Carrot Fries-Thanks Tracy!

So I am spending time on facebook while watching the potato chips baking.  Journey ate all the chips (ok, we helped) and I have to make more for her lunch tomorrow (that is, unless, school gets called off due to snow.. but I doubt it).

My friend Tracy sent me a facebook message - you know the type.. "I thought of you when I saw this".  It was a Pinterest post about Carrot Fries.  What could be better than that?  So I told her I would try them and if I liked them I would write a blog for you to try it too.

Carrot fries = carrots, olive oil, salt, and an oven at 350 degrees.  And all that = YUMMY!

I was baking a batch of potato chips anyway so the oven was fired up and the salt and olive oil was out so I grabbed a carrot real quick and cut it thinly lengthwise.  Then I coated it in olive oil and salted it good and put it on the stoneware pan for about 15 minutes in the oven.

Can you see the little carrot pieces in amongst the potato chips?

Here is the verdict:  Delicious!!

Shout out to Tracy for thinking of me and sending me that link and for giving me yet another wonderful way to snack healthy and eat my vegetables!! 

In the Kitchen - What I learned making Waffles

Yesterday morning we were out of waffles.  That is a big deal in our house.  I try to make up a batch of waffles every so often and freeze some ahead.  Journey is the main waffle-eater at our house and while I usually have her start her day every day with an organic protein shake or bar and mineral juice, sometimes a homemade waffle just sounds wonderful so I let her indulge.

You are probably guessing that I would touch a frozen Eggo with a ten foot pole so I have to make my own.  They are very easy and freeze well so I can always have them in the freezer for a quick grab and heat treat.  My waffle recipe is buckwheat (great for lowering cholesterol and also gluten free - actually not a wheat at all) and buttermilk (can you say cultured dairy - full of good bacteria and healthy stuff) along with some eggs (farm fresh from my friend Shari's hens - she is selling them in the area if you want me to hook you up!)  and some good oil (sometimes coconut, sometimes grape oil).    There is everything right about these tasty waffles.

Here is how my kitchen looks while making a triple batch.. kind of trashed for a little while.  But you probably wanted to know what I learned, don't you?

I call this picture the "Waffle Explosion"

It is about the oil for the waffle iron.  For years I have used a non-stick cooking spray.. don't you have some of that in your cupboard?  I still do.  ugh.. read it... soybean oil, flavoring, whatever aerosol they use... just crap.  Like everything else manufactured for our convenience I guess.  But a waffle iron needs a little help or the waffles stick.  So I make sure and use my pump spray bottles.  If you are still using non-stick spray, consider getting a few of those to fill with your favorite healthy oils.

The one in the middle is the one you don't want to use.

I use the one on the right for my olive oil because it looks like an Italian style bottle (that way I remember what it is).  The one on the left is a Pampered Chef bottle that I keep grape oil in.  All you do is fill them, pump with the lid to build up a little pressure in the bottle and spray.  Cool deal!  They run between $6 and $13, depending on where you get them and can be used for years.  I found the one on the right at HyVee.

Here is another great little trick I learned making waffles yesterday.  It is one of those things that I wonder how I missed all these years so maybe you already know it...  When the waffle comes out of the waffle iron it is kind of limp and a little soggy. I just thought that was the way waffles should be and yet I have had good crisper firmer waffles when I ate out.  I always thought that had something to do with the waffle iron but NO...

Here is the trick:  When you take your waffles out of the waffle iron, lay them on the rack of a preheated oven (350) for a few minutes and they get a little crisper.  They also stay warmer that way if you are serving them for a meal and they hold the syrup well too.. absorbing it perfectly.

To freeze waffles for individual use, lay them single file on a cookie sheet and pop it in the freezer for about an hour to freeze before putting them in a freezer-safe bag or container.  You can pop them in the toaster just like an Eggo (shuddering).  I also use them to make sandwiches for Journey's lunch.  She loves a waffle/nutella or waffle/peanut butter sandwich for lunch!

Have fun making waffles!

Orange Slice Candy

I don't know about you but I LOVE that sweet orange slice candy.  The ones that are all chewy with a bunch of sugar coating them.  We have a new Fannie Farmer candy store in town and I stopped in (to torture myself I think)... to see what there was.  I saw those wonderful beckoning orange slice candies and really craved them but then I read the ingredients and high fructose corn syrup was the first one.  Of course.  Just because it looks like a fruit does not make it remotely healthy.

So I got to work investigating and I have to share my newest recipe with you!  It is wonderful real orange "candy".  Tastes almost like those sweet chewy orange slices to me!

I had to work for about a week to save up enough orange peel for this.  Make sure and get organic oranges or you will be eating orange-peel-pesticide strips.  So after I bought 1/2 a dozen oranges I got to saving the skins in the refrigerator in a baggy.  Every orange we ate, I saved the skin.  Even the ones I sent in Journey's lunch, I made her bring the peels home.  I am quite sure the poor kid gets all kinds of looks as she brings her "trash" back home in her lunch bag.  But it worked and soon enough I had enough orange peels to start my candy.

Take those refrigerated chunks of trash peel and cut them into 1/4 inch strips.  It is ok to leave on the white part for this step.. you can remove some of that easier later on.

Throw all your strips of orange peel into cold water (just enough to cover them)  and bring it to a boil.  Once it is boiling, drain it and start over.  Do this boiling process 3 times.  That will cut some of the bitterness in the orange peels.  After the third boil, dunk them in ice water to stop the cooking process.  After the boiling, they are soft and if you want to trim off a bit of that white layer inside of them, it is easy to do at that point but a little time consuming.  (I just this minute did a little taste test, eating one that I had trimmed carefully versus one with the white layer intact - the trimmed peel tasted a little better but the untrimmed one was almost as good - so not a critical step here)

In the same pot, add 1 cup of Agave syrup (or another sweetener - I was out of Agave so I put in about 1/2 cup honey, 1/4 cup of rice syrup, and some stevia).  Then add about 3 cups of water to that and bring it to a boil.  Throw your cold orange peels back in and bring it back to a boil.  Simmer in that sweetened water for about an hour (I did not watch my pan well enough and all the water actually simmered away but my oranges didn't burn).

