homemade baby wipes

For some time now, I have been meaning to attempt making my own baby wipes. Not only are most commercial wipes full of suspect ingredients and chemicals, but I have some eczema on one hand that developed after my son was born and is aggravated (caused?) by these chemicals (and makes me wonder how awful they must feel on diaper rash skin). It should be noted, also, that I've always used an alcohol-free, fragrance-free, hypoallergenic commercial wipe, and it still burns.

I wish I had done this years ago...

HOMEMADE BABY WIPES

1 half paper towel roll, center removed
1 cup warm distilled water
1 tbsp aloe vera gel
1 tbsp castile soap (e.g., Dr Bronner's)
1 tbsp organic olive oil
10-12 drops essential oil of your choice (I prefer tea tree oil)

Combine all in a container wide enough to hold a paper towel roll. Take said paper towel roll, cut in half, and remove inner cardboard tube. Place half-roll in container with the liquid ingredients and - here's where things can be tricky - either cover the container and flip immediately or, as I prefer, quickly remove the roll, flip it, and put the other side down in the liquid. Sometimes I have to pour a couple tablespoons of water on the roll to get it to fully saturate. It will saturate more over time, so just keep an eye on it. Transfer to a more permanent container.*

*Since I'm trying to move away from plastic, I found a glass container by Anchor Hocking at Target that fits the half-roll perfectly. However, if you do this, make sure it stays out of reach of the little ones.

citrus marmalade

I love me some marmalade. Last year I made my first batch from some oranges on our tree. It was okay. This year, I tried a batch with grapefruit from my parents' trees. It was good, and different. I also made a batch with both grapefruit and orange. It was amazing.

Since it's hard to come by anything but just orange marmalade in this country, here's the recipe I used in case you want to try another citrus marmalade. It sounds complicated, but it's surprisingly easy once you know a few tricks. (Seriously, the grapefruit sat on my counter for at least a week because I dreaded having to remove the membrane (an act called "supreming") and had no idea how to do it.)

Grapefruit/Citrus Marmalade
modified from a recipe I found somewhere online

Note: This will take 2 days.

Ingredients

a pile of grapefruit or other citrus (basically you need enough to create 2 cups thinly sliced peel and 4 cups juice and fruit w/o membranes)
1 quart water
2 cups sugar
4 1/2 tsp pectin and 3 tsp calcium water (I use Pomona)

Instructions

Thoroughly wash fruit. Skin the fruit without taking too much pith, and set the skins aside. Cut off the remaining pith. Supreme the fruit and place supremes in a measuring cup with any juice you can capture. I also fully juiced some grapefruits to add in to the cup. Set aside.

For a great tutorial on how to supreme citrus, see here.

Thinly slice the fruit skins, and cut in half (or don't if you prefer chunkier marmalade). Place 2 cups sliced skins in a large, nonreactive pot and cover with water. Boil for 10 minutes. Discard water.

Add fruit and juice, and 2 cups water. Boil another 10 minutes, then remove from heat, cover, and set aside in a cool place for 12-18 hours.

The next day, heat the fruit to boiling again. Add 1 cup sugar and stir until it dissolves. Continue to cook at a boil, stirring frequently, for 30-60 minutes. Add pectin to the remaining 1 cup sugar and stir. Add pectin-sugar mix and calcium water to the fruit and continue to cook until the fruit reduces and thickens to a nice jammy consistency. Check for set by dropping a spoonful on a plate that has been cooled in your freezer.

Fill sterilized jars and boil in a water bath canner for 10 minutes. I got about 4 or 5 half-pint jars out of this recipe.

Experiment with different fruits! My favorite so far is the orange-grapefruit blend; I used skins from both, orange supremes, and grapefruit juice. It would be fun also to try lime. Maybe an orange-lime blend with a kick of ginger or lemongrass? Hmmm... I may have to look into that one for next year.

Happy jamming!

