In the Kitchen - The Ricotta Failure

Well, there goes the lasagna idea.. a least for right now.  I had a little problem with the ricotta cheese.  I think it actually started with the yogurt I made.  I may have learned a little bit more about this whole milk-processing thing...  I sure hope so ..  I hate kitchen failures.. I feel wasteful.

To make yogurt, you start with milk and heat it to 185 degrees before cooling it to 110 degrees and adding the yogurt starter.  Then keep it warm (on a heating pad) for 7 hours until you get yogurt.  I have done it countless times and it turns out well.  When it becomes yogurt, I strain it through a cheesecloth and separate the whey from it before storing the yogurt (greek style) in the refrigerator.  The whey still has value so I save it in the refrigerator.

I usually use the best milk I can find .. which is from our local dairy, Pickett Fence.  What I love about that milk is that it has been pasteurized but not hemogenized so the cream floats to the surface.  I like the whole milk best because of the richness and fresh taste.  That milk has no added hormones and I trust the source, plus I can buy it at Whole Foods, which is much closer to my home that the Creamery is.  We were at the store a few days ago and they were out of Pickett Fence whole milk.  Being creative, I got the Whole Foods brand of whole milk instead to make my yogurt. 

The yogurt was a pretty dismal failure.  I got just a little tiny bit of yogurt out of a regular sized batch.  I should have known then not to try the ricotta cheese with that whey but I did it with high hopes anyway. 

To make ricotta cheese you are supposed to leave the whey out at room temp for 12 - 24 hours to promote the acidity.  Seemed kind of gross but I guess no one has died from room temperature whey.. so I did it.

Then the instructions said to bring it to 203 degrees over heat, stirring continually.  I did that and as you see, the thermometer was right there to guide me.  It got foamy on the surface just under the boiling point, just like the instructions said it would.

Once the ideal temp was reached, the instructions said to take it off the heat and let it cool to room temp.  This is when the ricotta cheese was to form.  HA!

A few hours later, I looked at the whey ...  I could see that there was some separation of liquid from a milky substance lurking in the bottom of the pan (wish I had gotten a picture for you).  Ricotta is a soft cheese and is supposed to solidify into a curdish substance.  They say sometimes it floats and sometimes it sinks.  Check... mine must have sunk.

Then the instructions say to carefully ladel out the curds if they are on top or pour off the whey if it is on top.  I poured off the whey carefully and slowly, exposing the milky white substance in the bottom of my pan.  Here is what I got:

See that little bit of thick "milk" clogging up my cheesecloth?  Really?  That is not formed enough to be any type of cheese!  It is a ricotta failure... so sad to waste.

I did save the whey that I used to try the ricotta.  It is in the refrigerator and can be used in place of water in recipes for added nutrition.  At least I have that...  but back to the ricotta drawing board and the lasagna I had planned will have to wait until later.  I was looking forward to making homemade noodles next!

So I think the ricotta failure is due to the quality of the milk.  I know that I get great results from the non-hemogenized milk I usually use, so I would have to assume that the extra processing of the store brand milk prevented good curd formation.  I am now SOLD on the Pickett Fence milk!  I will buy no other!  I would love to experiment with raw milk.  Did you know that raw milk is illegal to sell in Iowa?  It is legal in Missouri and many other states but not here.  Living in the center of the state makes me sad for this fact.  I know there is a lot of controversy and fear over raw milk but someday I will try some for my cheeses and yogurts!  I know someone out there has to have a healthy milking cow... so sad to live in the suburbs today.  I want a cow... and maybe some hens to lay eggs... and maybe a goat.. ... ...  someday..  I can dream.

The PERFECT Loaf of Bread

I don't know how I managed even a few months without a stand mixer.  I had no idea how nice it was to turn it on and let it do the work for my hands.  It is like having an extra set of hands in the kitchen and especially to spare my hands the additional discomfort of kneading that heavy homemade bread dough.

A few weeks ago, I finally broke down, and ordered a powerful KitchenAid on ebay for a decent price.  I could hardly wait for the mail to come but it finally arrived.  It was brand new in the original box!

It did not take long to learn how to use it.  I was grateful for that after just having dealt with a new floor loom and all the work it took to set it up and learn how to make it function!

I couldn't wait for pre-Thanksgiving preparations to begin so I could put it to the test on my homemade bread.  One of the things I have learned about making bread is that without a good kneading, yeast breads (and especially whole wheat yeast breads) will not get a proper rise.  That may have been part of my frustrating problem with the bread failures recently.

So with this stand mixer, I just through all ingredients in the bowl and follow the steps on the recipe.  I make sure to add Vital Wheat Gluten for the rise, and Yogurt as a dough enhancer, and I let the KitchenAid do all the work.  I doubted that the dough hook could really knead the bread properly but with a little faith and a lot of peering into the bowl, I discovered it was doing quite a nice job!

With a little adjustment to a higher temperature on my oven dial (which differs from the actual temp inside my oven by about 50 degrees), I baked two loaves of bread right out of the KitchenAid bowl - NO KNEADING!

They were wonderful!  Very soft and airy on the inside and perfect crust on the outside.  I couldn't have asked for better bread.  One other secret I learned fairly recently is to avoid disturbing the bread loaves for the first 2 hours out of the oven.  I used to wait about 15 minutes and then cut into them to see if they were done... they were not...  go figure...  I think they need that 2 hours to "set".

I am now in the "bread business"... at least unofficially.  :)

Foraging - The Pinecone Expedition

Last week, right before Thanksgiving, it was beautiful outside, especially for a late November day in Iowa.  It had been quite a long stretch without a motorcycle ride so we decided to get out.  Journey was home from school for the holiday so she rode with us.  It amazes me how much an 11 year old girl can love to get on the back of her dad's bike and take a ride.

Mike likes to ride long highways for long distances without a destination in mind.  I like trips that have an outcome to them.  We compromised this day and agreed to ride a long ride looking for pine cones.  I am always tempted by big beautiful pine trees in my neighbor's yards but find the thought of stopping to pilfer their pine cones a bit distasteful.  I draw the line with apple-foraging at the neighbors and with permission only.

So on this particular day we drove through some local area parks.  I loved that ride.. it had a purpose and was not fast enough to lower the wind chill factor.  Even on a 65 degree day, if you ride 65 miles per hour, the wind chill lowers somewhere to feel like the 40's or 50's... a little cold for me.  So driving through parks was the perfect trip for us!

We drove a few looking for the biggest pine trees we could find that dropped good size pine cones.  We have been using some of the homemade pine cone firestarters in our fireplace already this season and they work wonderfully!  If one is nestled in the middle of the logs to be started and lit, a raging fire is effortlessly obtained.  They are so pretty on the side of the hearth in a metal basket too!  So Journey and I are going to dip a few hundred more to last the winter and to give for Christmas gifts.

While out on our trip we spotted this on a hill:

Beautiful!  Two enormous pine trees!  I had thought to bring 3 big grocery sacks for gathering, so off the bikes we went and up the hill.  We easily filled three bags with medium to large pinecones from those trees just laying on the ground ready to be covered by Iowa winter's snowfall.  It felt good to rescue them for a purpose other than becoming dirt in later years.

