At 4 1/2 months Kel got his first taste of solid food. After seeing an episode of 19 kids and counting and Anna making her own rice cereal I decided to give it a try, so easy! Cannot believe that I have never done it before and it is so much healthier then the paste of white rice cereal!

I ground up 1/4 cup of brown rice (I have a spice grinder, you could also use a blender) should be a powder texture, added 1 cup of water and simmer on the stove for 10 minutes. Let cool and serve. You can also make up larger batches, pour into into ice trays and freeze for later use.

Here is a great website I found for making homemade baby foods: http://wholesomebabyfood.momtastic.com/cereals.htm

Here is the finished product.

Kel was a fan, not a lot of spitting out, until Lani fed him! We will try again tomorrow. He is such a big baby that I felt that he needed to be introduced to something more then just milk.

Leilani wanted in on the action, my little helper.

Liquid Laundry Detergent

I have no idea why I was so nervous to melt some soap on the stove and add water, but I was! Ridiculous, I know! After becoming lazy on making the powder soap, I bought some detergent from Costco, fairly inexpensive but after making it for so much cheaper, it killed me every time I used it. I decided to try this recipe and I have no idea what the breakdown of the price is but I am pretty sure it is about 1 cent per load? I have used it for the last 3 months and I still have half of the bucket left.

4 Cups - hot tap water
1 Fels-Naptha soap bar
1 Bar of Dial
1 Cup - Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda*
½ Cup Borax

- Grate both bars and add to saucepan with water. Stir continually over medium-low heat until soap dissolves and is melted.

-Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full of hot tap water. Add melted soap, washing soda and Borax. Stir well until all powder is dissolved. Fill bucket to top with more hot water. Stir, cover and let sit overnight to thicken.

-Stir and fill a used, clean, laundry soap dispenser half full with soap and then fill rest of way with water. Shake before each use. (will gel) I didn't do this for the first few batches, it seemed too watery.

-Optional: You can add 10-15 drops of essential oil per 2 gallons. Add once soap has cooled. Ideas: lavender, rosemary, tea tree oil.

-Yield: Liquid soap recipe makes 10 gallons.

-Top Load Machine- 5/8 Cup per load (Approx. 180 loads)

-Front Load Machines- ¼ Cup per load (Approx. 640 loads)

*Arm & Hammer "Super Washing Soda" - I have found this at Lin's. Baking Soda will not work, nor will Arm & Hammer Detergent - It must be sodium carbonate!!

Winter Vegetable Stew

I have to credit my sister-in law for posting this site for the recipe. I made it last night and I liked it a lot. Brady ate most of it and Lani was coerced to eat it, if she wanted some healthy banana bread for our FHE treat.

Winter Vegetable Stew

1 cup onions, cut into 1/2 inch wedges

1 sweet potato

2 carrots

1 lb. banana or Hubbard squash

1 cup parsnips

2 cloves of garlic

1 red bell pepper

2 cups low sodium vegetable broth

1 cup pureed tomato (I used tomato sauce)

2 Tbsp. lime juice

1/4 tsp. cayenne (or desired amount)

1 (10 oz) package of frozen peas

1/4 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. pepper

1 bunch of cilantro sprigs rinsed or thinly sliced green onions (I used green onions)

Directions:

Peel onions and cut into 1/2 inch wedges. Peel parsnips, carrots and sweet potatoes into 3/4-inch pieces. Peel and mince the garlic or press garlic. Rinse bell pepper cut into 1/2-inch strips, I cut smaller, to hide them from my non-pepper lovers!

Cook onions, parsnips, carrots, sweet potatoes, squash and garlic in 1 cup of broth for 10 minutes in covered pan, stir occasionally. Add a few tablespoons of water if it starts to stick.

Add 1 more cup of broth, along with bell pepper, tomato sauce, lime juice and cayenne to taste. Return to boil and then reduce heat. Simmer covered until vegetables are tender when pierced about 12-15 minutes. If stew sticks to pan or gets thicker then desired, add more broth as needed.

Add peas and stir occasionally until hot, about 2 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Ladle soup in bowls and garnish with cilantro or sliced green onions.

It was quite good, I added some saltines for some more texture and my kidlets liked that a lot. I was hoping to serve with freshly baked whole wheat bread, but I took a little nap and didn't get to that!

I found this recipe by searching under ingredients. I got some parsnips from bountiful baskets a couple of weeks ago and wanted a different recipe. I had almost everything in my fridge, my friend gave me a squash and all I needed was the pepper. Good for a colder fall night like last night!

Green Curry

I have been meaning to post this for a long time and I apologize for no picture. This is so yummy, I wish my husband liked it more, but that doesn't stop me :)

I make this with chicken, but it could easily be omitted for those that don't eat meat.