BBQ pulled pork sandwiches

This is one of my favorite new recipes. You can use either pork or chicken, or even beef if you like. I prefer to cook a whole pork loin roast or a few chicken breasts in the crock pot and use the meat for a couple meals. If you do that, then don't include the BBQ sauce in the crock pot, but if you're cooking for a crowd go for it. Simply shred the meat once it's done cooking.

Bourbon Whiskey BBQ Sauce
found on allrecipes

Ingredients 

1/2 onion, minced

4 cloves garlic, minced

3/4 cup bourbon whiskey

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 tablespoon salt

2 cups ketchup

1/4 cup tomato paste

1/3 cup cider vinegar

2 tablespoons liquid smoke flavoring

1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/3 teaspoon hot pepper sauce, or to taste (optional)

Instructions

In a large skillet over medium heat, combine the onion, garlic, and whiskey. Simmer for 10 minutes, or until onion is translucent. Mix in the ground black pepper, salt, ketchup, tomato paste, vinegar, liquid smoke, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, and hot pepper sauce.

Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer for 20 minutes. Run sauce through a strainer if you prefer a smooth sauce.

I love this sauce! We need to buy a pressure canner so I can make large batches and can it.

And if you want to go full homemade, try out these rolls, adapted for a bread machine... 

Bread Machine Rolls
found someplace I can't remember 

Ingredients 

3 cups bread flour

1 cup buttermilk (I usually just use milk)

2 tablespoons packed brown sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast

1 egg yolk

2 tablespoons canola oil

butter (for the top)

Instructions

Place the bread flour, buttermilk, brown sugar, salt, yeast, and egg yolk into a bread machine. Using the Dough setting, allow the machine to mix the ingredients until moist. Pause the cycle and pour in the oil, then let the machine continue to the end of the Dough cycle.

Grease muffin pans or a baking sheet, and set aside.

Punch down the dough, and remove it from the machine. Divide the dough into 12 equal parts, form into round, smooth rolls, and place them into the cups of the muffin pans or on baking sheet, making sure the rolls don't touch each other. Cover the rolls with a kitchen towel, and let rise in a warm place until double, about 25 minutes.

While the rolls are rising, preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Bake the rolls in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until golden brown. Rub the tops of the hot rolls with a stick of butter for a soft crust, cool the rolls slightly, and serve warm.

YUMMIES!

forever and a day

My goodness, it's been awhile since I've posted. I blame two things: the holidays; months of sickness. It's been a rough cold and flu season for just about everybody I know.

That said, prepare yourself for an onslaught of new posts as I catch up on a few things...

FPT: chicky nuggets

I meant to publish this about a month ago, but things got crazy, then crazier, and now are calm again. We spent this weekend finishing a month's worth of laundry, putting up Christmas lights and decorations, brewing beer (the husband) and enjoying a couple cups of chai (me). Planning to go easy on the gift-giving always makes Christmastime so much more enjoyable.

That aside, here is my favorite recipe for the boy...

Veggie Chicken Nuggets (aka "Chicky Nuggets")

Ingredients:*

1 lb ground chicken
1 eggplant
1 small bunch spinach
1/2 onion
2 garlic cloves
1 tomato
1 egg
salt and pepper to taste
breadcrumbs

*These ingredients are all approximate. I try to regularly roast a whole chicken so I can use the bones to make chicken stock. When I do, I'll serve it for dinner, then remove all the extra bits of chicken and use that for nuggets. For veggies, I use whatever is on hand, but almost always try to include spinach. For breadcrumbs, I save the heels from our bread loaves.

Instructions:

Make breadcrumbs by pulsing heels or a couple slices of bread in the food processor. Put crumbs on a small plate.

If not using pre-cooked chicken, brown ground chicken in a pan, drain if necessary, and put chicken into food processor.

Saute onion, garlic, eggplant, and (briefly) spinach in a small amount of olive oil. Put in food processor. Add tomato, if using, egg, salt and pepper.

Process until a paste forms. If the paste is too sticky, add a tablespoon of breadcrumbs and pulse to combine. Repeat if necessary.

