Purslane!

I’ve actually been pulling it out of the garden all Spring! But as I was flipping through my Wild Cards (a deck of wild foraging photo/info cards by Linda Runyon), I came to one that I thought I recognized. Hey! I think that’s that stuff I’ve been yanking out of my tomato beds!

I took the card out to the garden to compare the photo with the plant, and sure enough, it was purslane I had growing there!

This is super exciting to me. Check out what I’ve discovered:

Key Benefits:

• Purslane is known as an excellent source of vitamins A, C and E and the essential amino acids. Reports describe Purslane as a “power food of the future” because of its high nutritive and antioxidant properties.
• Purslane leaves contain Omega-3 fatty acid which regulate the body’s metabolic activities. Purslane herb is known to have one of the highest known concentrations of Omega-3 fatty acid in any plant.
• The stems of Purslane herb are known to be high in vitamin C.

Therapeutic Uses:

• Purslane is widely used as a potherb in Mediterranean, central European and Asian countries.
• Purslane is also widely used as an ingredient in a green salad. Tender stems and leaves are usually eaten raw, alone or with other greens. They are also cooked or pickled for consumption.
• Purslane is used in various parts of the world to treat burns, headaches, stomach, intestinal and liver ailments, cough, shortness of breath and arthritis.
• Purslane herb has also been used as a purgative, cardiac tonic, emollient, muscle relaxant, and in anti-inflammatory and diuretic treatments.
• Purslane is popularly preserved for winter by pickling Purslane in apple cider vinegar with garlic cloves and peppercorns.
• Purslane appears among a list of herbs considered to help benefit conditions such as osteoporosis and psoriasis.

Landscaping.about.com

The entire plant is edible, and it can be eaten fresh or cooked. It can even be canned or dried for long term storage!!

I picked some tonight, washed it, and ate the entire plant raw. It was delicious! The taste was very much like lettuce; bland, but good. You could also steam, boil, or saute it if you preferred. As a matter of fact, this site has several recipes using purslane.

Isn’t that AWESOME?!

Obviously, I won’t be pulling it out of my garden beds anymore. Or at least, I’ll transplant them if they become too invasive.

Yay for wild edibles!! I do believe I’ll add some purslane to my salad tonight!

Do you have purslane growing around your home? Have you ever eaten any? If you’ve never tasted it, you gotta give it a try! I’d love to know what you think!

Marshmallow has many medicinal uses, although that’s another post for another time! But I stumbled across this recipe from like the 19th century and was excited to find it, and wanted to share. ‘Cause I love stuff like this.

Hopefully my plants will thrive where they are, and I’ll get to experiment with them one day!

Original Marshmallows From Marshmallow Root

• 4 tablespoons marshmallow roots
• 28 tablespoons refined sugar
• 20 tablespoons gum tragacanth (or gum arabic- a natural product which can be bought online)
• 2 cups water (Water of orange flowers for aroma or instead of plain water)
• 1 -2 egg white, well beaten

So, I experimented with a new recipe the other night. It’s called Mugoyo, pronounced like moo-GOY-yo. It’s a recipe from Uganda that I found in one of my favorite cookbooks, Extending The Table.

Basically, it’s cooked sweet potatoes and beans mushed up and formed into a loaf. Here’s a little excerpt from the book,

Since sweet potatoes and beans are inexpensive and store well, Mugoyo is usually prepared during winter months when food is not being harvested and is less available. When Ugandans travel, they often pack food for their journey. Mugoyo is one of their traveling foods.

With only two ingredients, it definitely isn’t gourmet. But what I loved about this recipe is that it’s cheap, simple, nutritious, and something that you could survive off of in times of little food.

And so we had it for dinner.

It’s very simple. Cook 1 lb. of dried white beans like normal with a little salt, until tender. Peel and cube 1 lb. of sweet potatoes, and steam in a little water until tender. Drain both well, then mash together and form into a loaf pan. Slice and serve.

I must have messed up somewhere along the line though… maybe I didn’t drain the beans well enough, ’cause my “loaf” was more the consistency of mashed potatoes. Definitely not sliceable.

Mmmm… Mugoyo.

So, I stuck it in the oven and baked it at 350* for 30 min. What the heck, right? But after I pulled it out of the oven, even though the top was nice and firm, it was still mushy in the middle.

Oh well. Dinner time!

I got a few funny looks from the family as I plopped the orange mush onto each plate. Everyone was polite enough to try it, but only one in the bunch enjoyed his meal…

Who, me?

The taste wasn’t bad, per se, it was just very bland. And a weird texture. A loaf would have been much better I think.

Eggs for dinner it is then.

At least it made good baby food.

My husband asked me if I was trying to make him more grateful for meat, since I’ve been experimenting with meatless dishes a lot lately.

Just trying to stay within the measly grocery budget! Poor guy. *grin*

We had chicken for dinner tonight. I think everyone appreciated it a little more than usual.

