Homemade Seasoned Fries

Enjoyed some seasoned homemade fries this evening. If you're still buying the frozen stuff, you don't know what you're missing! 

All you need is a potato, some favorite seasonings (I use garlic, onion and chili powder, paprika, and italian seasoning), and some non-stick spray or parchment paper to line your baking sheet. If you haven't already done so, make yourself a non-stick spray by adding 1 part oil to about 5 parts water in a spray bottle that mists. Spray a cookie sheet. Cut potato into desired shapes, uniform and thin. Dust with seasonings.  Add to a cookie sheet in a single layer. Bake at 425 for about 25-30 minutes. Mmmm Mmmm!!

Homemade Veggie Stock for FREE

Starting a pot of veggie stock/broth tonight because we are fresh out! If you are buying your stock/broth from the store, tonight is a great time to decide to make it on your own. Not only is it simple to make, and much healthier for you (no preservatives, no salt, no fillers, no packaging), if you use this recipe method your stock will not cost you a dime. Who doesn't love FREE?! One goal in my cooking over the past couple of years is to learn to use all of the food or as much of the food as possible. We started drying out our orange peels last winter and using them in our cleaning solutions, laundry detergent, bath water, all kinds of ways! It felt so good not to "waste" the peel just by sticking it in the compost.

That inspired me to start using up some scraps of my veggies. Now, any time I peel carrots, press garlic, chop celery, slice onions, I save all of the pieces that I used to compost and store in my freezer in a container. A gallon ziptop bag or large pyrex dish work great. Then when the container is full, I just dump it in my stock pot, add water and herbs and simmer. Then I strain and all those scraps go to the compost, where they were destined all along except NOW I got to make delicious stock out of them! I then freeze the stock for later use.

Try freezing in large quantities to have on hand for a soup dinner when guests are coming (a very frugal yet comforting meal), freeze in ice cube trays and store "ice" cubes of stock in a larger container so that you can use a couple to cook your grains in for extra flavor, or to saute on the stovetop instead of using oil. The scraps I save are mostly from celery (tops and the bottom part, any part that I can't otherwise use in my dishes), onions (even the dried outer skin layers) garlic, mushroom, tomatoes, peppers (seed and all for a nice kick!), carrots, fennel, potatoes, and leafy greens.

Don't stop there though if inspiration strikes you to save and experiment with other veg! Also save veggies that are past their prime or gone soft, but never anything that is spoiled or moldy. Hope you enjoy!

Using "Healthy" Oils

Over the past six months our family has taken on some (more) new eating habits and living habits.  We have tried to take our desire to be healthy people to a bigger level.  I've said it before and I will say it again, baby steps!

One baby step  has been to eliminate the use of oils in my cooking (as I have shared on my facebook page it is a step still in progress!)  I used to use Canola, Olive, Coconut and Grapeseed oils in my cooking and baking.  I used to buy them by the gallon!  I always bought high grade, organic, extra virgin (where applicable), you get the picture.  So when I realized we needed to give oils the oust I was left with LOTS of "healthy" oils still stocked in my pantry.  I could have given them away but since I already used oils in some other areas of my life, I decided to keep them and use them (just not for eating!)

Disclaimer:  I am in NO way AT ALL suggesting that cooking with oil or using oil in your diets is WRONG or BAD!  This is a personal decision for *our* family based on *our* needs.  Our needs include some addictions, struggles, and health problems that may not be present in your family.  I don't refuse to eat food at a friend's house because she cooked it with oil.  I don't condemn anyone for their use of "healthy" oils in any way they see fit!  I don't want anyone to feel attacked or discouraged by this post, but rather feel encouraged to pursue others ways to use the products that you already have on hand!

Now.  It has become quite a desire of mine to own items that are multi-purpose.  I love, love, love when a product can do more for me than just ONE use.  I can own a short necklace that I like and that matches one outfit perfectly, OR I can own an extra long necklace that I like that matches almost everything in my wardrobe, plus can be used as a "belt" around a dress or the front of a pair of jeans, or wrapped around my wrist as a thick multi-bracelet.  I could buy an expensive chemical cleaner to clean my kitchen floor OR I could buy white vinegar to clean my floor, and also use it to clean my counter tops, my table, my toilet, my sink, my shower, my windows, my fruits and veggies, to freshen clothing to extend times between laundering, to deodorize my furniture and carpet, to condition/rinse my hair----okay, sorry I get carried away and foamy at the mouth when I start thinking about all the ways I love my white vinegar :)  But the point is clear.  One product, many uses.  Simple.  Less things to buy, less things to store.

