Monday, March 30, 2009

Homemade Conditioner for Your Hair

I've been making our own conditioner for over a year now. While I played around with the "recipe" for a bit, I've finally figured out a good base recipe. I decided to post this here, as it is something you make in your kitchen; kitchens and cooking aren't just for food!
So here is my recipe for Homemade Conditioner:

I use a 1/2 gallon glass milk jug to hold the conditioner. The first thing I add is some apple cider.

As you can see, I fill it up to that base line. If you're using a different type of glass jar, you can guess-timate, or add about a cup worth of apple cider vinegar (err on the less side).
Depending on the season, I will also add up to a 1/2 cup of lemon juice to help lighten up my hair some. I didn't do it this time as I am currently plenty blonde. This would be where you could add other herbs or juices to help infuse your hair with extra color if you wished.

This next step is optional. As you can see in the above photo, I add one tea bag each of Chamomile & Lavender tea and Nettle tea. Chamomile tea is a good herbal conditioner in and of itself ~ I chose the blend just because I liked the scent. I use Nettle tea as nettles are also very good for your hair and scalp. You don't have to use any tea, you can just use plain water if you'd like - it's your choice. However, if you DO use tea, heed this: "warm up" your glass jar first by swirling some hot water inside it and also on the outside (it will feel warm to the touch, just as a nice mug would) -- if not, you run the risk of the glass breaking when you pour boiling water in! I put my tea bags directly in the glass jar and get some water boiling. I will pour the water in after the next step.

Yes, that is beer. Preferably, you want the beer flat. Mainly because then you don't have to worry about waiting for the head to die down. Drink half the beer, pour the other half into the jar. Although you don't have to use beer, this is the ingredient I consider the *key* ingredient. Beer is wonderful at conditioning your hair and I've noticed a great change in my hair since I started adding the beer. Any beer will do. We homebrew, so I use beer I like (you might as well). This was a brown ale, and it has worked quite well. Last time I made conditioner I used some of our Stout beer. It was pure heaven!! The scent was stronger (though it does NOT stay in your hair - you can just smell it while you're in the shower, then it is gone) and this was something I really liked, but that was more thanks to the stout beer than anything else. I wouldn't use miller lite or budweiser, but then again I wouldn't drink that stuff either - I'm a beer snob. But you can use any type of beer. I have a feeling that the heavier beers condition your hair better, but no proof yet to back that up.
After I add the beer, I add the hot/boiling water. I do this over the sink, somewhere where I don't have to have my hands on the jar. I tend to burn myself otherwise. Fill up the jar with the water. You're pretty much done now.

The bottle beside the glass jug is what actually stays in the shower. It isn't anything special, but the top works great for dispensing the conditioner. You could use an old shampoo or conditioner bottle, or even an old sport drink/water bottle. That little pull-up top is what I like, it keeps it all from coming out too fast (this isn't cream rinse!) for me. The bottle is a different color in the photo only because I didn't need to actually fill it up, but took it out of the shower so I could have it in the photo - I had used a different beer last time, hence the different color. You can fill up your bottle right then, or wait till it cools down some. I store the glass jug in the fridge and just fill the bottle up as needed. It has never "gone bad" and is extremely economical!! This is some really good stuff here, we have great hair and no complaints. The only difference I've noticed is that my hair doesn't feel as "instantly" silky as it did with the store-bought stuff, but after my hair dries that goes away. I think I can live with that.

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Crock-Pot Sloppy Joe's

Above is a photo I snapped of the finish product, after we had already eaten it down quite a bit (two sandwiches per person if I remember correctly!). I can't remember the last time I made homemade sloppy joes, but I do know it will be a summer staple now. And, as usual, there is NO GOING BACK to store-bought cans of sloppy joe stuff. blech.
If you aren't completely in love with your Crock-Pot (aka - slow cooker) yet, you're really missing out on a wonderful and lifelong relationship opportunity! I made this dish up on March 7th. Even though we had snow on the 2nd, by the 7th the temperatures were up in the upper 70's here and so that Saturday we were busy bees out in the yard. Cooking dinner wasn't high on my list. Viola - my Crock-Pot to the rescue!!
This recipe comes from a wonderful cookbook: Crock-Pot ~ Best-Loved Slow Cooker Recipes. It was given to me as a gift and is definitely one of my staples now!

