Breastmilk yogurt melts

I recently got asked to share my recipe for breastmilk yogurt melts. It has been almost a year since my nursling self weaned, but I still remember this easy recipe. I found these little melts were great for a teething toddler. and my daughter who was 9 when I first made these even loved them.

Ingredients

• 1 cup yogurt
• 1 cup breast milk
• 2 tablespoons ground oats (optional for thicker consistency)

Put mixture in a ziplock bag and trim a corner off. On a cookie sheet small enough to fit in your freezer lay out some wax paper and use the ziplock bag to squeeze out small circles onto to the wax paper. When the sheet is full of dots place in the freezer. It won't take very long for the to freeze.

Picture from http://dailymom.com/

Homemade deodorant (Updated 8-21-17)

Okay, I told you I would post this here, so here it is!! My homemade deodorant. First off I would like to point out that there is a big difference between deodorant and antiperspirants. Deodorant kills bacteria when you sweat, so you don't smell. Antiperspirants stop you from sweating with aluminum. Aluminum is only one of the many hazardous ingredients inside of store bought antiperspirants and deodorants, most of which can heavily impact or hormones.
Secondly a lot of homemade deodorants use significantly more baking soda then you need to keep dry, in return you may end up with chemical burns this is what many people will tell you is the "transitional period". There is no reason that you body needs to endure pain to go healthy. Please if you have a painful reaction to something please find the source ingredient and limit use are stop altogether. Baking soda may cause chemical burns in higher concentrations, but  in smaller amounts should be perfectly safe to use. 

Recipe:

• 2/3 cups coconut oil
• 1/2 1/4 an ounce of beeswax (I prefer a softer deodorant so I decreased the amount of beeswax)
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch 
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda(With the addition of shea butter I found I could increase the baking soda to teaspoon without irritation)
• 1 capsule of vitamin E oil (this time I used a bottle so I tried my best to eyeball it)
• 2 deodorant empty deodorant containers
• 20- 40 drops of essential oils I prefer at least 10 drops to be tee tree 

Some of the oil blends I like are

• 5 drops of thieves EOs, and 15 drops of lavender EOs
• 5 drops of sweet orange EOs, 5 drops of bergamot EOs, 5 drops lavender EOs, and 5 drops of Jasmine EOs

Mix all the ingredients except the essential oils in a small pot over low heat, until coconut oil and beeswax are melted. Take off heat and add essential oils. pour into your containers and set aside in the fridge for 2 hours or until solid.

This deodorant doesn't need to be left in the fridge. So feel free to put in your bathroom cabinet without fear of it melting. it goes on really smooth and my highly sensitive skin hasn't had a breakout since I made the switch. If you think you would prefer a more dense deodorant add more beeswax.

Golden "Tummeric" milk

The colder months are upon us, and with those months we find ourselves trying to avoid the flu and common cold, usually with out success. So let me introduce you to my new best friend Turmeric milk. 

Turmeric is known for its anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antiviral, antibacterial, and anti-fungal properties. It is obvious why we have been using turmeric to avoid falling ill for 100's of years With the help of turmeric plus some other great health-boosting spices you can make yourself a delicious cup of turmeric milk. I think it is time to put away the hot chocolate, and enjoy a delicious cup of "Golden Milk"

Ingredients (makes 2 cups)

• 2 cups of low fat milk (alternative milks are great options too)
• 1 Tablespoon of Turmeric
• 1 Tablespoon of raw honey
• 1 Teaspoon of cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamon
• A pinch of salt (I prefer pink Himalayan  salt)

Warm the milk and all the spices on the stove-top slowly ( I usually do it at medium low) while continually stirring. Once the milk is warm (almost hot) and frothy pull of the heat and strain out the spices.

How to make yogurt

Yogurt is easy to make, and costs significantly less then store bought. So why did it take me to so long to start making my own?  Learning to trust the fermentation process has always been hard for me and even scarier when it comes to dairy, but we have been fermenting foods for 1,000's of years.

Now that I feel I have mastered yogurt I want to share with you the 2 worse things you could do when making yogurt: 1) curdle the milk 2) don't let milk cool enough before adding starter. In both of these situations you will still make yogurt, so take a breath and jump in.

This is the method I use to make yogurt

What you need

• 1/2 Gallon of high fat dairy milk
• 1/2 cup of starter yogurt leftover plain yogurt from you last  batch or any store bought plain yogurt that says it has live cultures will work
• Cooking thermometer
• Large pot
• Crockpot
• 2 large towels

First you need a 1/2 gallon of milk (preferably a high fat content dairy milk), pour the milk into a pot and slowly heat up the milk

I usually keep the stove at medium low while bringing up the milk temperature to 180 F - 190 F. This is to sterilize the milk

Pour the milk into your crockpot and wait till the milk cools below 120 F before adding in your 1/2 cup of starter. Make sure you mix the yogurt in well.

Wrap you crockpot in the two large towels to keep it slightly warm while it ferments. Leave it alone for 12 to 18 hours

Your yogurt should come out thick and creamy, you can get a yogurt strainer if you would prefer more a of a Greek yogurt thickness.

I usually add honey to half of my yogurt for breakfast, and keep the other half plain for curry and a sour cream substitute.

ENJOY!

Guacamole stuffed chicken

My husband loves all things spicy, and being a Thin man who has the genetic disposition of having high cholesterol, he has taken quite the liking to guacamole and the wonderful benefit of avocados. My kids are not a keen to spicy foods as he but this is one meal we all agree on. It is delicious.

Guacamole 

2 large avocados

1/2 a tomato diced

1 shallot diced

1 clove of garlic diced 

Splash of lime juice 

1 Tablespoon sour cream (or plain Greek yogurt)

1 Serrano chili minced (remove seeds for a more mild flavor

Mix in stand mixer

Take 4 thawed or fresh raw chicken breast and tenderize until thin.

Add 2-4 tablespoons (depends on size of chicken breast) of guacamole to the center of each breast.

Roll up sides of chicken breast to the top and pierce with 3 toothpicks to hold it shut.

Dip chicken in an egg bath then in bread crumbs. Put chicken on a broiler pan

Bake at 350°F for 45 minutes (or until chicken is fully cooked)

Usually I shred some Parmesan on top after pulling it out of the oven. I forgot to do that tonight this night.

Incoming recipe

I haven't been writing blogs, or posting recipes, or diy house cleaner lately and I am sorry for being so quiet. I am working on a recipe though. My husband and I have been working on a Chicken Makhani  recipe for almost a year now, and its almost finished. This is probably the most work I have ever done on one recipe but the end result is delicious. Keep following me to get the recipe. You can also follow me on Facebook

Health(ish) Rice Krispy Treats

Looking for away to satisfy your sweet tooth?? Usually I just eat a lot of fruit when a sweet tooth moment hits. Sometimes that's not enough, there are tons of recipes that can transform your favorite dessert to something more healthy.
My rice krispy treats is based off of Alton Browns recipe.
-Dry ingredients
•3 cups puffed brown rice toasted in the oven for 15 minutes stirred every 5 minutes
•1/3 cup dried cherries
•1/3 cup dried cranberries
•1/3 cup golden raisins
•1/3 cup whole flax seeds
•1/2 cup pecans
-Marshmallow mixture (melt together )
• 4 cups of marshmallows
• 3 Tablespoons of coconut oil
• 1 Tablespoon raw honey
Mix marshmallow mixture with the dry ingredients. Press down into a pan and let cool.