Monday 22 June 2009

making tea and other things


i recently collected some elderflower heads on one of our walks to make tea. i got the idea from my spanish aunt who did the same when we visited her. she says that it is a good tea to drink when you have a cold in the winter.


i laid them out on some paper to dry. this only took a few days. then i took as much of the stalk off as i could and placed the tiny flowers in a glass jar. only enough for a few cups i reckon, but i look forward to using it later in the year.


we've also been drinking smoothies lately. a very thirst quenching drink on a hot day. i consider this a break through as i have tried them on stanley before but he wasn't having any of it! it's a great way to get fruit down him, as he quite often refuses to even try food if he doesn't like the look or smell of it, which i find quite frustrating especially as his diet is some what restricted anyway due to his food allergies. he is allergic to all dairy products and a few types of nuts. so i am thrilled that he has taken to drinking these whizzed up concoctions of mine.

i know it's pretty straight forward but this is what we put in ours:

3 handfuls of soft fruit, we like blueberries, raspberries, strawberries,
half a banana,
half a pint (or enough to cover the fruit) of soya milk
a spoonful of honey, maple or agave syrup
blend it all up and there you have it, a delicious summer smoothie.

this makes enough for two glasses, we have to add more if daddy is around. and most importantly, it needs to be served with a straw, that's the essential for this little customer!


the beauty is that you can really put anything into it as long as it tastes good. I might experiment further by adding avocado, silken tofu, some nut or seed butter into the mix to make them extra nutritious before stanley's taste buds find me out!




we have also been making stuff, stanley has been finger painting non-stop and while he sleeps i have been sorting out my small fabric stash and working on some birthday gifts.


here's a sneaky peek, i need to finish them this week so i better go right now and work on them some more!


see you later
Sarada x

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dearest All,

What a lovely posting. Those smoothies look so delicious- mouth watering, in fact I'm going to give them a go as someone told me soy milk is good for pregnancy heartburn (and I'm not too sure about the taste with nothing in it!).

Also loving the photos of the artist at work as well as his masterpieces blowing in the breeze.

Hope you are all keeping well,
Love Kevie x

snow white said...

I remember the heartburn. I didn't know soya milk helped it, that's a good tip. We use the one sweetened with apple juice, but in a smoothie you can't taste it anyway.

thinking of you lots
Sarada xxxx

StuartandHelen said...

BJust catching up on the recent postings and enjoying them immmensely - I love Pedro and Sid from 'Sumbuddy' and feel sure someone will soon give them a good home! As for all the activity going on with elder flower tea-making, delicious smoothies (which will hopefully deal with the heartburn of our latest mum to be!) and lots of artistic masterpieces being created - I can scarce take it in! You have all been busy! It brings back fond memories of my own distant young mothering - as did the delightful time I had recently whilst staying with the wee wonderful when we played shops in the park selling each other leaves! Life's rich.

snow white said...

It was lovely to see you xxx