Kief Jerky

I've been receiving a ton of request for this recipe. I had planned to save this one for my upcoming cookbook, but since so many of you are looking for a healthy, protein rich way to medicate, I decided to let this recipe out early.

Kief ready to decarboxylate

Here's what you will need to do this project.

Ingredients:

1 pound of thin sliced, very lean raw beef. I like to use eye of round and trim off all the fat.

3 Tablespoons of Tamari (you can substitute Soy Sauce but then the jerky will not be gluten free)

1 teaspoon of coarsely ground pepper

1 teaspoon of Tapatio salsa picante

1 teaspoon of gluten free garlic powder

1 tso of fine ground pink himmalayan salt (or substitute sea salt)

4 grams of decarboxylated kief or bubblehash. Please be sure to decarb this kief to make the medicine activated for edibles.

Supplies:

1 large and 1 small mixing bowl

Food dehydrator or a wire cooling rack, cookie sheet and an oven

Food handlers gloves

Sharp knife and cutting board or meat slicer

Cookie sheet

Wire seive

Step 1: 

Remove all the fat from your meat. This is a very important step!  Any fat left on the meat will cause your finished jerky to spoil as the fat can go rancid and mold over a short time!  So be vigilant when removing the fat!

Step 2:

Slice the meat across the grain into thin slices (1/4" thick works well) and place the sliced meat into your large mixing bowl

Step 3:

In your smaller mixing bowl, stir together the other ingredients reserving the decarboxylated kief to the side. When well mixed add this marinade to your sliced meat. Now using your gloved hands, mix up the beef and marinade so that all sides of each meat piece have been exposed to the marinade. Cover mixing bowl with plastic wrap and refridgetate for several hours until the marinade has been absorbed by the beef.

Step 4:

Remove the marinated meat from the refridgerator. Lay meat out on a cookie sheet in a single layer. Use the wire sieve to sieve the decarboxylated hash or kief onto the meat. Toss the meat together to allow the keif to evenly coat the meat.

Step 5:

If using a food dehydrator... lay the meat out in single layer on the racks. Do not over lap any of the meat. Do not add grease or cooking spray to the racks!  Set the dehydrator temperature to 150 degrees fahrenheit.  Set timer for 8 hours.

If using a conventional oven.... place wire rack on cookiesheet. Lay the meat in a single layer on wire rack. Do not overlap the meat. Do not add any grease or cooking spray. Set the oven at the lowest temperature.  Mine goes to 175 degrees fahrenheit.  Place cookie sheet in oven on a middle rack. Use a wooden spoon to keep the oven door gapped open. Set timer for 6 hours.

Step 6:  

When your timer goes off, check on your jerky. Is it fully dried?  If it is, allow it to cool before removing from your rack. If it is not fully dehydrated, set yimer for another hour and check it again. Repeat as neccessary until the meat is fully dry and cooled.

Step 7: 

Remove meat from the rack. Store in a sealed ziplock bag. If you have been vigilant in your removal of the fat from the meat and have fully dehydrated your meat, it will store indefinitely at room temperature. If you have left any fat on the meat or have pulled it out before it is 100% dehydrated, then store in a sealed container in the refridgerator. The shelf life on the refridgerated version is around 2 weeks.

Step 8: 

Enjoy responsibly.  Start with a small piece to see how this edible will affect you. Because of the chewy nature of the jerky, you will have it in your mouth for a minute. This is a good thing as it allows you to get a sublingual quick acting effect, followed by an edible effect that comes on fully after 1-2 hours depending on how your body metabollizes.

Yummy, healthy and glutenfree jerky!

Notes: 

You can upsize this recipe easily by double or tripling the ingredients.

If you use the ingredients as listed without substitutions this will be gluten free.

If you want to substitute a different hot sauce that still works or if its too spicy, leave out the hot sauce but double the amount of black pepper.

If you have trouble slicing the meat you can either freeze it for about an hour to firm it up, or you can adk at your grocery meat counter if they can slice it for you.

You can substitute turkey for the beef. Just increase your stove temperature to 200.

You can substitute cannabis concentrate like bho or co2 oil or distillate (the clear) for the kief. However be sure it has been decarboxylated first. Then you will want that concentrate warmed slightly and can add it with a dropper or pastry brush directly to the meat before putting it in the dehydrator.

THChristi

If you run into problems, have questions or need assistance, please leave a comment below and I will do my best to help.

Stay lifted!

THChristi

Post Script:

Hey friends!  Are you interested in my upcoming cannabis cookbook?  Do you want updates on the cookbook and other THChristi happenings, including meet and greet opportunities, possible classes and other public events?  If so, be sure to give my new public figure page a like on Facebook! 
https://www.facebook.com/THChristi-1707013209547618/

Hash oil, whole plant and solventless. . The scoop on THChristi medicines

I've been fielding quite a few questions lately as to why I don't  just make my medicines  with hash oil like "everyone else does". 

Listen guys, I'm not opposed to hash oil medibles at all. There's a lot of great medibles to be found that are made with  hash oil.  I just believe in my proccess and my patients are the proof!  

I decided early on that i wanted to utilize whole plant medicine to get an entourage effect of all the cannabinoids working together for symptom control and relief.  

