Chocolate Icecream Shell

   Ever had some of that squirt-on chocolate that turns hard when you drizzle it over your icecream? Yummy! "But wait," you might say. "That stuff is full of JUNK!! I'm not going to eat that!" Well good for you because you shouldn't!

   Here is a recipe I came across recently. It was the topping of a frozen desert pie recipe I found somewhere online, but I changed every ingredient in this topping. Go figure. But hey, the proportions were handy!
 

1 1/2 cup & 1 tbsp raw coconut oil
1 cup & 1 tbsp cocoa powder (or carob powder)

1/4 cup raw honey

   Place all ingredients in bowl and place bowl in hot water bath. (This is to melt the coconut oil without heating on the stove so it isn't raw anymore.) Stir together. Pour over icecream!!!! Let it sit for about a minute and let it harden good. Then EAT! When you save it for another day, just warm it in a hot water bath again and pour it on.

   There you have it. Healthy, yet yummy. Enjoy!!!

More Than Peeling Off The Skin {Did You Know Tuesdays}

   A lot of people purchase produce that is organic only when it has thin skin that we eat (like apples and tomatoes) so they aren't eating chemicals that would have been sprayed on the skin. In addition, many people buy "regular", non-organic produce that has thicker skin or is a root crop (like oranges, coconuts, beets, radishes, etc.), because they figure the chemicals are on the outside of the skin (or on the soil surface as in the case of root crops) and won't be ingested when the produce is eaten. They also do this because non-organic is cheaper in the grocery store.

   Makes sense doesn't it? Well I regret to tell you that, with further observation, it doesn't seem quite true. Tests and experiments have been taken to find the affects of chemicals on produce. One such test included spraying a coconut with red dye in the same increments as they would chemicals so they could visibly see the affects of the chemicals. The tester was shocked to discover that, when they cut open the coconut, the dye had absorbed through the hard shell and actually looked like there were red veins throughout the coconut meat. Gross!!! She was said to also have similarly tested a carrot. When she sliced it in half it had a red ring all the way down the carrot. Yuck!!! I also saw an experiment once on a health show on TV where they applied some glow-in-the-dark powder to a melon as if it was a chemical. Then they sliced it in half and turned off the light. The "chemicals" had stuck to the knife and smeared right into the fruit as the knife cut through. Disgusting!!! Perhaps these experiments had more chemicals in them than the stuff we buy at the store, but it still gives us an idea of what we might be eating.

   What is my point in telling all this? I don't really know. Just passing it along I suppose :P Hope you at least find it interesting not look into what you're purchasing in the fruit and veggy section of the grocery store.

Flavoring Water Kefir (or Kombucha) {Tips-n-Tricks Tuesday}

   I told you in my last post about water kefir that I would do a post soon about how to flavor it. Well here it is! I found the concept originally on one of may favorite blogs Mexican Wildflower. See her post on flavoring Kombucha here.

   It's really easy to flavor the whole jar you made. You can:

A): Use a fruit concentrate (like cherry, cranberry, orange juice, etc) and follow the diluting instructions on the package minus the sugar it calls for

OR

B): Drop in about 1/2 cup to 1 cup of fruit and let sit for about 1-2 days (remove fruit or leave in jar when finished)

~Flavored kefir water on the left. An almost-empty cherry concentrate container on the right.~

What you need to know....

              1. Add your flavoring AFTER the kefir grains have been strained out.

2. DON'T add any sugar - it will be sweet enough!

                                          3. Remember to NOT use a METAL spoon in your kefir water.

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This post linked to:

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???DiD yOu KnOw???

A "crisphead lettuce" has a hard, crispy, bland head.

A "butterhead lettuce" is a loose-leafed, tender, buttery head.

"Romaine lettuce (aka 'cos')" grows in upright, tight, bundles.

A "looseleaf lettuce" grows in leaves and doesn't form a head, often having a strong flavor and deeply colored.

There! Now you can't say you don't know the difference between the 4 common types of lettuce ;-)

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P.S. Yep. For all you observant ones out there I DID indeed post this on Wednesday. I apologize for the tardiness.

