Homemade Oreos

I just made this recipe for homemade oreos from smitten kitchen, http://smittenkitchen.com/2007/05/my-kingdom-for-a-glass-of-milk/, and they were PRETTY GOOD! I can't lie and say they taste exactly like oreos because the cookie isn't as crispy, maybe because I made my cookie a little bigger than an actual oreo wafer, uncooked they were about the size of an oreo but they grew to be about twice that big while baking. If they were smaller perhaps they would have gotten crispier in the 9 minute baking time? Anyway, I liked them alot, I used non-hydrogenated organic vegetable shortening for the filling, no butter. I'll definitely be making these again, I love quick, easy recipes like this!

Birthday Cake!

It was my boo's birthday so I made him a chocolate cake. I actually had 3 attempts, and the last was a charm. I tried a couple of recipes, one from Ina Garten, one from my Southern Living cookbook, and I even resorted to a box cake (which was sub-par to say the least). Finally, I found this recipe on Apartment Therapy http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/dessert/recipe-dark-chocolate-cake-014696, and my oh my was I pleased! It was so easy, especially compared to the recipes I tried previously. I used buttermilk in place of the milk, and hot coffee in place of the boiling water. I halved the recipe, using 4.5" cake pans instead of the typical (2) 9" pans. I love my 4.5" cake pans, they make the perfect size double layer cake for a family of 3, about 5-6 generous servings. I used heavy whipping cream, semi-sweet chocolate morsels, and powdered sugar for the frosting, it was like a ganache but thicker and paired extremely well with this moist cake!

My first attempt at a rocket stove...

so I started out with 5 cans,

and after gathering up tools and supplies (mainly a can opener, metal cutters, perlite, quickrete, and a marker) I put together this,

Its a rocket stove with a horizontal feed and really this was just a test run. Ultimately I would like to make one that is much more insulated (this one has about 1" of perlite/quickrete and got VERY hot on the outside container) and that has a vertical feed. I will attach it to an insulated box that I will fashion using an old bbq grill, a cast iron grill sheet and lots of insulation. I want to take the wheels off the bbq pit and make it look like it belongs in a pretty kitchen. It will have exhaust leading outside. Anyway, I am proud of myself for finally attempting this and that it kind of worked. More results will be coming...

Gratuitous Hair Post!

I flat-ironed my hair a couple of days ago, just for a change. I was surprised at how much it had grown and had full and long it looked. I took a picture of it bone straight from behind and the ends looked super raggedy, so I gave myself a trim and beveled some waves into it with the flat-iron. I also added some castor oil/EVOO, which gave it some glossiness. I am not too happy with all the splits and single strand knots and obvious breakage but I plan to do better from here on out. Here's a pic of my straightened hair.

Tiny Home on Wheels

We are still unsure of where we will be buying land, as Jarvas's job is a determining factor and right now he is "transitioning". Building an earthen home is dependent on "owning" or having unlimited access to land. In the meantime, I thought a good idea up. I can build a small home that is mobile in about 8 weeks, so that when we do buy land and start construction on our earthen home we will have a comfortable place to live. I estimate 6-12 months to build the earthen home, and that number varies depending on materials used, prep work involved (splitting and curing lumber takes up to 6 months), and financing plan (pay all up front or pay as we get). Living on the land we are building on would be optimal, for convenience and cost effectiveness. Obviously I don't want to live in a tent for 6+ months. The idea of a tiny home on wheels is intrigueing. Also it would give me some building experience of which I currently have none. I would like to build this home for somewhere between 5-7K. Later I will use it as a guest cottage or resale it.

Right now my first step will be buying a flatbed trailer and figuring out were I am going to park it...

My inspiration:

Counting Calories.

I can get obsessive about stuff, and then completely lose interest. Back when I was actively trying to lose weight, my game plan was to maintain a 1600-1700 calorie diet and engage in moderate daily excercise. I think this a reasonable plan but the problem is with monitoring calorie intake. It actually makes me think and obsess over food more, which ultimately leads to a complete disinterest in monitoring food intake. In the back of my mind I am always thinking, I shouldn't have to think this hard about food to eat reasonably. Unfortunately, my inner guide on when to stop eating is a little submissive and constantly overrided (is that a word?) by my compulsive habit of overindulgence. Anyway, just for interest fact I counted up the calories to this mornings breakfast and had a little bit of an epiphany, I say a little bit, because I actually already knew what I realized but the significance became more obvious as applied to my meals.