And as far as utilizing solventless hash rather than hash oil in my medibles I just want to give you all that natural option.   No chemicals were used to make the dry sift and bubble/water hash that I am using to make medibles like my kief jerky, lemon bars, extra strength gummys, nut butters and more. Not everyone is concerned with this but for those patients who are its a godsend to have access to meds that weren't chemically extracted. 

Now don't get me wrong here. I am not opposed to hash oil personally. I use dabs for pain and I take hash oil Shattercaps myself. And from time to time I do offer hash oil medibles at the request of my patients. 

So when it all comes down to brass tacks, its really just about choices and offering options for patients. I do things differently because variety is life's spice. If we all did everything the same there would be no options. 

I hope this helps to clarify not only what makes THChristi's different but also why we arent confined to "the box" when it comes to making medicines. 

Stay positive my friends!  Remwmber a mind is like a parachute and works best when it's open!

Decarboxylation. Making active medibles

"My edibles don't kick and I put a lot of medicine in them. What went wrong?"  This is a question that comes my way time and again.

We put a lot of time money and effort into growing and harvesting and curing our meds but I've noticed some of us don't take the same care when making our medibles. It's one simple step that can change everything. 

From google:

1. Decarboxylation is a chemical reaction that removes a carboxyl group and releases carbon dioxide (CO₂). Usually,decarboxylation refers to a reaction of carboxylic acids, removing a carbon atom from a carbon chain.
   
   
   In the case of marijuana, decarboxylation will change THCA to THC and make the medicine activated for oral consumption. This important step will ensure that the medibles you make are fully potent when you eat them. Not to say there isn't medicinal value in THCA bit if your looking to get the THC benefits this little step will make sure of that. 
   
   
   There are different theories out there to get the best decarboxylation of your starting material. These are the times and temperatures I use. Based on my lab testing I'm hitting between 95-99% decarb using these. 
   
   
   For kief: spread on a cookie sheet or Pyrex dish in a 250 F degree oven for 35 minutes
   
   
   For bud and trim:  grind and spread on a cookie sheet or Pyrex dish in a 250F degree oven for 30-35 minutes
   
   
   Cool and store or use right away for cooking. And yes I actually prefer to decarboxylate my material and then make butter or oil from that. When making butter or oil it will decarboxylate to some degree in the process. But I've found that you create a more potent and active butter or oil by decarbing first. 
   
   
   I hope this helps you guys with your medible making. 
   
   
   Stay Lifted!
   
   
   
   

   

   
   

   THChristi 

   
   
   
   
   
   

Medical Marijuana Fruit Leather by THChristi

Strawberry flavored Organic
Red Pear & Rhubarb fruit leather

Tired of candy and other sweets when really you just want a dose of medicine?  This recipe might help.

I'm going to share with you my recipe for Strawberry flavored Rhubarb and Red Pear fruit leather.  This is a hit with patients who are looking for something different and even a little healthy to eat as a medible. Because this recipe contains rhubarb as one of the main ingredients I have added some additional sugar to counteract the tartness found in the rhubarb.  Don't worry though, if you want to convert this you can easily substitute any fruit in the amounts listed in the recipe.  If you use a sweet fruit in season you may leave the sugar out entirely or you can reduce it to taste.  You may also substitute any desired sweetener for your dietary needs.  While fruit leather may sound daunting or complicated it's actually quite simple to make.  Let's get started!

What you will need:

• A large stock pan
• 2 greased cookie sheets with sides 
• a blender (I like the stick type blender but you can use a counter top unit as well)
• 2 Cups of coarsely chopped Rhubarb
• 2 Cups of coarsely chopped Red D'anjo Pear with peel on
• 1 1/3 Cup of water
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup sugar ( add more or less to suit your taste)
• 1 package strawberry flavor kool-aid (unsweetened)
• 2.5 grams of decarboxylated kief (or add more or less for desired potency)
• parchment paper for wrapping
• kitchen shears
• zip lock bags or other airtight container for storage

Instructions:

1. In your stock pot combine the rhubarb, pears, water and sugar.  Place on stove top on medium heat.  Heat to a simmer stirring occasionally.  Cook for approximately 15-20 minutes or until your rhubarb is softened.
2. Use your stick blender to process the contents of the pot into a nice puree constancy.  If you don't have a stick blender (immersion blender), pour the contents into your counter-top blender or food processor and pulse until you achieve a puree texture.  
3. Add to your mixture 1 packet of strawberry flavored unsweetened kool-aid and your decarboxylated kief.  
4. Again using your stick blender or counter top model pulse until everything is well blended.
5. Divide your mixture into 2 equal 1/2s.  Pour 1/2 of the mixture onto each of your greased cookie sheets. Spread until it's evenly distributed on each sheet.
6. Set your oven to 170F (or your oven lowest setting).  
7. Place the pans in your oven.  Use a wooden spoon to keep the oven door a little bit gaped.  This will allow the moisture to leave the oven as your fruit mixture dehydrates.
8. Now we wait.  I found the mixture takes anywhere from 6-12 hours to dehydrate in the oven.  You can check if it is done by attempting to peel up a corner of the fruit leather.  When it's done the leather will easily peel up.
9. Once you've achieved the desired texture, remove the sheet pans from the oven and allow it to cool on your counter.
10. When your mixture has cooled completely, score all around the edges of your sheet with a sharp knife.
11. Tear off a piece of parchment paper approximately the same size as your cookie sheet.  Place this paper over the top of your fruit leather and use your hands to rub out any trapped air bubbles in the paper
12. Starting in the corner, peel up your paper and fruit leather.  If you have scored the edges of your pan well you will be able to pull the whole sheet out in one big piece.
13. place parchment side down on a clean work counter.  Using a sharp pair of kitchen shears cut your leather and parchment into 18 evenly sized pieces.  To prevent the scissors from sticking you can grease the blades with cooking oil or non stick spray.
14. Place the cut leather pieces into individual zip-lock bags or stack them into an airtight container.

