Songs that touch the heart

A friend of mine posted this video on her blog a few days ago. I enjoyed it so much I thought I would share it with all of you.







Jon Schmidt is an amazing pianist and has many other songs you can listen to on his website.

http://www.jonschmidt.com/catalog/index.php

I hope that you enjoy this as much as I have!

Smoothies Anyone

Smoothies- the options are endless!!
Right after I snapped this picture I thought of all the wonderful ingredients I left out. What about yogurt, kefir, etc.? Anyway, here are a few possible ingredients for your next smoothie break- frozen bananas, frozen blueberries, frozen mango, frozen pineapple, dates, ground flax seed, carob powder, spinach (promise you'll never know its in there:)) almond butter, maple syrup, coconut oil, ... just to name a few. Try to think of ways you can sneak really nutritious ingredients in without anyone being able to tell.

Our smoothies always begin with frozen bananas. We literally could buy a whole box of bananas just to freeze. After that it all depends on what your in the mood for. Here are some of our favorites:

Blueberry Delight
frozen bananas, frozen blueberries, spoonful of: ground flax seeds, coconut oil, and almond butter

Orange Delight
frozen bananas, naval oranges (peeled), 1/2 cup or so of yogurt. Blend really well to break up the orange pulp.

Carob Delight (tastes just like the chocolate ice cream from Wendy's)
frozen bananas, heaping spoonful of carob powder, maple syrup, ground flax seed, almond butter

Strawberry Delight
frozen bananas, frozen strawberries, frozen mango, 3-4 large spinach leaves, coconut oil.

What about you? What are some of your favorite combinations?

Craft of the Week

I thought I would start posting a weekly craft on our blog. I can post a knitting, crochet, or sewing craft. Please leave a comment and let me know which one you would prefer.

I'll start with a sewing craft since that is probably the most common skill that everyone knows but any thoughts or ideas are welcome.




Leftovers are the bane of the sewing room as well as the kitchen. But the same creativity that inspired cassoulet can save odd lengths of fabric from ragbag ignominy. One idea: Use strips of cloth or lace to trim the opening of a cotton pillowcase. A monogrammed handkerchief from a flea market can be folded diagonally and machine-stitched to a pillowcase, creating a wonderful gift for someone with the right initial.



This information was taken from marthastewart.com.

No Bake Oatmeal

I discovered this wonderful recipe while reading through a nutritional book one day and decided I'd try it. Mom and I really enjoy! We haven't tried it yet on the rest of the family so it might not be that brillant after all but why not give it a try.

So here it is:

This recipe calls for oat groats. This is the grain that you flake to get the oats. I tried the recipe with just regular old fashioned oats and it was fine so either form would work. Also the second time I made this recipe I used Irish steel cut oats which are similar to oat groats but are coarsely chopped. This worked as well so really whatever form you have available would be fine to use.
The Irish steel cut oats did give the oatmeal more of a coarse nutty texture.

Ingredients:
2 cups oat groats or regular oats (soaked overnight in water and drained)
-you can change the amount of oats to whatever quantity you use for your family
dash of water
dash of salt
approx. 1/2 tsp vanilla
approx. 2 TB maple syrup

Mix all the ingredients into a blender/food processor and blend together on high until everything is well mixed and the oats reach desired texture.

These ingredients are extra things that you could add in in whatever amounts you like.

flax seeds
coconut butter
frozen bananas
dates
blueberries
cinnamon
nutmeg
carob or cocoa powder (I haven't tried this yet :))

Top with fresh fruit and sprinkle with cinnamon or whatever toppings you prefer.

~Our Etsy Shop~

We have created an etsy shop to sell some of our items. Please check it out and let us know what you think!