Dinner

Dinner
Last night I picked some things out of my garden for dinner. I love it when I get to use fresh veggies and herbs for dinner. We are currently having a tomato and pepper overload in our garden so I decided to make some veggie sandwiches.

I cut everything up and cooked the onion and pepper in a little olive oil. I chopped up the basil and mixed it with some mayonnaise. I spread the mayonnaise on the outside of the bread. Then I layered cheese, tomatoes, pepper and onions in the sandwich. Stephen then grilled the sandwiches for about 5 minutes on each side.

Add some milk, banana, and veggie chips and we had a delicious meal.

Andon of course picked out the peppers and onion and just ate the cheese.

Facial Moisturizer

I have not tried this yet but I am making a mixture of Almond oil and Lavender to try as a facial moisturizer. If you try this please let me know what combination you tried and how it worked. I will post more here later after I have tried it.
Update: I have been using this for about a week now and I am very pleased. I place a very small amount on my fingers then rub it into my face in the morning and at night. It is light and not greasy as I thought it might be. I might try some other essential oils next time.

Facial Moisturizer
3 parts Carrier oil
1 part essential oils
1 part additions if desired

Mix carrier oil, additions if desired, and essential oils in a bottle. Place a few drops of the moisturizer in your hand and rub then gently rub onto face.

Normal Skin

Carrier Oils: almond, apricot, hazelnut

Essential Oils: carrot, German chamomile, geranium, fennel, frankincense, jasmine, lavender, lemon, neroli, palmarosa, rose

Additions: borage seed, evening primrose, jojoba

Dry to Normal Skin

Carrier Oils: almond, apricot, avocado, olive oil, wheatgerm

Essential Oils: carrot, German chamomile, geranium, lavender, neroli, palmarosa, patchouli, rose, rosemary, sandalwood.

Additions: borage seed, evening primrose, jojoba

Oily to Normal Skin

Carrier Oils: almond, apricot, grapeseed, hazelnut

Essential Oils: carrot, German chamomile, cypress, frankincense, geranium, jasmine, juniper, lavender, lemon, lime, marjoram, palmarosa, pettigrain, rosemary

Additions: borage seed, evening primrose

Antiaging

Essential oils to combat wrinkles: carrot, German chamomile, clary sage, fennel, frankincense, lavender, lemon, lime, myrrh, neroli, orange, palmarosa, patchouli, rosemary, thyme

Additions: borage seed, evening primrose

Our Garden

With spring here our garden is growing strong. Stephen just made me two more garden boxes so I have twice as much room. Currently everything is crammed into two boxes but now I am expanding to the other two boxes. I have picked a handful of strawberries today and soon we will have tomatoes and squash. There is nothing better then fresh fruits and veggies from your own garden.

Carrot Cookies

Andon and I tried a recipe for carrot cookies the other day. They are very good more like little cakes then cookies but delicious. So I wanted to post the recipe. I made a few changes from = the original recipe in order to use what I had in the house.

Carrot Cookies
1 cup Butter
1 cup Sugar
1 tablespoon Orange Juice
1 Egg
1.5 - 2 cups grated Carrots
2 2/3 cups Flour
2 teaspoons Baking Powder
3/4 teaspoon Cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon Nutmeg

Cream the Butter and Sugar. Add Egg and Orange Juice. Combine Flour, Baking Powder, Cinnamon, and Nutmeg. Add the flour mixture and the carrots alternately to the butter mixture. Mix to form dough. Drop by teaspoon onto cookie sheet. Bake at 375 or 12-14 minutes.

I have found that a batch of almost any cookies is to much for our family at once. Instead of baking all of the cookies I scoop out the dough to make cookies but I then freeze the scoops. Once they are frozen I place them in a container which I keep in the freezer. When ever we want cookies I just heat up the oven and pull out the frozen cookies.

Carrots

I have found that carrots grow like crazy here. Right now we have an abundance of them so I have been looking for ways to use them. I have developed a recipe for carrot bread which Andon and I made today while Brylynn took a nap (in her swing of course). I also found a recipe for what we call Carrot Butter Andon liked it and it made a good snack. I might try adding some cinnamon to it next time.

