bits & pieces: september 13, 2010

Dill PIckles
I have always wanted to try my hand at these and the picture on this post made me choose THIS recipe first! :D

Caramel Sauce
I don't think this would harden enough on an apple (although who knows) BUT why not make this into a fondue?!?! Dip into the caramel and then dip into a topping of choice (chocolate chips, sprinkles, etc.). Of course the toppings would defeat the fact that the recipe is actually a HEALTHY version of Caramel Sauce! :D

Creamsicles
Oh this looks so good!!! :D :D :D What a fun breakfast! :D

Anti-Flammartory Seasonings
Seasonings to use when cooking to help reduce inflammation! :D

Poultry Dry Brine
We have never done a dry brine before (we always do it the Alton Brown way!) but this looks like a good alternative if you don't have days ahead to brine. I know Thanksgiving is a ways off, but I am sticking this in my REMEMBER ME folder! :D

bits & pieces: july 26, 2010

Lavander Lemonade
This picture is SO beautiful, it is worth visiting the blog alone. :D

Inflation
OK, so this is a bit depressing, but inflation is coming and we do need to be prepared.

A Practical Guide to Owning Fewer Clothes HT: The One in Pink

The One in Pink
I came across this blog through her husband's blog after discovering his videos - which my kids LOVE - watch the earlier videos, the later videos have a dark side (guns and suicide and shootings and just are not kid friendly), but his earlier stuff is hilarious and had my kids laughing for hours ... sorry for the rabbit trail. ANYWAYS, this blog is so pretty and feel good! She is on the same food/health journey I am, we have some of the same taste in clothes, and the pictures on her blog are so pretty!! :D :D :D

"You don't have a soul. You are a soul. You have a body."— C.S. Lewis

Current Web Readings

Make Your Own Weather Station

Free Web Online games
These are GREAT! For EVERY subject - even chemistry, and all ages. Though most of the games are for younger students.

Gluten Free Sourdough Recipe Book - this looks GOOD, just wish it weren't so expensive. :(

Giving Children Consequences That Work

Current Web Readings

Paper soliders
Paper dolls - FOR BOYS! SOLDIERS!

Paper Toy Soldiers
These are more for the younger crowd (3yr+)

Civil War Paper Dolls and Toy Soldiers

Grass Fed Recipes

Crockpot Leg of Lamb - this was SOOOO YUMMY!

How Public School Cripples Our Kids

Vegetable Planting Guide

Grow It Yourself Series
an easy series on growing your own food.

Current Web Readings

Real Food Resolutions
A good article with good references that I want to read again!

Gary Taubes BIG FAT LIES
The truth about why we really get fat - a must watch video on health

Whole Traditions Recipes
Several GAPS friendly and Nourishing Traditions recipes

Candida Tests
There is an at home candida spit test here. Very interesting!

Hot cocoa mix
with coconut milk powder instead of milk powder (which is unhealthy)

Homemade Lacto Fermented Mayonnaise
And how to know if your olive oil is REAL

Zucchini Spaghetti Meat Sauce
Don't be afriad to try this for a MUCH cheaper alternative to GF noodles! It tastes GREAT!

How To Make Young Thai Coconut Yogurt/Pudding
Fermenting coconut with kefir

Current Web Readings

Herbal Tea Recipe

Overnight Buckwheat Pancakes
JJ can have these!! :D

Handmade Holidays Felt Fairy House
Could be for birthday too. And what is so great, is this would be easy for the kids to make, so you can have them help and make it into a fairy party and these are the favors!

Bee Keeping
Believe it or not, I have wanted to do this for quite a while. Scared of bee stings (and JJ's possible allergies to bees) now keep me from it. BUT, there is no reason he could not make hives and sell them when he gets older!!! :D

What you NEED to know about soy and hexane...

Current Web Readings

The Million Dollar Parenting Question
A must (but short) read for parents.

Swagbucks.com is a search engine that rewards you in the form of Swagbucks for searching. 45 Swagbucks can be exchanged for a $5 Amazon.com gift card. This generally takes about 2 weeks to earn. PLEASE use my link to join: Join Swagbucks as I do get a swagbuck every time you get one if you use my link. THANKS!!!

Solar Tube
NEAT idea - to keep in mind when we build a house or remodel.

Gluten - what you don't know may kill you
A must read.

Flourless Hemp Chocolate Chunks Cookies
I plan to make these for JJ using flax egg replacer and sunflower butter instead of egg and peanut butter.

Why Public School System Teaches Revisionist History
A REALLY good read.

Finding Coupons for Organic Groceries

Current Web Readings

Homemade Lara Type Bars
IF you have ever had a Lara bar, you know these things are not only good for you, but GOOD tasting. Here is a recipe to make your own at home.

Cheese Puffs
Pioneer Woman makes the BEST food (not necessarily best for you, but best tasting for SURE!) and these would make a great New Year's finger food.

