New Years Resolution

How many of you plan on making a New Year Resolution (again) this year? We've all done it. I'm going to lose weight. I'm going to quit smoking. I'm going to volunteer more. Yada yada yada.... The list of peoples resolutions could go on forever. Now ... How many of you actually succeeded at keeping those resolutions? Wait!! Did I just see most of your hands drop back down. Yep, mine went down too. I have failed to keep almost every resolution I've ever made. Sure, I start out strong. Mind made up to do it this time. I usually make a pretty good effort at first and feel pretty good about it. Then reality sets in and will power fails. After that it's all downhill. My self esteem and pride follow my will power right down the drain. Last year my resolution was not to make any resolutions. Do we all see how that one was a fail right from the start? Well, this year I've got it all figured out. Hmmm...How is that? I don't need one set goal to aim for. My resolution this year is (drum roll please) TO MAKE NEXT YEAR BETTER THAN THIS YEAR!!! It doesn't matter how. As long as I try hard and something improves I have succeeded. How hard can that be? I guess I will find out. Some people might think that this is the chickens way out, but think about it, the possibilities are endless. I will not be limited to only one possible way to succeed this time. I can succeed over and over all year long. So folks, that's it. I will be better next year than I was this year in any way I want to be.

Low Carb Yule Log Cake

This recipe originally came from http://nourishedkitchen.com/ and is called Bûche de Noël (Grain-free, Gluten-free Holiday Cake). However, my kids found it to be a little strong on the chocolate side and not quite sweet enough for them. I knew I could also make it low carb and sugar free. So I modified the recipe to make it work for everyone in my home. Below is my modified version. This cake is moist, sweet, and so simple to make in almost no time at all.

For the Sponge Cake:

• 6 large eggs, separated
• 4 tablespoons granular sugar substitute (I use Stevia in the raw)
• liquid stevia or other liquid sugar substitute (equal to 1/4 cup sugar)
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup cocao powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• zest of 1 orange
• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

For the Filling:

• 8 oz. package cream cheese
• 8 oz. tub whipped cream (cool whip)
• 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
• liquid stevia or other liquid sugar substitute (equal to 1/4 cup sugar)

 

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Cut parchment paper to fit inside an 11X17 cookie sheet.
3. Whisk six egg yolks together with four tablespoons granular sweetener, salt, cocoa powder and vanilla extract with the zest of one orange until smooth, creamy and thickened.
4. Beat six egg whites with one-quarter teaspoon cream of tarter and liquid stevia until soft peaks form.
5. Fold beaten egg white mixture into the egg yolk and cocoa mixture.
6. Pour the batter into the parchment covered cookie sheet.
7. Bake the cake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for fifteen minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
8. As the cake cools beat cream cheese, lemon juice and liquid stevia until smooth.
9. Add whipped cream to cream cheese mixture and blend until well mixed.
10. After the cake has cooled, gently invert it onto a stretch of aluminum foil or a kitchen towel.
11. Spread whipped cream cheese mixture onto the cake, then gently roll the cake length-wise and place it seam down on a serving platter. The cake may crack, revealing a bark-like texture and appearance.
12. Slice the ends of the roll off at an angle, then affix them to the side of the log.

Home Made Mayo

Made my first jar of home made mayo last night. It's really good. I can't believe I've been spending all that money on store bought mayo that's filled with ???? all kinds of nastiness. When you add the apple cider vinegar or lemon juice just add a tsp. at a time, then taste it, I like mine tangy.

This is my updated version, I like it alot better than the first one I posted. So the first recipe got the boot :)


2 large egg yolks
1 Tbs. apple cider vinegar (with the mother)(lemon juice also works)
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/8 tsp. salt

Beat egg yolks (whip them up good) on low/medium speed in blender or food processor. SLOWLY drizzle olive oil into egg mixture while beating on medium speed making sure it's blending together well. When mayonnaise is finished add apple cider vinegar and salt and blend well. DONE. Store in refrigerator. Will keep for 1 week in refrigerator.

Who knew...?

Who knew that a simple idea to spend more quality time with my kids and create something that is good for us would turn into one of the most enlightening and stressful times of my life. I just wanted to make home made soaps and lotions. So, like every task I start I had to do some research. We are, after all, going to be using this on our bodies so I better know what the hell I'm doing. I thought this was going to be easy...hahahahaha. I started out by looking up the ingredients in soap making on the Internet. Ewwww. OK, rule #1 ... If I cannot safely eat it then I don't want it on my skin. Your skin is the largest and most porous organ on your body. Everything that touches your skin goes directly into your body, another big Ewwwww. Where have your hands been lately?

Which brings me to the subject of lye. Not the most friendly substance out there. However, you cannot make soap without using lye. Honestly, I'm not "lyeing". Ok, so my humor needs some work. Anyway, I have searched everywhere for an alternative method and unless I want to make a goopey mess that has no effective cleaning power I have no choice but to use lye. I have learned that the end result (soap) does not actually contain any lye. This is due to a process called Saponification. I won't go into the details of it here because it's enough to give you a headache (I know this from experience). So, yes, my soap must be made with lye. Other than that I refuse to use anything that could be considered toxic or harmful in my home made products. If I don't like my kids eating sugar why on earth would I want them to absorb it into their skin? Same with dyes, more Ewwwww. There are just too many natural ways to put color and scent into things using foods and herbs that are actually adding something healthy and beneficial to your skin.