Riding motorcycles poses a challenge for a gatherer.  Sort of like riding a horse with no buggy I suppose.  There is only so much room to bring back your spoils.  Although you would be surprised what Mike can fit in his luggage areas.  We put the three heaping full bags of pine cones in the packs of our bikes and took off again for home. 

But we will be back to this park.. not just next year for more pine cones.. but soon.  We found a huge bunch of walnuts just lying on the ground under a nearby tree.  Ready for me to harvest, clean, and pick the nutmeats from.  SCORE!!  I hope I get this lucky hunting Morels next spring! 

Ode to Thanksgiving Feasting - What's Next?

It has been a busy week!  Thanksgiving dinner at my house was quite a feast.  As usual, I made too much food and it was all made from scratch.  My family joked that I was going to feed them a Tofu turkey because I guess they don't understand what healthy food is.  In my world, eating healthy is eating from the earth and land..  from scratch cooking with all the best ingredients.. and avoiding processed and chemically altered foods.

The turkey was good.  The stuffing was all made with my homemade sprouted and freshly ground wheat bread along with organic celery, onion, butter, and my own homemade chicken stock as opposed to canned broth.  The green bean casserole was made with homemade cream of mushroom soup, fresh frozen green beans, and homemade little french fried onions.  It was good but I did break down and make 1/2 the casserole with additional Velveeta cheese for one of my daughters, who swore I would ruin it if I did not add that cheese.  So I did.  For her.  I just can't bring myself to eat Velveeta Processed Cheese.  I don't think it is really cheese.. it seems more like soft plastic to me, but who am I to ruin Thanksgiving for someone?

The pies were AMAZING!  If you have never had a fresh pumpkin pie made with real cream and fresh baked pumpkin, you don't know what you are missing.  It was so much better than I even expected.  On top was homemade whipped cream from organic cream and vanilla.  And the pecan pie was delicious too.  I am sure the fact that the pecans were sprouted before being placed in the pie was lost on many but I have never had better pecan pie.  Instead of the usual corn syrup, I used pure maple syrup and was amazed at how it came out the same but tasted even richer.

Dinner went without a hitch and I am pretty sure my family enjoyed most of it.  Since then I have been busy trying to catch up and eat up the leftovers.  We had an 18 pound turkey carcass that got boiled down that night and made into about a gallon of now frozen turkey broth...  it smelled like Thanksgiving baking that night all over again.

Today I made a turkey and wild rice casserole that looks pretty darn good.  The bottom layer is cooked rice pilaf and then the layer on top of that has a generous portion of turkey mixed with sauteed green peppers and onions with garlic, parsley, and nutmeg, then creamed into a white sauce consistency through the addition of flour, some of that turkey broth, and some whole milk.  The top layer is a bit of cheese. 

Journey has been hungry for cottage cheese so today I made her some cottage cheese with the left over whipping cream suspending the curds and am now starting a batch of ricotta cheese out of the leftover whey.  I want to use the ricotta in a casserole resembling lasagna with hamburger and spaghetti squash (unless I get ambitious and make homemade lasagna noodles out of the leftover spelt flour). 

I will post about the ricotta cheese after I finish this batch.  You are supposed to leave the whey covered and at room temp for 12 - 24 hours before bringing it back to the heat so tomorrow should be ricotta day.  I will let you know how it goes.

Cheese is one of those things that I miss buying at the grocery store.   It seems so expensive to buy good quality cheeses .. seems even more than some of the meat I buy and it NEVER seems to go on sale..  darn it!  I have ordered some cheese making supplies from New England Cheese Making Supply.  To make cheddar cheese curds you need good quality milk and rennet, citric acid, and mesophilic.  While I don't understand all of these things yet, I have been researching and when my cheese supplies come, I will be experimenting with cheese curds.  To make cheddar cheese like you buy at the store, you would need a cheese press for your curds.  We don't have one of those yet but I have Mike thinking how he might make one simply that would apply up to 40 - 50 pounds of pressure to a cylinder filled with cheese curds.  He likes cheddar as well as I do so we are highly motivated to figure out how to make it around here!

For my family, eating healthy is just what we are committed to doing.  With a little planning ahead, a bit of creativity, and a willingness to research and try things we are managing to figure out how to "homestead" in the suburbs.  But don't get me wrong.. I am SO GRATEFUL for those little things in life that make it easier like my new KitchenAid, the stove, the washing machine, dishwasher, softened and drinking water systems, etc.  I can't imagine life on the prairie where we had to go to the stream to do the washing, and carry enough water back to the little cold log cabin to do what needed to be done for the day.  Or having to keep a fire lit for warmth.  I am partial to my electric blanket at night, thank you!

I will keep sharing the adventures as we have them with you!  My latest venture has been to make rugs on a loom out of old fabric.  They are turning out wonderfully and will be having them for sale soon!  Stay tuned my friends!  There is so much more to come, including sharing all the handmade gifts we are going to produce for Christmas presents this year!

PERFECT POPCORN and Clarified Butter

I love popcorn.  Not the kind that is air popped and dry.  Not the kind that has all the greasy movie-theater-butter chemicals and powders on it.  I love the kind that is popped in a pan and has a REAL butter taste.  (I know what you are thinking... real butter is bad for you.. but I am here to tell you it is not).  Some fats are natural fats and as a result your body needs them for healthy hair, skin, and proper absorption of nutrients.  These fats are a staple of my family's diet:  Olive Oil, Grapeseed Oil, Palm Shortening, and Butter.  If one won't do in a recipe, another will.  So we eat butter.  We do buy it carefully, either organic or at a minimum we buy the kind that has no added rBGH hormones.  That makes me feel a little better about the potential  contaminants.

So in my search for the perfect popcorn I bought a Whirlypop at a garage sale for $1.00.  Well worth it!!  I put some oil in the bottom and make my popcorn the old fashioned way.  LOVE it!!  Whenever there is a good show on tv on the weekends we have popcorn.  I have noticed that when I make the popcorn in a flavored oil, it takes on the flavor of the oil.  So as a result I tried popping my popcorn in butter.  That was a pretty dismal failure, as the butter burned before the popping was complete...  so I had burned butter popcorn.  Not the flavor I was looking for.

Then I discovered clarified butter.  It is also called ghee or rendered butter.  I, again, wonder what rock I have been under for the last 50 years.  It amazes me all that I don't know!!  This clarified butter process is easy and it is so interesting.  Who knew you could separate butter?  Ok, probably all of you did.  I have not seen you under this rock with me ... you must have known.  Let me know if you knew this trick before reading it here. 

Clarified butter is a stick or tub of real butter that has been melted and lightly boiled to provide separation.  Did you know there are 3 parts to butter?  The butterfat (that is what you want for your popcorn), whey, and milk solids.  Here is how to make clarified butter:

Melt the butter in a thick-bottom pan on the stove.  Bring it to a gentle boil and watch all the white foam come to the top.

