We are all inventors, each sailing out on a voyage of discovery, guided each by a private chart, of which there is no duplicate. The world is all gates, all opportunities.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Showing posts with label Tutorial Tuesday. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tutorial Tuesday. Show all posts

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Tutorial Tuesday: Homemade Herbal Salve

I mentioned in an earlier post about the salve I made for my dad this summer, but never typed up a tutorial. Well, since it was time to make a new batch, I figured I'd take new photos and post the recipe. It's surprisingly easy, and this salve can be used on wounds, diaper rash, sore nipples when breast feeding, and chapped lips/skin. Making it at home saves so much money and makes quite a lot. Also, with how versatile it is, we don't buy diaper creams or chap stick much any more.


Ingredients: Extra virgin olive oil, dried herbs and any additives. I forgot about my vitamin E and tea tree oil (both for healing and prolonging shelf life) until the last minute and added them before finishing, so that's why they aren't pictured.

To get a really great salve, you don't have to put anything other than oil and herbs, I just know this combo is super healing and we love it.

Close up of dried chamomile

And dried calendula. Both these herbs are really inexpensive and pack lots of benefits.

Over medium heat, add a large handful of each herb to your oil.
Heat until gently bubbling. Simmer for 5-10 minutes until herbs change color. You don't want to cook the herbs, just infuse the oil with the properties they carry.
Turn off heat immediately and strain. Be careful, it will be HOT!

Strain hot oil through cheesecloth or sieve into a clean container.
The reason I don't let it cool is so I can use the warmth of the oil to melt the beeswax.



Add 2 Tbs of beeswax for every ounce of oil and whisk in quickly to melt.


This is the point where I added 1/2 tsp each of tea tree oil and vitamin E.

To test the consistency of your salve, dip the back of a spoon into your oil and swipe a swatch of salve on a small piece of wax paper.
It will cool in seconds and you can add more beeswax if you want the mixture thicker.
TOP: First swatch. A bit too thin.
BOTTOM: Second swatch after adding a bit more beeswax. Perfect.

I bought a small candy tin because it was the perfect size for keeping salve in the diaper bag for any rashes during changes away from home. I had wanted to spray paint it a different color, but didn't get around to it. Oh well, it's diaper cream in disguise :)

Ladle your still warm salve into clean containers and leave it to cool completely before replacing the lids.
All done! 1 and a half jars of salve to ship to my dad and one travel sized tin for Baby Boy's diaper bag.


FUN FACTS:
Excerpt from Wikipedia- Calendula in suspension or in tincture is used topically to treat acne, reducing inflammation, controlling bleeding and soothing irritated tissue.


Go to this site to read about the many wonderful benefits of Chamomile when used topically or internally. 

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Tutorial Tuesday: Tasty Food on a Budget

Like many families, we're on a tight budget for, well everything. I've shared some of my deals when it comes to shopping, but today I wanted to write about serving your family tasty food even on a budget. It can be done!

Hubby could do with less flavorful food, because he doesn't complain much. But I must have flavor. If flavor isn't throwing a party on my food, I am not satisfied! Invest in spices and whatever savory veggie your family favors. We like garlic and onions.

Remember the pork chops from the other day? Well, I want to show you what I do to make it stretch by using one pork chop for an entire meal, but while still giving us a variety of flavor.



I love to marinate meat of all kinds in whatever we have on hand. Here's how it usually goes:
-In a large zip top bag, throw in your marinade ingredients. For this, it was a tablespoon of minced garlic, about 1/2 cup of soy sauce and a few teaspoons of grape jelly.

-Massage the bag for wet ingredients, shake for dry ingredients, until well blended. 

-Toss in the meat. Seal the bag with as little air in it as possible and turn it over a few times to make sure all of the meat gets coated. 

-Place in the fridge for 1 hour or overnight. Even 30 min will make a difference.




I took two others and tossed ingredients for dry rubs into the bags, added the meat and massaged the spices in.
I ended up with the beginning of 3 meals for us.
Top to bottom:
Lemon pepper, turmeric and paprika dry rub
Soy sauce, grape jelly, and minced garlic
Salt, pepper and garlic powder dry rub


So now I have the main ingredient to 3 dinners with distinctly different flavor partays. Oh yeah.