After an hour, put the lid on the pot and leave it on the stove overnight.  In the morning, if there is still liquid in the pan with your orange peels, drain it off and lay your sweetened orange peels out on a rack for 24 to 48 hours to dry.  While they were still wet, I sprinkled some organic cane sugar over them and added some stevia as well.. just to sweeten them a bit more.

When they are dry, they are really good little bites of sweet orange taste.. very similar to those orange candies at the store.  WARNING here:  Stevia has a bit of a different taste to it and while it sweetens the food, you might have to adjust to the little bit of aftertaste from the stevia... but heck, if you can drink diet stuff with chemical poison aspartame in it, you can develop a taste for Stevia and save yourself a lot of grief in the long run.  

I can't wait to save all my lemon, lime, and grapefruit peels too!  What do you know.. healthy candy!!

Potato Chips

Is there such a thing as healthy potato chips?  After all, aren't potato chips junk food?  Yes, and Yes!  Any of those packaged snack foods you buy on the shelf of the supermarket are questionable with a list of ingredients that cannot be pronounced and manufactured to last a lifetime in a paper bag.  That makes me pretty suspicious right there!

But let's face it... we all crave a little something sometimes.  For poor Journey (who gets very little junk food), it was potato chips this weekend.  She asked me to make some.  I could not turn her down. While potatoes aren't exactly a green leafy vegetable, they are not the spawn of the devil either.  Potatoes are not twinkies... they are a root vegetable with nourishment in them, especially right under the skin.  I think they are ok in smaller quantities.

That brings us to fat... deep fried food kind of grosses me out anymore.  It didn't used to but I just know too much now and have come so far that I really don't want to eat anything that has to be deep fried.  But even saying that, I believe that a bit of fat in the diet is healthy and, in fact, imperative.  Fats are a natural part of every cell in our body and necessary in order for us to absorb and utilize many of the vitamins we need, like A, D, E, and Vitamin K.  I have blogged before about healthy fats. Coconut oil and olive oil being 2 of my favorites!

So back to the potato chips.  That is what you wanted to know, right?  Well this is the second time I tried them and they were actually really good this time so let me tell you the secrets.

Wash your potatoes.  I washed about 6 of them.  Really scrub them clean so you don't have to peel them.  Most of the nutrition is in the skin!

Then find a way to slice them thin.  I mean thin.  My new food processor with an adjustable slicer did a great job of slicing them on the thinnest setting..  LOVE it.  Last time I tried, I did not get them cut thin enough and so they were a bit of a flop.

Now take your slices in a bowl and pour in some olive oil.. mix that around so that most of your slices are mostly coated a bit with oil.  Then pour some olive oil on a flat baking sheet and spread it around to coat the sheet good.. this is critical or your potatoes will stick!

Did I mention to preheat the oven to about 350?  Do that as you are slicing the potatoes.

Spread the potatoes on the greased baking sheet in a single layer.  Add salt.  Don't be afraid to salt them quite a bit.  Mine overlapped some but not much and I ended up using 3 baking sheets.  2 were metal cookie sheets and one was a pampered chef stoneware sheet.  The stoneware sheet gave me much better results and the poatoes did not stick as much to that one.

Pop your potatoes in the oven for about 15 minutes.  Watch them and when they are turning brown, take them out and stir and turn them.. some will stick. I used a rigid metal spatula to kind of scrape them off the pan and turn them and popped them back in the oven for 10 - 15 more minutes.  I might have done this one more time for a few minutes before I decided that some of them were brown enough.

At this point I pulled the brown crispy ones off of the pans and put them in a bowl (adding more salt) but popped back in the ones that were still a bit undercooked.  This went on a few more minutes .. I kept cooking them until they were all browned to my liking. 

Now as with almost everything I make from scratch, it never LOOKS like store-bought.  I consider that a good sign actually.  My potato chips were brown but crunchy and tasty, tasty, tasty.  We couldn't keep out of them!  Most of my family visited today and they got to taste the fresh chips and everyone loved them.  So I made some dip.

Dip... yummm...  what is chips without dip?  I haven't had chips and dip in my house for a long time!  So tonight before Journey got home I made her dip to go with her chips.  I had leftover plain yogurt and 1/2 a brick of cream cheese in the refrigerator so I softened and combined them and threw in a generous helping of garlic powder and onion powder...  DELICIOUS!  Journey loved the dip even when she found out I put yogurt in it... she is a picky kid so when it passes her taste test, it is good!

Here is what is left of our chips.  I wanted to show you a picture of how they look ( these are not burned.. just crisp).  The 6 potatoes almost filled this plastic container when they were first done but several of us were into this container of chips before the picture got taken.

Health - The Baby Carrot Revelation

Every time I turn around I learn something new.  It never ceases to amaze me what I DON'T know.. sometimes I think I couldn't possibly have lived almost 53 years and never have had any of this occur to me before.  Today I am referring to carrots. 

Now I kind of thought if it came from the earth and was sold at the grocery store, it was "natural".  Yes,  know that there are pesticides used in farming that stay in the food so I did a lot of research about what was important to buy organically.  I even grow lots of my own vegetables organically so I thought I was getting pretty smart and protecting my family... until I met those baby carrots.

It is hard to get vegetables in my 11 year old.  She is picky.  So for her "home lunches" I pack her a sandwich, fruit, some kind of healthy treat, and usually carrots (it is the only vegetable she will really eat and like). 

So when I saw those handy little bags of miniature carrots in the store, I thought they would work great for lunches.  You don't have to peel them every morning or cut them up and they went straight from refrigerator to lunchbox.  Wonderful!!!  Good food made easy.