This is the whey.. it is a liquid and has a low boiling point.. causes butter to burn.  While it is bubbling it's whey up to the top, skim it off with a flat spoon and put it in a separate container.  Get as much as you can from the top of the butter.

You will then find a rich yellow oil under that white foam.  That is the butterfat.  That is what you want to preserve for your popcorn.

At the bottom of the pan, you will find heavier white foam-looking globs.  These are actually the milk solids.  So.. when you have all the foamy whey spooned from the top, pour the layer of butterfat into another container and pour the last bit that has the milk solids into the whey container.  Now you have separated or clarified butter!!

You can use the foamy stuff... it still tastes like butter and I use it in recipes or on toast or for butter flavor.. just not for frying.  Now here is the great part.  How to make butter popcorn in your whirlypop pan with the butterfat.

Pour some oil in the whirlypop.  I use grapeseed or palm oil as the initial oil.  Pour in the popcorn and put on medium heat until the first few popcorn kernels pop.  Remove from the heat for a moment to add a healthy supply of butterfat and return to heat to finish popping.

What I have found with this method is that my popcorn does not taste like burned butter but each kernel seems to be coated with a real butter flavor!  I don't have to pour butter over the top of the finished popcorn and it seems much less greasy.   I try to keep rendered butter in the refrigerator all the time so I can have my delicious popcorn when the mood strikes!

I will tell you, when you remove the processed foods from your diet, and get yourself fairly clean, you can eat lots of delicious REAL foods!  I don't count calories or fat grams.  I eat when I am hungry.  I make delicious foods.  We don't gain our weight back because we are not slowly poisoning ourselves with things like twinkies (RIP Hostess), artificial sweeteners, "diet foods", tons of processed sugar, preservatives, dyes and "flavorings".  If you want to know more about how to cleanse yourself of years of accumulated toxins that are making you sick and heavy, send me a message...  then eat to your heart's content (but only good food!)

In the Kitchen - When LIfe Gives You.....

I did not plan for this morning to be spent in the kitchen.  I intended on weaving my second rug.  But plans change quickly, don't they?  I have never been one to turn down opportunity when it knocks on my door.  That is just what happened.

This morning after taking Journey to school, I made a quick stop at Fareway for a few things.. just a few.  As I walked past the produce isle, I spied a white paper bag with "99 cents" written on the handle.  That is a sure way to cause me to detour or double-take at least!  In the bag was a whole bunch of pears!  Lots.. I would say at least 3 pounds of them.  They were past their selling prime but just about at their eating prime, I would say.  I like them nice and ripe and juicy.

Not only did I spy this one bag, there were three more of it's little friends.  Total of 4 bags of pears there as if they had my name on them.  I put two in the cart and wrestled with myself about organic versus non-organic, as these were not organic pears, but just conventional.  Then I decided that while we do try to stay as organic as possible, we don't buy organic jams and jellies, nor do we buy organic fruit cups for Journey's home lunches....  so the bags won and soon I found all 4 bags of pears had jumped in my cart.  So what, maybe a total of 12 - 15 pounds of pears?  The activities of my morning had now changed and I found myself home about 8:30 with the loot.

After some quick "googling", I decided to make pear preserves, canned pears, and dehydrated pears out of my 4 bags, so I then got to washing and peeling.

Oh My Goodness.. it felt like hours of peeling pears when I realized I was only 1/2 way through my supply.  I had the canning pot on to boil, had washed 15 canning jars and lids, had a pot for the jam and a pot for the blanching of the pears going.  I literally peeled and cleaned pears until after 10am.

I am really tired of pears.  I have learned a new "diet" trick.  COOK alot.. when I am busy cooking it, I usually don't want to eat it.  Funny how that works, except with cookies.  There is nothing that compares to eating that first warm cookie right out of the oven.  I consider it a responsibility so I always do the first testing before my family tries them.

So the pear production?  Here are some on the dehydrator:

Pears are one of those fruits that suffer from turning brown in the air.  I did soak these in diluted lemon juice but they are still turning... the bananas do the same thing.  Oh well, they still taste good.

I also made my first batch of jam.. just boiled the pears until mushy and added pectin.  (I think I added too much and it will set up like a rock but it tasted good).  I added some stevia and honey to sweeten it and it made 6 little jelly jars full.

Then I left the rest of the pears quartered and boiled them for 2 minutes before canning 7 more pint jars of pears for later.  I think Journey will like these in her lunch instead of store bought when we don't readily have fresh fruit for her.

All in all, the last cans came out of the water bath at about noon, but I think I did really good with a $4.00 purchase... and Mike got fresh jam on homemade wheat bread for lunch today.  Happy Anniversary Honey!!

In the Kitchen - Another Explosion

I don't even like mushrooms.

I made cream of mushroom soup just a few minutes ago and had to cut up 5 cups of mushrooms, another 1/2 cup of onions, add it to 1/8 tsp of thyme, and 1 1/2 cups of chicken stock and boil it for 15 minutes.  Then the recipe called for me to puree it...

There is that word that I have come to hate:  PUREE... for me it just spells trouble.  I put it in the Magic Bullet blender just out of the boiling pot and turned it on.  Immediately I was covered with piping hot mushroom puree, as was the entire corner of the kitchen again.  I feel like my mother when she told me she did not know how she drove her car through her neighbor's garage door last year when I tell you I don't know how that blender exploded.  When I got it turned off, the lid was still on.

Journey says she saw it spew through the pour spout...  I hate mushrooms... and puree!!  I screeched loudly as boiling hot mushrooms stuck to my arms and landed on the front of my shirt!  I still have red marks all over my forearms where I am burned.  But after cleaning up the kitchen, I glowered at that blender, put a cloth over the top and turned it on again.  HA!!  Pureed mushroom and onions!!

Then melt 3 Tablespoons of butter in the pan and whisk in 3 Tablespoons of flour.  Pour in 1 cup of half and half and 1/4 teaspoon each of salt and pepper.  Add back in the wicked mushroom/onion puree and cook over medium heat until it thickens, stirring the whole time.

Done.  The kitchen got cleaned, along with the cupboards, my shirt, the surrounding appliances, the floor, the wall, and everything else in the path.  The offensive soup is now in a glass jar in my refrigerator to be added to the green bean casserole on Thursday.

Happy Thanksgiving!!  Tomorrow I am supposed to get my new KitchenAid Stand Mixer and I sure hope I have had my last explosion in the kitchen for a while!!

Time to test the SmartKlean laundry ball again on this t-shirt, although I know it will work.. there is no trace of pumpkin left on the last shirt I exploded on. 

Onion Rings for Green Bean Casserole

The official cooking has started in my house for Thanksgiving dinner.  One of the favorites of my family is Green Bean Casserole.  You know the kind:  2 cans of green beans, one can of cream of mushroom soup, and basically French's Onions on top and mixed in the middle.  We have it every year for every holiday and they all expect extra to be cooked so they can have leftovers.

