Tuesday, August 31, 2010

It's Handmade Holiday Week!!! Let's Make Some Pretty Packaging!!!


So...we're doing a week of Handmade Holiday goodness here at Twig and Toadstool.  The idea for Handmade Holiday came from this lovely mama over at Plain and Joyful Living!  Go check it out, and let her know if you want to be added to the evergrowing list of folks participating!  So today I decided to do a post on packaging.  While I'll admit to being lured by fancy wrapping paper, (it's so pretty sometimes), this year I want to be paper free under my tree!  Here's a simple way to make your own re-usable Christmas packaging...a drawstring bag tutorial!

I used a fat quarter to make this bag...it's about medium sized, but you can make these bags in any size and style you desire, don't feel limited by Christmas patterns...go nuts! 



If using a fat quarter, here's what I did...first fold it in half...


And in half again...cut it now into two bags...along the right side.


At the top, (unfinished) edge of your bag to be, make a notch, (about 1 1/2 inches down), and iron that little bit of fabric over.  Take it over to your machine and sew it up on both sides along that edge.


Now iron over a bit of the top, (a few cm)...then


iron over again...about an inch or so...don't make your fold past where you made the notch.


Sew it down...as close to the bottom of that fold as possible...an instant hem, and also the casing that you will be threading your ribbon through!  If you've noticed I don't believe in using pins when I sew...if you want to though be my guest...


Now sew up the sides, being careful to "just" sew up to the casing that you made.
Turn the bag inside out!  You can see it coming together now.


Using a knitting needle or some wire, tape your ribbon to it, and thread it through the top casing.


Tie on a few beads at the end of your ribbon...


Embellish to your hearts delight!  I cut out some holly shapes and used the glue gun to glue them on.  You could also applique on whatever you wish!  And there you have it...the first of many little gift bags for under your tree!


My other packaging idea is inspired from the thrift store...start collecting those vintage tins girls!!!


I've used these in the past as gifts to the neighbours...filled with fudge, and this year I'm going to be using them under our tree, with whatever fits inside.  They're beautiful, and it's so nice to give them a second lease on life!

What are some of your pretty packaging ideas that don't hurt the earth!?

Feeling kinda merry
xo maureen


Monday, August 30, 2010

Handmade Holiday Week! Let's Get Our Embroider On!!

I LOVE that Plain and Joyful Living is doing a weekly series on handmade holiday ideas and inspiration.
One thing we have been trying to avoid is the rampant consumerism that goes along with being parents...especially during the holiday season.  We all know there is a strong movement towards "less is more" during the holidays...people are feeling the stress and the loss of the true meaning of Christmas!
The reason we feel inspired to do a series of posts on having a handmade holiday is because if you're truly committed to doing this, you gotta start soon!  Christmas is less than four months away, and it will be alot less stressful and alot more enjoyable if you can start thinking about what you're going to do now, and work away at it bit by bit until the holidays hit!  Last year I started embroidering!  I should warn you, if you haven't done any yet, it can be addictive!  There is a great book called Doodle Stitching which is well worth checking out if you're new at embroidery.

Here's a sweet gift idea for any grown up, (kid at heart).  A gnome inspired tea towel.  The embroidery pattern can be found HERE!  There are many more wonderful and quirky patterns to be found with a bit of searching!  The plain, flour sack tea towels are easy to find.   Mine came from Sew Mama Sew, but I've also seen them at Canadian Tire, and really you could use any plain tea towels to embroider on!



I think this would make a lovely and thoughtful present for any mama on your list.
(or other loving souls who spend their days at the sink doing dishes)!

Here's another lovely embroidered idea.  I think it was Soulemama who made this popular!  Take a piece of your childrens artwork, and embroider it onto a piece of fabric.  You could do this as a gift for your child, (I know my daughter was mesmerized to see her drawn work of art come to life on a piece of fabric), or as a gift to a grandparent.  These embroidered pictures could be hung in a frame, turned into a pillow or added to a quilt.


I asked Ruby how she wanted her picture displayed...I was going to make it into a pillow, but she insisted that she wanted a wall hanging.  I must say it's about the sweetest thing to adorn her wall!  I did this for Christmas last year for her. 

