Roasted Broccoli

A friend gave me a stack of magazines to read, and so on our recent trip to Omaha I got to sit down and page through them.  What fun!  I found a delicious looking d-free broccoli recipe from "The Old Schoolhouse."  I just tried it, and I think that I will be able to get three of the four kids to eat them.  (Jonah is fairly sure that broccoli will kill him.)  I adapted the recipe slightly because I found the way that it was written to be more complicated than it needed to be.  We are planning on planting broccoli in our garden this year, and I see some roasted broccoli on the menu.  Here is my adapted version.  Enjoy!

Broccoli (As much as you think your family will eat!)
Garlic powder
Salt
Olive Oil
Parmesan cheese (or if D-free go for nutritional yeast.)

Preheat oven to 425.  Wash and cut broccoli into florets.  Lightly coat them in olive oil.  (I just used my refillable spray can.) Place on oiled baking sheet.  Sprinkle with garlic powder and salt.  Bake for 20-30 min.  (It depends on how big you cut your florets.) Sprinkle with Parmesan or nutritional yeast and devour.

A Spring Cleanse

It seems that "cleanse" has been the buzz word in the natural health community this spring.  I kept running into articles about it, and the boxed cleansing systems are on sale at the health food stores and at my chiropractor's office so I decided to do some thorough research into detox cleansing.  I have done a couple of different cleanses before.  This one were you buy the little box, take the vitamins and powder. Since I didn't really have to change the way that I ate it was easy but also pricey.  I don't want to spend money if I don't have too.  I also have done a basic bone broth cleanse where you drink a cup of broth before ever meal and try to avoid the "bad stuff."  Again, a pretty painless way to cleanse.
 There is a lot of info out there that is not really worth it, and so I stuck with a couple sites that I trusted. Livestrong had a many articles on detox diets and cleansing and Well Grounded Life where they were offering a cleansing course.   These sites were really informative and beneficial.  The basic premise of a cleanse is that no one's diet is perfect and neither is the environments that we live in.  Toxins that get built up in our bodies need to be flushed out. 
Then I got the crazy idea that I should do a series of blog posts while cleansing.  I told my husband my idea, and he said that I may want to rethink that.  In his mind a cleanse would be something that you do before a colonoscopy, and that would be gross to blog about!  There are actually many different kinds of cleansing and I would not be doing a colon cleanse but a kidney/liver cleanse.
I then did something that I have read I should do, but I have never done: I consulted a health care professional before beginning.  (That little warning is on every diet and exercise dvd, but does anyone really do that?)  We discussed my goals for the cleanse and the practical way to do it.  She listened to my plan and tweaked it a bit.  She said that I could probably attain my goals faster in I changed my diet along with a boxed cleanse, but my plan was to use diet alone.  Here is what we came up with:
My Goals:

• More energy (what mom wouldn't say that?  I am curious if my fatigue is just because I am a mother of many little ones, or if I need to take better care of myself.)
• Hormone balance after 4 pregnancies
• An overall feeling of cleansing after a winter of eating comfort foods.
• (I didn't put weight loss on the list, and I didn't weigh myself before the cleanse so that I wouldn't be sidetracked from my goals if I was or wasn't losing weight.  Weight loss through this cleanse wouldn't be maintainable since I don't plan on eating this way for the rest of my life.)

My plan:

• 7 days of fruits, veggies (as much green ones as I can) and protein (meat, eggs and nuts-the liver needs protein in order to function properly and the liver plays a major part in cleansing and detox.) 
• Apple cider vinegar (diluted) three times a day.  The doctor could take or leave this part, but I had read a lot about the health benefits and decided to go for it. 
• No dairy, grains, sugar or coffee. 
• Try to keep active and also get a good amount of sleep. 
• After the cleanse I need to assess how I feel, (the assumption is that I will feel good!) and slowly add things bad in while trying to maintain feeling good.

I almost chickened out and didn't blog about this.  I curiously excited but also am afraid of failure!  How do I blog about it if I fall off the wagon?  We will see how this goes!

NOTE: Part 2 has now been posted.
This posted was linked to Quick and Easy Cheap and Healthy and Frugal Ways Sustainable Ways

Perfect Pancakes

My kids need a big breakfast to start their day.  I have found that it is worth my time and effort to fill them up in the morning.  In order to keep things simple I have a weekly breakfast plan that we repeat every week.  My mind is too cloudy in the morning to process "What am I going to make?" Instead I wake up and say "It's Thursday.  That is muffin morning."  (Actually I try to mix things up the night before or double when possible so that the next week I can just take it out of the freezer.)
Monday is pancake morning (Tuesday is leftover pancake morning.  I don't cook every morning!)  I went through a number of pancake recipes, and when I found this one at Heavenly Homemakers Jordan said "That's it.  Please don't try another recipe."  I have tweaked it a bit for our liking, but the most exciting part to me is that it is simple and can easily be altered to dairy free.  The d-free recipe that I had before had egg separating and that just was too complicated for me. 

Pancakes
1 cup whole wheat pastry four
1 1/4 cup buttermilk
1 egg
3 Tbs melted butter
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp vanilla

D-Free Pancakes
1 cup whole wheat pastry four
3/4 almond milk (or any milk alternative)
1 egg
3 Tbs oil
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp vanilla

Score Another One for the Scrubbing Cleanser

As I was reading and preparing for the women's seminar last week I came across a few ideas for getting oil stains out of clothes. I loathe those annoying wet looking spots on solid shirts that remain after the shirt is dry. I was reading and the thought crossed my mind that since the ingredients in the stain removal recipes were pretty much the same as the ones in my scrubbing cleanser recipe, why wouldn't it work to remove oil stains?  I don't want to mix up one more thing if what I have will do the trick.  So I tried it on my blue shirt that I spilled a 1/4 cup of coconut oil on last summer and never could quite get out.  It worked!  Hooray for the magic scrubbing cleanser!

