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By dreadlock girl, 17,February,2010 01:30

I have dreamed of that home-cooked, home-made pasta on my lips, and my life is now pasta complete. I used some of my Christmas money to buy the CucinaPro 150 Imperia Pasta Machine. Since the day it was dropped off at my door, every time I have made pasta, in each variety and shape it has been a meal that we have almost eaten in complete silence. I know that does sound funny maybe, unless you know what it is like to eat with small children, at least at our house know that those quiet meals are my best meals. The boys are silent while they take bite after bite and lick their lips and fingers while they are at it. There is nothing like fresh, homemade pasta, if you like pasta you will find homemade pasta a revelation(could I say life changing??), and if you consider yourself a non-pasta loving creature- I dare you to try it homemade. Dare you.

I will include sauce recipes and other tips as I continue to get better at writing the recipes down as I make them, so far I do have a fave though which includes some of my home canned summer tomatoes and cubed mozzarella cheese-terrific. I will need to check on quantities though as I am a handful here and a pinch there type of cook.

Here I leave you with the following recipe, it is the basic pasta recipe by which I have made all different types of noodles and dishes so far- it has yet to let me down. I include it here so that you see just how simple homemade pasta is, so that you will try it and love it as much as we do.

Basic Homemade Pasta Recipe:

3 Eggs (the fresher the better)
3 Cups of Bread Flour
Water (as needed)

Put the 3 eggs and 3 cups of flour into the mixer or into your bowl. Stir until combined, add water slowly and continue to mix. Knead by hand after mixing until uniform. The consistency of the dough should be firm, elastic and smooth. Work the dough in your hands for at least 5 minutes after desired consistency is reached to result in a perfect dough. Store dough wrapped in plastic wrap in fridge for 60 minutes to rest and cool. Remove dough and roll out flat. Use your pasta maker to roll dough through, on largest setting, then double and roll through on same (largest) setting. Turn nob to desired thickness, liberally flour flattened dough and run though pasta machine. Run through your noodle attachment being sure to coat dough with enough flour beforehand. Your noodles are formed! Lay them out or hang them to dry for at least 30 minutes. This drying time will make tender pasta noodles, while avoiding the sogginess.

These will only need to boil for less than half the time than the store bought dried pasta you may be used to. Bring a large pot of water to boil, add generous amount of salt (this is the only salt in your noodles) I generally add 2 Tablespoons or so. Gently place your pasta in the boiling water. Boil for approximately 4 minutes, or to taste.

Stew up your favourite sauce, or just add salt, butter and pepper for a great snack to hold you until the rest of the fam gathers for dinner.

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By dreadlock girl, 28,January,2010 01:48

Make your very own slice of heaven in a sock. Oh yeah, I promise that this simple and inexpensive hot/cold sock filled with rice and a couple drops of essential oil is your ticket to a better life. They are great for back aches, stomach cramps, leg tightness, leg pain, or just a relaxation enhancer.

They are especially good for pregnant ladies, because back aches are a biggie- so be sure to make these for all of those peeps in your life that find themselves expecting. I got these at my first baby shower from a friend and it was the one thing that fit me during the whole pregnancy, that I looked forward to more and could use after the baby too! I can’t say enough, try it.

Recipe for Homemade Rice Sock Heat pack or Cold Compress:

What you need:

*One pair of (I recommend two so you have a back up when your husband steals yours!) thick men’s socks. Just regular tube socks will do, they should be sport or working man thickness though. The bigger the better.
*Rice as needed to fill the socks half full. Get the cheapest you can find.
*Flannel or other fabric to cover your men’s sized rice socks.
*Funnel (optional but recommended).
*Essential Oils to your choosing (optional but recommended).

How to work it:

1.) Roll down the top of one of your socks, stick the funnel in and dump cups of rice into the sock until it is full until the half way point.

2.) Add drops of essential oil to the rice inside your sock (picture below). I added vanilla, about 10 drops- but whatever you like to smell would work. Also herbs would work as well, some lavender leaves and flowers or whatever.

