Almond Butter and Almond Milk

Hello again! 

I love homemaking things! I have been trying out so many new recipes lately and it has been a lot of fun! I feel so much better about what my family is eating! 

I was buying the "decent" peanut/almond butters anyways, but it is fun to make your own, and you can make sure your almonds are raw and organic! 

Almond butter is sooo easy! 

~ALMOND BUTTER~

All you do is put some almonds in your food processor... 

Turn in on and let it go! 

Scrape the sides down every couple minutes...

and about 15 minutes later... you have almond butter! 

Turned out great!

So, my girls are "milkaholics" 

Really! 

They were drinking soo much milk every day it was getting ridiculous! 

Then I found out how not good for you it was!

Raw milk from grass fed cows is great for you, but the milk we buy in regular grocery stores has nothing beneficial in it anymore.

 So I started buying Almond Milk for them. 

I also made them drink water mostly too. 

I don't know if it is cheaper to make your own almond milk or not. 

I haven't calculated it out yet. I will. 

But this is so easy to make, I thought I would try it also.

~ALMOND MILK~

 Soak your almonds for 8-12 hours.

(this is 3 cups raw almonds soaked) 

Put in blender with (1.5 cups almonds to 4 cups water) water.

And blend...

Then pour through a strainer and cheesecloth... (All my water couldn't fit in the blender, so I just poured the extra water through the cheesecloth with the almond left from the first straining)

Then squeeze out all the excess water from the almonds...

And put you "Almond meal" either in a bowl to use in baking, or in the trash.

Finish blending and straining all your almonds and water into your bowl

Add 1/2 tsp vanilla (4 cups water) and sweetener if you desire.

I haven't sweetened mine yet, but you can add Stevia, rice syrup, honey or any other reasonably healthy sweetener, to taste (when I do try a sweetener- I think I am going to try my Vanilla Cream Stevia drops I just got).

Then put in to your container(s)

refrigerate, and enjoy! 

3 cups almonds, 8 cups water and 1 tsp vanilla extract

 Made almost 70 oz, about 9 cups.

You will need to shake it up before you use it.

My family LOVES it! 

Have fun making your own butter and milk and rest easy know exactly what is in your food!

S'mores cookies

Oh goodness! I went over to a friends house the other day and we made these amazing s'mores cookie things. The were to die for! 

You can find the recipe here. :)

My Beautiful girls are growing up so fast! I love it! 

Brooklyn and her blanket that goes everywhere with her.

Natalie and her "earrings"

Too tired to eat. Ha!

Watching Dora on Netflix.

Love my babies!! 

I have been trying a bunch of recipes form my Pinterest lately and it has been soo much fun! Stay tuned for recipes and pictures! 

Homemade Deodorant

Homemade Deodorant

This deodorant turned out really good! I loved the smells I choose and everyone who tried it really liked it! We did find that a couple of us needed to reapply in the evening to keep off any smell. After a couple weeks of using this recipe my armpits started really itching! Like pretty bad! While researching recipes I found that this was a complaint for probably an allergy to the baking soda... I was the only one out of 10 to have this problem... So I will try another recipe soon to fix this! 

I hatted the fact of going back to deodorant with aluminum in it, but I couldn't handle the itching, and I need to wear something!

The recipe is easy! Here it is:

3 T Baking Soda

2 T Corn Starch

3 T Shea Butter

2 T Cocoa Butter

1 t Vitamin E

1 t Vegetable Glycerine

Essential Oil of choice

Melt all the ingredients except essential oils in a double broiler

Then add your essential oils (I just did to smell) and stir it in.

Pour into leftover deodorant containers or you can get some here.

Let them sit until solid. I put mine in the fridge to speed it up. 

This recipe filled 5- .50 oz deodorant container. 

I made 2 batches- one with Orange essential oils and one with Milk and Honey. They were both equally popular!

These can just hang out on your bathroom counter and use like regular!

Over the holidays we had a lot of family here! 

My parents had my brother and his wife from Amsterdam and there new little twins for a month! And I finally got to meet the little angels!! There were beyond perfect! And sooo cute!! X2!

 Baby Joey and Emma!

We couldn't get enough of them!

Natalie with Emma

Natalie giving Joey kisses

My dad, brother and nephew

Papa Joe loving being a grandpa!

Ryan's family was here also! Here was a busy place!

He had his grandpa and grandma from New Jersey here for 10 days over Christmas. Grandma from California, 103(almost 104)year old Great grandma from New Jersey here from before Christmas until The beginning of Feburary! Full house! 

Here is Nanny and Brooklyn: 100 year age difference!

:)

Also, Ryan's brother, Tyler, was here for the last weekend they were all here. He lives in Texas now. (ya, they are all over the US).

Surprisingly Natalie took to him right away! 

It was a fun, busy 2 months! :)

Peppermint pattys

So my computer is working.... ok! Anyways, so I thought I would upload some pictures and see what happens! lol.

So, over Christmas I was on a budget and made snack gifts for grandparents and parents and one of the popular treats I made was homemade peppermint pattys. Here is the recipe I made (off Pinterest) that turned out amazing!