And lastly...


the stocking!
I urge you...with the wealth of information on the internet and on sewing blogs, making a stocking is really a piece of cake!  British friends avert your eyes, (is what I did illegal?).  I found a British flag at the dump, and I grabbed it because my hubby is British Citizen.  I then cut it out and turned it into a special stocking for him!
For the girls I used the elf pattern on Wee Wonderfuls.  It is the cutest pattern I've seen!  Ruby insisted that she and Matilda should both have girl elf stockings...here is a closeup...


Each of their stockings has their name embroidered on it.  What a lovely Christmas surprise for the family!
Gotta get to work on one for me and the cat!

So, there's a few ideas to get your Homemade Holiday creative juices flowing!
Please share or add any ideas you have, project you are working on...let's inspire each other to keep it simple this year!

xo maureen

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Nature Inspired Fairy Party!






Creating a Fairy Party That Embraces  Simplicity and Beauty ( and doesn't bite a hole in your wallet!)

Birthday parties are wonderful fun yet they can easily spill over into too much ~ too much work, too much junk, too much pressure. So my goal in creating this party was to use what we had on hand and embrace a simple way to celebrate in style! 
For my Luna's eighth birthday she decided she wanted a flower fairy party.  I knew between working full time and wanting to really enjoy the day of the party, I needed to find easy, nature inspired ways to bring this party to life!

So we made a plan...
First she made her party list of a few friends and her cousins...

She  created some simple birch bark invitations to offer out ~ giving them all the needed information ...like please wear wings if you have them (if not we have extra) and potluck fairy food snacks (shared food is the way to go in keeping things simple!)


This was all mainly her project and she was happy to have it that way ~ she loved collecting, cutting and creating these invites...


She crafted away ~ creating  a little pine cone fairy and a maple key dragonfly to give to each of her friends  and placed them in these satin flower bags...


We then decided every fairy needs to be crowned!
So we collected our supplies ~ raffia and paper flowers...


We braided the raffia (a great way for girls to practice their braiding) and then took the paper flowers (that had wire attached) and wrapped the wire  flowers into each braided band. I also collected a big bouquet of  flowers on the day of with the intention that each girl could fill her wreath with some fresh flowers too!


Where would a fairy be without a wand to sparkle her magic all around?! 
We created our fairy wands with these lovely"wands" I found made of dyed seedpods.


Feeling they needed a personal touch we added sage and curly grass from our back yard and tied it all on with ribbons of raffia.


When the celebration day came ~  we crowned each these beautiful fairies and offered them their magical fairy wands...


Our plan was to spend to whole day at Luna's favorite spot, crooked slide park. A hidden gem in our valley that has beautiful falls, rocks to climb and hop, paths to adventure on and a natural water slide! Needless to say not long after this photo ~ after the girls had jumped into their swim suits and were frolicking and I was getting ready to pull out all the food ~ IT DOWN POURED!!!
Lucky for me, my sister who was there with her girls, lives only a bit away and welcomed us to crash her home. So we packed up in a wet flash and relocated the party.
One more lesson in going with the flow and letting go!
Luna's flower fairy cake ~ cupcakes with whipped cream topped with an edible flower.

We resumed the festivities... not letting a silly thing like the rain drown our joy!

It was a lovely celebration ~  offering lessons on this journey of motherhood  ... learning to embrace simplicity  and learning to let go and allow the unexpected with a peaceful heart.

***
Peace
~ Shanti ~

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

The problem with pussywillows!

Take a few pussy willow buds...


Sure they look innocent enough...so fuzzy and sweet.

Add to it one set of fine looking nostrils...

do you know what you get? 

7 hours in the emergency room on a Wednesday afternoon!
Yes...I am finally the mother of a child who shoves things up her nose...I've heard that this has happened to "other" parents, you know, those parents who don't watch their children closely enough!!!  hahaha!

I could barely see the darn thing up her nostril it was lodged up so far.  However, 7 hours and many sneezes later it had come down a bit so that the doctor was able to pull it out with some tweezers.  The whole procedure took 2 minutes.   The person who invented extra long tweezers must have been the parent of a toddler!

So time to tell all...what's been shoved up your childs nose!!??

xo maureen

Embracing The Let's Get Real!

Since I was a young I have avoided the camera...insecurity, wanting to stay hidden, a desire to be documenting not on display...
So when my co-blogger Maureen posted her Let's Get Real Post ~ (inspired by Shakti Mama) , I recognized it as an opportunity to allow myself to be... the raw and real me.

