365great Day 187: cooking

laelene Posted in 365great,Tags: , , , , , , ,
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Learn more about 365great here.

365great challenge day 187: cookingPanda and I have been cooking a bit together* and I’ve really enjoyed it. Not only are we spending time together, getting a chance to chat and catch up, we’re producing results that we get to enjoy at the end. There’s something very rewarding about getting a product that is useful after all that effort. Then we get to sit down and eat together and spend even more time together! Oh, and of course cooking is nice because you can make things taste just how you want and you don’t have to leave a tip. 😉 You save time and money (usually) and you are more active too. We really should do it more often, but it’s so easy to slip into laziness and order out or just go out. That’s why I’m exploring options to make it easier for us, like this Hello Fresh meal that was pre-planned for us. I won’t delve into it too much since I’ll feature them another time, but suffice it to say that cooking at home can be a great experience.

 

*More like I’m doing the cooking and he’s doing the cleaning up, but hey we’re working together and that’s what matters.

Homegrown Collective August 2013 projects

laelene Posted in reviews, subscriptions,Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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Are you ready to see the results of my Homegrown Collective August box?! I sure had a ton of fun with it. 🙂

The Homegrown Collective GREENBOX is $39 per box + $9 shipping (or as discounted as $429 for an entire year, with options in between) and comes with fun and easy projects to live a more sustainable lifestyle. Boxes are sent monthly with no option to skip. They offer a referral program you can apply to join.

the homegrown collective august 2013 products for growing alfalfa sprouts with instruction sheet

I started off with the alfalfa sprouts project.

pile of alfalfa seeds in layer at bottom of glass ball jar

I put in just enough to cover the bottom of the jar.

pile of alfalfa seeds submerged in water in glass ball jar

I then filled with plenty of water to submerge them, though I had some floaters.

collage of alfalfa seeds submerged in water after one day then getting water strained out

The next day, the water had browned and I poured it out. It was hard to get the screen on underneath the lid! It’s a tight fit. I rolled the jar and shook it so the seeds got spread around.

collage of alfalfa seeds sprouted in glass ball jar after two days

By the third day, they’d sprouted! I was so surprised I actually gasped out loud when I saw it.

collage of alfalfa sprouts growing in glass ball jar

On the fourth day they continued to grow and I tried to get the remaining seeds to sprout by giving them more space.

collage of alfalfa sprouts growing in glass ball jar filling area

By the fifth day, I noticed that they had orientated themselves upwards even though there was no sun where I kept them. Guess they just knew which way is up!

collage of alfalfa sprouts full grown in glass ball jar and removed

Just six days in and they were definitely full grown and ready to come out. I let the brown seed covers float up and dumped them out.

tray of full grown alfalfa sprouts with green heads after getting sunlight

I then let them sit out in the sun and the heads went from yellow to green. Ready to eat! I had some but gosh, this was waaay more than I could handle.

the homegrown collective august 2013 products for making green tea & lavender epsom salt bath soak with instruction sheet

Next up was a lovely bath soak to pamper myself!

pile of green tea mixed with fresh lavender for bath soak in muslin bag

I put together a few scoops of green tea and some lavender flowers in the muslin bag and mixed them up.

collage of green tea and lavender bath soak with epsom salts and muslin bag filled with tea and lavender flowers in tub

I ran really hot water, put in epsom salts that quickly dissolved, let the tea bag sit in the running water, and then let the bag float around the tub.

green tea leaves and lavender flowers emptied from inside of muslin bag

After my relaxing soak, I flipped the bag inside out to get the tea out, rinsed the rest off, and let it dry for next time.

the homegrown collective august 2013 products for dark chocolate pomegranate wonder cup snacks with instruction sheet

Finally, I got around to trying the pomegranate chocolate cups!

collage of steps to peel pomegranate from cutting skin to removing seeds and soaking in water

It was a slow process ensuring I got the seeds out as whole as possible, but I was rewarded with a nice pile of them.

collage of melting chocolate, drying pomegranate seeds, and putting pomegranate seeds into paper cups

I don’t have a double boiler, so I melted the chocolate with a bowl in the pot. I boiled the water too much and water got in, but it turned out ok. I nearly forgot to pat dry the seeds before putting them in the cups!

collage of melted chocolate and pomegranate seeds then pouring chocolate over the seeds in paper cups

I poured the melted chocolate over the seeds and just about overfilled the cups. I generously sprinkled the salt flakes on top and put it all the in fridge. It came out looking not much different and tasted fantastic, even with my messed up chocolate.

silicone cat-shaped ice cube tray with pomegranate seeds inside

I decided to have some fun with it and make some with my cat-shaped ice cube tray! I accidentally messed up the chocolate again so it didn’t turn out to well, but I’m totally trying again later. Nom!!

So what do you think? Jealous yet? 😉 I loved each of these projects and will definitely be doing them again. I’m also looking forward to the upcoming box!!

If you’re interested in getting it yourself, sign up here!

[This post contains affiliate links. Signing up through them helps support my subscription and I’d be ever so grateful. 🙂 All opinions are my own and I received no compensation for this review. I just purchased this box and wanted to share what I got!]

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