How To Make ~Water Kefir~

 

    Ever heard of kefir? Well you've probably heard of the milk version, but here is the water version. Depending on how much you pay for your milk, this may even be a cheaper way to consume kefir.

    What's kefir? It's a yummy, fermented drink. It's healthy for you when properly prepared. It fits in the same category of "fermented healthiness" as yoghurt, kombucha, milk kefir, and others. It's easy to make.

   It's also a probiotic. "A pro-bi-what?" you might be thinking. Well for those of you who don't know, a probiotic is pretty much good microorganisms that will kill the bad microorganisms inside you. Apparently in Greek the word "probiotic" translates literally "for life". Really it's known for many to simply "kill the junk" inside of us. If you're interested in more things it does, check out a website by clicking here that I stumbled on when we first got our water kefir grains a few months back. Sounds like great stuff, doesn't it?

 

   In the above picture you can see the water kefir grains on the bottom of the jar. Depending on factors like temperature and nutrient content in the water and sugar you use, they may multiply! If you get too much, use a bigger jar and double the batch, eat the extra grains straight, or give them away to a friend.

Water Kefir

- 1/3 cup water kefir grains

- 3 cups water

- 1/3 cup sugar (white sugar is not suggested, use a healthier sugar - see note below)

Stir sugar into water in a quart jar. Pour in kefir grains that are covered with liquid from the previous batch. WARNING: DON'T LET THE KEFIR GRAINS TOUCH METAL - IT IS VERY BAD FOR THEM. Cover with cotton cloth or cheese cloth to keep debris from falling in and set in a dark place for 8-24 hours, depending on desired strength. (The baggy says some things that conflicts with this recipe, but I researched it and that's how I got the one written here.)

Important Note: I did an experiment with them when it doubled in size. I had been using raw evaporated cane juice sugar at first, but then I split them in jars and used just white sugar in the second jar. Within a few days it started smelling a little funny and we stopped drinking it, but kept on with the experiment. In just over a week or so I gave up on it. It smelled bad and I was NOT going to taste it! It seems to me that I starved it (since white sugar has no nutrients in it) and then bad bacteria took over. So make SURE you don't use regular white sugar and make sure you use clean supplies, as these can both be attributing factors to bad bacteria taking over and in turn, of course, food poisoning.

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   Watch for Tips-n-Tricks Tuesday this week on how I like to flavor it. Personally kefir water tastes like sugar water until it's flavored. So check back on Tuesday to see how we love to drink it!

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Loaded With Vitamin C {Did You Know Tuesdays}

   Peppers have more vitamin C than citrus fruits! Green bell peppers have roughly twice as much, and red peppers have three times as much. Hot peppers? They contain 357% more vitamin C than citrus by weight. Isn't that crazy? Research also shows that peppers are anticoagulins (fancy way of saying that it retards blood from clotting), helping prevent heart attacks or strokes. "Google it" and you'll see.

   Isn't that nifty to know? You might want to plan on growing some peppers if you've got a garden coming this year!

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Smoothies the EASY way

   Making smoothies is awesome - let me tell you. I love a morning smoothie for breakfast. Here are some reasons why I love smoothies.

1. It makes me feel so good and it doesn't sit heavy in my stomach like bread or bacon and fried potatoes.

2. Practically all cereal is pretty bad for people to eat. Do your own research. So smoothies are a great alternative.

3. They only take a few minutes to toss together

4. Smoothies can be super healthy for us.

5. It is really easy for the body to digest.

6. They are so versatile to make - you can usually just use what you have on hand instead of having to buy too many "extras" for ingredients.

7. Smoothies don't taste healthy if you do it right. They are very tasty and even kids love them.

   Alright. I'll call that a long enough list. When I first tried making smoothies I didn't know where to start. The recipes had fruits we never have on hand and ingredients I'd never heard of. But I'm determined to save you the frustration and show you that it doesn't have to be so complicated. So grab your blender or food processor and I'll teach you how to make any flavor you can dream of! The recipe here is enough for one adult serving.

   Note that all measurements are approximate - don't sweat it. Just dump in "about that much".

Put the following basics into your blender:

- 1 small to medium banana

- 1/2 to 3/4 C fruit of choice

- 1/3 C greens (spinach, kale, chard, etc. - fresh from your garden, perhaps!)

