A couple of things on my radar...

I'm terrible about finding things I want to try but not having time at the moment to devote to them, and then forgetting about them entirely...

So...

Here are a few things I've come across that I definitely DON'T want to forget!

Heavenly Homemakers' Creamy Mac and Cheese

Heavenly Homemakers' Homemade Soft Pretzels

Heavenly Homemakers' Honey Whole Wheat Bagels

VegWeb.com's Black Bean and Quinoa Salad

MadeInTheRedBarn's Etsy Shop: Towel House Dispenser for "un-paper" towels

Ok, that's it for now! Maybe I can finally close some browser tabs now and actually get something done! :)

Frothy Hot Coconut Cacao for a Rainy Day!

I just so happened to stumble upon The Nourishing Gourmet's blog post for Rich, Dark Hot Cocoa (Dairy and Refined Sugar Free) today while the kids were napping. One look out my windows at the dreary sky was all it took to convince me I *needed* to make some and FAST!

I waited until my 2yo DS woke up so he could share the warm drink with me, then I gathered up my ingredients. Using TNG's post as a guide, here's how I made our Frothy Hot Coconut Cacao:

Step #1 -- Empty one can of organic coconut milk into the Blendtec blender jar. I used Roland brand, bought when on sale at Amazon.com. I used the full fat version.

Step #2 -- Add roughly 1/4 cup of organic raw cacao powder. I used the Navitas Naturals brand, from Amazon.com.

Step #3 -- Add roughly 2 cups of water. I used tap water. (Note to self: need to research water filters)

Step #4 -- Add honey (or other sweetener) to taste. I added 3 big squeezes from a honey bear jar of local raw honey my mom brought me back from a recent trip to Florida.

Step #5 -- Blend.

At first, I tried blending on level 1, then up'd it to level 5. It mixed fine but just wasn't warming the drink up the way I had hoped. Then I switched the setting to "Soup" and after one cycle it was nice and warm. If you wanted warmer, you could always do one more cycle, but for us, it was perfect. You could also warm this up in a pot on the stove if you wanted.

The best part about the drink was that it developed a nice froth on top that lasted all the way through to the last sip of...ahem...TWO mugfuls! The froth made the drink feel very "upscale coffee shop." :)

Overall, I'm super pleased with how it turned out. It was perfect because it warmed us up on a rainy day, and the coconut definitely felt springy! Mmmm... This definitely hit the spot!

Homemade Dishwasher and Laundry Detergent

I have been wanting to try my hand at homemade dishwasher detergent and also laundry soap for awhile now. I finally got the chance to whip up a batch of each this weekend. Since I've not done this before, I didn't want to make a huge amount of either just in case the particular recipe didn't work for us. My plan is to try these recipes out first, and then if we like them to buy the ingredients in bulk and make a large amount to have on hand.

A few months ago, I did attempt a liquid dishwasher soap recipe that was just okay. We recently moved and I'm not in love with our new dishwasher even when we use commercial detergents like Cascade, so there is probably nothing wrong with the recipe at all, it just doesn't always work that great for us, especially if there is food dried on the dishes. Regardless, I wanted to try a powdered recipe this time.

Thanks to a post on Diaperswappers, here's the recipe I made.

Homemade Dishwasher Soap (powder)
*1/2 cup Borax
*1/2 cup Washing Soda
*1/4 cup coarse salt
*1/4 cup food grade citric acid

Use 1 tablespoon per load. Use white vinegar as the rinse aid.

A few notes:
*I found Borax and Washing Soda at Ace hardware. They come in a box about the size and shape of a cereal box. They were with the laundry products. If this recipe works, I will attempt to find where I can buy these in bulk to save even more money.

*My food grade citric acid came from a wholesale Frontier coop order. I've also read you can find it at Whole Foods, beer brewing shops, and other speciality food shops. I've also read you can use packages of lemon Kool-Aid as a substitute if you can't find citric acid.

*I add the white vinegar in the dispenser where I would normally put the Jet Dry.

*If you use 1 tablespoon per load, this amount will wash 24 loads of dishes.

We've only tried it once or twice and so far so good, but I'll definitely post later when I have a better grasp of how it's working for us. I'll also work on figuring out how much this cost but it is definitely really cheap! I'm crossing my fingers that this works!

Now, on to the laundry soap. I have to admit I am a die-hard Tide user. I love the way it works and I love the way it smells, so switching to homemade is going to be difficult to do. The reasons I want to switch though are to save money, cut down on chemicals in my home, and do what's best for the environment.