Other than a huge amount of research and hours upon hours of reading and note taking I think this should be fun. My daughters are really excited about this and we have decided that it's just too good to keep to ourselves. We are going to try to make a small business venture out of our experience. If we can get just one person to stop using chemical laden products on their skin then it's worth all the hard work and headaches. We are going to name the products after our beloved goat "Dixie Doo" since she was the inspiration for this whole adventure. My daughters are in charge of creating a label for our products. Not all of our products will contain goats milk because some people just won't go there. However, most of our soaps will contain milk from Dixie and her future babies (and hopefully their babies, and so on...).

Hopefully this adventure will be our answer to living a normal life again. Ever since my husband became ill we have barely been able to survive. Social Security just doesn't pay enough to support a family. Even though his health is a big reason for us going natural that's a whole different story, so lets move on.

Our plan is to start selling our products at the local flea markets, we have them all year around here. In the summer they are held outside and when the weather gets cold they relocate to an indoor facility. Their are also numerous craft fairs all over this area. We live in a very small town and almost all the towns in our area are historic vacation destinations. The small town where I grew up is only nine miles from us and almost all the downtown businesses sell antiques or handmade goods. We are hoping that one of them would be willing to carry our products. I'm also going to start researching internet sales (ugh, more research).

Keeping things natural and healthy is the main goal here. That will mean growing my own herbs and flowers so I know what goes into my soaps and lotions. But until I can get things growing I will have to rely on the internet and local farmers for some of my ingredients. Luckily most of what I need is grown or produced locally. Beeswax, honey, organic herbs, etc... The other ingredients I plan on buying from well known companies like Tropical Traditions, just to name one. Maybe I'm crazy to think this can work, but I have to give it a try. If nothing else, it's nice to see that twinkle in my daughters eyes when we talk about it, and the time we spend together planning and dreaming and creating is worth every minute of research and work I put into this plan.

I would be more than happy to get peoples feedback on this idea. So, please leave a comment and let me know what you think.

Home Made Natural Soaps

Now that I've successfully found a Buck to breed my dairy goat with I'm looking forward to having some baby goats *kids*. Her previous owner got twins from her last year (1 buck and 1 doe) so I'm hoping for twins this time, hopefully 2 does if I'm lucky. The buck I'm using is a Saanen and my doe "Dixie" is an Alpine/Saanen mix. They should make excellent milk producers.

BTW ... Do you have any idea how disgusting a buck goat is? OMG ... They smell as bad as a skunk if you ask me. I almost feel bad putting my sweet little Dixie with such a foul creature. I can literally smell him from the other end of the barn. Apparently this smell is what makes them attractive to the does so I guess Dixie doesn't mind.

So, after realizing that eventually I will have some more milk producers ( about a year and a half from now) and thinking about ways to utilize all that milk I decided to experiment with making goat milk soaps and lotions. I'm pretty excited about it because it's a great way to spend time with my daughters and create a useful product that will be good for us. No chemicals, no toxic dyes or perfumes, just 100% pure all natural oils, milk, herbs, flowers and essential oils. Since my goat is dried up right now for breeding I am going to start perfecting my recipes by using coconut milk as the main milk. I may break down and purchase some organic goat milk just for research purposes until my goat kids, but the main goal here is to use as many home grown ingredients as possible (and not blowing up my kitchen).

Butternut Squash Fries

Because of an abundance of butternut squash from a friends garden this year I have a huge stash of them in my coat closet (Hey, it's the only cool dark place I could find). So I started wondering what I was going to do with them all. I thought about the usual ... soup, casserole, mashed with butter and honey (my daughters favorite) but all I kept thinking was ... boring. Then I remembered sweet potato fries, hmmmmm, squash isn't that far off from sweet potatoes. Just one problem, last time I made sweet potato fries they were too soft and not like fries at all. One of my daughters favorite treats are these french fries that are battered from this restaraunt we stop at after the flea market. I can do that!!! Maybe? It's worth a try. Well, 5 batches later I have something that everyone agrees is good and a definite keeper. Even though they aren't exactly the same they are very good. They have crunch and work well for dipping (mayonaisse is my choice).

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Lightly grease a cookie sheet.

Mix equal parts coconut flour and almond flour, the amount depends on how many you want to make.

Add spices and paprika to flour mix according to your own taste.

Peel and cut squash into french fry sized strips.

Rinse squash fries with water to moisten.

Toss wet fries in flour mixture until evenly coated.

Put fries on cookie sheet and lightly spray with oil of your choice. (I use olive oil).

Bake for 15 minutes, turn fries over and bake another 5 to 10 minutes.

That's it. Enjoy your crispy fries with any dipping sauce you like.