Homemade Tooth Powder

A few months ago my family switched to tooth powder instead of store bought toothpaste. We wanted to save money, be more self sufficient and I wanted to know exactly what we were using to brush our teeth with. Since we've been using it, my gums feel healthier and there's no weird after taste.

This tooth powder is SLS and flouride free. It's made with baking soda to gently clean and freshen breath, xylitol to sweeten the tooth powder and promote gum healing, sea salt to act as a mild abbrasive to gently clean and peppermint essential oil to reduce inflammation of the gums and freshen breath.

Making and using this tooth powder is very cost efficient. I'm guessing each batch I make costs about $1-2 where as a tube of Green Beaver tooth paste (which is what I used to buy) was $6.

Try it and let me know what you think!

Homemade Tooth Powder
Combine 2 heaping tablespoons of baking soda, 1 tablespoon of xylitol, 1/2 tsp of sea salt, and about 10 drops of your favourite essential oils (I mostly use traditional peppermint but I would love to recreate Green Beaver's Cilantro Mint or do a lime flavoured one).

Store in a resealable jar. To use, place a small spoon (I use a baby spoon) of tooth powder in your palm and dip a wet toothbrush in it. Brush as usual.

Birthday Tea!

As I mentioned in my last post, we recently celebrated Parker's third birthday! Except for a balloon pump, all his gifts from us were handmade. I'm trying to keep gifts simple and not the focal point in our family's celebrations.

Along with a few other handmade gifts, I made Parker some "birthday tea". I had wanted to make fairy tea but couldn't find any hibiscus which gives the tea a lovely purple colour so I decided to mix up some kid friendly ingredients and call it "birthday tea". Parker loves to drink tea so this was something I thought he'd enjoy. As it turns out, it's not only something he likes but we like it as well.

Keep in mind that I'm not an expert in tea making! I looked up child friendly tea ingredients and just mixed them up to my liking. I purchased my ingredients from our local health food store as I didn't have any leftover dried herbs from last growing season. Always choose organic when making teas.

Birthday Tea
In a small bowl, combine a tablespoon or so of the following dried herbs:
~peppermint, clover, nettles, chamomile, lavender and lemon balm.

You can also add dried stevia but I find the peppermint and lemon balm to be sweet enough. The lavender hides the bitter taste of the nettles (which are super good for you).

I put this all into a 4 ounce metal tin and attached a fun label to it.

When ready to use, put a teaspoons worth in a resuable tea bag or a tea ball and cover with barely boiling water. Allow to steep for about ~10 minutes.

Homemade Natural Deodorant

I started a new etsy shop in addition to The Felted Fern called Nature's Cupboard. From it I sell natural alternatives to store bought chemical filled items such as tooth powders, playdough, hair teas (that's tea for hair!) and deodorant. I've sold a few tins of everything but the shipping is KILLING me. So much so that I don't think I'm going to sell online anymore and either just sell it locally or not at all. I can't decide.

But what I do know is that I want to share my recipes with you! Natural deodorant had me skeptical at first when I found the recipe. I have tried every single natural deodorant out there and they have all failed me. But this... this stuff works!

Make up a batch for yourself and let me know if it works (or if you're local or dont' mind paying an arm and a leg in shipping let me know and I'll sell you a tin!).

Natural Deodorant

In a small mixing bowl combine:
6 tablespoons organic unrefined coconut oil
1/4 cup kaolin clay
1/8 cup baking soda
1/8 cup arrowroot powder
Optional: you can also add a few drops of essential oil. My favourite combo is 3 drops each of lavender and peppermint e.o. So yummy!

Mix until a thick paste much like convential deodorant is achieved. Put in a tin or even an old deodorant tube. Apply a dime sized amount with fingers from tin (use as regular deodorant if using tube). I buy my kaolin clay from Island Artisan Supply. You can use 1/4 baking soda and 1/4 arrowroot or even cornstarch but baking soda has a very high ph level so many people get rashes from it.

Flourless Chocolate Cake and Poor Man's Dulce de Leche

We hosted Christmas Day dinner again this year and were in charge of cooking the turkey (which was our first year of doing a local free range bird... so freakin' good. We'll never go back to factory farmed turkey again) as well as the dessert. Being that Parker is avoiding gluten (although we've slipped up on that quite a bit lately and have noticed the effects) I wanted to create a dessert that he could have and one that everyone would enjoy.

