DIY Fruit Leather Recipe

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Hi there!

This is going to be short & SWEET (pun intended)

Were headed out of town tonight… going up to Northern California to see family. The circumstances aren’t the happiest but were planning to make the best of it. All I can say, is FUCK CANCER.

Okay,  moving on… glad that’s off my bloggy chest….ha, ha!

Since we will be traveling 9 hours away by car with two tots, I figured we should probably have some healthy and handy snacks available. I usually always try to make homemade snacks for our trips whether it’s cookies, granola, yummy meals, etc. Doing it this way helps save time and money. Little ole me has a hard time resisting the urge to be frugal so I’ve been busy in the kitchie whippin’ up some healthy treats to have on handy while were on vay k!

2 days of our trip we will be visiting with family and the remainder of our trip were going doing lots of side trippin’ to Lassen National Park and into Trinity. I’m so giddy about our adventure. We’ve been hoping to explore Lassen for sometime now. Can’t wait to do some hiking with the boys. yeehaw!

I’m also planning to bring you along on this trip… so stay tuned on that. * wink, wink *

One of our favorite snacks to bring with us on our traveling journey’s are fruit leathers, also known as, “fruit roll ups” growing up.

Who doesn’t love a fruit leather?

To me fruit leathers arepart of summer nostalgia. I totally remember gettin’ these from the store or making them with my mom.  With the abundance of fruit right now;  it’s an easy way to use up  fruit before it goes bad AND, if you play it smart go to the market for the already marked down fruit because it’s “overripe” and save a few pennies. Making them at home also prevents you from buying into all the packaged plastic. It’s a win- win all around. No extra litter and everyone including the planet is happy!

They’re SUPER SIMPLE  to make too… for real!

Fruit Leather Recipe:

Ingredients:

Choice of fruit or be wild and mix it up!

(approx 2 cups-)

2-3 tbsp’s of honey(raw & local whenever possible!)

a few drops of lemon juice

Parchment paper/Sheet pan

Directions:

Set your oven temperature to 200 degrees. Add fruit of choice into blender once it has been rinsed, drained, peeled and pitted (depending on fruit of choice).  Add in remaining ingredients, pop the lid on the blender and let it whirl away! You want to get it to puree consistency which doesn’t take long. Let the puree sit while you get the parchment paper over the sheet pan so that you can pour the mixture over the pan to prevent it from sticking. Pour puree mixture onto sheet pan and spread into an 1/8 inch layer. Place puree sheet into the oven and let firm up to a sticky texture for approximately 2 hrs. It will peel directly off the parchment paper when it’s done.

So far, we’ve done, peaches, plums, cherries, apricots and blueberries!  I leave the skins on a few of the stone fruits for extra nutrition. We used a VitaMix but any blender or hand immersion blender will work! You can also use a dehydrator for this recipe, if you own one. We have a Mr. Food’s- 80’s bad ass, dehydrator and it gets used quite a bit BUT for the most recent recipe we used the oven. Just a quick tidbit about the parchment paper… I like to buy the unbleached brands, since they do not contain any chlorine bleach and come in recycled packaging.  yay!

Here’s the peach and apricot mix!

Gorgeous color before it turns into leather!

all that was left of the fruit leathers…more in the oven for the road (blueberry & more peach plum)

AND these bad boys right here are candied pistachios…

we actually get to visit our cousins pistachio farm this weekend and I’m

SUPER stoked about harvesting some freshies!

Oh yeah, baby… these nut clusters are healthy fuel food for the road (no pun intended)

& for our tum’s!

I filled to of these nut packs up especially for hikes.

I’ll post recipes for these yum, yums when we return!

Hope you’re having a wonderful Thursday. 

Gotta run. We leave tonight!!!

{Meatless Monday} Less Meat = Less Heat

Welcome to another edition of Meatless Monday at RYD…

Last weeks CSA portions were used up but none of our meals were really all that gourmet or fancy … they were simple, pure, yummy, organic meals. Satisfying nonetheless.

This weeks feature is the VegWeb.com

it’s one of my go to sites for meatless dishes.

With all the  great veggie/raw food websites out there… I love learning new ideas and ways to eat healthy and sharing them with you each week.

Meatless Monday’s are all about that. Now, that we are officially in the month of April and celebrating EARTH month, I propose a challenge!

Eating healthy, means healthy spirit, healthy mind, healthy body & soul… it also means healthy planet!!!

The challenge

This year marks the 40th anniversary of Earth Day (April 22, 2010)… so let’s make it special and spare the animals we normally enjoy eating. I know it sounds hardcore… but the truth is out there, people! Factory farming is getting out of hand. Animals and people are suffering. If you have not watched Food Inc. yet, I highly recommend the documentary.

It’s an eye opener for sure.

In celebration of Mother Nature, go meatless for the next 25 days!!!

Less meat equals less heat!

Why go Meatless?

If the challenge isn’t for you,  Monday’s are perfectly fine!

I’ve been meat free with a few exceptions since 2010 began…

I’m willing to kick it up a notch and go dairy free for 25 days, if you’ll join me! 

Before, I leave you on this groovy Monday afternoon…

I finally figured out how to get Mr. Linky working again.

so, please, feel free to share, jump in and join the Meatless Monday movement!!!

Were Cable FREE!! :)

Photo credit: futureatlas

Hiya peeps!