Recently my Luna had her eighth birthday and my husband grabbed this shot when I had just awoken  (unaware of him) and was reading my beautiful card from her.
When I flipped through her birthday photos and found this one, my first thought was erase.
I immediately didn't like what I saw... that voice said too tired...to bare...not enough...
Then I stopped and caught a glimpse of Luna looking over me with her eager face and realized it was time to tell myself a new story...a story that embraces the truth and beauty of self love and commits to modeling self acceptance.
To quiet that voice of disapproval and embrace those parts of self that long to hide... I take the challenge.
Here is my let's get real photo...


 the sweet words I was ingesting... (written all over my face)

to mommy
The resin I want to write this
is bekas how it rele hurts to
have a baby and I am so thancful
that you went throo all of this
hard wrk to let me into this world.
I want to tell you  all Ive
oways wanted for my birthday
is love from you and to show you
how much to love you.
love Luna
I love you


~ These words stopped me to pause and appreciate the simplicity of love ~

 on goes the challenge...


I see a  girl that has that list of comparisons ready to be burned, a girl who aches to be enough... a girl who is ready to join into the sisterhood of radical self acceptance ~ not sure how ~ just piece by piece being gentle with herself...being gentle with others.


In the spirit of unconditional love

~ Shanti ~

Monday, August 23, 2010

The Comparison Challenge!!

“Jealousy is a tiger that tears not only its prey but also its own raging heart”

Nyah Nyah...I'm stronger than you are!!
Recently I came across a post at a friends blog.  It's called "Death by Comparison" and it really struck home for me.  The challenge my friend gave was to try to stop comparing ourselves to others, and start honoring the unique things that we alone are good at.   I see the comparison game being played out many times a day.  In my own life and in the lives of the people I admire.  There have been a few occasions when I see someone in our community who reads our blog, and they express their inadequacy because they aren't "crafty", and we look like we craft all day long here at Twig and Toadstool.  I always tell them, sometimes that one single craft project is about the only productive thing we do all day.  The funny thing is though, that I play the comparison game too...I'm not a good enough gardener, cook, homeschooler, employee, sewer, knitter, photographer, crafter...mother.   I compare myself to the people I know in my community, and the mamas I've met in the blog world.

I was over visiting one of my favourite blogs the other day and admiring this womans home...everything is neutral colours and pure wood...I thought for a moment, "I need to do that...I need to be more like her".  Then I looked around my house, at all the "pops" of colour all over the place, the crazy dressers I've painted, my red, white and turquoise kitchen, and I thought..."hey, this is me!"  I decided in that moment that instead of envying this mamas home, I would admire it instead...but, I don't have to have that home to create a peaceful and loving space.  There is peace in between the bursts of colour at my house!

My wish for my mama and women friends is that we start celebrating each other and the talents we have that are unique to us.  Let's STOP beating ourselves up all the things we don't do, and start enjoying the things we accomplish daily.  You know...on some days, just getting out of bed is an accomplishment!   Comparing ourselves to others comes from that deep insecure place that resides within us all...we can't be it all and do it all, (I know I'm too damn tired at the end of the day to "do it all"!).  Write down the things that you're jealous of in others...write down the things you "wish" you were better at...and then BURN YOUR LIST!!!!  Let that frail and insecure part of you go and honor the fact that you have a clean house, or that you're super organized, or that you're a mean accordian player!

My list going up in flames!  SO healing!

So I'm taking on the challenge...here's my thing I'm good at and I celebrate in myself.  I'm a crafty mom! 
My garden is a mess, my house is well, disasterous, the laundry rarely gets done, but the glue gun is always on at my house!

What are you good at?  What are you willing to celebrate in yourself??

blessings!!
Maureen xo

Friday, August 20, 2010

Celebrating the Gardens Bounty Week! Feeling Mighty Peachy!


It's peach season here in Ontario.  The peaches are bountiful, juicy and abundant in our local grocery store.
While I don't grow my own peaches, I do try to support and buy any and all Ontario grown produce, and preserve and eat it in season!  Here's a fantastic way to preserve the freshness of these wonderful fruits...

Spicy Spreadable Peaches

5 cups pitted, peeled diced peaches
4 tart apples, think granny smith
1 can undiluted, frozen apple juice concentrate (thawed)
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp grated lemon peel
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
5 250ml mason jars or 10 125ml sized mason jars.

I LOVE seeing the colours and fruit sitting altogether at the beginning of the process!

