Interesting video. I definitely have a lot of progress to make in this area.
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How about you?
Make Your Own Vanilla Extract
Confession: We’ve been using imitation vanilla. As in Fake. As in, filled with chemicals and nothing good. And it doesn’t even taste good! Why, you may ask? Well, to save money. Vanilla extract is expensive–and that’s in the US, where it’s made. Add import expenses and taxes to that, and, …..you can’t even find it here without really looking. And when you do, you don’t want to buy it because of the exorbitant price.
A while ago, I saw a recipe somewhere for making your own vanilla extract. I thought it sounded interesting, but did nothing about it as I didn’t have the brain space and energy needed to hunt down real vanilla beans.
And then, the other day, I happened to find some.
I bought 3 for 20 shekels, which is about $5. Expensive, yes. But only about as expensive as ONE BOTTLE OF EXTRACT. And then I found that with those SAME 3 vanilla beans, I can make enough extract to last for YEARS!
I got mine brewing the other day and sadly need to wait 8 weeks. But then…..vanilla. In pancakes, desserts, drinks…..I love the flavor. Good stuff.
Here’s the recipe, found at SimplyRecipes.com
How to Make Vanilla Extract
Commercial vanilla extract usually has simple syrup (sugar water) added to the extract to give it a sweet aftertaste. You can do this if you want, but if you are using the vanilla for baking, there really is no need.
Ingredients
- 3 vanilla beans
- 1 cup vodka
- glass jar with tight fitting lid
Method
1 Use kitchen scissors or a sharp paring knife to cut lengthwise down each vanilla bean, splitting them in half, leaving an inch at the end connected.
2 Put vanilla beans in a glass jar or bottle with a tight fitting lid (mason jars work well). Cover completely with the vodka.
3 Give the bottle a good shake every once in a while. Store in a dark, cool place for 2 months or longer.
Lasts for years. You can keep topping it off with vodka once in a while as you use it, just remember to give it a good shake.
Searching on Vanilla for this post, I came across this music video. It’ll bring you back. (I was unable to embed it here. Sorry!)
Menu Plan For The Rest Of JULY!
As I’ve mentioned, I struggle with menu planning. Even though I KNOW it works, it helps, it’s good to do, I just don’t like to do it, which is why it’s so helpful for me to post it because I know I’ll get it done then. As you may (or may not) have noticed, I haven’t been posting them the last few weeks. And, that means, I haven’t been making them. Which means, I sometimes have no idea what I’m going to make for dinner, even half an hour before said dinner -time. I have a goal of making menus one month at a time, and doing some amount of prepping ahead and freezing what I can. Right now, the most I’ve done is make a double batch of some things and freezing the extra, and making some mixes. These are helpful, but not what I have in mind for my freezer cooking goals. Today is Tuesday. I didn’t have my menu planned for the rest of the week yet yesterday (on Monday, my menu planning/posting day). But today I am going grocery shopping, so it had to be done. And then, I did the unthinkable…..I planned the menus for the rest of the month! Using this monthly menu planner from $5 dinners, I filled in the rest. I know it’s only 2 1/2 weeks, but for me it’s a lot. Unfortunately there’s not many things I can prep ahead, but I may be able to figure some out.
So, here’s what’s planned for the next 3 weeks:
M- Baked Potatoes, grilled onion&mushroom toppings, steamed green beans
T- Eggs & toast, OJ
W-Burgers (Father’s Day–we never had it)
Th- Rainbow Salad & (hopefully) Homemade Bread
F- Chicken Pot Pie, Broccoli, Challah, Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Cookies&Almond Milk
S- Granola, Raw Granola, Almond Milk, Pasta Tuna Salad
M- Spinach & Chickpeas with pita
T- Homemade Pizza, Greek Salad
W- Pancake Supper
Th- Homemade Hummus, Couscous Tabouli, pita
F- Crock pot Sweet n Sour Cabbage&Beef soup
S- Couscous Salad
S- Taco Casserole
M- Eggs & Toast, OJ
T- L/O Cabbage Soup
W- Spaghetti, Salad
Th- Cabbage & Potatoes (pan fried)
F- Baked Fish, Macaroni & Cheese, Candied Carrots, Spinach
S-Leftovers????