I've seen lots of flourless chocolate cakes before but it just didn't sound that good to me so I've never made them. But I was so wrong, this cake was so good that I'm wondering why anyone would ever put flour in cake again! It's creamy... almost like a mousse/brownie combo. Then top it off with a homemade caramel sauce and you've got one kick-ass dessert that any celiac or anyone else would love!

Flourless Chocolate Cake

1/2 cup water
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
18 squares of semi-sweet chocolate
1 cup butter
3 whole eggs
3 egg whites

Preheat oven to 300F and line a springform pan with parchment. Butter up the sides and parchment. Cover the whole outside with two layers of foil and set aside.
In a saucepan, combine sugar and water together until dissolved. Set aside.
Melt chocolate squares and mix in butter. Beat in sugar water, add vanilla and add eggs one at a time.
Pour batter into pan and place cake pan into a larger pan (I used a roasting pan). Fill larger pan with boiling water until it comes halfway up the side of the springform pan.
Bake for 45-50 minutes and then chill overnight.
You'll need to use a wet knife to loosen the edges of the cake before inverting it over a plate to serve.

Poor Man's Dulce de Leche

1 can sweetened condensed milk, label removed.

Bring a full pot of water to boil (make sure this pot is big enough so that when the can of condensed milk is placed in it, the entire can will be submerged). Turn down heat to medium and place in can of condensed milk. Allow to simmer for 3 hours, checking on it regularly to be sure that the can is fully submerged, adding water as needed. After the 3 hours, turn off heat but leave the pot on the element and the milk in the pot. When the water is cool, remove can. Open the can and voila: a yummy dessert topper!
*****Please be aware that this isn't the safest thing to make. Cans have been known to explode causing damage to cooks and to kitchens. I think the trick is to make sure the can is always FULLY submerged but use caution when making this!!!******

Homemade Vanilla Extract and Peppermint Extract

This year as part of everyone's Christmas gift I made extracts. Before this I never really put thought into the commercially bought extracts and was never concerned with using them. Ummm... yeah, that's totally changed since then. The commercially bought crap from your local stores are filled with artificial everything: colour and flavour. Not only is that not good for you (hello petroleum products!) but making the real stuff is a trillion times tastier and it's super easy to boot. AND most extracts are not gluten free... making your own with wheat free vodka ensures this is safe for the celiac in your life! Here's what I did:

For the peppermint extract I grabbed a big handful of peppermint I had growing in the backyard. Muddle it a bit to release some of the yummy peppermint oil then put in a large canning jar (or clean peanut butter jar, etc). Fill to the top with a high grade vodka making sure all the peppermint leaves are covered. Not covering the leaves can cause them to spoil, ruining your whole batch! Place in a cool dark place (my pantry) and give it a gentle shake when you remember, I tried to do it everyday. After about 8 weeks or so, strain the leaves out and put in smaller bottles or leave in the original jar. That's it!

For the vanilla extract, I used 6 vanilla beans and opened them up to expose the delicious seeds. Try to buy as high quality as you can afford and make sure they're fresh, they shouldn't snap! They should be bendy and a bit moist. Put in a large canning jar (or again reuse a pb jar) and cover with alcohol. I used two cups of vodka and an ounce or two of bourbon. Same thing with the peppermint extract, store in a cool dark place and give it a gentle shake daily for 8 weeks or so. When I poured the vanilla extract into smaller bottles, I also added half a vanilla bean to each jar. That way they can add vodka to it as they use it to keep it going for a while.

Elderberry Syrup

It's cold and flu season again and this year I'm determined to not get sick! I don't usually get sick often but the past few years, I have been getting one or two colds which knock me out.

I've been reading about elderberries and their effectiveness against the cold and flu viruses. Elderberries contain vitamin A, vitmain C, calcium, potassium and iron. They are also anti-viral and boost the immune system! Making a syrup from elderberries and taking it daily can prevent getting sick. If you do become sick with a cold, a flu or suffer from a viral infection, taking elderberry syrup will lessen the severity of the symptoms and decrease the length of illness.

So last month I made a batch of elderberry syrup and have been doing my best to take it daily. I don't mind the taste but my oldest daughter and my husband need some coaxing to take it!