If dehydrated fully this leather can last for a very long time.  Store in a cool and dry place.  If you still have some moisture in your fruit leather you will want to store in an airtight container in your refrigerator.

** Variations for other fruits:  Simply substitute the fresh chopped fruit of your choice.  You can certainly use blends of fruit as well, just be sure that you have a total of 4 Cups of fresh chopped fruit.  Reduce the amount of sugar to taste and then follow the same instructions above.  Feel free to use an alternative sweetener such as maple syrup for this recipe.  Also if you don't want an artificial color/flavor you can make this without the kool-aid.  I mainly use the kool-aid flavoring when working with rhubarb because it mellows the sour/tart rhubarb flavor a bit.  When making with berries and other fruit I just allow the flavor of the fruit to shine through and eliminate the kool-aid from the recipe.

**Do not substitute wax paper for parchment paper.  The wax paper will absorb some moisture and become almost impossible to remove easily from the finished leather

**Alternative to cutting into rectangles you could use a cookie cutter to cut out fun shapes or you could cut out a long strip and roll it up to make a fruit roll-up

I hope you will enjoy this recipe.  If you have any questions, just leave a comment below and I will get back to you with my best answer.

Thanks for reading!  If you are enjoying my recipes please subscribe to the blog to get the latest blog posts right in your inbox.

For updates and day to day happenings with THChristi follow me on Facebook, Twitter and/or Instagram

No time to make your own?  Come find me at the Patient Cannabis Exchange farmers market in Tacoma, WA every Sunday.  I will have medicated fruit leathers along with a lot of other medible and topical medication options.  

Stay well my friends!

Dank Doggie Biscuits

I've had a few requests for my recipe for making medicated dog treats.  As many of you know, marijuana can be good medicine for our 4 legged best friends too.  This is a personal choice so please do your own research before deciding if medical marijuana is the right course of action for you or your pooch. 

Here's a couple of articles that endorse or support this type of treatment:

• http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/05/medical-marijuana-for-pets_n_3391770.html
• https://www.avma.org/news/javmanews/pages/130615a.aspx

I have also read some articles where dogs have become sick after accidentally consuming a human patient's medibles. Sometimes this can be detrimental if things that dogs shouldn't eat are in the medible (ie Chocolate & raisins).  The other problem is that most medibles made for humans contain high doses of THC which can be very disorienting and even dangerous to the animal. Please exercise caution and keep your medications up away from your pups.

In an attempt to limit the amount of THC in my dog biscuits I use the trim that remains after making infused butter or coconut oil  The key is to squeeze out all of the oil that remains in the cooked trim.  Once you have done this place the pressed trim in a small cooking pot and cover with boiling water.  Allow it to cool slightly and press again (I use a french press coffee maker to do this but you could also use a sieve and hand press it).  This will remove the water and any remaining oil.  Now you have the rinsed cooked trim material from which we will make our treats.

With all that said if you are wanting to make a medicated treat geared toward the canine in your life here's a recipe that I have created for my buddies.

Dank Doggie Biscuits

Ingredients you will need to make these treats:

• 1 Cup of rinsed cooked trim from making cannabis infused butter or coconut oil
• 1 Cup of dry oatmeal
• 1/8 Cup of water
• 1 1/4 Cup of whole wheat flour 
• 1 Tablespoon of natural peanut butter
• 1 egg -beaten
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Here's how you make them:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
   
2. Place the rinsed trim, water and oatmeal in a blender and blend on high until the mixture is pulverized.
3. In a separate large bowl combine flour, salt and baking powder
4. Add the wet pulverized mixture, peanut butter and beaten egg to your flour mixture and stir together until the mixture begins to stick together.
   
5. Pour your mixture onto a floured surface and knead by hand until everything is well combined. (about 5 minutes). Add additional flour as necessary.  You want this mixture to be the texture of a roll out cookie dough.
6. On a floured surface, roll out the mixture to a thickness of about 1/4".  
7. Cut out biscuits using a small or medium dog-bone shaped
   
   cookie cutter or use a pizza cutter and cut into small squares.  Use a fork to make holed in the dog bones (this will vent out any of the steam created and keep your biscuits fairly flat)
8. Place these cut outs on an UNGREASED cookie sheet*** This is SO important!  If you add grease or oil to these biscuits
   
   they will be TOO strong!!!!
9. Bake in the oven for 40 minutes
10. When your biscuits are done, remove from the oven and cool on a baking rack.

