Category Archives: recipes

natural cleaning recipes

We’ve been making almost all of our cleaning products for many years now.  It’s inexpensive, easy and most importantly, safe; safe for us and safe for the environment.  Usually I just make things as I need them, but lately I’ve been making a point of setting aside a bit of time some Sunday afternoon to make up a whole bunch of things to have on hand.  It’s ever so pleasant to have whatever I need within easy reach.

I thought I would share a few family favorites with you, and maybe you will share a few favorites too.  Between us we could make a wonderful resource for others.  My recipes come from several different sources.  Some are just things that I’ve came up with over the years.  Some come from the lovely book that my friend gifted me a few years back (there are a few other recipes in that post as well).

All-Purpose Cleaner

1/2 teaspoon washing soda

2 teaspoons borax

1/2 teaspoon liquid soap (I like dish soap because it cuts grease and I often use this spray in the kitchen)

2 cups hot water

15 drops each lavender and tea tree essential oils (I’ve been using all lavender lately or a combo of lavender and rosemary)

Mix all ingredients in a spray bottle and shake.

Soft Scrub

1/2 cup baking soda

enough liquid soap or detergent to achieve a frosting like consistency

5 drops essential oil of your choice (optional)

Stir all ingredients in a bowl, store in a sealed jar.

Laundry Stain Remover

(home-made ‘Oxy Clean’)

2 cups water

1 cup hydrogen peroxide

1 cup baking soda

Mix all ingredients together.  Soak laundry in stain remover for at least 20 minutes before washing.

My Favorite Laundry Soap

4 cups hot water

1 bar Dr. Bronner’s Lavender Castile Soap

1 cup Washing Soda

1/2 cup Borax

~Grate bar of soap and add to saucepan with water.  Stir continually over medium-low heat until soap dissolves and is melted.

~Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full of hot tap water.  Add melted soap, washing soda and borax.  Stir well until all powder is dissolved.  Fill bucket to top with more hot water.  Stir, cover and let sit overnight.

~Stir and fill a jar or other container half-way with soap and the fill the rest of the way with water.  Shake before each use.

~Use 5/8 cup per load for top load machines and 1/4 cup per load for front loaders.

This recipe makes 10 gallons of liquid laundry soap, but it’s stored in a concentrated form in a 5 gallon bucket with a lid.  We keep ours in the basement.  Whenever we need more, I go down, stir it and ladle some out.  I use a half-gallon mason jar to store soap in our laundry room.  I keep the measuring cup with it.  After measuring out the proper amount for each load, I rinse it under the water filling the washer, then dry it and put it back for next time.

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Housewifery, recipes
28 Replies

Summer Skillet Soup

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soup

It’s been a while since I’ve posted a recipe, so I thought I would share this simple, farm fresh, dish that our family has been enjoying recently.  This is actually something that I’ve been making for several years now, with slight variations.  I said I was sharing a recipe, but it’s really more of a method, as there are no exact amounts.

First you start with a skillet.  Years ago I could get away with one, now I make two!  Personally I think cast iron is the only way to go with this dish, but I feel that way about almost everything I cook.

Coat the base of your skillet with a thin layer of olive oil.

The whole thing is arranged in layers.  On top of the olive oil goes a layer of sliced onions and chopped garlic.  When they are in season, I like to add my favorite Italian sweet peppers to this layer.  This should more or less cover the bottom of your skillet.  We really like this soup chunky, I think that’s part of it’s appeal, so I don’t get too fussy about chopping things up.  Besides once everything is cooked through it’s easy to break up with a spoon, if it turns out that the chunks are a little too large.

Next comes the chicken.  Whatever kind or cut you like.  Cut it into chunks and cover your onion mix.

On top of that comes the slices of fresh tomatoes, again whatever kind you like.

And now for the top layer you’ll cover the whole thing with whole fresh basil leaves.

Now your skillet should be just about full.  Pour in a splash of red wine (maybe 1/4 C) and cover it.  I’ve used several scoops of yogurt instead in the past, for a creamier soup with a slightly different flavor.  Cook it covered, on the stove top, on medium heat for about 10 minutes, then turn it down to low for another 20 (you can also leave the lid off for a bit at the end to make sure that all of the alcohol evaporates, just be sure to check and make sure that your chicken is cooked through).  The juices from the chicken, tomatoes, and basil will all have combined to form a rich and flavorful broth.  Season with salt and pepper, serve and enjoy!