This year will be different.  I cannot buy a can of French's Onions, nor can I buy cans of green beans or cream of mushroom soup.  So today I tried making my own little fried onions.  When I make my own food I am in control of what is in it.  It is not that we are low calorie, or fat free in this house.  We just eat REAL FOOD and in appropriate quantities.  It is not as easy as opening a can of this and a can of that but I feel so much better physically and psychologically, knowing what is in my food.

These onions were SO easy to make and really were just like French's Onions but fresher and delicious!  Here is how we did it:

2 whole yellow onions (organic) cut into small pieces.
About 2 cups of whole milk (no added hormones, and non-homogenized)
About 2 cups of whole wheat freshly ground flour (sprouted)
A generous amount of garlic seasoned salt.
Olive oil for frying (olive oil has tremendous health benefits for an oil)

Soak the little onion pieces in the milk for at least five minutes (I cried like a baby cutting those onions today... are organic onions more potent than conventional onions?).  Heat the oil in the pan while the onions are soaking.

With two forks I lifted the onions from their milk bath and placed them in the flour and seasoning until well coated.  Then I fried them in the olive oil until brown and placed them on a paper towel to drain.  I was surprised that the flour stayed on them and they came out crispy and brown just like the onions I am used to seeing in the can.  Journey retrieved them from the oil with a slotted spoon and was eating them as fast as they were cooling.  I had to stop her from eating them all so we would have enough for the casserole.

Don't they look good??   They taste great and were really easy to do.  As with all the food I cook, I will keep them in the refrigerator in an airtight container until I put the casserole together Thursday morning.

Now to make the cream of mushroom soup with the remains of the milk and flour I used for the onions!  I love to have an opportunity to use everything and not waste!

Health - Avoid This Kind of Treatment!!

I am in no way going to tell you that doctors aren't needed or that sometimes you need medication to recover from an illness.  I just wanted to say that up front so that you know where I stand.  What I am going to tell you is that prescription and over the counter medications should only be taken when all other methods of treatment fail, and that all of them are chemicals that can produce side effects so should be used much more cautiously than they currently are.  Here are just a few things I learned about medications, and I learned them the hard way.

I used to suffer from chronic Gastro-esophageal reflux disease (GERD), or chronic heartburn as many of you know it.  I suffered for years, many nights unable to lay flat without pain, having difficulty sleeping, and hurting.  I took Tums frequently, and tried every prescription drug that the doctors would give me to help.  Prescription drugs provided me some pain relief and seemed like a Godsend until a few years after starting to take them I developed a severe and chronic fatigue.  I was so tired all the time that I finally had some blood testing done at the doctor.  My blood tests showed a dangerously and severely low ferritin level.  What that meant is that my iron stores were very very low and I was suffering from a form of anemia.  It took a special test to find it.. it is not routinely checked with annual lab work. 

What I then went on to learn is that anti-reflux drugs stop the production of acid in the stomach, thereby helping alleviate symptoms of heartburn.  But there is a purpose to those acids in the stomach.  They are there, in part, to help you break down and absorb the iron in your food.  Without those normal stomach acids, my body could not use the iron I ingested and it caused a severe form of anemia.  This is just one common side effect of chronic heartburn medication that many do not know about.  Chronic heartburn can, instead, be controlled with diet modification, which I now employ. 

Antibiotics.  Where would the world be without them?  I shudder to think of all the infections that would kill people without the invention of antibiotics.  But did you know that they, too, have frequent side effects that go undiscovered and undiagnosed?  Because my diet was poor and I consumed way too much diet Coke and even Vodka, I had very frequent urinary tract infections.  Many chemicals we consume in our diets cause bladder irritation and bacteria breed then where they shouldn't.  Five or six times a year, I ended up taking an antibiotic called Levaquin to recover from those infections.  What I did not know was that Levaquin has a fairly common side effect of causing tendonitis.  I did not discover that until recently as well and only after having pain from tendonitis in both hands chronically now, 2 years after taking my last dose of Levaquin.  Many report ruptured Achilles tendons after taking Levaquin.  Some of these tendonitis symptoms heal after a period of time but many do not and are permanent damage from the drug.  Mine appears to be permanent damage.

Because of the tendonitis and other pain I had, I used to take Vicodin or Hydrocodone several times a day.  I thought that was the way to kill the pain.  I also had frequent migraines and joint aches and took pain pills whenever those were bothering me.  Then I found out that pain pills are not the answer.  Both prescription pain pills and over-the-counter pain pills can also cause other problems including what they call "rebound pain".  What that means is that the more you take, the more you need.  Since I discovered what good nutrition would do for me 2 years ago, I have not had another migraine since.  With my hands I now turn to rest, ice or heat for pain control and have not taken another pain pill.  It is much easier to handle now than it was when riding the "yo-yo" pain cycle.

Cholesterol medication (Statin drugs are the worst) is another example of a drug that is widely prescribed but very harmful.  Cholesterol is NORMAL in the body... after all, they never want it down to 0, do they?  Cholesterol is PRODUCED in your body as a response to inflammation.  You may not even know you have inflammation, but your body does and produces cholesterol to line the arteries in order to protect them from the inflammation.  Of course we all know that too much of this lining of the arteries can lead to heart problems so the physician's answer is to give a chemical that blocks the production of cholesterol in the body.  Ok, great, but then what?  The inflammation, or root cause of the problem is never addressed and the body cannot heal itself.  Now I suppose you know I am going to fill you in on what causes this body inflammation, don't you?  Can you guess?  It is chemicals, toxins, sugars, and foreign substances that we ingest..  when you cleanse those toxins out of your body and quit over-indulging on them, your body will heal itself and the cholesterol issues that concern your doctor will magically heal themselves too.

The drugs frequently given to patients for their cholesterol are called Statins.  That is a whole class or group of drugs that causes many side effects in people that can be debilitating.  These drugs are known to cause arthralgias (pain in the joints), myalgias (pain in the muscles), confusion, memory loss, high blood sugars, and even muscle weakness.  In short, taking these drugs can make your life MISERABLE. 

Another interesting piece of information about cholesterol is this:  Cholesterol (your body produces it, remember?) is necessary to make testosterone in men.  Testosterone is the male hormone that makes men, well, men.  It is necessary for all the manly qualities that annoy us women so much, in addition to healthy sexual function.  Without enough testosterone a man can find himself unable to do the very thing he likes best to do (I don't have to tell you this, do I ? - I am trying to keep this rated G).  Enter Viagra.. or the little blue pill... 

You see, when the human body has all of the nutrition it needs every day, and when it is allowed to perform uninhibited, it can produce amazing healing.  The body works hard to stay in balance and will do so when we get out of the way.  Almost 90% of all chronic illnesses can be traced to a mineral deficiency... and minerals come from the food we eat.

When I nursed at an internal med clinic and reviewed patient's medications with them before the doctor came in to see them, I always new if I found a man with a prescription for Viagra, he would also be taking one of the Statin drugs... it was true 95% of the time.  It was really sad to find folks with a list of prescription drugs that kept growing with each frequent visit to the doctor.  The harder they searched for ways to feel better, the more drugs they were prescribed to treat symptoms and the more drugs they were given to counteract the side effects of the other drugs.  I think that is why I quit practicing traditional nursing.. just too frustrating.

