rosemary sea salt

I made this Rosemary Sea Salt with rosemary from my garden as Christmas gifts this year.  

I saved a jar for myself and loved it so much, it's already gone.  

So, I made some more!  

I put it on everything.  

Popcorn, chicken, veggies!  Whatever.  Any recipe that calls for salt.  I use this.  

I love the rosemary flavor.  LOVE IT!

I keep mine in a pretty little Fiestaware jar right on the counter.  

What you need:

1.  Coarse Sea Salt

2.  Fresh or dried rosemary

(I used dried the first time and fresh this time.  They both work perfectly.  The fresh rosemary makes the salt green because of the oils.)  It's awesome!

3.  A food processor

I didn't measure, I just used a handful of rosemary.  It's more of a method.  :)  Use as much as you like.  Maybe some people don't like rosemary as much as I do.  

What you do:

Put the rosemary and salt the the food processor and pulse until it's as blended as you like.  

I left some rosemary specks and I left the salt a little coarse.  Cuz that's how I like it.

Put it in jars or baggies to give as gifts.  Or keep for yourself!

Enjoy!

honey citrus coconut granola

I've been craving some good ole' granola lately.  

I found this recipe for Coconut Ginger Granola at Jens Favorite Cookies.  It sounded delicious.  

Of course, I didn't have exactly everything I needed to make it, so I improvised.  ;)  

Here's what I made....

Honey Citrus Coconut Granola

What you need

• 3 cups oats
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/2 cup sunflower seeds
• 1/3 cup flaxseed
• 1 cup dried cranberries (mine were orange flavored, but regular would be fine too)
• 1 cup coconut
• zest of 1 lemon
• zest of 1 orange
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. nutmeg
• 1/2 cup honey
• 3/4 cup coconut oil

What you do

1. In a small saucepan over medium heat, mix together honey and coconut oil, heating just until smooth and melted. Remove from heat.
2. In separate bowl, combine all remaining ingredients.
3. Pour honey mixture over the oat mixture and stir to coat.
4. Pour onto baking sheet, and smooth it into one even layer. Bake at 325 degrees for 20-30 minutes, until toasted to a dark brown, stirring every 10 minutes.
5. Allow to cool completely before eating.  Or not!  ;)  

It is really, really good.  There are lots of different flavors going on.  

It's chewy and crunchy.  Nutty and citrusy.  Tart and slightly sweet.  

I like the addition of the zest with the cranberries.  Plus it has coconut AND coconut oil in it!   

We've been enjoying this everyday in some form.  

The bird loves it with almond milk as breakfast.    

The bean loves the big chunks plain as a snack.  

I love it with Greek yogurt anytime!!  

It's great!

I even gave some to my mom in a nice jar as part of her Mother's Day present.

Who doesn't love some homemade granola?!?

colorful quinoa, rice, veggie bowl

I made this amazing veggie bowl last night!  

AMAZING!  

Seriously.  

Kevin doesn't like hates brown rice (& quinoa) and he cleaned his plate!!

The kids did too.   They said it was "The best rice mom ever made!"  And wanted seconds.

Sweet.

It was our whole meal.  

Meatless Monday.  Delicious.

I've seen a couple of delicious looking quinoa recipes recently and didn't have all the ingredients for either of them, so I kind of combined them. 

Here are the inspirational recipes..... 

The first was this "Quinoa and Brown Rice Bowl with Vegetables and Tahini" in the March edition of Food and Wine Magazine.  

The second one was this "Quinoa and Black Bean Salad" from New Nostalgia,

And here's what I ended up with....

Red Quinoa, Brown Rice, Black Bean and Veggie Bowl

1 cup of long grain brown rice

1 cup of red quinoa

2 cups of veggie broth

2 tablespoons coconut oil (or other oil)

1 small onion, finely diced

1 red bell pepper, finely diced

2 cloves of garlic, minced

2 teaspoons of ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper

salt and pepper to taste

1 bag of frozen corn

1 (15 oz) can of rinsed and drained black beans

3 carrots, shredded or chopped

1/2 cup of cilantro

juice of two limes

In a medium saucepan, cover the brown rice with 2 inches of water and bring to a boil.  Cover and cook over low heat until the rice is just tender, about 40 minutes.  Drain and return to to pan, keep covered.  

Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, combine the quinoa with 2 cups of veggie stock and bring to a boil.  Cover and simmer over low heat until the quinoa is tender and stock has been absorbed, 20 minutes.  