Place all ingredients in a large, stainless steel pot and bring to a boil.  Boil gently for 30 minutes, stirring occassionally or until spread reaches desired thickness.  Pour into your prepared, steralized mason jars within 1/4 inch of rim.  Wipe your rims clean and put on the lids.  Place in a water bath canner for 10 min.
Put on a counter and leave them alone for 24 hours before moving them!

Yum!!!  A couple hours of canning and now we have a pantry full of peaches!!!

*this recipe comes from the Bernardin Home Preserving book...it is well worth the $$ to buy this book for yourself...it is like my bible come harvest time!

You could also make these in the smaller mason jars...the 125 ml size.  I find that those size are perfect for putting into a Christmas basket.  I make several different jams and spreads in the 125ml size, and pair it with a loaf of fresh baked bread.  What a delightful gift to receive on a cold winters night!

And, just to make your spreadable peaches a little sweeter...here are some awesome free printable lables from  How About Orange that I recently came across.  I think they're awesome and would just make your preserves look even more amazing!

I'd love to know what you're putting away in other parts of the world!

xo maureen

Thursday, August 19, 2010

It's Celebrating The Garden Week... Rockin' Recipes For Cucumbers, Kale and Carrots!


The Harvest Has Begun...

This year we acquired our seeds from Terra Edibles ~  a Canadian seed company that sells organic, heirloom seeds. We have been very amazed by the beautiful, vibrant food we have been able to grow and enjoy!

Our Red Russian Kale ~ love the velvety tender leaves!

Wow! Shanti, you can make a ton of kale chips with all that Red Russian Kale! Thank you, magical beings, for having me here again to share some Feel Good Guru recipes! I love playing with food, I love eating, and I love sharing my kitchen chemistry! Shanti asked me to post some recipes for Kale, cucumbers and carrots, so featuring those crunchy, cleansing beauties from the earth, a few of my absolute fave summer fixin's:

Kale gets a bum rap. It’s an under-appreciated cruciferous that needs our help to elevate its status to the clean green lean superfood that it is. I think the reason people don’t like kale is because they’re trying to eat the rough leaves right off the stalk, raw, and that can be a little, er, too healthy-tasting. But there are easy ways to prepare kale to make it delish.
Kale is one of those superfoods available year round, and one that should not be ignored by health-minded peeps. It’s incredibly versatile, extremely nutrient-rich and low in calories. Yes! Yes! Yes! Kale contains cancer-fighting phyto-nutrients, tons of vitamins A and C, calcium and iron, and compounds that actually signal our body to produce more detoxification enzymes. So why not use kale at every opportunity we can? Yes?

I try and get my kale on regularly, in soups, salads, on its own marinated in a little olive oil and apple cider vinegar, “hidden” in bean and rice dishes, or…as kale chips! Crunchy and full of flavor, kale chips can take the place of your packaged dead potato chips. It’s a superfood that’s super simple to prepare:

Kale Chips the Feel Good Guru way

1 large bunch of leafy red kale
drizzle olive oil
sprinkle sea salt
sprinkle Nanami Togarashi (optional)

Preheat oven to 375. Wash and completely dry kale.

Pull the woody stems from the leaves and break up into bite-sized pieces into a bowl.

Drizzle with a little olive oil. (Just a drizzle! Maybe only a tablespoon.) Sprinkle with a little sprinkle of fine sea salt. Sprinkle with a dash of Nanami Togarashi - (this is my favorite "secret" ingredient - it's a delicious, exotic blend of chilis, orange peel, black sesame and seaweed, and can be found at Japanese markets.) Massage ingredients into the kale leaves with your hands.

Place just one layer on a cookie sheet.

Bake at 375 for about 10 minutes. Pay attention because it happens fast. You’ll hear it sizzling away in the oven. Take them out when they’re nice and crunchy and slide easily from the cookie sheet.

You can sprinkle on a little nutritional yeast or a pinch of garlic powder, or use your own favorite spice combo for a tasty, crunchy bowlful of superfood nutrition everyone will love!

Thanks Moi for that great recipe...I must share that my girls devour a tray of kale chips in the blink of an eye. They are a huge hit in our home!


Our Purple Dragon Carrots ~ the girls love eating these sweet, almost spicy veggies!

