A coconut dream

When you think of a coconut one would think of warm beaches, sunny skies and tropical weather. All those things are true, but I especially use coconut when the weather turns cool. I especially love coconut cream. It is creamy, smooth and delicious, and always digests well. Unlike milk it is less likely to curdle in your tea and it evokes in every sip a slight nutty flavor.

Also, I buy a particular brand of coconut milk that I buy in Atlanta at the Dekalb Farmers market. Which is a huge market that has everything one your imagine. There is a meat, deli, vegetable, cheese, spices, coffees, teas and much more. What I enjoy about the store is that I can purchase large cases of coconut milk and stock up for future use. Many times while I am shopping another customer will ask me, what are you going to use all that coconut for, and I just smile and say I love coconut.

Coconut milk can be used in teas, coffee, cookies, cakes and right now I am using it in my homemade breads. I love that it adds extra flavor, and depth to each loaf. Coconut milk has vitamins C, E, and load of B vitamins, as well as minerals including iron, selenium, and magnesium. So when you are drinking coconut milk you are really drinking to your health!



Cheers,

XOXO

Frolicking Americana

How to make your best soup!

Cold weather means its soup time in my family! There is nothing better on a cold night to gather around the dinner table and have a hot homemade soup with homemade bread. 

After Thanksgiving I found a way to make my soup  nights even better! It is important to start with a organic turkey carcass , preferably local, because you will be rendering the turkey down into a delicious broth. 

Take your turkey, and boil it down for four hours or more. Then let it rest and cool for an hour. After that you will have the most delicious broth that you can add to soups, and sauces. You can also just drink the bone both for healthy benefits. 

Everyone in my family loves bone broth and soups during the cold weather season. Bone broth is a great way to add comfort to your home and will benefit your health. 


Wishing you love and warm,

XOXO 

Frolicking Americana


BENEFITS OF BONE BROTH 

1. Bone Broth Boosts Immunity

2. Bone Broth Alleviates The Common Cold And Bronchitis

3. Bone Broth Fights Inflammation

4. Bone Broth Strengthens Bones And Teeth

5. Bone Broth Promotes Weight Loss

6. Bone Broth Improves Hydration

7. Restore Exercise Capacity with Bone Broth

8. Build Muscle with Bone Broth

9. Improve Mood with Bone Broth

Holiday Goodness

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday of the year. This year was quite special because it was the first Thanksgiving for my small family, and included my mom, aunt, and cousin. It was all of my favorite people eating some of my favorite foods. 

The key to making your food memorable is purchasing or growing the best quality food that you can find. For my family that means buying a fresh turkey from Doko Farm every year. Each turkey is raised with love, and care. And they taste amazing! When you buy local you are supporting a local artisan producer and you are receiving a high quality product. My family loved the turkey they said, it was the best turkey they have ever eaten! When they said that it warmed my heart, and made me realize the importance of high quality food. 


I was able to decorate the house with fresh flowers from my Pinehurst garden. It was my last opportunity to bring in the beauty of the outdoors in before the frost hit the flowers and they faded away. Anytime you can bring in outdoor beauty into your home do it! It creates warmth, beauty and a uniqueness to your home. Now that Christmas is coming I am looking forward to purchasing a fresh  Christmas Tree and bringing that smell of Christmas into my home. 

These are all easy tips to create a warm, happy and memorable holiday season. Sending you all the love and happiness! 


XOXO,

Frolicking Americana

EASY FOOD SAFETY.... GROW YOUR OWN FOOD

Another day...another food that you can not eat due to food safety issues. Romaine lettuce has just been added to that list. The CDC is now warning that Romaine lettuce is unsafe due to E. Coli bacteria. It is so scary that the food in the grocery store can make you really sick! 

An easy way to combat that fear is to grow your own food! I know it can seem like an hard task, or impossible. But leafy greens such as kale, collards and mixed greens are very easy to grow. All you have to do is put the seed in dirt and let it grow. Watering on time is a very important factor to grow, but on an upcoming blog I will let you in on an super easy way to water that takes little to no time. 

If you don't have a lot of space, just get a large pot add good dirt and the best part is you decide what to grow. You can research what varieties that you love to eat the most and grow them. And when you are growing your own food you don't have to worry about the food safety issues such as E. Coli, you are growing your own local organic product that you will enjoy even more that the store bought greens because you grew it with love. 

