Accepting.

It's a harsh reality to know that most people don't even care about the earth. It's sad that they aren't thankful of what it gives. But that's why we are here, we are here to make up for that. I do everything I can to save what's left of our precious earth. I came across this and it made me think:

     Studies show that organic produce actually tastes better, but there are other reasons for it as well. If all Americans would buy just 10% organic foods, 98 million daily servings of drinking water would be free of pesticides, 20 million daily servings of milk would be produced without antibiotics and growth hormones, 53 million servings of fruits and vegetables would be free of synthetic pesticide resides (that's enough for 10 million kids to get their five-a-day) and it would eliminate the need for almost 3 billion barrels of imported oil annually (that's equal to 406,000 Olympic swimming pools).


  Start by buying even just 2% organic and work your way up from there.

I think even the littlest things we do make a big difference. So even if your poor like me, you can still do your part!

Is this not worth saving?

Peanut butter play dough!

I used to make this stuff when I was kiddo, and now I can pass it on to my kiddo!

How to make:

1 18 oz jar of peanut butter

6 tablespoons of honey

enough dry milk to make plyable

Mix peanut butter and honey and add dry milk!

Make fun things and them eat them, like this:

I love my daughters creativity!

Yummylicious

These brownies were amazing. I got the recipe from whole foods.

Recipe:

http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes/2594

How does your garden grow?

We had a pretty big storm last week, resulting in a flooded driveway and garden. Even though my garden got flooded, I could see how much stronger the plants are now. It just like life, whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger. It's natures way of weeding out the week plants and keeping the strong to bear good fruit. Just like when animals hunt, they take the weekest... Here are a few pictures of our storm:

The driveway.

My garden.

The drainage ditch just feet from our duplex. May I mention that it normally doesn't have any water. and that right there is a few feet worth.

Dehydrating fruit:

Even though I really wish we had a dehydrator, I can still make do with what we have! I used some cheesecloth and taped it over a 9" by 13" glass pan. It got one day in the sun and then we had a rainy weeks, so I finished it up in the oven on the lowest heat setting. 4 days in the sun (bring in at night) 2 days one side and 2 days the other. Then if your oven drying them, 8- 10 hours flip and 8 - 10 more hours on low very low heat keeping oven cracked by wedging a spatula in the door.

They were delicious. Me and the family had to remember to share!

Pinto Bean plant

My daughters pinto bean plant, that I made a post about, is growing very well. It is now winding it's way across my window and weaving in and out of the other plants there. It really grew very fast, now I have a full understanding of the saying "growing like a bean sprout". When reffered to kids lol. It is also giving us pretty little white flowers!

I am so proud of my daughters surprise plant :)

Natural Parenting

I have been doing a lot of research about parenting naturally... I have read a lot of helpful things but what it all comes down too is what feels right for the parent. Not what everyone else tell you, you can listen to their advice but you certainly don't have to take it. I say listen to your intution, be patient, think things thru before acting and also loving, show that you love them each and every moment. Give them lots of attention, and don't worry about the house being a little messy, those dishes can wait I assure you. Would you rather clean, clean, clean, or clean a little and get to enjoy the little things your child does as they growing? Feel whats inside what is naturally there, parenting comes naturally if you let it.

Beeswax lipbalm

Make it yourself, it's money saving, fun, saves plastic, and you can make it how you want!

Supplies:

2 oz bar of beeswax from local farmers market
1 oz of coconut oil
and 5 drops of essential oil

You'll want to put a glass pyrex measuring cup in a pot of boiling water.
Add coconut oil first and let melt.
Next add beeswax and stir constantly till it's melted you don't want to stop stirring it could burn.
once it's all melted add essential oils, remove from heat and stir until you can touch the pyrex without burning yourself. and then pour into glass container and let cool, then you can put in in something smaler and easy to carry. I like to add a little olive oil to my mix when I add the coconut oil!

Breadmaking

I stumbled upon a bread maker and what a pleasant surprise it was!! This was my first loaf of bread. I made french bread and let me tell you I was impressed! It was sooo yummy! I decided, if I can make my own bread, think of how much money that saves!! And of how much plastic is being saved! I am stoked! This way I know that it is organic and I know exactly what is being put in my bread! No preservatives no pesticides!

Here is the recipe:

1 1/2 teaspoons of dry yeast

2 cups bread flour

1 teaspoon of salt

1 teaspoon of sugar

1 teaspoon shortening or butter

1 cup plus 1 tablespoon of warm water

Add in gredients as listed into machine or bowl.

Either machine does this for you or you can do this:

knead 10 min

rise 5 min

second knead 15 min

second rise 20 min

loaf shaping

final rise 55 min

bake 37 min

cool 1 hour

And then you enjoy it!

My garden does it's own thing...

Despite my troubles getting my garden going this year....

My garden apperantly has no issues giving mushrooms.. I have found several now which I find a little odd because most mushrooms like cool, wet dark places, and my garden gets full on sun everyday! It's amazing how nature can surprise you everyday if you let it!!

Make your own chips!

Making your own chips is as easy as buying a bag of corn tortilla's! Not only is less plastic but you can make many more things!