Summertime Fun: Camp At Home
With five children at home with me all day, every day, all summer long, …..um, I lost my train of thought. I guess that’s because I have FIVE CHILDREN! At HOME! WITH ME! EVERY DAY! And yes, I’m planning to begin homeschooling (more) after this summer, so this is something I need to know how to deal with.
You may be wondering how I’m going to stay sane. You’ll be happy to know that I have a PLAN.
A few years ago I heard from Flylady the great idea to make “camp” at home. Just like when kids go to day camp and they have lots of fun activities around a theme, you can create this at home. And so I did a one-week camp that summer. I called it “Camp Creation” and based it around the seven days of creation. Each day had activities based on what was created on that day during the creation week. It was a big hit.
Last summer, I was very pregnant, and just didn’t have it in me to do a camp. The boys attended a 3 week day camp at the preschool, and after that I did try to use some good scheduling ideas to manage things, though, and wrote about them in
Summertime Kids-How Scheduling Can Stop The Madness!
Children definitely have more fun and behave better when they have some kind of direction to their time and they’re not just on their own with “free” time all day long.
This year, they’re all at home. I decided I needed to plan something. I got great ideas for CampWannaLaffaLotta from LifeAsMom.com
The weekly themes she suggested were just right, so I’m keeping most of them the same. Last week was Week 1, and we were Down On The Farm. This week we’re Under The Sea. We’ll also have a week going on a Jungle Safari, then Camping in the Great Outdoors, and Blasting Into Space.
That’s 5 weeks. I’m not sure yet of the rest; I’m figuring this out as I go along. I haven’t had much time to post my links and activities, but there’s always next year. Right now it’s time to have fun!
And I don’t have a name for my camp, so if you think of one for me, pass it along!
Visit Flylady’s CampGonnaWannaFly page here
What’s your summer-fun plan?
There’s A Party Going On Round Here…
A celebration….to last throughout the year.
OK, my eighties brain is coming out. I hope you are singing along with me to those lyrics. The song everyone knows. Kool & The Gang. But I digress.
How can I digress? I haven’t said anything yet.
So there you go. This is how my brain works.
What I wanted to say, the reason I started with thinking about celebrating is this: I want to teach you a secret. A concept that my friend Dr. Andrea Hazim taught me. It’s a good one that really helps me make better eating decisions.
Are you tempted by your tongue to eat things that you know you shouldn’t? (We all are!) Do you argue with yourself about your level of self discipline (or lack of it) and then get angry at yourself for either depriving your inner princess of the yummy stuff or for giving in to that inner princess of yours? I do! Or, I did. Until I learned this concept:
Celebration Days vs. Regular Days
It’s just as it sounds. On a celebration day, you are free. You are celebrating. Whether it’s an anniversary or a family reunion, a party or a night out, it’s not your average day. So, relax your standards and have fun.
And on the flip side, if it’s not a celebration day, don’t eat cake and ice cream!
You can even decide how many celebration days per month to allow. For me, we allow such things once a week, for a period of 24 hours. Don’t get me wrong. This does NOT mean that for 24 hours we eat nothing but sugar and junk! But it does mean that we might indulge some. And I know that our bodies will have at least 6 days free of things hard on our systems.
What happens when things come up that are not on our normal “free” day? Well, we have to adjust for it. Our family attended a pot-luck picnic on the 4th. For dessert there was an array of sugar filled options. I allowed my children to each have 2 items, (their choice). And when it comes time for our end of the week treat, I’ll keep that in mind when choosing a dessert to make for everyone. Instead of brownies, I’ll make apple crisp. See how it goes?
You can’t listen to this without dancing. Go on, try it!