Now I am only sharing all of this to enlighten you.  I used to take about 17 different drugs a day and I felt crippled and terrible.  My weight continued to climb and I felt much older than I needed to.  I took frequent naps and really had a poor quality of life.  Then I became enlightened.  I made changes and now find myself feeling young and energetic!  It has been a slow and ongoing process for me but one I feel I need to share with you.  Please be an informed consumer.  Look at the list of side effects on your prescriptions..   When you need it, you need it, but if there is an alternative out there... please give it some thought.  Feel free to message me in an email any time you wish to know about alternatives or have questions.  I will be happy to help you search out answers or talk to you about your specific situation or that of a loved one... 

In the Kitchen - Bread Saga Continued

In my pursuit to make a perfect (or even good) homemade whole wheat bread, I have encountered many failures.  Those sit in my freezer right now waiting for Thanksgiving to make into stuffing, so I have not felt entirely defeated as I have high hopes for each subsequent batch of bread.

I shared my honey wheat bread recipe several posts back and continued to work with that recipe, attempting little additions or changes to make it better.  Whole wheat bread seems to have a tendency to get hard and dry.  For people that are used to "Wonder Bread", this whole wheat bread leaves something to be desired.  I have learned a few things in my journey, including things about my own appliances.

A few years ago, we had to replace the lower heating element in our oven.  Other than that, the oven is in fantastic shape so there was no need to waste the money on a new one.  It has worked well ever since except I noticed a tendency to burn things like cookies.  I bought an oven thermometer to compare the "actual" temp to the temp setting I was choosing on the oven and I found that when I set my oven to 350 degrees, it was actually reading 400 degrees on the thermometer inside.  No wonder I was burning stuff!  So clearly, I need to set my oven temp to a lower target and check the internal temp to see what it really is before attempting to bake my bread.

I discovered Wheat Gluten.  Yes, we still eat wheat.  I think if you soak, sprout, and grind your own wheat, there is a good nutritional content to it and it is good for you.  I don't think the flour you buy at the store is very nutritious, as it has been treated to prevent it from going rancid on the shelf and gives many people stomach aches, even if they are not gluten intolerant.  In fact, Celiac disease is not as common as many would think.. more people avoid wheat products and go gluten-free due to their gut reaction to processed flours, not due to an actual gluten intolerance.  I am very supportive of folks that go gluten-free but my family does not need to at this time, as we have fixed the gut issues in the quality of the wheat flour we use.  So why wheat gluten?  Because whole wheat flour does not have a lot of gluten in it and sometimes does not rise as well in yeast breads.  This creates a denser loaf than I like personally so about 1 teaspoon of wheat gluten per cup of flour produces a good rise in my recipes and a softer, airier loaf.

The pan you use can make a difference too!  I only owned glass loaf pans until yesterday when I found some pretty good metal ones at a thrift store for 99 cents each.  I priced the metal ones at Bed, Bath, and Beyond yesterday and they were running 15 - 20 dollars each.  Ouch!!  When baking in a glass pan, it is recommended to lower the temp of the oven by 25 degrees from what the recipe is calling for.  I have practiced this religiously since I have a tendency to burn things but this makes it even more complex for me when already having to adjust for my oven temp issues.. so I am switching to metal pans.

I have also discovered that adding a "dough enhancer" to homemade bread is helpful.  These are ingredients that improve the texture, taste, and crust of the bread.  They include Gluten, acid, starch, and sugar.  We have the gluten as above, the sugars are in the form of honey.  We just need a little more acid and a little more starch.  Yesterday I used a bit of homemade yogurt as a dough enhancer and even though my bread clearly had issues coming out of the oven, it was one of the best tasting breads I have made to date!  There are many items in your kitchen and that you can buy to enhance your dough.  I am going to experiment with yogurt, vinegar, eggs, gluten, and other items.  You can find recipes for dough enhancers on the web that include gelatin, citric acid, powdered milk, ascorbic acid, pectin, ginger, and other ingredients that I don't readily have in my kitchen. 

So yesterday's experiment with bread was a new whole wheat bread recipe.  It had basically the same ingredients as my previous one in the same proportions.  The difference was the addition of a bit of "greek yogurt" as a dough enhancer.  I had some homemade yogurt in the refrigerator so felt lucky!  The baking was a little different in that it asked me to put the loaves in a cold oven and set the temp to 350, calling for a baking time of 32 - 40 minutes.  I followed directions to a "T" and checked the bread at 35 minutes.  Clearly not done.  Did not sound hollow enough when tapped on the top and the crust was not brown enough.  Back in the oven for 10 more minutes....  when removed that time, I checked it with a thermometer for the internal temp, which on wheat bread should be 200 - 210 degrees.  The smaller loaf read the appropriate temp but the bigger loaf did not.  Back in the oven for 10 more minutes with the bigger loaf.  Here is what happened to those loaves.

This is the smaller loaf that showed the correct internal temp.  This was taken about 1/2 hour after removing from oven.  See the dent on top?  That has happened to every loaf that has come out undercooked in the middle.  I fear it might not be done all the way through but the crust was plenty done.  Gave this loaf to Grandpa and Grandma last night.

The bigger loaf was put in longer and when removed I only let it cool for about 20 minutes before trying to remove it from the pan.  Big mistake.... here is the result.  The "muffin top" came off!

You might be able to see that the very middle was still apparently not baked completely through.  There might have been too much rise in it and maybe too airy and light?

Since this last episode I have read that you should not disturb or cut your bread for at least 2 hours after removing it from the oven.  That may have been why my bigger loaf broke and because I did not disturb my littler loaf for about 3 hours, it may be fine when my grandma cuts into it.

But I will tell you this:  That yogurt in there sure made the consistency of this loaf heavenly!  I will use dough enhancers from now on!  And I will not cut my bread or remove it from the pan early.  The quest for the perfect baked loaf of bread in this house continues and I only have one more week to find something valuable to do with the ruined loaves...unless I make Christmas stuffing too! 

If you have any hints for making the perfect loaf of bread, include some comments below.  BTW:  I only used 1/4 cup of yogurt for my 2 loaves of bread, in case you are wanting to use it as a dough enhancer yourself!!

In the Kitchen - Regrow your celery!!!

I just posted about re-growing green onions in your window sill.  It is very easy to do and I am also experimenting with re-growth of celery.

Again, celery is one of the vegetables on the "dirty dozen" list ..  indicating it contains more pesticides and contaminants than many others do.  As a result I am sad when the pre-Thanksgiving Grocery sale ads came out with conventional celery at 69 cents a bunch.  I buy mine organically and have to pay closer to $2.00 a bunch of celery.  Celery is one of those items at my house that I get only when I need it for a recipe and if I don't use it all, we just don't eat enough of it to prevent it from going bad.  It is something that I routinely dehydrate and keep around for cooking but when a salad or cold dish calls for a little fresh celery, I would really like to have it at my fingertips.