My "brunch" consisted of:

1/2 spicy sausage 110 calories
2 scrambled eggs 150 calories
1 medium red potatoe 200 calories
1 tbsp olive oil mayo 50 calories
1 cup chocolate milk 220 calories
salt, pepper, fresh dill and green onions

Now all together this adds up to a whopping 730 calories, however considering this is 2 meals in 1, that isn't too bad. But if it were just one meal, the chocolate milk definitely should be eliminated. Besides the fact that milk and me don't agree, that is an insane amount of calories for 8 oz of beverage. To think that this is a beverage commonly served to children in addition to their meal, makes it no surprise that obesity in American children is becoming epidemic.

Anyway, the meal itself was very filling and without the chocolate milk was about 500 calories, which is right on target. A 1600-1700 calorie diet typically includes three 400-500 calorie meals and two 100-200 calorie snacks. To stay within this range without obsessively counting calories, I follow these guidelines:

- drink water when thirsty
- I can have one 8 oz beverage a day
- I keep my portion sizes reasonable
- eat last meal before 8 p.m.
- I can have a small fun snack after 8 p.m.

I think this plan is awesome, and so far my only weakness has been BlueBell icecream, of which I eat a whole pint in one sitting, which is usually between 600-700 calories. I would say that is why I haven't lost a pound.

Building a House out of Dirt!

This may sound crazy and/or laughable, but outside of the "developed" world it is what many people do for shelter and have been doing for thousands of years. It also happens to be an idea that is intoxicating to me. I sit for hours and fantasize about my future earthen house. I draw and revise sketches of my earthen house, planning for the opportunity. Many women LOVE to nest: appoint, decorate and organize their home. I am one of them. As a kid, building forts and clubhouses in the woods was one of the things I enjoyed the most. So it seems that in the very near future I will be able to begin what has been a lifelong dream of mine and I can't wait. I am going to chronicle everything right here on this blog. It may be a few months before anything actually happens but this is what I am hoping for.

Weird Dreams...

everyone has them and this is one of mine:

Weird Dream #1:

I was at this church and the preacher was actually a vatican dressed in garb reading verses in latin. Except the vatican was also a big white/transparent spider. Towards the end of the dream he started getting smaller and closer to the ceiling and I realized he was hanging by a silky thread.

Alabama.

I spent a large part of my childhood in Alabama. I've lived and visited many southern states, but Alabama definitely has a culture all its own. My mom is white, my dad black. I experienced life in a predominantly white community and in a predominantly black community. I truly believe that racial themes run through almost every interaction I've had. Maybe I'm just sensitive to it... but none the less.



Anyway, I stopped chemically straightening my hair about 3 years ago, something that was started by my mother when I was 4 or 5, and is a prevalent practice among black women. Not straightening my hair has lead me to really examine and take notice of beauty ideals in the black community and how those standards are prevailed upon by American culture as a whole. I find myself a little disturbed at what beliefs continue to be held, beliefs that I once took for granted and absorbed as my own.

A couple of observations from my last trip to AL:

-A lady sits in the shade, and casually asks her daughter has she been in the sun, commenting that her skin has darkened. From her tone, it is clear that the effect is undesirable.



-A small group of teenage boys- sons, grandsons, cousins, and nephews to black older women sitting under trees within listening distance, unaminosly agree that white girls are preferable to any other. The women make no reaction to what they hear.

This sounds both familiar and strange to me, and leaves me deeply perplexed.

Elimination Communication sans the communication...