THEN I DISCOVERED SOMETHING ABOUT THOSE BABY CARROTS!  Actually I discovered a lot about those little carrots.  For one thing, did you know that they are not picked out of the ground that size?  I did not know that (again, what was I thinking - that there was a "baby carrot" farm somewhere?).  And did you know that they are "treated" as they are manufactured, in order to extend their shelf life in the bag?

Oh, my gosh... is nothing sacred? 

Yes, those baby carrots are "made" from bigger carrots that are rejected for abnormality of size and shape and put in a machine and ground to the perfect size and then treated with chlorine.  Yes, I said CHLORINE!!  Like in bleach...  so they would be "fresh" by the time they got to you. 

Here are some of the rules of food processing:

1. If an ingredients is less that 1% of the total food it does not have to be listed on the label.
2. The FDA has determined that there are levels of chemical additives in individual foods that are not to be exceeded but there has been no proven issue with ingestion of a small amount of these chemicals (like dye, preservatives, chlorine, etc).  What they don't take into account is the cumulative levels of a little bit of those poisons in each of the foods consumed during the day.
3. You can use chemicals in processing and then "rinse" them off and that becomes ok.. and the consumer does not deserve to be informed of it.

So, in fact, bagged baby carrots now make me mad!  As soon as I found that out, I switched us to real carrots.  We now buy organic carrots in their whole real state and I peel and cut them every day for Jouney's lunch.  I make sure and buy the ones in a bunch that still have the greens attached.

Then I did some research about how best to store carrots.  Here is the best way:

• Buy the organic carrots with the greens attached (they are sweeter than the bigger ones in the store).  They usually come in a bunch.
• Take them home and cut the greens off.  (there is some controversy on whether a person can eat those greens in some form - I have not tried to... yet...)
• Lay the individual carrots out on the counter so they dry a bit for a few hours.
• Once they are dried out, they will store in your crisper drawer in a plastic bag for longer than a week - close to 2 weeks.
• If they get damp in refrigerator storage, take them out and let them dry again on the counter so you can return them to the refrigerator.  

So that is my carrot story.  

Butter .. the best you will ever eat!

I know I have posted about butter before but today I made about a pound of fresh butter and had it on toast with lunch and it was the freshest and best butter ever.  I thought I might share the pictures with you in case you are curious about making fresh butter yourself.

First of all, start with the best ingredients!  Fresh cream.. organic if possible.  I found a good price on 2 pints of Friendly Farms Whipping Cream (that brand uses no artificial growth hormones - sold at Aldi's).

Pour the cream in a big bowl.  I love using the KitchenAid because I am lazy enough to just love to watch it do all the work for me.  Even with the KitchenAid doing all the work, this process took about 1/2 an hour so prepare for a little time in the kitchen monitoring the progress of your butter.

I chose the bigger beater and not the wire whisk just due to the fact that I thought the butter, when formed would be harder to clean from inside the whisk.

Turn the beaters on slowly at first, increasing the speed as you can.  If you start off too quickly, you will splash whipped cream all over your kitchen (ask me, I know this).  So start slowly and get to whipping that cream.  It will soon become thicker and turn into whipped cream (as it thickens, you can increase the speed of the mixer).

 It continues to thicken and turn into whipped cream.  Keep beating... turning up the speed as you can so that you can finish the process... getting to the butter part is pretty exciting!

Here is the exciting part... about 15 minutes into the poor KitchenAid's workout...  I noticed the beater working harder and look what I found in that bowl:

That, my friends, is the BEST glob of butter you will ever taste!!  Right down there in the bottom of that bowl, floating in BUTTERMILK!!  It is almost done!

Drain the buttermilk into a jar and save it to bake with... yummy!

 Drain off the buttermilk to cook with and store it in the refrigerator.  I want to add a caveat here that although this milky delicious butter-by-product is called buttermilk, it is NOT cultured buttermilk.  You cannot use this liquid to make more buttermilk and it is a different consistency and taste than the cultured buttermilk you buy in the store.  It is thin and milky and not tangy and fermented.

So what to do with that glob of butter that you rescue from the milky buttermilk?  Put the solid in a bowl and kind of smash salt into it. Salted butter is the norm and probably what you are used to tasting on your toast.  Butter does not need to be salted but it will taste bland without it.. so I salted the butter with about 1 tsp of salt and mixed it into the solid butter really thoroughly by smashing it over and over against the side of the bowl with a spatula... kind of... until the spatula broke pretty early on in the process.

I am SO hard on kitchen utensils.

So how do I smash the butter?  It was pretty hard.. I used a metal spoon and bent it... so then I had this bright idea.  I have an antique butter paddle in my collection of antiques.  After much soul searching, I got that wooden paddle off of the shelf  and washed it, figuring it had survived for 200 years and probably spent it's first 100 years actually "paddling" butter so it was probably ok to use a 200 year old wooden paddle on my clean modern butter.

That paddle worked wonders!  No wonder they used wooden butter paddles!  They are very durable and I pressed and pressed my butter, mixing the salt into it good and draining a little more of the buttermilk off of it as I pressed and pressed.

When I felt like it had enough paddling, I transferred it to a glass bowl and quickly made some toast from the homemade sprouted wheat sourdough bread I baked last night to eat with my farm fresh eggs and organic cheese along with a few slices of uncured bacon.  I was in HEAVEN!!! 

Seriously now... do this with your children.  They will love watching cream turn to butter.  I thank my lucky stars that I have an opportunity to teach Journey these things and that I don't have to do it all like they did 200 years ago... I am in LOVE with my KitchenAid.  No hand churning for me!  But I am sad that after my 22 year old tasted the butter on her toast at lunch she asked me "If I buy the ingredients for you to make me some butter, will you?"  I answered "of course I will OR I will teach you to make it" and she replied "what do I need to buy?".  When I answered "just cream", she responded with "really?"  Such a sad statement to my mothering of her and to our modern world where children do not know how to make food nor even know what real food is.

