eco friendly

Autumn Bounty

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Last night marked the beginning of a new day at the Fagan abode.  We harvested our first batch of arugula from our fall garden.  In honor of this great day, I made a dinner filled with garden fresh produce, and I must say it earned rave reviews from the entire family.

Our meal consisted of a bed of organic pasta (not homemade I’m afraid to say 😦 ), topped with local sausage, the last of our tomato harvest, regional feta cheese, and finished with a large handful of the peppery arugula from our brand-new garden beds.  I dressed the entire dish with a drizzle of organic olive oil, a splash of aged balsamic, and a bit of sea salt.  Yummy.

Fall Felting

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If you joined us a few weeks ago, you may remember we visited with a few furry friends in honor of National Alpaca Weekend.  While on this fun adventure, we were lucky enough to receive some small bags of soft, velety alpaca fiber.  After a bit of research and a gander through one of my favorite home-crafting books, I came upon a fun and easy project, perfectly suited for my hard-to-entertain-these-days daughter.

Although a bit wet, the project was such fun on this unseasonably-warm fall afternoon.  I must say my favorite part of the entire process was each time my daughter held the dark brown fiber in her tiny hands and said, “Mommy, this fur is from Bob.  You know Bob.  He was the boy alpaca.”  Oh my, this girl.

We ended our day with quite a few felted balls that we plan to make into petite acorn decorations.  We will see if our planned nature walk today in search of acorn tops proves to be fruitful.

Fried Green Tomatoes…Italian Style

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We have a LOT of green tomatoes this year.  A lot.  So, last night I gave fried green tomatoes a shot.  But instead of serving them up Southern-style, I decided to do a play on eggplant Parmesan. Instead of eggplant, I used some of those green tomatoes covering my countertop.

Italian-Style Fried Green Tomatoes

-Slice 8-10 green tomatoes and set aside.

-Scramble 3 eggs in a small shallow bowl and set aside.

-In a large shallow bowl, mix together 1/2 cup all purpose flour, 1/2 cup corn flour, 1 tablespoon dried basil, 1 tablespoon dried oregano, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper, 1 tablespoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon onion powder.  Set aside.

-Pour about 1/2 inch of oil in the bottom of a frying pan (I used an organic, non-GMO canola oil.).  Heat the pan until very hot.

-Dip each tomato slice in the egg, then the dry mixture and then place in the hot oil.  Allow to cook until brown, flip and cook the other side until brown.  Remove the fried slices from the hot oil and allow to rest on a paper towel for a few seconds before plating.

I served my fried green tomatoes on a bed of pasta, topped with my homemade tomato sauce and freshly grated Parmesan cheese.  Enjoy!

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Fall Preparations

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With frost now hitting our area in the evenings, this little family of mine has been rushing about, making final preparations for late fall.  I really do love this time of year because at this point, I am ready to nestle in and do a bit of indoor work (reading, crocheting, sewing) instead of the manual labor that is involved with a large garden during the warm months of the year.  I am so thankful that we live in an area that experiences all four seasons.  It gives us a chance to let our bodies and souls rest and rejuvenate before starting the growing season again the next year.

Our first order of business was to bring in all of our herbs.  These seem to be the first of our plants to get hit with frost, so they topped our priority list.  The girls and I picked our basil, oregano, sage and thyme and then dried it in our food dehydrator.  Once the herbs were dried I ran them through a quick whirl in the spice grinder and put them in Mason jars. We store our dried spices in our spare refrigerator for the winter.  The herbs keep very well storing them this way, and we have found it saves us a great deal of money in the winter months to have all of these herbs on stand by.

Next came the tomatoes.  Oh those tomato plants…All 36 of them.  I must admit, I was dreading this activity this fall.  Good thing I had a little helper by my side to keep me company and do some of the manual labor 🙂  We first picked all of the remaining ripened tomatoes.  Then we harvested all of those lovely green tomatoes (a recipe to come tomorrow), and took down all of the cages and composted the vines.