Suzie's Sloppy Joes

*3 pounds 95% lean ground beef (I used 1 lb. ground beef, 1 lb. sausage, and 1 lb. ground deer meat - all pasture raised - wonderful results!!)*1 cup chopped onion
*3 cloves garlic, minced
*1 1/4 cups ketchup (I used 1/4 cup organic store-bought ketchup, then switched to some homemade ketchup for the remainder cup)
*
1 cup chopped red bell pepper (I omitted this only because I was out)
*1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
*1/4 cup dark brown sugar
*3 tablespoons prepared mustard
*3 tablespoons vinegar (I left this out only because the homemade ketchup I used has a lot of vinegar in it already)*2 teaspoons chili powder

~Cook and stir the meat (really, using the blend was awesome!), onion, and garlic in a large, nonstick skillet (I used my good ole cast-iron skillet) over medium-high heat until meat is browned and onion is tender. Drain fat if needed -- since I was using pasture-raised organic meat there is never much fat to drain off, so I skipped this step (not to mention, the extra fat melded the flavors of the 3 meats like a champ). I also added several tablespoons of ketchup & a couple of the Worcestershire sauce directly to the meat, onion, and garlic mixture while it cooked.
~
Combine ketchup, bell pepper, Worcestershire sauce, sugar, mustard, vinegar and chili powder in Crock-Pot slow cooker. Stir in meat mixture. Cover; cook on LOW 6-8 hours. To serve, spoon mixture onto hamburger buns. ~~ Freeze leftovers for later!! YUMMY!!





For a side, I cooked up some fresh green beans, as you can clearly see. We did add some cheese to the boys' sloppy joes, but we are a cheese-addicted family!! :) This was definitely a nice dinner to come in to after working out in the yard all day. The best part was the kitchen wasn't all heated up from cooking too! YAY!



Wednesday, March 18, 2009

St. Patrick's Day Pancakes

Not your most Irish of dishes, I know. But, our kids LOVE pancakes!!! If you ask Shannon what he wants for dinner there is a pretty certain chance you will get that as an answer. And, like so often happens, I had promised to make them Monday night .. and then forgot .. so, St. Patrick's Day pancakes we had!
First, if you've never made pancakes from scratch you're missing out. Now that we've been making them from scratch, I can't even begin to fathom eating them any other way!! IHOP and Denny's commercials make me sick & angry .. their pancakes (and eggs, and bacon, and so on) look plastic and fake .. not the least bit appetizing! Making them from scratch is so easy!


Here is the recipe. Like so many of my favorite recipes, it comes from my Grandmother's Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook. If you don't have one, go to a yard sale, the Goodwill, or wherever and find yourself a copy from about 1963.

Favorite Pancakes:

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 beaten egg
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons melted butter

~ Mix all ingredients well & bake on a hot griddle.


I'm not too fancy here. I don't sift my dry ingredients in one bowl, mix my wet ingredients in another and then blend .. I mix 'em all at one together in the same bowl. The batter will be lumpy, and this is ok. I use butter in lieu of oil, although I have been known to use a little bacon fat if I happen to have it. Of course, my butter is my homemade butter, my bacon fat comes from pasture-raised bacon. Our milk is raw milk, the flour usually locally grown and at least 1/2 whole wheat, the sugar is turbinado, and the salt is Real Salt (http://www.realsalt.com).
I DO cook them (as you can see in the photo) in a cast-iron skillet, and I HIGHLY recommend this!! I pre-heat my skillet on medium or medium-high, but as I am cooking I can usually turn it down to medium-low. I LOVE being able to cook on such a low heat without sacrificing anything!! Check out the bottom of my blog for more info about cast-iron cooking and cookware.
For the green coloring I will admit to using green food coloring. I've been reading some about making your own, all-natural food coloring and am VERY interested in this, but it was dinner time, the boys were hungry, I had it on hand.
And there you go, our St. Patrick's Day dinner for 2009. We even had company (Uncle Matt), and everyone left the table happy & with a full belly.