For short term storage you can place the cooled biscuits in a sealed container and keep in your fridge for up to 2 weeks.

For a little longer term storage place in a sealed container in

your freezer.  These will be good for about 4 months.

To store them long term without refrigeration will require a few more steps.  To do so place your cooked dog treats in a food dehydrator for about 48 hours or until their is no residual moisture remaining in the biscuit.  Trapped moisture will cause mold so break open one or two

of the biscuits to see if the center has been fully dehydrated.  Once you've removed all of the moisture these can be stored in a cookie jar at room temperature and will last for a very long time.

NOTES ON USING THESE BISCUITS:

Just like humans, each dog will have their own tolerance to marijuana in an edible form.  Use caution when giving your dog these treats until you know how much your dog can tolerate.  So start out small!  Each batch I make is different depending on the starting material and strain of marijuana used so I like to give my dogs about 1/4 of a biscuit and wait 45 minutes to an hour to see how effective it is.  If I notice that the pooch is still in pain after this waiting period I will give another 1/4 and again wait to see what affect it has.  I do this with each and every batch that I make for the dogs that way I can determine the acceptable dose.  Always err on the side of caution.... you can always give more but you can't take it back.  Remember the goal is pain relief, not a high dog.

I use these biscuits for pain relief, to relieve canine anxiety and to calm my dogs during the 4th of July celebrations, thunderstorms and when going to the groomer or long rides.

Best wishes & puppy kisses!

THChristi & friends

Cannabis Infused Coconut Oil

Today I'm sharing my process for making a Cannabis Infused Coconut Oil.  The beauty of this medicine is it's versatility.  It can be used in creating both tasty edibles and healing topicals.

You will notice that my recipe uses a mixture of buds, sugar leaf trim & fan leaf trim.  I have found that using all parts of the plant is the best way to make this.  Each part of the plant holds cannabinoids in different concentrations.  By using a whole plant mixture (minus stems) it makes a well balanced medicine that is easily processed by the body in both a topical treatment and as an edible. 

What you will need:

Steeping the plant matter

• Crockpot
• RO (reverse osmosis) water, or distilled water
• Organic Coconut Oil
• Dried and cured medical marijuana buds, sugar leaf trim and fan leaf trim
• A french coffee press or other straining device that you can press out the liquid from the material
• A large bowl or pot
• Latex or nitrile gloves
• A gold coffee filter or fine sieve

Here's the recipe for 1 Cup of Coconut oil.  You can easily double, triple or whatever you like.

1. In your crockpot add 1 Cup of organic Coconut Oil.  Turn your crock pot on low and allow the oil to melt into a liquid.  
2. Once the coconut oil has melted add 2 ounces of dried plant material.  I like to use about 1/3 dried buds, 1/3 dry fan leaf trim, and 1/3 sugar leaf trim. It's not important to make these exact 3rds but it is key that your total dried plant matter is a total of 2 ounces for every cup of coconut oil.
3. add 5-6 cups of your RO or Distilled water.  IMPORTANT:  some folks make this without the water and just mix the fat with the plant matter.  I do not recommend doing it that way.  The water acts as a filter for a large amount of the chlorophyll as well as prevents your mixture from becoming too hot and scalding or cooking off the precious cannabinoids which you are after.
4. Turn your crock pot on high.  Stir your mixture every hour.  This will agitate the plant matter in the oil and help to infuse the cannabinoids into the oil.  
5. After 1 hour turn your crock pot onto low or warm and allow this mixture to cook and steep for at least 4 hours but up to 24 hours.  
6. Once you've reached the desired time, turn off your crock pot and allow this mixture to cool down to a temperature you can work with easily without burning yourself.
7. Using a ladle or large spoon, scoop your mixture into your clean french press coffee maker.  Press the mixture to strain out the plant matter and pour the liquid into a large bowl or pot.  This may take several pressings depending on the size of your french press.  If you are not using a french press you can use a wire sieve to strain out the liquid.  Be sure to glove up and squeeze out the liquid by hand.  
8. When you have strained out all of the plant matter cover your bowl or pot (which now contains a mixture of water and oil) and place it into the refrigerator overnight.
9. Once your liquid has chilled overnight it will have seperated into 2 layers.  Remove the hardened coconut oil from the top and drain on a paper towel.  Discard the water.
10. At this point you may notice there are still some fine particles attached to the bottom of your hardened coconut oil.  To remove these you will want to remelt the hardened coconut oil in a pot over low heat.  Once this is melted back into a liquid strain it through a fine sieve or your gold coffee filter.
11. Place this liquid back into the refrigerator to solidify.

Now you have a strong coconut oil infusion which can be used in edibles as well as topicals.  This mixture will store well in the fridge or freezer. 

I like to place 1/4 Cup premeasured amounts into zippered bags and keep it in the freezer.  When I'm ready to make a recipe I can just pull out the amount I need and thaw it out and add it to the recipe.

You can use this infused coconut oil straight on your skin as an effective topical treatment or add it into your favorite topical recipes like my THChristi Tub Treats

For edibles, you can easily substitute 1:1 solidified coconut oil for butter, or melted coconut oil for other oils in your favorite recipes.  Or try making my 99% Organic Coconut Oatmeal Cookies

Subscribe or stay tuned for more make your own medicine recipes using Cannabis Infused Coconut Oil.  

