Habits of a Modern Hippie

Habits of a Modern Hippie A mindful woman's guide to healthy living. ModernHippieHabits.com

04/10/2026

I’ve made this lilac lemonade recipe for years (I shared for the first time four years ago!) and still absolutely love it! It’s a springtime staple! 🍋🪻

🪻Lilac Simple Syrup:

Combine 1.5 cups lilac blossoms, 1 cup honey (can be subbed for granulated sugar,) and 1 cup water. Bring to a simmer for 5-10 minutes or until honey has turned a rich brown. Strain the flowers and let completely cool before using! The simple syrup can store in the fridge for 7-10 days or be frozen for about 3 months.

🍋 Lilac Lemonade:

Combine 2 cups lemon juice, 1.5 cups lilac simple syrup, and 6 cups of water. Combine well and serve over ice!

Don’t forget to save the lemon peels to make garnishes or seasoning later!

03/24/2026

My chickens are laying like crazy now that it’s spring! I save all my egg shells for multiple reasons! First to give back to the chickens as calcium, second (if I have plenty of extra!) to use as fertilizer in the garden, and third (and the reason why I clean them first) is to pulverize to create a scouring powder for cleaning! You don’t *have* to dehydrate your eggshells, but I find them easier to crush by hand - which I love doing!- when they’re dehydrated rather than air-dried! They’re a great ‘filler’ for your dehydrator when you have other recipes going!

Cover photo: .creative

03/23/2026

Naturally Dyed Easter Eggs! Comment: ‘Natural Dye’ to get the full method, tips, and colors DMed to you!

*If you are using raw eggs please keep them in the fridge!

My Favorite Food Scraps:
* Red Cabbage: robin’s egg blue (2 hours) to teal (overnight)
* Blueberries: denim blue (2 hours) to navy blue (overnight)
* Yellow Onion Skins: light yellow (2 hours) to rich ochre (overnight)
* Beets plus a tablespoon of vinegar: light pink (2 hours) to dusty rose (overnight)
* Turmeric: shades of yellow (This can also be in powder form, see teas.)
My Favorite Teas:
* Hibiscus Flowers: light blue-green (2 hours) to deep green that is almost black (overnight)
* Butterfly Pea Flower: Light purple (2 hours) to deeper purple (overnight)
* Butterfly Pea Flower with 1 tablespoon of vinegar: light pink (2 hours) to darker pink (overnight)
* Green Tea: Light green (only use white eggs, this is very pastel!)

When it comes to food scraps the simple method is boiling. In a saucepan, for every one cup of food scraps add four cups of water, bring to a boil until the foods have started to lose their color, strain, then let cool.

For the teas add about ¼ cup of loose tea to every four cups of water. Steep in hot water for at least ten minutes (but I usually just steep until the tea cools.)

Cover photo: .creative

03/20/2026

White Wine Salt 🍋

After sharing my red wine salt I had SO many questions to see if it worked with white wine! So I had to test it out, it does! I just prefer a citrusy, dry wine instead of a sweet white wine.

1/2 Cup Sea Salt
1/4 Cup White Wine
2-3 Tbs Chopped Herbs/ Spices (I used lemon zest and thyme)

Tip: the flavor of white wine is a bit less strong than a bold red. Make sure that your herbs are nearly powdered before adding to make sure they don’t overwhelm the white wine flavor in your salt!

Combine the wine and salt in a small bowl and let sit for at least an hour but preferably overnight. Drain the excess through a fine mesh sieve. Mix in the herbs and spices you chose, then dehydrate until the salt is dry. You can use an oven on the lowest setting, an actual dehydrator at 125°, or let it air dry, stirring often.

Store in an airtight container!

Cover photo: .creative

03/18/2026

Lemon Ricotta Asparagus Tart! Comment ‘asparagus tart’ for the printable recipe to be DMed to you.

I’m using frozen puffed pastry to make this easy as can be for your easter brunch!

Ingredients

1 Bunch Asparagus
1 Sheet Frozen Puffed Pastry
3/4 Cup Ricotta
1/4 Cup Parmesan Cheese Grated
1 Egg
1 Lemon Zest, Juice, Slices
Salt and Pepper, To Taste

Instructions

Defrost a rectangular sheet of puffed pastry for 25-30 minutes.�
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.�
Unfold and gently roll out the dough to remove creases.�
Blind bake the pastry sheet for 12 minutes and then pull it out of the oven and set aside!�
To prep your lemon, wash thoroughly and cut in half. Remove all the seeds. Zest and juice one half of the lemon. Quarter the other half of the lemon and then slice into thin slices.�
Add the ricotta, parmesan, egg, lemon zest, lemon juice, and salt and pepper to a bowl. Mix well to combine.�
To prep the asparagus, snap off the woody ends. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, and blanch the prepped stalks for 30 seconds, plunging into an ice bath to stop the cooking process.�
Spread the ricotta mixture over the pre-baked puffed pastry, leaving about an inch of space on the outer edge. Place the asparagus in a single line, alternating directions so each slice will have both asparagus tops and ends. Layer the thin lemon slices on top.�
Bake in the 400 degree oven for 18-20 minutes until the edges of the pastry are a nice golden brown and the ricotta mixture turns slightly more yellow.�
Let cool completely then slice and serve!

