Wednesday, May 19, 2010

South of France Spa Naturals Free Sample Kit


If you visit the South of France Spa Naturals site you can request a free Spa Naturals sample kit! Here is what your kit will contain:


-- 1.25 oz. Orange Ginger Facial Cleanser Bar

-- .25 oz. Citrus Mint Facial Scrub

-- .25 oz. Cucumber Aloe Facial Moisturizer

This looks like another great freebie! Hope it arrives soon!


Monday, May 17, 2010

Salmon Patties


I am so glad I decided to make my salmon fillets into these delicious patties tonight! They were so easy and SO tasty! The hubby loves crab cakes, so I've been wanting to make a salmon version.

Salmon is so good for you. Full of Omega-3's and much more! Here is a brief summary of the health benefits of this awesome fish.

My recipe made 10 nice size patties. We only ate 5 so we have plenty left for topping salads! I even have a recipe for Salmon & Corn Chowder that they would be delightful in! Maybe if I have all of the ingredients, I will whip some of that up tomorrow! Ummm, I can smell it now!

4 nice size salmon fillets (approx. 1lb.)
2 eggs
bread crumbs (enough to make your mixture stick together, I used about 1 cup)
pinch of sea salt
1/2 tsp. parsley

Flake salmon with a fork in your mixing bowl, add the remaining ingredients, mix thoroughly.
Drizzle olive oil in your frying pan and turn to medium heat. Once oil is ready, start forming your patties and dropping them into your pan. Fry about 5 minutes on each side until nicely browned. Remove from pan onto a paper towel lined plate to drain off excess oil. Then enjoy!

*Sorry for the terrible photo quality here! I snapped my picture right when I got them out of the pan and had to hurry to get the rest out before they burned!

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Mom's Best Naturals Coupon

You can visit the Mom's Best Naturals site to sign-up and download a coupon for $.75 off of one of their cereal/oat products!

There is a store locator page on their site to find the nearest store carrying their products. If you are in the Scranton, PA area, Redner's Market stocks them.

Purple Cow Pops




My kids thought these pops were such a treat! They were so easy to make and from start to clean-up took only about 5 minutes!

To be honest, I did not measure anything for these. I just eyeballed to what I thought would fill my ice cube tray.

Start with some plain homemade yogurt, then add your favorite flavor of frozen 100% fruit juice concentrate. Enough to flavor. I'm sure pureed fruit or 100% fruit juice would work fine also, this is just what I had on hand to use! I used 100% grape which did have one other ingredient of citric acid, which I didn't realize when I bought it, and I can't bear to throw away food, so I came to terms with the tiny bit of citric acid and used it! Next time, I'll be sure to check! I have a mango to use up so I may just puree that to use!

Stir and pour into ice cube trays, then insert popsicle sticks! I got my sticks for a few cents at the craft store with a coupon!
Freeze and enjoy your kids smiling faces while they gobble them up!

$.75 off Stonyfield Organic Frozen Yogurt or Ice Cream


Click here to sign up for Stonyfield Farms newsletters and you can print a coupon for $.75 off of any one pint of their organic frozen yogurt or ice cream!

They have tons of flavors to choose from like, Cookies and Cream, Gotta Have Java, After Dark Chocolate and many more! All made from organic ingredients.

Since I opted for the food processor instead of buying the ice cream maker bowl for my Kitchenaid mixer, I will be buying this for sure!

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

My DayBook For May 12th. 2010

Photo thought for the day...

Sorry for the poor quality photo! It was thru the screen of the window and one of the kids took it! Our morning visitors to the bird feeder...mamma turkey who has young ones near the creek by the driveway and a squirrel!

Outside my window... It's a rainy day here today. I love the rain, but honestly this is getting to be a bit much now! Where is the sunshine and warmth? Well at least I didn't have to use my ice scraper this morning on the van to take the kids to the bus like the past few days!

