It has not been easy to get on here to blog lately. L is finally doing better but we still haven't really gotten our life back to normal (whatever normal means). I am studying to take a test to extend my teaching license to cover more grades, trying to find a teaching position for next year and still trying to cook and keep the family healthy. I have not tried any new recipes lately but plan to soon. The farmer's markets are opening this month and I hope to start stocking up. Busy, busy, busy...
I thought I would go ahead and jump on here and tell you all about a new face wash I am using. I plan on making my own face wash, body wash, etc. eventually, but for now I buy as natural as possible. The new soap is a bar soap called Olivella. It is made with virgin olive oil from Italy according to the company. I started using it and noticed a difference after one day. My face is softer, less oily and less flaky/dry. I have EXTREMELY oily skin, especially face and hair. I have had trouble with my hair my whole life and my poor daughter has hair just like mine. She is two and a half and already has trouble with oily hair. I plan on experimenting a little with hair this summer when I don't have to worry about looking nice if I mess it up some day. During the summer I jump in the pool multiple times per day anyway. Anyway, back to my face... If you can believe it, my face is oily and dry at the same time. I have no idea how that happens. And I am 28 years old and still break out like a teenager. I have tried everything. Through the past year I have been reading about natural methods of cleansing our bodies on the outside since we've been focusing so much on our insides already.
I bought this soap at my local health food store but you can also find it online. If you want to check the company out, this is their website: http://www.olivellausa.com
The exact bar soap I bought and use is: http://www.olivellausa.com/OlivellaBarSoap.html
The only ingredient which is concerning to some is the fragrance. I'm not sure exactly what the fragrance is derived from but the other ingredients are just olive oils. This is about as natural as you get without making your own. As I experiment more with my own I will post blogs. This all started when I read something about how it doesn't make sense to use the soaps we use on our faces. Oils wash away oils, harsh chemicals do not.
Another note: I used a scrub daily because I felt like I had build up on my face everyday whether I wore make up or not. With this soap, I don't feel a build up at all and don't feel the need to add anything else to my cleansing routine. Not to mention this is so much cheaper than what I was using. I also have sensitive skin so my soaps were always more expensive. Since I lost weight over the past year, my body chemistry has changed and I have reactions to even more of the harsh soaps. I was using a "natural" cleanser. The brand is Boscia. It is incredibly expensive. I spent between $35-$40 per bottle of face wash. And that doesn't include the acne gel, moisturizer or scrub. So, for $4, I have replaced at least 3-4 expensive products.
Try it. If not this soap, then some other more natural oil method. I have been so skeptical of all of this natural stuff for so long but now that I have started trying some of them, I believe there are many benefits to this way of life.
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
Canned Applesauce
With all of the digestive issues in this family, we have pretty much stopped processed food all together. This includes jars and cans from the store which most people still use for convenience. It is difficult to cook completely from scratch this way in this society based so much on convenience and constant go go go. We, like many families, are often on the go but we have decided to make health a priority so that we can keep going going going. This means I even can my own food. I've done a few posts on freezing and I still do that quite often. But now, I can too. This is very new to me. I know my great grandparents canned their own food from their own garden. We don't have the space or time for a garden yet though that is the ultimate goal. For now, I will stock up when the farmer's market has a good selection and when I find organic produce on sale at the grocery stores. So far, I have only canned applesauce. But it is so good! I bought this great little pressure cooker which also doubles as a water bath cooker. The applesauce was done in a water bath and here are the instructions:
Ingredients and Materials:
Large pot for cooking apples
Peeler/Corer or good knife
Water bath canner
A big bunch of apples
Water
Directions:
Peel and core apples. Place the apple slices in a large pot with about an inch of water in the bottom. (More or less water depending on the size of the pot and amount of apples.) Cook apples on the stove and stir until all apple slices are tender. Mash with a potato masher. I'm sure you could also process in a food processor or something similar if you want a finer texture applesauce. Spoon the applesauce into pint canning jars. You should taste it now. I used really great granny smith apples and they were great just like this. But, depending on the type of apple, you may want to add a little sugar. You want to add the sugar and cinnamon or other optional ingredients before you spoon into jars. After the jars are full and closed, submerge them in the water bath with about an inch of water above the jars. Boil in the water bath for about twenty minutes. NOTE: If you live in a higher altitude, you will need to boil longer.