Have fun and stay medicated!

99% Organic Coconut Oatmeal Cookies

MMMMMM!  Today I made these at the request of one of my patients and they turned out so great I wanted to share my recipe with you all.  I'm calling them 99% Organic because the chocolate and peanut butter chips are not organic but everything else in the recipe is!

So here's the ingredients you will need to make these tasty treats:

• 2 3/4 Cup Organic White Flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1 Cup of cannabis infused organic cold pressed coconut oil
• 1 Cup organic cane sugar (the light colored stuff)
• 1 Cup organic brown cane sugar (the dark stuff)
• 2 farm fresh organic eggs
• 1 Cup of organic quick oats
• 1/4 Cup chocolate chips
• 1/4 Cup Peanut Butter chips
• 1/4 Cup shredded organic coconut

Instructions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees

In a medium mixing bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, oatmeal, cinnamon and salt.  Set aside.

Put your 1 cup of infused coconut oil in the microwave for 30-60 seconds to melt.  

In another mixing bowl blend together eggs and sugars then drizzle in the melted coconut oil.  Beat this together until smooth. Then add the dry ingredients from the other mixing bowl a little at a time until you have a well mixed dough.  

Now add in the coconut and chocolate/ peanut butter chips and stir them in by hand so as not to break up the chips.

Use about 1 tablespoon to form a nice 2" size cookies. Place the cookies about 2" apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.   Use the back side of a spoon to flatten the dough on your cookie sheet.  

Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes. 

Let the cookies sit on the cookie sheet for about 2 minutes then remove to a cooling rack to finish cooling.  

This recipe will make approximately 48 @ 2" medicated cookies.

If you are new to eating medibles start with 1 cookie and wait about 45 minutes to guage the effect of the cookie.  If you still have pain then go ahead and have a second cookie.  Everyone's tolerance is different.

Enjoy!

Gooey Ganja Smores Bars

Oh yeah!  I just whipped up a test batch of these and after the first bite I could tell that this is a recipe worth sharing.  Now to get the blog done before the medicine kicks in and slows my typing to a crawl :0).

Ok so to make my Gooey Ganja S'mores Bars you'll need the following ingredients:

• 1 C Chocolate chips.  I used a combination of semi-sweet, peanut butter, dark chocolate and some pink chocolate chips I had left from valentines day.  You can use whatever kind you prefer or mix up a batch like I did.
• 3 Cups of Golden Grahams Cereal
• 3 C mini marshmallows
• 1/2 C mini marshmallows cut in 1/2
• 5 T Canna butter
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp mexican vanilla extract (or use regular vanilla extract)
• 1 Cup of Wiltons milk chocolate candy melts

You'll also need a 9x13 pan greased with cannabis butter with a little canna butter reserved for greasing your hands.

A large mixing bowl and a medium microwave safe bowl & a small microwave safe bowl. This is a pretty easy project, but still takes anywhere from 15-30 minutes.

So let's get started!  

1. Place your Chocolate chips in the freezer (they need to be cold for about 10 minutes to keep from melting when we mix the bars together.)
2. In your large bowl mix together the Golden Grahams and the 1/2 Cup of mini marshmallows that you cut in 1/2.  Set aside.
3. In your medium bowl, mix together 5 T of Canna butter and 3 Cups of mini marshmallows.  Place in the microwave for about 1 minute.  Remove from the microwave and stir.  If your marshmallows haven't melted all the way, return to the microwave in 30 second intervals and stir each time. 
4. Once the marshmallows and the Canna butter have melted and blended together fully, add the salt and the vanilla and stir until well blended.
5. Add the chocolate chips to your cereal mixture and mix it up
6. Pour the marshmallow mixture over your cereal mixture.  With greased hands mix it well together and press it into your greased pan. Press it in well so that as it cools it will form nice bars, but not so hard that you break up your cereal.  Set aside.
7. Place your candy molds in your small microwave safe bowl and microwave for 1 minute.  Stir.  Return to microwave in 30 second intervals stirring between each.  Do this until it is fully melted.  ***TIP:  Candy melts cannot get even a drop of water in them or they will freeze up into a nasty lumpy clump.  Be sure your bowl, hands and spoon are completely dry!
8. Pour your melted candy melts over the top of your cereal bars.  Spread with a knife to get a nice even top.
9. Place your pan into the fridge to set up for 20 minutes or until they have chilled.
10. Cut and serve.

To store, place indivindual bars into ziplocks.  Can store in fridge or in the cupboard.  These will store about as long as homemade cookies, about 5 days to a week, so eat them up.

Enjoy!

Hash Hard Candy

I had a request for my recipe for Hash Hard Candies.  To be honest this recipe is just the recipe from LorAnn Oils with the addition of some decarboxylated kief hash.  I've used their flavorings and recipe for awhile and have been pretty happy with my results.  Check out their website if you want to purchase LorAnn Oils candy making supplies.