I will usually take meat that's marinaded over night and slice it up for a stir fry with veggies, or maybe fried rice or whatever else I'm in the mood to make at the moment. The options are endless and only limited by your imagination.

The trick, as many of my fabulous fellow SAHMs know, is to flesh out whatever meal you make with cheap but filling items like rice, bread, potatoes and/or lots of veggies. That way you have enough for everyone and everyone gets full, without emptying your pocket book.

As for my seemingly odd spice combos, I like to throw things together trusting my knowledge on the flavors and what I know we like. Try it, you'll be surprised at how great things turn out when you trust your preferences. It might be a total failure at first, but forget what's popular, trust your tastes and do what works for your family. Once you get more comfortable with the flavors usually stocked in your cabinets, you'll be ready to rock every meal!

Wishing you many tasty meals, Beauties!

Monday, August 16, 2010

Tutorial Tuesday: Molasses Cookies

So a little bit ago, I tried my hand at homemade sparkling sugar and a homemade allspice substitute (found in this post). The following is the tutorial for the yummy cookies I needed those ingredients for!

I used this recipe for my first try at Molasses Cookies.

Prep: 15 min.; Cook: 11 min. per batch; Other: 1 hr.
Yield: Makes 3 dozen

Ingredients

  • 3/4  cup  shortening
  • 1  cup  granulated sugar
  • 1  large egg
  • 1/4  cup  molasses
  • 2  cups  all-purpose flour
  • 1  teaspoon  baking powder
  • 1  teaspoon  baking soda
  • 1/4  teaspoon  salt
  • 1  teaspoon  ground ginger
  • 1  teaspoon  ground cinnamon
  • 1/2  teaspoon  ground nutmeg
  • 1/4  teaspoon  ground cloves
  • 1/4  teaspoon  ground allspice
  • 1  cup  sparkling sugar

Preparation

1. Beat shortening at medium speed with an electric mixer until fluffy. Gradually add 1 cup granulated sugar, beating well. Add egg and molasses; beat well.
2. Combine flour and next 8 ingredients, stirring well. Add one-fourth of flour mixture at a time to shortening mixture, beating at low speed after each addition until blended. Cover and chill 1 hour.
3. Shape dough into 1-inch balls, and roll in sparkling sugar. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets.
4. Bake at 375° for 9 to 11 minutes. (Tops will crack.) Remove to wire racks to cool completely.



Mix up the batter according to instructions.


Let a very dedicated helper taste it to make sure it's perfect.


Get greedy and plop ice cream scoop sized cookies on the pan and sadly watch them blend together in the oven.


First batch. Left them in too long (because they didn't look done to me) and made them too big.


Second batch. Almost perfect timing, but the cookies were still too big. Argh.


Final batch. Ok, so the recipe was right, drop tiny nearly one inch cookies on the pan and they'll spread out to perfectly respectable cookie size.


As for the previous batches, I used a pizza cutter on one pan.


And broke the other pan of cookies apart by hand. I liked the way the broken ones looked.


But the important thing to remember, is that no matter their shape......


Your little helper (who has by now removed his batter splashed shirt) will love them.


Enjoy your beautiful Tuesday!

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Tutorial Tuesday: Cucumber Sandwiches

I found this recipe at AngelFire.com and had to try it. I bought the basket of cucumbers the other day in the hope of making cucumber sammich, as Baby Boy says. Now that I have a package of neufchatel cheese in my fridge, it's the perfect time! Mmmmm...
As I gathered my ingredients, I wondered if there were any way to spice it up. A quick google search yielded the recipe below and I realized something mind blowing: I've been making the boring version my whole life! What I usually do is spread some cream cheese on the bread, slap on thinly sliced cucumbers and voila: Cucumber sandwich. Right? Oh no. This "Best Cucumber Sandwich" recipe is much more fabulous than that. I was already in love with my plain version, but this! This is a cuke sandwich symphony! I love to have hot tea around 3PM every day and this sandwich with tea is a perfect combo.

Here's the recipe as I found it along with my photos:

Best Cucumber Sandwiches




1 medium cucumber
1/2 cp. cider vinegar
1 cup water

8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened (lite is good)
1/4 cp. mayonnaise
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. onion salt
dash Worcestershire
1 loaf sliced, firm-textured bread
garnish-thinly sliced pimento-stuffed green olives or paprika

Score cucumber lengthwise with fork (for looks) and slice thin.



