Making My Own Butter!!!

As Thanksgiving approaches tomorrow I decided to try something new.  I decided to make my own butter for my turkey this year.  I know you are thinking what I did when this thought came into my head, WHY?  Why would I do this when Organic butter is in every store?  Well, quite honestly because I wanted to see if I could.  I also wanted to see what the flavor difference would be.

I bought extra Organic heavy whipping cream, set up my mixer and got ready for butter.  I put the mixer on high and after about 3 minutes it was whipped topping.  I kept going until the mixture started to separate.  I couldn't believe it!  It really happened.  The liquid and solids really separated.

I strained the solids and put them into cheese cloth and squeezed the rest of the liquid out.  TADA, butter!

After showing them, actually dancing them, across the house to show my husband, he called me Laura Engals.  I think he actually said, "Little House on the Prairie Called....."

It came out delicious!  I even went a step farther to get some thyme and sage from the garden and add them in to it so that I can rub down my turkey tomorrow with it.

This was one of the easiest things to make.  I will be making my own butter from here on.
 
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Happy Thanksgiving!!

Burlap Veggie Keepers For LESS

Having our backyard organic garden is wonderful.  I love being able to grow our own food!  I also want to make sure that the food I grow will be usable as long as possible.

I had been looking into buying burlap bags to store my potatoes, onions and even carrots to help  them last.  They were alot more expensive then I thought they would be so.....I decided to do it myself.  I had seen these wonderful wire baskets with the burlap liners in them in a gardening catalog and I decided to try to make those.

I used a 2 shelf wire shelf/basket.  You can get them at Target, Walmart or even check your local dollar store.  The burlap I got from Joann's Fabrics, which if your Sunday paper is like ours, there is a 60% off coupon every week.

I cut and attached the burlap to the wire basket with upholstery thread, leaving a good amount to run across the top and cover as many veggies as I could put in it.  It came out great!!!  It was sooooo much cheaper and now I can store the wonderful things from the garden in a dark cabinet in burlap that will keep them for months!  Hurray!

Give it a shot.  Even if you don't have your own organic garden, it will keep your grocery store potatoes, onions and carrots fresher longer (store each veggie in it's own group).  And we all know how expensive buying organic is!

*for carrots I read that putting damp sand or sawdust in layers will keep them fresh

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My Daughter's First Stitches, The Meds Have WHAT???

We had gone to Chicago for a family emergency last week.   While we waited in the family waiting area my daughter decided to listen to her cousin and stand in the back of a big Tonka truck.  The result was us booking it to the emergency room of that hospital for the gash under her chin.

When they got us in the examination room the nurse said she was going to get my daughter some Motrin for the pain.  I told her that she has never taken anything like that in her 2+ years.  Then I saw her dispensing it. It was red so I knew it was the Motrin with artificial color and flavoring.  I asked her if they had the clear Motrin (dye and flavor free) and she said "no, why is she allergic?".  I told her that I don't like her to have dyes and artificial flavors.  So the result was my daughter not getting the Motrin.

Then when the doctor came in she told us that they would not be able to use numbing cream on the wound before stitches because the same manufacturer of the cream also made the spinal shots that caused a meningitis outbreak and all their products were recalled!  Seriously!

Watching my daughter gets the shots to numb her killed me!  Hearing her crying "Ouch Please stop" was so awful.  But she made it through like a champ.

I walked away from this experience so blown away.  How did the hospital not have a clear Motrin?  I cannot be the only parent that knows that regular Motrin contains High Fructose Corn Syrup (GMO) and Red Dye 40 (cancer causing).  This is a hospital for Pete's sake.  They should have a safer option, OHHHH wait!  That's right, they are basically making money hand over fist by pushing those products on us.  After all, the sicker we all get the more money they keep making off of us.  They can't stay in business if we are all healthy and don't need them.

Thankfully, my daughter is doing great.  The stitches are out and I am applying Emu oil on the wound to keep it from scaring.  She was my brave little girl and still has never had Motrin.  I think I will keep it that way!

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The Halloween Bait and Switch!

We ended up in Chicago for Halloween for a family emergency.  To which my two year old asked "Mommy do they trick or treat there?"  in horror as she worried about whether or not she could be Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz in Chicago.