Well, I love coconut oil.  We originally started buying it about 2 1/2 years ago in anticipation for the birth of our first child.  The only intended use I had for coconut oil at the time was for that baby's bum if he happened to get any diaper rash.  Fast forward to the present and I LOVE coconut oil for many uses (although still love having a great remedy to soothe a little baby bum ;)

Here I share the ways WE use oils in our house.  There are TONS more ways to use these oils, so chat with friends, comment below, put Google to good use, get creative!  I am only sharing a FEW ways to use each, ways that I know work through experience.  I would be thrilled to know the creative ways you use oil in your home other than for cooking!

Olive Oil/Canola Oil

Favorite Use:  Hot Oil Conditioning for Hair

I am a little obsessed with having healthy and soft hair.  I used to love to buy those hot oil treatments for my hair.  Now I just use olive oil!  Put some olive oil in a plastic bag and then into a cup with hot water.  If you don't have plastic use a small glass/cup of oil and put into a larger glass or pan of hot water.  You just want to warm the oil.  While in a hot shower, get your hair wet and then apply a small amount to hair, trying to avoid your roots, rub through your hair concentrating most on your ends.  This will not in ANY WAY harm the roots of your hair it just will leave your roots feeling/looking a bit greasy until your next wash or two.  if you tendto have a dry scalp (like myself) you will benefit for adding the oil to your scalp and roots as well, but if your hair tends to be oily you can try to avoid the excessive.  Once your hair is oiled you will need to wrap it.  If you have long hair form a pony tail near the base of your head and then lightly twist your hair, bringing the end of teh pony tail onto the top of your head.  If you use plastics/disposables in your house plastic wrap/Saran wrap works wonders here.  It is a little awkward the first time to try to figure out how to wrap your head but cut off a long sheet that you can handle without it sticking to itself.  Start by wrapping your head from the back.  Apply as many sheets as neccessary.  If you don't have plastic wrap.  Get a bath towel (damp works best but you can also do it dry if you dont have a good place to hang the dame towel to dry afterwards).  Wrap your hair in the bath towel as you normally would after your shower, making sure all hair is in the shower.  Leave this set for ten minutes (longer if you have super dry/damaged hair).  I like to stay in the bathroom that is now warm and steamy!

Lice Killer!

I actually got lice a couple of years ago from a place I was working that lots of little ones running around!  I was pregnant at the time so I couldn't use any of the chemical commercial solutions.  I later found out a lot of those commercials problems are actually not even effective anymore.  The lice are becoming resistant!  I smothered my head with olive oil mixed with tea tree oil for several days in a row.  I also had a spray bottle with water, olive oil and tea trea oil that I spritzed on my hair several times a day.  Worked like a charm!  Good to know for little ones who get lice if you aren't able to shave their head and don't want to use the chemicals.

In place of "Pledge" for polishing furniture

-Place mall amount on a rag and using a circular motion onto your furniture.  This will need to soak in so if you have little hands or pets around you will need to do this once everyone's in bed or asleep or out of the house for a while.  Several years ago when I first started making our cleaners I combined olive oil with lemon juice in a spray bottle and it worked wonders.  I stopped doing that only because I just don't oil my furniture very often nor do I have as many pieces now that need the treatment.

Shaving

Apply olive oil to your legs, under arms, face and not only will you get a nice close shave, but your skin will be mosterized too!

Make-up remover

Just a tiny dap under your eyes and rub with a nice soft cloth to remove make-up (and again moisturize your face)

Coconut Oil

Favorite Use:  Homemade deodorant

There are many reasons I would encourage you to at least TRY homemade deodorant (health, cost, reduction of waste) but I would encourage you to try it NOW while it is still winter.  It took our bodies a month or so to really adapt to using homemade after years and years of using the commercial stuff so mid-July is probably not the best time to give it a go ;)  Again there are many recipes but the one I use just contains Coconut Oil, Arrowroot (or you can use cornstarch), baking soda and I put drops of lavender and tea tree oil in as well.  We store ours in a wide mouth 4 oz mason jar.

Moisturizer/Lotion

Nothing fancy here, you can just use the coconut oil right on your skin in place of lotion.  One your lips in place of chapstick.

