Simple Balsamic Vinaigrette

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup organic balsamic vinegar
• one small pinch stevia (you can always add more later)
• 1 tablespoon chopped garlic, or 1 1/3 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 3/4 cup olive oil

Directions

Beat the vinegar in a bowl with the optional sugar, garlic, salt and pepper until sugar and salt dissolves. Then beat in the oil by droplets, whisking constantly. (Or place all the ingredients in a screw-top jar and shake to combine.) Taste and adjust the seasonings.

Christmas Ginger Snaps

Hubby's favorite.... got to make them every year! :) I think these would taste great (and look great) with a drizzle of white or cream cheese frosting... maybe even maple... does that sound weird? Well, enjoy!

Ginger Snaps

3/4 cup soft coconut oil
1 cup organic brown sugar or sucanat
1/4 cup molasses
1 free range egg
2 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
2 tsps baking soda
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cloves

Cream coconut oil and sugar/xylitol. Stir in molasses and egg. Add one cup flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves. Add remaining flour. Chill dough in freezer for 15 minutes. Shape dough into 1 inch balls and bake on greased (grapeseed oil spray) cookie sheet at 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes.

My Grandma's Favorite Sesame Seed Cookies

I make these every Christmas because they are my 86 year old Grandma's favorite. In fact, she gave me the recipe. They are a pain in the butt but look gorgeous! :) Grandma is worth it. This recipe makes a ton of cookies, you may want to cut it in half. Thanks to my friend Cynthia for helping with these today!

Sesame Seed Italian Cookies

2 cups organic cane sugar or xylitol
2 cups coconut oil
6 free range eggs
1 cup raw milk
8 tsps organic vanilla extract
8 cups whole wheat flour
12 tsps baking powder
sesame seeds

Cream sugar and coconut oil. Add eggs, milk and vanilla. Add flour and baking powder. Make dough soft in your hands, rolling into your desired shape. Dip in milk and roll in sesame seeds. Bake at 425 degrees for 5-8 minutes or until lightly browned.

Turkey Tetrazzini

Do you have leftover turkey from Thanksgiving? Try this yummy dish :) Can be gluten free! I guess it should be categorized as "easy" if I can make it with an 8 month old on my hip?

1 tsp grapeseed oil
10 ounces sliced organic white mushrooms (optional)
1 onion, chopped
1/2 tsp each sea salt and pepper
3 tbsps whole wheat flour or tapioca starch for gluten free
2 1/2 cups free range chicken broth
1 cup raw milk
2 cups cooked organic turkey
1 package organic frozen peas
1 package wheat or rice pasta

Heat oil over medium heat. Cook onions and mushrooms until tender. Add seat salt and pepper. Add flour or starch and stir. Add broth, mixing for a few minutes and add milk. Mix in peas and turkey and heat until warm. Serve over cooked pasta.

How To Make Your Own Shampoo

Ok... homemade shampoo? I know what you are thinking! I searched and searched for a recipe online for a homemade shampoo that didn't involve washing your hair with one thing, then spraying it with apple cider vinegar... ick. I found this- and after a long search for glycerin (which I stumbled upon without trying at Tops), I gave it a try. My husband loves it. I am not a huge fan :) Seemed too greasy for me, but hey, you might like it. He likes it, and I'll continue to make it for him. It only took 5 minutes.

1/4 cup of castile soap- Dr Bronners
1/4 cup distilled water (or just regular purified water)
1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp glycerin

Mix in an empty bottle and shake lightly :)

Almond Squares, Christmas recipe #4!

Almond Square- another one of my Aunt's famous recipes! :)

2 sticks of melted butter (I used organic)
3 eggs (free range is best!)
2 tbsp Almond extract (pure)--- oops I thought it said tsp when I made mine and it turned out great still!
2 cups sugar (I used 1/2 cup raw honey and 3/4 cup cane sugar)
2 cups flour (I used whole wheat)
Sliced or chopped almonds

Mix first four ingredients by hand. Fold in flour. Pour into a 9 by 13 baking dish (greased with grapeseed oil spray). Sprinkle with almonds and powdered cane sugar. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Brown top under broiler (oops I forgot this step too!) for approximately 3 minutes. Keep a close eye on it so you don't burn it!!