Take a spoonful of the paste, make a ball, roll it in the breadcrumbs, and smush into a small nugget patty. Place it on a baking sheet that has been lightly greased with olive oil. Repeat until the sheet is full, then spray all the nuggets with olive oil. Bake at 400F for about 10 minutes, or until the top is crispy.

Carefully flip the nuggets. Spray with olive oil and bake until this side is crispy. Let cool before serving. Since this makes such a large batch, I like to freeze the extras so I have them on hand for lunches.

The Boy says... yummies! (He's happier than he looks here. Something shiny popped up in the other room and took his attention.)

FPT: blueberry banana pancakes

Since I forgot to make more bread last night, and since I've decided to do away with the Boy's sugary cereal bars, I had to come up with something quick for breakfast this morning and decided to take the opportunity to sneak some good fruits into the meal. Frozen blueberries are a must, in my book -- buy blueberries on sale, then freeze. You can use them in so many recipes and they freeze quite well. I also happened to have a couple bananas, so used one as the "sweetener" (my nutritionist friend says a banana counts as 2 servings of fruit due to its sugars). Here is the result...

Blueberry Banana Pancakes

1 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup white flour
2 eggs
1 1/4 cup milk
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp honey (optional)
1/2 cup blueberries (smushed)
1 banana (smushed)

Combine all ingredients. Pour 1/3 cup batter onto a hot griddle or frying pan. When the top is starting to bubble, flip.

The Boy said... yummies! (Note, however, the rejected pieces on the left. Those were the ones in which he found suspicious dark blue blobs.)

food for picky toddlers

When I was a child, I was a very picky eater. Heck, I'm still a picky eater some ahemmumblemumble years later, though I've learned to try and like more things over time. But this is the reason I believe it drives me CRAZY when my little boy refuses the food I give him. It has already passed through my picky food filter, so he should just trust me. Alas.

There was a brief, shining moment when the Boy would eat whatever crazy food we gave him. Then, he became choosy. As it has increased over the last year, I've slowly learned how to handle it and to not become overly stressed or worried or angry about his lack of eating. There are, at least, a few things he generally will eat, listed here in order of importance (to him)...
"dip" (all hail the mighty ketchup)
cereal bar
applesauce
hummus
gyro meat
pizza
pretzel sticks/chips/crackers
potato/sweet potato fries
chicken nuggets
waffles/pancakes
toast/pita
malai kofta
cheesy taquitos
PB&J (a recent addition, thanks to a new homemade bread recipe)

Notice the absence of chopped up fruits or veggies. If it's not pureed to all get out, he won't touch it. Even if it is pureed, he'll abandon it the moment he comes upon any small chunk that managed to avoid the blades. And as of late he won't try anything pureed unless it's the right color (beige).

My pediatrician says to feed the Boy whatever we eat, and that he'll eat eventually. I've also heard others say you don't want to become a short order cook, that it can take a dozen times before a child will accept a new food, that you have to look at their nutrition over the course of the week, etc. All of this is true to some extent. Of course he's going to eat eventually, because eventually we'll be at grammy's house and she'll feed him something he likes. In the meantime, I'm freaking out.

So, this is my current solution: I feed the Boy a modified version of whatever we are eating for dinner, if it is something he may conceivably eat (for example, if I'm making tacos, I'll make him a taquito). If he doesn't eat, he doesn't eat, but it's just one meal. If it's something I know he would never try, I make something else for him (preferably in advance and frozen). What I'm trying to improve upon is the addition of sneaky veggies into those dishes he likes, and to make everything homemade. One staple I often have frozen on hand: homemade chicken nuggets with spinach and tomato. I've also found success with roasted red pepper hummus (red pepper + chickpeas = nutritional power combo).

A new concern for me is sugar. I've always been very sensitive to the effects of sugar, and I suspect he is also. I almost never give him sweets, but sugar can creep in via certain fruits and prepared foods like his beloved cereal bars. Today, I experimented with restricting ALL sugars, and so far he's been calmer, more obedient, and less of a pain at naptime. We'll see if it holds.