Here is the recipe for the laundry soap that I tried for my front loader:

Homemade Laundry Soap (powder)
*1 cup grated soap
*1 cup borax
*1 cup washing soda

Use 1/2 to 1 tablespoon per load for a front-loading washing machine.

A few notes:
*For bar soap, I read you could use fels naptha, Kirk's castile, or really just about anything. I used a Dr. Bronner's Peppermint Castile bar because that's what I had on hand (purchased from Trader Joe's).

*I found the Borax and Washing Soda at Ace Hardware. They come in boxes similar in size to cereal boxes and I found them in the laundry/households section.

*I grated the soap by slicing it into strips with a knife and then putting it into my Blendtec blender. I read that it wasn't recommended to do in a blender, but it worked fine for me. I ran it through one cycle of "grind grains." Just beware it doesn't get too hot if you do try a blender because the heat will melt the soap and make it clump together again, thus defeating the purpose! You can also hand-grate the soap or use a food processor.

*This is a powder recipe. I also read about how you could make a liquid version using these same ingredients but adding water and melting the soap. From what I read, the liquid version was actually recommended for front loaders and the powdered for top loaders, but I'm giving the powdered a try first because it will take up so much less space and be less work to make (and I'm all about LESS work!). From what I've read, some people say you have to dissolve the powder recipe in hot water before adding it to your wash if you're not washing with hot water, but since I've only used it once or twice, I really can't comment on that just yet.

*For a fabric softener, I've been using white vinegar in the pull-out dispenser just like I would commercial fabric softener.

*You can read more about homemade laundry soap at the Duggars site: Favorite Family Recipes. Since they wash clothes for like 20 people, I'm sure they know what they're talking about!!!

I've used the laundry soap along with the white vinegar 3-4 times so far. No issues noted yet, but I'm sure it will take a few weeks/months before I can make a good call on how the recipe is performing over time.

If this one doesn't work out, I'll definitely check out this TipNut site for another recipe to try!

So, that's that for now. If these work out, I will definitely be back to post photos, tips/tricks, a cost breakdown, where to buy the ingredients (in bulk), how best to store, and more! In the meantime, I've found a laundry recipe that is supposed to work for cloth diapers, so I am going to whip that up and see how that goes!

Have you tried any homemade cleaners? Feel free to share your recipes! I'm always looking for something new to try! :)

HappyGreenBee: Organic Baby/Toddler/Kids Clothes SALE!!!

Thanks to a deal post from The Thrifty Mama about two weeks ago, I learned about a great clearance sale on baby, toddler and kids ORGANIC clothing at HappyGreenBee! I immediately headed on over to check it out and was amazed at how much ORGANIC clothing was in their clearance store! I loaded up on dresses, pants, shirts, kimono tops, tights, skirts, a swimsuit, a blanket, and even several organic dolls for my DD. Everything was priced between $2-$8 with most things I bought being $4-$5! And every bit of it was ORGANIC!


Well, my order arrived last week and I have to say I am impressed with the quality of the clothing. I really like how HappyGreenBee used red-head safety pins to attach their size and information tags (made from recycled materials I might add) to the clothing instead of the normal plastic tags most other companies use. The clothing itself seems to be well made and it looks nice. The material has a nice texture to it and the colors are vibrant! Some of the patterns are a little "loud" for my tastes (which I suspected when I purchased), but they'll make great play and sleep clothes if nothing else. And my favorite thing of all is that I was able to buy clothes for my DD that matched the clothing the organic dolls are wearing! TOO CUTE!!


I am seriously thinking about placing another order for larger sizes of some items just to stock up while it's so cheap! Especially since shipping is FREE for orders over $35! This is really a great deal for ORGANIC clothing and I'm so happy I ordered! I will definitely check back on this site often.

Creamy Dreamy Almond Butter!

Ok, so on my 4th try, I think I've finally done it -- I've made creamy, dreamy, drool-worthy almond butter! And to think I nearly gave up entirely!

One of the reasons for us buying the Blendtec blender (which is THE best blender in the whole wide world) was so that we could make our own nut butters. However, that didn't go exactly according to plan.

Try #1 Failure: Used 1 cup of almonds straight from the bulk bins at Whole Foods. Obviously this wasn't a large enough amount for my big 3 quart blender jar and so it just didn't work.

Try #2 Failure: Used 3 cups of almonds straight from the bulk bins at Whole Foods. I blended one cycle at level 1, then several cycles at level 5, scraping down the sides each time. This turned out okay, but wasn't creamy and was difficult to spread. I think I should have blended for a longer time.

