cups Frozen Mixed Berries
1 cup plain greek yogurt
6 ice cubes

Directions: 

• Add the yogurt, the jam, and the ice cubes into the blender. Set the blender to "ice crush" and then blend until ice is incorperated into smoothie mixture. The liquid from the yogurt and jam will help you blend the ice down without having to manually un-jam (haha) the blended several times
• Now add the Frozen Mixed Berries! Blend to your liking

Serve and Enjoy!