Here's how I made it:
1 cup dried elderberries (if you can find fresh even better. They're usually found in September locally)
3 cups water
1 cinnamon stick
1 cup local honey, preferablly raw

In a pot, combine elderberries, water and cinnamon stick. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Strain by squeezing all liquids from the elderberries over a mesh strainer then pour back into pot. Pour in honey and stir until melted. Pour into sterilized jar and refridgerate for up to 3 months.

I take two teaspoons daily, my kids take one (I made one without honey for Sophie as she's under 15 months) and should we become sick, we'll increase to 3 or 4 doses per day.

Mushroom Barley Soup

We love soup so naturally I've made alot of soups over the years, some really good and some not so good. This recipe is hands down, our favourite soup that we've been enjoying over the years. It's good for you with tons of veggies and fills you up and like all soups, it's even better the next day. It's not GF but I/m finding that Parker can eat this with no issues later on. I have used millet in place of the barley before.

Mushroom Barley Soup

1 leek, halved and sliced
3 celery sticks, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp olive oil
3/4 lb mushrooms, sliced
1.5 cups turnips, chopped (I often forget to buy turnips so I use whatever squash we have on hand which is yummy too!)
6 cups vegetable stock or water
1 can diced tomatoes, undrained (I didn't get around to canning tomatoes this year so I've been using a bag of frozen tomatoes I chopped up from our garden this summer)
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp salt and thyme
1/4 tsp pepper and caraway seeds
1 cup barley 4 cups fresh spinach, cut into thin strips (when I don't have fresh spinach I use frozen spinach from Europe's Best, it comes in  little pucks and I use about 6)

In a large soup pot, heat oil and add leek, garlic and celery. Cook until fragrant then add the mushrooms, turnips or squash and carrots. Cook until mushrooms are tender.
Stir in broth or water, seasonings and tomatoes. Reduce heat and simmer for about 15 minutes until turnip or squash is tender. Add in barley and let simmer about 45 minutes or so then add spinach and cook just until spinach is tender. Discard bay leaf.

Upside down Caramel Apple Muffins

Yummy, right? I made these last night after the little ones went to bed. They were gone by 9am this morning, that's how good they were!

A friend on facebook linked me to this recipe from The New York Times. I changed the recipe a bit to make them gluten free. Here's what I did:

Upside-down Caramel Apple Muffins

Apple topping:
3 apples, peeled, cored and sliced thinly
1/3 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
pinch of salt

Muffin batter:
2 cups Pamela's Baking Mix (you could use your own blend of gf flours, I just happened to have this mix in my cupboard.)
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup sour cream
1 tsp vanilla

~Preheat oven to 350C
~Cook the apple topping ingredients in a skillet until apples are tender, about 15 minutes. Divide evenly among 12 greased muffin tins.
~In a large bowl, whisk together all dry ingredients.
~In a seperate bowl, whisk together all wet ingredients.
~Fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Spoon over apple mixture.
~Bake in oven for about 20-22 minutes.
~Let cool 5 minutes in muffin tin, then turn over onto plate.
~Serve warm or room temperature.

NOTES: If you're using a mix like Pamela's as I did, then there's no need for xantham gum, salt or baking powder as those ingredients are already in the mix. If you use your own blend of flour as I usually do, be sure to add 1/4 tsp salt, 1 tbls baking powder and 1/2 tsp xantham gum.

Jumping on the Chia Bandwagon

Everyone's been talking and blogging about chia seeds lately. They're the new "superfood". Chia seeds are much like flax seeds but you don't need to grind them in order for the nutrition to be released and they're super duper nutritious for you too. After reading I swear like 5 blog posts in a row from various people, I had to give them a try.
I bought a package from Island Naturals here in Nanaimo, a big bag of white chia for about $9. I first tried chia as a drink with cold water and lemon. It was alright... it's supposedly really hydrating.
Today I made chia pudding which is surprisingly really yummy! I found a recipe for chocolate chia pudding but I've been on a matcha kick lately I thought I'd try replacing the chocolate milk for matcha. I liked it and Parker liked it so I'm thinking we'll be makign this often!

Matcha Chia Pudding
3 tbls. chia seeds
1 cup milk of choice (I used almond)
1 tsp. matcha green tea powder
1 tsp. sweetener (optional, I used agave)
coconut flakes (the chocolate chia recipe I found suggested this on top but I didn't have any)

Whisk matcha and milk together until smooth, add sweetener. While mixing, add chia seeds. Let sit covered in fridge for about an hour. You may need to mix it periodically. Sprinkle coconut flakes on top and enjoy!