- 1 1/2 to 2 C drinkable liquid (homemade yoghurt, coconut water, milk, juice, kefir, or just water)

Blend it up and YUM!!!

   But wait, it gets better! That's just the basics. Now you can jazz it up even more and make the flavor even better as well as make it even MORE HEALTHY. Here are some things I add to mine:

Spirulina

- 1 Tblsp frozen juice concentrate (adds lots of yummy flavor!)

- 1 Tblsp raw honey (only if the banana is under-ripe and if there isn't any frozen concentrate, otherwise it doesn't need the extra sweetener)

- about 2" slice of coconut meat (makes it creamier tasting and is good for you)

- Liquid minerals (these can get pricey, but is also really good for you and can be found at a health-food store - follow directions for serving size on the bottle)

- 1/2 teas powdered "super-foods" (like spirulina, beetroot powder, and hemp) (these look gross and taste gross eaten straight, but you can't even tell they're in the smoothie when you eat it mixed in. I would strongly suggest looking into getting some as they are so good for you.)

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   Some of the latter ingredients might be making you tip your head in curiosity. Do a quick search and see what you can learn about how good these things are for you. I put the "weird" ingredients at the end, so you could feel more comfortable to make a simple smoothie and work your way up to some more complicated stuff. Once you get in the routine, it's super easy.

   Try it! I challenge you. I'm fairly certain you won't regret it. And remember, kids like them too, so don't leave them out!

Look at all the great blogs this post is linked to today! Wow!

Homemade Baking Powder {Tips-n-Tricks Tuesday}

   Oh wait...today is Tuesday? I thought it was Monday! Sometimes time sure does fly doesn't it?

   I don't think I've done this one before, so here goes.

   Did you know that baking powder is made out of  1 tsp baking soda and 2 tsp cream of tartar? Yup, it is!

   So why do you want to know this?

1. You can make baking powder if you don't have any.

2. You can figure out the substitution if you don't have cream of tartar in a recipe that calls for that and baking soda by using baking powder.

3. Many brands of baking powder have aluminum in it. By making your own, it doesn't have any aluminum in it.

   As an extra tip, I've heard it suggested to use 1 tsp corn starch when storing it so it will absorb the moisture and keep the baking powder from reacting.

Super-Easy Homemade Yogurt

   Recently I tackled a "scary" in the area of cooking (or should I say, fermenting?). I made yogurt for the first time! I had always thought that yogurt would be SO hard to keep at the proper temperatures and such, so I never tried it. Anyone else feel that way? But now that I made it I realized how easy it really is. It's SUPER easy!

   When it comes to cooking/baking/etc, we try to do mostly whole foods/homemade foods. To some people that sounds like a big chore, but to us it's normal. Sometimes I'll share the excitement of a new food I made with someone, but they'll have an excuse why THEY can't do it. There is one excuse that people give almost every time: "It would take too much time." But alas, after making yogurt, I devised a comparison to defend the pitifully small amount of time it takes to make yogurt. You ready for this?

   It takes less work to make yogurt than it does to put together a stinking box of macaroni! NO JOKE!

   Since I made yogurt I feel nearly invincible in the realm of food-making. I feel like I used to be such a weak food-maker, though I did know how to make so many things. But now I realize how pitifully easy it is to cook/ferment/etc anything. I also reminded myself how many "scary" things I know how to make. Cheese crackers, yeast bread, YOGURT!!, milk/water kefir, pizza pockets, poptarts, pies, chocolate chips, etc. Things don't seem so scary anymore. So give it a try! Maybe making yogurt will help alleviate your fears too!

   There are plenty of recipe variations out there, but this is how I do it and it turns out great for me. I made three quarts at the time I took the pictures, but you can just make one for the first time if you want.

   1. Fill clean quart jars with milk and place in a pan of water with a folded towel on the bottom of the pan. Time to give them a nice warm bath!





   2. Use a meat or candy thermometer to warm the milk to 100*F. (You can use warmer temperatures in other recipe variations, but we have raw milk, so I opted for a lower temperature so I wouldn't kill all the good stuff in the raw milk and so it will become raw yogurt.)