In medium bowl, combine vinegar and water, add cucumber slices; let stand at room temp. at
least 30 min.



Drain WELL.



Meanwhile, combine cream cheese, mayo, garlic powder,
 onion salt and Worcestershire.



Cut bread slices into rounds




(or any shape you want, with a cookie cutter) and spread with cream cheese mixture. Top each with a slice of cucumber.










Shortly before serving


top with olive slice or paprika, or both.







Makes about 48 round tea sandwiches.



You can also add a little dab of cream cheese/mayo and top with a baby shrimp.



Note:  To make these the night before, cover with SLIGHTLY damp paper towels, then




cover the whole plate with foil. Keep in fridge and they'll be just great. 


Yum! You can see I didn't have the heart to waste the crusts. Baby Boy and I liked them just fine.

He got to chomp on the pretty one for the first photos.

Even after making all those sandwiches, I had one layer of cucumber slices left. So, I wrapped this plate in foil, as is and placed it in the fridge for tomorrow.
I don't think I can go back to my plain old cucumber sandwiches after this!

Have you found a twist on an old favorite?

Linking to:

Photobucket

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Tutorial Tuesday: How to Split and Repot a Spider Plant 8/03/2010

Having never owned a spider plant before, I used this eHow article to split and repot my spider plant. I had been eagerly awaiting little root systems to start branching out on the 'babies' and was so happy to see them appear this week!



Thinking all I had to do was break off a few babies and pot them, I was surprised to find through my online research that there is so much more to it than that.  Apparently, when a spider plant outgrows it's container or becomes 'root bound' with the roots forming a tight tangled mass, it will ensure survival by creating little replicas of itself (the babies). My plant abounded with babies when we brought it home from the store so it is past due for repotting!


Before repotting.



I have a terra cotta pot, so before anything else, it needed to be washed an soaked in water for an hour. Great tip from the article! I never would have known that.


Before washing.

I found these good sized pots at a landscaper's flea market booth selling these by the truckload. A great deal at 3 for $2!



Poor thing! It's almost all root and no soil.



A little section of a coffee filter to cover the hole in the terra cotta pot, letting the soil breathe and drain while keeping all of it in the pot.
I was repotting my new african violet as well, as you can tell by the pot on the right already equipped with my homemade drainage.



I ran out of potting soil mid procedure! What chagrin (alright, maybe it was more like panic) filled my green loving soul as I realized my newly split spider plants might die a horrible death. Then, my wonderful man rode his motorcycle to pick up some more potting soil. My hero!



One inch of potting soil on the bottom before adding the plant and filling the sides and surface with more soil.



After a thorough watering, here are my 'new' spider plants, looking much more comfortable in their spacious containers. I now have 5 total! Aren't plants amazing?
I was particularly proud of the blue baskets turned planters, which were a Dollar Tree find I was saving for a master bedroom project. Ah well. I was out of pots and my spider plants needed containers! I lined two baskets with spanish moss, which I use as a mulch on a few ever thirsty plants to hold in moisture. A layer of soil on the moss lining, followed by the plant, followed by more top soil and I had new containers. I truly hope the spider plants thrive in these baskets. I have no idea if they will. We'll see!



The rest of my repotted spider plants and my repotted African violets.
 I can't wait until my repotted plants have really begun to flourish. Once I'm certain they're doing well in their new containers, I will definitely be rotating them in the house and outdoors like the rest of my happy green things.



After all that, I just had to break off one of the many babies and put it in a glass of water to (hopefully) propagate. I've never done any of this so, even though I now have more than enough spider plants, I'm excited about trying this method of creating a brand new plant. All I have to do is make sure it doesn't run out of water. Easy, right? Oh, I really hope I don't kill it!
If all goes well, this little baby will start to sprout roots and keep growing without soil. Once a healthy root system is in place it will be ready to move into some soil in it's own container.



That's my latest contribution to creating little pockets of peaceful space in our new home. Is there something small like this that could make a big impact in the peaceful feel of your home? Take a little time to mark it off your list so you can start enjoying the benefits! I'm off to water my plants along with my little helper.



Who always pays attention to what he's doing :). Later, All!

I'm linking to:






Start Swagging!

Recommended reading and other products...