3.) Cut fabric, I like flannel because it is warm already to the touch and soft but you could use cotton or fleece. Remember it will need to be washed and it will be microwaved along with the rice sock as well. The size of your sock will mean you need a bigger or shorter fabric slice. I cut mine at 6 inches wide and 18 long. I had the fabric folded so I wouldn’t have to sew the bottom of the cover, but I am lazy so it doesn’t really matter if you do it that way, it is only about 5 inches to sew.

4.) Sew the top hem first, before you do the sides or bottom. Then turn fabric wrong side out or right sides facing each other and sew up the two long sides and the bottom. Right the fabric and you are done. DONE! Slide (more like wiggle) your rice sock in and you are ready to head to the micro!

That would be right, it means that now you can enjoy. Start up your kettle, grab a good book or a stack of magazines and settle in for a good relaxing time.

Heating and Cooling Instructions:

Heating: As sizes will vary, you’ll need to figure out how long your sock needs to be heated in the microwave. It will depend on how big it is and how much rice is in it, and how hot you want it, but mine takes 3-4 minutes- as it has quite a bit of rice in it. I recommend heating one at a time if you have two, it just kind of works better that way. Wash the cover when needed.

Cooling: If you want this for a cold compress- put it in the freezer and let it get cold. Simple right? I would go with at least an hour- but that just depends on how cold you want it.

Live it up, and share with a friend!!

What do you do to relax? What is your TV show or reading material of choice in order to achieve that perfect state of calm? Share it with me- I need to get some relaxin’ in!

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By dreadlock girl, 25,January,2010 23:32

Made from Scratch: Discovering the Pleasures of a Handmade Life

This is a type of info/memoir by and about Jenna Woginrich. Made from Scratch covers beekeeping, chicken raising, antique hunting, bread making and many other rituals of the not-so-urban dwellers. Her book is set up well and there are sections of it that are extremely helpful and smart.

Many times however, I was turned off by the attempt to cover up poor writing by and addition of overly flowered and emotional prose. It was just way too loaded for me. She got emotional and excited because some friends from college were to join her at her house and so she went out of her way to make it a complete hassle-free weekend for them. She goes on to speak of how blessed she is that as she sees her friend falling asleep on the couch she knows that the food that is going through his body is from her very own farm. Cheesy! I have chickens in my backyard and I have never sat and thought that, yes I am delighted the boys get fresh eggs, and delighted that we aren’t paying into the insanely hideous picture of all those caged birds laying eggs onto a conveyor belt for their whole lives while never to set foot on grass. Yes I am! But it seems to me Jenna goes a little overboard with her pleasure of the food that is in her friends digestive system. It isn’t just that passage either- there are more.

Besides the emotional aspect of this book (which seems to be written by someone either PMSing or enduring Menopause) I did enjoy the farming insight and tips. Although I am not quite ready to dive into bee-keeping (the neighbors probably wouldn’t like it either) I liked reading what she learned from both her mistakes and successes. I learn from other people’s mistakes when it comes to farming, gardening and such- it is way to expensive not to! Overall this was an average short and light read. It could have been so much better without the melodrama, but there were enough tidbits in it to keep me somewhat content.

If you could own one kind of farm animal (without worrying about land space, or your neighbors) what would it be? The latest one that I want…Angora rabbits! I really want me a pair.

ISBN: 9781603420860

Subtitle: Discovering the Pleasures of a Handmade Life

Author: Woginrich, Jenna

Publisher: Storey Publishing

Subject: Do-It-Yourself – General

Personal Memoirs

Country life

Urban homesteading.

Farmers & Ranchers

Self-reliant living

Publication Date: December 2008

Pages: 184

I am an affiliate of TOMS SHOES and Powell’s Books and I do receive a percentage of the sales of any item you buy using my links. Thank you!

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By dreadlock girl, 19,January,2010 16:37

Homemade Butter Recipe:

What you need:
1 Ball Jar (any size- I like the quart size but you can use a smaller one if you want to make less)
1 Large pinch of Salt
About 15 minutes of your time

Fill one ball jar half way with Heavy Whipping Cream. Put a lid on it and tighten it. Let sit out at room temperature overnight- or for approximately 12 hours. This is to aid in souring process.