Try #3 Failure: Used 3 cups of almonds from the bulk bins at Whole Foods, soaked for 24 hours, then dehydrated for about 12 hours. I blended the almonds one cycle at speed 1, then multiple cycles at speed 5, scraping down the sides each time. After 40 minutes of blending, I had nothing that resembled almond butter. The contents of my blender jar were steaming (so much for RAW almond butter!) and I was super frustrated. I added some coconut oil, and eventually some water, and what I ended up with was some sort of watery tasting almond paste (think toothpaste) and it was disgusting! What a waste of perfectly good almonds! :( I think the real problem here was that my almonds were not completely dried before I tried to make the almond butter, or perhaps it was the type of almonds I used.

Try #4 Success: Used 3 cups of organic unpasteurized carmel almonds purchased from Anderson Almonds (an almond farmer in California), soaked for 24 hours and then dehydrated for 24 hours. I blended the almonds one cycle at speed 1, then several cycles at speed 5. There was very little scraping to be done and I didn't time it, but I bet it was done within 10 minutes. I didn't have to add anything to the almonds as they blended. (Ignore the little piggies in this photo!)

When it was done, I literally POURED it (with a little help from my handy dandy scraper) into the jar to put into the refrigerator! Amazing!



While I did remember to grab at least a few cell phone shots of the finished product, I didn't get any photos of the process, so I really found this post to be helpful in showing the stages the almonds go through when making nut butter. The beautiful photos give you a good idea of what to expect. I obviously used my blender and the photos here are from a food processor, but the results are similar. The only stage I didn't see while blending my almond butter was the one where a ball develops; for me it went straight from crumbly to the oils beginning to release.

So now I have creamy, dreamy almond butter and fresh baked bread in the house! Guess you don't have to guess what I'm about to go have for a snack! :)

There are WORMS in my house!

...and I *love* them!

A few weeks ago, I finally convinced DH to let me have a worm bin for vermicomposting. Since we are eating so many more vegetables and fruits now, we have a lot of food scraps that we were just throwing away. How wasteful!

I had to work for months dropping hints about the worm bin before I got DH to agree to it. And even when we were making the bin, he wasn't too thrilled about it. But he did it, and now we are almost ready to harvest our bin for the first time!

I am so excited about how easy it is, and my 2 year old DS absolutely LOVES helping me feed the worms every day. He helps me to scoop away some of the bedding to create a hole (we use a spoon to do this...hey, I said I love the worms, not that I love *touching* them!), then he puts in a few handfuls of food scraps. When we get ready to close the bin back up, he always says "Bye-bye, worms!" I love it! Our first little science project.

So, you want to know more details?

Here are the directions we followed to create the worm bin. I actually had two totes in the garage identical to the ones in the photos leftover from my teacher days that had been used to store books in my classroom library. I read the instructions to DH and he drilled the necessary holes, and we assembled the totes into the proper configuration. We also worked together to cut and soak the newspaper. For grit, we stole some dirt out of a plant that had some to spare. So, the cost of my worm bin was $0! Even if you buy the totes though, it shouldn't cost more than $10-$12 I'd think. You can buy fancy commercially made worm bins that look nicer if you want for around ~$100-$150, but FREE works for me!

The worms on the other hand cost me $20 for a pound. I found the red wrigglers on Craigslist and apparently that's about the going rate for a pound of composting worms. From what I've read, a pound is roughly 500 worms. A worm can eat about 1/2 it's weight each day, so a pound of worms should be able to eat about 1/2 a pound of food a day! And the worms will reproduce, so eventually I should have enough worms that I can share -- I hope to convince my mom to let me start a worm bin for her!

Overall, this is a super easy venture. And after just a few weeks, my bin is almost ready to be harvested! The vermicompost will be a great addition to my garden and my yard plants.

The only problem is we still have way more food scraps than my worms can eat, so I am now working on convincing DH to let me have a compost tumbler. I'm not quite there yet though! I also want to build a square foot garden, but since we just moved here in November, it hasn't happened yet. There is still a lot of "moving in" to be done before we get around to starting new projects, so it may be next year before the garden becomes a reality.

Finally...sandwich bread!

I have been trying to find a yummy, healthy, and easy bread to make that we can use for sandwiches, toast, and just for munching on. I think I may have finally found it. This bread came out soft, light, easy to cut, and it tasted great!