 Shanti, you asked for a soup recipe here, but those Purple Dragons would make the most beautiful Raw Carrot~Walnut Pate! Here's how for a large batch that'll last a week in the fridge:

FGG's Raw Carrot~Walnut Pate

4 large garden carrots, grated (approx 4 cups, packed)
4 handfuls organic walnuts (approx 2 cups)
1 small red pepper, diced
2 Tbsp miso
3 Tbsp nutritional yeast
2 tsp sea salt (or to taste)
fresh ground pepper to taste
2 sprigs fresh garden rosemary (or any other fresh-picked herbs)

Blend everything in a cuisinart until smooth. Form into a block on a plate and refrigerate for an hour before serving. You'll have extra, so just scoop into a bowl and reserve for another day. This goes great with endives as an elegant appetizer, makes a wonderful veggie dip, and spreads beautifully on crackers or bread.




Our Lemon Cucumbers ~  love their bright, crisp tenderness!

Mmm! Lemon cucumbers go so well in a tabouli! Here's my recipe for Lively Tabouli from Feel Good Fast:



Lively Tabouli
For 4:
2 bunches fresh organic parsley, chopped finely (about 2 cups chopped)
1 cup organic quinoa
1 cup cooked chickpeas (or 1 can, drained)
2 small cucumbers, diced
4 small organic tomatoes, diced
3 lemons, juiced
olive oil
sea salt to taste

Wash, rinse and soak chickpeas overnight (about half
a cup dried will yield one cup cooked). Cook chickpeas and set aside to cool.

Wash, rinse and cook quinoa. Set aside to cool.

Chop parsley and put it in a large mixing bowl.

Add diced cukes, diced tomato, chick peas, quinoa, lemon juice, a nice slather of olive oil and a pinch of sea salt.

Taste and adjust to your liking. Serve with Raw Carrot~Walnut Pate and kale chips for a summer fresh, super-light, cleansing, feel good tastebud extravaganza!

***

 Bountiful Gratitude to the Fabulous Feel Good Guru! Thank you Moira  for joining us this week and offering your inspiration and gorgeous recipes.

How delicious the harvest is...
What are some of your favorite ways to enjoy the garden's bounty?

In gratitude
~ Shanti ~


Wednesday, August 18, 2010

It's Celebrating The Garden Week...Bodacius Beets, Beautiful Basil and Buddha Burgers!

Ah! Summer garden scrumptiousness! There is no better time of year to eat your veggies. Foods are at their peak nutrition the moment they pop out of the earth. You know it. You can taste the goodness dancing on your tongue. You can feel it singing through your bloodstream. Food is medicine, and summer veggies are beautifully healing. Much of the produce showing up right now at the farmers' markets and in our gardens can actually help lighten and brighten our energy by cleansing out the system, helping to get rid of toxins, and giving us a supercharged dose of immune-boosting phyto-nutrients. Eating with the seasons puts our bodies in sync with nature. Treat your beautiful belly to a bounty of healing veggies this season!

I'm Shanti's sister, Moira, and I'm honored to have been asked to share with you a few delicious summer recipes from my new e-book "Feel Good Fast ~ 21 Days the Feel Good Guru Way - your seasonal, plant-powered guide to a cleaner, greener, leaner lifestyle." I hope they inspire you to love yourself up with healing cuisine! From the heart~
 
Bodacious Beet Salad 
Just looking at a beet, we intuitively know it’s good for us, and because we eat with our eyes as much as our mouths, the glorious red beet is naturally attractive. In Chinese medicine, red is the colour associated with the heart. Beets are notoriously good for the blood ~ cleansing and nourishing. In Yogic tradition, red is the colour associated with the root chakra, where our deepest instincts of survival, grounding and stability are housed. Do your body a wonderful service and eat beets! This salad is simple and delicious. All you need in advance is some leftover millet on the stove (or brown rice, or quinoa, or bulgur).

2 large portions or 4 smaller:

2 small beets, grated
2 medium carrots, grated
one quarter English cucumber, diced
a small bundle of chives, finely chopped
a quarter red onion, finely diced
1 cup of cooked millet, brown rice, quinoa,
couscous or bulgur
small bunch of parsley, chopped
4 or 5 tablespoons of flax seed oil
juice of 1 lemon plus a teaspoon of grated
lemon rind
sea salt and pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl and top with toasted pumpkin or sunflower seeds. Serve with garden greens.



It’s Pesto Season!

No - Oil Vegan Pesto
So many ways to make a pesto, so many ways to eat it! Traditionally you’d blend basil with olive oil, garlic, and parmesan cheese and toss it with pasta - easy-shmeasy.

