All Purpose Cleaner

This homemade Cleaner is fantastic! I use it in my tub, sinks and toilets. I have even used it to get tough stains off of my counters and kitchen table. You can practically use it anywhere. It takes minutes to make and one batch lasts me about 3 weeks. Stick to making small batches as the paste will dry out after a few weeks.

What you'll Need:

3/4 cup baking soda
1/4 cup castile soap (you can find this at most health food stores and in the organic sections of many large grocery stores)
1 tbsp. water
1 tbsp. vinegar

 

Make it:

 1. Mix the baking soda and castile soap.

 2. Add the water and stir with a fork.

 3. Add the vinegar and mix.

Store in a container with a tight lid. If you go to use it and it had dried out...simply add some water and mix it up.

Chia Seed Pudding

Cha cha cha chia. Sorry I couldn't help myself. Yes, today I made pudding out of chia seeds. Who knew they not only make growable pets, but they are good for you too!

I am feeling nostalgic today so check out this Chia Pet video.

Okay, back on topic. Did you know Chia seeds contain,

• 15 x more magnesium than broccoli
• 7 x more vitamin C than oranges
• 6 x more calcium than milk
• 3 x more antioxidants than blueberries
• 3 x more iron than spinach

WOW!

Time to make some pudding.

What You'll Need

3/4 cup of chia seeds (you can buy these almost anywhere now - bulk barn, grocery stores)

2 cups of almond milk (to make your own, check out my homemade almond milk recipe)

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup unsweetened coconut, finely shredded

1 Tbsp honey

Make It

Just dump all ingredients in a bowl, mix it up and let it set for a few minutes. It's that easy. The chia seeds absorb the liquids and they become almost jelly-like. Within minutes, it will be ready for you to gobble up.

Eat right away or place the pudding in the fridge for later.



Bagels

I have recently re-kindled my love for fresh homemade bread. My poor bread maker had spent roughly a year in my basement, but in the last few weeks has made my family 4 different loaves.

As my house was filling with the smell of baking bread last week, I began to think about the other types of carbs my family enjoys. Bagels are definitely up there on the priority list, though it had never crossed my mind to make my own...until now.

Besides the fabulous smell of bread baking in your oven and the chewy texture of this recipe, I was completely surprised as to how easy bagels from scratch were.

What You'll Need

4 cups bread flour

1 Tbs sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt

1 Tbs coconut oil, melted (vegetable oil works too)

2 tsp instant yeast

1-1/4- 1-1/2 cups of warm water.

Make Them

Mix the yeast and water together and set aside. Once all of the other ingredients are mixed, add the water and yeast combination and mix well. I prefer to mix this type of dough with my hands.

Place the dough onto the counter and knead it until it is nice and smooth. This should take about 10 minutes.

Separate the dough into 8 equal sized portions and roll them into balls. Allow them to sit for about 20 minutes. Pre-heat your oven to 425 degrees F.

Check out this video on rolling bagels. I'm pretty sure I didn't look like this when I shaped my bagels, but the more you do it, the easier it gets. Maybe one day I will be this efficient.

Roll out each ball into a snake-like line.

Wrap the dough around your hand and give it a roll to create a circle.

Let your bagels rest on the counter for about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, bring a pot of water to boil. Once your bagels have sat for 20 minutes, and the water in the pot is boiling, it's time to boil your bagels. This is the step I had no idea existed when it came to making bagels. From what I have read, boiling bagels allows the crust to be thicker and chewier therefore, the longer you boil them, the thicker and chewier they'll be. Generally, you should boil your bagels for 30-60 seconds each side.

So, place the bagels into the boiling water, wait about a minute, flip them and wait another minute before taking them out.

Once the bagels are boiled, slightly dry them and then place them on an oiled cookie sheet. I used coconut oil, but vegetable oil would work too.

You can top your bagels with whatever toppings you'd like. I used sesame seeds on half of mine but you can also used chopped onion, poppy seeds or whatever else you can think up. I think next time I will add more toppings. I found many of them fell off in the baking process.

Place the cookie sheet in the oven, and after 8-10 minutes, flip the bagels over, bake for another 8-10 minutes. That's it, they're done!

Let them cool for about 20 minutes and then enjoy.
Try making some homemade cream cheese to spread on these chewy bagels.

Recipe originally found at Homemade Bagels.

Cream Cheese

Why not?

Why not make your own cream cheese?