After your patient wait. Grab on to the jar and add a large pinch of salt to the cream. Then with one hand on the top and bottom of the jar shake with decisive churns. Not too quick, think of it as sudden pulses timed at about once every second. (This does not have to be exact- I didn’t do exactly that, but I write this to let you know you aren’t jiggling it constantly)

When you start to wonder if you should open the lid or you will miss it, don’t. Just keep going. It happens really quick- it goes from regular liquid to whipped cream and then to butter surrounded in buttermilk with the jerk of the jar. When you see a conglomerate of light yellow butter in the middle (slightly bumpy and odd looking) you have it! You made butter!!

Butter is forming and swimming in a soft pool of buttermilk

Butter in jar after I emptied out the buttermilk

Empty the liquid (which is buttermilk) into a separate jar using a funnel. Rinse your butter with water making sure all the buttermilk is out, as this will cause spoilage. Transfer to a butter mold or smaller jar if you choose. Store both butter and buttermilk in the fridge. If you want a soft butter- you can leave part of it out for easy-creamy spreading. Grab your toast and slab on your homemade butter! Or better yet- just grab a spoon! YUM!

Have you made butter before?? Do you have any tips or something I left out?? Be sure and let me know. If you have even considered it you really should- it is SO easy that you’ll just want to keep it up!

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By dreadlock girl, 18,January,2010 17:56

I have always known my right of passage would be solitary and severe. What I didn’t know is that it would come today. The question is, what constitutes a true able-bodied- farm girl and not just a trend follower-backyard farming-enthusiast ? Anyone can have the farm animals, have the land, and give the time it takes to tend and nurture the whole package. That is most certainly not what makes a farm girl.

The make of a farm girl is one who can follow animals and their land through all seasons, not just the pleasant ones. Today a chicken died. The death in itself is not what I am speaking of though, it is that I was able to pick up the body and dispose of it that today made me into a farm girl. I no longer have to have a man to do my bidding, I don’t have to wait for him to come home and deal with the deceased bird. Death is-as we all know- a part of life, all life ends in death and I knew from the start that when I was able to touch a dead body that I would have reached that coveted status of farm girl.

We can all follow backyardigans, those trend-loving folk in whose growing circles chickens are trendy right now, growing your own food, subsistence living, and all such stuff. Having animals, feeding them and keeping them alive does not a farm girl make. One of those is made by doing the one thing you can’t stand even thinking about, looking at, or touching- not like a girl, but like a farm girl. For me that meant grabbing that chicken by the feet and dealing with the feathery bod, might I say- like a real man would? Yes. I would. No icky tummy, no eyes closed and jumping backwards, no fretting, screeching or crying but just dealing in quick and precise movements. This might not be your right of passage at all, maybe for you what you dread the most of it all would be watching a live birth, or dealing with chicken poo, those all are just not my hardest thing to have to deal with, they don’t even faze me really. Death of an animal for me is the worst, and not just death- but even looking at the dead body. Today I forced myself to pounce through that door and earn my right to be there with the rest of ‘em. It is now that I am able to take and deal with the full responsibility of my animals. Today I became a real farm girl.

PS. I will let you know when I have become a ‘Farm Woman’-as that would entail shooting the chicken and plucking and skinning and stewing it. Let me just say I haven’t gotten there yet, not yet.

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By dreadlock girl, 30,December,2009 22:47

Kids in the Holiday Kitchen: Making, Baking, Giving

The holidays are a time when everyone just wants to create. Weather it be crafts, gifts or yummy treats to eat- the time that we get to spend together is so much better spent when we get our hands sticky, right!? Kids (and even adults) of all ages will find some eye-catching pictures in Kids in the Holiday Kitchen, pictures that will reel them right in to want to make the recipes/crafts. From the Stuffed French Toast (on page 14), the Sugarplum Lollies (p. 36) to the crafts of Stellar (felted) Stockings (p. 81) and the Let There Be Light (colourful beeswax candle) (p. 88) there is more than enough so that everyone in the family will find a “must make”.

These projects are made to be kid friendly and most kids preschool age and older could do a portion of the work with a parent helper. Older kids could do them completely by themselves. It is a way that children can take ownership of making their gifts for their teachers, aunts or that special friend that needs a little encouragement. It is never to early to encourage giving and Kids in the Holiday Kitchen encourages a season of giving all year round, even from the littlest hands. This books gets two thumbs way up from me. I am leaving you with a recipe from the book that would be perfect for your New Year’s celebrations!! Yum.