Green Curry
1 c. chicken
1 medium onion thinly sliced
1 red pepper, thinly sliced
1/2 c. frozen peas
2 Tbsp. green curry paste
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. fresh basil
1 can coconut milk
1 Tbsp. chopped garlic
2 Tbsp. fish sauce
2 Tbsp. palm sugar (I have used sucanat and turbinado) I add to taste, how sweet do you want it???
Kaffir leaf (I can never find this, so I have made without)

Saute: chicken, garlic, onion, pepper remove from pan.
Over medium heat add: coconut milk, don't boil, then add curry paste add your saute mix, then add fish sauce, sugar, basil leaves, kaffir leaf and peas. Heat until peas are cooked, but try not to boil.

Serve over rice and enjoy!

Homeade Laundry Detergent

Lately, along with other people that I know, should I say Courtney, have been trying to spend less money and finding better ways to save. My other sister-in-law does the same thing, it must be in the blood? the air? Anyway, cheaper is good.

After thinking about actually making my own, it took some time to do the research in finding these ingredients. I looked all over the major cities around me and could not find any of the items needed to make this. As I was looking on the internet it said that I could order them online at Ace Hardware. I thought to myself, if I can order them online, let's go down there and see if they have any of the items in the store, they didn't. I proceeded to order them through the store, on a Friday and they arrived Monday. The downfall is that I had to order some of them in bulk.

So excited to save so much money, I believe it is around 6 to 8 cents a load, I got right to work putting the Fels-Naptha in my food processor and got it all ready. I have been using it for a couple of weeks now and I like it okay. I may be with Courtney on the extra soap thing, it works without it, but I think the soap may add a fresher smell. The test was diapers and it works great, I just think my next batch I will add some ivory or something, just for the smell.

Okay, so after doing all of this research and ordering in bulk, I decided to take a look at our local grocery store, which is only 1 mind you. I walked down the laundry aisle and there were all of the items! Can you believe it, all here in my small little town. I haven't looked into it, but I think it may be slightly cheaper to buy in bulk then the grocery store, oh well.

Here is the recipe that I use:

1 Fels-Naptha bar*

1 Cup Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda**

1/2 Cup Borax

*Grate soap or break into pieces and process in a food processor until powdered. Mix all ingredients. For light load, use 1 Tbsp. For heavy or heavily soiled load, use 2 Tbsp.

Yields: 3 Cups detergent (Approx. 40 loads).

**Baking Soda will not work, nor will Arm & Hammer Detergent - it must be a sodium carbonate.

I have seen a lot of recipes, but I completely trust the source of the Duggar's, you know the 19 kids and counting family? They recommend not using heavily perfumed soaps, if you wanted to replace the Fels-Naptha and it costs about $2 a batch! Wow!

They have a liquid recipe as well and some ideas for fabric softener.

Good luck!

Coconut Mango

My mom has decided to take up Thai cooking, which she is really good at. She is always trying to get me to staty longer when I visit and when she says Thai, I am there! One of the recipes that she makes is similar to our favorite dessert from a resturant up there. It is so good and so easy, and for my health food friends and family I am sure that if you used brown rice instead, it would be awesome!

So here goes:
2 cups cooked sticky rice

While rice is cooking:
Take 2 cups of coconut milk
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. salt

Bring to a boil and then let cool.

Once your rice is done, transfer it to a metal bowl (why?? I don't really know, this is what my mom does).

Add your coconut mixture to the rice, cover and let cool about an hour. I put my in the fridge.

When your hour is almost up make your topping:
1/2 c. coconut milk
dash of salt (this is optional, I think it is too salty if you add salt to both)
1 T. sugar
Optional: 1 tsp. tapioca starch (to make it thicker)

Warm this on the stove, until almost boiling, not too hot.
Cut up about 3 ripe mangoes

Serve with rice on the bottom, sliced mangoes and then the sauce on top.

Yummay! Enjoy!

Wuffums

Okay, here is how you make wuffums.
First you need a 1 1/2 inch dowel for cooking them. My sister bought a closet rod and sawed it into about 4 sticks. Sandpaper the end that you are going to use to cook it on.

Now your choice of dough. My sister had premade Pillsbury biscuit dough and cinnamon dough to choose from. I would think that you could even make your own, if you want it healthier then those choices.

Take one end of your stick, spray it with Pam for a nonstick surface. Take your dough and wrap it around the end of the stick and then up the side, leaving no holes. It should make like a cone/cup shape.

Toast over the fire until it isn't squishy anymore. Once it is all toasted, then carefully remove from stick (very hot!) and fill with whatever you want.

Fillings:
pudding
pie filling
Fruit

Top with some whipped cream if you choose.

This can also be made for breakfast and fill with some eggs and cheese, whatever you want.
Dinner could be filled with a chili and served with some chips.

Lots of different ideas to make your wuffums.