Onion Chutney

I know I've posted serveral variations of recipes found in the Rebar cookbook already but that's because this cookbook rocks. I love the restaurant and now I love the cookbook!

I was really excited to make a grilled cheese sandwhich with watercress, green apple and cheddar from the cookbook but wasn't so sure I'd like the onion chutney to be served with it. But oh, I was wrong... this stuff is so good. Like mouthwatering good. Like so good that I've stolen spoonfuls from the jar. We made sandwhiches last night after visiting the farmer's market, such a nice addition to our tomatoe, cheese and bacon sandwhiches (all local, btw. even the bread).

You have to try it! I've made a few minor changes to suit our needs, here's the recipe:

Onion Chutney

2 tbls vegan butter or olive oil

2 yellow onions, sliced thinly

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/4 - 1/2 tsp red chili flakes (depending on how hot you like it)

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp brown sugar (make sure it's not just dyed white sugar like most brown sugars out there!)

4 tbls apple cider vinegar with "mother"

ground black pepper

Heat butter or oil in a pan, add onions and cook until translucent over a medium heat. Add salt, chili flakes and cumin and cook for about 15 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and cook until onions are soft and creamy.

Foccacia Bread

I made mushroom soup from the Rebar cookbook (so good!) and along with it, I also made up two batches of Foccacia bread. I really had no idea how easy and delicious it would be to make it myself. This will definitely be something I make more often.

I used a recipe from the Rebar cookbook but changed it just a wee bit. Apparently it's what they use for pizza crust as well, will have to try that one time. :)

Rosemary Garlic Foccacia Bread

1 3/4 c warm water

1 tbls. traditional baking yeast
1/2 tsp maple syrup
2 tsp salt
1/4 cup olive oil
3 cups unbleached flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
Toppings:
4-6 cloves garlic, minced
4 tbls. olive oil
2 tsp coarse salt
2 tsp rosemary, chopped
cracked black pepper

In a large bowl, combine warm water, yeast and maple syrup. Let sit 10 minutes or so until it foams. Stir in salt and oil, then add flour, one cup at a time.
Turn mixture out onto floured surface and knead until stretchy.
Form into ball and place into oiled bowl. Cover with damp tea towel and leave to double in size, about 1.5 hours. Punch down then let rise again to double in size.
Preheat oven to 350C.

Stretch dough onto oiled cookie sheet. Sprinkle toppings on and let rise again until oven is preheated.

Bake for 20 minutes, rotating pan half way through.

Serve warm.

Gluten Free Foccacia Bread
 I used the glutenfree goddesses' recipe but modified it to fit my needs. Here's what I did:

1 tablespoon active dry yeast

1 1/4 warm water 1 cup sorghum flour

1/2 tsp maple syrup

1 cup potato starch
1/2 cup quinoa flour
2 teaspoons xanthan gum

1/ 1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon garlic powder

2 teaspoons dried rosemary

4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1 egg

In large bowl combine flours, potato starch, xanthan gum, salt, garlic powder and dried rosemary.
Combine yeast, water and 1/2 tsp maple syrup in bowl. Let sit about 10 minutes until foamy.
Pour yeast mixture into flour mix. Add in olive oil, maple syrup apple cider vinegar and egg.
Stir to combine. The dough will be sticky, not like the wheat foccacia. Pour out onto cookie sheet.
Preheat oven to 350F and bake for 20 minutes, rotating half way.

Barber Pole cakes Take 2!

One of my first blog posts written was about my attempt to make my husband (who's a barber) a barberpole birthday cake. It didn't quite turn out, to say the least... I chose a difficult recipe while I had no baking skills. It's been a year and a half since then and I've been baking alot more so I thought I'd give it a go!

My husband owns a barbershop downtown called "That 50s Barbershop" and this past July was his three year anniversary of being open. This was a big deal for us as we started the barbershop with nothing and three years was how long we were willing to keep trying to make this little dream of his go. Well, since opening we've never had to worry about making this a successful shop as it's done so well. At three years, the shop is very successful and I couldn't be prouder of my husband. :)

So.. I wanted to celebrate with some yummy cupcakes! I didn't want to have a big fancy barber pole shaped cake because it was soooo hot out that week and well, I have two very small children at home who need alot of my attention. So cupcakes it was and they were delish!