Homemade Peppermint Patties 

Makes: About 30 Candies
14 ounces Sweetened Condensed Milk

6 ½ cups Confectioners Sugar
1 tablespoon Peppermint Extract
3 cups Dark Chocolate, Chopped
2 tablespoons Shortening

In the bowl of stand mixer, beat together the sweetened condensed milk, 3 cups of powdered sugar, and the peppermint extract.  Add the remaining powdered sugar, ½ cup at a time, until the dough is stiff but still easy to handle. 

Using your hands, grab a small 1-inch piece of dough and roll it into ball.  Flatten the ball into a round disc and place on a baking sheet.  Repeat with the remaining dough.  Place the discs into the freezer to chill for about 30 minutes.

In the meantime, melt the chocolate.  Place the chocolate in a heatproof and microwave-safe bowl.  Microwave the chocolate for 30 seconds, then remove it and stir.  Place it back in the microwave and repeat microwaving for 30 seconds and stirring until the chocolate has completely melted and is smooth.  Add the shortening and stir until it has completely melted into the chocolate. 

When the patties have hardened and are thoroughly chilled, remove them from the freezer and place them on the counter next to melted chocolate.  Place a large piece of wax paper next to the melted chocolate.

Place one patty on top of one fork and dip into the chocolate.  Using another fork, coat the patty completely and carefully place it onto the wax paper.  Repeat with the remaining patties.

Allow the patties to cool on the wax paper until hardened.   To speed up the process you can place the patties in the refrigerator to chill.  Keep in the refrigerator until ready to serve.  Enjoy!

These peppermint patties last up to 2 weeks when kept in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

This recipe was a big hit! I hope you enjoy them as much as we did! :)

6 months!

January 16th was our 6 months in out trailer. I can't believe it has gone by sooo fast! It has been going really well. We have found out how much room we really don't need. The Lord is blessing us in soo many ways.

I am no longer working, because Ryan and I both feel that the home is where I should be. Taking care of the house and the girls. 

I began going to a young married women's Bible study every other Saturday morning and have really been enjoying it! We are going through the book "Becoming A Woman Who Pleases God" by Pat Ennis and Lisa Tatlock. It has been such a blessing to begin to get to know a couple of the women in our church, and learn how to serve the Lord in my home and with my character. I can't wait to continue the study and get to know these women and the Lord better!

Our girls are growing up so fast! I am really enjoying the phases they are in! I have been dying to have another baby for a little while now, but Ryan says not now! :( lol. So, I am asking the Lord for patients and to keep me content in our situation... or for a "oopsy baby" haha. jk (kinna) It has been a fun ride so far and I continue to praise the Lord for the beautiful gifts He gave us! 

Our healthy eating habits have been not so good... :( I am staying away from processed and artificial things much, much more! And drinking a lot more water too, but haven't been eating the best other wise... My 2012 resolution is to be 50% raw by the end of the year! We will see what happens. I am going natural in my toiletries products too! Making my own deodorant (which I need to try another recipe), and using natural toothpaste, shampoo, soap, lotion and you all know my amazing Chocolate Orange Chapstick , which I am obsessed with! I will be posting recipes for you as I try them out! 

I haven't been able to try many new creations this last month because of Christmas, New Years and our "Ice Storm" (Our state was declared "in a state of emergency". We were snowed in and without power for a couple days!). Ryan's grandpa, grandma, grandma and great grandma(103 years old) were all here over Christmas and grandma and great grandma are here until February when his brother will also be here. Ryan's poor mom has been non stop! I am sure she can't wait for everything to die down and be back to normal!

My computer screen won't turn on again. :( So I don't have any pictures to post today. I am going to give it to my father-in-law and see if it will magically turn on again like it did last time he touched it! (Fingers crossed). 

So, until next time! :)

Chocolate Orange Lip Balm

So, I am ADDICTED to chap stick! I put it on all the time. Especially at night. I love to put layers, upon layers... upon layers... etc on before I go to bed. I've told my husband that it's the best part of my day... he thinks I am joking... So now that I am going all natural, I thought that would be the first product I should make natural! I made this YUMMY Chocolate Orange lip balm the other day and have been using it for about 2 weeks now. I absolutely LOVE it! And I only need to put like one or two layers on. (My supply is going to last me forever!)
Here is the link I found the recipe from.

Bittersweet Chocolate & Orange Lip Balm 
Makes 1 small container

3 tbs organic cocoa butter
3-4 organic, fair-trade dark chocolate chips
1 tsp vitamin E oil
1/4 tsp organic orange extract

1. Melt the cocoa butter in the microwave.
2. Add the chocolate chips and stir until melted. (You may have to microwave the mixture again for a few seconds).
3. Add vitamin E and orange extract
4. Mix well and pour into a small container

Sooo easy and smells amazing!

I am back!

Ahh! I am back! I missed writing in here! Even though I don't very often... Hopefully that will change! My computer has been down... don't really know what happened? But the screen wouldn't turn on. Then my father-in-law decided to take a look at it and it turned on for him...? Ya... hmm. Oh well, it's on... for now! 

While I was away I started planning out blog ideas! Let me tell ya! I have a lot of fun ideas, food recipes and product recipes to share with you! I can't wait! 

No one really reads this, but I have fun thinking they do! :) This is my fantasy world where everyone wants to know what is going on in my life! So, to ALL my loyal fans: 

 I have missed you! Don't fret! I am back!!  ;)

I will leave you with this: 

:)