All this to say: I'm going to start trying new recipes under the Food for Picky Toddlers banner (FPT) and will post my results.

Do you have a picky eater? What recipes work for you?

Canned Cherry Pie Filling

I meant to post this last month, when cherries were still on super-sale at the grocery store. But, if you happen to live someplace where cherries are still available or if you have a stock pile in your freezer, then give this recipe a try. I found it on Simple Bites, and it is quite delicious.

SPICED CHERRY PIE FILLING

4 cups cherries
3/4 cup sugar
3 Tbsp cornstarch*
1 cup water
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp allspice
2 Tbsp lemon juice

Prep your water bath canner and jars.

Wash and pit the cherries. (We discovered this was quite easy to do by hand if using previously-frozen cherries, as they are slightly mushy.) Blanch the cherries for a minute in a pot of boiling water. Drain and move cherries to a separate bowl.

In the pot, mix together water, sugar and cornstarch. Add the spices and heat over medium-high, until everything is dissolved and bubbly. Add the lemon juice.

Remove pot from heat and add cherries with their juice. Pour filling into prepared jars and process for 30-40 minutes.

We had 3 bags of cherries, which allowed us to triple this recipe... I think. It's been awhile so I can't remember all the details. Suffice to say, it gave us 4-5 pints plus about 10 4-oz jars to use in making campfire pies (I hate wasting most of a large can of cherry pie filling just for a few campfire pies).

My buddy Jamie helped with this canning, and she made some yummy cherry turnovers with this pie filling. Though she made her pastry from scratch, you could easily use frozen puff pastry to make a quick toaster-strudel-esque treat.

*The original recipe called for Clear Jel,** which is recommended by the USDA. Since I do not have Clear Jel, I simply used organic cornstarch.

**Clear Jel is a modified corn starch available online. It is supposed to remain more stable during the heating/canning process, but I want to do more research before I use it. In particular, I want to know if it uses GMO corn, which, given the preponderance of GMO corn in commercial foods these days, I suspect it does.

21st century menu planning

Juggling schedules for 2 small kiddos and 2 adults has inspired me to find ways to organize and streamline my tasks and projects. Top of that list: menu planning. Cooking from scratch takes a lot of time and preparation, and it's no longer easy for me to run to the store at the last minute because oh-my-goodness-I-forgot-the-feta-cheese. Several months ago, I got tired of standing in front of the pantry at 5 pm wondering what to do, so I tried menu planning with a white board on the fridge. That didn't last long. Recently, I've given it a second try...

...enter Pepperplate.

The husband and I decided to enter the 21st century a few weeks ago and bought ourselves a Kindle Fire. Actually, it was just so we could keep the little boy quiet for 2 hours on an airplane with back-to-back episodes of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. But, I also took the opportunity to test out some organizational apps. Pepperplate is a menu planning app. And it's pretty much fabulous.

Start by building up your recipe list. On the Pepperplate website, you can import recipes from dozens of different sites just by copying and pasting the URL - they even have a quick-add button you can put on your browser's toolbar. I imported my entire recipe box from allrecipes in a matter of minutes. You can also enter recipes manually, if necessary.

Then, plan your meals for the week. I like to create "themed" nights to help narrow down the choices and to keep me from making too many curries night after night.

Simply add the recipes you've chosen to the shopping list, and you'll never forget some random ingredient again. (Although, if you're like me, you may forget to actually include it in the recipe when cooking.)

The website has more functionality than the app, but you can still do the bulk of your planning and list-making with the app. If you have a Kindle, which uses fixed wireless networks, make sure you synch your app BEFORE you leave for the grocery store.

I apologize if this whole post sounds like one big Pepperplate ad. There is more I wish it would do - for example, include prices on the grocery list, like the Out of Milk app. However, it has been extremely helpful in keeping me on track with the menu planning. 

