Homemade Sourdough Pizza

Pizza would have to be one of my favorite things to eat. I know most pizza is bad for you, but I really like it.  Here is a yummy, simple and healthier pizza that you can make at home and it is a lot cheaper too!!  

I have tried a number of different pizza crusts and I haven't found one that I love. Last night I had some sourdough English muffins dough fermenting because I was going to make tuna melts for dinner, but I changed my mind and decided to see if my English muffin dough would work for a pizza, and indeed it worked and it was tasty!! 

Crispy Trail Mix

We love trail mix in our house. It makes a great nutritious snack. Nuts can be hard to digest but this recipe calls for crispy nuts which are soaked in salt water to break them down and make them lighter and more digestible.

Here is what you are going to need:

The great thing about trail mix is that you can use whatever nuts or dried fruit you like.

- 1 cup raw almonds

- 1 cup raw peanuts

- 1 cup raw cashews

- 1 cup raisins

- 1 cup unsulphured dried apricots
- chocolate chips

5 Helpful Tips to Start Your Day off Well

We all want to have a good day.  We cannot control all the variables in our day, (though we might like to) but here are a few tips to help your day start off right and put you in a position to have a better day.  

1. Pray!  This is the best way to start off your day. Take a few minutes to pray for your day.  I like to ask for the Lord to help order my day.  I also like to pray for grace for me and my children; that I would have a thankful heart and be filled with the Spirit and that I would have the fruits of the Spirit towards my children and husband and whoever else I'm around that day. Praying is amazing! God hears our prayers and He will answer! Matthew 7:7-8 says "ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find, and knock and it will be opened to you." Pray for specific things you need help with and ask for blessings on your day. 

Homemade Dry Shampoo

I think that dry shampoo was invented for moms..... I can't tell you how many mornings I did not had time to take a shower and wash my hair, so I ended up putting on a hat and heading out the door.  By putting some dry shampoo near the roots of your hair it can extend the days in between hair washings. My hairdresser was telling me about dry shampoo the last time I got my hair cut. She was telling me that the stuff work really well and that she knows many moms who use dry shampoo and it helps them so much. So I got some and decided to give it a try. I really liked it! The only down side was the one I got was a lighter spray and my hair is pretty dark, so it didn't blend in all that well. Then the other day in my email I was sent a super simple dry shampoo recipe for dark hair. Just what I needed!! Thanks DIY Natural!

Here is what you are going to need:

- 1/2 cup cornstarch (organic is best)

Optional add ins--

- 3-4 drops essential oils for scent

- 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder (for dark hair)

- 2 tablespoons cinnamon (for red or auburn hair)

Crock Pot Refried Beans

Refried beans are great to make to use for lunches or dinners or freeze for later. In my quest of eliminating canned foods from my pantry, I have been making my own refried beans and I have been using this recipe.  These refried beans are healthier, cheaper and tastier than the canned variety! 

Here is what you are going to need:

- 1 lb of dried pinto beans

- half of a large onion, chopped

- 5 garlic cloves, minced

- 2 1/2 teaspoons cumin

- 1 teaspoon paprika

- 2 teaspoons sea salt

- 2 teaspoons chili powder

- 1/2 teaspoon pepper

- 3 to 4 cups filtered water

Breakfast Pastries

Here is another fun breakfast recipe. My oldest son is always asking me to make these. They are a bit like a small cinnamon roll. Soaking the flour overnight in butter and kefir helps to break down the flour an make it more digestible.  I took this recipe from the Nourishing Traditions cookbook. These are also called Rugelach, which is a Jewish pastry.

Here is what you are going to need:

- 1/2 cup softened butter

- 3/4 cup kefir (see how to make it here)

- 2 cups flour

- 1/2 cup rapadura sugar (a little less if you don't want it quite as sweet) I like to use less sugar an put a teaspoon of stevia in.

- 1 tablespoon vanilla

- 3/4 teaspoon salt

-1/4 cup butter 

-2 teaspoons cinnamon

- 1/4 cup raisins
- 1/4 cup crispy pecans (optional) I don't really like nuts in my baked goods, so I usually don't add them in.

Influences Affect that Your Immune System

Feeling run down? Here are some things that run down your immune system.  This list is helpful as to know what to limit and cut out.  If you keep reading you will see what is helpful to do if you are trying to stay healthy and keep that immune system strong! It matters what you eat, and it is great to be active and spend time outside!

Here are 10 influences that damage immunity:

1. Sugar and everything containing it: sweets, soft drinks, confectionery, ice cream, etc.

2. Processes carbohydrates: cakes, biscuits, crisps, snacks, breakfast cereals, white bread and pasta.

3. Chemically altered artificial fats: margarines, butter replacements, cooking and vegetable oils, processed foods prepared with these fats.

4. Lack of high quality protein in the diet from meats and fish, eggs, high quality dairy products, nuts and seeds.

5. Exposure to man made chemicals: cleaning and washing chemicals, personal care products, paints, fire retardants, petrochemicals, pesticides, etc.

6. Exposure to man made radiation: electronic screens (TV, computers , play stations, etc.) mobile phones, high powered electricity lines, nuclear stations and nuclear wastes.

7. Drugs: antibiotics, steroids, antidepressants, painkillers, anti-cancer medication, anti- viral drugs, etc.

8. Lack of fresh air and physical activity.

9. Lack of exposure to sunlight.

10. Lack of exposure to common microbes in the environment. Living in a too sterilized environment is strongly associated with compromises immunity. The immune system needs constant stimulation from the microbes in the environment.  