New Year’s Nuggets

Chocolate-Caramel Popcorn, from Kids in the Holiday Kitchen (p. 45)

You’ll Need:

1/2 Cup Dried Yellow Popcorn
Scant 1/4 Cup Water
3 Tablespoons Canola Oil (optional)
1/4 teaspoon orange extract (optional)
1 Cup Sugar
8 Ounces Milk Chocolate
1/2 Cup Light Corn Syrup

What to do:

1. Pop the popcorn.

2. Line several cookie sheets with parchment paper.

3. In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine the sugar, corn syrup and water. Heat over medium-high heat until golden brown, and 5 minutes. Stir gently, add the orange extract, if using, stir again. Add some of the popcorn and coat it with the caramel. use a wooden utensil to help coat the corn. Place the coated kernels on the parchment paper to cool. Repeat.

4. When cool, break up the clumps of caramel corn, keeping the corn clumps on the parchment.

5. Heat the chocolate over low heat in the top of a double boiler, or in a metal bowl over a saucepan filled with 1 inch of hot water (creating your own double boiler). Heat the chocolate until it’s smooth, 3 to 4 minutes. Make sure the chocolate doesn’t burn.

6. Fill a ladle with the melted chocolate and lightly drizzle over the caramel corn. Let the chocolate caramel corn cool for 30 to 45 minutes. To make gifts, put small batches in cellophane bags; otherwise, wrap in parchment paper and keep in a Tupperware container in the refrigerator for 3 to 5 days.

Makes 4 Cups

Watch Chronicle Book’s Kids in the Holiday Kitchen book trailer:

Title: Kids in the Holiday Kitchen
ISBN: 9780811861397
Subtitle: Making, Baking, Giving
Author: Jessica Strand & Tammy Massman-Johnson
Photographer: James Baigrie
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Subject:Holiday – Christmas, Crafts for Children, Handicraft, Recipes
Publication Date: November 2008
Pages: 95

I am an affiliate of TOMS SHOES and Powell’s Books and I do receive a percentage of the sales of any item you buy using my links. Thank you!

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By dreadlock girl, 30,December,2009 12:36

At our house we are all different- as far as hair that is. I have dreadlocks, my husband has thick curly hair, Oliver has really fine kid hair and Jackson has thick blond hair.So finding a shampoo that would work for us all didn’t even seem to be an option so I just stopped thinking about it. Then one day I decided that I wanted to make my own for dreadlocks, because dreadlock specialty soap is stinkin’ spendy! Brad wanted to try it too, and then the boys- by mistake I have brought us all together under one uniting shampoo!

I looked around for a bit and found some good ideas on natural hair care here, and was excited to see that she was using tons of other ideas that I already loved-such as the coconut oil, I just can’t get enough of that stuff!!

After a bit of browsing, I came up with this recipe and it works for all of us. Since we are trying to simplify one shampoo for us all is a good step to take. Before this we used the Burt’s Bees tear free for the boys, no-residue dreadlock shampoo for me, and Brad used an anti-dandruff shampoo and conditioner. We’ve eliminated all of those (well the boys are still finishing up their last bottle of Burt’s) and now just have this nifty spray bottle thingy. We all love the lather that comes out of this green bottle, and knowing what is in our products makes life even better.

It works so well for Brad and I, it isn’t anti-dandruff and (as I predicted) he hasn’t had a problem with dandruff in the last 3 months since our switch-over.

A Homemade Recipe for Natural Shampoo

1/4 Cup Water
3/4 Cup Lavender Doctor Bronner’s Multi-Purpose Soap
4 teaspoons of Apple Cider Vinegar
1 teaspoon of Glycerin
6 Drops Tea Tree Oil
6 Drops Lavender Oil
6 Drops Ylang Ylang Oil

Combine all in a bowl or Pyrex measuring container (I use the one with the spout for easy pouring). Stir together and then pour into your spray bottle. These can be purchased anywhere. I got this one at Bi-Mart. You are done, now go wash your hair!