I received some garlic seed from my mother-in-law, so that went into some of the empty beds that had been cleared a few weeks ago.  Hopefully the seed makes it because a certain little kitty cat keeps wanting to dig it up.  We shall see if this little garlic venture is fruitful come next year.

We are trying something new this year for weed control.  Gardening is quite the effort in trail and error and each year we seem to fail in this department.  Last year, we planted annual rye grass in each of our beds.  The rye grass was suppose to act as a ground cover to help deter weeds, die off in the winter months, and leave the soil enriched with nitrogen and provide excellent compost to till in come spring.  Well, we didn’t get much of a hard frost last winter, so the rye did not die off.  Instead, we were left with garden beds filled with two foot high, green rye grass.

This year we are just aiming for weed control and plan to add compost to our beds in the early spring.  We stopped by our favorite local coffee roasters that I mentioned in this post, and got a bunch of burlap coffee bags.  I cut these and used them to cover each of our beds that will remain dormant for the winter.

And now we venture into the unknown with our fall/winter garden we added this year.  For now, it seems to be surviving the frosty evenings just fine and we should be able to start harvesting in the very near future.  A new adventure waits in the valance.  I can’t wait!

Happy Honeymooning

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This past weekend, our family attended the wedding of a dear friend.  It is on these special occasions that I am reminded of just how lucky we are to be surrounded by such amazing family and friends.  It makes for such a full, rich life of which we are truly blessed.

To honor this very exceptional couple, we decided to create a “Honeymoon Basket” for them to enjoy.  My contribution to the basket was a hand-made quilt.  I love giving handcrafted gifts because there is so much thought that goes into the making of these items.  With each clip of the scissors and each stitch of the fabric, I thought of this fabulous couple and the amazing life they were about to begin.

Now, my hubby’s contribution to the basket was much more exciting.  His recent fervor for fermentation has led him to the history behind the fermented beverage of mead, and its connection to the honeymoon.  So, he brewed a special batch of mead for the newlyweds, complete with an explanation of its relation to the honeymoon.

“Predating all other forms of concentrated sugars, honey, diluted to honey water, was in all probability one of the first fermented beverages ever concocted by man.  With its fermentation came the alcoholic drink we know as mead.

Mead is the beverage of love.  The drinking of mead has been held responsible for fertility and the birth of sons.  This is where the tradition of the honeymoon got its start.  If mead were consumed for one month (one moon) after a wedding, then in nine months a son would be born and the mead maker congratulated.  The custom of drinking mead at weddings and for one month after initiated our present-day custom of the honeymoon.”  ~Papazian, Charlie.  Joy of Home Brewing

Forget About It

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It seems as if it has been a very long time since I posted a recipe in this space, so here goes nothing.  As I’ve said a lot over the past few months, finding my grandfather’s recipe box has been a fun adventure filled with cooking experiments and taste tastes.

This particular card has been one I have played around with quite a bit over the past few weeks. And this weekend, after a lot of testing and even more tasting, I think I’ve come up with a great pumpkin bread recipe that allows you to forget about adding in all of that refined sugar and unhealthy oil.  Enjoy!

Pumpkin Bread

1 1/2 cups honey

1 cup coconut oil (melted)

4 eggs

2/3 cup water

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon nutmeg

15 ounces pumpkin puree

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees.  In a large bowl, beat the honey and melted coconut oil with an electric mixer.  Next add the eggs and beat until smooth.  Then add the water and beat mixture again.  Set aside.

In another large bowl, mix both flours, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture slowly, beating with an electric mixer.  Finally, beat in the pumpkin puree.  (I add dark chocolate chips at this point sometimes too 🙂 )  Pour into two greased loaf pans.  Bake for 55-65 minutes.

Warmth

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Some of you may remember that I purchased a great deal of yarn from my favorite Northwoods shop when we were visiting my husband’s grandparents last spring.  Well, the silky alpaca yarn has been sitting by patiently awaiting fall, and now its time has come.  I had been saving these eight skeins of yarn for something special for my little girls.