This morning I was reading a book about John Wesley to my boys and in the book it talked about how John Wesley would have a nagging cough or feel ill and he would jump into a nearby stream and he would also spend as much time as he could outdoors in the fresh air. These two things helped him quickly recover from sickness. Unfortunately many of the freshwater streams today are polluted, but if you find one nearby you that is not polluted, getting in the water is a great immune builder!  

Here are 10 influences which boost immunity:

1. Fresh animal fats and cholesterol rich foods (butter, lard, tallow, egg yolks)

2. Cold pressed oils: olive oil, coconut oil, nut/seed oils

3. Onions and garlic

4. Freshly pressed vegetable & fruit juices

5. Regular consumption of greens: parsley, dill, coriander, spring onions, garlic, etc.

6. Probiotic supplementation & fermented foods

7. Contact with animals

8. Swimming in unpolluted, natural waters

9. Physical activity in the fresh air

10. Exposure to sunlight and sensible sunbathing

These lists are helpful to know how to keep your family strong and healthy!

**These lists were take from Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride in her Gut and Psychology Syndrome Book.  

Effective Homemade Deodorant

For years I have heard of the bad effects of commercial deodorant, mostly because of the aluminum and also the other chemicals in it too. I really didn't want to use the store bought kind and I didn't know if the "natural" ones at the store were all that much better and they were expensive. I also didn't want to stink, so I continued to use the cheap deodorant from the store. Then, a couple months ago I came across an easy deodorant recipe and gave it a try. It was easy to make and it works well. By husband was a little reluctant to try it, but he did and he likes it too! I was so excited about it. If you have been wanting to try a natural deodorant, here is your chance. You might have most of these ingredients in your home already!  

Here is what you are going to need:

- 6-8 tablespoons coconut oil (in a solid state, so a little less if the oil is in the melted state)

- 1/4 cup baking soda

- 1/4 cup arrowroot powder or cornstarch (organic is best)

- optional essential oil ( I used tea tree oil)
- old deodorant containers or a small bowl with a lid

"Sun Dried" Tomatoes

We have a small garden and we are harvesting a good amount of tomatoes his year! Yay! I love fresh tomatoes. They are delicious plain or cut and sprinkled with salt and pepper. I also like the flavor that "sun dried" tomatoes add to dishes.  Many of the tomatoes labeled sun dried at the store are not really dried in the sun but they are still called sun dried.  I used a dehydrator for mine. I know we cannot eat all the tomatoes in our garden right now so I'm going to dry some for later.

Here is what you are going to need: 

- tomatoes, I used 12 Roma tomatoes (Roma work best because they are less juicy, but any will do, you just might have to take the seeds out)

- salt and pepper to taste

- basil (I have some from my garden too and I am going to dry it with the tomatoes)

- dehydrator or warm oven

Sourdough Chocolate Chip and Cranberry Aebleskievers

When I was growing up we would go visit my grandparents in Santa Barbara, CA. I always loved going to visit that city, it is beautiful, it has a beach, and the weather is usually great.  When we would visit, we would drive up to a town about an hour away called Solvang. It is a quaint Danish town.  They have lots of fun shops as well as great restaurants. We were introduced to aebleskievers  "apple skeevers" which are like spherical pancake. My dad liked them so much that he bought a cast iron aebleskiever pan so he could make them at home. I loved it when he would often make them for breakfast on the weekends. A couple years ago he passed the pan along to me and I have been making them for my boys. This morning I made some with mini chocolate chip and orange flavored crasins. Yum!!

Here is what you are going to need:

- 2 cups flour

- 2 cups oats

- 1/2 cup of sourdough starter

- 1 1/2 to 2 cups water

- 2 eggs

- 1/4 cup melted butter or coconut oil

- 3/4 teaspoon salt

- 1 teaspoon baking soda

- 1 teaspoon vanilla

- 1/2 cup honey, stevia or sugar (more or less, depending on how sweet you like it) I used a mix of honey and stevia.

- 1 cup mix of chocolate chips and orange flavored dried cranberries (I get them at Trader Joe's). Feel free to use whatever you like or have on hand, raisins, blueberries, strawberries would all work well.

Good First Foods for Baby

(my youngest son eating mashed avocado)

There are many theories about the best foods to feed baby.  With my first 2 sons, the first food they got was rice cereal. We were instructed by our pediatrician as well as other books to start off with rice cereal.  I started mixing it with breast milk, then mixed it with water and I often heated it in the microwave. (until we ditched our microwave, read about that here)  My oldest son had lots of constipation in his first 6 months of eating real foods. To this day he is still a bit sensitive to grains.  The Nourishing Traditions Book of Baby and Child Care has a whole chapter on feeding growing children. I really wish that they had the book available when I had my oldest sons.  They recommend starting to feed baby around 4-6 months. There is a fad going around of exclusive breastfeeding up until the first year. This may be tempting because it is so much easier and less messy to nurse than to feed solids. However, the results from holding off on feeding solids can result in an anemic baby who can be timid and clingy. The main reason for this is because at 6 months baby runs out of iron and breast milk cannot supply them with enough iron to meet baby's needs. In most traditional cultures one of the first foods given to baby was liver that was pre-chewed by mom.  Liver is high in iron and b vitamins. Another weaning food was a grass-fed egg yolk, loaded with vitamins and cholesterol.

Why We Ditched our Microwave

Microwaves are a staple kitchen appliance in most American homes.  The past few years I have been hearing all the negatives about microwaves and when our microwave broke 3 years ago we never fixed it or replaced it.  Truthfully, I do not miss it all that much.  It is just as easy to heat left overs up on the stove or use the toaster.  Plus I have more room in my kitchen without the bulky microwave and we save a bit of energy.