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On my quest to come up with yummy snacks and desserts that fit our current diet, I came up with these and they are yummy!
All my kids, blueberry loves and haters alike enjoyed them and asked for more.
Blueberry, Banana, Carrot Muffins:
2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups whole wheat, spelt, flour of choice
1 tsp salt
2 tbls baking powder
1 tsp stevia or 1 tbls monk fruit (optional if you want it a tad sweeter)
Stir together. Then add…
1/2 cup mild flavored oil
3 very ripe bananas mashed
1 cup finely grated carrot
1 cup blueberries
1 3/4 cups liquid (mix of milk, water, or milk substitute)
Mix until dry ingredients are just incorporated.
Spoon into muffin cups and bake at 400 degrees for 20-24 minutes.
Makes about 2 dozen muffins.
Cool completely and then store in the refrigerator. Best stored in the freezer if not eaten within 3 days.
Enjoy!
This is a great healthy snack. It’s sugar free, egg free, and dairy free. Read on…
Two of our family are taking a break from sugar at the moment, and another can’t do dairy and eggs. This means it’s time to develop a new recipe, and Fall is a great time of year to try this one.
Carrot Spice Bread:
Makes 2 loaves.
2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups whole wheat, spelt, or your flour choice
1 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cloves
2 cups finely shredded carrot
2 ripe bananas, mashed
2 cups orange juice
1/3 cup oil
Mix all dry ingredients. Mix all wet ingredients in a separate bowl. Add the wet to the dry. Mix well. Pour into greased bread pan. Bake at 350 for 50-55 minutes or until the center tests clean.
Cool on wire racks.
* Note: You could also make this in cake form if desired. Just cook in two greased and floured cake pans instead. I also sometimes make it in a 9×12 casserole as well. And if you aren’t avoiding caloric sweeteners all together like we are, add 1/4 cup of honey or maple syrup to make it that much better.
This bread is just slightly sweet so it’s a great snack any time.
And stayed tuned for the sourdough version in a couple of weeks.
I’m drinking tea from my grandmother’s tea cup today and thinking of her. It’s a good reminder to slow down, take a deep breath, and be thankful for the little things. Hoping you all can take a break for tea time today.
I’ve always enjoyed picking herbs from my garden. But I typically just pick what I need for mmmmm for culinary use. I’ve been harvesting more herbs this to dry and save for medicinal and beauty uses this year.
Scroll on to see what’s been in my herb basket this year.
I’ve always had a hard time cutting flowers from my garden. I just never seem to want to ruin their beauty by taking them from their natural state.
I’ve been experimenting this year though, and I’ve found which flowers last well as a cut flower and which ones don’t. Some, like Zinnias even put on more blooms when you cut them.
Here’s a summary of my summer bouquets.
Long-Lasting Cut Flowers: Zinnia, Coreopsis, Salvia, Cosmos. Hydrangeas can be long lasting as well if you wait to cut them when they are beginning to feel papery on the stem.
Flowers that Fade Quickly: Echinacea, Black-Eyed Susan.
We love Trader Joe’s spice grinders. We like the Lemon Pepper, Everyday Seasoning, and Garlic Salt. If you haven’t tried them, you really should.
What what do you do when you find yourself smack-dab in the middle of a pandemic, and you can’t run out and buy more? You get creative and make your own.
Garlic Salt is the seasoning I use the most. It’s basic and I find it to be the most versatile. I use it on the kids chicken strips that they eat every day for lunch, and I REALLY like it on our sourdough crackers. If you want to try to craft your own, save an empty grinder and mix the following together.
Homemade Garlic Salt:
3 tsp parsley flakes
3 tsp dried minced garlic
2 tsp onion flakes
2 tsp salt
If you’re interested in making your own spice blends and seasoning mixes, check out Homesteading Family’s Homestead Kitchen Membership. They recently did Pantry Challenge and have whole workbooks full of DIY baking and spice mixes that you can make yourself for pennies.
You might also be interested in their Home Management class which gives common sense, every day tips and systems for keeping your busy, productive household running smoothly.
Note: This post contains affiliate links.
I’ve chosen to use lots of reusable cloth products over the years – cloth napkins, cloth diapers, and mama cloth. At the beginning of COVID, I had to come up with a cloth alternative for paper towels when all the regular paper towel were out of stock. I ended up using something I already had. I raided my cloth diaper bins and pulled out our cloth baby wipes. I’m so glad I did. We’ve probably cut our paper towel usage by more than half. I still keep paper towels on hand for extremely greasy or germ-filled cleanups. But for the messy faces and daily spills, these work great for us. Read on….