After twenty minutes, pull the cans out carefully and let them cool completely before storing. I set out a couple of kitchen towels and set the jars on them to cool. They need about 12 hours to cool before storage.
(Pictures to come later. I have a new computer and I'm still getting things switched around.)
Ingredients and Materials:
Large pot for cooking apples
Peeler/Corer or good knife
Water bath canner
A big bunch of apples
Water
Directions:
Peel and core apples. Place the apple slices in a large pot with about an inch of water in the bottom. (More or less water depending on the size of the pot and amount of apples.) Cook apples on the stove and stir until all apple slices are tender. Mash with a potato masher. I'm sure you could also process in a food processor or something similar if you want a finer texture applesauce. Spoon the applesauce into pint canning jars. You should taste it now. I used really great granny smith apples and they were great just like this. But, depending on the type of apple, you may want to add a little sugar. You want to add the sugar and cinnamon or other optional ingredients before you spoon into jars. After the jars are full and closed, submerge them in the water bath with about an inch of water above the jars. Boil in the water bath for about twenty minutes. NOTE: If you live in a higher altitude, you will need to boil longer.
After twenty minutes, pull the cans out carefully and let them cool completely before storing. I set out a couple of kitchen towels and set the jars on them to cool. They need about 12 hours to cool before storage.
(Pictures to come later. I have a new computer and I'm still getting things switched around.)
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Smoothies
I have been missing from the blogger world for awhile now. We've had some major issues with my daughter. She has been very ill off and on. As I've stated before, we believed she had a food allergy, mainly to corn. Well, in recent months, she has started reacting to almost every food she eats. We have had so much trouble getting any pediatricians to help us so we are now trying a naturopath. Basically, we have started over completely. She was at the point she wasn't eating or drinking anything. It was getting very scary. After two and a half months with this naturopath, she now eats a few things and always drinks water and tea. And she is finally gaining a little weight. But her diet is very strict. We started out only offering the following foods: sweet potatoes, avocado, chicken, salmon, peas, spinach, apple, pear, banana, white beans and a nitrate free bacon. On these, we put salt, olive oil and coconut oil. At first, she wouldn't eat any and even stopped drinking for two whole days. She lost a few pounds. Since that wasn't working we had to take a different approach. We still used that list as our base but I went ahead and let her eat a few of her fruit squeezers. You know the ones you can buy and they can suck out through the top while squeezing. I finally found one she would eat. Then she started drinking water and tea. Then she started eating the bacon. And now she eats baked or grilled chicken and sometimes a regular potato. She has finally slept through the night for several nights in a row. She has never slept through the night before and she is two and a half years old.
With all of that, I just haven't had the time, energy or heart to work on blogging, cooking, crafting or job searching. I hope we are on our way to a healthy child so we can all get back to life. I still have blogs started from Christmas time that I haven't finished and posted. But I do have a few smoothie recipes for you today.
Spinach and Fruit Smoothie:
2 handfuls baby spinach
1 apple, cored (you can peel too if you prefer but I like the peel)
1 banana
1 cup almond milk (I use almond but you could just as easily use any kind of milk)
5 whole strawberries
1/2 orange
2 scoops protein powder (optional, I use whey protein powder)
Blend all together. This can be frozen for use through the week. This actually made 2-3 servings.
Breakfast Smoothie:
1 cup peaches
1/4 cup blueberries
1/2 cup almond milk
1 scoop protein powder
Blend all together. This one is also good to freeze if needed. This one is enough for 2 small smoothies or 1 large. I doubled the recipe and made 3 smoothies.
With all of that, I just haven't had the time, energy or heart to work on blogging, cooking, crafting or job searching. I hope we are on our way to a healthy child so we can all get back to life. I still have blogs started from Christmas time that I haven't finished and posted. But I do have a few smoothie recipes for you today.
Spinach and Fruit Smoothie:
2 handfuls baby spinach
1 apple, cored (you can peel too if you prefer but I like the peel)
1 banana
1 cup almond milk (I use almond but you could just as easily use any kind of milk)
5 whole strawberries
1/2 orange
2 scoops protein powder (optional, I use whey protein powder)
Blend all together. This can be frozen for use through the week. This actually made 2-3 servings.
Breakfast Smoothie:
1 cup peaches
1/4 cup blueberries
1/2 cup almond milk
1 scoop protein powder
Blend all together. This one is also good to freeze if needed. This one is enough for 2 small smoothies or 1 large. I doubled the recipe and made 3 smoothies.