So here's what you will need for this recipe:

• A Candy Thermometer (absolutely necessary)
• A heat gun (recommended but not necessary if you have a reliable candy thermometer)
• A heavy pot for cooking
• Hard candy mold or mini muffin pan with foil liners
• Patience and lots of time!
• 2 Cups of Sugar
• 2/3 Cup of Corn Syrup
• 3/4 Cup of water
• 1 dram (1 small bottle) Candy flavoring oil
• 1 teaspoon Tart n' Sour flavoring
• decarboxylated kief (amount will depend on how strong your dosing your candies)  This time I used 1/8th gram per candy in my mini muffin tin.
• extra sugar for dusting your finished candies

Ok so here's the thing with making hard candies, you have have have to be patient.  This process takes a long time and if you try to speed it up you will run the very real risk of scalding your sugar and ruining the whole batch, so please be sure you have the time before beginning this process.

How to do it:

1. Spray your mold or muffin tin with a very light shot of cooking spray.
2. Measure out your desired dosage of decarboxylated kief and add that to each section in the muffin tin or mold
3. Add the Sugar, Corn Syrup, & Water to your heavy pan. DO NOT STIR!
4. Place your candy thermometer in your pan.  Be sure that it doesn't rest on the bottom of your pan if it does, it will break and ruin your thermometer and your candy.
5. Place your pan on medium heat.  
6. Pull up a chair and be prepared for the wait.  Watch your candy  in the pot, but do not stir it or turn your heat up past medium. 
7. Watch for the sugar mixture to begin to boil.  Now allow it to boil together until it reaches 300 degrees F (hard crack stage).  This takes anywhere from 20-40 minutes depending on your oven.  Here's where the heat gun comes in handy.  I use it to check the temperature of the boiling candy in different parts of the pan.  I do this throughout the boiling process.  Inevitably there will be a hot and cool spot in the pan.  When any one spot hits 300 degrees F immediately remove the pan from the burner.
8. Quickly add your flavoring and Tart 'n Sour.   It will incorporate with the boiling action of the candy mixture. DO NOT STIR! Stirring will create bubbles in your candy. 
9. Add your candy mixture to your prepared molds.  I use a metal tablespoon and quickly spoon it into the mini muffin tin.  Whatever is left over I pour into one of my hard candy molds. (Be sure you are only using molds that are rated for high heat.  Chocolate molds are NOT and WILL MELT if you add this molten sugar into them! Ruins your mold and your candies too!)
10. Allow your candies to cool completely
11. Carefully unmold your candy
12. In a small bowl add about 1/4 Cup of granulated sugar.
13. Place each candy into sugar and flip the candy over so both sides are coated with sugar.  You may spray a fine mist of water on the candies to help the sugar to adhere.
14. Place candies on a plate and allow to dry with the sugar coating in place.
15. Package and enjoy your Hash Hard Candies.

***Please note you are working with REALLY HOT sugar and this can burn really bad.  Use extreme care to keep this away from your skin!

OK so I hope you have fun making your own Hard Hash Candies, just remember to have lots of patience & time.  And again please be very careful.  That molten sugar can do a lot of damage to your skin.  I recommend doing this entire project BEFORE medicating so you are able to give this your full attention.

Stay Elevated!

Decarboxylating Kief For Medibles

Decarboxylating kief makes it more potent in medibles

OK here's a quick DIY and Why for decarboxylating kief for medibles.  The main reason to do so is by decarboxylating the kief you convert the THCA in THC which is activated for the body to process through oral administration (eating).  When I first began making my edible medicines I didn't know about this crucial step.  After all my hard work making my medibles sometimes they just didn't seem to kick. I did a little research and found that by decarboxylating the starting plant matter (in this case kief) you could convert the THCA to THC and make sure that your edibles were made with the fullest absorption into your body.

So here's how I do mine.  First using a kief box, shake out some kief from your buds or other plant matter.  For cooking it's ok if your kief material is yellow to yellow/green in color, so you may want to shake twice.  The first shake (yellow) you may want to save for smoking.  The second shake (yellow/green) you can use for all of your cooking needs.  Remove the kief from the base of your shake box and place in a baking pan.  Place this kief in a 250 degree oven for about 30 minutes.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool.  Now your kief is decarboxylated and ready to be added to all of your delicious medible recipes.  I store my decarboxylated kief in a small mason jar in a dark cupboard and use it as needed.'

Here's a fantastic article about decarboxylation.  In the article they say 240 degrees F for 30-60 minutes.  I still do mine for 30 minutes at 250 F.  You can decide what works best for you.

Stay elevated!

THChristi's 5 Minute Marijuana Muffin

THChristi's 5 Minute Marijuana Muffin

Because sometimes you don't have a lot of time for cooking fancy medibles I wanted to share one that I make when I need a no nonsense medible.  This recipe only takes 5 minutes start to finish and is cooked in a mug in the microwave so no big clean up.

Here's what you'll need:  

• 2 Tablespoons of all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons of Cannabis Sugar *
• 1/4 teaspoon of baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon Cinnamon
• 2 Tablespoons of milk* (I use evaporated from a can but you can use whatever milk you prefer)
• 1 Tablespoon + 2 teaspoons vegetable oil*
• 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla
• Yogurt for topping the muffin

Here's how you do it:

1. In a small mixing bowl combine your dry ingredients.  Stir them together with a fork until well mixed.
2. Add milk, cooking oil & vanilla.  Stir well
3. Spray your mug with cooking spray
4. Pour mixture into mug
5. Microwave on high for 1 minute.  Check to see that center of this muffin is done by inserting a toothpick.  If the toothpick comes out clean its done.  If the toothpick has wet batter on it, microwave again in 30 second intervals until it's done.
6. Remove from the mug.  Allow to cool for a minute or so.  Serve with a scoop of yogurt over the top.