In a large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of oil.  Add onion and pepper and cook over moderate heat until lightly browned, about 5 minutes.  Mix in garlic and heat until fragrant, about 30 seconds.  Add the carrots last.  I did that because I wanted them to still be crunchy.  Add them earlier if you want them cooked.  

Season with cumin, cayenne, salt and pepper.  

Add the cooked rice and quinoa to the pan with the onion mixture.  Add the frozen corn and drained black beans.  Stir until combined and heated through.  

Top with cilantro and lime juice.  

Stir and serve.

It can be eaten hot, cold or room temperature.

It was soooo good.  

I ate it for lunch today and I can't wait to eat it again tomorrow.

It's kind of Mexican tasting with the lime, cilantro and cumin.

A little spicy kick from the cayenne, but sweet from the corn.

Crunchy from the carrots.  Chewy from the rice.

Perfect.  

tuesday tip - diy non-slip rug

This weeks Tuesday Tip is how to make ANY rug non-slip.  I saw this clever idea on Pinterest.  Unfortunately I can't link back to the original because the pin was marked as spam.  But, the picture showed me what to do.  I just had to try it out.  

I have a rug in the kitchen that is very slippery and I'm always afraid someone is going to fall and break their neck as they run by.  

Plus is always looks like this.  Never straight!  It annoys me.  :)

I've tried the carpet tape.  

But, I like to take my rugs and give them a shake outside.  Carpet tape is more permanent.  If I take the rug off too many times to shake it out, the tape eventually just sticks to my floor and not the rug.  And now I have nasty tape stuck to my tile.  Gross.

I've tried the non-slip pad things (that look like cabinet liners)

 But they get bunched up under the rug and I felt like I was constantly straightening the whole situation.

Yay!  This really works.  Genius!  

The caulk lines make it non-slip, but you can still pick it up and shake it out. 

1. Get some silicone caulk and a caulk gun.

I went outside because caulk is stinky.  

It smells like weird vinegar to me for some reason.

2.  Make lines of caulk down the length of the rug.  

I think I should have cut the hole bigger because it was HARD to squeeze.  

(Maybe I'm just a weakling. ) 

3.  Wait for it to dry.  I left it alone overnight.

 4.  Above is a dried bit that didn't stick.  I got lazy with the caulk.  Those parts pull right off.  

Make sure you press the gun into the rug a little bit as you are making the bead of caulk.  

5.  Above is a good line.  It's all dried and you can see the difference.  It's more "in" the rug not just laying on top.  

6.  And...IT WORKS!!!!  It really works.  

I'm going to make all my bathroom rugs non-slip next.  

Next time I will try to make the lines more even.  

I left a few big blobs and I can feel them when I walk on the rug.  But I don't really mind.  

At lease no one is falling.

:)

simple applesauce in a crockpot

I picked this bad boy up at a yard sale for 50 cents over the weekend!  SCORE!  

I knew applesauce was going to be in our near future!  

It cores.  It peels.  It slices.  It's vintage and fun!  :)  

And the kids thought it was super cool to make apple springs.  

They also thought it was hilarious to eat long peel strings!  

So did the chickens.  

Win. Win.  

And now we have delicious homemade applesauce in the fridge.  

Win.  Win.  Win.  

This applesauce could not be easier.
I used this recipe from New Nostalgia.  

Crockpot Applesauce

{recipe from Katy @ The Cutting Back Kitchen}

(via Amy @ New Nostalgia) 

Ingredients

3 pound bag of apples (peeled, cored, and sliced)(or in chunks, see above)

2-3 tablespoons brown sugar (or other sweetener)

½ teaspoon cinnamon

½ cup water

Instructions

Place your apple slices in the bottom of a Crockpot.  (If you don’t have a Crockpot, you can make it on the stove.) Top with brown sugar and cinnamon.  Add the water. (I always just make sure to add enough water to cover the bottom of the Crockpot.)    Cook the applesauce on low for 4-6 hours or until apples are tender.  Once the apples are tender, mash them with a potato masher for a chunkier consistency.  For a smoother consistency, mix in blender.

This is more an idea, than an exact recipe you need to stick to.  I try to keep mine pretty low in sugar, but if you like yours sweeter add some more.  Sometimes I add a handful of frozen berries to add some color and lend a slightly different flavor.  Get creative!

Freezing Instructions

Package in quart sized freezer bags or jars.   Thaw and enjoy!