This one’s a fresh green version with arugula and spinach, ripe avocado instead of olive oil and a generous blob of mild miso for a “cheesy” flavor. The avocado gives it a great creaminess that sticks to the noodles.

An awesome parmesan cheese replacement for plant-powered peeps is a blend of walnuts, nutritional yeast, and sea salt sprinkled over the whole thing.

Here’s how for 3 cups of pesto you can toss with penne noodles or any pasta, use as a delicious spread on toast, stir into rice for a creamy risotto or dollup into carved zucchini or cucumber rounds for an elegant raw h’ors d’oeuvre.

2 ripe avocados
1/2 pound of organic arugula
1/2 pound of organic spinach
1 small bunch of basil
1 small bunch of parsley
5 cloves of garlic
3 Tbsp mild white miso
1 cup of hemp seeds

Blend all ingredients except hemp seeds until creamy. Add hemp seeds and pulse. If you like it a little thinner, add a drop of water. For a little “zing” add a squeeze of lemon. For vegan “parmesan," pulse together about a cup of organic walnuts with half a cup of nutritional yeast and a tsp of Celtic sea salt. mmm




Garlic...
Is there a more perfect food on the planet? I don’t think so! Garlic could very well be the most super Superfood alive! It’s cleansing, detoxifying, and alkaline, can lower your blood pressure, can help stabilize your weight, can cut your risk of catching a cold or flu in half, and studies have shown that eating a clove a day could help prevent cancer.

I use garlic in literally every savory sauce,soup, dressing, stew, hot pot, pesto, or pie. I can’t remember the last time I had a flu...and there are no vampires lurking around my house;)


Buddha Burgers 
There’s nothing better on a warm summer evening than burgers on the barbie! Try making some with leftover beans and grains you have in the fridge or on your stove. Short grain brown rice makes a perfect base for burgers because it’s sticky, and beans, blended or mashed, make a great "glue." Any veggies you toss in are bonus nutrition, and a handful of nuts or seeds gives it all a fabulous crunch.
from scratch, makes a dozen:

Make a small pot of organic brown rice (maybe 2 cups or so) with extra water so the rice is sticky. (Usually it's 2 to 1, so go 2 and a half water to one portion rice.)

Cook a small pot of organic lentils (again, no more than 2 cups) in a separate pot, again, with more than enough water. You want them soft and wet.

In a cuisinart or blender, blend one block of medium-firm tofu.

In a large bowl, mix all the above ingredients.

Stir in a handful of organic rolled oats, a handful of sunflower seeds, a handful of sesame seeds.

Chop or grate one carrot, one celery stick, one onion into small dice. Toss them in and stir. By now, the texture should be dense and sticky enough to form into patties. If it's too runny, add more oats.

Now for the spice: you'll want some sea salt and pepper to taste, a little bit of dried sage (careful with this, it's a strong flavour), a sprinkle of thyme (again, a little goes a long way), a teaspoon or so of dried oregano and dried basil, and the secret ingredient - nutritional yeast. Add up to a cup of this. It's delicious, loaded with protein and vitamins, specifically B vitamins, and imparts a lovely cheesy flavour to the burgers.

Taste the mixture and adjust the seasoning to your liking. Then form into patties and place on an oiled cookie tin. Bake at 300 for about 20 minutes, then flip them and bake 20 minutes longer. You can make these in advance, and keep them wrapped in twos in saran wrap in the fridge. Then they're ready to just quickly grill on the bbq, for that delicious smoky summer flavour. 

Serve with all the regular fixin's, and drizzle with my favorite tahini-garlic sauce. Yes! More garlic!
Tahini Garlic Sauce:

3 Tbsp tahini
2 large cloves garlic, chopped
3 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 Tbsp maple syrup or agave nectar
just enough water to create a creamy consistency

Blend all ingredients, adding water at the end to make a nice creamy consistency you can pour or drizzle. Taste and adjust flavours. I always like more garlic;) Keep in mind, though, it will get more garlicky in the fridge as it sits.

A BIG thank you to my very talented sister  Moira for sharing her delicious, fresh food creations. Moira is a fabulous, vegan chef and has been my inspiration in the kitchen many, many times over. I really enjoy the way her recipes are so perfectly balanced in flavor and always impress the taste buds. I have done one of her feel good fasts and she is bang on...I did feel good fast! I plan to dive into another of her  feel good fasts soon ~ one more way to take advantage of the garden's bounty while it is peaking out!

In the spirit of feeling good fast
~ Shanti ~