*If you don't have Cannabis Sugar, use regular sugar and either substitute CannaMilk for the milk in the recipe or substitue CannaButter or CannaOil for the cooking oil in this recipe.  If you don't have any of these Cannabis cooking items on hand you could add a measured dose of decarboxylated kief to the recipe too. 

There are several variations you can do on this recipe......

• Add 1/8th Cup of dried fruit &/or nuts to the recipe
• Add 1 Tablespoon of cocoa powder for a chocolatey muffin and topp with a few chocolate chips &/or nuts
• Add 1 Tablespoon crushed pineapple & substitute 1 teaspoon brown sugar to make a pineapple upside down muffin.  Serve topped with a maraschino cherry 

Stay elevated!

Cup o' Cannabis Instant Oats

Medical marijuana for breakfast? Well yes!  Pain doesn't care what time it comes calling.  

Some mornings I wake up feeling like I've been run over by a bus in my sleep.  Chronic pain from Fibromyalgia is like that for me a lot of mornings.  I needed an edible option that was easy but effective.  This is a fairly healthy breakfast option too. I came up with this make ahead instant breakfast treat to do the trick.

THChristi's Cup o' Cannabis Instant Oats:

What you'll need:  

• 5 Cups Quick Oats
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 Cup Cannabis Sugar
• 1/2 Cup Powdered Creamer
• Large mixing bowl
• Food processor
• 12 snack sized zip lock bags
• Optional add ins like nuts, raisins, brown sugar, dried fruit, cinnamon, nutmeg etc.

Here's how you do it:

1. Measure out 2 1/2 Cups of Quick Oats and place in the food processor with the blade attachment.  Run until you've ground the oats into a fine powder.
2. In your mixing bowl add the ground oats and 2 1/2 Cups un-ground quick oats.  Add in Cannabis Sugar, Powdered Creamer and salt.  (Add in up to 3/4 Cup of any of the above listed add ins)  Mix well.**
3. Now measure out 1/2 Cup of your mixture into snack sized baggies.  This will make about 12 servings. 

**For stronger medicine you can add a measured dose of decarboxylated kief into each bag.

To make your Cup o' Cannabis Instant Oats:

Empty packet into a coffee mug. Add 3/4 Cup of cold water and microwave for 1-3 minutes or add 3/4 Cup of boiling water and let stand for 3 minutes.  If you made your packets plain, add in any toppings you like now and enjoy!

Cannabis Sugar

As promised, here's an easy recipe using the medical marijuana tincture I taught you to make last month.  Cannabis infused sugar!  I love this recipe because it is so easy to make and to use.  I package in small ziplocks from the bead store and keep these in my purse.  When I'm out and about and need to medicate, I can order up a coffee or tea and stir in a packet of my cannabis sugar.  You can also make and use in place of sugar to make any recipe a medible.  I  like to use as an extra layer of medication by sprinkling on top of my medicated sugar and/or peanut butter cookies. 

What you will need:

• Mixing Bowl
• Measuring Cups & Spoons
• Baking Sheet
• Alcohol Based MMJ Tincture 
• Granulated Sugar
• Optional: sugar/candy molds

Directions:

1. Place 1 Cup of granulated sugar in a mixing bowl.  Add 1 Tablespoon of tincture.  Mix well to fully incorporate tincture into sugar.  Mixture will still be grainy.  This is fine.  
2. Spread the mixture onto a baking sheet pan in a thin layer ****
3. Place in a 200 degree F oven for 30 minutes.  This will evaporate the alcohol from your sugar.  
4. Remove from oven and allow to completely cool. Sugar will be clumped up on your baking sheet, this is normal 
5. Place clumped sugar in a sieve and press through with a metal spoon to re-granulate the sugar
6. Place sugar in an airtight container for storage

Uses:

Use Cannabis sugar in any way you would use regular sugar.  I like to add it to my coffee, iced tea, hot tea, oatmeal, cereal, on a halved grapefruit,  in a fruit salad & anywhere else where I would use granulated sugar. Use in recipes to make medibles.  Keep a container at your desk at work or package in single serving sized bags for convenience.

****Optional:  To create pre-portioned sugar cubes, press sugar mixture into a teaspoon or sugar mold.  Place onto a baking sheet and follow above directions for baking.

I hope you will find this recipe an easy way to get your medical marijuana for home and on the go.  

Stay Elevated!

Tincture Tutorial

Getting ready to make tincture

Tinctures are such a versatile way to use medical marijuana. Dispensaries here in Washington State carry various flavors, strengths and strain types to treat a variety of medical issues. Tinctures work in 3 ways in that they can be used under the tongue for fast action, swallowed for an edible effect or even used topically for relief without any psycotropic effect. Tinctures allow for discreet options for patients looking to medicate in public or private. *Please note that under Washington State law 69.51a "it shall be a class 3 civil infraction to use or display medical cannabis in a manner or place which is in open view of the general public" so do so only at your own risk

I use tincture as a base for many of the medical marijuana recipes that I'm planning toshare with you, like my Tincture Teddies so I thought I'd better rewind and give you the basics. So here's my method to make your basic cannabis tincture with alcohol. You'll be surprised at the ease and effectiveness of this medicine.