Since Parker is gluten intolerant, I decided to turn our favourite chocolate cake into a gf cake and it was good! I followed her recipe exactly but cut out the flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda. I replaced those with Pamela's Ultimate Baking mix (equal to the amounts removed from original recipe, just over 1 3/4 c). Then after icing it with chocolate buttercream icing, I piped on some barber poles! I think it turned out great!

Here's a picture of my husband and Parker having a cupcake in the barbershop. What a silly boy Parky is, whenever I said "look at the camera" he would look up at the ceiling so Dave decided to follow suit. :)

Herbal Salves

I've been absent, I know. Our computer's USB ports aren't working and I haven't been able to upload pictures and for some reason I'm having a hard time blogging without the use of photos! But I'm here today and hopefully we'll remember to take the computer in to be repaired (a super quick repair we've been told) so that I feel more inspired to blog!

Anyhoo... this is about salves. I *love* salves and have been buying them from farmer's markets, health food stores and small brick and mortar stores for years now. But I always assumed making them was so difficult so I didn't even bother. Well, let me tell you: they're super duper easy!! I made up a placenta salve for a client using a basic first aid salve recipe and then adding about a teaspoon of her dried placenta. I've heard amazing things about placenta salves for cesarean moms and I know of someone who belongs to my placenta service providers group who's daughter nearly had her fingers amputated in a paper shredder accident (!!) and her mother applied placenta salve to it to speed up the healing. But I had no personal experience nor did I personally know someone who used it postpartum so I offered it free to a few clients in exchange for feedback. I also made up a batch without added placenta for a friend's birthday on the weekend. Now I just need to get around to making myself a batch (I want both placenta and regular first aid salve).

Here's a recipe and how to:

First Aid Salve

• First you need to make an herbal infused oil. I used one part herbs to 2 parts oil. The oil I chose was a mixture of organic (make sure to only use organic ingredients for salves) virgin coconut oil and apricot kernal oil. I used comfrey, calendula and goldenseal and placed a tablespoon of each into a crockpot. Then I added 4 tablespoons of coconut oil and 2 tablespoons of apricot kernal oil. Turn the crockpot onto low and let the oil infuse for about 3 hours. Let cool and strain into a clean container using cheesecloth.
• In a pot on low-medium heat, warm the infused oil and add about a tablespoon of grated beeswax (use local beeswax if available). Then you can add 800 IUs of vitamin E and a drop of lavender essential oil. You can also add 1/2 a tsp of tea tree oil but I chose not to. Stir until beeswax melts into oil.
• You'll know your mixture is the right consistency by dipping a teaspoon into the pot and then sticking it into the freezer to set. When it sets, test it to make sure it's not too hard or too soft. If it's too soft, add a little more beeswax. If it's too hard, add more oil.
• Pour into sterile brown glass jars and seal.
• Voila... you are done! This can be used on cuts, scrapes, bug bites, etc.

For placenta salve, I make a second batch of infused oil using a teaspoon (or 1 or two capsules) of dried and ground placenta in 100mls of carrier oil: I used apricot kernel oil). Either in a double boiler or a crockpot set on low, allow the placenta to infuse the oil for abuot an hour or so. You'll know it's done when you start to smell placenta (not burnt or overly strong, just placenta-y.) Strain into a small pot using cheesecloth and then add 3 tablespoons of the first aid salve and follow above instructions.

To use placenta salve on a cesarean incision, wait until the bandages have been removed and the wound has closed up. A mother who birthed vaginally can also use this cream on tender or torn and reparied bits too. The same rule for taking encapsulated placenta internally applies for placenta salve: if infection of any kind is suspected, stop use until all symptoms disappear.

Gluten Free Playdough

It's no secret that I love playdough but when we discovered that Parker doesn't tolerate gluten, I was saddened to learn that his wheat playdough days were over.
But then I saw GF playdough being sold on etsy and then I realized "of course!", I can make my own! The texture isn't the same, it's bouncier if that makes any sense and it was lots of fun to play with. We've been experimenting with scents such as apple pie and chai tea.

No-Cook GF Playdough
2-3 cups all-purpose GF flour
1/2 c salt
4 tsp cream of tartar
3 tbls vegetable oil
2 cups boiling water

Mix ingredients together in a mixing bowl, adding in more flour if sticky. You can add food colouring or extracts/spices etc for scents.

To make the Chai Playdough, follow recipe as above but substitute 1 cup of boiling water with 1 cup of strongly brewed chai tea (minus the milk and sugar of course). You can also add in some chai spices such as cinnamon, cloves, cardamom,, etc. if you prefer a stromger scent.