Monday, February 23, 2009

Jewish Penicillin

Ahh, life here in South Western Virginia. Here we are in February and the weather outside is truly frightful: one day it is in the 60's and less than a week later we're back to in the 30's, along with insane wind and flurries. It really isn't a huge mystery why we're all getting sick, is it?
Justin and I were feeling pretty beat-up last night, and I still had dinner looming ahead of me. At times, cooking is less of a pleasure and more of a chore, but when you're not feeling too good it can appear downright like torture!! But, aha, it would be food to the rescue, via some homemade chicken noodle soup.
Ok, first, some confessions. One, it wasn't chicken noodle soup. It was turkey noodle soup! When we buy turkeys from the farm (pasture raised as they ought to be), we always get at least two. I, of course, make stock with the cooked carcasses, and store that away for future uses. That second turkey though we tend to have a lot of left-overs with that get safely stored away in the freezer. Second Confession: I've NEVER made homemade chicken (or turkey) noodle soup before!! YIKES!! I was raised on Campbell's and until now that had always been good enough. Third Confession: if there had been Campbell's in the cupboard, I probably would've made it last night. I am SO glad we didn't have any!!
Here is the basic recipe:

Chicken or Turkey Noodle Soup:
I chose a regular sized stock-pan, one I would use for making chili in. Into this went frozen and canned (I canned this year!) homemade turkey stock. Don't use water!! I did this, not wanting the flavor to be too strong and I ended up adding some bouillon to it because it tasted to watery ~ bleh! But, if yours comes out watery, know to just add some bouillon to fix it. Pretty much fill up the pot with stock.
Into this I added (all organic stuff): 3 chopped up carrots, 2 diced up onions, 3 cloves of garlic (minced), and some nice amounts (tablespoon or so) of dill, tarragon, and parsley, along with salt & pepper to taste. Bring it all to a boil, reduce heat to a rolling simmer, and let cook about 20 minutes or so ~ I knew it was good to go when the carrots were soft.
We took already-cooked turkey out of the freezer, and heated it up. We then chopped up a good amount of it (small chopping board full .. let's say somewhere between 4 & 6 cups worth), and tossed it into the pot.
Finally, after we knew the veggies were cooked to where we were happy with them, we added a bag of Egg Noodles, brought it all back to a boil, reduced the heat again, and let it cook for a good 10 minutes or so. You'll know it is ready when the aroma is so intoxicating that you're ready to dunk your head in the pot!!
I have to tell you, Campbell's has NOTHING on this homemade soup! I can't wait to try this again and actually make the noodles myself. Making the soup was really nice and easy too. Just taking already put-by food out and tossing it into the pot, cutting up some veggies and tossing them in, and then resting until it was done. This is the type of cooking that, when you're sick, is DEFINITELY NOT a chore or torture!!!! We had a lot more than we could eat ~ some leftovers went into the fridge for today's lunch, the rest went into the freezer for future meals. Some we shared with relatives who are also battling the cold. If you're not already an old hand at canning, I would recommend freezing the soup.
There is a reason chicken noodle soup is affectionately known as "the Jewish penicillin." When made with pasture-raised poultry (this is KEY and I can't stress the importance of that enough!!), the fat in the skin of the chicken is chock-full of CLA. Conjugated Linoleic Acid. This is some serious sick-germ-butt-kickin' stuff!!! This is NOT a time to be scared of some fat in the soup ~ you're sick and you want it!! For more info on CLA, scroll down to the post on making stock .. or also read "Real Food; what to eat and why" by Nina Planck.
If you haven't made this before, try it. You won't regret it and you won't give a second look at canned soup in the grocery aisle. When you get a little more of an appetite, pair it with some fresh-baked, homemade bread to help fill you up some more.
~And, just for the record: yes, we have a cold, no we haven't taken any OTC, chemically-filled, medicine. We did take some homeopathic cold-care medicine from Hyland's (check out my main blog to learn more there), but we only had 3 pills left, and we'll have to order more online. So, really, no meds at all. I've been sucking on some "herbal supplement" lozenges from Hall's (yes, yes, I know - but they were in the medicine closet & I am frugal!!), trying to get this dry hack down, but they don't seem to be helping. Other than that, lots of fluids (especially some raw milk!!! Vitamin C galore there!!), warm teas, and even some hot cocoa with whiskey in it!!
A close relative has the same cold, and loaded up on the meds. She seemed to really struggle with it, but after a long weekend, seems to be back on her feet. I think it is the meds that were making her struggle so hard with the cold, meds always seem to make you feel more awful while they're supposedly making you feel better.
Colds need time. Give your body time. Rest, get fluids, make up a big batch of homemade chicken (or turkey) noodle soup. Eat, drink, rest, repeat. Feel better soon and know that you haven't added anything other than goodness (and maybe some whiskey ... we can argue the merits of that another time) to your body.

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Are You Eating Well?