I am thinking... that I'm so grateful that Joe's EEG test results came back and all was normal. Now just waiting on the bloodwork to come back.


I am hoping... that we can get this garden planted soon! The way the weather has been, we haven't been able to get it in. It's getting late!


I am thankful for... cleaning my house yesterday and Monday and now have the rest of the week to focus on other things!


From the kitchen... this morning I made some kale cubes for using in smoothies and soups!


I am wearing... hoodie and yoga pants.


I am creating... sourdough bread tomorrow!


I am going... on a much needed day out with a wonderful friend on Friday. Cannot wait!


I am reading... about cheesemaking, my next experiement!


I am hearing... the baby birds in the nest under out porch roof! They sound so absolutely sweet!


Around the house...IT"S CLEAN, isn't that enough!


One of my favorite things... listening to the sound of the rain.


A few plans for the rest of the week... I am "planning" on TRYING to start going to bed earlier. I know I need more sleep, but when I get that quiet time at night I all of a sudden get this second wind! But I definitely pay for it in the morning!

Special thanks to Peggy at The Simple Womans Daybook for hosting!








Soaked Whole Wheat Tortillas


Our whole family loves tortillas for wraps, quesadillas, enchiladas, etc. I've been buying 100% whole wheat ones from the store and not only are they pricey, but very dry and tear way too easily when rolling or folding.

Of course I had to just try making some of my own! I found a few different recipes online and took a little from each one and cam up with this recipe that turned out fantastic! Soft and didn't tear upon rolling them up for a sandwich wrap!

The flour in this recipe is soaked. There are many benefits to soaking your grains before baking/cooking with them. Soaking grains is recommended in the book I am currently "studying", Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon. It states that "grains, nuts, legumes, and seeds are rich in enzyme inhibitors. Unless deactivated, these enzyme inhibitors can put great strain on the digestive system. Sprouting or soaking in warm acidic water, sour leavening, culturing and fermenting--which are all processes of traditional societies--deactivate enzyme inhibitors, thus making the nutrients in grains, nuts, and seeds more readily available."

I highly recommend getting your hands on a copy of this book. It is more than a cookbook, it is a primary tool in my kitchen!


Ok, back to the recipe! I doubled this recipe and it made me 24 soft tortillas. My electric griddle pan was wonderful for these as I was able to have 3-4 cooking at the same time while rolling out more at the table. A big time saver if you have one! If not you can just use a regular unoiled pan.

The night before:
1 Tbls gently melted coconut oil (or butter)
2 Tbls whey (or apple cider vinegar or lemon juice)

Pour both ingredients into a liquid measuring cup and top off to the 3/4 cup mark with water. Filtered is best...I personally just use our well water and have not ever had a problem. I wouldn't recommend using treated city water.


In a large bowl add 2 cups of whole wheat flour or spelt.
Stir in liquid into the flour until just mixed. Use your hands to squeeze the dough together until it's evenly moist. It will be a stiff ball of dough. Place in a bowl with a damp towel to cover. Let sit overnight 12-24 hours.

The next day:
Add 1/2 tsp of sea salt and knead until it's evenly throughout the dough. (about 2 minutes) Allow to sit covered with a towel for about 30 minutes to make rolling easier.

Divide dough with a steak knife into 4 pieces, then divide those into 3 pieces...hence, end up with 12 balls of dough. If you want larger tortillas, just cut less pieces at larger sizes.

Turn on your griddle on medium heat (about 300*-325*) or heat pan on stove top.

Flour your surface and your rolling pin, and roll out to desired thickness. Thinner the better! I found it easiest to roll out one at a time and place on my griddle pan, then while that one is cooking I rolled out my next one until I got a good rhythm down. When your tortilla starts to bubble up it's time to flip! They only take approximately 1 minute on each side.

Cool and store in ziploc bags in the refrigerator or freeze for later use!

There you go, fresh, healthy, no preservative, no additive tortillas!