{Make it from scratch} Pickles!

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This is what our jar looked like a day before all our pickles were inhaled eaten!

We love pickles really LOVE  pickles… pickles, pickles and more pickles!

Who doesn’t love pickles? I can remember the days when I would eat an entire jar of baby dills with my best friend.

Then I discovered pickles and peanut butter one day. Yes! before pregnancy. I was young, maybe 12. I guess, I had to know what the guests on Ricki Lake were talking about. I was babysitting and they had pickle “chips” (the kind you put on a burger) and they also had PB- Peter Pan, even! I took a chip added some PB and it became my new favorite snack….that along with some apples and I’m set! Pink lady apples’ if you have em’. Mmmm!!!!

But this post isn’t about pink lady apples even though their scrumptious. BUT not like pickles are…

scrumptious, crisp, and did I say scrumptious? 

Pickles are a staple food around here. The hub and I love em’- the eco tot can’t get enough of them (probably my fault! While he was in the womb I ate buckets of pickles!). I’m sure Baby C will learn to love them also.

Pickles aren’t all that cheap. Some pickle varieties even contain HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP… and for us, that’s a big no, no. HFCS is in everything, I swear! In order to stay away from HFCS we have to resort to reading labels all the time and buying organic. Let’s be honest here, as as mom I don’t really have time to read each and every label & buying organic isn’t always an option. Saving time and money is ideal + staying away from artificial crud is key!

THE RECIPE!

I searched high & low and finally found one I thought suited our pickles needs.

We have an old recipe book where it explains an old fashioned brine way of doing things.  We plan to do it sometime; for now this recipe hit the spot!! AND it’s easy peasy!

The only thing done differently in our version was adding in some peppercorns and mustard seed + some raw, unfiltered apple cider vinegar. We also used dry dill but will use fresh next time!

Can’t wait for our next batch… YUM!

A very UN birthday & misc eats!

Hola everyone! I’m considering this my {Meatless Monday} post.  Hey, better late than never! LOL!

My hubby’s 31st birthday was just last week before Christmas! I wanted to celebrate in rawkstar style so I decided I would make him a RAW cheesecake.

No, it doesn’t mean I put all the standard cheesecake ingredients into a bowl and asked him to eat it. LOL!  It went a little something like that but not quite. I could not believe it only took me approximately 15-20 mins TOPS to make this! The hardest part was waiting for the no cheese cake to freeze up and harden.

I looked around for an easy recipe and found this ONE!

It had a macadamia nut crust and cashew cream as the filling.  The only thing I did differently was use maple syrup rather than agave! I haven’t been using agave since I heard it scales close with High Fructose Corn Syrup! Crazy! As you can see in the picture above I topped it with fresh organic blackberry’s from the farmer’s market.

The uncheesecake was fabulous and delish! A friend of mine who had leftovers commented that at least she could eat the entire piece over the real thing! I agree… I could of eaten the whole cake. Everyone at dinner that evening seemed to enjoy it … even my husband for his very un birthday!  Score!

We can’t wait to mix and match and play with the ingredients some. Mmm! I’m thinking strawberries whirled in next time would be oh so superb.

I also made these raw thumbprint cookies by Earth Mother… they were nutty, sweet and flavorful.

AND I want to mention, I had the opportunity to make Gena’s Carrot Falafel with Tangy Tahini Sauce a few weeks back and it was super!

The only problem… no pics were taken we gobbled em’ up so fast (actually I had quite a few Falafels leftover which was awesome)… I do believe my Nikon battery took a dive on me that night! In any case, were planning to do a remake of this yummy dish and I pinky promise to take pics.

So if you’re planning any meals that are raw/vegan- dairy free… and the like … these three recipes are kick ass!

P.S.

I was gifted a VitaMixtavegamin for X-Mas! Yahoo!!!

What have you been making in the kitchen?

a recycled post, gearing up for 2010, & homemade recipes!

Hiya RYD readers!! How are ya? Hope you had a wonderful holiday.

Here’s a post I wrote about last year… if you need any ideas for what to do with your X-Mas cards!

Donate Your Christmas Cards

I’ve been looking at last year’s Green Vision’s and thinking about what some will be in 2010…

My vision board is a work in progress as I find pictures and words to summarize my goals and future!

Lately, I’ve been doing my best to meditate and visual what it is I truly want and what makes me happy. I also focus some time on my boys’ and our future together as unschooler’s. It’s going to be a great journey. I can only hope  we make it the greatest experience.

