Natural Air Freshener

Making your own natural air freshener is a nice inexpensive way to get toxins out of your home. There’s nothing good in those air fresheners from the store or artificially-scented candles (fragrance oil is artificial).

As simple as Orange peels and water. Another option is to add a little vanilla to the mix or go full board and add some Grapefruit peels, a stick of cinnamon and/or a clove or two.

If you’re nervous about leaving something going on the stove unattended, there are little crock pots that are safe for this. You can leave it covered so the water doesn’t evaporate as quickly, the smell still fills the whole house nicely.

Mango Salsa Salad

1 16 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 10-oz package frozen corn, thawed
1 cup mango, diced into bite-sized chunks
1/2 cup red bell pepper, chopped
1/3 cup cilantro, chopped
1/2 cup red onion, chopped
1/3 cup lime juice
1 1/2 cups cooked brown rice
1/4 cup olive oil

Directions: Mix all ingredients in a large bowl. refrigerate at least 2 hours to mix flavors. If you decide not to use the Italian Salad Dressing Mix, season with salt and pepper. Serve with pita bread wedges, tortilla chips or grilled chicken.

Servings: 6

What’s a Hot Bed?

Unpredictable winter weather can make consistently protecting plants challenging. If you have just a few plants of concern a cold frame is a good choice. Add an electric heat cable to the bottom of your cold frame and presto it becomes a “hot bed.” A hot bed is handy to give extra warmth to sensitive plants this time of year, or grow on cool crops.

Turning a cold frame into a hot bed.
Come spring, you can use your Cold Frame to help force spring bulbs, and later harden-off young plants before they go out into the garden. In fall, use it to extend summer harvests, grow cool crops, and as a holding area.

Locating Your Cold Frame/Hot Bed
Choose a site that faces south to get maximum benefit from the low winter sun. Ideally you’d like full sun from mid-morning to mid-afternoon.
The area should be protected from wind and near a water source.
Choose a place close enough to your home that you can easily check on it. (For a Hot Bed, it needs to be near an electrical outlet.)
Even in winter, temperatures can heat up dramatically, so venting on warmer days is important.

Curds & Whey

Hate Tofu because its made with Soy? Now you can use those great Stir-Fry recipes that have Tofu in them because you can substitute Queso Blanco an easy to make cheese that is similar to tofu, in that it takes on the flavor of whaterve spices you add to it. The added bonus is that you get several cups of whey to make those wonderful fermented vegetables you’ve been wanting to try.

QUESO BLANCO
1/2 gallon raw milk of your choice
1/4 cup vinegar or lemon juice
Butter Muslin

Heat Milk to 185 degrees F. (You may put the pan directly on the burner if you stir constantly to avoid scorching.)
When the temperature reaches 185 degrees F, slowly stir in the vinegar or lemon juice.
As you pour and stir, you’ll see the milk starting to coagulate. Keep adding a little at a time, and stirring slowly until the milk is completely curdled and you can see the separation of curds and whey.
Pour the curds into a colander lined with butter muslin.
Tie up the four corners of the cloth and hang the bag to drain for a couple of hours or until it stops dripping.
When the draining stops, you may cut the curd into one-inch cubes (or slices) and store them in a covered container in the refrigerator.
Any Whey you are not going to use within a week should be frozen. A great way to freeze your whey is to freeze it in Ice Cube trays. These cubes are about 1-2 ounces of whey and can be popped out to use in gravies or when cooking beans, etc. Freeze the cubes, pop out and place in a freezer bag and store in your freezer.
STIR-FRIED QUESO BLANCO

Make a marinade with: 1 cup red wine, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 tablespoons chopped parsley
Marinate 1/2″ cubes of Queso Blanco in this sauce.
Prepare your Wok and heat 2 tablespoons of coconut oil. Stir fry the marinated cubes of Queso Blanco with: 1 cup french-style green beans, 1 medium onion, sliced, 1/2 cup sliced mushrooms, 1/4 cup slivered almonds
Cook for 2-3 minutes. Cover and cook 5 more minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking
Serve piping hot over a bed of vermicelli or rice.

Mango Cranberry Sauce

1 1/2 cups whole-berry cranberry sauce
3 tangerines, peeled, seeded and chopped
1 medium mango, peeled and diced
1 cup diced fresh pineapple
1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely chopped

Directions: In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients. Cover and refrigerate until serving.

Easy Cranberry Sauce

1/2 cup honey
1 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
12 oz package organic cranberries

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, dissolve the sugar in the orange juice. Stir in the cranberries, and cook until they start to pop (about 10 minutes). Remove from heat, and transfer to a bowl. Cranberry sauce will thicken as it cools.

Grow Your Own Sweetener

Today we’re going to talk about growing your own sweetener.

When improving your diet for better health the first things you must do are to REMOVE certain things from your diet not add them.  The first thing to remove is WHITE SUGAR.  Sugar is one of the 10 things you should not eat.

White sugar is one of the mose processed foods we can consume and many consider it the most dangerous.  Processed white sugar reacts like a drug within our bodies, robs our bodies of needed nutrients, encourages yeast and fungal overgrowth and adds worthless calories. 

Have problems with spiking blood sugars?  Even children are becoming insulin resistant (Type II Diabetics).  Now you can have sweet with out the side effects of artificial sweeteners.  Remember we want to eat food as close to the way our Creator God made them!

Now you can grow your own sweetener no matter where you live!

The Power of Stevia

This humble plant that originates from obscure Paraquay not only packs a sweet punch but it is calorie free, won’t negatively effect blood sugars and is easy to add to coffee, tea and even your favorite recipes. Stevia can be grown inside as a houseplant or outside as an annual.  It will produce its own seeds for you to collect and replant for next year.  Drying its leaves to use as a sweetener is simple!

Stevia Special

Now you can grow your very own Stevia plants!  Our special this week is a booklet by Maryville, Missouri native Jeffrey Goettemoeller, GROWING AND USING STEVIA (includes 20 great recipes) plus a packet of 20 Stevia seeds for you to plant.  $8.00  CLICK HERE for details.

Banana-Blueberry Mini Muffins

2 cups freshly ground spelt flour (or all-purpose flour)

1 tablespoon baking soda

2 ripe, medium-sized bananas

1/4 teaspoon stevia powder

1 cup raw milk kefir or yogurt

8 tablespoonspoons unsalted butter, melted (preferably made from raw milk)

2 large free range eggs

1 cup orgainc blueberries (if frozen, thaw and drain)

1 cup chopped organic raw walnuts (be sure your nuts are really raw and keep them refrigerated-if you have trouble digesting nuts make crispy nuts)

At least 8 hours prior to making your muffins mix together the flour and the kefir or yogurt in a medium size bowl and let set on the counter.  In a seperate bowl mash the bananas with a fork until they are just lumpy. Stir the stevia and baking soda into the bananas and then add to the flour mixture.  Whisk the eggs until light and frothy and fold into the batter.  Do not overstir.  Gently fold in the blueberries and walnuts.  Spoon the batter into a lightly oiled or papered muffin tin.  Bake for about 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.