Bacon... MMMMmmmmmm

While we do not do pork (we follow a lot of the OT food laws - not because they save us, but for the same reason we celebrate Passover or fast - to remind us of who God is and what He has done). So anyways, while we do not do pork, we do eat turkey bacon. But no matter what type of bacon you use, check out this video of Alton Brown using a waffle iron to cook bacon! GENIUS! This is a GREAT way to season my cast iron waffle iron I got from Lehman's. :D

So why the waffle iron? In a pan, the fat and meat shrink and cook at different rates, and over time leave lots of grease in the pan making it difficult to cook lots of bacon. The waffle iron collects the bacon grease in its nooks and crannies, allow you to collect it to use for cooking other foods, or leave a thin layer of grease on for yummy waffles!! :D

Alton explains not only what kind of bacon to buy at the grocery store, but why the waffle iron wins out as a cooking platform. In a pan, the fat and meat shrink and cook at different rates, and over time leave a troublesome amount of grease in the pan that makes multiple batches challenging. The waffle iron pulls away bacon grease in its nooks and notches, and you can collect it to use in another food, or leave a thin layer of grease on for seriously home-style waffles.

Current Web Readings

Single Serving Pie In A Jar
OH MY WORD!! These are SO CUTE!! What a great way to use up those little canning jars that you think you will always get around to using, but never do. ;) I gained ten pounds just looking around on this blog. YUMMO!!!

We Need All The Help We Can Get
LOVE this idea for cold frames.

Low Cost DIY Build Your Own Greenhouses

Weston Price Book

Math
Free math book from the 1800's! WAY COOL!!!

An Easel ...
Check out the easel frame (and the AWESOME pictures in it)!! It makes me totally want to declutter the whole house so I can paint and put up an easel frame like that! :D

Current Web Readings

Do You Love Chinese Food?
Health recipes for Chinese food. YES!!

Prayers
What a simple and yet wonderful idea to comfort a grieving family. A new widow was given a beeper, a prayer beeper, after her husband died. Every time someone prayed, they would call the beeper. What a comfort it was to know that thousands of prayers were being lifted up for her, for her 6 children.

Handbook of Nature Study: Outdoor Hour Challenge Update For New Series Starting Sept 18
AWESOME site. I cannot wait for the new Series!

Go Fossil Hunting
I love the Staycation Blog!! I wish they updated way more often than they do. This idea was a GREAT one!!

2009 Graceful Envelope Contest
These are BEAUTIFUL!! What a fun thing to do next year!

Using What You Have Meals: Tomato Vegetable Soup and Taco Casserole

Recently, we have taken to using what we have when cooking. Last night and tonight's meals are two examples.

Taco Casserole (pictured above)
1 lb Meat
1/2 an onion
Frozen Corn
Can of Black Bean Soup (about to expire)
Can of Tomato Paste
Water
Seasonings (chili seasoning, garlic powder)
Corn chips
Cheddar Cheese

Brown onion and meat. And frozen corn (to stretch meat). Add can of black bean soup. Add 1/2 can of tomato paste (and stir in as much water as needed to thin). Add seasonings.

Crush corn chips on top. Spread shredded cheese on top and cover till cheese melts. We only added a little cheese because of the girls and their intolerance. (Pictured is the meal in my cast iron - LOVE my cast iron. It is uncovered for the picture and because the cheese has melted). Serve with rice and refried beans.

Tomato Vegetable Soup
Bottle of Organic V-8 I had bought months ago
Frozen veggies
Butter

Use V-8 as base for the soup. Add frozen veggies. Cook till veggies cooked. Add pats of butter in individual servings if desired. This was REALLY good and had my daughters asking for thirds!

Kimbap!

Spurred on by a comment on Meredith's post on traveling and food, I had to search out kimbap! We love sushi (we give it to our children starting at age two). We usually used cooked fish or vegetarian sushi. (Although we do get raw fish sushi when at a restaurant which has SAFE raw fish).

I had never heard of kimbap before. VERY cool!! we would most likely use sardines (maybe even anchovies) instead of the tuna (tuna is SO high in mercury!).



Here is a link to her recipe.

Current Web Readings

Making Shades of of Mini Blinds
Can I just say how much I HATE MINIBLINDS! Maybe I need to create a FLAIR button for Facebook. LOL!! Anyways, This... THIS I LOVE! Has anyone tried this? I am curious on how to clean them (not that I ever cleaned the mini-blinds, but, hey, it is good to know how to, should I have the desire, not to mention TIME to). HT: Like Merchant Ships

Chums
Rebecca is always a fun read and today's was exceptionally encouraging! I must admit that I knew most of what she was saying, but there is just something ABOUT the WAY she says it that makes it so easy to understand and desire for your own children. Thank you Rebecca!

Fast Fresh Jam
YUM!!

Names Of Jesus Garland for EASTER!
Oh I just LOVE Monica - her sweet spirit (yes, I had the pleasure of meeting her IRL) and her love of Jesus overflows on every post! I loved her names of Jesus garland for Christmas, and now she has one for Easter. She explains the reason behind it. VERY powerful to use with the kids!