The contempt shown to parents of large families
I have five children. The oldest is 7; that means that in my 8 years of marriage we’ve been…..busy.
I always wanted a large family. That’s probably because I am an only child, my parents are divorced, my mother is also an only child with divorced parents. With no immediate family to speak of, and a very small extended family on my mother’s side, I was lonley, to say the least. I saw my friends with brothers and sisters and wanted that for myself. Although I couldn’t have it growing up, I decided to create that large family and give that gift to my children.
I always envisioned a large dining table, full of people for dinner. And they were all part of one family; my family. I love that we already have that now. And although they are still very small and needy, they are growing. The hardest years are behind me ( I think. Or hope.) and they are little by little becoming “real” people.
Kim from Life In A Shoe posted the following article from Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, and it was right up my alley. I hope you enjoy it.
“Why are people impressed that Jay Leno owns 20 motorcycles, but disgusted that some religious families choose to have 10 children?
Let’s not finesse the response. We all know why. A world that has lost its innocence has trouble appreciating beings who are innocent. A world that has become selfish has soured to the idea of leading a life of selflessness. A world that has become grossly materialistic is turned off to the idea of more dependents who consume resources. And a world that mistakenly believes that freedom means a lack of responsibility is opposed to the idea of needy creatures who “tie you down.”
Read the rest of this article here.
How do you feel about large families? Do you think there’s something “wrong” with having more than 2 or 3 children? Why do you have the number of children you do? Have you felt pressure from society/family/friends to have fewer children than you really want? Let’s talk.
Love, Love, LOVE Watermelon
Last year at this time, I was quite pregnant. Pregnant and hot. With no air conditioning as is common here, I got desperate. And in my desperation, I discovered my love for watermelon.
I’ve always liked watermelon, I mean, who doesn’t? If you actually know someone who doesn’t like watermelon, I want to know who it is.
When I was little we’d always have watermelon seed spitting contests to see who could spit the farthest. Funny thing, though, I can’t even find a watermelon with REAL seeds anymore. Only the seedless kind around here. Easier to eat, but no contests!
I thought that my watermelon craving was only due to my pregnancy. Apparently, I was wrong. Here it is, watermelon season again, and I JUST CAN’T STOP EATING WATERMELON!
My friend Diane posted this great idea: slice watermelon, cut out with cookie cutters, and freeze on a popsicle stick. I can’t wait to try it!
The good thing is that it’s good for me! Live, fresh fruit. I can’t go wrong. This article tells all about what’s so great nutritionally about it. And if you want to know why it’s actually a Pregnancy Superfood, check out my blog post on it from last year.
Good thing that it’s inexpensive. Unless you buy one of these square ones, sold in Japan, for $100.
Happy Summer!
What’s for Dinner? Day 27 of Babystep Challenge To A Peaceful Home
What’s For Dinner?
Do those words fill you with dread? What about when it’s 5 o’clock and you still have no idea what the answer is as you’re standing in front of the refrigerator just hoping something will assemble itself and jump out at you? Now do you feel stressed out?
At this point, many of us would feel tempted to pick up a phone and order in. Or tell the kids to hop in the car for a “treat”. These choices will cost LOTS more money and give you much less nutrition, and much more chemicals and fat. Which you know you don’t want to do.
3 Reasons to Make a Menu Plan
1. Save Your Brain
I don’t know about you, but my brain is……hibernating. It started with my first pregnancy. You know: Pregnancy Brain. And then it was New Mommy Brain. And then it was Living With Little Children Brain, then more Pregnancy Brain, and so on. So while I used to consider myself an intelligent, thinking person, that person has been sliiiiippppiiing away, and I want to conserve whatever intelligence I have left so that I might be able to write coherent blog posts. In other words, the fewer decisions I must make on a daily basis, the better! It’s much easier to decide in one sitting what we will be having for dinner each night than to have to do it every day. And in doing so, I can plan to actually have the ingredients when I go to make the meal. Who would’ve thunk it?