I don't think I've talked much about this on my blog, but I practice what is called Elimination Communication or EC'ing. I actually prefer infant pottying because that is a lot more self explanatory and makes more sense in the context of my specific practices. Its very simple, instead of allowing/encouraging Manny to pee or poop in a diaper, I anticipate when he will go and allow him to relieve himself in some type of receptacle. I have been practicing this since birth. I used diapers as back-up and had many days where I made no effort to "catch" anything. I was very laid back about the whole thing, and saw it as a way to use and change less diapers. Whenever I explain this to people, they usually perceive me as anxiously watching and waiting for signs that Manny might be about to use the restroom and then rushing frantically to get him there. I really don't know how to explain to them that this isn't the case, and what really is the case, so I don't. I can only say that now that he is 3 1/2 months shy of 2, changing diapers is definitely not something I want to do and I am so glad that I EC, because even though I don't consider him "potty trained" (he doesn't really tell me he has to go), he wears underwear all day and "accidents" are almost non-existent. I've heard critics say that EC'ing is really "potty training" the parent, and in my opinion that is mostly true. I have trained myself to remember that he pees and poops and I need to give him the opportunity to do that. I don't think that is much different than parents who have to "train" themselves to remember to change diapers regularly and check to see if the child has soiled it. Its just that I have eliminated the middleman..

Fall Gardening!

So today I'm trying to finish up building my second raised garden box. It was expensive for the cedar boards! Insanely expensive. My original plan was to use dirt bags to build the retaining walls, making those dirt bags from old sheets, and then plaster over that. Unfortunately, getting the dirt proved to be problematic.... a long story that I don't want to tell. You would think dirt would be easy to come by...

After building and filling the boxes, I want to make some kind of watering system out of PVC pipes that can also be wrapped in plastic for a hotbox effect or netting to keep the yard critters from ravaging the fruits of my labor:)

I'll try to take a pic and post it later, for now, I'm gonna go slide on my boots and get to work!

Mortar and Pestle

So, I picked up a marble mortar and pestle at Marshall's for 9.99. I had eyed it a few times before and considered getting one for "energy" reasons. In macrobiotics (something I have studied a bit), they encourage using manual vs. electric devices to prepare food, for "energy" reasons. To be honest, I have no idea what I believe on this matter, but I'm open to it. I tried the mortar and pestle a couple times to grind my raw cocoa nibs and it did a fine job in comparison to the coffee grinder, it just took about 5-10 minutes longer and a little bit of labor. I can see myself using this often to grind herbs and spices. Its much easier to clean than the coffee grinder and beautiful enough that I would leave it out on an open shelf, instead of deep in a cabinet somewhere, which makes it more convenient to use. Also, the extra time is not an issue if I grind stuff while browsing the internet or watching television, or just sitting around (which I do a lot of). It actually makes me feel more productive!

Body Lotion Recipe

I hit pay dirt yesterday! My shipment from Mountain Rose Herbs finally came in and I was able to try out this lotion recipe I adapted from a recipe I found online here, www.the-soap-dish.com/basic-lotion-formula.htm. I made some changes to the formula, mainly using different oils, but more or less using their formula as a guideline.

I made this lotion for my husband, who MUST use lotion after every bath on his extremely rough, dry skin. Unlike me, pure oils and butters on damp skin do nothing for him. Previous homemade lotion recipes that I came up with were either too waxy, leaving a residue, or too oily, leaving skin dry and greasy. He has been using Gold Bond Ultimate lotion, which works great for him, but has toxic parabens and low quality ingredients. This final recipe, is comparable to the Gold Bond and has received his seal of approval.

About the lotion:

1. It is THICK. After cooling and setting up, it has the consistency of mayonaisse. It probably wouldn't work great in a pump or squeeze bottle. I've stored mine in a glass jar.

2. It penetrates quickly. My initial reaction was that it penetrated too quickly and wouldn't be emollient enough. In my experience, lotions that work take a long time to rub in...

3. It is magical. Despite penetrating quickly and feeling "watery" when rubbing it in, immediately after rubbing it in, the skin feels soft, smooth, and moisturized. It has great emolliency without feeling greasy.

Here is the recipe and directions:

Oil Phase

1 oz shea butter

.3 oz coconut oil

.7 oz cocoa butter

1 oz castor oil

.8 oz emulsifying wax

.8 oz stearic acid

Water Phase

15 oz water

.2 oz citric acid

.6 oz glycerin

additional ingredients: .2 oz optiphen and .4 oz fragrance

Directions: Boil water and allow to cool slightly while mixing and melting oil phase. Weigh out oil phase ingredients and melt in a large glass mixing bowl. Add glycerin and citric acid to water and mix with stick blender for a few seconds. Pour water phase into oil phase and mix well with stick blender 2-3 minutes. Allow to cool 10 minutes, then add optiphen and fragrance and mix with stick blender 2-3 minutes. Allow to cool for 20 minutes, mix with stick blender and allow to cool completely before pouring into glass jar.