For duplication purposes, these are the exact steps I followed to make this bread in my bread machine:

Honey Wheat Oatmeal:
*Stir together 1-1/4 cup water (just over 100 degrees), 1 packet active dry yeast, and 1/2 cup or maybe little more of honey and let sit for 10 minutes
*Pour the water mix into the well of the bread machine
*Add 1-1/2 cups bread flour, 1-1/2 cups whole wheat flour, 1 cup (thick) rolled oats, 1-1/2 teaspoons salt, and 2 tablespoons olive oil
*Set to (regular/white) bread/specialty - light crust

Not quite 4 hours later, voila sandwich bread! Yum!

DH came home from work yesterday and made us great sandwiches for dinner using this bread. He met the kids and me (after our evening walk) at the neighborhood playground where we dined at the picnic table and then played until dusk. I love, love, LOVE my family!

And I also LOVE this bread! I really hate to mess with the recipe since it turned out so perfect, but I wonder if I can up the whole wheat flour to bread flour ratio without ruining it...hmm...

I also can't wait until I order my own grains so I can freshly grind my own flour before baking. So excited! This recipe might just have DH convinved to let me go for the bulk order. Yay!

Homemade Bread

The local Wheat Montana coop is ready for orders this month. We've never ordered grains in bulk before, but I want to. DH has said that we need to make sure we could and would use the stuff we would buy.

We moved back in November and several months before that I got a bread machine from Freecycle. I had started experimenting with making my own bread occassionally. So, I decided I'd better drag out the machine and get back on track to prove to DH that ordering from the coop would save us money.

Once we order the grains, I plan to grind the flour myself in the Blendtec. But for now, I'm just using the flour we have on hand until it's all gone.

Here is the recipe I made yesterday. It came from the Joyful Abode blog. I tweaked it just a bit.

Here's what I did:
*Dissolve a little over 2 teaspoons of yeast in a cup of 110 degree water.
*Add 2 generous squirts of honey and stir. Let sit for 10 minutes to get foamy and exciting.
*Dump it in the bread machine’s well.
*Add 3 cups of flour (I added 1-1/2 cups each of whole wheat and bread flour)
*Add 1 teaspoon of sea salt
*Add 1/4 cup olive oil
*Set the machine to the sandwich bread/white bread/light setting.

My machine took not quite 4 hours to make the bread. It turned out pretty good. Perhaps a little more honey would have been nice if we planned to eat it plain, but it was quite yummy with various spreads we put on...like my Farmer's Market find of strawberry creamed honey. Mmmmm!!!

Here are two other recipes I came across that I want to try this week:
1. Honey Wheat Oatmeal Bread
2. Sunflower Seed Whole Wheat Bread

As I learn more, I also want to experiment with making sprouted breads. And maybe one day I'll be brave enough to try to make my bread in the oven, but after several miserable failures a few years back, I'm thrilled I can even make bread machine bread turn out okay!

Do you have a yummy and healthy bread machine recipe I should try?? :)

Swiss Chard Smoothie!

We visited two new Farmer's Markets in our area today and were stoked that we finally found local AND natural/organic produce! We came home with bags and bags of greens (spinach, swiss chard, beet greens, bok choy, lettuce, arugula), tomatoes, strawberries, green and sweet peppers, fresh baked bread, free range eggs, and even strawberry creamed honey! Yum!

When we got home, I proceeded to make our first Swiss Chard smoothie ever. I wasn't so sure after the first sip, but it quickly grew on me and by the end I would say I was maybe not loving it, but definitely heavily liking. DH went so far as to say it was delicious and that I needed to write down the "recipe."

So, here is what I put in my Blendtec blender, per DH's request:
*1-1/2 frozen bananas (you could use fresh)
*2 cored apples (peeled b/c they weren't organic)
*10-15 frozen blackberries (it was the amount we had left in a bag in the freezer)
*healthy dose of chia seeds
*Swiss Chard (probably 8-10 large leaves with stems)
*about 1/2 of an 11oz. tetrapack of coconut water (I used Zico brand)
*about 1 cup of water

I packed it all in and blended on the Whole Juice setting for one round. It made two full tall glasses with enough leftover for me to fill up my 2-year-old DS's Safe Sippy 2 straw cup. DS drank it all and asked for more! I've found he drinks "green" smoothies better when he can't see what color they are! I learned this after I discovered he was drinking the smoothies that came out a pretty pink or purplish color, but wouldn't touch the ones that were green or brownish, even if they weren't all that different in taste. In his Safe Sippy 2 straw cup, he drinks whatever smoothie I put in there because he can't see what it looks like! lol)