    3. Turn off the heat as soon as the milk is brought up to temperature and add 4 Tblsp plain yogurt (from the store or a previous batch).




 


   4. Stir well with a whisk and put on lid(s).

   5. Wrap jars in a thick towel and place in a cooler or other insulated container for about 8 hours. The first couple times you may want to check it at the 5 hour mark to make sure it's still warm. I usually fill a big cup with steamy-hot water from the sink at this point and wrap it in the towel to keep the temperature warm enough.

   6. Place the yogurt straight into the fridge when it's done to cool it. Store in the fridge. After it's chilled, add about 1 tsp. vanilla and a big swirl of raw honey (1/4 to 1/2 cup?) to make vanilla yogurt!


TIPS:
--- If it cools down too much during the 8 hours, it won't thicken properly.
--- Be SURE to use clean kitchen equipment, because if bad bacteria enters the jar, the batch may be ruined. Smell it when it's finished. It should smell warm and slightly-yeasty, like plain yogurt from the store. If not, don't eat it! It may have gone bad and you could get very sick.
--- The next tip may sound a bit odd - or at least it is an odd tip to me. Place your cooler or insulated box somewhere cool (like the front porch) when you've got the yogurt in it. For some reason it seems to keep the yogurt inside warmer longer for me. Otherwise it only stays warm for 2 hours. Go figure....I don't understand it. Experiment and maybe you'll find something different ;-)
--- Homemade yogurt has a slightly different texture than commercially-made yogurt. Homemade has more...elasticity to it? It's hard to describe. You'll see what I mean ;-)


   Before making homemade yogurt, I was never really a fan of eating yogurt. But now I am practically addicted to the homemade yogurt. I love it! If you've never made yogurt before, you really should try it. It's SO STINKIN' EASY!!!


Today this post is linked to our friends over at:

Eggshells in the Garden {Tips-n-Tricks Tuesday}

   See these egg shells? Why in the world am I saving them? Well, the title of this post gives it away ever-so-slightly! Winter is fast-approaching and many people aren't thinking about their gardens, but this is something you should consider.
 

   Whenever you use an egg, save the eggshells. When you get a little dish (or can in our case) that's full of them, dump them outside in a 5-gallon bucket. Keep adding to this bucket all winter. (You want to store them long-term outside, or else they'll stink up your house!) Then when you plant out your tomatoes in the spring, crush up the shells around your plants or drop some crushed shells in the hole before you plop your plant in. Eggshells provide calcium for your tomatoes - great for general health of the plant and especially to scare away blossom end rot (when the bottom half of the tomato rots and turns black while it's still on the plant, but the top half is still good).
 

   So save those eggshells! It's a win-win. You don't have to pay to send them off in your garbage can and plus they will feed your tomato plants next year (free and organic fertilizer!).

Thanksgiving in a Crockpot {Tips-n-Tricks Tuesday}

   Well, first of all....oops...it's not Tuesday....it's Wednesday! Sorry about my tardiness.

   This "tip-n-trick" is really very simply said: make some of your Thanksgiving meal in a crockpot. Some things can be made the day before Thanksgiving, but ultimately, you're gonna have a full stove the day of! So stick some things in a crockpot or two. You can find recipes online of how to make some parts of the meal from start to finish.

   Hope you all have a great Thanksgiving!

73 Home-made Christmas Gifts

 

   73? Yup! Don't you ever sit down and wish you could think of something really cool to make for relatively cheep as Christmas presents? So do I. So when I came up with this list, I just HAD to pass it on.

   They vary in difficulty and cost. So just scan through and see what sparks your interest. These are also SUPER GREAT to make with your kids or siblings. Good quality time ;-) And if you don't know how to make something, google it! I'm sure you can find a tutorial.

   And most of all - be creative! These are all very, very basic descriptions. Take the idea, sit down with the kids, and RUN WITH IT! Have fun!