Cover Photo: .creative

03/03/2026

Herbed Pistachio Whipped Feta Comment ‘Pistachio Feta’ for the details to be sent to your inbox!

Ingredients:

8 Oz Feta In block form
1/2 Cup Greek Yogurt
1/2 Cup Basil
1/2 Cup Mint Leaves
1/2 Cup Pistachios Shelled
1/4 Cup Olive Oil
1 Lemon Juice and Zest
Salt and Pepper To Taste

Add the pistachios to a food processor and process on high until the pistachios have turned into nut butter! Add in the mint leaves and basil, process again until the leaves are minced. Add in the yogurt, lemon juice, lemon zest, and crumble the block of feta into the food processor and process. Slowly drizzle the olive oil into the mixture. And process until light and fluffy with no clumps.�
Transfer to a bowl, smooth out and decorate with mint leaves, crumbles of pistachio, and a drizzle of olive oil if desired and serve! This can store in the fridge for up to five days.

Cover photo: .creative �

02/24/2026

Let’s make a carrot cake loaf! 🥕

So this is part bread part cake.. like directly in the middle. It also would make great cupcakes!

Wet ingredients:
2 Cups Freshly Shredded Carrots*
1/4 Cup Applesauce
1/2 Cup Neutral Oil
2 Eggs
1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
1 Cup Brown Sugar
*Pre shredded carrots can get hard, so stick with fresh!

Dry Ingredients:
2 Cups Flour
1 Tsp Baking Powder
1 Tsp Baking Soda
1 Tsp Sea Salt
1 Heaping Tsp Cinnamon
1/2 Tsp Cloves
1/2 Tsp Ginger
Optional: 1/2 Cup Candied Ginger or Nuts

Preheat the oven to 350°

Combine all wet ingredients in one bowl, set aside. Combine all dry ingredients in one bowl, whisk, and then add to the wet ingredients! Combine well. The batter should be thick but still pour-able.

Grease a 9x5 loaf pan. Then pour batter inside. And bake for one hour or until a skewer comes out clean!

Let cool enough to handle, then slice. Enjoy!

02/19/2026

Roasted Lemon-Shallot Hummus. 🍋 🧅

Ohhhh Meyer lemons, how I love you! Organic Meyer lemons have a thin, flavorful, malleable skin that is great to cook with! So we’ll take the classic lemon-shallot flavor combo and take it up a notch!

Ingredients:
16 Oz Chickpeas
3 Meyer Lemons
1 Large Shallot
1/4 Cup Tahini
5-6 Cloves Garlic (or one head)
1/4 Cup plus 2 Tbs Olive Oil
1 Tsp Sumac (optional)*
Salt and Pepper, to taste
Chopped Parsley and Pine Nuts (optional topping)

*Sumac is a beautiful, flavorful Middle Easten spice made from ground berries that adds complexity and depth! I highly recommend trying some! Mine is from

🍋 Preheat your oven to 375° and prep a lidded baking dish with a drizzle of olive oil. Halve and deseed your lemons, and thinly slice the shallot. Toss in olive oil, add salt and pepper, then a small splash of water and replace lid. If you are using garlic cloves you can toss them in with the lemons, but if roasted in their paper, I recommend roasting in a separate dish with the top sliced off to expose cloves then once again coating in olive oil and adding salt and pepper. Roast for about an hour, stirring every 15 minutes until shallots have broken down and the lemons are soft.

🍋 Scrape the entire baking dish into a food processor and add chickpeas (I prefer to de-skin them for a better texture), tahini, and sumac. Start to process, then as the mixture starts to move more slowly drizzle up to a 1/4 cup until the mixture is smooth.

🍋 Spread into a bowl, drizzle with olive oil, and top with fresh parsley and pine nuts if you have them on hand (pine nut and lemon is a *great* flavor combo!’ Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to five days!