One last thing it is important to have great soil! I learned the hard way, by trying to grow carrots. The first batch of carrots I grew I just put them in the dirt in my Pinehurst Neighborhood garden, and let them grow. Let me tell you they didn't do much growing! When I pulled them up they were so small, like the length of a quarter. The second batch of carrots I grew them with Re-soil, which is this amazing compost that has all the things that veggies love. Those carrots grew to a beautiful tasty size about three inches. When I harvested those carrots I literally jumped for joy! I took those carrots home and cooked them up for my new little one and he loved them! 

Growing your own food is such an amazing thing to do for you, your family and for the environment. I encourage everyone to try it out! 

Sending you love, and happiness,


XOXO 

Frolicking Americana

Roasting up goodness

There is nothing better than a hot cup of perfectly roasted coffee in the morning. It is a refreshing, delicious way to start the day. Some nights right before I go to sleep I think in happy anticipation of the wonderful cup of coffee that will greet me in the morning. 
Coffee has a way to brighten up the day, and make everything seem fabulous. There are many ways to brew that perfect up of coffee, and everyone has a way that they think is the best. But few can argue about how to roast the perfect cup of coffee. One reason is that most people do not venture to roast their own. 

Being the frugal and adventurous person that I am, I decided to roast my own brew. The first time, I was extremely nervous that I would ruin the coffee, and personally I didn't know anyone who roasted their own coffee. At the time my pastor of my church was Ethiopian and I had heard through the grapevine about a coffee roasting ceremony that members of the church had attended. Everyone said, that it was the best coffee of their life. I thought if roasting coffee on an open fire created amazing coffee surely I could try to roast coffee on my stove. 

With that in mind, I attempted by first batch and it was terrific, I was able to create my own personal blend, bold, dark and warm. It was such a great feeling of accomplishment, and I was left with a terrific product! My very own, personally blended coffee to my exact specifications, and it was delish! . 

Roasting my own coffee, made me realize that you can make every day special and unique if you just take the time to stop and make the simple things special. 


Sending you love, and happiness this holiday season, and wishing that your every day will be special. 


Xoxo 

Frolicking Americana


P.S.  If you are interested in having your own unique and personal blend of coffee for the holidays. I am currently consulting with private clients to create their own specially curated blends. You can reach me on Facebook, Instagram. 

The Adventures of Spring

Making adjustments to the the hot South Carolina Spring can be difficult. Bearing through above 90 degree days with the heat and humidity, it can do one in, especially if you love outdoor hobbies such as gardening or tennis. 

I happen to adore both hobbies and recently have been working in my multiple gardens in the North Main and Pinehurst Neighborhoods in Columbia, South Carolina. I love being able to grow my own food and create beauty in my home with my own homegrown flowers. 

The easiest crops to grow would be greens such as mustard greens, collards greens, and kale. Flowers that I would recommend are sunflowers, zinnias, and marigolds. All of these plants are easy to grow and to distinguish between plant or weed, when it comes time to do your weekly weeding. 

Working in the garden is a hot a sweaty job, but it is so rewarding! And when you have fresh and organic food to eat that you have grown yourself, you can literally taste the difference. 

Recently, I found the most amazing soap line by Christina Curtis, called Christinavonn. Her soaps detoxifying and cleansing. Plus they make you smell amazing! My family's favorite is the charcoal soap. I use it as a soap and a shampoo, it makes my hair and skin so soft, but also moisturizes. 

During this summer I am looking forward to planting new seeds/varieties in the garden and am looking forward to a continuous bountiful harvest. 

What is your favorite thing to plant in your garden? 





XOXO, Frolicking Americana

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Season of Planting

Loving this warm, sunny Spring weather! I am so excited to work on my garden plots! This year I made the resolution to grow my own food. Last year I was successful in leafy greens and corn! 

This year I am expanding to herbs, tomatoes, squash, cucumber, melons, and more! I cannot wait to start harvesting my crops.

One of the keys of a successful garden is to have great seeds. My local go-to place is Sal's O Timey Feed, they have some of the best seeds in town. I bought kale, collards, and many other leafy greens from them! 

Sometimes it's hard to get all the seeds you need when your on a budget. If you are looking for new and interesting seeds, for free. A great place to check out is a Seed Swap. These events are great places where local gardeners and growers bring their seeds and exchange with each other. It's a wonderful opportunity to learn from experts who are more than happy to share their deep knowledge with you. 

Growing your own food is a simple and easy way to improve and enhance your life. You can curate it based on your tastes, whether that's your love of herbs, tomatoes, or leafy greens it's all about you! 

XOXO,

Frolicking Americana

Awesome event coming up this Sunday at Doko Farm! Come out! 