Carrot Bread
Mix together
1/4 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup sugar
3/4 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt

Mix together then add to the flour mixture
3/4 cup applesauce
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla

Stir in
2 cups carrots

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes


Carrot Butter
1/2 cup pureed carrots
3 tablespoons cottage cheese
1 tablespoon orange juice
2 teaspoons smooth peanut butter
Place all ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth. Serve on crackers or bread.

Gardening

With all my free time this past week I have gotten a lot done. My garden has been top on my list of to dos. So far I have planted squash, zucchini, cucumbers, tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, corn, beans, celery, and onions. I also already have broccoli, lettuce, strawberries, and carrots growing.
Yesterday I was overjoyed to find artichoke plants at Home Depot. I am so very excited because I love artichokes but I can never find them grown organically at the store. Although it has been my experience that artichokes take a couple of years to produce good fruit I can not wait. The only thing I have yet to plant that I would really like is asparagus.
We are also thinking of adding some berry plants to our yard. I would love to have blueberries, blackberries, or raspberries. I have to do some research and planing but hopefully I can get some going soon.
We also have a lemon, peach, and apricot tree in the backyard. It is so much fun to grow our own fruit and veggies. Andon loves to pull up carrots and pick peaches.

On a side note anyone interested in cilantro please let me know. I love to cook with it but it grows so quickly that most of it goes to waste. If you ever want any just let me know.

All is ready for Brylynn's arrival on Friday. I promise to have pictures up as soon as I can. I do not think Andon has any clue what is about to happen but I know he will be a great big brother. He is having a wonderful time in CA visiting all his family out there. He especially loves his Auntie Em I think he would leave me for her in a heartbeat. Oh well at least I know he is well loved and happy.

Natural Living Review of 2007

I can not believe it is already February. I wanted to sit down and think about my progress of moving to living more natural. What have I accomplished and what do I want to work toward this year.

Changes in 2007

1. Began an organic garden
2. Started a compost pile which has created some great soil for this years garden
3. Stopped using Chem Lawn and began Soils Alive an all natural alternative. Now I feel safe having Andon run and play in our grass.
4. Began cloth diapers with Andon. I have not bought disposables since April and I will not buy them at all with Brylynn.
5. Began buying organic cotton pajamas instead of conventional cotton for Andon. I hope to buy mostly eco friendly fabrics for Brylynn.
6. Stopped using chemical filled baby products on Andon
7. Switched all of my cleaning products. We now use Seventh Generation laundry soap and dishwasher detergent. For all other cleaning we use vinegar, backing soda, and water solutions.
8. Switched my beauty products. I use my own recipes for shampoo, conditioner, body wash, face scrub, toothpaste, lotion, and lip balm. I use Everyday Minerals for my makeup.
9. Switched from using disposable sponges to washable dish cloths
10. I buy everything I can organic with as few ingredients as possible. I make cookies or other sweets to save money and control the ingredients.
11. I look at ingredient labels and do not buy products with ingredients I can not pronounce or do not know what it is.
12. Switched our cats to natural food with no chemicals or preservatives
13. Bought my own shopping bags for the grocery store
14. Bought reusable sandwich wraps for picnics or eating away from home
15. Stopped using Ziploc bags for storing food or anything else
16. Recycling everything we can instead of throwing it out
17. Started my own business using organic cotton yarn


Goals for 2008

1. Order natural nail polish. So I can paint my nails again.
2. Use less paper towels and more washable towels instead
3. Find a way to stop buying bottled water. I hate the taste of our tap water.
4. Get reusable non plastic water bottles for the family
5. Buy non plastic storage containers for leftovers
6. Change the cats litter to something better for the environment
7. Buy more organic cotton and eco friendly fiber clothes, towels, etc and less conventional materials
8. Work on a plan to produce more veggies from our garden and store them using my new food saver.


I also would love to help others begin a more natural life. Even if it is only one or two things you can make a big difference in your life and the environment. So if you have any questions on living more natural I would be glad to help you out.

I am sure there are other things I am forgetting about if you can think of anything else I have or could change let me know.