I was thinking this base would be fun to experiment with- maybe lemon extract in place of almond topped with walnuts and cranberries? Or fold in some apples and cinnamon... just thinking out loud. :)

Meatball Cookies, Christmas Cookie #3!

When I got married, my Aunt gifted me a pizzelle maker and a homemade recipe book full of all our favorite (and her famous!) Christmas cookies! Every year, we indulge! I would like to share a few with you, starting with these delicious chocolate meatball cookies. Alter them to your liking- I cut down on the sugar a little for mine.

Meatball Cookies

3 cups flour (I used whole wheat)
1 cup sugar (I used 1/4 cup cane sugar and 1/2 cup raw honey)
1 cup cocoa
1/2 cup oil (I used coconut)
1 cup milk
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp allspice
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup semi sweet or dark chocolate chips

Mix oil and sugar. Add cocoa and mix again. Add milk and dry ingredients, mix and add chocolate chips. Roll into meatball shapes. (Make sure you cover all of the chocolate chips with cookie dough) Place onto lightly greased (grapeseed oil spray) cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for about 8 minutes. Glaze when cool, if desired.

Glaze: Mix 2 cups confectioners sugar (you can use organic powdered sugar) with 1 tsp vanilla. Add enough milk or water to make glaze of spreading consistency.

*They sure look nicer when frosted, but certainly don't need it as they are so yummy just by themselves!

Homemade Raw Milk Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

We love making homemade, healthy ice creams in our Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker that was gifted to us! This recipe is super yummy, and fun for this time of year too!

2 cups organic heavy cream, well chilled
1 cup raw milk, well chilled
3/4 cup organic cane sugar or xylitol
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons mint extract
1/2-3/4 cup cup chopped dark chocolate chunks

Turn ice cream maker on and pour each ingredient in through the top spout. Let churn for 15-20 minutes, and freeze until solid.

Veggie Dip

CREAMY GREEN VEGGIE DIP

Read more about it at www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,2215,158180-235200,00.html Content Copyright © 2010 Cooks.com - All rights reserved. 1/2 cup organic sour cream 1/2 cup mixed herbs, such as, parsley, chives and dill 1/3 cup grapeseed oil vegenaise 1 tbsp. apple cider vinegar 1/2 tsp. sea salt 1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper 12 oz organic cream cheese, room temperature Assorted vegetables, such as, baby carrots, sliced bell peppers, cucumbers In blender, process sour cream, herbs, vegenaise, 2 tablespoons water, vinegar, salt, and cayenne pepper until smooth and pale green. Cut cream cheese into chunks. Add to blender, one at a time, processing until smooth. Transfer mix to serving bowl. Serve with fresh vegetables.

Cranberry Walnut Apple Bread- Whole Wheat

Cranberry Walnut Apple Bread

• 16 Servings
• Prep: 10 min. Bake: 1 hour + cooling

Ingredients

• 1-1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 3/4 cup raw honey
  
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 2 free range eggs
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil
• 2 cups chopped peeled tart organic apples
• 1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Directions

• In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda and salt;. In a small bowl, whisk eggs, honey and oil. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened (batter will be very thick). Fold in apples, cranberries and walnuts.
• Transfer to an 8-in. x 4-in. loaf pan coated with grapeseed oil spray. Bake at 350° for 60-65 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack to cool completely. Yield: 1 loaf (16 slices).

Newest Project :)

This is the latest project I've embarked on.... and I love it. It is so frugal and even fun. We love having a regular roasted chicken for dinner, and of course delicious homemade soup on these cold days! Learn how you can stretch a whole chicken for 4+ meals here:


http://www.passionatehomemaking.com/2010/11/stretching-a-whole-chicken-for-4-meals.html

There are also recipes for roasting the chicken, making homemade gravy, homemade stock and more!