I'll be hosting the Seed Swap starting at 12pm! (Featuring free seeds from Sal's O Timey  at the seed swap.)

Admission is 5.00 per car 

Join us for a family friendly celebration of small farms, local food and all things Spring!
• Small Farms, and Local Food Vendors at one location 
• Farm Tours of Heritage Livestock/Edible Forest Garden Walks
• Farm Products, Seedlings, Crafts, and Local Food for sale
• Family Activities: Crafts, Games, Meet Chicks & Friendly Goats
• Community Seed Swap

Confirmed Farms and Vendors: 
Doko Farm (pasture-raised heritage meats and eggs) 
Big Belly Farm (goat milk soap, seedlings, hand-stamped cuffs) 
Congaree Milling Company (organic, locally milled grits and more) 
Crooked Cedar Farm (fresh greens, baked goods, pickles, more)
Humble Farm (organically-raised, heirloom plant starts)
West Ridge Farms (grass-fed beef)
Joe Turkaly Catering and Events (lunch featuring local products)

Don't forget to bring seeds to swap, cash for entrance fee and purchases, cooler for your pasture-raised heritage meats.

Learn more about Doko Farm at www.dokofarm.org

This event is rain or shine.

Simple Tricks to get well quickly.

So you have made it through this awful Flu Season without becoming sick? Huzzah for you! Your amazing, you rock and you have a strong immune system! Sadly, for me I didn't make it through this season without catching the flu. Needless to say it was a rough week and a half, and at times I felt very overwhelmed! 

I was reminded of all the home remedies that I grew up using as a child, and they were very effective being put to use while I was sick. Growing up in Ohio, Vernors Pop was a major treat, especially when one was sick. It was sugary, gingery, and had tons of carbonation, the perfect drink while fighting off a vicious sickness. Now in later life, I knew that the high fructose corn syrup would not be good for my immune system, not to mention the preservatives that are in the pop. 

So I created my own sick fighting drink. Perrier or Pellegrino water with a twist of lemon on ice. It was refreshing, vitamin c boosting, with extra benefits from the lemons to help refresh and soothe. Later on I would make ginger tea, cutting up ginger roots and adding it to hot water. (Disclaimer at this time most of the "work" I am writing about such as cutting/slicing/creating were being done by my sweet husband and caring mother.)

Another remedy that always works when I am sick is using essential oils. I rub them on my neck, feet, under my arms and my lymph nodes. Usually using peppermint, eucalyptus, lemon, lime, orange. These all uplift the spirits and give my body an extra boost of immunity. Warm baths with dried lavender is  always helpful when sick. It helps with congestion, relaxes your body, smells amazing and help you sleep at night. 

This time I also used a special blend of oils from the company GOODS, I used the So fresh oil which has a unique blend mixture of cedarwood, bergamot , and other oils that took me away to a blissful sleep. 

Finally after about a week of rest I was able to make a homemade soup which really helped throw me over the hurdle towards wellness. I created a wonderful seafood noodle soup, with carrots, mushrooms, onions, garlic, that was refreshing, comforting and filling. 

I have learned that it takes a lot of homeopathic remedies to feel better quickly when you catch a cold/flu. But with quick actions, help and love from friends and family, you can quickly overcome illness and be back to your healthy amazing self! 

I hope you enjoyed this article, and now feel empowered even when you are under the weather! XOXO 

P.S. I was very thankful for all the calls, cards, and love send from families and friends! Thank you! XOXXO 

Simple Ways to Warm up Your House

Being raised in Ohio, I was used to a cold brisk winter. But after moving to sunny South Carolina, I have lost a lot of my Ohio hardiness.  This past week has been a test of my endurance, trying to endure this cold winter snap. I've had to rely on the tips and strategies of my childhood to endure and enjoy this cold winter weather. 

The first thing that I did to evade the cold was to bring out all my heavy wool and cashmere sweaters, and clothing items and to dress in up to four layers of clothing. I added heavy curtains to the windows and laid extra rugs by the doorways. 

In the morning and during the day I try to let in as much sun as possible, to help warm up the house. At night I like to bake using the oven to warm up the house.  Last night I made a hearty roasted vegetable and organic beef chili and a beautiful pear and lavender pie. The meal warmed up our hearts and home and made my husband and I thankful that we could enjoy the cold winter weather together creating great memories of this winter season.

XOXO
Frolicking Americana 

PS click the linked words to get the recipe at my website frolickingamericana for the Pear Lavender Pie- its so simple but oooh sooo good. 

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