1. Partially pre-made "photo album recipe book" with recipes in it using index cards

2. Wooden toy chest or stacking organizing boxes

3. Leather-bound book (pages home-sewed too)

4. Various (blank inside) hand-made stationary

5. Body-care kit (lotion, soap, bath salts, bath bombs, soap-cozy, lip gloss, deodorant)

6. Birdhouse

7. Hair accessories (beads, sewed, etc.)

8. Jewelry

9. Food in a jar

10. Notes in a jar

11. Quilt

12. Doll clothes

13. Simple girls' skirt/dress

14. Framed art picture, poem, or saying (painted, colored, pressed flowers, etc.)

15. Homemade play-dough

16. Pre-made healthy snack/dessert/meal (frozen, canned, dried, "just add water", etc.)

17. Sewed purse

18. Cute guitar-string wiping cloth

19. Wind chime

20. Wooden car/truck toy (ride-able size?)

21. Wooden toy blocks

22. Dog/cat treats

23. Pretty doily

24. Tool-box

25. Jewelry box

26. Family/individual picture, framed

27. Water-paints

28. Pick-up-Sticks game

29. Mancala game

30. Hacky-sacks

31. Braided rug

32. "Favorite Crafts" book with all your favorite craft ideas in it

33. Wooden toy horse barn

34. Windowsill herbs in cute pots

35. Make computer game on the program called GameMaker (I remember this neat program from my younger years)

36.Make a home-movie

37. Make a home-cd of you singing music

38. Painted coffee mug, plate, or bowl (and glazed)

39. Princess crown

40. Write on a whole roll of toilet paper for a funny (don't make holes!)

41. Wall hanging (paper, wood, metal, cloth, etc.)

42. Write a book

43. Garden seed organizer container (for big and small seeds)

44. Sewed slippers

45. Cute or manly tack-board

46. Washcloth/scrubby (knit or crochet)

47. Paint a glass vase/bottle

48. Sidewalk chalk

49. Kids' baking apron

50. Bird bath (mold from concrete)

51. Wooden bowls (via lathe)

52. Chair

53. Baby-doll bed

54. Cedar picture-frame

55. Glass board used like a white-board (hang it on the wall and it looks nifty)

57. Simple wooden bench (to put by back door for shoes, plus storage space, etc)

58. Flower arbor

59. Leather knife sheath

60. Woven bike basket

61. Bobsled

62. Cool bookends

63. Christmas ornaments

64. Kite

65. Leather-braided watch band

66. Simple wooden medicine cabinet

67. Simple hand-propelled merry-go-round (popular mechanics volume 6, back of book)

68. Outdoor rotating worm bin

69. CD holder

70. Wooden child's play house

71. Clothes hamper

72. Make essential oils

73. Hammok

   Share some of your ideas with us!

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The Easy Way To Bake A Whole Pumpkin {Tips-n-Tricks Tuesday}

    In the last several weeks I've been having alot of fun trying out recipes over at Heavenly Homemakers (which by the way this post is linked to their Gratituesday). I'm so thankful for the good recipes on that blog! If you haven't been there before, you should really check it out.

    Anyhow, today I want to share the brilliant way she found to bake fresh pumpkin to make into puree. It is SO easy. And anyone who has every cubed a pumpkin to cook it down will greatly appreciate how easy this is. So here is her "recipe", with my own little twist.

   1. Break off stem from pumpkin or squash.

   2. Give it 6-10 stabs (like a big 'ole baked potato!). Be careful that no one gets cut!

   3. Place on pan and bake in oven at 350* for about 1 and 1/2 hours, or until it is easy to push a fork through the skin.

   4. Remove from oven and let cool until it doesn't burn your finger-tips when you touch it.

   5. Slice pumpkin in half, remove seeds, and peel/slice off skin.

   6. Put the squash in the food processor until blended smoothly.

   Voila'! Done! Serve, freeze, or can. Check out the original recipe here, or click the link above.

Tips-n-Tricks Tuesday: Mixing Ingredients

    If you follow the directions when baking and mix the wet and dry ingredients in separate bowls - you're being too hard on yourself. At our house we mix the wet, then pour in the flour. We make a little indention in the flour and sprinkle the spices, baking powder/baking soda, salt, etc. in it. Then we stir in just the top layer to partially mix in the spices. Then blend it together with the wet.

   I've also heard of a somewhat similar way where a lady mixes the dry ingredients in a bowl, then makes a "well" for the wet ingredients to be poured into and mixed before combining the wet and dry ingredients.