Diaper Rash Creme

If you use or plan to use cloth diapers you will not be able to use commercial diaper rash creams and coconut oil works wonders!

Wrinkle fighter!

Ditch the over-priced, chemical laden age-fighting products and put some coconut oil on your face, around your eyes, around your mouth to improve the health of your skin.  (Real aloe works great too!  Next holiday or celebration ask the hubs for a aloe plant instead of rose ;)

Massage Oil

For your, for your spouse, for your kids.  Everyone enjoys a massage.  Try it on your feet.  Look up baby massages online.  I know when my husband gave our newborns baby massages it helped to soothe and relax them so much.  (What a great treat you could give a close friend who is a new mom or mom of a fussy newborn!)

Breastfeeding

Coconut oil is great for nipple cream for breastfeeding mamas.

Cold/Fever

Combine lavender oil with coconut oil and rub on baby's feet (or your feet) to reduce a fever.

Combine eucalyptus oil with coconut oil and rub on your chest for help to clear congestion and improve breathing.

Grapeseed oil can be used in place of many of these as well for massage oil, skin treatment, hair treatment.  Grapeseed oils has a ton of health benefits and you can obtain many of them through absorption through your skin even without eating it.

Now I have shared some of the ways I like to use oils......your turn!

Sesame Street Birthday Party

Last year for our son's birthday, we celebrated with an UNO party since he was turning one.  This year, we got into the Sesame street mood as he is now very much in love with all things Sesame street.  He loves the characters, the books, the songs, he got to see Sesame Street Live for his birthday present from my parents and although he has never seen the actual show on television, he doesn't seem to miss out on any of the Sesame Street fun!   Here is a glimpse into our party day decorations and festivities.

Front of his invitation was a photo from our day seeing Sesame Street Live

Back of the invitation was from a shot of him meeting Cookie and Elmo backstage.

Everyone in the family ordered some Big Face Sesame Street Shirts to wear at the party, we had Oscar, Elmo, Cookie Monster, Ernie, a shirt for our younger son with several characters, and then I fashioned together a Big Bird Suit for the birthday boy!

I decided early on what I DID NOT want for the party was to buy pre-made sesame street decorations like napkins, plates, balloons and so forth.  One of my favorite elements to our UNO party last year was using the bright colors from the UNO cards and creating our decorations and serving foods that were red, yellow, green or blue.  So for this party I wanted to bring the characters to life and focus on using the bright colors of Sesame Street.

Each of the six guests tables had a centerpiece and themed snacks.  This was probably one of my favorite two tables (Oscar the Grouch was another favorite and he is pictured below).  I made a Big Bird head using yellow balloons, I cut out his facial features from construction paper and made a nest for him out of a basket that I hot glued some twigs on and then filled with pretzel twists, and whole sunflower seeds.  He sat on top of a bright orange table cloth.  

Here is Oscar the Grouch, who by the time the party planning was over had become my favorite character. I didn't watch Sesame Street as a kid so I am just now discovering how lovely it is!  Oscar was so easy to make, maybe about 30 minutes in all and that included time of thinking what I wanted to use, how I wanted to make him and searching around for supplies!  He cost me under $4 to make and that include the Veggie chips (Green, Brown, Tan) that flowed out from his trash can.  I had a package of gummy worms to include in his trash can but I forgot to pack up them up!

Of course Cookie Monster seemed to be a favorite centerpiece with the kiddos and I'm sure it had nothing to do with the mini cookies spilled out on his table!  

If you haven't been around Sesame Street in recent years you may not recognize this little gal, Abby Cadabby.  She is one of our son's favorites characters and I love her bright colors so I just had to include her as a centerpiece.  She cost about $3 to make not including the Plush Doll.

 Of course, I couldn't forget Elmo!  He ended up looking a tad bit silly but Elmo is a tad bit silly himself ;)  He is made out of shades of red ballons, and sits on top of a homemade "crayon" box filled with goldfish crackers.  His box read "Elmo loves his golsfish" and "his crayons too!"

Ernie is enjoying his bubble bath with his rubber duckies.  How simple is this?  I had planned on making a head centerpiece for Ernie but last minute decided on this instead.  I really love how it turned out!  The organic seas salt popcorn was all gone by the end and I pretty sure all of the peeps were munched up!