And now…ta da

…new hats and cowls!  Sure to keep them cozy {and stylish 🙂 } on the playground.  I love the idea of the cowl instead of a scarf because with the way these girls run around, a scarf wouldn’t last a day of tag-playing or swinging at recess.

Cleaning Day

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We all know the routine:  Pick up the dishes, and the clothes, and the books, and the toys.  Ok.  Now you can see the dirt and dust.  Now, find something to occupy the kiddos so that you can actually move around the house without hearing, “Mommy” yelled five thousand times, each time rising to a higher decibel because how could you hear them when the vacuum is on.  Next, lug out the rags, buckets, and the other miscellaneous cleaning supplies.  Whew.  I know, I’m tired already too.  And now…it is time to begin.  Ah.  Gotta love cleaning day.

One thing that is very important around our house when it comes to cleaning is to use little to no chemicals in our cleaning products.  The idea of having my little girls take baths in a tub that has been cleaned with bleach and other harsh chemicals makes me cringe.  And not only that, cleaning products can put quite the large dent in the pocket book.

Over the years I have tested a wide variety of all-natural cleaning products.  Some I have purchased and others I have made at home.  And I have to say that after nearly six years of being a mama, I have settled on a few homemade concoctions that I use on a daily and/or weekly basis.

I hope you find these as useful, safe, and affordable for your family as I have found them to be for mine.

All-Purpose Cleaner (I use this for everything from kitchen counters and table, to bathroom surfaces.)

In a plastic spray bottle, fill it with half water and half white vinegar (known for its strong antibacterial properties).  Then add 20 drops of grapefruit essential oil (known for its anti-viral and anti-microbial properties).  I also like to add about 10 drops of orange essential oil to add a bit more of a citrus kick to the cleaner.  Shake the bottle before each use.  Spray on surfaces and wipe with a clean cloth.

Wood Cleaner (Use this very sparingly.  I spray a very small amount of this on a rag when cleaning wood furniture.  I also use this to clean my hardwood floor.  Be sure to wipe the surface completely dry after each application.)

In a plastic spray bottle, fill it with half water and half white vinegar (known for its strong antibacterial properties).  Then add 20 drops of peppermint essential oil (known for its antibacterial properties).  Shake the bottle before each use.

Ceramic Tile Cleaner (I use this to wash the floors in my kitchen, foyer and bathrooms.)

In a large bucket, fill it with half very warm water and half white vinegar (known for its strong antibacterial properties).  Then  add EITHER 30 drops of peppermint essential oil (known for its antibacterial properties) OR 30 drops of lavender/tea tree oil (known for their antibacterial properties).  It just depends on the mood you are in.  Peppermint oil in more invigorating while the lavender/tea tree mix is more soothing.

Toilet Cleaner 

Pour about 1 cup white vinegar into the toilet bowl.  Then add about 1/8 cup baking soda (You will get a nice little science experiment in your toilet bowl.), and 10 drops of peppermint essential oil.  Then scrub by hand or with a toilet brush.  Flush when complete.

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A great resource I have found that contains a lot more DIY cleaning products and much, much more is Make Your Place:  Affordable, Sustainable Nesting Skills by Raleigh Briggs

Bringing the Outdoors In

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As the mercury begins its descent, we are spending a bit more time indoors these days.  So with that, we are making every effort to bring a bit of the outdoors in.  I truly believe a great deal can be said for the tactile experiences of interacting with nature, and when the late fall and winter months do not allow for such easy access to these experiences, I think it is important for people (children especially) to not lose that intimate contact with nature.

For that reason, we have been gathering outdoor artifacts and putting them on display in just about every room of our home.  The girls love this activity, because they get to have a direct hand in “decorating” the house.  They have been filling up Mason jars with water to display mums and lavender, collecting rocks to sprinkle on tabletops, and picking gourds in the garden to create their own fall adornments.

I hope all of you are enjoying these first beautiful days of fall!  Have a wonderful week!