What you will need:

• Everclear or some other high proof alcohol. The higher proof the better to capture the Cannabinoids in your plant material
• Dry medical marijuana. For a more well rounded tincture I like to use a mix of ground bud, sugar leaf and fan leaf. This allows you to extract not only THC which is most prevalent in the bud, but also CBD and other Cannabinoids which can be found in higher concentrations in the leaf material. See my notes at the end of the blog for choosing which marijuana strain to use for your tinctures
• A resealable glass jar
• Labels!

Step 1:

Rough chop your material. Do not grind it too fine or your final tincture will be cloudy. Place the ground marijuana on a cookie sheet in a thin layer and bake in a 250 degree oven for 30 minutes. This will decarboxylate the marijuana activating the medication so that your body can process it. This is the most important step in this recipe. Here's a short video by Dr. Frankel which explains how decarboxylating works on a chemical level and why this step is so important in making edible marijuana medicines.

Step 2:

Once your marijuana has cooled, place your resealable jar. Now add enough of the alcohol to cover your plant matter. Seal the jar and label with strain name, today's date and any other information about your stain. Place sealed jar in a dark warm place for 1 month. I store mine in the back of the cupboard above my stove.

Step 3:
Wait. This is the hardest part, but trust me it will be well worth it! I like to check on my tincture once a week and give it a little shake. If you are in great need, you can sample the tincture at 2 weeks, but allowing it to go the full month in a dry warm cupboard allows for the fullest extraction and the most potency.

Step 4:
Remove the tincture from the cupboard and strain out the plant material. I pour mine through one of those gold reusable coffee filters. Put the liquid tincture back into a resealable jar and store in a dark cupboard, fridge or freezer. I keep one in the freezer for making cold drinks and another in the cupboard.

Step 5:
Sample your product to determine your dosing. Each and every tincture you make will be different depending on the marijuana used to make it. This is why it is so important to label your tincture with the strain information. I don't know about you, but after 1 month I'm not going to remember the qualities of the marijuana I put in the jar.

• Sub-lingual use: To determine your dosing for sub-lingual, start with a 1/4-1/2 teaspoon. Hold it under your tongue and allow it to absorb. You should feel the full effect within 5-10 minutes. this will be pretty hot in your mouth.You may want to add a flavoring agent. I find that mint and cinnamon essential oils work well to make it more palatable.
• Edible use: To determine your best dosing for using your tincture as an edible medication occasional users should start with 1 teaspoon of tincture and regular users and those with higher tolerances will want to start with aobut 1 Tablespoon. You can drink this plain or add it to the beverage of your choosing. You should start to feel the full effect of this medication in about 30-45 minutes and the medicating effect lasts for hours for most people. Note the effects and adjust your dosing as neccessary.

Notes on choosing marijuana strains for your tincture:

When choosing which strain marijuana to use for your tincture you will want to consider the overall effect and medical qualities of the marijuana. If you have a particular strain that you like to smoke or vaporize you'll notice the same kind of medicating qualities in a tincture made from that strain.

Using an indica dominant strain will make a stonier final product (think: evening relaxation, couch-lock, nap, pain relief, anxiety relief, muscle relaxation, movie night, and overall stoniness).

Using a sativa dominant strain will make a more energetic tincture (think: active schedule, upbeat, energetic, motivated, productive, pain relief, depression relief, mood elevation, social time and an overall feeling of highness).

You may like to have couple of tinctures on hand so you can use whichever one is most compatible with your symptoms and schedule.

When I'm fighting pain and anxiety I use the indica tincture as I've found that for me the energetic sativa can increase my anxiety levels. When I'm fighting pain with depression or a busy schedule and long to do list I like to use the sativa tincture. It allows me to stay motivated while relieving my pain. You'll need to experiment and determine what works best for your body chemistry and individual likes and needs.

My OG Kush Tincture

Notes on how to use your tincture:

Like I said at the beginning, tinctures are so versatile Here are just a few ways to administer your tincture medication.

1. Place tincture in a medicine dropper bottle. When needed simply drop under tongue and allow to absorb
2. Add tincture to ANY beverage. Use it in your morning coffee, your juice, water, tea, hot chocolate, cocktail, or whatever
3. Take your tincture straight by the spoonful
4. Add tincture to recipes to make an easy medible
5. Add tincture to dressings & sauces
6. Place flavored tincture in a micro spray bottle & use like a breath spray
7. Use tincture topically for pain, inflammation and skin irritations
8. Add tincture to your favorite lotions for an instant topical medication
9. Add honey to make a medicated syrup that can be taken like cough syrup
10. Use tincture to make my Tincture Teddies & stay tuned to You Me & MaryJane or subscribe by email at the top of this page for more medical marijuana recipes to come.

Hope you will find this tincture tutorial useful and helpful for treating yourself.

Be Well!