DIY worm farm

My kids (probably all kids) LOVE worms.  Every time we do any kind of yardwork, the kids find every worm available and play with them for hours.  They name them.  And of course they want to keep them all as pets.  House pets.  I'm tired of having cups and pails and buckets filled with just enough dirt to keep a worm alive for one day (and of course a handful sticks and grass as obvious worm food) strewn about.  I'm tired of finding dead worms in said pails and buckets the next morning.  I'm tired of all the tears when I say "no more worms in the house."  I'm tired of explaining how important worms are for plants and telling the kids to put the worms in our garden to help our veggies grow.  Because it doesn't matter how good they are for our garden, they really still just want to keep them.  Geez. 

So, yay for our new worm farm!!!  Problem solved.  

(OK - it wasn't really a real problem....but this way it's just more fun)

I found a few different types of DIY worm farms and I did a variation of these two.

Hillbilly Jillies has a nice tutorial as does A Mom with a Lesson Plan. (and she has a lesson plan too!)

DIY WORM FARM

what you need:

two plastic bottles (two sizes)

dirt

sand

leaves or hay

worms

mesh / plastic wrap / fabric scrap

rubber band

dark paper for sleeve

what you do:  

1.  Wash and dry your bottles.  Cut the lids off.

2.  Put the small bottle inside the large bottle.  I did mine with the small one upside down because it fit nicely that way.  This gives your wormies less places to hide and makes it easier to watch them in their new home.  

3.  Alternate layers of soil, sand and leaves between the two bottles.  

4.  Dig for worms.

5.  Add worms to bottle.

6.  Put a little mesh or plastic (with holes poked for ventilation)  on the top to keep the little guys in.

7.  Make a sleeve with the dark paper to get your squirmy friends moving.  They like it dark.  

8.  Feed your worms by adding a few vegetable table scraps to the top every week or so.  

9.  Keep your new farm in a cool place and check it every day to see if it needs a little water.  They like it moist, but not wet.  Add a little wet newspaper to the top to help keep the moisture level just right.  

You'll soon notice the worms making trails and nests all around the bottle.  And soon there will be even more worms!!  ;)  boom.chicka.boom.boom.  Is it inappropriate to make that sound for worm reproduction?  Hum.  Probably.    :)  Have fun making your own worm farm! 

Ours are named Tulip, Nora, Cora, and Ham.  Nice.

impatient gardener

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Whitney Farms for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

OK, I'm an impatient gardener. (or a procrastinator)  I love to pour over the pretty seed catalogs every winter imagining what we're going to grow in the upcoming Spring.  I have visions of opening fabulous heirloom seed packets and planting tiny seeds with the kids every year.  Together we will watch them sprout and grow into the healthy plants we'll eat all summer.  It sounds wonderful, doesn't it?  

Yeah right, that doesn't happen.  I always forget until it's just about almost too late.  Then, I see all the gorgeous full grown plants at the garden stores and I don't want to plant seeds anymore.  I want plants.  That's what happened again this year.  

And, that's how you can go from this ............

to this............ in 30 minutes.  :)  

Sometimes it's fun to be an impatient gardener.  Instant gratification. 

But, look at all those plants.  I get them from our local high school's greenhouse.  A perfect situation.  The students plant the seeds and nurture them until they're pretty little seedlings.  And then they sell them to me for a dollar a piece!  :)  All those babies up there cost me less than 20 bucks!  And the money goes back into the greenhouse program.  Win. Win.  haha

My little square foot garden has been plugging along for a few years with not much in the way of soil amendment or preparation.  In the past years I've made sure that we used organic soil and compost but I thought it was about time to feed it.  :)  

This year I was excited to add Whitney Farms® Organic and Natural Plant Food.  It's 100 percent natural, no additives and nothing artificial.  And it was so simple to use.  I just opened up the re-sealable bag and added the little pellets to my soil.  I mixed it all in with a rake.  No dust, no smell.  Easy.  It contains beneficial microbes and specially designed protein-based blends provide plants with the macro and micronutrients that they need to grow and thrive.  

I can't wait to see the progress my little garden will make with this new organic plant food.  

If you would like to get your hands on some your own Whitney Farms® Organic and Natural Plant Food or the Tomato and Vegetable Food, make sure you check out the Whitney Farms® website first and get a 3 dollar off coupon!  Feed your garden and save 3 bucks!  

I added some colorful pinwheels from the dollar store to try and keep the bunnies away.  Hopefully it will work.  They just LOVED my kale and lettuce last year.  Stinkers.