Saturday DIY: Small Batch Orange Soda

Today I mended clothes and made orange soda while I watched Firefly. To be perfectly honest, mending clothes is enjoyable, when it goes well. But the real accomplishment was making a tiny batch of orange soda. I discovered the recipe on Food 52, which is one of my two favorite cooking websites. (The other one is The Kitchn, if you were wondering.) The original recipe called for zest of one lime, and I didn't have any limes in the house, but I do have a bottle of Lime Essential Oil from Young Living, one of the few of their oils that is safe to ingest. Besides, I had oranges sitting on my counter, just itching to be made into something.

Once you've read the original recipe and read my version, you'll see there are a number of changes; I can't leave a recipe alone. That, and today I was working with what I had in the house... Therefore, I used the lime oil, a couple of lemons, and plain seltzer water. Quite frankly, it's fantastic.

Orange Soda (serves 4)

Ingredients

• 4 oranges
• 2 small lemons
• 1-2 drops Young Living lime essential oil
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• seltzer water

Zest the oranges and add the zest to a medium saucepan. Add the lime essential oil. Juice the oranges and lemons, making sure you have two cups of juice, then add the juice to the pan. Stir in the sugar.

 

Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat. Once boiling, let simmer on low heat for 8-10 minutes, or until mixture has reduced by 1/3. Remove from heat and let cool for a few minutes, and then pour the syrup through a fine mesh strainer into a glass jar. Discard the pulp and zest. Cap jar and place in the refrigerator for at least an hour.

 

To drink: mix one part syrup and two parts seltzer in a glass filled with ice. Stir it up and serve with an orange slice if desired. Enjoy!

 

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It may seem like this won't be sweet, but with the addition of the lemons in the syrup, you really don't need the lemon-lime flavored seltzer the original recipe calls for.

Pineapple Salsa (raw *and* vegan!)

Confession: I have a Pinterest board just for tacos. And taco related recipes. And probably taco related merchandise. My last Instagram was even a taco, as of this posting. I like tacos as much as I like bloody marys, which reminds me, anyone want to help me concoct a bloody mary with mini tacos and shredded queso as the garnish? I say it's possible. We could use the Sriracha flavored UV. Or I think there's a jalapeno flavored one out there somewhere. Besides, who doesn't put tomatoes on their tacos? Anyone? I don't know you. Ahem.

Now that I've gotten that out of the way, here is a recipe that I tried a month ago and then proceeded to not share it. Oops. Still new at this blog-more-than-once-a-month thing. I'm getting there, I promise. Lots of goodies coming your way. But for now, pineapple salsaaaaaaa! It's not as weird as it sounds. In fact, it's oodles better than it sounds.

I discovered this recipe through Pinterest while searching for good vegan recipes for summer. Disclaimer: I am not a vegan and most likely never will be, but I love vegetables and fruit and it's often the vegan recipes that inspire me. So I was directed to a blog called The Glowing Fridge, which has many other amazing posts and you should check it out if that's your thing. And quite frankly, I never thought pineapple in salsa could be good. It's a fruit, for heaven's sake. Buuuut I had all the ingredients, I had just made tortilla chips, and I desperately wanted salsa. And it doesn't take more than 10 minutes to put together. Unless, of course, you're me, and you can't chop up pineapple to save your life. That was an adventure.

Ingredients

• 2 cups fresh pineapple, diced small (about 1/2 one fruit)
• 1 red bell pepper, diced small (about 1 cup)
• 1/3 red onion, finely diced (about 1 cup)
• juice from one lime
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped (I may or may not have used closer to 1 full cup...)
• 1/4 piece of a jalapeno, finely diced
• sea salt, to taste

Instructions

     Mix all ingredients in a medium-sized bowl and enjoy! Leftovers can be refrigerated for a few days. Also, the original recipe says the jalapeno is optional, but it really won't be as tasty if you leave it out. Really.

I really wish the batch I made had lasted long enough for me to put on black bean and rice tacos because that would have been da bomb. Oh well, it's incentive to make it again before the summer is over!