So I was thrilled when I read that you could regrow celery.  The instructions I read called for finding a clump (is it called a clump? - do you know what I mean by that?) with some of the roots still intact.  I was so excited to do this that I bought my organic clump of celery at Whole Foods this week and forgot to check for roots... when I got home with it I found that the roots had been cut off the bottom.  I cut off what I needed for the chicken salad and dehydrated the rest of the stalk (the word stalk just came out of my brain and jumped on the "paper" - so a "clump" must be the same as a stalk).

I read that if you keep at least an inch of the bottom of the celery, you can soak it in water and it will re-grow.  So I cut it off and stuck it in a shallow container.

 Now just a few days later, the most amazing thing is happening, even though by bunch of celery does not have visible roots.  There is a little bit of green leafy growth in the middle of it.  Some of the outer stalks have begun to fall off, but there is life in this little celery and I am going to make sure it grows!!  Take a close look at this picture:

Can you see some leafy growth in the very center? 

For celery, you are to let it take on some growth of a few inches and then re-plant it in some potting soil.  I will be watching for roots to appear and then looking for the right time to put it in a pot. 

I would be excited to have some fresh celery at my disposal through the winter months!!  Try your own at home this Thanksgiving when you are buying a big bunch of it for your stuffing or your veggie trays. 

In the Kitchen - ReGrow Green Onions

This is the MOST amazing thing ever... it ranks up there with the ability to create great quality vanilla yourself!! 

How many times have you wished to have green onions for a recipe or a salad and found you did not have any.  I don't routinely keep them around because I find they do not stay very fresh in my refrigerator so I buy them only when  have an immediate need and then have to pay more for them to be organic.  Such is the case with so much that I am studying and learning to make things myself that are good for us and will save us money and reduce our exposure to processed foods.  So now I found out you can re-grow green onions!!

I made some delicious chicken salad this week as a result of gathering enough chicken stock/broth to get us through the thanksgiving dinner.  (I will make turkey stock after that dinner as well to replenish the stock in my freezer).  So while making the chicken salad, it called for 2 stalks of green onion.

I bought a small bunch at Whole Foods that was organic and used some in the chicken salad and dehydrated the rest, EXCEPT for the ends with the roots.

I put the ends in a small glass of purified water and placed it in my sunny kitchen window.  They looked a little puny Monday afternoon when I first put them in the water but I heard they would regrow and wanted to check that out.

I don't know how well you can see but they are all cut off evenly and submerged in the water.

Now here is the amazing part.  After just a few days they look like this:

I took a close up picture this time because there has been some definite growth there!!  In just a few days I am convinced that I will have a new stock of fresh organic green onions in a couple of weeks. 

The way I understand this is that you can continue to cut them off and use them and they will regrow!!  I am so excited!!  You can wait until they are a bit bigger and plant them in dirt if you want to and they will still regrow you more onions every time you cut them off.   Now I will have fresh onions all the time! 

Are you going to try this in your sunny window?  If you do, just be sure to spring for organic green onions the first time and you will re-grow organic green onions!!  

Chicken Salad

Eating fresh whole foods is so satisfying.  Not only do I know that there are no preservatives, chemicals, or manipulation of my food when I prepare it freshly, it just tastes better!  In my last blog, I wrote about putting a whole chicken in the crockpot last night in order to make broth in preparation for Thanksgiving.  Well this morning I found myself with a whole chicken along with that broth.

What to do?  What to do?  I considered BBQ chicken, and I considered a casserole, but we have had both of those kinds of items recently so I decided to try to find a way to make a fresh chicken salad for sandwiches.  And since my family usually only eats the white meat of the chicken, having all these thighs and legs was a bit of a problem.

Chicken salad it was!  After removing all the meat I could from the bones, I added the following to it:
2 Stalks of organic celery - chopped
2 organic green onions cut small
1 smashed ripe avocado
2 Tablespoons of lime juice
A bunch of Cilantro.. some was frozen, some fresh, and some dried. (I love Cilantro)
Salt and Pepper
Some celery salt and some onion salt
About 1/2 cup of homemade yogurt
About 1/4 cup of mayonnaise

It was delicious!  We had sandwiches made on fresh homemade whole wheat bread.

I enjoyed the crunch of the celery and the "guacamole" style flavor of the chicken salad.  I might even add more avocado and more lime next time.  I like to stay away from mayonnaise as often as possible but needed some to make the right consistency of chicken salad.

I think some crisp bacon might have been good chopped in it and a slice of fresh tomato would have been great too, if I had any.  What else would you add?

In the Kitchen - Preparing for Thanksgiving

I am hosting Thanksgiving this year for my family.  I have done it countless times before...  it never bothers me to prepare a mass quantity of wonderful food to eat, or clean the house before hand, or entertain everyone, but this year is different.  Since my husband and I have adopted a completely different eating style from the rest of my family, I sense a dilemma on the horizon.  Many of my family say "don't make any of that healthy crap"... oh my goodness... I cannot prepare our favorite pies with corn syrup, I just can't.  I can't use cans of Campbells soup in the green bean casserole, nor can I serve traditional pie crust made with Crisco.  These are just some ingredients I will not be cooking with this year.

Now how do I cook the same traditional foods but in a healthier manner?  Very carefully.  Here is our traditional Thanksgiving meal, as handed down through the generations.  We always eat the same foods.  Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet candied potatoes, green bean casserole, jello salad, breads, gravy, pumpkin pie & pecan pie.  But, of course, in the spirit of our societal need to overeat at holiday times, there is always a few more dishes on the table as the whim dictates. 

I have tried to vary from this "prescribed feast" in the years past, only to get complaints about taking away tradition.  That was back when I cooked in the traditional manner with processed foods but just tried to substitute something like pumpkin cheesecake for pumpkin pie.  Now I do want you to know that overall my family is polite about it.. my adult children complain out loud but the rest of them just show their dislike by picking at non-traditional foods.  I can tell though. 

After much much thought about the menu this Thanksgiving, I am pretty sure what I will be doing to maintain tradition for my family while keeping with my values for healthier food choices.  Here are the plans.

Turkey - EASY - put a quality turkey in the roaster oven... that won't change, except maybe the quality of the turkey.  I always baste  mine with butter and I will still do that, except we have moved to butter without added hormone or organic butter. 

Stuffing - This will be a bit trickier because I only use wheat bread now and they may taste that unless I use lots of fresh herbs and good chicken broth.  They will get stuffing made from all my "reject" loaves of wheat bread from the last 8 weeks.  Every loaf that did not turn out right was placed in the deep freeze so that I could cube it and make it into stuffing.  I think that will work.  The herbs will be fresh and dried, depending on what is available from the windowsill garden, and the celery and onion will be organic.  The chicken broth will be homemade.  I bought a whole chicken and put it in the crockpot overnight last night in a bath of whey.  Once it was done this morning, I strained all solids from it, cooled it, removed the top layer of fat and put the rest of the resultant broth in the freezer.  I used a big gallon sized ziplock freezer bag because I know I will need a lot next week for the gravy, potatoes, and stuffing!  It looks pretty good and will be of much higher quality and tastier than store bought processed broth in a can.  I am kind of proud of it! 