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Food, recipes
3 Replies

rhubarb and a grain-free crust

mixing

We found a giant and I mean giant rhubarb plant in an out-of-the-way, seldom visited corner of the yard last week.  There were some babies as well, but the mother plant was a sight to see.

We have a whole new yard and chunk of land to explore and discover through the seasons yet again this year.  As my children happen to be very fond of nibbling at things around the yard, they have found their discoveries here to be quite satisfactory.  The violets have already come and gone, the best wood sorrel spots have been scouted out, the many patches of wild strawberries are picked over daily, with occasional tastes of the thyme growing wild throughout the lawn, while the raspberries, blueberries, blackberries and autumn olives continue to be monitored, with hopes of a good harvest in the future.

tart

What to do with the bountiful rhubarb?  We made tarts.  We’ve been eating mostly grain-free lately, in an effort to curtail the very painful abdominal migraines of one of the children, as well as other things.  It’s challenging but it’s helping.  It’s helping a lot.   So we carry on.  I took my basic gluten-free pie crust (found here) and changed it around a bit.  Instead of the flour ratio listed, I used 1 cup each of almond flour, coconut flour and arrowroot flour.  I left the xanthan gum out altogether.  I’ve never been big on adding gums to my baked goods and since reading this I haven’t used them at all.  Otherwise I just made one batch, in exactly the same way.  Ok, well, I didn’t chill the dough.  It was still baseball season after all and who has that kind of time?!?  The chilling just makes it better for rolling out.  I skipped all of that an just pressed it into pans.  And it was not just good, it was *wonderful*.  Yum, yum, yum.  I think I might go check the yard for some more rhubarb today.

p.s. I added a little list of links to the sidebar.  Just some random little things that strike my fancy; some books, some recipes, some crafts, some music, some pretty little things.  I plan to change it from time to time, so take a peek every once in a while.

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Food, Gardens, Herbs, Kids, Our Little Home, recipes
3 Replies

Spring Meal Planning

asparagus

Beginning this past autumn, I started creating a seasonal meal plan.  I’ve done variations of this in the past, but I never found a system that quite worked for me.  After 2+ seasons, I think it’s safe to say that I’ve finally found something that will work long-term and it is such a relief!

It’s just dinners for right now.  Our breakfasts went from having a specific menu for each day of the week to being in complete disarray now that we have, once again, been forced to eliminate certain staple breakfast foods.  Lunch is mostly leftovers or something relatively easy, so that we don’t interrupt the flow of our school day.

My plan for dinner is this; two weeks worth of seasonally appropriate, mostly healthy and fairly easy meals that I’ll just keep on making until summer.  It’s worked well so far.  One thing that I’ve really loved is that this plan has allowed me to make better use of our CSA share because I plan the meals around it (the currently season is the only one where that isn’t really an issue.  Our winter share of root cellar veggies just ended and the regular season doesn’t start until late in spring).  We do start getting a little tired of the same dinners towards the end, but usually when there is only a week or two left, so the timing is just about right.  And the new season’s meals, by default become that much more inviting!

I try to stick to a general rhythm for the week; Sunday is beef, Monday soup, Tuesday chicken, etc.

Knowing that I’ll be making the same meal two weeks later, I’ve started doubling some recipes and freezing half, which means I actually get nights off from making dinner, without wasting money or compromising nutrition.  And can’t even begin to tell you how much easier it is to make a shopping list or what a relief it is to *always*, *always* know just what’s for dinner.

food

turkey apple sausages, steamed kale and peach smoothie (so nice to still have peaches in the freezer!)