To make the Apple Pie Playdough, substitute 1 cup boiling watwe with 1 cup hot apple juice. Add in 1 tsp apple or pumpkin pie spice.

Enjoy!

Healthy Popsicles

Even though I'm in my 30s I still love popsicles on a hot day and my kids are no different. But the store bought ones are full of sugars and artificial colours and flavours. Not to mention expensive! So I make my own and that gives me total control of what my children eat.

The base is often the same but I vary the fruit or veggies in it.

Usually it's yogurt, spinach, whatever berries I have on hand, either a banana or half an avacado, probiotic powder (1 tsp per popsicle), sometimes greens+, sometimes meusli and either water or 100% pure juice. Usually it doesn't need to be sweetened but if it does, I add a bit of honey or agave.

My kids LOVE these. Ally's usually surprised there was any vegetables or greens+ in there at all!

I'm always looking for different popsicle "recipes" so if you have any to share, please do!

The Best Carrot Cake Ever (and it's gf too!)!

I made my first ever gluten-free cake. After spending what felt like hours looking for the perfect cake, I decided on a carrot cake by Glutenfreegoddess. It was honestly the BEST carrot cake I've ever had. You know how carrot cakes are often either too dry or way too oily? Well, this was perfect: moist but not oily. And the cream cheese icing was so yummy on top! You'll notice in the recipe it calls for Pamela's Ultimate Baking and Pancake Mix which at first disappointed me because I wanted to stay away from mixes. But check out the ingredients, it's a really nice blend of flours and leaveners. I found a recipe online duplicated Pamela's Mix so I'll give that a try next to see if it compares as Pamela's is a bit pricey ($10 for small bag).

Carrot Cake Recipe with Coconut
3 large eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup demerara sugar
1/3 cup plain yogurt
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbls honey or agave
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice
2 cups Pamela's Ultimate Baking and Pancake Mix
3/4 cup flaked unsweetened coconut
1 1/2 cups finely grated carrots (about 4)
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9-inch cake pan and line with parchment paper. (I used a bundt cake pan)
In a mixing bowl beat the eggs, oil and demerara sugar and beat till smooth. Beat in the yogurt, vanilla, honey, cinnamon and spice, then add baking mix. Add in the coconut, carrots, raisins and nuts; stir with a wooden spoon to combine.
Pour batter into pan and bake at 350F for 40-45 mintues. Cool on a wire rack.

Cream Cheese Icing:

4 oz. softened cream cheese
2 tbls softened unsalted butter
1-2 tsp vanilla extract, to taste
3 cups powdered sugar
juice from a lime (or she suggests any citrus)

In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter and cream cheese, then add vanilla. Add in the powdered sugar a cup at a time. Add lime juice and beat till smooth. Ice cake and enjoy!

GF Minestrone Soup

Parker was feeling pretty sick this past week with a high fever. And along with his high fevers were febrile seizures which I just hate. Even though they're harmless, they're still not pleasant to see in your 2 year old. He spent 3 days not eating very much at all (he ate a buckwheat waffle and half a pair one day) until the late afternoon of Day 4 when he was asking for soup. I decided on Minestrone Soup but the kind I always used to make had wheat pasta in it. So I decided to a veggie and bean only minestrone and serve it over brown rice. Topped with some parmesan cheese and it was good!

GF Minestone Soup

• 1 can diced organic tomatoes
• 1 large leek, sliced white and light green parts only
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 carrotrs, chopped
• 2 celery, chopped
• 1 potato, cubed
• 1 small zuchinni, sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup green beans, chopped
• 1 can white beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 bunch of spinach, chopped (I use frozen spinach patties by Europe's Best when I don't have fresh on hand)
• salt and pepper to taste
• oregano
• 8 cups water

Add all veggies and seasonings to pot and bring to a boil. Turn down heat to medium-low and simmer for 45 minutes. Add in beans and let simmer 10 more minutes. Ladle over a bowl of hot cooked brown rice and top with some parmesan cheese.

What we've been eating lately...

So with starting a GF diet for Parker, cooking and baking around here has changed big time. You don't realize just how many things have wheat in them until you really look for it.

