HELP! How to Prepare Organ Meats

I recently ordered a beef heart from US Wellness Meats.  When I went to cut it into pieces and put it in the processor to blend, there were some stiff pieces of what I think was fat?  It seemed like it would be too stiff to process so I cut those off and then I wasn't sure about all the arteries.  So I just went ahead and included those with the rest of the heart.  Then I frozed them into ice cubes.  I didn't prepare them in a certain way like I do with liver by soaking it in lemon juice before processing & freezing.  Should I have done that?

I thought maybe ya'll could comment on what you do for any organ meats so that those of us who have never done it can be more comfortable buying & preparing them.

First, tell how you prep it such as soaking or if it's not needed.
Second, tell if we should be discarding certain parts such as the arteries, fat, etc.   And any other tips you can share.
Lastly, how you cook or eat them.

Thanks!

This post is part of this week's Real Food Wednesday.

Gardening Carnival - Carrots

The Gardening Carnival is in it's second week.  I'm seeking information about organic gardening. I'm going to be trying Square Foot Gardening this year by using Companion Gardening as well. I want to avoid GM seeds and spraying chemicals. I hope that we can all help each other by sharing our research and knowledge about gardening so that it won't be so overwhelming for us first-timers and so that we can have success in this endeavor. Please share any knowledge you have in the comments, feel free to link to your blog if you have info there and to link back here. You can use this picture if you want, unfortunately I haven't been able to figure out how to imbed "Gardening Carnival" into the picture. If anyone knows, would you mind commenting below.

I wanted to focus on carrots for this week's Gardening Carnival. Carrots are the most eaten veggie in our family.  Simple to grab and snack on or add to a meal.
I'm going to format my notes in the following way to be able to go back for future referencing:

Seeds/SqFt - 16
Growing Season - Spring, Summer, Fall and sometimes Winter depending on area.
Indoor seed starting - No, doesn't transplant well.
Earliest Outdoor Planting - 3 weeks before last spring frost.
Location - Full sun but can stand partial shade.
Companions
- Tomatoes, leaf lettuce, chives, onions, leeks, radishes, rosemary, wormwood & sage.
- Carrot roots helps with the growth of peas and beans and possibly lettuce.
Non-Companions - Dill.  Store away from apples.
Sprouts - 2-3 weeks
Growing
- Plant 2-3 seeds in each 16 spaces in square.
- Water soil & cover square with plastic covered cage.
- Keep ground moist at all times until they're almost mature to grow rapidly & continuously then reduce water so carrots don't crack from overly rapid growth.
- Weed weekly.
- If doing long and thing ones, grow in a taller square foot box.
Weeks from seed to harvest - 10
Harvesting
- Pull those with largest tops
- Pick early when only 1/2 size at sweetest and most tender?
- Scrub with veggie brush but don't peel.  Most of the vitamins are in the peel or close to the surface.
- For a late winter harvest, mulch heavily to keep ground from freezing to protect fall planted carrots.
Problems
- Carrot rust fly - onions, leeks & herbs (rosemary, wormwood & sage) act as repellents.
- Rabbits, woodchucks, deer, voles.
Seed Storage - 3-4 years from packet

This is part of this week's Real Food Wednesday.

Gardening Carnival - Sugar Snap Peas

The Gardening Carnival kicks off today!  I'm seeking information about organic gardening.  I'm going to be trying Square Foot Gardening this year by using Companion Gardening as well.  I want to avoid GM seeds and spraying chemicals.  I hope that we can all help each other by sharing our research and knowledge about gardening so that it won't be so overwhelming for us first-timers and so that we can have success in this endeavor.  Please share any knowledge you have in the comments, feel free to link to your blog if you have info there and to link back here.  You can use this picture if you want, unfortunately I haven't been able to figure out how to imbed "Gardening Carnival" into the picture.  If anyone knows, would you mind commenting below.

The first vegetable I wanted to explore for this week's Gardening Carnival are Sugar Snap Peas. These peas are our family's favorite veggie. I was nervous that I would find out that it was genetically modified but as far as I can tell it isn't. Yay! So I plan on ordering a packet from Seed Savers.

I'm going to format my notes in the following way to be able to go back for future referencing:

Seeds/SqFt - 8
Growing Season - Spring, Fall
Indoor seed starting - No, doesn't transplant well.
Earliest Outdoor Planting - 5 weeks before last spring frost, which is usually May 11th.
Location - Full sun in spring; shaded toward summer if possible.
Companions - Carrots, cucumbers, corn, beans, potatoes, turnips, and radishes, as well as many aromatic herbs.
Non-Companions - Onions, garlic, and gladiolus.
Sprouts - 10-15 days
Growing - Plant 1" deep
               - Water & cover in plastic covered tunnel?
               - Never let them dry out but keep the vines dry.
               - Weed weekly
               - Keep the vines trained up the vertical frame
               - Mulch as weather gets warm
Weeks from seed to harvest - 10
Yield - 6 weeks
Harvesting - (Carefully with 2 hands) pick or cut pods off their stems.  We'll surely eat them right in the garden!
If we find any brown overripe peas, which I doubt, we'll throw them into the compost pile.  Or else it will cause the vine to stop producing which we definately don't want!

Problems - wood ashes around the base of vines help control aphids.

Seed Storage - 3-4 years from packet or *Leave the pea pods on the plant until they turn brown and dry for 2-4 weeks then put them in the freezer for a couple of days, to kill any weevils that may have gotten inside, before putting them away for the year. To do that, they need to be very dry. Put seeds in the jar after drying, tightly seal it, then put in the freezer. After removing from the freezer, don't open until the seeds have had plenty of time to return to room temps (to prevent condensation).

End of Season - Plow under or put in compost pile.