Spring 2011 Meal Plan

  • Sunday: beef- we get half a beefer from a local farm, so this could be any cut from the freezer really; a steak, stew, roast, and then vegetables to go with it of course.
  • Monday: asparagus or green bean soup (depending on what’s more readily available)
  • Tuesday: roasted chicken, mashed potatoes and greens- I might make gravy to do with this, open a jar of chutney or thaw one of the last jars of pesto to mix things up a bit
  • Wednesday: salad w/turkey and a homemade creamy dressing
  • Thursday: leftovers…it seems that after brainstorming 13 dinners, my creativity was stretched to it’s limit.  So, leftovers it is for now, but maybe one of you has a fresh and brilliant suggestion??
  • Friday: coconut curry chicken and veggies
  • Sunday: burger salads-so this is how I eat burgers- I fill my plate up with all sorts of lettuces, plop my burger on top and then pile on whatever toppings sound good.  Is it just me?  The kids like for theirs “salads” to be wrapped in rice tortillas.  This week’s “burger salad” had onions, avocado and radishes.  yum.
  • Monday: carrot soup
  • Wednesday: salad with fruit and nuts, roasted chickpeas on the side
  • Thursday: kale and potatoes, sweet Italian sausages
  • Saturday: mustard chicken-this is my very simple adaptation of a chicken dish my mother used to bake.  Basically you place your chicken breast in a baking dish spoon on a mixture of mustard and mayonnaise (we use grapeseed veganaise, due to egg allergies).  I then top it with a mix of salt, pepper, almond flour and sesame seeds.  I like to serve it with steamed and seasoned broccoli.

And that’s it.  Fourteen days worth of dinners to be repeated from now until summer.  And a much more relaxed mama.

Now if I could only get breakfast sorted out…

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Food, Housewifery, Life, recipes
6 Replies

Mommy Magic

The Wee Girl has a rash.  It’s the kind of rash that comes and goes.  It is not the kind of rash that is easy to identify.  It seems to defy all of the rules of rash logic.  Since it insisted on persisting in coming back and since it remained an anomaly that I couldn’t identify, I made an appointment with our doctor.

Last year we found this great practice.  The doctors are all conventional doctors, but they are also homeopaths as well.  It’s a fabulous combination, alternative medicine with conventional back up, and it’s covered by insurance.

So, it’s not just me, the doc doesn’t understand this rash either.  We don’t even have any good theories, but we’re trying a few things and seeing how it goes.  In the meantime, she suggested a product that she thought might help.  After the appointment I headed on over to the co-op to pick some up.

Ingredients: olive oil, bees wax, honey, bee pollen, royal jelly, bee propolis

Ok.  Sounds good to me.

Then I turned over the small jar that fit nicely in the palm of my hand, and spied the $40 price tag.  I believe my exact thought was, “Pfft?!?  Screw that!”  I’m sure it’s a lovely product and all, but seeing as I had most of the ingredients in my kitchen cabinet….

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Right.  On to plan B…

Mommy Magic

All measurements are approximate.

In a small metal bowl I put roughly 3 heaping T of my home made beeswax polish (to make this I combine olive oil and melted beeswax. it’s as simple as that. for this recipe I think keeping it on the thicker side, i.e. more beeswax, is a plus)

1 rounded tsp of pulverized bee pollen

2 1/2 tsp of honey

2 heaping tsp of organic lanolin (lanolin has amazing healing properties.  plus I’m partial to it because it comes from wool!)

Then I pulled out my handy-dandy submersion blender and whipped it all up until it was a delightfully thick and creamy lotion.

I don’t know if it has any Divine Love in it, like the Egyptian Magic claims to have, but it does have Mommy Love, so I figure we’re all good.

Mystery Rash looks lots better after one day of use.  Plus, it makes an awesome lip balm.

By
Life, recipes
5 Replies

Rustic Blueberry-Lavender Cake

berries

bowl of berries

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boys 2

m in field

mountains 2

elijah

hands

A hearty, toothsome, gluten-free cake, inspired by our blueberry picking adventures and all of my beloved lavender along our front walk…

baking cake

Rustic Blueberry-Lavender Cake

In a large bowl, mix together:

1 heaping T of finely chopped fresh lavender

2 1/2 C brown rice flour (or white, if you prefer)

1 C almond flour

1 T potato flour

Mix well and leave it to sit so that the flour gets all infused by the lavender.

……………………………………

In a medium bowl mix:

2 C almond milk

1/4 C lemon juice

allow the two to sit.

……………………………….

back to the first bowl, add:

1/2 tsp. salt

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

……………………………..

to the liquids add:

1/2 C olive oil

1 C maple syrup

………………………….

Slowly add wet ingredients to dry and mix well.

…………………………….

Pour into greased muffin tins (makes 24) or two medium cake pans.

Drop approximately 15 blueberries into each muffin cup or a cup of berries per cake pan.