In the Kitchen - Why I soak my nuts - sprouting

I know I posted something to this effect a few months ago but I think the posts get buried and people still ask me about sprouting.  This was a really foreign concept to me up until a few months ago.  Whole Foods had just opened and I was shopping and doing some investigation throughout the store.

I love the bulk items at Whole Foods.  Many are organic but you have the ability to get the quantity you need or want and I feel like I have a little more control over quantity.  If you have not seen the bulk section, there are dozens of items like nuts, figs, dried fruit, grains, legumes, etc all in marked bins with scoops in them and they are sold by the pound.  So, anyway, I was perusing the bulk items and saw "Sprouted" on the label of some of the bins.  I had never heard of sprouted nuts or grains before but I did notice that they were quite a bit more expensive than the unsprouted ones.  So they must be better, right?  LOL

When I got home I did some research on sprouting and discovered amazing things.  A nut is a seed, right?  And a seed is intended to grow into some green thing, right?  But a dried seed lays dormant for months until the condition is right to sprout.... and then it can turn into an amazing big green plant.  Nuts and seeds contain an enzyme inhibitor called Phytic acid.  This is present to keep the seed from germinating in the wrong conditions.  Phytic acid is inactivated by water (hence a seed needs moisture to grow). 

So here is the problem:  An unsprouted nut contains phytic acid.  Phytic acid is an enzyme inhibitor.  That means it prevents enzymes from doing their work.  Your gut DEPENDS on enzymes to do it's work in digesting your food properly... so the enzymes in your gut are also inhibited when you ingest phytic acid.  Are you with me so far?  Have you heard of the importance of digestive enzymes?  What do you think your pancreas does all day?  Yup.. it makes enzymes for you... and then you go and mess them all up... and inhibit them.

Additionally, many nuts contain tannic acid.  Tannic acid makes things brown.  They use it to "tan hides" of animals.  It is not a very nice substance and when taken in quantity, it can make you sick or at least give you a belly ache.  Have you ever known of someone (or maybe it is you) that gets a "sore mouth" or a "bellyache" from eating nuts?  Thank the tannins.  It is all their fault.  Tannic acid also tastes bitter, which I will address in a minute.

So am I saying that nuts are not good for you?  No.. they contain protein and healthy fats and most people eat a few of them just fine.  But could they be better?  You bet! Could they be healthier?  Could they be turned into a living raw food in it's finest form, ideal for your digestive tract?  Yes, yes, and yes.  Just sprout them.  That is why sprouted nuts are more expensive.. they ARE better.

So how do you sprout your nuts?  In water.  ... it is really this easy.. give it a try... don't be afraid... it takes a little while but you don't have to stand there and watch them sprout.. just set it up and leave it alone.

Start with raw nuts.  I used to buy my raw walnuts from the Whole Foods bins at 9.99 or 12.99 per pound (can't remember which).  Sprouted walnuts ran at least $5.00 per pound more!  Then I discovered the bags of raw nuts in that area and thought "why not?"  A nut is a nut.  The bagged nuts are about $7 or $8 per pound.  Deal!

Now take the nuts and a big jar.  I use a 1/2 gallon mason jar with a lid and a piece of fabric or cheesecloth closed in the lid for straining.

Rinse the nuts a few times in clean clear water.  See the sediment?  Yuck.. I know I used to eat that.   Did I assume that was only nut sediment?  How do I know that it was not dirt?  I don't... but anyway now fill up the jar with water and leave it on the counter to soak for a few hours.

At first the water is clear but in a few hours you will find the water in the jar looking like this:

 Seriously.. see the water in that jar.  That is after a few hours.  That is the tannic acid in the water.  You are soaking the bitterness right out of that nut. No more mouth sores... no more belly ache.  YAY!!  Better tasting nuts.  But you are not done yet.

Rinse with clear water and fill the jar a few more times...  I usually soak my nuts overnight, giving them a few good rinses in the evening and again in the morning.   There is no exact recipe.. don't be afraid of this process.. you can't screw it up.

Watch out what size of jar you use.  The nuts swell with absorption of the water so leave some space in your jar! 

In the morning, strain and rinse your nuts again and leave them on the counter in the jar wet but not soaking in water.  You may rinse them again every 8 hours or so just to keep them freshly wet.

Now day 2 I dehydrate those nuts back to their dry state.  I use a dehydrator but you can use an oven at a very low setting.. under 150 degrees.  Lay the nuts out on a single layer and if you like salt, salt the nuts.  Put them in the oven very low and let the moisture leave the nuts.  When they return to crunchy and not soggy, they are done.  It may take a few hours but you won't burn them in an oven that low.. .. quit worrying!

When they are dry and crunchy and cooled, put them in a container and keep them for a long time.  EAT THEM!!!  You will notice that with the tannins soaked away, they are mild and flavorful.. never bitter.

Be happy that you have awakened that seed to germination state, so it has released all its little phyto-nutrients for your benefit.  (phyto-nutrients is just a fancy was of saying "plant stuff that is really good for you). 

Enjoy!  And also rest assured that you have rinsed off all of that questionable dirty looking stuff that is in the bottom of you bag of nuts.  You will like them so much better... you really will!

DIY: Shaving Cream

With bikini season just around the corner (at least I hope it is coming soon), it is time to think about shaving a bit more frequently than most of us do all winter (at least if you are like me). 

Think about the shaving cream or soap you currently use to help that razor glide across your skin.  Is it full of toxins to be absorbed or is it all natural and safe?  Does it have fragrances and chemicals you can barely pronounce listed in the ingredients? 

After discovering how easy it was to make my own shampoo and body lotion, I decided to find a good recipe for shaving cream.  It needed to be safe, smooth, and effective.  And it needed to pass the "Mike and Journey test".

Last night I gave it a whirl and put it to the test this morning.  Mike shaves his head and his face and I notice that he cuts himself occasionally... and Journey shaves too, even at her young age, so I wanted something non-toxic that would glide across her skin in the shower and prevent nicks from the razor.  This shaving cream worked wonders, while leaving skin soft... and no razor nicks today!