Gotta keep this short… not much time for blogging… with birthday project, toddlers, and teething babies…  yeah, well life is a bit hectic. I felt like a waitress this morning as I was serving up breakfast. I’ve felt that way ever since Baby C arrived. Always on my toes… always go-go-go!! Ha! Didn’t know I could rhyme, did ya!? LOL!

Over the past couple of months, my husband Tyler and I have been discussing the option of going cable free. We rarely watch television and don’t really allow our boys, Tristan (3) and Clark (11mos.) to watch much of it. Their time in front of the television is definitely in moderation. Most of us know, t.v. can be harming, especially when it becomes the babysitter.

We enjoy watching television and have a few shows that we’re fans of but when we actually sat down and talked about their importance it didn’t exactly rank highest. Television has always been part of our lives and I’m sure it will always be that way. We’re not trying to run away from television completely…it’s mainly to be more in control of what is entering into our child’s developing mind.

I know. I’m weird. But, to tell you the truth, I never thought I’d be going over this crunchy bridge. Tyler and I always talked about being a “t.v. free” household once kids entered into the picture but didn’t decide to take the leap until now.

We hardly allow the television to be on and rarely have the time to sit through and watch an entire show anymore. Don’t get me wrong, we do enjoy television.For us, it really boils down to being somewhat in control of what Tristan and Clark are exposed to.

Who needs t.v.

We plan to join Netflix soon.

We’ve already taken advantage of the library DVD’s and audio books.

Were hoping it will take us outside even more… (as if this was really *that* much of a problem).

We will listen to music when the house seems too quiet.

We hope to get back into playing board games, cards, crafts, reading, AND also hope to sign the eco tot up for an extracurricular activity!

Now what?

I say, expect the worst and be pleasantly surprised.

So, this could be permanent and it could be temporary. One day at a time.

I’ve already noticed a huge difference in the eco tot’s behavior and it’s only been a day! lol!

And, if you can believe it (or not), the eco tot didn’t ask to see any of his “t.v.” cartoons.

Set in stone

For now, the cable has been permanently canceled. I’m excited to have what may seem like, more time on our hands.

With that new time, were to start a few new goals/projects.

This is definitely going to be challenging at times and will put us to the test.

For us, this isn’t really about succeeding…

it’s about entering into a new realm and making the best of it with a few new goals.

Because, quite frankly, I know television will more than likely, come back into our lives again.

Not only are we managing what goes into the tiny little brains of our brains but being cable free is a  plus for our pockets, us frugals… are cutting back in a big way! lol! )

So, how did cable free, day one go?

Well, luckily for us we had a play date to take off some of the edge … but overall I felt less anxious… and I honestly think it helped keep our family atmosphere during dinner time calmer. We were able to enjoy each other more as a family + listening skills were improved on all fronts. lol!

If you’re in the mood to moderate your t.v. time but aren’t ready to cancel cable just yet…

Check out this 30 day, t.v. free challenge…

Do you think you could hang?

Are you cable free?

Be Frugal: Give the kid a haircut. Go on! :)

That’s pretty much what my mind said the first time I gave him a haircut.

BEFORE & AFTER

His hair was actually a lot longer so it was a little bit easier to work with the first go!

This time it hadn’t quite grown out so unruly.

I busted out the good ole’ Fiskars and began to hack away…

all that beautiful fine hair getting snipped here and there.

He sat still for a minute then he began to fidgit… this is where it can get difficult.

For the most part he was a “Super Trooper” and sat nice and still.

When it was all over he didn’t walk away empty handed …

I gave him a piece of “bubblegum” (Glee Gum) … and that’s how the “bubblegum” face came to be (After shot)!

$15 buckaroo’s goes a long way, right now … (next time I think I may try to barter my massage services!)

How did I get the job done? Pure instincts.

I have no training and haven’t done any reading…

Click here for a great post with lot’s of wonderful references on how to cut your child’s hair at home!

Pretty helpful stuff.

What’s the worse that could happen… ? The great thing about hair is that it grows back!

Go on now, grab the Fiskars and get your haircut on… mush!

Happy Friday readers!

My Journey to No Poo!

Photo credit: mollypop’s via flickr

It all began one morning when I finally ran out of shampoo.

(Ha! Ha! You were thinking potty poo! Gross. LOL!).

I figured that moment was as good as any to take the next plunge in this mission to green our beauty routine. I’ve already taken a few steps in knocking out the chemicals… such as making my own deodorant, switching to all natural perfumes, and making my own body oil to name a few.

At first, I used up a sample bottle of Aveda shampoo. Then I started using an old Burt’s Bee’s shampoo bar I had from one of their sampler packages.. This all began just before Thanksgiving sometime.

With the economy like it is and the holiday’s quickly approaching I pretty much set the “transition period” aside and went for it! I began using the shampoo bar and almost immediately noticed the effects of not having a lather. My hair instantly felt dry and yuck!

I also decided not to condition my hair as often. It was a little rough to brush my hair but I managed. Then after a couple days I put in a few dabs of coconut oil before washing with the shampoo bar and it seemed to help.

After about a month of using the shampoo bar my hair began to oil up and began to get heavy feeling. I could brush it but there was definitely a greasy feeling and look to it. Most days I found myself pulling my hair back or tying it up.

I even sponged curled it one evening for a girls night and boy did the curls hold up well. I think the oily factor shaped the curls nicely but that’s not my point. Even though it was greasy and oily you couldn’t tell. I was the only one who knew…at least I hope so, anyway.

The shampoo bar finally had it’s last shower the other day, so, it was time to go from “Lo Poo” to “No Poo”

Read more

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