Questions:
* How do you store the seeds from your harvest?  I wouldn't want to put a big jar in the freezer with only a little bit of seeds in.  I'm thinking maybe in a small ziplock bag but that might end up with lots of ice crystals in it.  Or perhaps an homemade paper envelope with other seeds in envelopes in the jar would work better (since they would be like the seed packets)?
* I've read in a couple of places to mix presoaked seeds with legume inoculant powder for an added boost or a larger crop but I'm not sure if the inoculant powder is organic. Does anyone know?  I probably won't do it since I've never done it before and it seems to turn out fine.
* Any tips?  I've heard that you can spray old dishwater on corn to prevent bugs instead of spraying?  Anything in particular you've done that works for peas?
* Am I missing anything?

This post is part of Real Food Wednesday.

Honey for Cough - Week 3 of Winter Illness Carnival

I've had a cough for the last couple weeks.  I've been avoiding cough/cold meds.  Finally I took the time to take a spoonful of raw honey before bed.  The next day I wasn't coughing as much.  I continued that for a couple more days and each time I was coughing less than the day before.  Right now I've hardly had the need to cough.  So I'm going to keep taking honey before bed to see if those few coughs will go away. If that doesn't work I'll try some lemon juice with the honey.

What do you do to treat your cough naturally?  Anything that really kicks it out?

This post is part of Real Food Wednesday.  Click here to read more nourishing facts and some gift ideas for Christmas.

Treating Sore Throat with Raw Apple Cider Vinegar - Week 2 of Winter Illness Carnival

In continuing the Winter Illnesses Carnival, this week I'm focusing on treating sore throats.

Whenever I got a bad sore throat I would spray the red liquid full of who knows what onto the back of my throat.  Not anymore, whenever I feel a slight pain coming on, I drink about 1/2 teaspoon of Raw Apple Cider Vinegar and the pain goes away soon after.  The ACV does a great job of killing the bacteria.

When I first started taking it, I couldn't stand the taste or smell of it.  (I'm known as a picky eater.)  My eyes would water and I'd gag a little bit but I seem to have gotten used to the taste.

When I read about this treatment it warned not to take it too often as it could cause an upset stomach.  Usually I only need to use it 1 or 2 times then I'm fine.  I love how I'm able to kill the bacteria right when it comes rather than hoping it will go away and eventually suffering through a painful sore throat.

How do you naturally treat your sore throat?

This post is part of this week's Real Food Wednesday, go here to read other blogs.

Neti Pots for Sinus Problems - Week 1 of Winter Illness Carnival

Since we're in the winter season with some people getting sick, I thought I'd do several posts focusing on certain illnesses  (Winter Illness Carnival- Week 1) and what we can do to treat them naturally and without antibiotics.  Antibiotics wipe out the good bacteria in our guts and weakens our immune system so I'd rather try treating my illnesses naturally and have the antibiotics be an absolute last resort.  It's frustrating that doctors don't seem to know about these, so they can recommend using this before writing out a prescription.

One thing that I've discovered in my research is the Neti Pot which I absolutely love!  I used to get a sinus infection every year and after suffering for a couple weeks would go to the doctor to get an antibiotic.  Not anymore!  Whenever I feel anything coming on in my sinuses, I use the Neti Pot and it clears it out.  If I do it right away it only takes one treatment or a few, it goes away and I'm able to go through my days just fine.  If I wait longer then it may take a couple days to treat it completely better.  But it always clears the pressure for at least a few hours and I feel ready to tackle the things I need to do or take care of my kids.

Recently my mom was ill and she tried the Neti Pot.  I've asked her to share her experience so you know it's not just me.

I have suffered with sinus problems quite a bit the last few years.



When I get sick with it I seem to be sick for 3 - 4 weeks with sinus pressure, headaches, sinus drainage which causes sore throat & a raspy voice. I find myself clenching my teeth from the pain - which only
makes it worse. I usually try to treat it with over the counter medications first & then end up going to the doctors for prescription meds. Sometimes it takes a couple different times of going back in for another script.


This last time, I had gone for about a week on over the counter meds & asked my daughter if she would mind picking me up a neti pot - She had mentioned it to me that it helped her. So she got me one & I tried it & have used it for 4 days, immediately I felt a clearness in my sinus, the pressure that I had before is not as bad & I feel like each day of using it I feel better & clearer. I've had problems with sleeping with a stuffy nose & my nose has been clear & sleeping better since I started using the neti pot.  I now plan on using it on a daily basis as part of my daily cleansing process.  I would encourage anyone with sinus problems to use this before trying prescription drugs.

I got our Neti Pots at Good Earth, a health food store.  I've seen them at Bed, Bath & Beyond.  I would recommend using RealSalt but if you can't find it (they're usually available at regular grocery stores) then you could pick up some salt specifically made for use with Neti Pots.  I've read that regular iodized salt won't help. I'm guessing because it's been stripped of it's minerals in the bleaching process.

Here's how you use it:  Put some WARM (not cold or hot) water in the pot along with about 1/8-1/4 teaspoon of Real Salt (it might be different with the other salts).  Try to dissolve some of the salts but not all will.  Have a few tissues ready nearby.  Tilt your head over the sink, being ready to breathe through your mount, insert the nozzle into one nostril and pour about half of the salt water.  It should run out the other nostril.  Gently blow your nose then do it again through the other nostril. Blow your nose again and within 5-15 minutes you'll feel a clearing in your sinuses and be ready to tackle the day!

Neti pots can be used to:

Clear the nostrils to free the breathing

Remove excess mucus

Reduce pollen or allergens in the nasal passages

Relieve nasal dryness

What do you do to naturally treat your sinuses?

This post is part of Real Food Wednesday Carnival, go here  to read other blogs.