And that planning, in general, has saved me time and money. It most certainly has saved my sanity in the evening - that witching hour when my toddler transforms into a more energetic version of Voldemort. It usually takes me about 30 minutes or less to plan dinners for the week, and I do it on the weekend so I can shop without the kids. If I have enough time, I may even go a little wild and drive through the coffee hut before shopping so I don't have to share my drink with anyone named Little Hyper Voldemort.

Do you menu plan? If so, what techniques have worked best for you?

the garden of small fruits (and veggies)

It is now officially summer in the desert, and an excessive heat warning is already in effect. Temperatures are supposed to be in the mid-110s the next few days. Once glance at my garden and you can tell. 

I debated whether or not to plant a spring/summer garden this year - what with a new baby and all - but ultimately decided to give it a go. Unfortunately, I have been unable to harvest much due to the ridiculous heat and a ridiculous influx of GREEDY BIRDS. Nearly all my grapes and most of my tomatoes have been ravaged by these nasty creatures. What remains is curiously small. (I presume this is due to lack of nutrients? Heat? Way too much sunlight?)

For example...

Small tomato:

Small watermelon:

Small carrot:    

(Ironically, the carrots I pulled for this photo op were much bigger than the others I've harvested.)

I'm thinking it's about time to tear it all down and let the garden sit until fall. Who wants to be outside weeding in this heat, anyway? 

little distraction

Sorry for the long delay in my posting. I've been a bit distracted the last couple months by this little human who is nuzzling my hair...

 

an easy dinner recipe

Due to the impending arrival of baby #2, I've been trying to find some quick and easy dinner recipes. Although, to be entirely honest, I don't much like cooking, so I'm always trying to find quick and easy recipes that still allow me to prep a meal from scratch. (From-scratch meals are healthier, in my opinion.)

We have enjoyed this meal a couple times, but I recently was struck again at just how easy it is to prepare, so I thought I'd share it with you...

Chicken and Dumplings

Ingredients:

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken (breasts, tenders, whatever is on sale or in your freezer)
1 can cream of chicken soup*
1 small onion, diced
1-2 each veggies, diced (carrots, celery, whatever you have on hand)
1-2 tsp each spices (cumin, parsley, poultry seasoning, pepper, whatever you have on hand)**
2 tbsp flour (optional - to thicken)

Instructions:

Throw everything in the slow cooker, cover with water*** and cook on high 5-6 hours.

It's just that easy.

*If you truly want to be fully "from scratch," you could make your own condensed soup. I use Pacific Foods organic condensed soups because they use recyclable aseptic containers (no BPA).
**I omitted salt because most condensed soups are loaded with it, but you may want to taste test when it's done.
***Or chicken broth, but - again - be conscious of the salt content.

And now for the best part: the biscuits. (Were you wondering what happened to the dumplings?)

You could certainly use refrigerated biscuit dough and add pieces of it to the slow cooker in the last half hour, but I prefer to avoid the trans fats that are often found in pre-made baked goods. I used to LOVE those Pillsbury frozen biscuits (booooooooo trans fats!). Once, I tried making my own biscuit dough and freezing the little circles, but they got icy pretty fast and just didn't taste right. Then, I came across this recipe on the Organic Valley website, and find it works much better...

Make-Ahead Buttermilk Mix

Ingredients:

1 cup Organic Valley Buttermilk Blend (dry buttermilk)
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour*
5 cups unbleached white flour
1/4 cup baking powder
1 tbsp baking soda
2 tsp salt

*I only had white pastry flour, so used it and then substituted 2 cups whole wheat flour for 2 of the white flour. It seems to work fine.

Instructions:

Mix all ingredients together until well combined and store in an airtight container.

Any time you want biscuits, just put 1 1/2 cups of this mix and 3 tbsp frozen butter in your food processor and pulse together. Slowly add 1/2 cup milk and pulse until the dough just comes together. Drop small balls of the dough onto a baking sheet and bake at 425 degrees for about 13-15 minutes.

It's just that easy.