It is easy to make.  You will just need a mixer and some basic ingredients like these:

1/3 cup cocoa or shea butter
1/3 cup coconut oil
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tsp vitamin E (preservative... optional)
You can add some essential oils for fragrance if you wish but we did not add them in this batch.

First you must melt the cocoa or shea butter and the coconut oil.  You can do this simply in a glass bowl or jar in some hot water.  I used a double boiler set up and melted my ingredients in a glass ball jar that I keep dedicated to skin care recipes.  The coconut and cocoa butter melted quickly.

Then with a spoon, mix the olive oil into the melted oils.  At this time I added the 1 tsp of vitamin E oil for it's preservative qualities.  Once all that was stirred together, it was put in the refrigerator to "harden" back up. 

When it is cooled adequately, it will look like soft butter.  Now here comes the fun part:

With an electric mixer, whip the cold concoction.  It will whip up all creamy and soft.  Then it is ready to put in a container and keep in your bathroom for shaving cream.  It is soft, slick, and leaves skin conditioned and healthy!  Just dip your hand into the container and apply it to damp skin for a smooth razor glide.

We put ours in little covered containers that I save .. ours is in a sour cream container and Journey's is contained in a very old little margarine container. (I inherited dozen of little margarine containers from my mother-in-law.. don't worry... I don't "touch the stuff")

Bring on the warm weather!!

In the Medicine Cabinet - Master Tonic

So either I have gone over the deep edge OR I have found something useful.  Time will tell.  Here is the story behind my Master Tonic adventure.

First let me start by saying that we RARELY get sick at our house.  We seem to have strong immune systems since paying attention to what we eat.  It is a wonderful thing to have a child still in grade school who rarely brings any viruses home to us.  Even when she succumbs to illness, it is short lasted and my husband and I avoid it completely. 

We don't really believe in taking medications unless absolutely necessary either.  So NO FLU shot for any of us.  I believe they can do more harm than good and despite my personal friendly physician's disapproval, we will not get vaccinated.  Of course the only time she sees us for the last 2 years is when I go to Dr. appointments with my mother.  Then I get a hug from my doctor, get "bugged" about never seeing her anymore, and harassed to get my annual flu vaccine.  No Thank You.

But I am not crazy enough to believe that my body will never get attacked by a virus.  And when it does, we will feel sick.  I will not take any medication (even Tylenol) when that happens unless I am absolutely without any other options. 

Now just recently I came across something called Master Tonic.  If the right foods have improved our health to this extent, what if the right foods could go a step further and become our "medication".  This Master Tonic is made from whole foods and is reported to reduce cold and flu symptoms and aid the body to fight infection.  As I looked over the list of ingredients, I decided that the claims could really be true.  The ingredients in my Master Tonic are all filled with anti-viral, anti-bacterial, immune-boosting properties.  So what the heck?  Are you ready to learn what it is?

Here is the picture of 2 jars of this Master Tonic in my pantry.  It will keep practically forever in these jars, as it is based in vinegar.   And the way you take it is to drink 1/2 to 1 ounce of this daily at the first sign of cold or flu.  So when we feel ill around here, I will let you know how it works.  But I will tell you that many people swear by it!

Master Tonic Recipe

In a glass jar combine equal parts of:

Finely chopped white onion
Finely chopped garlic cloves
Finely chopped hot or jalepeno peppers
Finely chopped horseradish root
Finely chopped ginger

Fill the glass jar about 3/4 full of equal parts of those solid ingredients and then fill the jar to the top with good quality unfiltered and unprocessed apple cider vinegar.  Cover the jar and leave covered on the counter for 2 weeks.  Then strain the solids out and reserve the liquid.  That is your master tonic.

Easy, huh?  Wait a minute.. I should warn you about a few things I found along the way in preparing this awesome tincture.

Buy good quality organic ingredients first of all.  Fresh is best.  Organic is great too! 

I bought the ingredients at Whole Foods in fairly small amounts, and took them home to chop up a few weeks ago.  I had never worked with horseradish or ginger root before so I didn't know what to expect.  I chopped them individually in the food processor and put each chopped ingredient in a separate bowl so I could measure equal amounts into my glass jar.  It was very pretty with all those wonderful things layered in my jar.

Be careful... this stuff is POTENT.  OMG.  Mike came home from the office at noon the day I was chopping this stuff and the house REEKED of garlic, onion, and horseradish.  My hands actually stung a bit under the nails and my eyes were watering but my sinuses were clearer than they had been in months!  I was careful not to touch my eyes or mouth during prep...  maybe I should have worn gloves... but I was grateful to let the blades of the food processor do all the work!  I am certainly glad I did not try to chop it all with a knife and cutting board!

Horseradish root is like wood.  It is HARD!  I thought my poor food processor was going to overheat chopping that one.  I peeled the horseradish and ginger a bit before processing it and I did take the seeds from the jalepenos as well before chopping them.

After adding the chopped ingredients and vinegar to the jar, I covered it and left it on the counter for the 2 weeks.  The experience and smells during chopping it all were a vague memory until today when I opened the jar.

OH MY GOODNESS.. straining the solids out of the vinegar solution made the whole house reek again.  Now mind you, this is not really a bad reek... just sinus clearing, mind blowing, knock you off your feet SMELLY. 

Journey watched me strain the vinegar out and I told her she would have to drink it if she got sick.  She thought I was kidding at first but when she found out I wasn't, her response was "I am never telling you if I feel sick again".  OK.. .. .. I guess perfect attendance at school is in our future as long as I have a jar of Master Tonic in the cupboard then.  Not a bad side effect.  :)

So what to do with all those wonderful vinegar soaked chopped vegetables?  Well, not being one to waste anything, I read that you could save the chopped pieces and add them to soups, etc, in small quantities so then I had the dilemma of how to save them.  I was looking high and low for ice cube trays to freeze little bits in when Journey had the great idea to dehydrate them.  After all, I use dehydrated celery and carrots and onions in soups and stews all the time with great success, so why not this?