Monday, January 7, 2013
Vanilla Shortbread Cookies
These were very good. The first bite was a little weird but they quickly became addicting. And the toddler LOVED them. She even started saying "cookie". Well, it actually comes out "kie" but it's still a new word. One note though, make sure the butter is soft enough. It makes a huge difference in the taste and texture of the cookies.
Ingredients:
2 cups flour
½ tsp. salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
½ cup sugar
1 tsp. corn-free vanilla extract
Directions:
In a bowl, combine the flour and salt. In a mixer, add butter and sugar and beat until fluffy and light. Be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl regularly throughout the mixing process. Add in vanilla extract and mix until combined. Add flour mix and carefully mix until combined, without over-mixing The dough should stick together when clumped with fingers. Put dough on a sheet of wax paper and roll out until about ¼ inch thick. (I actually liked it better just a little thicker than this.) Line baking sheets with wax paper and preheat oven to 325°F. Cut out cookies with a cookie cutter or just using a pizza cutter/knife to make small squares/rectangles. I used some Christmas cookie cutters this time. Place cookies onto pan with about and inch of space between. Bake until firm and edges are starting to turn golden, about 10 minutes. Be careful not to overcook. Let cool then serve.
Ingredients:
2 cups flour
½ tsp. salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
½ cup sugar
1 tsp. corn-free vanilla extract
Directions:
In a bowl, combine the flour and salt. In a mixer, add butter and sugar and beat until fluffy and light. Be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl regularly throughout the mixing process. Add in vanilla extract and mix until combined. Add flour mix and carefully mix until combined, without over-mixing The dough should stick together when clumped with fingers. Put dough on a sheet of wax paper and roll out until about ¼ inch thick. (I actually liked it better just a little thicker than this.) Line baking sheets with wax paper and preheat oven to 325°F. Cut out cookies with a cookie cutter or just using a pizza cutter/knife to make small squares/rectangles. I used some Christmas cookie cutters this time. Place cookies onto pan with about and inch of space between. Bake until firm and edges are starting to turn golden, about 10 minutes. Be careful not to overcook. Let cool then serve.
Note: This recipe was modified from HERE.
Christmas Crack
NOTE: This is not corn-free as is. I may work on a corn free version later.
This is a great candy for the holidays. Everyone who tried it liked it. It didn't stay as hard as most toffee type candies so I left it in the fridge most of the time. My mom left hers in a bag on the counter though and loved it just like that.
Ingredients:
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 sleeve saltines
1½-2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips (the original recipe was for 2 cups but I prefer a little less chocolate)
Directions:
In a small saucepan, melt the butter and combine with brown sugar. Bring to a boil.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Cover a cookie sheet with foil. Line the pan with saltines. Pour the butter and brown sugar syrup over the saltines. Some of the crackers will float so you will have to line them back up and make sure they are covered by the syrup. Bake for 10 minutes.
Remove pan from oven and pour chocolate chips over the top. When chips are softened, use a spatula to spread it evenly across the candy. If you need this to harden very fast, you can put it in the freezer. I put it in the fridge over night. Freezing might actually help with the hardening problem I had. When it is hard enough, dump out of the pan and remove the foil. Break into pieces and enjoy.
This was eaten up before I could get a picture of the broken pieces. Obviously everyone liked this stuff. Next time I will make sure and get a picture of it broken into pieces.
This is a great candy for the holidays. Everyone who tried it liked it. It didn't stay as hard as most toffee type candies so I left it in the fridge most of the time. My mom left hers in a bag on the counter though and loved it just like that.
Ingredients:
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 sleeve saltines
1½-2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips (the original recipe was for 2 cups but I prefer a little less chocolate)
Directions:
In a small saucepan, melt the butter and combine with brown sugar. Bring to a boil.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Cover a cookie sheet with foil. Line the pan with saltines. Pour the butter and brown sugar syrup over the saltines. Some of the crackers will float so you will have to line them back up and make sure they are covered by the syrup. Bake for 10 minutes.
Remove pan from oven and pour chocolate chips over the top. When chips are softened, use a spatula to spread it evenly across the candy. If you need this to harden very fast, you can put it in the freezer. I put it in the fridge over night. Freezing might actually help with the hardening problem I had. When it is hard enough, dump out of the pan and remove the foil. Break into pieces and enjoy.
This was eaten up before I could get a picture of the broken pieces. Obviously everyone liked this stuff. Next time I will make sure and get a picture of it broken into pieces.