For the gravy, it will be traditional except for substituting sprouted freshly ground whole wheat flour for their pasty white processed bleached flour.   I don't think they will mind that.

Rolls and bread?  I am hoping to be inspired with a really good quick bread recipe, maybe banana bread or re-trying the pumpkin banana bread recipe that went bad on me a couple of weeks ago.   Plus I will try to create some wheat rolls with my trusty wheat bread recipe.  Those should be good enough.

Green bean casserole... usually it is several cans of green beans mixed with cream of mushroom soup, cheddar cheese and those little cans of french onions.  I have some fresh frozen green beans..  I can substitute a cup of sour cream for the mushroom soup with a little extra seasoning, and I can buy a good quality cheese to put in it.... but WHAT AM I GOING TO DO ABOUT THOSE LITTLE FRIED ONIONS?  I have not begun to think about that yet so maybe I should do a quick google search and try to make my own.  (what a nightmare... I will let you know how that turns out ... I am sure it will be akin to producing my own Cheetos).  Nevertheless, I am sure I will "ruin" the green bean casserole for all of them.  One year I used fresh green beans and they hated it.... they would rather have had the canned mushy ones.  (shaking my head)

Sweet potatoes?  Our family makes them with corn syrup, butter, and brown sugar.  I think I can recreate this a bit with brown rice syrup, organic raw sugar, and of course the butter.  They have to get gooey, soft and sweet for my family.

Pies?  I shared a source for a pie recipe a few days ago.  I will be trying the Pecan Pie recipe that I found without corn syrup and I purchased the pecans today so I have enough time to sprout and dehydrate them before next week.  The crust will be made with fresh ground sprouted Spelt and Palm Shortening.  This should produce a light colored crust for them that is tasty and flaky.   The pumpkin pie will be made with pumpkin that I baked and froze a few weeks ago..  you remember, the one that exploded in my kitchen?  I will have to remember to drain the extra liquid from that pumpkin puree once it is thawed or I will have pumpkin soup in a crust.  And the whipped cream?  Fresh... whipped with my new KitchenAid from heavy cream and vanilla right before serving the pie!!

I think we will have a bit of fresh fruit salad instead of jello and may still have my sis bring some jello salad with her so that others can enjoy it.

Needless to say, I am a little anxious about this meal.  I have not perfected cooking yet with all these new techniques and ingredients so I will have to say a prayer and be thoroughly prepared as the time comes closer and closer.  I will keep you posted on the outcome and in the planning process.  If you have any pointers for me, feel free to pass them on.  I will need all the help I can get. 

What changes are you making this holiday season in order to eat healthier??  And is your family embracing them or fighting you tooth and nail?

Health - Dangers of Diet Soda, Aspartame, and other artificial sweeteners

Artificial Sweeteners - just stop eating diet foods and drinks for a week and see what your body tells you.

I used to drink lots of Diet Coke... LOVED the stuff!  I always joked about saving the calories for the meal so I could eat more.  Then I became enlightened...  I actually started listening to my body only when it became a "train wreck" and I was desperate for a change.  One of the things I started to research was the effect of artificial sweeteners on our body and health.

It is no wonder that I suffered from bladder infections, fluid retention, headaches, fatigue, frequent illnesses, reflux, and a host of other issues.  I don't entirely blame the Diet Coke habit but I certainly know now that it took its toll.

Artificial sweeteners are made of chemicals.  Straight up!  They were developed in laboratories from substances that humans should not ingest.  They were discovered to be sweet and then added to our foods to meet the needs of people who wanted a low calorie alternative to their favorite foods and drinks and they have been wreaking havoc on our health ever since! 

Artificial sweeteners are not only in our diet drinks.  They are in the foods we eat as well, especially the so-called-diet foods.  But here is some irony for you.  Artificial sweeteners cause increase appetite and weight gain.  No wonder we diet like crazy and can't lose those extra pounds!

Here is a list of artificial sweeteners to watch for on the labels of your foods and drinks:

Mannitol
Glycerol
Acesulfame potassium
Aspartame
Cyclamate
Isomalt
Sorbitol
Saccharin
Sucralose
Alitame
Thaumatin
Neohesperidine dihydrochalcone
Maltitol
Lactitol
Xylitol
Erythritol

Just for your own education, read this article by Dr. Mercola on the dangers of Aspartame and why it works against your body and can destroy your health.
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/11/07/aspartame-causes-blood-cancer.aspx?e_cid=20121107_DNL_art_1

Remember that all foods derived from natural sources are good for you... but moderation is key.  A balanced and diverse diet in conjunction with the avoidance of processed foods and chemical additives will serve your body to achieve ultimate health.  It is possible to age gracefully and live long enough to plague your great grandchildren (or enrich their lives).  That is my plan. 

Pecan Pie - no corn syrup/no grain option

With Thanksgiving approaching rapidly, I am sure many of you are considering your meal.  If you are like me, you may not be so anxious to eat the marshmallows on the potatoes or the pecan pie made with corn syrup.  I have been struggling planning this big feast of a meal for my extended family because I want to limit the processed foods, feed them things they like, but also keep it as healthy as possible!  Most of my family does not worry about the foods they eat.. not at all like we do in our house.  Many do not pay attention to organic options or even understand what a GMO food is.

It will be a dilemma to feed us all within a budget and please everyone on that day!  My first concern was for the pies.  Crazy as that sounds, if there are no pecan and pumpkin pies here when they all come over, it could get ugly!!  But I have NEVER made a pecan pie without a bunch of high fructose corn syrup to make the filling.  Then I found this recipe and I will definitely try it for Thanksgiving!  I thought if I shared it with you early, you would also have time to use it in your holiday tradition!

I love that there is an option for a grain-free crust as well.  So many people are turning away from grains ...  most do not have Celiac disease or a true reaction to the gluten but they are struggling with the way their body feels after eating wheat and bread products.

You can sure try this gluten-free pie crust as a good alternative.  I am going to bake my pies with a Spelt flour and Palm shortening crust.. it is what is used to bake the Happles pies you see in the frozen section of the grocery store.  Spelt and palm shortening will make a white pie crust and my family will like the traditional look. Wheat flour, as you know, produces food that is a little darker.

Just a note here:  When you sprout wheat or spelt by soaking, you release the phytic acids that are keeping it from germinating and cause the seed to change internally.  Then by grounding those seeds fresh right before you use them in your baked goods, you will probably not have the same gut reactions you are currently having from eating wheat products.  Now this is NOT TRUE for true Celiac Disease sufferers - they have a sort of allergy to Gluten and that cannot be sprouted or soaked out of wheat!  But if you are like me and get a belly ache from breads, try the sprouting and grinding method and see what that does for your gut!  You may not have to eliminate wheat from your diet.