So I spread all that chopped goodness with healing powers in it on a dehydrator tray and started "cooking" it again. 

OK, I have to tell you that while I think the dehydrating idea was sort of brilliant on it's own, I am now trapped inside on a cold day in a house that smells like, well, onion, garlic, horseradish, ginger, and jalepeno peppers.  The aroma is about to knock me out and I can't wait until my dear friend and neighbor steps inside my front door this afternoon to pick up Girl Scout cookies because I know she will have something colorful to say about the smells that greet her at the door... or maybe outside in the driveway.

If taking a shot of this tonic does half as much sinus clearing as just being around the smell of it does, there is NO WAY a virus inside us can live through that assault.  Now the challenge will be to decide what kind of chaser to use if we ever have to actually drink this tonic (and I will).

So by now, you are either thinking me loony OR applauding my brilliance, fortitude, and commitment to natural wellness. 

DIY: Shampoo

Have you ever wondered what you are "washing" with?  When I began to examine the ingredients in soaps, lotions, shampoos, conditioners, shaving creams, etc I discovered things like "fragrance", dyes, parabens, and bunches of stuff that were chemicals that had potential side effects.  If you consider that your skin is the largest organ of your body and it absorbs everything put on it, then the list of ingredients in your personal care products should scare you!

Artificial fragrances have recently been linked to an increase in diabetes.  Chemicals used in personal care products have also been linked to cancers, fibromyalgia, nervous system toxins, and even endocrine system disruption.  Why do they allow them in our products?  For the same reason they put all those chemicals in our foods... we let them! 

I have long straight fine hair.  It usually tangles easily and I have been using shampoo, conditioner, and even detangler spray to manage it.  But those products have been a concern to me.  So I looked for a natural alternative and found one I would like to share with you.

Shampoo.

If I could not and would not eat it, why do I let it on my skin?  It gets absorbed in roughly the same way.

Here is the recipe I used today for a shampoo that I learned about.  It was reported to leave hair soft and without fly-away issues. 

1/3 cup castile soap
1/4 cup coconut milk
1 tsp of vitamin E
optional drops of your favorite essential oil.

I mixed it all up this morning in empty shampoo bottle and ran to the shower!  Shake the bottle well after adding the ingredients and shake again before every use. 

I poured some into my hand and studied the milky appearance of it.  I had my doubts right then. I suspected it was too watery to lather or really do much for my hair but even with my long hair, I only had to use about a tablespoon and it lathered wonderfully.  I rinsed my hair and gave it the true test.

Without any conditioner or spray detangler I combed my long wet hair.  I will not try to tell you there were not a few snarls but overall it combed out great without the addition of extra chemicals.  I love how it looks.  It is soft and clean!  It smells great thanks to the addition of some of my favorite smelling essential oil (it only took a few drops for the whole bottle - a double batch).

So I give this shampoo recipe a "thumbs up" and will be sharing it with Journey tomorrow! 

By the way, this is the first morning after my shower that my back has not been "itchy" thanks to the natural ingredients in my shampoo!!  I am so excited!!

Next up will be a batch of homemade shaving cream since my poor husband does not need shampoo... he shaves his head bald every morning.  :)  Plus I would rather shave my legs in the shower with coconut oil, olive oil, and cocoa butter. 

Organic Gardening - Seed Starting in the Basement

If you have been reading my blog posts you will know I LOVE organic produce.. and there is no better way to get it than to grow your own.  That is why I am SO excited about the project I have started this month!

I have always had a little garden in the back yard.  Even in suburbia you can grow food for your family organically.  We have a little plot the size of a bedroom and another little plot the size of a large closet.  Every year I end up buying tomato and pepper plants to go into those gardens to the tune of several hundred dollars.  When you buy plants, you can spend a good deal of money on them and if you know me, you know I don't like to spend money when I don't have to.

That is why I saved seeds last summer and this fall.  Saving seeds used to seem so complicated but now that I know how and have watched a few of them actually grow, it is so exciting!  When I had a good organic tomato, pepper, squash, or any other vegetable, I would take the seeds out, rinse them, dry them in a windowsill for a while on a paper towel and then put them in a marked envelope.  So in essence, I have a bunch of free seeds!

So what do you do with seeds?  Plant them!  I converted a corner of my basement to be the "greenhouse".  A few weeks ago I started with a flat of some of the tomato seeds I saved.  My hope is to have a few dozen (or hundreds) of plants up and growing so that I don't have to buy plants for my garden this spring.  I did a bunch of research on all the vegetables I want to grow and have a plan all written out.

So then I had to have supplies for growing.  I bought a few seed starting trays and a bag of seed starter, a bag of potting soil, and a bag of vermiculite.  Then we bought some fluorescent 48 inch fixtures and full spectrum fluorescent bulbs to go in them and hung them from the basement rafters on chains.  A used ping pong table does the trick for a sturdy plant table and the chains on the fixtures allow me to keep the lights the proper distance from the plants.

Here is my set up so far:

On my table are several plant starts.  In the bigger pots are some of my herbs.  In the small flats I have managed to get some tomato plant starts, some stevia, a small asparagus plant, and a leek.  In the 2 flats I have planted lettuce and spinach in hopes of having my own salad garden in a few weeks. 

To plant seeds, I simply put them on top of some seed starting soil and put a seed down and cover it with vermiculite.  Then I carefully wet it thoroughly with a spray bottle and purified water and put a cover on it until it germinates.  When the first signs of little green plants are evident I move the flat 2-3 inches from the grow lights.  I did not know that plants need air movement to make them strong so I have a fan blowing on the seedlings.  That helps them build strong stems.

