Munchie Monday: Lemon Ginger Water

All of a sudden I wanted a refreshing non-caloric drink.  I had just gone to the Grocery Outlet and found a bag of fresh ginger for a good price. I brought it home along with a fresh lemon.  I still have the jars I plan to use to make sauerkraut sitting on the counter waiting for the kraut...so I took one of them.

To make this I thinly sliced about an inch and a half of fresh ginger and an inch and a half of fresh lemon and put it in the bottom of a glass quart jar. I filled the jar with water and put it in the refrigerator overnight.  In the morning I had a tall glass.  So refreshing!

Even Dear One had a full glass of this for breakfast, then asked for the dregs that were in the bottom of the jar!  I refilled it with water for the third time.  I will see tomorrow if it works that long or if I need to add fresh fruit after three refills.

Food Friday: Spicy Peanut Salad Dressing

Today I made a salad dressing that was especially yummy.

This is what I did:

In a small blender, I placed

1/4 cup peanut butter
2 cloves garlic
2 Tablespoons Ume Plum Vinegar though other vinegar or even lemon juice would have worked
2 Tablespoons sugar
2 Tablespoons soy sauce
2 Tablespoons water
2 teaspoons fresh ginger paste (or just finely minced ginger)
1 heaping teaspoon sambal oelek or garlic chili paste

Blend very well until a nice smooth sauce. If it is too thick to be a salad dressing, add water, one Tablespoon at a time until the texture is right.

Yields:  about one cup

This tastes really nice on a big fat vegetable and bean salad.

New Health Find...infused water

Last Sunday Debbie asked me if I had ever tried infused water.  Since I had never heard of it, I said so.  She said to take a nice 2 quart glass bottle and put a very thinly sliced apple of any kind (I used a Pink Lady since that is what I had) in the bottom of the jar.  Toss in one stick of cinnamon, fill the jar with water, cover and refrigerate. In an hour, pour yourself a glass of lovely lightly flavored infused water.  I loved it!

You can refill the jar three or four times.  By the time the apple slices begin to brown you might want to remove them and start with a new apple and cinnamon stick...

Since I love lemon, I tried putting a sliced lemon in the bottom of a jar along with about an inch of finely sliced fresh ginger and let it refrigerate.  That one was really good, too.

If any readers have suggestions of other good flavors of infused water, send comments!

Thanks.  And thanks, Debbie, for a treat that will most likely be a rest of my life sort of thing!