mindfulness

Winter Pastime

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Well, if you can believe it, my family has found itself in the midst of yet another run with the flu.  My youngest, who never got the brunt of the flu the first go-round, got slammed with it full go this week.  Poor baby.

So, yet again, we have stayed close to home, passing the time near the fire, with those activities that make home-time so much fun.

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I did get in a bit of sewing while my little one napped this past week.  I made this jumper for each of my gals.  I’ve been referring to it as my first “real” outfit I’ve ever sewn 🙂  It is Butterick 3772.  I would highly recommend it if you are a novice sewer like myself.  It went together very nicely and fit the girls really well.

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I hope all of you find yourselves enjoying your time indoors this winter as well!

For the Love of Pie

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I am in love.  I am in love with a book…all about pie.  From as far back as I can remember, pies have donned the table of every family gathering.  Whether it was Thanksgiving or Christmas, Easter or Mother’s Day, or even The Fourth of July, pie seemed to take the lead as the star of the dessert show.

My husband has long known of my self-admitted pie obsession, and gave me a fabulous birthday present this year:  A Year of Pies: A Seasonal Tour of Home Baked Pies by one of my fav do-it-yourselfers Ashley English.  After just one flip of the page I knew I was in love.  Oh my.  Each pie looks better than the last, and my girls and I found ourselves nestled on our couch, thumbing through the crisp pages, vowing to make each and every pie in the book by the end of 2013.

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Inspired by the contents of this book, we decided to host an afternoon of pie tasting.  Yes, you heard that correctly.  We spent Monday afternoon, crowded in our warm kitchen with family and friends, eating nothing but pie and drinking mead and coffee.  (I mean, you can’t very well eat a honey pie without honey mead to go with it now can you?)  I think it was the tastiest afternoon I have enjoyed in some time.  Yum.

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Homemade Shave Oil and Shave Soap

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When you peek at the back of a shaving cream can, you may notice a longer list of ingredients than the processed food in the grocery store.  Almost all of the ingredients are unpronounceable, and really a bit scary when you think of what impact those ingredients have on our bodies once they are absorbed into our skin.

My husband has been searching for a good shave soap for years now and he continued to come up empty handed.  He has very sensitive skin and couldn’t seem to locate anything that worked, didn’t contain a ton of chemicals, and didn’t irritate his skin.

So, like many other things in our life, we decided to try our hand at making our own.  My hubby has been extremely happy with how these products turned out, and he uses them on a daily basis, confident in the fact that toxins are not leaching into his system, and he does’t have to worry about skin irritation issues.

Sandalwood, Cedarwood & Bay Shave Oil

(Apply a small amount of this Shave Oil prior to shaving.  Follow with Shave Soap.)

1/2 cup organic extra virgin olive oil

1 cup castor oil

10 drops sandalwood essential oil

10 drop cedarwood essential oil

5 drops bay essential oil

4 oz. amber bottles with lids (I bought mine here.)

medium-sized bowl

metal spoon

funnel

Mix the olive oil and caster oil in a medium bowl.  Then, slowly mix in the three essential oils.  Using a funnel, pour the shave oil into the amber bottles.  Cap.  Enjoy.

Sandalwood, Cedarwood & Bay Shave Soap

(Place a bar of this soap in the bottom of a large mug.  Thoroughly wet a shave brush and then vigorously rub it over the bar of shave soap.  Lather the soap on your face and you are ready to begin shaving.)

1 pound Melt and Pour Soap Base (I use this Goat’s Milk Soap Base.)

2 teaspoons bentonite clay (I purchase mine from this local natural food store, but you can get it here.)

10 drops sandalwood essential oil

10 drops cedarwood essential oil

5 drops bay essential oil

a shallow pot or saucepan

a glass bowl

wooden spoon

soap molds (You can purchase these at your local craft store or here.)

Fill the pot or saucepan half full with water.  Bring to a simmer.  Place the glass bowl in the pot of water to create a double boiler of sorts.  Place the melt and pour soap base in the glass bowl.  Stir the base with a wooden spoon until it melts.  Remove the bowl from the heat and quickly mix in the clay.  Then add the three essential oils and stir.  Allow the mixture to cool just slightly (enough to thicken the mixture just a bit).  Pour into your molds.  Allow to rest until completely cool.  Remove the soap from the molds.  Enjoy.

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Her First Project

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As I mentioned on Tuesday, my three year-old received a sewing machine for Christmas this year.  Now, many of you may be wondering, “Why on earth did this crazy mom buy her three year old a real sewing machine?”  Well, when researching the kids-type sewing machines and speaking with the lovely gals at my local sewing shop, they informed me that many of the machines geared towards kids will fall apart over just a short period of time.  They told me that by spending just about $40 more, I could get a nice, quality machine that can grow with her.