So today I planted another flat with cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, leeks, and more heirloom tomatoes.  When they begin to sprout I will make room under the lights for them and when the danger of frost has passed they will move to the garden outside.

I also have a flat of pepper seeds started in the family room on the bar.  Peppers are harder to sprout and need some heat so that flat is sitting on a heating pad in the family room where they can be undisturbed.  Once they sprout I will move them off of the heat and under a grow light. 

Sitting in my dining room window is another little greenhouse with some growing plants. Right now I have 2 avocado trees and some herbs there. Soon it will be crowded with more vegetable plants and flats of germinating wonders!

So that is the start of my greenhouses.  The fluorescent fixtures $20 each.. bulbs 2 for $9.00.  The table and fan are things I already had around and the dirt was not that expensive either.  So instead of shopping Earl May every year for my plants I will use these lights for years of seed starting to grow my own.

Mike is already prepared to dig up another big chunk of yard this spring.  We have an old wooden swingset in the middle of the yard that will be the center-piece of my new garden with 5 grape plants growing up the posts of that swingset.  We are also planning on 3 blueberry bushes this year in the southern edge of the yard along the fenceline.  And somehow we managed to fit 8 fruit trees in the yard as well.

I am excited about my gardens this year!  What are you growing in yours?

Molasses Cookies

I can't wait to share this recipe with you... it is a favorite at our house and I just discovered that the addition of a secret ingredient will result in even more fantastic results.  So Shannon, this one is for you.  I hope you love these molasses cookies!!

Another secret of the kitchen that I have found is PARCHMENT PAPER.  Never used it before recently but I use a sheet of parchment paper on the cookie sheet for almost every cookie I make and they do not burn, are easier to get off, and faster to bake.  Love parchment paper and I reuse it several times in a row... waste not want not!  (it also means I don't have to wash the cookie sheet)

Molasses Cookies

2 cups flour (I use freshly ground sprouted wheat flour but you could substitute other types of flours as well)
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsps ground cloves
2 tsps ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 cup sugar (traditionalists may want to use brown sugar lightly packed but I use Organic Whole    Cane sugar unrefined and unbleached)
1/4 cup oil  (this can be any oil but healthy options include grapeseed or coconut oil)
1/3 cup molasses
1 egg, at room temperature

1/3 cup BUTTERMILK  (secret ingredient)

1/2 cup Raisins (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In my trusty kitchenAid I add the sugar, oil, egg and molasses and beat until mixed up.  Then I add on top of that the flour, baking soda, and spices and beat some more.  Now it was at this point that I believed my dough to be a little thick (don't want to overwork the kitchenAid - LOL) and I added the 1/3 cup of buttermik.  

I added about 1/2 cup of raisins to the cookie dough before dropping it onto the parchment paper lined cookie sheets.

WOW~~  What a difference the buttermilk made in those cookies.  I will never make another cookie without buttermilk, even if it means I have to add a little more flour to a recipe to make up for the added moisture.  This batch of cookies was puffier and softer.. chewy in a good way.  Usually this recipe turns out kind of crunchy and flattened out cookies but not this time.. plump cookies!

Scoop the dough with 2 spoons onto the baking sheets making sure to leave some room as they will expand during baking. I did not have to flatten them but just put them in the oven all mishappen and puffy

Bake for 10-12 minutes. Let the cookies cool on the sheets for 2-3 minutes before transfering them to wire racks to cool.

Now try to keep out of them!!  But if you give in to temptation, have a big glass of milk ready!

Sourdough Bread Starter

So we have the wheat bread mastered in this house.  I finally figured out that my oven temp was off and got that fixed.  Then tried countless recipes to get a good one and figured out to use dough enhancers when using fresh wheat flour to get a good rise (sometimes too good).  And added Vital Wheat Gluten as well to get a good loaf of bread.

But a regular loaf of wheat bread day in and day out gets a little boring, right?  I really craved sourdough bread.  Love the slight tang and different texture of sourdough bread.   LOVE it in bread bowls with homemade soup.  But alas, the sourdough starters just never took off for me.

In the old days, grandma used to use a sourdough starter and keep it around to make her sourdough bread.  Where did she get it?  Probably from a neighbor or her mother... but those days are gone and even at Whole Foods, they do not sell sourdough starter.  I had to rely on the internet to help me create a sourdough starter from scratch.

So apparently the theory is if you mix water, flour, and some sweetener in a jar and leave it on the counter, it will "attract" little yeast organisms and "take off" on it's own.  Mine didn't.  I could not figure out what I did wrong.  I tried a sourdough starter recipe using water and another recipe using pineapple juice and attempted each one a couple of times.  No luck.  My sourdough starter did not rise and did not produce appetizing results (not that I should mislead you into thinking sourdough starter is appetizing.. it is not really).

So I cheated.  Yup.. desperate city girl in action.  I don't know why I didn't think of this before but if the goal is to trap wild yeast from the air and that didn't work, then how about just adding some of that store bought yeast to flour and water and creating the "sour" in it myself.  So that is just what I did and here is how I did it.

Use a big glass jar.  I used a 1/2 gallon Ball jar with the screw on lid because if you do this right, your sourdough will grow (it might just flow over the top).  For the cover, use a screw band of a canning jar and a piece of cheesecloth to allow it to breath.

To the jar add:

1 packet of yeast
1/2 cups of warm water
       Mix this up to dissolve the yeast.
Add:

1 1/2 cups flour (sprouted freshly ground whole wheat if you please)
1 1/2 more cups warm water
1 TBSP sugar or honey

Now mix that up really good in your jar and leave the jar covered with the cheesecloth on the kitchen counter for 5 - 10 days.  It likes to be warm so keep it away from drafts.  Mix it 2 - 3 times a day.  It will be icky looking and like batter consistency when you mix it but when it sits for a while it will separate and you will have a layer of watery stuff on top (that tells you you need to stir it good).

In a few days it will begin to smell funny...  like beer.  It is fermenting.  Fermented food is VERY GOOD FOR YOU.  It is full of helpful organisms and leads to good gut health... learn to like fermented stuff.