Just a note about fragrance, it is optional, but I really like it. I used chocolate serendipity from Southern Soapers, and really like the chocolate cake scent. It reminds me of Palmer's Cocoa butter smell, which is one of my favorites.

A note about optiphen, this is a preservative, and also optional. However if you choose not to use it, then you must store your lotion in the refrigerator and plan to use it within a month.

Summer Garden transitions to Fall!

So as I have talked about earlier, I have an unjustifiable loyalty to the notion of gardening. I've cycled through 4 or 5 gardening seasons, and put in brief spurts of strenuous labor here and there, with little to show for it. I'm TRYING here! I have to give myself credit for that. Somehow, I need to muster up the motivation to try harder.

For the summer garden, I managed to till the earth several times, build a raised garden box from reclaimed scrap wood, fill it with dirt, manure, compost. Dig rows in the ground garden. I also filled several pots for a container garden of herbs and tomatoes. In the raised garden box I planted radishes, beets, carrots, and tomatoes. In the ground garden, I planted black pole beans, squash, mustard greens, okra, cucumbers, and again tomatoes. Sounds like a ton of work right? Not to mention watering and weeding consistently...

You would think that I would be swimming in produce, right? WRONG. Not to say I didn't get anything, but not enough to live off of. Obviously, I can do better. So, I will be pulling up all the summer foliage in a few days, tilling, spreading the compost pile in the ground and letting it bake in prep for the fall garden which will be planted in September. One day, I will get the hang of this...

Another Great Couple- Peanut Butter and Marshmallow

Good Lawdy this was good! I smooshed 2 halved marshmallows between some cinnamon-raisin Ezekial Bread with a smear of peanut butter, then I pan fried it in a generous pat of butter. Wonderful!

Flaxseed Gel

I bought a pound of flaxseed a while ago, intending to use it in my diet. I did use it a little, ground up as a binder in vegan recipes, or stirred into my oatmeal, but I usually forget about it. I've seen mention of flaxseed gel for hair on various hair blogs and after watching a youtube video tutorial yesterday, I decided to finally make my own. It was very easy, just boil 1/4 cup with 2 cups of water, then strain and let cool. So I applied this gel generously to my hair and got some popping curls! I am so excited to have another all natural home-made product to add to my beauty arsenal, AWESOMENESS!

Sweet Summer!

There are a few things that make the sweltering summer heat not only bearable but welcome in my opinion. One of those things is cold watermelon and it just so happened to be my breakfast this morning... this is the less common yellow meat variety, juicy and sweet!
.

Hair day!

Sunday, when I went to the beach I had my hair loose and free and paid no mind to the salt water and wind. I washed it when I got home, applied conditioner and wet bunned it... without detangling. Last night I lightly washed my hair and applied a henna treatment overnight... again without detangling. This morning after dunking my hennaed head into a bucket of water twice to remove most of the paste, I washed and rinsed my hair, applied a deep conditioning treatment and sat under the hooded dryer for about 30 minutes. I then attempted to rinse out the deep treatment in the shower, it was too thick and oily to be rinsed away without shampoo, but since that would be the 4th time shampooing in 3 days I just rinsed best I could and stepped out. At this point it became clear that I was in for one hellacious detangling session. As I raked my hand through my hair it felt as though locs were already forming. I didn't have much detangling leave-in conditioner so I watered down what I did have so I would have enough to distribute throughout my whole head, which effectively watered down the detangling power of it. I was too lazy to finger detangle thoroughly and used my detangling comb for most of the job. I noticed quite a few broken hairs on my palms- not cool. I two strand twisted each detangled section, ending up with 8 greasy twists. I guess I will make another batch of leave-in conditioner and then wash my hair a little later today, then prep for a twist-out. I'll come back and post a pic of the final outcome...