Obviously, this real sewing machine (as my daughter refers to it), involves a lot of assistance from mama at this time, but I have no doubt that in a few years this little lady will be sewing away all by herself.  But for now, I run the pedal, and she feeds the fabric through the machine, with mommy’s hand gently atop hers to insure it doesn’t get too close to the needle.

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The week my daughter returned to pre-school after the holiday break, they were suppose to bring in a toy they received for Christmas for show-and-tell.  So, my tiny seamstress wanted to make a quilt, and bring that quilt in to show her class because “Mommy, my real sewing machine is too heavy to bring into my classroom and I don’t think it will fit in my school bag.”

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So we worked and worked on a cold afternoon, while Big Sissy was at school, and we created this tiny little quilt.  She is so very proud of this crafted bit.  She has been taking it everywhere, and showing it to anyone who will look.

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I just had to add this picture here at the end.  My daughter told me she had to iron her seams with her iron to make sure they were flat.  Quite the professional little seamstress she is.  I’m such a proud mama.

Hearty Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Cookies

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I am constantly testing out recipes in my kitchen, attempting to incorporate local organic ingredients to amp up the healthiness of the goodies we love to eat, while also keeping them super yummy.  I still had some locally-grown rolled oats in my fridge from this farmer and whole wheat flour from this farming family, so I created this recipe to highlight those hearty grains and their lovely earthy, nutty flavors.  Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup coconut oil

1 cup brown sugar (packed)

1/2 cup granulated cane sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 baking soda

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups rolled oats (not quick oats)

4-6 oz. high quality milk chocolate chopped into chunks (I love using Green & Black’s Organic Chocolate in all my baking.)

Cream the butter, coconut oil, and both sugars using a hand blender or stand mixer.  Then blend in the eggs and the vanilla.  After all of these ingredients have been well incorporated, add the baking soda, followed by both flours.  Now, mixing by hand, add the oats and chocolate.

Scoop the dough out (about 2 tablespoon-size) and bake at 375 degrees for 7-9 minutes, depending on whether you like chewy oatmeal cookies or crunchy ones.

*A note about all my recipes:  I use all organic ingredients, local when available.  I use non-homogenized milk, and all of the dairy we use is from animals raised on pasture. I also use oils that are non-GMO verified.  All our meat is raised locally on organic feed, and our beef is grass-fed, grass-finished.  All our spices and cane sugar are fair-trade certified and purchased through a cooperative.

A Place Of Their Own

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I’m sure all of you mamas out there know how this goes.  The holidays are now over, and space needs to be created for all those gifts that the little ones found under the tree Christmas morning.  Our biggest issue this year was that both girls received a lot of project materials (which is amazing…don’t get me wrong), but the problem arose when each girl wanted her own space to create, discover, and “just be in peace.” (That was my oldest…always wanting her “peace” 🙂 )

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So, I ventured to my parents’ basement, where I can always find a few trinkets that I need, and emerged with an antique desk that my sister and I used when we played “school” all those years ago.  I then went to the thrift store and picked up a table.  I painted both these pieces to match our existing decor in our basement.  It must, of course, all coordinate right?

And yes, that is a sewing machine…for my three year old.  That was the one item she asked for for Christmas.  She never wavered, never faltered.  Each and every time someone asked her what she wanted for Christmas, her response was, “A real sewing machine.”  Oh my.

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I also let my oldest paint the trim on her table, to add a bit of personal pizzazz, and then covered it with a water-based finish to avoid any chipping.

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Now each girl has a bit of space, all her own, where she can get lost in her creative world.  More on the projects created in these spaces later this week.

Venison Chorizo

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My hubby has been out there in the wee hours of the morning, waiting patiently for a deer to meander his way for a long time now.  Eight years if we are counting.  But who is really?  Well, after all this time, it finally happened.  We have fresh venison!  And I must say it is a festival of all things venison around here these days….venison stew, venison burgers, venison meatloaf…and as of yesterday, venison chorizo.  Yum.

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The whole family got involved yesterday afternoon, as the temperature around here plummeted into the single digits and we were forced indoors.  We used our absolutely favorite chorizo recipe from Rick Bayless’ Mexico One Plate at a Time, substituting the pork shoulder the recipe calls for, with venison.

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We purchased this meat grinder yesterday, to assist with the process, and once we got going and figured out how the machine actually worked, we were well on our way to a delicious dinner.

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And to my absolute astonishment, after we finished making the chorizo, each gal gobbled up a bunch of mini chorizo burgers they had hand-crafted themselves!