For those of you who read my blog yesterday and were interested in the recipes I talked about, here they are. Hope you try them and enjoy them! Let me know how the recipes turn out for you…..

　

　

Whole Grain Artisan Dough

5 ½ Cups Whole Wheat Flour
2 Cups All Purpose Flour
1Tbsp. Sea Salt
1 ½ Tbsp. Granulated Yeast
¼ Cup Vital Wheat Gluten
4 Cups Lukewarm water
　
Whisk around the first 5 ingredients. Mix in water. Cover and let stand for 2 hours, allowing a small opening for gas to escape. Let stand on counter, then store in fridge.

Remove from fridge. Divide into 4 loaves and shape into desirable sizes and shapes. Let stand another 90 minutes on counter.

With a sharp knife, slit top of loaf with 3 or more lines. Brush top of loaf with water and sprinkle with seeds, if desirable. Place on hot stone in hot oven in middle rack. Bake at 450° . Pour 1 cup hot water in broiler tray and close oven. Bake 30 - 35 minutes until you have a nice brown glossy crust. Remove bread from oven and place on cooling rack.

　
Powdered Laundry Detergent - Top load machine 1 Fels-Naptha Soap bar
1 Cup -
 online here (at Meijer.com). Baking Soda will not work, nor will Arm & Hammer Detergent - It must be sodium carbonate!!http://happyhomemakercindy.com/
Grate soap or break into pieces and process in a food processor until powdered. Mix all ingredients. For light load, use 1 Tablespoon. For heavy or heavily soiled load, use 2 Tablespoons. Yields: 3 Cups detergent. (Approx. 40 loads)

*Arm & Hammer "Super Washing Soda" - in some stores or may be purchased
Courtesy of:
　
Now….back to celebrating my birthday……(gotta make it last)　Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda*
½ Cup Borax

I'm Up To No Good.....

I made homemade wheat (not whole wheat, because it has 2 cups of white flour) artisan bread this week. What an uproar of interest I got!! My parents were over when I took my first loaf out of the oven and they couldn’t believe it was so good. My kids devoured it. My husband came home and thought I brought it home from the store. Thanks, Hon. The recipe was easy, and the best part is that there are only six ingredients! I’ve sent the recipe to about seven people who have requested it already.

My reason for baking bread is to start feeding my family healthier. I can buy wheat bread at the store, but it still has more than 20 or so ingredients. From “mono- and diglycerides” (hydrogenated oil) to “calcium propionate” (preservative). Now, you can look up these ingredients and see what the side-effects and/or risks are. We have been eating bread like this up to now, and we are still alive. Until recently, I haven’t had the urge or the desire to bake my own bread. But now that I did, I think I will do it again! Making bread is not done in 30-minutes. Nor is it done in 1 hour. It needs prep time and sitting time, and I know not everyone can do it. I’m not saying I will never buy bread again, because “you never know”, but this is a good alternative!

My next topic is homemade laundry detergent. I get on my kicks of things that I want to do, and I have been wanting to try this for years. Yes, years. So, I finally found a recipe that is so easy, I will go out and buy the ingredients tomorrow at Wal-Mart. Yes, I am excited! It’s the little things that make me happy. I will post this recipe and the bread recipe tomorrow. There must be someone out there as happy as me to have found good recipes!

So, I will let you know how I venture on my detergent adventure. It will be a memorable day for me since it’s my birthday…. Happy Birthday to Me!!
　
　
　

Ok, so here is my serious talk….

I have been thinking lately that my family needs to be eating healthier. Now I don’t feed my kids junk food like donuts, chips, cookies, etc on a daily basis, but even things that we “think” are healthy sometimes aren’t. Let me give you an example. I bought 100% Cranberry juice at BJs and as I was looking at the label last week, once I decided to start on this venture, and I saw that it has High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS). HFCS is not good.

In a study at Princeton University, when Rats had access to HFCS, they gained quite a bit more weight than those rats that had table sugar available, even when their total calorie intake was the same. All the rats that were eating HFCS were becoming obese, even at levels that were less than those in sodas. Weight gain is not the only concern with HFCS, there is “abnormal increases in body fat, especially in the abdomen, and a rise in circulating blood fats called triglycerides. For more reading on this study, see the link below.

So, I have started to look at labels not only for the nutritional content, but for the ingredients. Many of us only look at the fat, calories and carbohydrates in food. There are so many other ingredients in foods that we should be avoiding, such as artificial colorings, artificial flavorings, artificial sweeteners, Benzoate Preservatives (such as BHT, BHA, TBHQ), Brominated Vegetable Oil, MSG, Olestra, Shortening, Hydrogenated and Partially Hydrogenated Oils. The list can go on.

One way to avoid all these additives is by eating raw foods (fruits, vegetables, nuts) and by cooking meals from scratch instead of buying prepackaged meals. I know that in our day and age not everyone has the time to cook from scratch. But I have made it a point to try. It won’t always happen, let’s be honest. I know that when we go out to eat or go to friend’s houses we can’t help it, but at least at home, we can do our best.

My reason for doing this is my kids. My husband asked if he has to participate. I told him he doesn’t have to, but the food that we will be eating at home will be based around this “healthy” eating. I’m thinking he will be joining us around the table for meals.

I hope this was informative for at least one person!!! Have you thought about how your family eats? What have you been doing differently to eat healthier?

I would love to see what you are doing! Please comment and share…._____________________________________________________________________________________
Princeton University Study:
Ingredients to Avoid:
100 Days of Real Food Pledge:
http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/The-100-Days-of-Real-Food-Pledge-Sign-up-for-the-10-day-pledge/111437015567316http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/health/9-ingredients-to-avoid-in-processed-foods-1268429http://www.princeton.edu/main/news/archive/S26/91/22K07/

Hi....Remember Me?

So, it’s been quite some time since my last entry. There has been way too much that has happened in between. I guess that is why I haven’t written. So, here’s to another chapter in my life and another entry.
On my schedule today was working on my application essay to finish my degree and enter nursing school. I’ve honestly been milking it. Why, you ask? Because it was a beautiful day! I tried, believe me, I did. I took the kids to the park, since it was 75degrees and I did take my notebook with me. I was actually able to get some thoughts down on paper. Now, just to finalize it and send it in.

I am so excited to be able to go back to school and actually finish something that I started 16 years ago. Where has the time gone? I can’t believe it’s been that long, but, I did the math, and it is so! Now, I’m not saying it will be easy, because we all know that going to school is difficult enough without having a family. Now, I will have to add school to my list of things to do. My kids are excited. I don’t think they are excited for me to get my degree, though. My oldest has already asked me numerous times when I will be going back to school. I finally asked him one day why he is excited, and he said, “When you are in school, we will be at Dido’s house and he will take me to Chick-fil-a and to the dollar store.” So, just when I thought I was being a good role model, my kids have other things on their minds…..important things.

My kids have definitely kept me busy will continue to do so for at least 15 more years, full-time, that is. Our family’s latest is that we are diaper-free!! I never thought I would see the day. We have been in diapers since July of 2003. And so, seven and a half years later, we said goodbye to the $35.00 box. I did manage to save one last diaper, just for keeps. Yes, I hate to part with items that are kid-related. Now that I am $35.00 richer every six weeks, what will I do with this new-found money? Oh, that’s right….laundry detergent, for those accidents during the day and at night. I think diapers were less mess.

I really hope to not wait more than a year until my next entry…..