Raspberry Shortbread Thumbprints, Christmas Cookie #2!

Raspberry Shortbread Thumbprints (a favorite in our house!)

2/3 cup of organic cane sugar
1 cup softened organic butter
1/2 teaspoon organic vanilla extract (why I use organic vanilla- because non-organic contains a lot of EXTRAS. Check next time you buy, you'll see!)
2 cups unbleached white wheat flour
1/2 cup organic raspberry fruit jam (or other fruit)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, spray cookie sheets with grapeseed oil spray. Beat sugar, butter and vanilla in a large bowl. Add flour and mix well. Shape dough into 1 inch balls. Place balls 2 inches apart on cookie sheets. Make thumbprints in each ball and fill with 1/4 teaspoon jam. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until edges are slightly browned.

Dark Chocolate Mint Crinkles, Christmas Cookie #1!

• 1 cups whole wheat flour, 1 cup unbleached white wheat flour
  
• 1 cup unsweetened dark cocoa powder
• 1cup organic cane sugar
• 1/3 cup raw honey
  
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup coconut oil
  
• 4 free range eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon mint extract
• 1/2 cup organic powdered sugar

1. In a medium bowl, mix together cocoa, sugar, honey and oil. Beat in eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla and mint. Combine the flours, baking powder, and salt; stir into the cocoa mixture. Cover dough, and chill for at least 2 hours.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Spray cookie sheets with grapeseed oil spray. Roll dough into one inch balls. Coat each ball in powdered sugar before placing onto prepared cookie sheets.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 10 to 12 minutes.

For The Love of Christmas Cookies :)

Don't you just love Christmastime?! This year my baking goals are at least 4 different kinds of Christmas cookies, converted to healthier versions. Christmas is just about the only time of year I use sugar and don't care about it (well, cane sugar).... I haven't yet been able to stock up with bulk xylitol, and spending $9/lb at our local grocery store just isn't going to happen this year. So can sugar it is. And raw honey too, of course. Anyway, it's hard for me to say no to sweets this time of year (I sure wish I had when I get sick in January... ) :) so I'll just make a few "healthier" versions of some of our favorite cookies. Stay tuned for some yummy recipes.

Brittany's Sweet Potato Shepherds Pie

This dish is very yummy and very creative! We loved it! I even used organic ground turkey in place of beef, and organic chicken broth in place of the wine (because I didn't have those two things on hand) and it worked beautifully. My one permanent change is the earth balance butter, I prefer not to use that, so I just use real organic butter :) You could use coconut oil if you needed it dairy free!

Try it! So good!

http://realsustenance.com/recipes/sweet-potato-shepherds-pie/

Dark Chocolate "Picnic Cake"

I made this cake yesterday on a whim. It was a Hershey's recipe, that I converted. My best friend approved of it, (not knowing it was healthier) :) and if you knew her and her sweet tooth, you'd know that that says a lot! We thought it was delicious. I think it would taste great using extra extracts in the cake and/or the frosting too, such as mint or maybe some peanut butter frosting. :) Here's the recipe for a "healthier" chocolate cake:

1 cup dark chocolate chips
1/2 stick organic butter
1 1/3 cups boiling water
2 1/3 cups whole wheat flour
3/4 cup raw honey
1/2 cup organic sour cream
2 free range eggs
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon organic vanilla extract

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare baking pan (with grapeseed oil spray)- I used a bundt pan for fun! Combine chocolate chips, butter and water in your mixing bowl; stir with a spoon until chocolate is melted and mixture is blended. Gradually add flour, honey, sour cream, eggs, baking soda, salt and vanilla; beat on low speed of electric mixer until smooth. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 30-40 minutes (depending on your pan), until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool and frost.

Dark Chocolate Frosting

1/2 stick organic butter
1 cup dark chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups powdered xylitol or powdered organic cane sugar
1/4 cup raw milk
1/2 teaspoon organic vanilla extract

Place butter and chocolate chips in a pan and heat to medium low heat until melted, stirring almost constantly. Place remaining ingredients in a glass mixing bowl. Pour chocolate mixture into bowl and beat until smooth. Refrigerate 15-20 minutes if needed before frosting cooled cake.