Once made, wuff them down!!! We sure did!!! Yummay, I am ready to make some more!

Healthy Sugar Cookies

I mentioned posting these cookies in one of my other posts and I really feel like I need to share. They are very good and healthy for you at the same time. We made them the night we painted pumpkins. These are from my friend Emily.

I actually added some food coloring to make them orange, I don't believe that makes them any less healthy. Then I rolled them out and cut them into pumpkins and cats for the kids. Once they were cut then I sprinkled the top with the cinnamon/pure cane sugar mix and the kids loved them! Such a benefit, because then you don't feel guilty about giving them a treat! Thanks Emily!

Simple Sugar Cookies

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup ground soft white wheat flour
1/2 cup pure cane sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
7 tablespoon coconut oil
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 tablespoon real maple syrup
1 egg replacer
cinnamon and cane sugar for coating

Directions:

Mix dry ingredients in a bowl. Mix wet ingredients in measuring cup (make sure they're blended well). Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Using hands, form dough into a big ball. (If it sticks together well, then its the right consistency. If not, then add a bit of water and mix it well.)

Form dough into cookie sized balls and roll into cinnamon/ cane sugar mixture. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten each ball a little bit. Bake at 375 degrees for about 7 minutes.

And if you want to make cookie cutter type cookies...don't try to transfer them from one pan to the next...just in case you were thinking you might! They make about two full sheets of cookies, perfect for our little family but not quite enough if you want to share!

Good Luck

Whole Wheat Bread

Yummy whole wheat bread recipe. This recipe is also from my friend Emily, well her sister. I am not a baker and even I can do this and make it turn out!

Yields 2 loaves
1/3 Cup honey
1/3 Cup extra virgin olive oil
2 1/2 Cup warm water
1 1/2 Tbsp. yeast
2 1/2 tsp. salt
6-7 Cups fresh ground whole wheat flour (she used hard white wheat)
1 1/2 Tbsp. vital wheat gluten

Combine the warm water, yeast and honey together in a separate bowl to activate the yeast faster. In a bigger mixing bowl add 2 cups of wheat flour and then add the yeast mixture to the top, allow to sponge for 15 minutes. Add oil, wheat gluten, salt and 4-5 cups additional flour, (I add about 3-4 cups). Add until the dough begins to clean the sides of the mixing bowl. Do not allow the dough to get too stiff (too dry). Dough should be smooth and elastic.
It is a common mistake for beginning bakers (this is me) to add too much flour.
Knead the bread by hand 7-10 minutes or until it is very smooth, elastic, and small bubbles or blisters appear beneath the surface of the dough. Be sure to add the minumum amount of flour to keep the dough soft and plaible by using a tsp of oil on your hands and kneading surface.
Form the dough into 2 loaves and put in greased loaf pans or 5-6 loaves balls if making bread bowls and place on cookie sheet. Allow to rise in a slightly warmed oven or other warm place until doubled in size (about 30-60 minutes. Bake loaves for 25-30 minutes in a 350 degree oven. Bread is cooked through when it sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom and when the top and sides are a golden brown color.

This bread recipe is Versatile! Use it to make cinnamon rolls, pizza, bread sticks, and more.
Enjoy!

Yummy German "Chocolate" Cake

Okay, this is a recipe for a healthy version of German Chocolate Cake. It is not mine, I got it from my friend Emily who is my inspiration to try to eat healthy. So here it is and it is so good, be prepared to eat the whole cake by yourself!!!

Super Moist German Chocolate Cake

1 ½ cups whole wheat flour
3 T. sifted carob powder
1 t. baking soda
1 c. Sucanat
1/2 t. sea salt
5 T. coconut oil
1 T. white vinegar
1 T. vanilla
1 cup cold water

Put your flour into mixing bowl, add carob, baking soda, sugar and salt and mix well.Make three deep holes in the dry mixture. Into one, pour the oil, into the next, pour the vinegar, into the next, pour the vanilla. Pour the water into the bowl, over all of this. Mix the wet and dry ingredients together until there aren't any more lumps and pour into a 9x9 inch baking pan.Bake at 350 for 30 minutes, test with fork. Can also be made into cupcakes, bake for 15 minutes.

Frosting:
1/2 c. coconut oil
3/4 c. organic cane sugar
1 1/2 c. shredded unsweetened coconut
1 cup chopped pecans
1/2 c. vanilla almond or rice milk
1 t. vanilla

Boil together all ingredents in a medium to large saucepan over medium high heat for 10 minutes, stirring constantly with a wooden or plastic spoon. Pour on cake while frosting is still warm. Let set up for a few minutes before serving. (Sets up faster if you cover it and place it in the fridge.)

This tastes the best when it is warm! And you don't even need ice cream if you don't want too!
Bryce would differ about that one.