I've been having a lot of fun lately with the sunflowers that we grew in our garden this year. They were the Mammoth grey stripe variety. Normally, when we grow sunflowers I give them to the birds or chickens. This year I wanted to salt and dehydrate them for us to snack on this winter. And they turned out fabulous!!! All we did is separate the seeds from the head, let them dry for a few days on the kitchen table, soak them in brine (1/4 cup of salt in 1 quart of water) for 24+ hours and then we stuck them in the dehydrator for 24+ hours at 100 degrees. The seeds were a little crispier than I like but still very delicious. And very nutritious too since they should still have their little enzymes (by drying them below 105 degrees) to aid in digestion.
from left to right: salted sunflower seeds ready to eat, sunflower seeds to sort, brine and dry, the mostly empty sunflower headThese sunflowers are an heirloom variety so I will be saving some of the seeds to replant next spring. The children have said that we definitely need to plant a lot more next year since these turned out so yummy. It feels really good to find something healthy the children love to snack on that we can grow ourselves.
5 comments:
Hi there Kris~
The Nature Center trip looks like it was a great time!
We have a Nature Center out in the city,they have a homeschool program. The program is 8 weeks long,every other week. When I home schooled I had the kiddos enrolled. They loved it.
Beautiful Family Kris...you must be one proud momma!
Blessings,
Georgiann
PS I grauated High school in 1987. I was 19. I think you said you were homescooling some of your kiddos at that time!
I go to MOPS (a chistian moms group) Mothers Of Preschoolers and I was putting my one year old into the nursery and one of the old ladies asked me if she was my grand daughter!!!!!!! I thought do I look that old....do I dress that frumpy? LOL Do you ever get that from people?
Georgiann,
No one thinks that my little ones are mine anymore!! They all think that I am the grandma!! Frustrating!! And it's been that way for about 5 years now. If one of my older daughters are with me, everybody assumes they are the mom. And I'm only 42!! I think, in people's minds, it's unusual for "older" women to have young children of their own. I see lots of grandmas out with their grandchildren these days. Probably, most of those grandmas have to watch the grandchildren because mom is working. And it seems as though a good many of those grandmas aren't too happy about having to tote the grandchildren around. So sad. A testament of how society views children, I'm afraid. Which is why I try to NEVER be short tempered with the children when I'm out. You know? It's hard sometimes but it's my testimony of God's goodness to me whether I am mommy or grammy. :-)
I guess you might be right! I was trying to get my one year old into the jonny jump up thing and her foot was not going in...she was crying and I was wanting to dash.
There was lots to do before the meeting started. I should have showed more pacience! You make a good point..
Peace in Christ,
Georgiann
Georgiann,
Oh I hope you don't think that I was criticizing you in any way!! We all have our moments don’t we!? ;-) Trust me, I’m by no means perfect in that area either--especially when in a rush!! I just have this pet peeve where it grieves me to no end to see moms and grandmas speak harshly toward and yank their kids/grandkids around and then turn to another adult (especially a stranger!!) and act nice, polite and civil towards them. I think that our families should receive the best of us--not the outsiders.
Anyway, we’ve gotten off topic here!! :-) I’m a bit mean I suppose. Whenever someone comments about my adorable grandkids I just say, “Oh no, these are my children.” Then they realize that they’ve made a grave error in “insulting” a woman about her age and stumble all over themselves. It’s quite comical. But not nearly as funny when I’ve put on a few extra pounds and someone will ask “When’s the baby due?” I just say, “Oh, I’m not pregnant. I’m just fat.” They turn bright red and apologize profusely. Or when someone asks, when seeing our family, "Don't you know what causes that?" and we tell them in a hush, "Yes! And we LIKE it!!" Too funny!! I suppose it’s all just in making conversation but so many people don’t really think before they speak. Don’tcha think?
Hi there Kris~
No~I didn't no think you were critsizing! I thought to myself "I had not yet told her(you) that I was in a hurry...what a smart woman she must be."
Oh on the topic of rude things people say...I had a lady (mom of 1) tell me to get a hobby. I was pregnant with baby #5. I told her I had a hobby..and I was good at it! LOL
Peace in Christ,
Georgiann
PS I read your hubby will be gone for a month,but your son and his wife will be moving in, so maybe time will go by quickly?
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