For the purposes of this recipe, you could add your dough balls to the slow cooker for "real" dumplings, but I like to bake the biscuits separately so I have the option of either pouring the chicken stew over a biscuit OR smothering a fresh, warm biscuit with honey and butter and eating it alongside the chicken stew. I may even do both.

(I apologize for the lack of photos with this recipe, but we usually snarf down the contents before I remember my camera.)

homemade lip balm

If the homemade lotion seems like too big a project to tackle at the start, try this: lip balm. It's ridiculously easy and will probably only take you about 10 minutes. No mixing is required.

For lip balm, the hardest part will be finding containers. You can buy lip balm tins or tubes online or at some natural food stores, but I prefer to recycle used tubes. In fact, if you visit your dentist regularly, chances are you can get some for free. My dentist always hands out a tube of lip balm, so I just ask my hygienist for their least popular flavor. At our last visit, she gave me 6 tubes of what she called "the most disgusting smelling flavor ever": Banana Split. (It was pretty gross.) Then, just empty the tubes, remove any labels, wash and sterilize them, and save them in a baggie until you need them. This process is definitely easier if you have a bottle brush and one of those microwavable nipple/Binky sterilizing bags.

After some experimenting, this has become my favorite lip balm recipe...

Ingredients:

3 tsp sweet almond oil
1 1/2 tsp cocoa butter
1 1/2 tsp organic beeswax
3-4 drops peppermint or spearmint essential oil

Instructions:

Combine the oil, cocoa butter shavings, and beeswax pastilles in a Pyrex measuring cup.


Set the cup in a small cooking pot with 1-2 inches boiling water and heat, stirring occasionally, until the cocoa butter and wax melt. Turn off the heat, and add the essential oil.

Prepare 3 tins or tubes. If using tubes, make sure you screw the platform or little cup all the way to the bottom of the tube. (This will make sense if you examine an empty tube of lip balm.)


When the wax is fully melted, carefully pour the oil mixture into the empty tubes. (It's a bit tricky to do without spilling, so I couldn't take a photo as the oil was pouring.)


Try to fill each tube to the top. You may have a small amount of the oil mixture left over (in which case, I top up whatever tube of lip balm I'm currently using). Let the tubes sit, uncovered, to cool.


As they cool, the mixture will solidify. Cap the tubes and store them in your refrigerator until you need one.


I read once that our lips are the most absorbent part of our body. If this is true, then we should definitely avoid lip balms with unpronounceable chemicals in them. Even if it's not true, we're licking and eating off our lips all the time, and who would want to eat those products? For pennies a tube, you can make your own safe and effective lip balm. If you try it, let me know what you think.

homemade lotion

I had been meaning to try making my own body lotion for awhile, but when a friend decided to give up commercial lotions this year, we got together for a lotion-making party. It was surprisingly easy - and this recipe makes a surprisingly good lotion! We live in the desert, so dryness is an issue. I also have extremely sensitive, allergy-prone skin and I've always had trouble finding unscented, heavy-duty lotions that last all day. Well, it's not an issue anymore because this one is fantastic. It's like a light and fluffy body butter, but with all-natural, organic ingredients at a very reasonable price. If you can buy the ingredients on sale, then a large jar will only cost you a couple bucks.

And did I mention that it's all-natural and organic? I could go on and on about the dangerous chemicals in commercial lotions, but if you're considering making your own then you probably already know about them. Let me just say that it's especially important for infants and young children (primarily males) to avoid the phthalates found in most baby products today (lotions, shampoos, powders, etc). A recent study in Europe has found that lotions and sunscreens that contain phthalates will essentially demasculinize baby boys. It's pretty scary.

Here's a quick how-to, using my favorite lotion recipe from this great book...

Ingredients:

6 oz organic olive oil
2 oz organic coconut oil
1 oz (about 4 tbsp) organic beeswax (I prefer pastilles)
10-20 drops essential oil (optional, for fragrance)
1 cup water (distilled or filtered)

Have the following items ready:


A glass Pyrex measuring cup and a small cooking pot with about 2 inches of water in it.