This recipe can be tweaked to meet your needs, it will leave your hair with more of its natural oils in it as it is not a commercial shampoo meant to strip all oils out of your hair- however if you find it just too much leave out the glycerin the next time around.

Also check out my Homemade Bath Salts Recipes!

If you make this recipe, or have your own-please share! I’d love to hear from you.

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By dreadlock girl, 18,November,2009 00:33

My grandma, taught me to make these several times when I was growing up. She is gone now, and I forgot how to make them. But now that I have re-taught myself to knit I really wanted to figure these out again. I did! It is exactly the pattern she taught me, at least it turns out the same. There are probably several ways to do this.

I use Cotton Ease Lion Brand yarn, a medium 4 which is 50% Cotton, 50% Acrylic. I don’t think it matters what you use as long as it is cotton. I think I have busted out 5 of these so far, they feel so nice on the skin as a washcloth. And I knit different ones for the dishes as well, that way I can just throw them in the wash.

Granny Dishcloth/Washcloth Knitting Pattern:

*CO 4

*K2, YO1, K remainder of stitches (the YO will add one stitch each row)
repeat for every row until you have 44 stitches on your needle.

*K2, Ktog, YO1, Ktog, knit remainder of row
repeat until you are down to 4 stitches on your needle, then cast off.

enjoy your bath! (or washing your dishes in style)

Knitting Terms:
CO: Cast On
K: Knit (along with number of stitches)
YO: Yarn Over
Ktog: Knit Together

This pattern was first posted on my blog on January 10th 2009. Since last year I have made so many of these, and I love making them because they are brainless, which I can do while I listen to an audiobook or watch a movie. I personally love the one that I kept more than any of my store bought ones. It is really good at getting all the grime off and I love how it exfoliates my skin without being abrasive. I have promised to knit myself some more and put them in MY stocking this year!! I highly recommend knitting some of these and if none of your family wants then, really then you will have lucked out!

Enjoy a Homemade Christmas with your family too! Get started now.

This is the third gift idea that I have shared for my Christmas a la Homemade (a handmade Christmas). I will be posting these up until Christmas to give you ideas for gifts you can make for your friends and family.

Previous Recipes from my Christmas a la Homemade (A Handmade Christmas):
Rosemary Sea Salt Recipe
Bath Salts Soak Recipe
Knit Granny Washcloth (or Dishcloth) Pattern

I am a Powell’s affiliate and I do receive a percentage of the sales of any book you buy using my links. Thank you!

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By dreadlock girl, 4,November,2009 12:57

Ecoholic with its Canadian cover and its US Cover

Over the last week I have been enjoying an amazing book, Ecoholic: Your Guide to the Most Environmentally Friendly Information, Products, and Services by Adria Vasil. It is in my opinion a comprehensive guide to doing your best to protect your family from toxins, and save the planet at the same time. Tons of helpful information on everything. I will be posting my review later this week, and be forewarned that it will get my glowing praise then too. Adria has done an excellent job of guiding the consumer through each aspect of what they buy and why they should know what’s in it! Okay, before I give it all away I leave you with a little sample of how helpful her tips are in this article, Save Cash and Trash: Packing Healthier Waste-Free Lunches.

Save Cash and Trash: Packing Healthier Waste-Free Lunches
By Adria Vasil,
Author of Ecoholic: Your Guide to the Most Environmentally Friendly Information, Products & Services

I won’t lie. I loved my juice boxes, pudding cups and classic cream-stuffed snack cakes as a school kid — but they were all wrapped in plastic destined for the lunchroom garbage can (not to mention totally unhealthy!). Add them all up and a typical student trashes a whopping 70 pounds of lunch packaging every year!
Now, what if instead of reaching for pre-packaged munchies, parents everywhere bought snackables in bulk and placed them in their own reusable containers? By god, we’d have a lunchtime revolution! In fact, if every student packed a zero-waste lunch, we’d save 1.2 billion pounds from landfill a year. You’ll also be saving some serious coin (since individually wrapped foods tend to cost more) and coincidentally cutting out many of the not-so-healthy heavily processed ingredients that often come with pre-packaged snacks.