02/18/2026

Meyer Lemon Marmalade is wonderfully sweet with the subtle bite of lemon’s acid. Comment ‘Lemon Marmalade’ for the recipe, tips, and sugar options to be sent to your inbox! Meyer lemons are perfect for this skin-on recipe that is ready for water bath canning! *Meyer lemon season is November-April, but peaks January- early March!*

Ingredients

2 Cups Meyer Lemons Chopped
2 Cups Liquid (Lemon Juice and Water)
2 Cups Sugar

Instructions
 
Thoroughly wash the Meyer lemons and dry. Remove the blossom and stem ends of the lemon then cut in half. ‘Unroll’ the lemon, cutting between each of the triangular sections, removing the seeds and any excess membranes that you see. Then cut these triangle sections into smaller slices.

As you’re cutting and adding the Meyer lemon slices into a bowl, you’ll notice that some juice leaks out- save that! Measure the excess juice and then add water to the juice to create two cups of liquid.

Combine lemon slices, lemon juice liquid, and two cups of sugar in a small saucepan.

Bring to a boil then reduce the heat to medium low and simmer for 20-30 minutes or until the natural pectin in the lemon rinds thickens the marmalade.

If not canning, transfer to an airtight container and store in the fridge for up to one month.

If you are canning use the water bath canning method and leave 1/4 inch headspace, process for ten minutes, then let stand for five before removing them from the canner. The canned marmalade will last for 12 months.

Cover Photo: .creative

02/12/2026

Preserving horseradish root! When this is in season, you can grab whole roots from the store and they are SO much more potent than the premade sauces you can get! So I make my favorite horseradish root steak sauce and then freeze the rest to make things like tartar or cocktail sauce.

Horseradish Steak Sauce Ingredients (Makes about 1 cup)

1/2 Cup Sour Cream
1/4 Cup Mayonnaise
1/4 Cup Finely Grated Horseradish Root
1 Tbs Apple Cider Vinegar
1 Tbs Minced Parsley
1 Tbs Minced Shallot
1/4 Tsp Mustard Powder
Pinch of Cayenne
Salt and Pepper, to Taste

Combine sour cream (I’m using ) plus everything except the parsley and shallot in a small bowl and mix well to combine. Then add parsley and shallot and combine again. Store in the fridge- best within one week but can store for up to two. Don’t freeze.

To preserve the rest of the root, use a vegetable peeler to remove the tough skin and slice off the tough ends. Grate to a fine grain with either a zester, a rasp, or using the smallest holes on a box grater. If you have sensitive eyes this process can be HARD- think an onion x1000. You see me being silly in the video with ski googles on, but they really do help!

Heap the grated root into a bowl and pour in white vinegar until the root is saturated but not swimming in liquid. Transfer into freezer cubes (do NOT use your regular ice cube molds for this- it takes forever to get the oils out!!) and freeze. Then transfer to a freezer-safe airtight container for up to six months.

Why the vinegar? Horseradish root looses its potent flavor QUICKLY. Once air is introduced to the horseradish root an enzymatic process quickly breaks down the volatile oils that gives horseradish its flavor- the acidity in white vinegar works to denature the myrosinase (an enzyme) which if let to run its course will make the flavor week, bitter, and the root itself will turn brown. We use white vinegar (instead of the ACV in the steak sauce recipe) because its taste is relatively neutral, so we can use the frozen cubes of horseradish for whichever recipes we’d like later!

Cover Photo: .creative

02/06/2026

Hibiscus Rose Limeade Mocktail 🌺

For two Mocktails:

2 Cups Water, plus extra for swirling
1/4 Cup Lime Juice
1 Tbs Honey
1 Tbs Hibiscus Flower
1 Tsp Rose Petals*
Sparkling Water
Optional: 2 Tbs Sugar for the Rim

*Make sure you use culinary/organic rose petals. Saved petals from floral bouquets are often coated and covered in pesticides! My petals are harvested from my backyard!

Preheat your teapot by swirling hot water around it then combine hibiscus and rose petals in a tea strainer and pour 2 cups of boiling water that has left to cool for about a minute (you don’t want to scorch the petals!) Let steep for 7 minutes.

While tea is still hot stir in honey (this is mildly sweet- do a quick taste test and add in more honey if you prefer it sweeter!) let cool and then add lime juice.

Pour over ice and top with sparkling water. Enjoy! ✨

       

02/04/2026

Banana Chips! 🍌

Simple and delicious, these chips bring out the natural sweetness of bananas!

The drying time of banana chips varies greatly by what you like! People who like them still soft and pliable will dehydrate for around 12 hours at the 135° setting, but I like mine as a crunchy, snappy treat so extend that drying time to about 14 hours. Generally I just pop them in when I’m making them and dehydrate overnight!

Store in an airtight container.

Cover photo: .creative

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