Can I just say how much I love feeding our babies homemade baby food? Especially when it’s something organic that I picked locally, or grew myself!

It’s incredibly satisfying.

And it’s wonderfully convenient to use stuff that’s already canned. Applesauce from the apples I picked off a friend’s tree. Pearsauce from my mother-in-law’s pear tree. Peaches we bought from a neighbor. Greenbeans, carrots and squash from last year’s garden.

Yes, it’s much more nutritious to make baby food from fresh ingredients, but I figure my home canned goods are at least a notch up from the store bought stuff. Not to mention MUCH cheaper.

The only downside is that when I canned these things, I didn’t have baby food in mind. In hind sight, there are a few changes I’d make next time I am canning something and will have a little one to share it with.

Next time, I’ll try making the fruit without added sugar, and the veggies with very little salt. Not that baby seems to mind, but it would be even better for him without these added ingredients.

Turning canned goods into baby food is practically effortless. Just spoon out what you want into a baby food processor, a couple of whizzes around, and there ya go! Perfectly pureed.

Of course, I don’t always use canned food for his meals. Often I use fresh or frozen as well. Some of his favorite dishes right now are:

• greenbeans
• squash
• sweet potatoes
• mashed potatoes (made with water, not milk)
• mixed veggies
• broccoli and carrots
• carrots
• peaches
• bananas
• bananas and oatmeal w/ cinnamon (not the baby cereal kind)
• bananas and blueberries (sometimes add cinnamon)
• applesauce
• applesauce and blueberries
• pearsauce
• pears

Does your little one have a favorite baby food combination? I’d love some new ideas!

This is my new favorite way to cook veggies. Roasted. I make them at least once a week.

I love that all of the main ingredients are something that could come out of your own backyard. Think about how cheap this dish would be if you grew all of the vegetables and the rosemary yourself! Yes. That’s my goal.

I got the idea from a BHG magazine. They actually add chickpeas (also known as garbanzo beans), but I don’t normally buy them, so for the sake of saving a buck I do without. Although, they do make a tasty addition, if you’re so inclined.

Roasted Garden Vegetables

• 1 lb. carrots, peeled and cut into 2 in. pieces
• 1 lb. sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into bite sized chunks
• 1 large red (or sweet yellow) onion, peeled, halved and cut into 1 in. wedges
• 1 lb. red or russet potatoes, cut into bite sized cubes (leave skin on)
• 6 cloves minced garlic (fresh is best, but dry works)
• 3 Tbsp olive oil (or your fav.)
• 1 tsp dried rosemary
• 1 tsp packed brown sugar or granulated sugar
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 425*.

Put the veggies and garlic into a large shallow roasting pan. In a bowl, combine the oil, rosemary, sugar, salt and pepper. Drizzle mixture over veggies, and toss to coat.

Cook, uncovered, for about 45 min, stirring half-way through. Veggies should be slightly browned and tender.

*On a side note- I’ve made these ahead of time to be cooked the next day, but the onion flavor really took over after being refrigerated overnight. If you want to make them ahead, leave the onions out and add them just before cooking.

Enjoy!

Made this for dinner last night, and thought you might like the recipe! It might look like a lot of work, but really it doesn’t take that long to prepare. A delicious, hearty, cool weather meal!

Enjoy!

Chicken and Dumplings

• 1 whole chicken, cut into pieces
• 2 ribs of celery, sliced (I had some frozen that I tossed in)
• 4 carrots, peeled and sliced (I just threw in a can of carrots toward the end of the cooking time, since I didn’t have fresh)
• 1 med. onion, diced
• 1 (14 1/2 oz) can chicken broth (I used homemade broth I’d canned up)
• 2 Tbsp dried parsley
• 2 tsp chicken bouillon granules (I used chicken base, w/out MSG)
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• water

Dumplings

• 2 cups flour ( I used all purpose, white. Haven’t tried whole wheat yet)
• 4 tsp baking powder (I used 1 1/2 tsp baking powder, and 3 tsp cream of tartar as a substitute to avoid the aluminum in baking powder)
• 1 tsp salt
• 3/4 c. milk
• 4 Tbsp oil

In a dutch oven, combine the chicken pieces, celery, carrots, onion, broth, parsley, bouillon, salt and pepper, and add enough water to cover.

Bring to a boil, then reduce to low heat, and cover to simmer for about 2 hours, or until the chicken is cooked through.

Remove the chicken pieces; allow them to cool. Then, remove any skin and bones, and shred the chicken up. Return the chicken to the pot.

Add more salt and pepper, to taste. (Jerry thought it needed even more salt.)

Return the soup to a simmer.

In a mixing bowl, combine the dumpling ingredients, and mix well to form a stiff dough. (It’ll be very thick and stiff.)

Drop by Tablespoonfuls into simmering soup. Cover and allow to simmer for about 20 minutes more. Best if served immediately.