Check out this website for a wonderful pie recipe:  http://deliciouslyorganic.net/?s=pecan+pie

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Bread Pudding

When life gives you ruined hopeless pumpkin bread, make bread pudding!

That is my new motto.

And that is exactly what I did yesterday.  After totally ruining a loaf of pumpkin bread by NOT STRAINING MY pureed pumpkin (even though Sue told me to strain it - I forgot..), I was left with a doughy undercooked gooey loaf (I use that word loosely to describe the pudding I was left with).  It was tasty though.  The flavors were definitely there even though it did not cook well.

So last night I looked for a bread pudding recipe.  I have never made bread pudding before but figured it might just fix this bread problem I had and pumpkin bread pudding kind of sounded good.

I took this recipe and cut up the soggy pumpkin bread into it.  I left out about 1/2 cup of the milk the recipe called for, figuring that since the bread was not exactly dry, it would not soak up as much of the liquid.  I also deleted the butter for the same reason!  I was right and this recipe is wonderful.  EVERYONE in my house is eating Pumpkin Bread Pudding and loving it!  We put ice cream on it too...  mmmmm... enjoy!

Bread Pudding II

Submitted By: ELLENMARIE Photo By: raha Prep Time: 30 Minutes Cook Time: 45 Minutes Ready In: 1 Hour 15 Minutes Servings: 12

"This lightly spiced, extra thick bread pudding really hits home. We suggest using a rich egg bread or a moist white loaf in this recipe"

Ingredients:

6 slices day-old bread 2 tablespoons butter, melted 1/2 cup raisins (optional) 4 eggs, beaten

2 cups milk 3/4 cup white sugar 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1.	Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2.	Break bread into small pieces into an 8 inch square baking pan. Drizzle melted butter or margarine over bread. If desired, sprinkle with raisins.
3.	In a medium mixing bowl, combine eggs, milk, sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla. Beat until well mixed. Pour over bread, and lightly push down with a fork until bread is covered and soaking up the egg mixture.
4.	Bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until the top springs back when lightly tapped.

DIY - I am making my own Essential Oils tonight

I was at the store looking at scent infused oils and essential oils and the price of them was pretty prohibitive...  and since I want to experiment with lotions, shampoos, and other personal care items, I wanted the ability to make them smell good!  So today I researched making my own essential oils.

While high quality essential oils are produced using steam or distillation, it is possible to create an oil at home.  I have a little crockpot that is used for dips and things (or should I say "unused" and in the cupboard), so I am devoting it to infusing oils. 

Tonight we have started a small batch of Rosemary essential oil.  I love the scent of rosemary and wanted to buy some the other day but did not.  But I DO have some growing in the windowsill.  So tonight we started almost 1/4 ounce of Rosemary (it was actually about equivalent to 2 Tablespoons) in almost 1 cup of olive oil in the little crockpot.

I think I am going to try some different methods and different scents.  I have herbs growing on the windowsill and some mint outside in the garden.  I will have vanilla bean coming in the mail to try and I want to try some of the citrus ..  grapefruit, orange, lemon, lime... the rinds will be thrown away anyway so I might as well use them.

Here is the information I found... when making these essential oils at home, they will not have the same potency, purity, or therapeutic aromatherapy effects as those commercially produced.  The oils I am making are best used in personal care products or candles and should not be eaten.  Here are 6 possible methods for making your own essential oils at home.


Method #1
Place plant material into a crock pot filled with distilled water. Cook on low for 24 hours. Leave crock pot open and allow it to sit for a week. Collect the oil off the surface of the water and put it into a dark, glass container. Cover with a piece of cloth and allow it to sit for a week to evaporate off any extra water. It will last for about 12 months.

Method #2
Place ground up plant material in a cotton or linen bag. Tie it shut and place it in a pot of distilled water. Bring water to a boil and simmer slowly for 24 hours. Collect the oil off the surface of the water (you may have to squeeze the bag) and put it into a dark, glass container. Cover with a piece of cloth and allow it to sit for a week to evaporate off any extra water. It will last for about 12 months.

Method #3
Half-fill a large glass bottle with olive oil (or almond, jojoba, or rapeseed). Cram as much plant material as possible into the bottle. Cap it and let it sit in a cool, dark place for 24 hours. Shake it. After three days strain it through cheese cloth and put liquid in a dark, glass container. (If scent is not strong enough add more plant material and repeat process.) It will last for about 6 months.

Method #4
Stir 1/2 ounce of plant material into 2 cups olive oil (or almond, jojoba, or rapeseed). Cook in crock pot on low for about 6 hours. Strain the mixture with unbleached cheese cloth and put liquid in a dark, glass container. It will last for about 6 months.

Method #5
Place 1 Tablespoon ground up plant material, 1/2 cup of olive oil (or almond, jojoba, or rapeseed), and 1/2 teaspoon of white vinegar into a small bottle (cap on). Put it in a warm place (sunny window) for three weeks. Shake it well twice a day. Strain the mixture with unbleached cheese cloth and put liquid in a dark, glass container. It will last for about 6 months.

Method #6
Soak plant material in a bottle of rubbing alcohol for two weeks (cap on). Pour it out into a wide container. Allow alcohol to evaporate. Collect the oil left in the container and put it into a dark, glass container. It will last for about 6 months. Please note that this method should NOT be consumed.

DIY - Homemade Vanilla Extract

So easy!  Why haven't I thought to look for this before?  I just stumbled upon it last night and I am so excited!

I use a lot of vanilla extract in cooking and struggle at the grocery store deciding between the cheap or expensive vanilla... generally choosing something that looks like quality in between.  Even then the little bottle goes quickly and I am back to the store.  I always wondered why some was so cheap and some SO HIGH!  Now I think I know but I don't have to pay the premium price for the good stuff anymore!  I am on the hunt for vanilla beans now!  If I find some locally I will share where they are but if I have to order on line, I need to know if any of you want to have me order some for you too... when we buy in larger and larger quantities, we will save money per bean so if you are in town, message me if you also want to buy vanilla beans with me...  but message fast.  I am impatient and will have some on my counter very soon.

DIY Homemade VANILLA EXTRACT

What You Need

• 1 cup vodka
• 3 vanilla beans
• A glass jar with a snug-fitting lid
• A knife

1. Use a knife to split the vanilla beans open lengthwise, stopping one inch from the end of each bean.
2. Place the cut beans in a glass container, and cover with vodka.
3. Make sure the beans are completely submerged. Push down any that aren't.
4. Secure the lid; and store in a cool, dark place.
5. Allow the extract to develop for at least two months before using, shaking at least once a week.

Tips:

1. To replenish your supply of extract, just add more vodka to the bottle from time to time. The original beans will retain their flavor for years.
2. Homemade vanilla extract makes a great gift. Package some up in small bottles, and decorate them with your own label.
3. Online vendors often have the best price for vanilla beans.

Some of the recipes I saw called for developing your vanilla for up to 6 months so I assume the longer you develop it, the more flavor you will achieve.  I can't wait to get this started!  Leave a comment if you want vanilla beans when I order.  It only takes 3 and a cup of vodka!