A mixer (or a blender). I make my lotion in my parents' kitchen because they have this pretty little thing.


Another measuring cup with the 1 cup of filtered water in it. You will also want to have one more cup of water ready (in any non-metallic, heat-proof cup) for heating your mixer/blender (more on that in a minute).

Also make sure you have a container ready for your finished lotion. This recipe makes about 2 cups, so I just use a clean glass pint jar with a reusable lid.

Instructions:

Start heating up the water in your cooking pot. Pour olive oil into the Pyrex measuring cup until it reaches the 6 ounce line, like so:


Next, pour in the coconut oil until it reaches the 8 ounce line:


Add the beeswax:


Place the Pyrex dish into the cooking pot. As the water begins to boil and heat up, it will slowly melt the beeswax. Keep an eye on it and stir occasionally. It will take about 5 minutes to melt the pastilles (and probably longer if you use chunks). During the last couple minutes, put the two containers with filtered water into the microwave for 1-2 minutes.* (If you do not have a microwave - or are anti-microwave - just heat up all the water on the stovetop, then pour a cup of it out into a measuring cup and save the rest in the pot.)

*Note: The original recipe calls for using 1 cup tepid water. However, our first batch of lotion leached quite a bit of water. Upon further research, I discovered many people say that both the "oil phase" and the "water phase" need to be the same temperature during emulsification. Nuking the water for a minute or two helps quite a bit, but I'd like to get a candy thermometer and try making some lotion with both phases the exact same temperature to see how that works.


Once the wax is totally melted, turn off the heat and add the essential oil if you are using it. You may need to experiment a couple times to find the right amount of scent you prefer. I'm pretty sensitive to fragrances, so I only use about a dozen drops. Current favorite oil of choice = plumeria.


Once everything is heated, do the following as quickly as possible... Pour the extra cup of water into your blender or mixer and swish it around to heat up the bowl (so your wax doesn't solidify as soon as you pour it in). Empty out the water and pour in your oil/wax mixture. Turn on the mixer/blender and slowly add the 1 cup of heated filtered water.


The oil will start emulsifying (turning to cream) almost instantly.


Continue mixing until all of the water has been incorporated. You will have to stop a couple times and use a spoon to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Also make sure there is no water at the very bottom of the bowl. At some point during the mixing, I begin to doubt it will thicken sufficiently, and it always takes just a bit longer than I think it will. You don't want to overmix, but don't worry if it takes a few minutes to look right. You're shooting for this:


Pour the lotion into your container and gently stir to remove any pockets of air. Let the container cool on your counter before putting on the lid. As it cools, the lotion will thicken more.


Since the ingredients are natural, you should only keep this lotion at room temperature for 4-6 weeks. (I use up my jar in about a month.) You can also store it or any extra jars in the refrigerator for up to 6 months.

A note on cleaning: Be careful to wipe out all bowls and cups with rags or paper towels that are disposable, because you don't want to pour a bunch of wax down your drain.

I really enjoy this lotion as the original recipe is written, but you can vary it with different types of oils, additives, and scents. Sometimes I will add a touch of vitamin E for its benefits, and may start experimenting more. There's another recipe in the book for a cocoa butter lotion that is thicker and super-moisturizing - I usually make it at the same time (you don't need a mixer for it), and love it on my hands after gardening, on my feet at night, on the growing baby belly, and even on the under-eye area overnight.

Somebody asked me the other day if I enjoy making lotions. I had to admit that no, I don't really love the process. However, it's easy, it saves you money, and the peace of mind in knowing you're not slathering poisonous chemicals all over your (and your child's) body definitely make it worth it. Give it a try, and I bet you'll have a tough time going back to commercial lotions.

the 2012 spring garden: additions

Every year, we seem to make a few more changes to our house and garden. Some day - hopefully - we'll be finished. But this year I'm excited to say we FINALLY fixed up the front patio. It had been all empty, ugly dirt planters and a poorly-executed plywood wall (enclosing the garage) for the past 4 1/2 years, and I was always embarrassed when people came to the door.