So how do you lighten your lunch load?

• Say goodbye to disposable plastic baggies. Get reusable sandwich-size sacks like Lunch Skins (3greenmoms.com). They’re perfect for, yes, sandwiches, as well as chopped up veggies like carrots, peppers and celery.
• Buy yogurt, dried fruit, snackables like pumpkin seeds or even organic cookies in bulk, then pack them in reusable food containers (just not the kind made of clear, shatterproof polycarbonate plastic since those contain hormone disrupting bisphenol A — the same stuff that made headlines in clear plastic baby bottles).
• Pass on pricey, packaging-heavy drinking boxes and buy juice in large cartons/jugs. Pour a single portion into a polycarbonate-free drink canister like Thermos’ Foogo (keeping in mind that a stainless steel container of tap or home-filtered water is way healthier than a shot of sugary, nutritionally dead boxed OJ).
• Pour last night’s soups and even stews in an insulated thermos for a homemade meal on the go.
• Don’t forget to toss a cloth napkin and, if necessary, washable cutlery into your lunch box.

Keep the lead out of lunchtime
Speaking of lunch boxes, stay away from anything made of vinyl, aka PVC. Back in 2005, California’s Center for Environmental Health filed a lawsuit against some big-name makers of soft PVC lunch cases (including Toys”R”Us, Warner Brothers, DC Comics and Time Warner) after testing revealed that their products contained high levels of lead.

Better to go for all-natural cloth or even nylon.You’ll find a bunch of alternatives online at sites like www.reusablebags.com (think funky organic and recycled cloth bags, stainless steel containers and compartmentalized bento-box-style Laptop Lunch kits).

Move the message school-wide
Once you’ve got the knack of trash-free lunches, why not spread the message throughout your child’s school? Consider forming a zero-waste lunch committee. If you’ve got a keen teacher on your side, you might even get students to kick things off with a garbage audit (think garbology 101). That means measuring how much trash goes in bins before and after lunch hour. The mini researchers can put on rubber gloves and note what kind of disposables are taking up the most room.
Raise cash for trash
Whatever you do, don’t let any disposables that you and other parents might still use end up in landfill. Talk to your kid’s school about saving them up and sending them packin’ to be made into purses and pencil cases! Once you’ve collected a bunch of branded drink pouches, candy/cookie/energy bar wrappers, chip bags and yogurt cups, ship them off to TerraCycle and the upcycling company will give you 2¢ to 5¢ per package for your trouble (terracycle.net). Call it a cash-for-trash fundraiser and you’ll be garbage-free in no time!

©2009 Adria Vasil, author of Ecoholic: Your Guide to the Most Environmentally Friendly Information, Products & Services

Author Bio
Adria Vasil, author of Ecoholic: Your Guide to the Most Environmentally Friendly Information, Products & Services, is a best-selling author and journalist for Canada’s NOW, where she has been writing the “Ecoholic” column for five years. She lives in Toronto.

For more information please visit www.ecoholicnation.com

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By dreadlock girl, 3,November,2009 00:54

Over the next couple of months I am going to highlight some homemade gifts that I am putting together for people this Christmas season. We have decided to go for an exclusively homemade Christmas this year and I am thrilled to show you what I have come up with. I will be making these items below over the next couple of months, and will share the process with you so you can make it too! It is fun to be able to be crafty together, isn’t it?? Also, I would love some more ideas, things that you have made for people, or things you wished you could have made for them because it was such a great idea.

Here is what I have come up with so far:

*Granny Stitch Dish/Washcloths
*Sweater Hats (from Handmade Home)
*Rosemary Sea Salt
*Natural Goat’s Milk Soap
*Fiber Garland (from Handmade Home)
*Dried Spices from our Garden (Rosemary, Lavender and Sage)
*Lavender Rice Hot/Cold Compress
*Pocket Tissue Case (from Patchwork Style)
*Linen Embroidered Handkerchief (from Linen, Wool, Cotton)
*Quilted Pot Holders or “Millie’s Hot Pad (from Handmade Home)
*Silky Eye Pillow (from Handmade Home)

Did I miss something? I am sure I did, if you have something to share that you love that either you made or was made for you, go for it.