My "Everything" Scrubbing Cleanser

This is my favorite cleaning product because I use it everywhere.  I use it to replace the Soft Scrub that I was using on my sinks, counter tops, bathtubs.  It replaced my stove top cleaner.  I used it on the tile grout.   I even use this as toilet cleaner.  (After I scrub the toilet bowl with this I throw in an extra cup of white vinegar and let it sit.  I like the toilet to be really clean.)  This one cleaner cut down on the "cleaner clutter" and having a separate bottle for each surface in each room. There is nothing extraordinary in this recipe. 

• Heaping ¾ cup baking soda
• ¼ cup dish soap
• 1 1/2 Tablespoons water
• 1 1/2 Tablespoon of vinegar 

I mix the first three ingredients together first and then add the vinegar last.  I have found that a little of this goes a long way.  At first I was using too much, and it took me forever to get it all wiped up!  My only "complaint" this this recipe would be that it settles.  You can store it in a jar and stir it before each use.  Right now I am using an old ketchup bottle.  (The kind with the lid on the bottom.)  All the baking soda packs down around the lid.  Before I use it I untwist the lid, push through the baking soda, put the lid back on and shake.  If anyone comes up with a better way please leave a comment below!  I would love to try it.

4/9/12 NOTE: I found another use!  Here is the post for using the scrubbing cleanser in the laundry room!

The one were I admit I don't wear antiperspirant

While I have been using homemade deodorant for about a year and a half I still cannot believe that I am admitting this publicly.  A few years ago my eyes would have probably popped out of my head, and I would have labeled someone as a "hippie" for trying this!  I didn't even tell Jordan partially to see if he noticed!  He never did.
Here is the story (because making your own deodorant probably warrants a story!) I had read a few articles about the dangers of aluminum in antiperspirants.  There are equally as many reports saying that it is totally safe, but I was nursing at the time and was wondering what was being absorbed into my body and passed onto my little one.  At the same time I was just thinking about the fact that God made my body to naturally detox through sweat, and I questioned if it was a good idea for me to bypass this process. 
So I tried a natural aluminum-free deodorant from the store, and it was a total failure.  I was sticky and smelly!  Then I read about a woman who tried the same brand I did, stank, and made her own deodorant with success!  I tried it, and it works for me too.  Here is the basic recipe:

• 1/4 cup baking soda,
• ¼ cup corn starch,
• 5 tablespoons coconut oil
• 1 1/2 Tbs bees wax (optional in the winter, but essential in the summer!  If you leave out the bees wax in the summer you will need to keep it in the fridge.  That seems inconvenient and cold to me.  Brr!)
• Tea tree oil 8 drops (This is optional.  I didn't use it the first time I made it, but I have since added it. I like tea tree oil because it is an antibacterial, and it is the bacteria that cause the stink!) 

Melt the oil and bees wax (together on the stove is fine), mix in the soda, starch and tea tree oil and pour into an empty old deodorant container.  Let it cool and set up!


A couple things to keep in mind.  1) When I use this I still sweat. (just a whole lot less now that my body has adjusted and isn’t trying to fight the antiperspirant). If you are switching from an antiperspirant give your body a little time to adjust. The goal with deodorant is to not stink.  2) This formula is not “little black dress approved.”   The baking soda can leave white spots on clothes. 


If your brave and tried this one let me know how it goes!  I would love to hear about it!


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"Just for You" Women's Seminar Follow Up

I had a blast at The City Church Women's Seminar this weekend.  It was great sharing tricks and recipes and learning a few new ones!  There were a few questions that people kept asking so I will attempt a quick FAQ.

Does the laundry soap work?  Yes, I still use a spot treatment for the fun food stains my kiddos seem to think add color to my day, but I like this soap.

Why liquid laundry soap?  Why not a powder recipe with no melting?  The first reason would be that my mom said to use liquid.  My parents own an appliance store, and they say liquid for laundry and powder for the dishwasher.  (I have heard nothing positive about homemade dishwasher soap so I not even attempted it.)  The second reason is because I wash a lot in cold, and I don't think that the powder would break down and clean the clothes as well.  It took a little time to melt down the soap on the stove top even after it is was grated.  I think that liquid is the way to go on this one.

Why not use the fancy cleaning rags that just need water?  I have nothing against those cleaning products I just don't think that they are the best fit for our family.  Homemade products are so cost effective to make, that it would take a LONG time to equal out.  At $0.08 a bottle for window cleaner I could make 225 bottles before breaking even on a window cloth.  Before I started making my own I was tempted to purchase toilet brush system.  You should have seen my husband's face when I told him that it was $50+!  Often time cleaning is a family affair at our house.  I don't hand my kids $15 rags.  It isn't their fault; they are little and ruin things. I just want to keep things as simple as possible.  Having one rag for the dishes and one rag for the counters and another for the windows doesn't seem as simple as it could be.  That system just wouldn't work for our family.

What is tea tree oil?  Tea tree oil is an essential oil that is anti-fungal and anti-bacterial. Many women this weekend shared tea tree oil tips with me so I can't want to learn more about it.  I didn't start using tea tree oil until recently.  It is optional in so many recipes, but I decided that I make enough products that I wanted it around for a little extra cleaning power!  I have seen it at Trader Joe's and the health food store.