But NO MORE.

First, we removed the plywood wall and replaced it with block to match the other walls. Then, we filled in two of the dirt planters so I could actually put furniture out there. The remaining planters became my new herb garden and my husband's mini-pond. We also put in a watering system and plants along the front of the house. A mesquite tree installed last fall is not looking so hot - time will tell if he survives. The last task will be to clean up/replace the existing gravel, but that will probably be a project for next spring.

Here are some photos:





Oh, I almost forgot another important addition: a fence for my garden - complete with gate! No more stepping over the doggy barrier and falling into broccoli plants for me!


And, lastly, a small berry planter on the east side:


As always, I'm trying to enjoy these garden additions as much as possible before the weather shoots up to 100 degrees. Given our nation-wide crazy warm winter, I expect that to be any day now.

yogurt

I've been meaning to attempt yogurt-making for awhile, and after coming across a ridiculously easy sounding recipe I decided to give it a try.

Yogurt!

It turned out fairly well. There are definitely things I think I can do to improve it, and from what I've read it really takes a lot of trial and error to make it just right. One thing I didn't realize when I made this batch is the importance of temperature. The recipe I used didn't say much about monitoring temperature, but further research suggests that is a key part of the process (so I will include it when I describe the recipe below).

Ingredients:

1/2 gallon whole organic milk
1/2 cup starter (yogurt with active cultures)

Notes on ingredients: Whole milk is not necessary, but will make a creamier yogurt. Many people say organic is a must, and some prefer non-homogenized. If possible, avoid ultra pasteurized milk (raw would be great if you can get it). For the starter, it is possible to find pure bacteria cultures, but the easiest method is to use some store-bought yogurt or previously made yogurt, as long as it has "active cultures." If using homemade yogurt as a starter, you'll have to go back to a store-bought starter every 4-5 batches or so... at least, that's what the experienced people say.

Instructions:

Pour milk in a clean crockpot and cook on low for 2 hours. (You need to heat the milk to 180F, at which point apparently there is some kind of change in its protein structure to allow for coagulation and also to kill off "bad" bacteria.)

Turn off crockpot and let it sit on your counter top, covered, for 3 hours. (To reduce the milk's temperature to 110-115F.)

After 3 hours (or once the milk has hit the proper temperature), add starter culture. Do not aggressively whisk or stir the yogurt starter into the milk - you want to mess with the milk as little as possible. I just added the starter, then used a whisk to gently swirl the yogurt in with about 2-3 circles. Some people recommend removing a cup of milk, swishing the starter into that, then pouring the whole thing back into the crockpot.

Once the starter has been introduced, wrap the covered crockpot in a big towel and let it sit on the counter for 8-10 hours. (Ideally, it should stay at 110-115F during this time. One fellow turned his crockpot on low or "keep warm" for 5-10 minutes a few times in order to maintain proper temperature. It will depend on the temperature of your kitchen and how well insulated your crockpot is.)

That should be it. Transfer your new yogurt to clean, sterilized jars and store in your refrigerator. I got 3 and a half pints of yogurt out of 1/2 gallon of milk.

There are all sorts of extras you can do to your yogurt, from adding vanilla and maple syrup or other flavors to letting it drain in cheesecloth for a thicker, Greek-style yogurt. (I tried the cheesecloth thing, but I must have used too many layers of cloth because my yogurt didn't drain at all.)

Since my husband enjoys taking strawberry yogurt to work in the morning, I'm testing these on him this week:


It's basically 1-2 tbsp of pureed organic strawberries (with a dash of sugar), then 4-5 tbsp of the yogurt. I anticipate having to tweak these to his tastes, but I'm hoping they work out because they are healthier and much cheaper than store-bought flavored yogurts. The next step will be getting our incredibly picky toddler to eat my yogurt - if it doesn't look right, he won't touch it.

If you like yogurt, give this a try - it really was sooo easy - and let me know how you do!