I made about a dozen party hats for our little guests.  I had never made party hats before so it took a little while for my brain to figure out how to shape and staple and cut the paper but after I figured it out, it was a cinch.  I will definitely be making hats for future parties, so much cuter than buying them and the ribbon is so much nice on little faces than those elastic pieces!

Here is the Birthday Boy sporting his Big Bird outfit that I fashioned together for him this week.  I also made him an embellished Big Bird Party hat which he barely kept on long enough for the picture ;) 

Hooper's Store was a last minute addition that I made the night before the party to put on the table with the favor bag items.  I LOVED the way it turned out and gave a more authentic feel to our theme.  It had all kinds of goodies for each child to shop for.  Sesame street coloring books, crayons, stickers, granola bars, fresh fruit, and bubbles!

This is a favorite photo of Anakin sitting on his toddler couch with my laptop and phone pretending to be hard at work.  I wanted to include it in the party decorations so I placed it inside Hooper's store with a sign that read:

Every little one had his or her own personalized cloth shopping bag for gathering up their favors in either an Oscar, Zoe, or Abby themed bag.

My favorite favor was y homemade Sesame Street character crayons!  A friend of mine made homemade heart shaped crayons last year for Valentine's Day.  Her's were swirled in color and oh so cute!  I thought about trying that same concept with S.S. lollipop molds and it turned out perfectly!  I found these "Thank You" templates online and used that as a tag for my crayon bag.  We had Elmo, Grover, Oscar, Ernie, Bert and Cookie Monster crayons.  I recycled old crayons and crayon pieces from a big box at my mom and dad's house.  They still had it from back when I was little.  So my total cost was under $8 for both my molds plus the favor bags and I will probably resell the molds at a discounted cost.  These would be awesome favors just by themselves.  Can't top that!

 Some shoppers :)

Other activities included a "Library" of all of Anakin's Sesame Street books.  I loved the way this decorated the room and used items we already had on hand!

We also had a costume/dress up area. with tutus, hats, a homemade Count Von Count cape, a homemade Oscar the Grouch garbage lid hat and "Go Away!" sign, a few Sesame Street clothes from Anakin's closet and two Elmo/Cookie Monsters costumes that my mom had bought for the boys a few months ago.  We also had a bin of musical instrument toys for play.

Elmo (along with four live "Dorothy's") directed the guests to the restroom area.

Food time!  We are always determined to serve our party guests with nutrient rich and healthy fresh foods.  I saw a picture online where someone did a Cookie Monster and Elmo fruit tray which inspired me.  I made something similar and then included a Pineapple Big Bird, a Carrot and Pepper Ernie, a Cucumber/Broccoli/Celery/Mushroom Oscar, and a Black Olive and Purple Cauliflower Count Von Count.

This is a better angle of them that I took at home before I packaged them up to transport.  It is so much fun to use the party food as decorations and a much better idea than serving a sugary and fatty dessert cake.  What a fun Sesame Street Birthday Party Idea to encourage your guests to enjoy their fruits and veggies!!

In the middle of the food table, I framed a black and white photo of the Birthday Boy that I had taken earlier that week while we were outside playing ball.  I put words and phrases on the photo describing all of his favorites: foods, activities, people, book characters and more.  Then I scattered about 20 4x6 prints of the photo around so that guests could take one home with them.  Again, it seems the last minute details tend to be the biggest hits, I got a lot of comments about this and folks liked having a photo to take with them.

The end of the table included some Plant-Based Chili, three dips ("Oscar's Guac....Yuck!" that was served in a large washed out can that I used for tomatoes to make the chili, Homemade Hummus by Snuffleupagus and some sweet salsa) and some blue corn tortilla chips. 

I made a little sign as a play on Bert's famous paper clip collection to display in front of the chip bowl.

I think this was the only Sesame Street item I bought for the party, a GIANT 5 or 6 foot tall banner with the characters standing in front of the famous green doors of Sesame Street.  It also has a Happy Birthday Banner on top.  For about $6 it was worth every last penny.  It was a great back drop for photos and would like really neat on Anakin's wall at home.  You can see him here pointing out and naming the characters for Momma!

Photo time!  Bert and Ernie showed up at our party compliments of Gammy and a surprise to everyone else.  So we got a nice photo of everyone sporting their character shirts.

Another shot of the hubs with his family who all made a special trip in.

By the end of afternoon we had two little boys who partied til they dropped!

