Thursday, September 23, 2010

Homemade Insect Repellant

Two types of vanilla extractImage via Wikipedia
Make sure it is PURE. The artificial stuff is worthless.
2 cups of water
1 tbsp of Dr Bronner's or Biokleen concentrated cleaner
1 cinnamon stick
1 oz of pure vanilla extract
20 drops of tea tree oil
10 drops of peppermint oil

Put all ingredients into a spray bottle and shake the heck of out of it. You can add a bit of vodka or everclear, but I think that might be a bit overkill. Spray wherever you see any trouble. Insects can't stand the stuff and flee!
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Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Mock Adventures in Dinner- Tuesday Night

My recipe plan for the evening, let's see how it goes :) 

Salmon Patties
Carrots and Asparagus with Hollandaise sauce
Baked Beans
Fresh Fruit with Banana dressing
Ruby Red Tea



For the Salmon Patties I used:

1 14 oz can of Salmon
1 egg
3/4 of a cup of breadcrumbs (I prefer Italian seasoned) 
1 Tbsp of garlic

I opened the can and added all the ingredients to a mixing bowl. I mashed up the little bones with a fork, because it totally adds a neat crunchy and it adds calcium to your meal. I formed them into patties about the size of my hand (I have little hands)
I had fried some bacon to use the grease to add some flavor to the salmon. It turned out to be a mistake. The patties would not fry up properly and kept sticking to the bottom. I then waited for it to cool down and reformed them into patties. I then reformed the patties and put them on a foil lined tin for the toaster oven and broiled them for about 7 minutes. It was pretty successful.


Now, onto the next order of business:

Asparagus and carrots. I used a bag of baby carrots, and I used fresh asparagus with the ends trimmed off. I steamed them in the Rice Steamer (with the steaming basket) for 10 minutes. I used the  I opened a package of hollandaise seasoning from Stonemill and used organic plain almond milk instead of the cow's milk and made it according to the directions.


The baked beans I baked earlier:
I mixed 2 cans of pork and beans, 1/2 cup of brown sugar, 1/8 of a cup of MockKetchup, 3 Tbsps of dehydrated minced onions, and 2 turkey dogs cut into slices into a casserole dish. I baked them for 1 hour at 350 degrees.

The Banana dressing was super simple:
1 banana, 2 tbsps of brown sugar, 1/2 cup of sour cream, and 1 tsp of lemon juice whipped up in a blender.

I didn't get a pic of the beans. I forgot they were warming and I demolished the dinner before I could take a pic of them. :D 
Dinner





 










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Monday, September 13, 2010

Homemade Autumn Potpourri

Ingredients:

3 cinnamon sticks
1 tsp of ginger
1 tsp of nutmeg
1 tsp of ground or whole cloves
2 cups of water

Directions:

Put all ingredients into a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat to 'low' and enjoy the fragrance wafting through your house. You can save the cinnamon sticks and use them repeatedly until they no longer seem effective. Continue to refresh it with water when it seems to be getting low.

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Ruby Red Tea- AKA Koolaide for the kids (and me)

What you'll need:
Gallon Pitcher



7 bags of Passion Tea (Hibiscus) from Tazo
3 bags of Rose Hip Tea from Alvita (extremely high in Vitamin C) 
1.5 cups of Sugar (Turbando, Raw, Organic, Whatever)
or
1/2 cup of Agave Nectar

(Makes enough for 1 gallon)

Bring a small kettle (or pan) of water to a boil. Take off the heat and  pour over the tea bags. Let steep for 10 minutes while you go clean up a mess, find cups, or other random thing you get called away to do. When your timer dings, or you remember to actually go back into the kitchen, take out the tea bags and add your sweetener. Stir well. Add enough water and ice to make one gallon and enjoy! :)

hibiscus and rose hip tea

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Monday, August 2, 2010

Orange Vinegar

Vinegar is commonly infused with spices or her...Image via Wikipedia
I picked up a resealable bucket for free from one of the Amish shops I visit. It contained black ground pepper and still smells very strongly from it.

What I am doing is making an orange vinegar with it. I put the peels from an orange into the bucket, and have covered it with vinegar. I add new peels every time i peel and re cover the bucket with the sealed lid.

I can use this vinegar in a variety of ways. I can use it for an interesting kick to my recipes that require vinegar. I can use half vinegar and half water in a spray bottle as an effective surface cleaner. I can use an even more diluted vinegar mix as an acid rinse for my hair (dandruff fighting) and as a soap scum remover for the bath.


Cost? About 60 cents for the vinegar.

Replaces or enhances: Gourmet Balsamic Vinegar, Dandruff Shampoo, Hard Surface Cleaner, Fabric Softener, Water softener.

Reduces Plastic Packaging, and gas wasted on distribution of other products :)

Homemade Soda Pop

A bowl of raw (unrefined, unbleached) sugar, b...Image via Wikipedia
Description:
Yummy, and High Fructose Corn Syrup freeeeeee!

Ingredients:
1. 2 parts Sugar ( I use 2 cups of raw sugar)
2. 1 part Water (I use 1 cup)
3. Club Soda
4. Flavoring (I use sassafras concentrate for the root beer replacing the water with it or a couple tbsps of vanilla extract for cream soda. You can find other flavorings at the store or you can use ginger in the syrup, the possibilities are endless)

Time:
5 minutes
Difficulty:
Easy
Serving Size:
2 liters if you use 1 cup water and 2 cups of sugar

Preparation:

1. Clean your prep area! FFS what, were you born in a barn? Don't answer that. Do you have a funnel? A container to keep your syrup in? Do you have a pan? A measuring thingy?A spoon? Do you have flavoring? Good, let's go.

Instructions:
1. Put your water into the pan and boil it.
2. Add flavoring
3. Put your sugar in and boil one minute longer
4. Take off heat and let cool for a few minutes
5. Pour into a clean container and store in the fridge (you can keep it there for a week or two, remember no preservatives means it has a shelf life)
6. Use 4 Tbsp per 8 ounces of club soda
7. voila! Homemade soda!