This is a question I would usually answer with a very emphatic YES! However, I've recently discovered I haven't been eating as well as I thought. How in the hell is that even possible I keep wondering?? I'm a pretty observant person and I'm particularly observant when it comes to my own body, so the revelation of not knowing what I had been eating was a big one for me. Let's go back a minute though.
I'm a pretty amazonian type of mama. I'm nearly 6' tall, my bones are huge, and I look like I can kick your butt. (Just for the record, I like to think I can too!! That's what is fun about us Mama Bears) So, I've never been someone who would EVER be considered petite or delicate. Then I got pregnant with my first son. As so happens to many first-time moms I gained a LOT of weight! Wow, being pregnant in fall ~ how could you not?? Mashed potatoes, god I love those, rolls, turkey, sweet potatoes, fried chicken, and then all the sweets that go along with that time of year. Yummy! There is a reason we gain weight! Then, I found out the harsh reality like new moms: just because the baby needs all that extra food and nutrition doesn't mean the little bugger will take it with him when he leaves you!! Apparently, so I've been told by much wiser moms, this will be a theme for later in life when they go to college and get a place of their own. I lost most of the weight I had gained and when I got pregnant with our second son I only gained 18 pounds which came off quickly.
Now we're up to Justin having a full-time job and me staying home with the boys. I have time, usually, to cook, and time to shop for good ingredients. We also have our home and our gardens, along with the Farmer's Market in walking distance. Life is good, but still our budget is short and tight. This is something I've managed quite well, I must admit, but I was very saddened when it wasn't really helping my waist-line. Which brings us back to the beginning of: but I eat healthy!!
Yes, I eat do eat healthy. I have a good knowledge of what foods are good and truly healthy for you, and try to eat as organically as possible. And, I don't eat very much. So I talked with my acupuncturist and he recommended that I keep a daily food journal. He told me how some foods, EVEN IF they're healthy foods in and of themselves can be inappropriate foods for an individual. He ALSO told me how a food "reaction" can take up to 72 hours to show up ~ as someone who has to deal with migraines, any connection between food and reactions in an important one!!
I began on New Year's Eve ~ might as well start when we're still in full celebrating mode and be honest about it! Here is what I found out: I don't eat appropriately! I don't eat breakfast and I often don't each lunch, unless I have a bowl of leftovers or a handful of cheese-crackers (our packaged food indulgence ~ the kids do love them as snacks!). I eat dinner which is often a casserole or one dish that is easy to prepare when the kids are around. I drink tea, both iced and warm, during the day ~ the iced is unsweetened.
It is really amazing when you begin to take the time to honestly document the food you eat. You can begin to see patterns form. You can realize the food groups you might be missing altogether. You can also find out about portions. Having grown up in the hey-day of "Super Size It!" I can admit that the notion of eating only a 1/2 cup of something is almost impossible for me to accept ~ probably as impossible as it would be for our grandparents and great-grandparents to imagine trying to eat a "large" or "Super Sized" fry!!
So now I have a new mission: to make sure that I get to eat some of these yummy and healthy foods I buy for my kids. To be able to say "this is Mommy's to eat, you eat yours" when my kids try to eat something I'm eating ~ this has always been the reason I don't fix myself food early in the day, we don't eat the same thing! To make sure I actually DO eat during the day, not just grab a quick handful of cheese crackers in between making bread, doing laundry, and the variety of other chores that make up my day.
If you're wondering about your waistline, or just your over-all health ~ go buy a little notebook and begin writing down what you eat. Don't judge yourself and don't lie! This was a little hard as I was finishing up my Christmas candy of Andes Mints and I hated having to acknowledge each time I snuck a couple. I don't feel guilty about them. Treating yourself is good from time to time. So be honest. When I say don't judge yourself I mean don't turn to self-hate, -shame and -blame, which is so easy for women to do. Acknowledge what your eating patterns are. Acknowledge that sometimes you just really need __X__ as a treat. Then, once a good month has gone past, you will start to see patterns, the more time goes by the more you'll really see it. You'll be able to see what is ok and what isn't. Remember, just because something is healthy doesn't mean it is appropriate for YOU. If you still want some help figuring out which way to go, take your journal to your doctor, your acupuncturist (Dancing Crane in Salem is my place and I love them!!! I highly recommend checking them out if you're ever wanting some acupuncture in Salem, VA!!!), or a nutritionist. They can see patterns and will know more about how foods can interact with bodies.
Whatever you do though: try and keep a positive attitude and try to focus on being healthy and eating appropriately for you. This will make all the difference

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Mother Earth News is Eggselent!!!




