Natural Toothpaste? sure why not!

I usually buy Crest toothpaste for my husband , but this last batch was weak and  wasn't really working for me. Knowing that baking soda can be used (I've purchased toothpaste with baking soda before), I decided to research making my own. I couldn't find a formal recipe just people mentioning they had done it or someone in their family had. I decided to go ahead and put something together. 

I used coconut oil as my liquid, baking soda as a polish, and peppermint essential oil for flavor and scent. 
I mixed it together in a 4 oz Kerr canning jar with a popsicle stick. I adjusted as I went along to get a good consistency so I can't really share a recipe, but am guesstimating 1 Tbsp Coconut oil, 2-3 Tbsp Baking Soda and 8-10 drops of essential oil blended well.
I have been using it for just over a week and it doesn't take a lot, so far I really like it. Next time I may add more peppermint oil. 
I am rinsing with an antiseptic mouth wash (I might try creating my own mouth wash later on.)
My husband thinks I'm a little crazy, but I was using things we already had so we didn't have to try something new only to find out we didn't like it. He hasn't tried the homemade stuff yet, but is considering it.
I am enjoying trying new creations and thankfully my husband is seeing the benefits in our budget and how everyone feels.

Healthy options at IHOP plus #breakfastlove

I must be a bad mother because my boys don't remember every going to an IHOP. Well, I will let them slide since the last night either went they were both pretty young.  Thankfully I remedied that by taking them to IHOP for a healthy breakfast on our way to a recent homeschool field trip.

IHOP now has a healthy options menu for adults and for kids with options including whole wheat pancakes, turkey bacon, and egg substitute. 

I had to try the blueberry whole wheat crepes if nothing else. For being whole wheat, I really didn't notice that much different. I did notice the filling was over the top sweet, but had kind of expected that. While they were nice, it would have been nicer to have some extra protein with it, such as eggs to balance out the meal. 

The boys ordered of the kids menu.

Cameron is not a breakfast eater, so was happy to find a grilled cheese and fruit available.  Having fruit available as a side is an awesome way to promote healthy eating.

Nathan loves pancakes so he ordered a full on breakfast with scrambled eggs, but also wanted fruit. We ordered a side of fruit and ended up with a HUGE bowl of fruit we all ended up sharing.

Having hot sauce on eggs has become a new favorite thing for Nathan so our waiter brought him the selection. 

So IHOP has all these wonderful new Simple & Fit options featured through out their menu, not just the wonderful whole wheat blueberry crepes. IHOP joined forces with Quaker Brand oatmeal to create amazing flavors of Oatmeal including Super Fruit Oatmeal, oh my goodness, it looked heavenly, I'll be trying that next time for sure.

Now if your mouth is watering for some amazing Simple & Fit options under 1,00 calories many under 700 calories, do I have a surprise for you, an IHOP $50.00 giftcard for one of my readers.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Scripture Sunday 9/30/12

This week I am blessed by the weekly lesson, especially this verse:

Isaiah 45:22

22 Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth:
for I am God, and there is none else.

Freezer meals, to precook or not

This is something I have thinking about.
I recently prepared 13 meals for freezing and cooking in the crock pot, but now I am wondering, should I pre-cook before freezing them, or continue freezing and cooking them after the fact.
So far I've cooked 2 freezer meals on the BBQ, 3 in the crockpot, and 2 in the oven.
There are pros and cons for both making the decision that much harder. The biggest pro for not cooked is saving space in the freezer because they are in gallon freezer bags.
The other pro is the cost of freezer bags is a lot less than baking pans.
The biggest pro for precooking is time saving on the day I serve it.

What are your thoughts, do you precook or just freeze?

Wine or Not?

I recently atended a series of talks on fermentation in McMinnville.
Friday afternoon I  received a small package of water kefir grains from one of the speakers. I was grateful for the gift and to meet another homeschooler in the community.

I made my first batch of juice as soon as I got home.
I used organic sugar, fresh ginger, lemons, and homemade raisins. I was surprised how easy it was to put together and how quickly it brewed.  It took 18 hours to brew on the counter  for the first batch. The second batch pictured here is brewing faster, partially I think because I added an extra lemon slice and there was more kefir grains. I didn't realize they would multiply so quickly. I think my third batch will end up being in a half gallon instead of the quart.




I decided to do a secondary ferment on part of the batch with some of my grape juice from last season. I let it brew for another 12 hours and then poured a glass before dinner while I was writing a couple of posts for our homeschool blog. There is very little alcohol content (I suppose I should test it to find out the exact percentage, but not tonight). Tonight I am going to just enjoy the drink and enjoy my homemade sauerkraut with campfire hot dogs.

I am enjoying this new adventure and will continue to share as I find new goodies to create.

Scripture Sunday 9/23

I have so many verses this week, but will share just a few.
Psalms 119: 90 NKJV Your faithfulness endures to all generations.

Psalms 119: 142 NKJV Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness.

1 Corinthians 2:9 KJV ... Eye hath not seen nor ear heard neither hath entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.

I pray you have a blessed week.

Traditional pickling or Lacto fermentation?

I was blessed to attend a local day of talks about Fermenting.  Since this is new to me, I decided to share my experiences with you. I am by no means an expert, I’m just learning and experimenting to see what will work for my family.

So far I have a jar of saurkraut, a jar of kimchi, and a jar of leeks fermenting in the pantry.

The leeks have a weight holding them down so I wrapped a towel and rubber band around them. The saurkraut is almost done maybe another 2 or 3 days before I move it into the refrigerator.  The kimchi is new today so I am guessing a couple of weeks.  I am very interested in the natural advantages to lacto fermenting as well as the cost savings in that I don’t have to process it, just store it.

I also started a small batch of milk kefir that I am excited to try for breakfast smoothie on Monday.  The next on my fermentation bucket list is kombucha and I will hopefully have a batch going tomorrow night.

I still have traditional pickles in the pantry and will continue to process some of our food stores in the traditional manner like the Dilly Beans and Salsa.

So while I explore lacto fermentation, I’m not totally abandoning my traditional methods.