Here's what you do:

Cut the corn tortilla's into 8 pieces and fry them in your prefrence of oil, I prefer olive oil but it can get expensive. For taco shells you just fry both sides of tortilla and when it's golden brown fold in half to cool!

I like to make my chips and then use leftovers of all kinds to make yummy nacho's!!

Now I will admit the cheese is only unhealthy thing here, we got some from a friend who does a fourth of July food stand every year, and they needed someone to use some of the tons they had left. But other than that these nacho's are topped with: refried beans, leftover fajita chicken, leftover ground beef, corn salsa, tomatoes, avacado, and green chili sauce!!! YUM!  It's a fast easy dinner that is like new, but made with mostly leftovers :)

Why pay for the kids gym when:

You can go to the park for free?!

I've spent several times paying $7 per visit for my daughter to go the kids gym, just for her to get sick every time.. Don't get me wrong the kids need excersice but they need fresh air too. The positives in going to the park:

No fee
No time limit
Fresh air
Ineraction with other kids
You can join them on the slide!!
Most likely will not get sick!

Cons:
It may be cold
Might have to leave due to rain (but really thats what jackets are for)

I currently cannot think of anything else!
Have a picnic at the park and spend some time in the sun that provides a much needed nutrient! Rather that going to the gym.

If you really think about it, nature provides all you need!

Apple nut muffins

Made these today and they are fantastic!

Ingredients:


1 egg

2/3 cup apple juice or milk

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups flour

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar, packed

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup chopped nuts

1 chopped apple

cinnamon sugar

Preparation:

In bowl, beat egg with the juice, oil and vanilla. Stir in flour, sugars, baking powder, and salt just until flour is moistened. Batter will be a little lumpy. Stir in nuts and chopped apple. Fill greased muffin tins or paper muffin cups about 2/3 full. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Bake at 400° for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

*To make cinnamon sugar, blend about 1 1/2 teaspoons of cinnamon with 1/4 cup of granulated sugar.

How to make your own crayons!!!!

Skip all the toxins or even the chance, with this easy, fun recipe.

Things You'll Need:


1 part beeswax

1 part soap, grated (Glycerin works for harder crayons. Commercial bar soaps work for softer ones).

paste food coloring (found in the cake decorating aisle)

Soup cans

Large pot

Small candy molds or cookie cutters

Wax paper

Potholders

Vegetable oil




Method


# 1

Fill the pot with water about halfway up. Boil water in the pot.



# 2

Place the beeswax in a soup can and place the can in the boiling water.



# 3

Once the beeswax is melted, add grated soap. Stir until the soap melts and the mixture is smooth.



# 4

Add paste food coloring until you have the color you desire.



# 5

Coat your molds with a thin layer of vegetable oil. If you use cookie cutters, put them on a piece of wax paper on a flat surface.



# 6

Using pot holders to lift the can from the water, carefully pour the mixture into your molds. For cookie cutters, make sure to hold the cutters steady while you pour. Quickly place a heavy object such as a book on top of the cutter (if possible depending on the shape of the cutter) to ensure that the mixture doesn't leak out of the sides.



# 7

Allow the molds to cool. When they are cool to the touch, gently remove the hardened crayons. Then start coloring!


The picture I have above is of crayon rocks, they are awesome if you don't want to make your own!!

Banana walnut muffins

Banana walnut muffins
3 ripe banana's
1 cup of sugar (pure cane organic)
1/2 cup applesauce (or oil)
2 eggs
1 tablespoon of vanilla
2 cups unbleached flour (organic)
1 tablespoon baking soda
1 tablespoon of baking powder
1/2 tablespoon salt
1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts


Mash banana's and add sugar untill smooth, add vanilla eggs and applesauce, blend until smooth, add all dry ingredients slowly, when done fill muffin cups half way full and bake at 350 for 13 min, check and set for more time if needed. You can also make this into bread bake 1 hour.

Trip to the local Zoo!

Not only is a trip to the zoo fun, but I learned more this time than I have in one single trip before! Our zoo is relatively close and cheap too. But my favorite part was that they are becoming more eco friendly, and what a better place for our kids to visit? Animals, eco-friendly, fun, learning, and another plus to it all: wood toys! Sure they have their fair share of plastic but for people like me they have a special stand of wooden toys, like drums and wood animal figurines :) I was very pleased at the changes our zoo has made and has statements posted up about what else they want to change. I also think it's great what your money is contributed too as well, not just feeding the animals, but saving the endangered ones.

Make your own butter!!

We love making our own butter. In this pic you see my daughter shaking it up!!! All you do is:

Find a jar, (I prefer canning jars, they work well)
Buy carton (any size) of heavy whipping cream
pour into jar leaving space at the top maybe 1/2 inch
add some salt, whatever you prefer
SHAKE it!

You will feel it thicken, now sometimes the butter will come out like a real thick cream or it will come out like picture #2.

Not only does it save on all thise plastic containers or packaging, it's fun and tastes really good, oh and with the leftover milk (butter milk) you can save that and later make your own ranch dressing!