From the nest box to the carton! Above is a photo of our first full dozen eggs. The photos were taken on January 3rd of this year. We mark how many eggs we get a day, as well as what colors they are (to know who is laying), on the calendar. At the end of 2008 we had 72 eggs. We should easily surpass this by the end of February this year, but still it is a number we were proud to get to!
I wanted to share with you the latest egg-news from Mother Earth News. For those who aren't familiar with Mother Earth News, they rock!! I was lucky to be given a collection of their older magazines, and we both liked them so much we got a subscription (our only magazine subscription too!). I highly recommend this magazine to anyone interested in becoming a little more connected with the world around them.
As you will know by the link in the right-hand column on this page, Mother Earth News did a research study on free-range/pasture-raised eggs vs. general supermarket eggs. The results of it blew me out of the water! Now, they've found out more!! Here is the link for the new results: http://www.motherearthnews.com/Relish/Pastured-Eggs-Vitamin-D-Content.aspx?blogid=1508&utm_source=iPost&utm_medium=email
Here is a quick glimpse at their findings:
In the past, we’ve found that eggs from hens raised on pasture, as compared to those commercially raised factory farm eggs, contain:

• 1⁄3 less cholesterol
• 1⁄4 less saturated fat
• 2⁄3 more vitamin A
• 2 times more omega-3 fatty acids
• 3 times more vitamin E
• 7 times more beta carotene

Now we’re looking at vitamin D, which many of us do not get enough of because we don’t spend any time outdoors, and even when we do we use sunscreen that blocks vitamin D production. Eggs are one of the few food sources of naturally occurring vitamin D, and we wondered if true free-range eggs might be higher in this important vitamin, too. Our latest tests show that pastured eggs have anywhere between 4 to 6 times as much vitamin D as typical supermarket eggs.

WOW!!!!!! To say I am blown away is an understatement!! I'm not surprised, as I fully believe in the difference between "real food" and "industrialized food" - you simply can't mess with things so much and not expect it to have an impact!
If you don't raise chickens - look into it! They're fun to raise and keep, and aren't as difficult as you might think. In fact, most all of our initial concerns have proven to be baseless. Check your local city ordinances and zoning, you'll be pleasantly surprised that you may be allowed to have some! If you still can't raise your own, find someone locally who does. Don't be scared to ask them questions about how they raise their chickens ~ most people will appreciate the interest you're showing in something they've devoted time and energy into! Whatever you do, don't EVER buy standard grocery store eggs again!!!! Unless otherwise noted, they're raised in very tiny cages and treated horribly. Bad for the bird, bad for the Earth, and bad for your health!!
Thank you to Mother Earth News and their wonderful team for continuing to provide such helpful information!! Y'all are truly Eggs-elent!!

Saturday, November 22, 2008

Quesadillas

Or, as they're now known around here, "Pizzas with Hats" or also just "Hats." Mexican food wasn't often on the menu around here growing up, especially not anything more than the standard hard-shell tacos. I'm quite embarrassed to admit that in my now 31 years of living, tonight was the first time I had made quesadillas! AND THEY'RE SO EASY TO MAKE!!!
I won't list a recipe here, but I will give you the link to where I found the recipe I used. It is a wonderful recipe and very easy to follow: http://www.elise.com/recipes/archives/000226quesadilla.php

Some hints I will share that made this easier for a newbie:
1) I did use a cast-iron skillet. If you don't have one, do yourself a favor and go get one (http://www.lodgemfg.com/).
2) Have your ingredients ready. Just like you see on cooking shows, we mixed up our beans & corn ahead of time and had them in a bowl, ready to add when needed. Justin wanted freshly picked hot peppers (courtesy of Shannon) and onions in his, so he chopped them up and had them ready when I was ready for them. This saves a lot of "oh crap!" moments.
3) Do let them cool for a minute before eating. This not only saves on "shit, that's hot!" but also gives the ingredients a moment to set.
4) Don't be afraid of adding fun ingredients and spices!
5) Definitely have some "dippers" ready. Tonight we just used sour cream, but even the kids demanded they're own.
6) Don't think this is a hard dish to make. Like I said, I'm horrified that I have waited this long to make them. They are so much better, as most dishes are, when homemade. Even little kids like them, as they're nice and finger friendly!

Tristan & Shannon, who were very happy to get "Hats" for dinner & each gobbled it right up!