Bake at 350 (around 20 minutes for muffins, 40 for cake) until golden brown and a fork comes out clean.

Allow to cool completely.  If you try to handle it before it is cool, it will fall apart, but once cool, it stays together quite nicely.

…………………………………..

Enjoy!


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Food, Kids, Life, recipes
6 Replies

Summer Treats

Warning: Uninspired photos ahead.  Hey, I’ve been tired lately and in this house you have to be really quick on your feet in this house in order to capture edibles before they disappear.

Soon it will be time for apple sauce and apple pie, Indian pudding, roasted chestnuts, cranberry sauce and pumpkin bread.  But right now there’s still some more time for the fun and frozen treats of summer.  We’ve been experimenting and making a lot of sweet treats this season.

Below is watermelon sorbet.  Ingredients: one beautiful melon, recently harvested from our farm.

watermelon

We just froze it and then blended it up until it was all nice and smooth.  A Vitamix is fabulous for this, but a good food processor works as well.  A bit of fresh rosemary added in is really good too!

Do you know about banana “ice cream”??  If you take frozen bananas and run them through a vitmix or food processor for a bit, it turns out that most perfect concoction with the consistency of frozen yogurt.  It really couldn’t be easier!  The picture below is from a day when we added a bit of raw cocoa powder and a splash of almond extract.  That was yummy too, but I think my personal favorite is just the straight bananas with a dash of vanilla.

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For frozen treats of the pre-made variety, we’ve really been enjoying the new coconut water sorbets by So Delicious.

sorbet

We like to get 3 different flavors and share them; lemon-aid, raspberry and mango being the combo of choice with the younger set (though the hibiscus flavor is really good too, and a bit more sophisticated).  It’s like fruit salad only cooler.  In a past life I was a big fan of rainbow sherbet.  And this way I get to pretend that I’m five years old again, which in-so-far-as I remember it, was a halfway decent year.

Here’s to a few more weeks of summer treats!

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Food, recipes
5 Replies

More from the bog

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Computer problems kept me from posting last night and this morning.  Here are just a few more photos from our trip to the bog.  I love all of that red!  Isn’t it just incredible?

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The pitcher plants

I wish I had gotten better pictures of the pitchers, but I was somewhat distracted by the possibility of little ones falling into the bog.

the pitcher flower

It’s so quiet here right now that it would be eerie if it wasn’t so perfectly splendid.  Though one does have to be wary of quiet.  Quiet is how I came down from putting my baby down for a nap to find my 4 year old on the shed roof (it was very little consolation that the 8 year old was up there with him).  But since I seem to have found a couple of, hopefully uneventful, moments of peace and quiet, how about a little randomness?

bog 1

I modified this recipe to make it gluten-free this morning and it was divine, but oh, all that sugar!  I’ll surely pay for it later, but I can honestly say that I didn’t care a bit while we were eating it.  If I’m naughty enough to make it again next week, I’ll be sure to take pictures and share my version with you.

I discovered a new and fabulous way of preparing summer squash and zucchini last night.  I just ate the leftovers straight from the jar and it was a pleasant reminder of how good it truly was.  I think I might even like it better leftover and cold.  Our neighbors have been over to dinner twice this week.  One of them is allergic to garlic and onions and it’s pushed me to experiment a bit.  I don’t know what to do with myself in a kitchen without garlic and onions.  I chopped up all of my squashes into a big pan, drizzled them with olive oil, followed by a couple of shakes of ume plum vinegar and a hearty splash of lemon juice.  Then I roasted them up, stirring often.  Once they were cooked, I sprinkled them with sea salt, fresh cracked pepper and liberal amounts of shredded basil, fresh from the garden.  Both company and a child of mine, who despise summer squash as a rule, had multiple helpings, so I consider it a success.

I’ve had the strangest craving for rice lately.  I can’t imagine why rice of all things, but there it is.

We’ve been eating so much corn lately!  I have a whole heap of husks that we’re saving for crafts.

I’m wondering if we will have a shot at seeing some auroras tonight.  I went out looking last night, but if they were there, it was too cloudy to see them.

And now it is too beautiful a day to spend any more time on this silly old computer!