I've never been one for using mixes or convenience foods but I admit that I've used them more than once this past week or so. I don't know why but I feel intimidated at the thought of doing my own GF friendly baking. There's all sorts of flours that I've never used. I started to branch out last year and tried spelt, aramanth and several others but wheat was still the predominant flour in my recipes. And then there's adding xanthan to breads and muffins that I just have no clue about. Plus it doesn't help that building up a GF friendly pantry for baking from scratch is pricey. So until I have a decent array of flours and I'm less intimidated by it all, yes I will be using mixes!

One mix I quite like is Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Pancake Mix. The pancakes when piping hot are delicious. Like way better than plain boring wheat flour and they're more filling. Parker loved them, he ate 2 1/2 to himself which is 1/2 more than I ate! I bought the mix at Save-on-Foods here in town which actually has a decent GF foods section.

For breakfasts we've been having:

Breakfast Smoothie:

Blend together 1/2 banana, 1/2 cup milk, 1 tlbs cocoa powder, 1 tsp honey, 1 tlbs hemp hearts, several ice cubes, 1 tbls peanut butter, 1 tsp probiotic powder, either some spinach or a half scoop of greens plus.

Poached Eggs on a bed of Spinach:

Wilt some spinach in a tsp of olive oil with a crushed garlic clove and some red pepper flakes. Top with a poached egg and serve with GF bread.

Busy Weekend!

This weekend was a busy one for us: On Sunday we celebrated Mother's Day, my birthday and Parker's birthday with extended family. Dave's family came over for a late lunch, some cake and some celebration. We had a nice time, Parker just loves all the attention he gets when family comes over!
I decorated my first cake ever which was SOOOO hard, too sweet but super cute! I used a very yummy choclate cake (SO moist even three days later!) (from a blog who's recipes I"ve been drooling over and using for a few weeks now.) but the icing from the Wilton website was too sweet but I wasn't comfortable using a different recipe as I've never piped icing before and wasn't sure what else might work.

For my birthday I was given some money to buy something for myself and I decided to spruce up our yard. When we moved in last August the yard was disgusting, truly truly horrible looking. The people that lived here before neglected it so it was full of weeds, moss and general grossness. So we've slowly been doing our best to pretty it up little by little. We've been picking out the weeds so there's actual grass that's growing (still not perfect but useable!), put in a sandbox and a playhouse for Parky and put in a garden box which I'm very excited about!  We've got one long garden box along our fence and have another one that we're going to take apart and rebuild into two smaller boxes for cucumbers, zucchini, etc. Plus we have several pepper, tomatoe, strawberry, raspberry, mint and catnip plants growing in containers.

My adirondak chair that I'm in the process of painting purple:

My garden box with medicinal herbs, culinary herbs, garlic, shallots, brocolli and lettuces:

Parker's little sandbox area. We're hoping to find some cheap or free lattice to hide the under the deck part and then run more clematis along it:

Birthday Dinner

Oh, how I love birthday dinners! In our family, the birthday boy/girl gets to choose what's for dinner. Ally usually chooses something like hotdogs or pizza (although this year she just wanted chocolate cake) and Parker isn't really old enough to decide what he wants. So I decided to go with tacos since he enjoys those and his birthday falls on Cinco de Mayo.
Normally I just buy the tortillas but thought I'd try making them homemade. And man, was it worth it! First off, it's SO easy to make once you find the masa flour (in Nanaimo, the only place I could find it was Walmart but later a friend told me that you can get it at Taj Mahal spices on Bowen) and secondly, it tastes SO much better.

Here's a picture of the masa flour (do not use cornmeal!):

All you need to do is add some water (2 cups masa, 1 1/4 cup water) and mix until it forms a dough:

Roll it into 16 balls:

Next, place ball of dough in between two thick pieces of plastic (I cut up a ziplock bag) and either use a tortilla press or use a heavy pan to squish the dough into a thin circle. You can use a rolling pin to thin the dough out if needed:

Peel dough from the plastic and cook in a dry skillet over medium to med/high heat for 45 seconds each side. Stack tortillas and cover while cooking the rest:

How easy was that?!

Normally I make cake for birthdays but there's a new cupcake shop in town called A Wee Cupcakery that I've been dying to try.  It was yummy and the woman who worked there was really kind to us. The only thing I wished was that the cupcakes were boxed better because they were a little smooshed up when I opened it. We each chose a different flavour: Mexican Chocolate, Pink Lemonade, Triple Trouble and Coconut Vanilla. All to die for but I think the best weas the Coconut Vanilla.