{Anywho}

I mentioned in an earlier post; I was going to make homemade gifts/goods for Christmas and that’s exactly what I did. ( I didn’t get any pictures of the green cleaning supplies; but I promise I made them.) I bought 2 new squirt bottles and reused and old one. I filled them up with…

1/2 cup of vinegar

1/4 cup of baking soda

10-20 drops of peppermint essential oil

put contents into a glass pitcher and add 1/2 gallon (2 liters) H20!

That’s it! You’re ready to go clean as it is an all purpose solution!

I put the squirt bottles in a reused gift bag along with a sample of Dr. Bronner’s Almond scented soap,  a glass mason jar filled with baking soda and a coconut scrub brush. The Dr. Bronner’s and baking soda make a good soft scrub in case you didn’t know. Something I’ve been doing for years.  I HEART Dr. Bronner’s soap. I highly recommend buying some- you can even find it at Target. A little goes a long way… it’s an all purpose soap. It’s amazing. 2 squirts to 2 gallons… is the recipe on their bottle.

Since my bro didn’t get any Dr. Bronner’s soap; I reused a baking soda can added in more baking soda, put in about 10-20 drops of Tangerine essential oil and sealed it with it’s lid. Poked holes in the top- voila’ it’s an instant carpet deodorizer! He’s always complaining about smells in his house… he’s a bachelor with roommates… so you know what I mean. LOL!

I also made a salt scrub for a close friend of the family. She loved the one I made for her on Mother’s Day so I decided to whip up a winter batch she would like!

Here’s what I did…

Bath Salt Scrub

1 cup of sea salt – fine works best… if you have course you can blend it down into fine using your blender or food processor.

1 cup of epsom salts

1/2 -3/4’s of oat powder (oats put into the blender and pulverized)

20 drops of essential oil of your choice … I chose peppermint for the holidays!

1/3 cup of organic EVOO

Stir all ingredients in a stainless steel or glass bowl for 2min’s or more then put into a glass mason jar! Or whatever dish suits your fancy.

For mother’s day I added in a lot more EVOO… you can do more or less depending on how slick you like to feel when you get out of the shower.

Enjoy!

P.S.

I will attempt to post a Meatless Monday recipe today! We’ll see…

Green Your Cup of Cocoa This Winter

Photo credit: stevendepolo via flickr

Winter bring lots of goodies and treats including the infamous cup of Hot Cocoa! Lately, it seems my little guy and I can’t get enough of it. It can get to be pretty expensive if you’re having a cup of hot cocoa each afternoon. Especially, if you’re buying them in packets (which I haven’t done in years!). I stopped buying the packets when I discovered Ovaltine…and stopped buying Ovaltine to start making my own. In the long run, making your own will save you some money. In a homemade recipe you have the opportunity to tweak with the ingredients and use quality ingredients such as organic.

The cast of Christmas spirit….

Nativa’s Raw Cacao Powder Suzanne’ s Ricemellow Pure Fun Organic Candy Cane’s

** You can make this recipe dairy free by replacing cow’s milk with almond, coconut, rice, or soy milk.

Just remember that to GREEN your cup of hot cocoa – you’ll want to look for ingredients that are organic, have NO High Fructose Corn Syrup, no artificial colors or favor and no JUNK period. Chemical and preservative free, if at possible. Most companies who make all natural and organic products are conscience about the planet. Besides, keeping the planet healthy the consumer’s health is also kept in mind. On top of it all, most eco companies donate certain percentages to environmental causes. So, by supporting them you’re more than likely supporting a wonderful cause and helping to SAVE THE PLANET!

Pure & Heavenly: Earth Mama Angel Baby

Back when I was pregnant with Tristan I had heard of a company named Earth Mama Angel Baby but had never seen it (I live in a small town) until I started looking online for greener baby products. Before conceiving, I’d heard startling information about baby washes containing harmful ingredients. It made me realize, I needed to start doing my research and find natural baby products that did not contain toxic chemicals like phthalates, 1,4-Dioxane, formaldehyde,” etc.

Recently, I was actually able to sample Earth Mama Angel Baby products through swag and for this review. I received a sample of their Bath Blossoms, Bottom Balm and Baby Lotion. I so was excited when I saw EMAB inside my swag bag from The Smart Mama’s book release. I’d always wanted to try their products but just never had the opportunity. Quite honestly, I was going with my easiest most available option…. Burt’s Bees, California Baby and Little Twig. Depending on where we did shopping is what we’d end up with. I’d known about the Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep Database and have looked up a few things in the past. It never really dawned on me to look up the baby products. I thought I was in the clear. Boy, was I wrong!!!

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