How hard can it be?

As it turns out, it isn't hard at all. All you need is whipping cream and lemon juice. What?

Try it now. You will not be disappointed.

What you'll need

2 cups whipping cream

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Make It

Line a strainer with cheese cloth. Set the strainer over a bowl and set aside.

Make sure you have 3-4 layers of cheesecloth.

Heat the cream to 190 degrees F, over medium heat. Stir constantly.

Add the lemon juice and continue stirring.

The cream will eventually thicken up and should cover the back of a wooden spoon like in the above picture.  Remove the pot from the burner and let it cool for about 25 minutes.

Pour the cooled cream into the strainer, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator. Leave it in the fridge for about 8-10 hours or over night. Discard the liquid in the bottom of the bowl. Place the drained cream cheese into an airtight container and keep it in the fridge.

Now spread your cream cheese on a bagel and enjoy.

Recipe originally from http://www.mywoodenspoon.net/2012/09/diy-cream-cheese.html#.UFY_OtVB0_w

Room Spray

In the past year or so, I have rid my house of pretty much all chemically infused products. For most of my cleaning, I use vinegar and/or baking soda. I have now gotten so that whenever I smell heavy perfumes or air fresheners, I almost gag. Ewww.

However, I still have moments where I feel my house could use a little spritzing up...especially after we have had a strong smelling dinner.

Here's a quick and easy recipe for a homemade room spray.

What You'll Need

1 shot of vodka

1 cup of water

Your favourite essential oils

* I didn't specify the amount of essential oils because some people like strong smells and others like mild smells. It also depends on the type of oils you decide to use. Some are much stronger than others.

Make It

All you have to do is mix the vodka, water and essential oils together in a spray bottle, give it a little shake and you're ready to go.

When the mixture sits still, it separates a little so make sure you shake the bottle every time you use your room spray.

Zucchini Cakes

Okay, so here's the deal. I absolutely love zucchini but my kids absolutely hate it. This is a huge problem. They like zucchini bread and will choke down zucchini in stir fries with more than enough complaints. When I found this recipe, I almost didn't try it because I don't enjoy watching my kids suffer while eating dinner. However, at the time I had bowl full of ripe zucchini from the garden that needed immediate consumption. I decided to go for it. It was a hit for my husband and myself and the kids didn't complain. In fact, I think they kind of liked it.

If you're in the same situation with picky eaters or if you just want to try something different, give this recipe a try.

What you'll need

1 large (or 2 medium) zucchini, grated
1 egg
1 cup panko bread crumbs
Salt/pepper to taste
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated (I used kraft cheese this time, but in the future will use freshly grated Parmesan Reggiano...yum)
Chopped oregano and thyme
1 clove of garlic

Make it

Place zucchini in a food processor and grate into small pieces.

Remove excess liquid from freshly grated zucchini by placing them between paper towels and squeezing.
In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients. Mix thoroughly.

Heat a large pan on medium. Heat a teaspoon of coconut oil or butter. Shape spoonfuls of the zucchini batter into 2-inch (diameter) patties. Don't make the patties too thick or they will not cook on the inside. Drop patties onto the hot pan.

Cook each side for about a minute and a half, or until the outside is golden brown.

Finish the cakes off in the oven by placing them on a baking pan and broil for 1-2 minutes.

You can eat them just like this or top them with your choice of sauce. I love sour cream, so we used a small dollop on each patty...yum!

Roasted Duck

As I am writing this post, our Canadian Thanksgiving weekend is coming to an end. Tomorrow we all go back to work and start counting down the weeks until Christmas (well, at least I do). In case you were wondering, there are only 12 weeks until Christmas. Ahhhhh! I have so much to do!

Anyways, today I wanted to share with you something I tried out for the first time ever. Last night, for Thanksgiving, I roasted a duck! I've done turkey and chicken many times and was ready for something different, so when the opportunity presented itself to me to purchase a duck from a local farm, I went for it. I was a little nervous about this venture partly because I was making this meal for a bunch of people (not just my little family) and also because I have heard that duck can be quite greasy and gamy. I really didn't want to mess it up.

I did some research on line and found this great recipe with step by step instructions on how to roast your duck without the greasiness and gaminess. Here is the link...

http://www.thehungrymouse.com/2009/02/11/the-best-way-to-roast-a-duck-hello-crispy-skin/

I am not going to re-write the recipe because I did exactly what the above website tells you to do and the duck turned out great!!! I urge you to try this.