ETA: I didn't rewash my hair, I re-two strand twisted my hair after it air-dried.

A time to buy!

I enjoy shopping... however I am incredibly indecisive at times. Especially with online shopping because it feels much more final to me and the items aren't tangible before purchase. None the less, online shopping has become more and more prevalent in my purchasing experience due to the fact that I live in a super small town and getting some items locally is either impossible or prohibitively inconvenient.



I have filled and emptied my online shopping cart more times than makes sense and now I realize it would be better to wait until payday so I can pay down my credit card before making any additional purchases...

I am going to limit my purchases to these 3 items: citric acid, emulsifying wax, shea butter

Hopefully, I will not be strayed between now and then...

A Day at the Beach!

Back from a day at the beach, it was intense! I had a blast and really enjoyed watching Manny frolick in the water and shovel sand with his cousins.

1 Chicken- 3 Ways

Since the other members of my family like meat and kind of want it on the regular, I have to figure out a way to get them off my back. I bought a frozen whole chicken, thawed it out, ripped it apart with my bare hands, flinging salmonella rich chicken juice all over the kitchen walls and clean dishes in the other sink, as well as on my face and body and possibly in my slightly ajar mouth (ajar from the sheer effort, my concentration face). The whole event was peppered with me shrieking hysterically at my husband to get the baby out of the kitchen and growling exorcist style at him for daring to attempt to wash a plum in the same sink I was wrestling with the chicken in.



I got almost as much out of this chicken as I could. I could have made some faux foie gras from the innards but I'm pretty sure no one, not even the dogs, would have appreciated it. I baked the legs, wings, and back at 350, after sprinkling with some Cajun seasoning. I grilled one chicken breast, seasoned with salt and pepper. I ground one breast and 2 thighs in the food processor, seasoned lightly, formed in 1/2 inch balls, rolled around in Panko crumbs, and fried until golden...my version of chicken nuggets.



My husband had the 2 wings and 1 leg for dinner with some veggies. The chicken breast will be served to him for lunch in a salad. The back and remaining wing will be served in another dinner to him with more veggies and couscous. So that is 3 meat laden meals. That should get me off the hook for at least 2-3 days.



The chicken nuggets are for the baby. He seems to like meat a lot. He ate 5 or 6 nuggets, which is a good bit for him. I made about 2 dozen. Possibly I will freeze some for future use in bento boxes.



I'm glad its over and this whole ordeal just re-confirmed why I hate food prep when it involves meat. Nagging from my husband be damned, it will be a while before I do it again. I am posting a picture below, not because I am proud, but because I think the image perfectly conveys the level of throw-it-togetherness I approached this task with...

RAW chocolate smoothie

Whenever I am totally bored with preparing food, which is sadly pretty often, one thing that always perks me up is experimenting with vegan and raw recipes or even coming up with my own. I'm not religious enough to commit to either of these lifestyle choices 100% of the time, but I flirt with the idea often enough to get my husband all up in arms.



Typically, I make fresh coconut milk 1-2 times a week. I'm not sure why I do it so often because usually I am trying to figure out ways to use it before it goes bad. Today was no exception to that routine. On top of that I had a bag of raw cocoa nibs and some medjool dates that had been sitting in my cupboard ignored for longer than I care to think about.



Usually, if I have a breakfast smoothie it consists of fresh coconut milk and frozen bananas and possibly whatever other fruit I may have on hand, but I used the last of my frozen bananas 2 days ago and also I have a raging sinus infection that has been marked with violent enough sneezing sessions that I believe I actually threw my neck out during one of them, if that is even possible... The bananas come into play in that they seem to make me more snotty, so yeah I won't be re-upping on them.



So I decided to soak the dates, grind the nibs finely, and whir it up in my blender. Also, I want to note that I used 1.5 cups of the cream (the stuff that separates to the top) of the coconut milk, in hopes that it would make the smoothie thicker. I used 2 heaping tablespoons of the nibs, and about 7 pieces of dates with the pit removed.