   So just use one bowl next time and save yourself some work.

NOTE: I must mention that this doesn't work on EVERY recipe. Some recipes require it. But basic bread, cake, and cookie recipes (etc) can follow this method.

The Clean Way To Butter A Pan {Tips-n-Tricks Tuesday}

   Many healthy-bound bakers have long given up Pam for real butter to keep their bread from sticking in the pan. No, no no, not your neighbor Pam...the non-stick spray! (I know...bad pun...sorry. Tee hee!)

   Well, I was buttering a loaf pan recently when I came upon this interesting trick. For me it worked well because I didn't want my fingers to get all greasy from the VERY soft butter. We didn't have any hard sticks of butter (refrigerated or frozen) to rub on the pan - all we had was the soft butter in the butter dish that sits on the counter. I would have literally had to gob it onto my hand and smear it on the pan. Yeah...I could have just told myself to deal with it, but hey, I thought of a better way!

   So instead, I swiped some onto the back of a spoon and smeared it onto the pan with that. And my fingers didn't get greasy at all! I bet it would also be good for the moms out there. That way when you have to chase Tommy halfway through the job your hands will be butter-free!

   This method really only applies if your butter option is mushy, (though now that I discovered it, I think I'd actually prefer it to peeling back the wrapper of a hard stick and rubbing it on).

What's your favorite way to smeeeear on the butter? :P 

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Tips-n-Tricks Tuesday: Using Yeast For Baking

   There are some things we come in contact with during our journey in the art of womanhood that are more scary than others. They are usually really basic and easy things to do or make, but they can sound scary if we've never done them before.

   Lately I have been pondering these things in the food category. So I'm here to tell you: baking with yeast is SO EASY!!!! Thanks to my mom who taught me how to work with it, using yeast has always seemed "normal" and "easy" to me. It might sound hard and scary, but it's not. Trust me. After only a few times you should be able to do it just fine. The steps are really super easy, but it may look like alot because I wanted to describe the process (along with some tips) very thoroughly. If you want the quick description, follow any recipe in your favorite cookbook that includes yeast.

 Note: I never use "quick-yeast" - we simply use the plain "active dry yeast".

This yeast is ready for us to add the next ingredients.

Disolving the Yeast:

Step1: Place your bowl on a hot-pad (this is to help hold the heat while the yeast is doing it's stuff) and dump in some hot water. Give it a good swish around the bowl so you get the chill off it. Pour out the water.

Step2: Measure the amount of warm water into the bowl that your recipe calls for (click her to see last week's pretzel recipe if you need something to make). Make sure the water is plenty warm, but NOT HOT. My mom always tells us kids to make it the warmth that we would want bath water to be :) Not hot....just...toasty!

Step3: Sprinkle on the amount of yeast the recipe calls for over the warm water. Sprinkle over the sugar or other sweetener in your recipe (the yeast likes the sweet stuff). Give the mixture a VERY gentle stir only 2-3 times around the bowl.

Step4: Let the yeast set for about 5 minutes, but really just until it's done "doing it's thing." First the yeast will drop to the bottom of the bowl - then it will start bubbling up. Wait until it's not bubbling anymore and there is a frothy layer on top.

Step5: Continue with your recipe. If it doesn't work, try again! The water could have been too hot, too cold, or your yeast might be too old.

Kneading The Dough:

Step1: Sprinkle a layer of flour on the counter to keep the dough from sticking and plop your gob of dough onto it.

Step2: Take one side of the dough and fold it over top to fold the dough in half. Press down.

Step:3: Your dough will probably be oblong now. Give it a "hamburger bun fold" (not a hot-dog fold) and push. Repeat until the dough is soft and well mixed. Here's what you can tell yourself as you're kneading: fold, push, turn 90 degrees, fold, push, turn 90 degrees, etc.

   Note: For the picture below I only used a small piece of dough to better illustrate the process. When you knead your dough, it would be advantageous to do it all at once (unless of course you have a few little kids or siblings who wants to help - in which case you'd have to pull off a hunk for each of them).

 See? Now how stinkin' easy was that? SO easy! Do it. Try it!

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Join us for Gratituesday at Heavenly Homemakers!

  

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