Why Do I Have Empty Ziploc Bags In My Freezer?
I never thought of keeping them in the freezer! :)

Reheating Foods Without a Microwave
We have not been using a microwave for about a month now and it is GREAT to have that kitchen counterspace back AND know that I am much healthier for it! :D

Current Web Readings

Backyard Chickens 101: Part 1
This is GREAT! Answers a lot of questions about those who want to have chickens in their backyard but have so many BASIC questions that no one seems to answer, but THIS POST DOES! :D THANK YOU!

Eat The Seasons
This is a GREAT site! It updates weekly to tell you what foods are in season so you are eating seasonal foods! How AWESOME!

No Longer Longing For Dairy

Now I am not sure how many of you know just how bad the milk you buy in the store is for your body. It doesn't provide your body with calcium, in fact it leeches calcium from your body. Raw milk does not do that and is healthy for you. Want to know more, google it. :)

But because of allergies in our family, we cannot do dairy. Every once in a while, I will get some sort of dairy ice cream something and let the girls have a bite or two. But more than that, and physical problems show up in each of the girls. Now don't get me wrong. They still get frozen treats! I will sometimes buy them Rice Cream (ice cream made from rice milk rather than cow milk), lots of fruit slushies, we even make banana ice cream (when we get bananas on sale).

But now, NOW I find a healthy alternative to milk. One that I plan on trying out today. It is called a coconut milk tonic. Now for those of you who know, I am a HUGE fan of coconut oil. There are SO many health benefits to using coconut oil as well as taking it kinda like a supplement. (Google it or read any book by Bruce Fife, Sally Fallon or the Weston A. Price Foundation.) :D

I can't wait to try things like hot cocoa, chocolate pudding, even some ICE CREAM! :D

Current Web Readings

Home Made Basil Pesto Year Round
I am not a big fan of pesto, but want to be. And my kids are getting there! :)

Fat Food Dangers - Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid!
Good read!

Popcorn the old fashioned way
Need I say more?

Incorporating Coconut Oil into your daily life

Eating Simple
Love this post. VERY encouraging!

Yakisoba Recipe Easy Supper Dish
LOVE looking over this blog!!

My Dark Secrets
Absolutely THE BEST collection of information on the internet regarding agave nectar and it's effect on your health. Is agave nectar bad for you? Is agave nectar good for you? Read in the COMMENTS on this post and find out for yourself. Each person has to make their own decision.

Current Web Readings

Make a dress out of a dinosaur bed sheet

Chocolate Recipes
Recipes that are actually HEALTHY for you. Nourishing Tradition style

Cholesterol and Health
Cholesterol is bad for you ... right?!?!?

Great chart comparing sugars
I am trying to find a replacement for white sugar. I want to totally cut white sugar out of my diet (starting after Valentine's Day of course! ;)

Charity Grace
What a LOVELY little blog I came across!! Be sure to check it out!! She has a carnival of simple craft that looks so fun to join!

Current Web Readings

Homeschooling With A Large Family
I really liked reading this. VERY simple, yet encouraging!!

Creating Contentment
This is a REALLY good post (as is most EVERYTHING on this blog!) that will help your children when "that's not fair!". :D

Candy Cane Hearts
This is SO FUN AND EASY! My soon to be nine year old daughter squealed "so THAT'S how you do it!". Fun fun FUN idea!

Frugal Nourishment
Healthy eating, homeschooling AND MOTH follower! :) I have been having fun reading current and pasts posts on this blog which is now added to the sidebar on the left (Blogs with Heart) :) (Which means it is in my RSS feed reader) :)

Free Download 2009 Spring Garden
GREAT post with link for a free help for when to plant your spring garden. ALSO, take a look around on this blog!! IT IS WONDERFUL!!!

Make Dinner Every Day And Like It
Great post about menu planning. So simple and yet, I never thought of it! :)
HTL Like Merchant Ships - I am TOTALLY loving this new blog you shared with us!

100 tips for 2009
100 tips for ways to save money in the upcoming year.

Current Web Readings

Freezer Cooking Links
This is a GREAT collection of all sorts of links on freezer cooking!

Napkin Set Tutorial
This is a GREAT two part tutorial (be sure to click on the second part) for napkins and a matching pouch!!

Dare To Make It - Holiday
This is a list of over 100 tutorials for making your own holiday gifts. This list is GREAT and I bet there are several new ideas for you here.

Homemade Lotion Bars
These are GREAT and so easy to make! I have not made them myself, but plan to soon! WITH THE KIDS!! :) That is how easy they are! :) This blog is great and I am really enjoying it! Thanks to Kathy for introducing me to this blog!!! :)

Lat Minute Mexican Beans and Rice
This blog is GREAT if you are wanting to learn more about your health and eat better. It is a weekly read (where I catch up on all the posts from the past week). This recipe looks so good!!

Cheaper to Wash Dishes by Hand or Dishwasher?
Interesting information! :) Good read!

Boxy Bag Tutorial
Oh this is a GREAT tutorial! GREAT pictures. Makes it look so easy that I might actually try this! (Although it scares me to death to do anything like this as I feel I can only sew flat things.) :)