After whirring in my blender, I finally accepted the fact that the nibs powder wasn't going to dissolve completely and while the taste of the smoothie was great the texture was grainy. I immediately added this experience to the list of reasons justifying the purchase of a $400 blender, ya'll know which one I'm talking about. No really though, I must figure out a way to make this recipe work and still maintain its RAW-ness. I'll update when I do.

Bento Box- 2nd attempt

Manny is off to Nanny's house today and I decided to send him with another lunch. I made efforts to improve on the first bento box lunch which was mostly fruit, no veggies, and heavy on heavily processed pre-packaged snack items. This time I included a homemade eggroll, sweet potatoe patty, some fresh blueberries, broccoli florets, and a small piece of a Luna nutrition bar. I really just included the nutrition bar to take up some space on the side and also because he seems to like them. He always eats mine! He loves fruit as well and since I have plenty of blueberries on hand, I figured it wouldn't hurt to include those as well. I can't wait to hear how he liked it!

Bento Boxes

So if you haven't heard of Bento Boxes before, it is basically a portable meal that is proportioned and packaged/presented creatively. Since discovering this style of meal prep, I have taken a renewed interest in presenting my 19 month old with solid food. He isn't terribly interested in eating solids when I am around, but when I am not around he eats well from what I hear. The other day I dropped him at his great-grandmothers with a Bento Box lunch and she said he LOVED it. My heart smiled and I immediately began thinking of ways to improve these meals. The first one I made wasn't all that balanced and had quite a bit of processed food and no vegetables. Either way, it was a step in the right direction!

Garden Update!

My banana trees died and even though I spent about $30 on them with shipping I just don't feel like sending them back. Many of my herbs didn't even germinate. Chamomile seeds germinated into cotyledons that died from lack of water I suppose. Radishes, beets, and carrots are coming up niceley, along with a row of spinach. Me and grandma made four rows and planted purple hull peas, some cucumber plants, tomatoe plants, and mustard greens. Anyway, just wanted to go ahead and log that into my journal...

Spring Gardening 2010!

Yeah baby! Spring is in full swing and I actually got off my ass enough to build a raised garden bed (well actually, Jarvas did a lot of it) and do a whole mess of other things to get my container garden ready for planting. Sowing the seeds was the easy part, now all I have to do is wait... Anyway here are some pics of my work. Hopefully everything will grow in and look beatiful in a couple of months. I planted lots of herbs, 3 kinds of tomatoe, 3 kinds of lettuce, spinach, beets, carrots, and radishes. Later I hope to plant some pole beans, we will see...

Garden Update

I started my seedlings in egg crates a couple weeks ago and had them germinating on top of the fridge under a fluorescent light. They came up quick and grew well for almost a week, then they wilted and died... so sad. I put so much effort into it and I'm not terribly sure where I went wrong. Possibly, I shouldn't have started the seeds in a compost mix that I baked to sterilize it? I am going to start seedlings in pots outside in about a week. Hopefully that works, I really don't know how many set backs my optimism can take before curling up to die...

Buh Bye Holiday Season!

Well, the holidays are over and now I'm looking forward to Spring because I can't wait to get my garden started! Last summer's was a bust, and the spring garden I only planted lettuce and greens, which was fine but it took a lot of work to get what I got and I wasn't a bit satisfied with the way the yard/garden looked. Weeds everywhere! I couldn't possibly spend the 4-5 hours/week working out there. I need something super low maintenance after the initial installion. So, my plan for this year is to nix the yard garden and do raised garden beds. I am not entirely sure how high I am going to raise them but I think it would be really cool if they were around 2 ft tall that way I could sit on a stool or chair and work in them. I am not sure what kind of structure I can build that will still be shallow enough and strong enough to hold a good bit of sod. I am thinking maybe I can stack a burlap lined crate on top of some cinderblocks? That seems cheap enough and also easy to take apart if I change my mind about location later. We will see. In addition to that project, I also want to work on landscaping the backyard a little better. Several trees need to be cut down and my grandpa says he will take care of it some time this year. Also, I am planning on adding an avocado and lemon tree to the "orchard" as well as some banana plants to help the already existing banana plants bear fruit, I need to find out what the deal is with the existing plants...

I really want to extend my grandparents patio to fit the picnic table and barbecue grill so that it will be more comfortable for entertaining out there. We will see....