Tags
Drinking water, Fruit, Herb, Infusion, Kid activities, Pitcher, Water
There are a million and one water infusion recipes out there now. They are easy, refreshing and a great way to use up the clippings from you herb garden as well as the fruit that’s on it’s way out in your crisper. I’ve been trying to create and consume a new flavored water at least 4 or 5 times a week.
Miles helps me with the smashing of the fruit and herbs, adding the water and of course the licking of the spoon. He asks me each day if we can “have an infusion”. It makes me happy to get him involved with the whole process and he ends up drinking more water. It’s a big win in my book.
In case you are not aware of the water infusion trend, all you need is:
A large pitcher
Any combination of herbs and/or fruit that sounds good to you
Cold Water
A big smashing spoon
Ice or a pitcher with a built in ice core
If you are using fresh herbs, tear each leaf in half before dropping it into the pitcher. Slice up the fruit and add to the pitcher. Smash the herbs and fruit with the large spoon, releasing all the yummy flavors. Add cold water and ice. Stir. Lick the spoon. Let the infusion sit for an hour or so in the fridge. Drink all day.
Today’s infusion is lavender, basil and mango water!
Related articles
- Infused “Spa” Water (theraysofsunshine.wordpress.com)
- Three Ways to Upgrade Boring Water (docakilah.wordpress.com)
- DIY Naturally flavored water with fresh fruit and/or herbs (f00dventures.wordpress.com)
- Garden flavored water (gardenatschool.wordpress.com)
I have a question oh natural food goddess. We switched to all natural and organic peanut butter. The kind that has the oil that floats to the top. After we got over the initial “ick” factor of the oil, everything seemed fine. In fact, we like the taste much better than regular processed peanut butter. However, it’s now turned hard as a rock. We can barely get a knife to sink into it let alone smear it on bread. What did we do wrong?
Ha! Well, I’m glad that you made the switch. I know that it can be a bother and pretty gross to have to deal with the initial pool of oil on top. The hard as a rock nut butter has happened to me too at times. I can’t 100% say what causes it sometimes and not others. I’ve always figured it was because I didn’t mix it thoroughly when I opened it. Here are some tips that I can pass along:
1. Make sure that your peanut butter needs to be refrigerated(some don’t). It’s the refrigeration that usually makes it hard. Because the peanut butter is natural, it doesn’t have all those additives and preservatives to somehow keep the peanut oil from separating and becoming a solid at low temperatures as it naturally would.
2. Before you open the jar, store it in the cupboard upside down for a couple of days if you have the time. The oil will rise to the top (bottom) and when you turn it over to open, it will be MUCH easier to stir without all the glop on top.
3. Stir, stir, stir repeat. The more you stir, the more the oil will be mixed in.
4. If it’s still super hard, chisel out a clump and put it in the microwave for 5 seconds. Long enough to warm the oil and soften. Sometimes, I’ve toasted the bread, using the heat from the bread to warm the peanut butter for better spreading.
I hope this helps!