Though I am not typing the recipe here, I have posted pictures of Puddles (yes, our duck had a name) journey to crispiness.

This was after I cut off all excess fat.

The scored duck. I think I cut it a bit too deep, but it turned out just as well.

After one hour in the oven.

After 2 hours in the oven. This is the backside of the bird.

After 3 hours in the oven.

Plated and ready to be eaten. We had much more meat than what is in this picture but we were getting too hungry to spend the time getting ALL the meat off.

Again, I urge you to give this a try. You will be pleasantly surprised by how tasty it is and how easy the process is. Go on, get yourself some duck!

Avocado & Banana Chocolate Pudding

Okay, so I am completely and utterly in love with avocados. In my mind, they go with just about everything. They are great on salads, burgers and sandwiches. They make fantastic guacamole and creamy salad dressing. And now, they make pudding...yes, I said pudding.

 

The best part is how quick and easy this recipe is.

Check this out...

All you need is...

2 ripe avocados

2 bananas

4 tsp. of unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tsp. vanilla

sweetener (optional) - you can use honey, agave nectar or anything you sweeten your food with

What to do...

Cut open the avocados, scoop out all the deliciousness and place it in a food processor.

Add the bananas to the avocados.

Turn on the food processor and mix until it is nice and creamy.

At this point, you could leave it and eat as is.

However, if you love chocolate like I do, continue on with the recipe.

Add the vanilla, cocoa powder and sweetener to the food processor and blend it up until it is evenly distributed. Check the pudding before serving to make sure you have reached a consistency and flavour that you prefer.



You can eat it right away or chill it, covered, in the fridge. I recommend not leaving it in the fridge for too long as a thin skin will start to form on the top.

Now, grab a spoon and dig in!

Almond Milk

Ever wonder how to make your own almond milk? Well, look no further. This is the easiest recipe ever!! All you need are almonds and water.

Most store bought almond milks add sugar, salt, flavouring and preservatives. This recipe will taste a little different because they are without all of those extra ingredients.

Okay, here's what you need to do...

Soak 1 cup of almonds in water overnight.

Make sure you put them in a large bowl and completely cover them with water.

The next day, rinse the almonds with water a few times.

This takes away some of the bitterness that the almonds may have.

Next, put the almonds and about 4 cups of water into a food processor.

Blend them up until the almond pieces are nice and small and the water has turned milky.

To filter the almond pieces out of the milk, I use a hemp sprouting bag, but I'm sure you could use almost anything like cheese cloth or any type of fabric bag.

Place the bag or filtering cloth inside the jar you are planning on storing the milk in.

Pour the milk into the bag. Once the jar has filled up, take the bag out and squeeze the remaining milk out.

You now have fresh, ready to use almond milk.

After the milk has sat in the fridge for a while, the liquid will start to separate, so make sure you give it a little shake before every use.

At this point, you may be wondering what to do with the remaining ground almonds. There are many ways to use these leftovers.

You can dry them and sprinkle them on cereal, yogurt or salads. You could find a cookie recipe that calls for ground almonds. Or, you could make these fantastic crackers as seen in the picture below.

Here's the website to the recipe...

http://www.elanaspantry.com/vegan-almond-pulp-crackers/

Vinyl Bowl

Spring cleaning has begun in our house house this weekend. It's funny how some time off of work + some rainy weather = purging. I love it!

Among our household rejects, I found a pile of old records that were too scratched to play (yes, I own and use a record player). What a waste to just throw them in the garbage. Why not make something fun out of them? How about bowls?

You're going to be surprised as to how simple making a bowl out of an old record is.

First, set the record on an upside down, oven safe bowl. Put the bowl and vinyl in the oven on the lowest temperature possible. I also recommend placing the bowl on a cookie sheet. This merely makes it easier to get the bowl out of the oven when the melting is complete.

Keep an eye on the record as it melts. It only takes a few minutes.

Once the record is drooping onto the bowl, take it out of the oven. Carefully take the record off the bowl using oven mitts. Then, flip the bowl over and put the record inside the bowl.

Place the bowl back into the oven. Wait a minute or two and then try to push the album further down into the bowl until you have transformed the vinyl into a bowl itself.

Once the vinyl is shaped the way you like, take it out and let it cool on the counter, keeping it in the bowl.

Once it is cool, you can use it to hold anything.