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Food, Kids, Life, recipes
5 Replies

Gluten free pie crust recipe in progress (and other birthday things)

Today was the second of Mr. Elijah Rain’s three 8th birthday celebrations.  The first was a garden party with his grandparents and aunt, while we were in Pennsylvania (there was a dress code and everything.  any excuse for a bit of bow tie wearing you know).

His actual birthday (next Saturday) will be a quiet family affair; favorite foods, gifts from us and if the weather cooperates, some family baseball at the park.

Today was his official birthday party.  Shared birthday party actually.  He turns 8 a mere 10 days after his good friend.  Just our two families; eight kids playing, in and out of the house, two mamas cooking together, and no one really fussing or stressing about anything, made for one very low-key satisfying day.  The simple shared “party” was a Good Idea.  One that we might just have to repeat next year.

My boys made this set of gnomes for the other birthday boy (inspired by this post).  I think the one below is my favorite.

And I made pie, at my own birthday boy’s request; one cherry and one strawberry-rhubarb.  I came up with this off-the-cuff pie crust recipe.  I’m considering it a work in progress, because I still might want to tweak it a bit.  But all things considered, I think it was pretty darn good.  Of all the gluten free pie crusts I’ve made in the past,  I think this one was closest to a gluten crust in texture.

Gluten free pie crust

1 1/2 C white rice flour

1/2 C almond flour

1/2 C arrowroot

1/2 C potato flour

2 T sugar

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. xanthan gum

Mix all dry ingredients in a large bowl.  With a fork or pastry cutter, blend in:

1 C palm oil “shortening”

until dough forms little crumbs.  Add in:

1/2 C cold water mixed with 2 T. apple cider vinegar

Let dough chill in the refrigerated for around an hour.

When I took it back out, it was a little dry.  I re-hydrated it a bit by kneading in some additional water.

Gluten free pie crust can be difficult to work with at times, as it has a tendency to crumble.  I like to roll mine out on a floured Silpat Baking Sheet (parchment paper works too), with some flour sprinkled on top.  You need to roll the dough slowly and carefully, flouring more if needed to keep it from sticking to the rolling pin.  Always roll from the middle out, to keep it even (otherwise you end up with a thick middle and thin edges!).  I like to keep a bowl of water nearby, and every time a creak starts to develop, I seal it up with a bit of water (sprinkle a little flour on top to keep the wet spot from sticking to the rolling pin).

This recipe makes enough for a top and bottom crust for one pie.  After you assemble your pie, you can brush the top with oil, melted butter or lemon juice and sprinkle it with sugar if you like.  Whenever I have extra pie crust leftover, I let the kids roll it out and cut it into pieces, then we either sprinkle it with a bit of sugar or add a dollop of jam for a little pre-pie treat.

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crafts, Festivals and Celebrations, Food, Kids, recipes, toy making
2 Replies

treats

three

A new basket treat this year, I discovered these Oskri Organics bars at a local co-op a couple of months back and made a mental note of them.  They are dried coconut, brown rice syrup and a bit of cherry juice, in a pretty vibrant pink that looks so festive.  Màiri’s wee basket, lined with raffia, contained one of these, an orange (her favorite!) and her book and it felt just right.  I went kind of over board with the bigger kids, but hers was perfect simplicity.

one

Also new this year, I made up these little nests!  I sliced up a bunch of almonds and mixed them with shredded coconut and sesame seeds in about equal amounts.  Then I poured some of my melt-y home-made chocolate over top and mixed it together, adding more until it felt like I could mold it.  I pressed some into this round bottomed muffin tin I have and some into muffin cups.  I picked out a bunch of whites from the sack of organic jelly beans and pressed in my “eggs” into the nests before chilling them.  They were really good!

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And (surprise!) there were some baskets for Steve and I, complements of two tricky little boys (who aren’t so very tricky as they give themselves credit for, but don’t tell them that I said so!)…

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This basket was mine.  It was harvested from the playroom and lined with a doll blanket that my Great Grandmother crocheted for my mother when she was little.  And festooned with some finger knitting by Elijah (I was told that it was going to be an Easter garland).  Inside where homemade chocolates, just a bit on the squishy side (I was told they were making them for Steve, which was true, as he got some too) and this little pouch…

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knitted by Iain (I was told it was part of a “spring banner” he was making).  Thankfully I know better then to ask too many questions and spoil the surprise!

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celebrations and festivals, crafts, Food, recipes, Yarn Crafts
6 Replies