When it has fermented, just move it to the refrigerator but continue to stir it every day.  Keep it covered with the cheesecloth but do not seal it shut.


You are now ready to bake sourdough bread!  Most recipes call for 2/3 cup of sourdough starter per loaf.  Whenever you use from your jar, make sure and feed it with 1/2 cup warm water, 1/2 cup flour, and another teaspoon of sweetener.  Let the starter sit out for a day to ferment again after feeding and before returning it to the refrigerator.  You also need to bring it to room temp before using it in your sourdough bread.

If you want to make 2 loaves at one time and use 1 1/3 cup of starter, make sure and feed it double and allow plenty of time between uses for the process to replicate itself.  Your sourdough starter is living and if you take care of it and feed it, it will maintain for a long time!  If 10 days goes by and you have not used your sourdough starter, feed it another TBSP of sweetener so it will stay alive.

I made our first loaf of sourdough bread this week with my potato soup and it was a huge hit.  Sourdough bread is crustier and the recipe I used does not call of any oil.  It is chewy and wonderful bread!

Now that I wrote this, it reminds me to stir my starter in the refrigerator!!  I need a sign in the kitchen that says "feed your starter".... 

In the Kitchen - My new secret weapon - Buttermilk

I don't think I ever felt I had a need for buttermilk.  Just never used it and never even thought about it.  I heard in the distant past that it was good in pancakes so I used to "make my own" by adding some lemon juice to milk.  That worked I guess...

But then I discovered real cultured buttermilk. 

Oh my goodness... so sorry I missed it all these years!  It is now my magic ingredient!  I first used a bit in my buttermilk ranch dressing.  Here is the recipe:  http://www.thenewsuburbanpioneer.blogspot.com/2013/02/in-kitchen-homemade-buttermilk-ranch.html
Then I used some in buttermilk buckwheat waffles for Journey (huge hit!).  Then I added a little bit to my molasses cookie batter and made the best ever molasses cookies with just the right soft consistency and smooth flavor.  They were the best I ever made and it is all thanks to that buttermilk!

Now real cultured buttermilk is my new best friend in the kitchen.  As a cultured product, it has good nutritional value and as a flavor and texture enhancer it can't be beat.  I am still not to the point that I desire to drink it but I know plenty of people who do!  I bought an organic quart of the good quality cultured buttermilk to use and then I discovered that they even sell "fake buttermilk"...  So when you are shopping, make sure and read the label and see that it lists "cultured buttermilk" or "buttermilk culture" on it and in the ingredients.  Otherwise you are getting the fake stuff. 

Then I found out that I never have to buy buttermilk again... but how?  Because when you introduce 1 cup of REAL cultured buttermilk to 3 cups of milk and let it sit on the counter for about 24 hours in a glass jar with a lid, your milk will turn into buttermilk and keep in the refrigerator for a few weeks! 

WOW... now I am in habit of making my own ketchup, bbq sauce, cream of mushroom soup, yogurt, and now BUTTERMILK!  I vow to keep some on hand all the time! 

Making buttermilk is not hard.  In case you need some directions, here they are. 

Pour one cup of cultured buttermilk into a glass jar (I love my canning jars... I have many of them with various concoctions in them)

Pour in 3 cups of milk.

Shake it and let it sit out for about 24 hours.  A warm place is best.  I just leave mine by the stove on the counter. You can tell when it is done because it will kind of coat the inside of your glass jar when you tip it.  It gets thicker than regular milk. Keep it in that same glass jar and keep it in the refrigerator for a few weeks.  

HOW EASY IS THAT?

Just make sure and take the last cup of your buttermilk to add to fresh milk and make some more!  The never-ending supply....   Don't worry if you don't have a full cup at the end.  The important part is the ratio you use... for every 1 part of buttermilk, you add 3 parts of milk. 

Have you heard of Creme Fraiche?  I had not until recently and I think it is some fancy sour cream... lately I see it for sale at Whole Foods...  but wait...  if you use whole milk that is not hemogenized like Picket Fence whole milk, you may get a layer of cream on top in your jar.  This is also cultured now and that is what Creme Fraiche is.... So if you use Creme Fraiche or know how to use it, for one thing, please share, and for another thing, watch for it on top of your homemade buttermilk!

 The things this city girl DID NOT and still DOES NOT KNOW!!!!   It astounds me daily!!  Have fun in the kitchen.  Eat fresh, eat whole foods and stay healthy!

Buttermilk Ranch Dressing

Just in time for super bowl Sunday.. a recipe that is healthy and good.  Wholesome and great with a veggie tray to snack and keep the weight off while nourishing your body with vitamins!

I don't usually crave salads in the winter.  I usually eat warm vegetables all winter and save the cool entrees for the hot summer months but since finding this recipe for buttermilk ranch dressing, I have been going through fresh spinach and mixed greens like a fiend!

Here is the recipe and it is so easy to make:

Buttermilk Ranch Dressing

1/3 cup plain yogurt (I prefer my own homemade greek-style yogurt)
1/3 cup buttermilk (did you know you can make buttermilk yourself?)
3 TBSP mayonnaise (you can leave the mayo out or use your own homemade mayo)
1 1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp Dijon mustard (I didn't have Dijon on hand so used some regular mustard)
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 TBSP finely chopped fresh chives
1/4 tsp salt

Whisk all of the ingredients in a bowl until well combined.

Dressings will keep in the refrigerator for a few days and seem to get tastier on day 2 - 5 as the flavors mix well.

I bought a little cruet at the thrift store with a lid and actually just mix and shake all the ingredients in that.  You can get creative with ingredients too!  One time I did not have buttermilk and just made it with whole milk.  This time I added dried dill to the mixture.

I was thrilled to find this easy recipe that did not include any canola, soy, preservatives, or other chemicals that are so hard to avoid in commercial salad dressings!