I had already planned on the "bait and switch" with my daughter's Halloween candy before we got the call to head to Chicago for the family emergency.  So I definitely took my treats with me.

I found a great alternative to the crap that is handed out on Halloween.  The lollipops I found are  Organic, contain no artificial dyes, no corn syrup, no artificial flavors.  They are by Yummy Earth yummyearth.com .  They are seriously delicious!!  I tried one to make sure before she had one and YUM!

So Yes I did.  I was THAT Mommy that gave her one before we started to Trick or Treat.....so having already reeled her in I knew it would be easy to switch up the crap candy she would get while Trick or Treating with the Lollipops I bought.  She loved them and never even thought she was missing out.  

Yes, I did get grief for bringing them up there and doing it, but I don't care.  My daughter did not have anything with Corn Syrup (GMO), artificial dyes (cancer), or artificial flavors (who knows).

I am proud to be THAT Mommy.  I am not trying to fit in, I am trying to do the best I can by my daughter no matter what the holiday is!  Does it make me a freak, maybe?  Do I care?  no way!

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Organic Not Better? What The??

I saw an article yesterday from the Baltimore Sun that said organic may not provide the added health benefit we think it does.  That the "researchers" (I use that term loosely) don't have any evidence that long term exposure to pesticides on food causes health problems.

Are they kidding?????

And the best is that the Academy of Pediatrics, the same people who don't see any negative health effects from all the nasty ingredients in immunizations, are backing this up.

This actually blew me away as I was reading it.  Are they really trying to now convince the public that eating a diet of organic foods not treated with pesticides or fed nasty fertilizers isn't a healthier way to eat?  Especially for our children who's young systems and growing brains are susceptible to these types of chemicals.

I'm not sure where the "research" came from in this latest "study".  My guess would be Monsanto, or the non-organic food industry trying to convince us that it's ok to eat their product.

I know that I have a giant organic garden in my backyard and what I can't grow I buy organic.  The dairy products I buy are organic and hormone free, my meats and eggs come from a local organic farm (my Thanksgiving turkey is growing right now!),  and I wouldn't change that for anything!  My family is incredibly healthy and I would never be willing to "see what would happen" if we changed to buying  commercial produce and products filled with chemicals.

All you have to do is look around at all the little girls going into puberty way to young and all the kids with more health problems these days than ever before to see there is a problem.

Keep buying organic and non GMO for the health and safety of your family.  I for one am not buying into this latest attempt to convince us otherwise.

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Daughter's First Bee Sting Cure

We have a pretty large organic garden in the back yard and have since we bought the house when my daughter was a baby.  She has always understood that the bees in the backyard are good since they pollinate and help our garden grow.

Well, tonight she was on the patio and I went outside to check on her and she was standing with her face against the glass door.  When I asked her what was wrong she stated to cry her eyes out.  She said a bee had stung her on the finger.  This was the first bee bite of her 2 years.

I took her inside and immediately make a thick paste of baking soda and water.  I use it for everything so I figured "why not".  The paste worked like a charm.  It make the stinger come out and took her pain away.  YAY!

As my daughter started crying again, I asked her if she was still in pain and she said no.  Then she said, "Mommy why did the bee that pollinates our garden sting me, it hurt my feelings".  I love that kid!!!

So I have found yet another great use for the non-toxic baking soda I love.

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Things I Never Thought To Clean Before

The other day as I was cleaning the house, with vinegar and baking soda of course, when it occurred to me as I was cleaning the sink.....how does the sink drain and stopper get cleaned?  I had never done it and I am sure it needed it.

I decided to go get one of my extra bottle brushes and give it a shot.  I poured some vinegar in the drain then put some baking soda on the brush and started to scrub the inside of the stopper and the inside of the drain.

EWWWWW.  I was mortified.  There was so much black gross stuff coming out.  This nastiness had been living in the drain that we wash our faces and brush our teeth!

I went through the house brush in hand cleaning all the sinks!  It was disgusting.

I had never thought about cleaning it out before but something just struck me that all the water that goes through there must create some mold like the shower tile can.  Now it is a part of my cleaning routine and I will never let it build up like that again.  When was the last time you cleaned yours???

Give it a shot and see.

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