Vitamin fruit snacks!

I recently saw a video on making fruit gummy snacks. I figured my daughter would LOVE these, but they aren't the healthiest thing out there. Not by a long shot. So, I doctored them a little. How? Why, adding vitamins, of course! I grabbed everything needed for the fruit snacks, some vitamins suitable for her age, and got to work. You CAN overdose on certain vitamins and minerals, but if you don't add the entire bottle for a 1 year old, you should be fine. Just use common sense and don't give them all of the fruit snacks at once. I added 12 to a single batch. I just mixed the flavors because once its all ground up and dissolved, the flavor would be hidden.


Things you will need:
-8-12 chew-able vitamins
-1/2 cup COLD water
-1/4 cup corn syrup
-1 box flavored gelatin-your child's favorite
-2 envelopes unflavored gelatin

First, grind the vitamins to a fine powder. I used a mortar and pestle, but you could easily use a coffee or spice grinder. Just make sure there are no chunks!

Next, mix the corn syrup and cold water. Make sure the corn syrup is 100% dissolved. Add the flavored and unflavored gelatin. MIX WELL. This part takes a bit of work, but make sure there are NO clumps. Mix in vitamin powder.

Place in a pot on LOW heat until mix is heated through. It does not need to boil, but should have a little steam. Turn off heat and let sit for 5 minutes. Skim the cruddy foam off the top with a spoon. Its super easy after letting the top solidify. Then, poor it into a pan or mold and let it harden! You could easily do fun shapes, we just couldn't find any small ones at the last second. So, I poured my mix in a loaf pan and let it cool that way. Once cool, pull out of the pan. If you didn't use a mold, you will need to cut these down to bite size pieces. Its rather easy, so don't be put off by it.

Just gather a cutting board, SHARP knife, some sort of grease (I used spray, but anything would work), and your slab of gummy!

The gummy peeled out of mine SO easily! I just pulled the slab out and slapped it onto the cutting board. Grease your knife and cut away! Super easy!

Now, my runt can have all the fruit snacks she wants.....because I'll know I am sneaking her vitamins in!

My first success!

As a kid, I loved picking plants and mashing them up into my "experiments". I loved to "cook" with seeds and leaves that I found. Recently, I've become intrigued with the adult version of the same thing- foraging. I always grew up going asparagus hunting with my grandma. She taught me a few obvious plants. Since she passed, my sisters and I spent every mother's day looking for a few plants to eat. Just as grandma always had. On this last trip, we found a couple morels, a bunch of asparagus and a TON of wild onions. I started to do a little digging. I found a few groups on social media that helped me identify plants in my yard. I looked for ways to use those plants and found a couple of them were used in tea to help symptoms of Grave's. I recently found a great doctor that has been helping me, but it is always good to have a back up! So, I picked a few violets (to help with insomnia), prickly lettuce (for insomnia and anxiety), mint (for stomach problems), and even found A TON of catnip for my kitty. Worst case, none of it works and I got my yard weeded. Best case, I got free medicine! In my super tiny yard (I can walk the entire thing in about 45 seconds) I was pulling in buckets and buckets of useful plants. Because my little yard produced so much, I wondered what else I could find in my neighborhood (in the public areas). With the help of social media, I identified a HUGE patch of garlic mustard. I did some research and found that they are a massive pest. People can't seem to get rid of the stuff. It was originally brought to the Americas for its culinary uses. This boggles my mind. Something was brought here because it was prized for its flavor. Now, its a common weed. What changed? Why did people stop using it? Why are people killing it when it used to be cultivated and sold as crop? I'm not saying let it choke out your garden by any means. I'd definitely rather have some gorgeous green beans and bell peppers. What I AM saying is: You're pulling it anyways. Why not utilize it? Well, I decided I was going to give it a shot. Which brought me to my first successful food made from plants I found.

Garlic Mustard

While looking for an identification, someone mentioned Garlic Mustard Pesto. I LOVE pesto. I could probably live off of that and bread. It is by far the most amazing food (okay, slight exaggeration). I try to eat it in everything. Why not switch it up and try Garlic Mustard pesto? What did I have to lose? A bit of olive oil and some cheese? I have it all in my house anyways on any given day (except today because I used the last of it for this). Plus, it is amazingly easy and super nutritious.

Before giving you the recipe, I do have to say, DOUBLE CHECK YOUR IDENTIFICATION!!!! I know Garlic Mustard is relatively easy for identification purposes, but do it anyways. Better safe than sick!

Now, onto the good stuff.

Ingredients:

-3 cups garlic mustard leaves

-3/4 cup walnut

-3 cloves garlic

-3/4 cup olive oil

-1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

In a food processor, place leaves, walnut, and garlic cloves. Pulse "chop" button. Add about half of the olive oil and continue to pulse until thoroughly chopped. Mix in Parmesan and you're done!

You can put it in an ice cube tray and freeze or freeze in a jar to preserve it as well. That way, you have GOOD pesto all year long! YUMMMM!!!