 Happy Birthday, my little one!

Trash belongs in the Garbage Can

This concept has taken me the better part of a year to really implement into my philosophy of life.

Striving to become the ultra-frugal, frontier-longing, Godly steward, pioneer woman wannabe that I am, I have used to have a real hang-up/issue/problem with throwing food away.  I just hate to be wasteful.  There is no need for it.  We eat boxed food that is "expired," always ask for a to go box if we can't finish our meal, take home leftovers.  We never would think about never used to throw away food.

So when I really started feeling the tug to take care of myself and our family better, I always thought I needed to wait until we ate the food that we had in our cupboards, refrigerator, pantry and so on.  That in the "spirit of Christianity" we couldn't be rude and had to participate (by eating) in the many doughnut fests and pizza parties we were invited to for "church."  I could never bring myself to throw away food and hated offending people by simply enjoying the fellowship without indulging the junk.

I needed to change my idea about the idea of "food" and the idea of "wastefulness."

In order to do this I had to start thinking about and referring to food as food and trash as trash.  I needed to start thinking less conventionally about being wasteful vs. being a steward.

Examples?

Frozen store-bought chicken tenders are not food.

Boxed Macaroni Cheese is not food.

Bottled Ranch Dressing is not food.

Nutrient depleted processed white pasta is not food.

A whopper, a soda, an order of frozen-deep fried french fries....they are not food!

They are edible.

Some may consider them tasty (myself included).

But they are not food.

They are processed, robbed of all nutrients that once existed in their ingredients, they are chemical and preservative saturated, and they are not food.

Apples are food.

Wheat is food.

Onions are food.

Beans, tree nuts, berries are food.
Raw honey is food. 

This change in understanding (not just that I have the knowledge, but that I actually understand and practice this) will undoubtedly set me on a better path of taking care of myself, our children, our family.

So what are the first list of items if not food?  I'm so glad you asked.

IMHO, they are trash.  Garbage.  What other word can I use to describe something that is no longer useful for anything?  Let's pretend you were to buy a television, and you brought it home, took out the television, the necessary cords, the instruction manual, the remote control, set it up, checked to ensure it worked properly, was satisfied with its recpetion and picture and took the carboard box along with the plastic bags, the Styrofoam inserts and the twist-ties and set it in your garage out of the way.

Later that day your beloved husband is changing the oil in your car (isn't he the sweetest thang?) and while he is carrying his oil pan over to pour into a covered container near his work bench, he trips on a toy that your sweet baby "angel" left out and down he goes, "tripping over the truck that *your son* left out, spilling *your* dirty, nasty oil everywhere, including all over the packaging from the TV that *you* just had to have!"  These are his words, not mine!!

Now....even *if* (and this is a big IF) you bought a television that was packaged with cardboard that can be added to your compost bin, lived near a polystyrene recycling center that would accept the Styrofoam, were planning to save the twist ties and plastic bags (then why did you put them in the garage? ;-p) for future homemade loaves of bread....it is now all soaked with 10W-30.

What would you call the box of material leftovers?  I know what I would call it...garbage!  It was useful and beneficial at one time.  But you have taken out the Television and all the useful items, the good stuff, and what is left over is covered in motor oil which is a toxic and harmful chemical to both animals and plants.  Starting to see a resemblance? 

To keep it simple (because if you really want to know all the details, you can find a wealth of information about the actual process and names by doing a few internet searches and reading reliable documents and articles) this is what happens to our food turned garbage.  

Wheat is food.  Then it is "processed" = all or almost all nutrients are removed, the good stuff, then "additives" are mixed in trying to make it taste better, look better and last longer.  Some food are "enriched" (like that white pasta in your mac n cheese) which simply means "stuff" is put back into it to try to add nutritional value that was lost during the "processing."  Nutrients that, in most cases, existed in the wheat before it was processed.  How silly!

To make it even more simple, something we do in our own homes.....we take potatoes, zucchini or onions (all are HIGHLY nutrient-rich and SUPER beneficial for our health---check out some great ideas about the usefulness of onions here) and we do one or more of the following to them: peel them, bread them, deep fry them and dunk them in ranch dressing.  In the words of Brooks and Dunn, "Only in America."

They started out great foods and ended up complete garbage for our bodies.

So what is the better choice of stewardship?  What is more wasteful?  To put the garbage in my body?  Or to put it in the trash can?