Friday, January 4, 2013
Rice
It seems silly to put a recipe for regular ol' rice on here but my group is very picky and I've finally perfected my method so that we can all eat rice. So here is my method and recipe for the rest of you. Maybe it will help some who also have to please picky eaters.
Ingredients:
1 cup rice (I prefer Basmati but this will work for any rice. I've used several.)
1 Tbsp. onion powder
3 cups water
salt and pepper
Directions:
In an appropriate sized pot, stir together all ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce to a low boil/high simmer until most liquid is gone. Serve.
Ingredients:
1 cup rice (I prefer Basmati but this will work for any rice. I've used several.)
1 Tbsp. onion powder
3 cups water
salt and pepper
Directions:
In an appropriate sized pot, stir together all ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce to a low boil/high simmer until most liquid is gone. Serve.
Thursday, January 3, 2013
Ornament Wreath
Here is one of my many Christmas crafts. They are all over Pinterest and the blogosphere and now it is here too. Part of keeping a blog is to just keep everything together in one place along with sharing it with others. I like to share my experience if it could help others but I also like the fact that all of my projects and recipes are in one place for me to go find. I know exactly how my blog is organized and how to find everything.
Materials (with cost):
wire clothes hanger (Free! They come with my husbands clean uniform shirts. We send most back because I hate wire hangers in the closet but I kept a few for projects.)
wire cutters (Free! My husband is so handy. He always has the tools I need in the garage.)
duct tape (I can't remember exact cost. Approximately $2-$3 I used a red duct tape. Did you know they have a million colors of this stuff now?)
tons of cheap Christmas ornament balls (I used about 60 and it ended up smaller than I originally planned. I bought them at the dollar store but by the time I realized I needed more, they were out of every color except gold. Yuck! So I made do with what I had. Originally I spent $6 and had 6 tubes of 10-12 ornaments. So all in all this is a cheap project.)
big festive bow ($2 at Walmart)
hot glue gun with extra sticks of glue (Free! I already have a bunch in the drawer at home.)
Directions:
1. Cut off the hook of the wire hanger with the wire hangers.
2. Hot glue the tops on the top of the ornaments. Trust me, do not skip this step. I went through and if it was easy to pull the tops off, I hot glued. But I thought the rest would be okay. Boy was I wrong. Every time someone opened the door, an ornament fell. Most of them ended up hot glued after the fact and I still have 2 ornaments I found while cleaning up decorations.
3. Start stringing the ornaments on the wire hanger. You will have to move them around to get it to look full. Pack the ornaments on there tight so they don't move and it all looks even.
4. Duct tape the ends of the hanger together to make it a wreath.
5. Attach the big pretty bow to hide the ends and the duct tape.
Voila!
I'm pretty sure I will try this again next year with more ornaments to make it bigger. But I was pretty happy with how it looked hanging on my door.
Materials (with cost):
wire clothes hanger (Free! They come with my husbands clean uniform shirts. We send most back because I hate wire hangers in the closet but I kept a few for projects.)
wire cutters (Free! My husband is so handy. He always has the tools I need in the garage.)
duct tape (I can't remember exact cost. Approximately $2-$3 I used a red duct tape. Did you know they have a million colors of this stuff now?)
tons of cheap Christmas ornament balls (I used about 60 and it ended up smaller than I originally planned. I bought them at the dollar store but by the time I realized I needed more, they were out of every color except gold. Yuck! So I made do with what I had. Originally I spent $6 and had 6 tubes of 10-12 ornaments. So all in all this is a cheap project.)
big festive bow ($2 at Walmart)
hot glue gun with extra sticks of glue (Free! I already have a bunch in the drawer at home.)
Directions:
1. Cut off the hook of the wire hanger with the wire hangers.
2. Hot glue the tops on the top of the ornaments. Trust me, do not skip this step. I went through and if it was easy to pull the tops off, I hot glued. But I thought the rest would be okay. Boy was I wrong. Every time someone opened the door, an ornament fell. Most of them ended up hot glued after the fact and I still have 2 ornaments I found while cleaning up decorations.
3. Start stringing the ornaments on the wire hanger. You will have to move them around to get it to look full. Pack the ornaments on there tight so they don't move and it all looks even.
4. Duct tape the ends of the hanger together to make it a wreath.
5. Attach the big pretty bow to hide the ends and the duct tape.
Voila!
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