Orange Cleaner

Orange Cleaner and Frozen Juice Bricks

we have 3 orange trees, two are young and have not produced fruit yet and the other is about 3 meters tall.

below is the last of the harvest about 6 or 7 kilos, they aren't large but they are very juicy and sweet. The tree is full with tiny green oranges just waiting to grow.

Orange Cleaner

first off get yourself a big jar or bottle, this one holds about 2 1/2 litres, i picked it up from the Salvos store for $2. wash your oranges to remove any dirt [if you are using purchased oranges scrub them to remove any wax].

 peel enough oranges to fill your jar with peels.

fill your jar with Vinegar so all is covered

place your jar out of direct light & mix or shake once a day for about 6 to 8 weeks. strain out all the peels.

you can use it earlier but the longer the better.

in a spray bottle mix 50/50 with water.

great for removing sticky labels, band-aid sticky, cleaning stove tops & range hoods & tiles

now we are left with naked oranges that you can juice.
if you still have a few with skin on you can zest them & store the zest in the freezer until needed.
some of the juice we drink but the rest is frozen into 1/2 cup bricks & stored in the freezer.
you can use them for cakes, biscuits or my favourite fruit smoothies.
just drop a brick or 2 into your blender & add 1 banana, handful of strawberries,1 Tbl honey & 1 cup yoghurt.
the combinations for smoothies are only limited to your imagination.

Orange you glad you popped by :o)

Onion

Spring Onions, Green Onions or Shallots

what ever you call them they are delicious & super easy to grow

i purchased these organic onions in a bunch, cut off the green tops to use & then planted the white part with the roots into the garden. pictured above is three weeks ago after i cut the tops off them, if you click on the picture you can see where i cut them. they have been in the garden for about 12 months. i just cut some when i need them & they regrow.

before the last cutting they had been left to grow & had become leggy, thick & dark green.
i washed & sliced them & filled up 2 drying trays.

i have an ezi dry dehydrator that i got for christmas a couple of years ago & i love it.

i never time how long it takes to dry stuff i just keep checking it till its done.

out of those two trays i got a large vegemite jar full [pretty well packed in].
you can use them in soups, casseroles, stews anything you need onions for really.
i have since used some in a dry mushroom soup base, that i will post about next time.

Liquid Gold

The Honey Files

Raw Honey is a super food that not only tastes great but is also good for your health.

there are two types of honey, regular honey that has been heat treated that you get from the supermarket & raw honey that has not been heated. when honey is heated most of its beneficial properties are broken down & lost.

Honey never goes bad it will last forever.

store honey in a cool dark cupboard [not in the cupboard next to the stove or oven]

Raw Honey Facts:

Energy Booster

Improves Immune System

Easily Digested

Vitamins & Minerals

Healing Powers

Some Health Benefits :

Weight Loss:

 1/2tsp ground Cinnamon

1tsp raw honey

1 cup of boiling water

pour water over cinnamon & leave to cool add honey

drink half before going to bed, refrigerate & drink the rest 1/2 an hour before breakfast

do not reheat.

Indigestion:

cinnamon sprinkled over 2 tsp of honey before eating 

Bad Breath:

morning gargle with 1tsp honey with a sprinkle of cinnamon mixed in warm water

Burns:

apply to burns, it cools & removes pain & bacteria can not live in honey

Hyperactivity: 

replace all sugar with honey

Food Preservative: 

replace sugar with honey in cakes & biscuits they will stay fresher longer

reduce liquids in mix by 1/5 to accommodate the honey [3/4cup of honey to every cup of sugar] & lower the temp when baking

Migraine:

1 dessert spoon of honey dissolved in half a glass of warm water at start of migraine & again in 20 mins if necessary.

there is some research that suggests that honey can be used for the following;

Colds, Arthritis, Stomach Cancer, Bone Cancer & Cholesterol just to name a few.

more research into the properties of honey could help a lot of people in the future. 

this is my bee box, my boys found it at the spring clean up a few years ago. it sits next to one of our blood plum trees. i love it because its a bee home & because its green. there are no bees in it as its way to close to the house. maybe one day we will keep bees.