Homemade Baby Wipe Solution

This is a recipe you can use with cloth wipes, or make your own disposable wipes with it and paper towels or something similar. It works great!

2 cups purified water
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons baby soap (such as Burts Bees or Dr Bronners works well too)

or

2 cups purified water
2 tablespoons olive oil (etc)
several drops tea tree essential oil

I mix the ingredients together in my squirty bottle (an old seventh generation dish soap bottle) and shake. So simple and easy. I know what is in it, and what is going on my baby's skin. Just shake before use, and squirt onto cloth wipes. You can also pour it over your wipes/paper towels in an old wipe tub, dispensing as needed. Just be sure to check for mold often.
I also found this website, that I thought had some fun wipe solution ideas: http://www.zany-zebra.com/cloth-wipe-solution.shtml

Have fun experimenting with essential oils!

Homemade Laudry Soap

My experimenting lately has been with personal care and home care products. I got this fabulous Dr. Bronner's soap, and this is just one of the zillion things you can do with it. I love the way it smells! (I used the almond scented soap)

Homemade Laundry Detergent

Recipe adapted from Green Clean by Linda Hunter

1 cup castile liquid soap (Dr. Bronner’s or Mountain Rose Herbs are good choices as they are organic and main ingredients are coconut oil & olive oil) OR Dr. Bronner’s Sal Suds
2 cups water
1/3 cup salt
1 cup baking soda or washing soda
vinegar

Warm the salt and baking soda in water until mostly dissolved. Transfer to a one gallon container. Add your soap fill the rest of the jar with water, this giving you 1 gallon of detergent. Use 1/4 -1/2 cup per load, depending upon how dirty the load is. Add a tablespoon or two of vinegar to your wash during the rinse cycle. This works as an effective fabric softener and disinfectant. Depending upon the hardness of your water, you may want to decrease the water quantity or increase the soap quantity.

Please note: do not add essential oils to your detergent. These oils will break down the fiber in your clothing. If you want a particular fragrance, try putting a few drops of essential oils on a rag and throwing it in the dryer. This will add fragrance but not transfer to your clothing.

Review: This recipe does clean very well, although I was not impressed by the cleaning job it did on my cloth diapers. Hard to give an exact price calculation on this one, but I figured this recipe makes enough detergent for 64 loads (at 1/4 cup per load) and with the ingredients costing no more than $4.00 (on the generous side), your total cost is most likely less than $0.06 per load

Dana's notes: I got this from passionatehomemaking.com and I happen to think it works just fine on my cloth diapers. :)

Homemade Toothpaste

Yes, I said it- Homemade toothpaste! Buying fluoride free toothpaste can be expensive. We ran out, and I realized after looking at this recipe that I already had all of the ingredients. So I gave it a try. For a homemade toothpaste, it's not half bad! Give it a try. And just a tip, xylitol is a great sweetener for toothpaste, because it is actually really good for your teeth anyway!

http://www.oldpathsfamilyfarm.net/blog/2008/04/04/yummy-homemade-toothpaste/

So you can use stevia or xylitol...

Good for you for giving it a try! ;)

PESTO!

Fresh Basil Pesto Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan-Reggiano or Romano cheese
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/3 cup pine nuts or walnuts (I used walnuts)
  
• 3 medium sized garlic cloves
  
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Method

1 Combine the basil in with the pine nuts, pulse a few times in a food processor. (If you are using walnuts instead of pine nuts and they are not already chopped, pulse them a few times first, before adding the basil.) Add the garlic, pulse a few times more.

2 Slowly add the olive oil in a constant stream while the food processor is on. Stop to scrape down the sides of the food processor with a rubber spatula. Add the grated cheese and pulse again until blended. Add a pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Makes 1 cup.

Serve with pasta, or over baked potatoes, or spread over toasted baguette slices. Yummy!