Many companies offer various different reusable paper towels these days to help people reduce their use of disposable paper products. I tried some of them. But, honestly, the flannel baby wipes we used when we did cloth diapers with our kids, are the best washable cloths that I’ve found.
They are small, soft, and absorbent. I keep a tissue box cover full of them on the kitchen counter with them all folded over tissue style so that the kids can pull them out easily. They are just the right size for what the kids need. I keep a bin in the Butler’s Pantry for dirty towels. The kids throw them in there and they get washed with all the kitchen laundry.
I like this Tissue Box Cover best. It works great on the kitchen counter and looks nice. I like that I can set things on top.
My favorite wipes are these flannel baby wipes by OsoCozy.
Recycled Sewing:
You could also easily make reusable wipes for this purpose using an old flannel shirt or pajama pants. I have some saved for just this purpose. I’ll get around to it someday. In the meantime, these work well for me.
Jump in and make your own. It would be a great upcycle project. Break out the scissors and sewing machine, or give some purchased wipes a try.
It certainly has saved us lots of paper towels each week.
* Note: There are no affiliate links in this post.
Do you have organic produce coming in? Fall is upon us. Don’t forget to save seeds from some of your produce for use next year. Squash, and tomatoes are great to save seeds from, and it’s pretty easy.
Here’s how….
Saving Seeds:
Scrape those seeds off the cutting board as you chop those tomatoes. They all tend to squirt out anyway. Be sure to slice different varieties separately from each other, so as not to mix seeds.
Scrape them all into a bowl and cover with a little bit of water.
Let them soak overnight to help loosen some of the gel around them.
Then rinse well with water straining them through a sieve.
Spread out on the back of a paper plate labeled with the name of the plant. Set it in a warm place to dry.
Once dry, store in a labeled (name and year), paper envelope for the next growing season.
Squash is a great plant for saving seeds too. Use the same steps outlined above.
Happy gardening! May your harvest be bountiful! ❤️
I took this photo 9 years ago when I started reusing my foaming soap bottles and making my own hand soap. I made a batch of 8 bottles today. My ingredients have changed over the years, but the basics are the same.
Your favorite dish soap + your favorite essential oils + water = soap for pennies!
You can see my original post if you visit the Kitchen Sink page.
Lately I’ve also started adding 1 tbls of aloe gel to each bottle which helps keep your hands soft and makes the soap feel silky like the fancy soaps you buy at the mall. I vary the oils I use. Lately it’s Tea Tree and Grapefruit. I also like lemon and lavender, orange and clove (just one drop), geranium and pine. Be creative and experiment with your own favorite scents.
The essential oils you use also add disinfecting properties. Many people think that soap disinfects. This is a misconception. Soap actually does not disinfect inasmuch as it changes the pH of your hands. Soap on it’s own is a solvent. It lifts the dirt, grease, and germs and allows them to be washed away with the water. This is why hand washing is so important for fighting COVID-19. But soap, in and of itself, does not kill germs. If you want to add anti-microbial properties to tour soap, this is where the essential oils come in. Oils like tea tree, clove, and lemon are anti-bacterial, and anti-viral. Grapefruit is anti-microbial. So choose yours oils based on their properties and the smells you like.
If you want more info on what oils are good to use based on their properties, check out my Herbs and Oils Pocket Reference Chart.
I’ve saved myself hundred of dollars each year by making my own hand soap. Here’s my soap bottle lineup. All refilled and ready to go.
My mom embroidered this poem when my brothers and I were little.
“Cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow… for babies grow up we’ve learned to our sorrow. So quiet down cobwebs… dust go to sleep… I’m rocking my baby and babies don’t keep!!”
This is one of the first photos that I posted on my blog on the Baby page 10 years ago. It’s been one of the pages that I have received the most comments on, with many people asking if I know where they can purchase the embroidery pattern.
It’s only taken me 10 years, but I’ve finally figured out a way to transfer this pattern to a medium which I can offer for sale.
If you’re interested, head on over to the Baby page for details and purchase information, or click the image below.
It’s a tower of waffles. Sourdough this time. Using my favorite cast iron waffle makers.
If you want to give this recipe a try, follow my basic waffle recipe here, but use half the oil, 3 cups of regular milk rather than the 4 cups of buttermilk (or soured milk), and add 1-2 cups of sourdough starter.
Happy breakfast!
Remembering Maggie Lane 