2. Save Your Money
We’d all like to save money and use it for more important things. When you eat out, you spend MUCH more money than you do when you eat home. When you buy last minute items at the corner convenience store, you also spend much more money than you would for those same items at the supermarket, if you’d known you would want them. And when you buy random things at the grocery store, things spoil because you don’t have a plan to use them. What a waste!
3. Eat More Healthfully
When you make your own food at home, you are (hopefully) not going to fill it with MSG and other poisonous preservatives. You can be sure that convenience foods are toxic to your bodies, and with a little bit of planning, you can avoid these and know you are helping your family to be healthier. And it’s really easy!
So Here’s What You Need To Do.
- Pick an amount of time you’d like to plan. I usually do 1 or 2 weeks at a time, but if you’re new to this and it seems too much, try 3 days.
- Write down a dinner meal for each of the days you are planning for. Dinner is the most important meal to plan, so focus on that meal first. Remember to include side dishes.
- On your shopping list, write down each of the ingredients you’ll need to make your meal. $5dinner.com has some nice printable planning sheets for menus and grocery lists.
- Go shopping and save money because you’re not buying things you don’t need or won’t use.
It really is that simple.
And if you really don’t want to do all of this, you can go to SavingDinner.com and buy their menus, complete with grocery lists. They’re very inexpensive and will still save you lots of time and money.
What’s For Dinner is the theme of Day 27 of the Flylady’s babysteps. I’m so glad I’ve made this a habit because it’s really helped me. I even aspire to plan a whole month at a time and get into more freezer cooking….but I’m not there yet. One step at a time!
I usually post my weekly menu on Mondays. Doing this has helped me be accountable for getting it done. I love linking up to others’ menus; if you post one, let me know!
Do you menu plan? Why or why not? How long? I want to know what works for you.
Swish ‘n Swipe. Day 24 of Babystep Challenge To A Peaceful Home
Day 24 of the Flylady’s babysteps is when we meet the Swish ‘n Swipe, which is a fabulous tool for my bag of tricks in my quest for a peaceful home. Ya want another tool? Check this out.
The “swish” means you take a toilet brush which you keep upright in a container next to your toilet and do a quick once around your toilet bowl. No need to get out the cleaner–just keep some old shampoo or liquid soap in the bottom of the brush holder. It takes about 10 seconds.
The “swipe” means you take a rag of some kind and rub the spots off of the mirror (not “clean the mirror; just the spots!), wipe the counter off (after putting away whatever you’ve left out there), and wipe out the sink. It takes about 10 seconds.
Because I have little boys, I also take another 10 seconds and use a baby wipe to wipe down the toilet seat, top & rim, and base and floor around the toilet. When needed, I’ll spray this area with a bleach spray and wipe with a paper towel.
The whole thing leaves your bathroom nice and fresh (the shampoo makes the whole thing smell good), ready for company, in 30 seconds. It’s simple and part of my morning routine. Yes, that means I do it every day, and don’t wait until it gets stinky. I do my bathroom when I use it first thing in the morning, the boys’ bathroom when I do the laundry (it’s also the laundry room), and the downstairs the first time I use it later on.
If you have any tips for easily keeping your bathroom nice, please share!
Eggplant Torte Recipe
I’m always looking for more recipes that do not include meat and are both easy and inexpensive to make. This is one of them.
Eggplant Torte a la Provencal adapted from The Occasional Vegetarian by Karen Lee
1 large eggplant sliced into 1/2 inch rounds
2 medium potatoes sliced into 3/8 inch rounds
2 medium tomatoes sliced into 3/8 inch rounds
1 medium red onion sliced into 3/8 inch rounds
1 medium zucchini sliced into 3/8 inch rounds
3/4 cup torn fresh basil leaves
1/3 cup olive oil
1 garlic clove, chopped
1/3 tsp dried thyme
- For seasoned oil, combine oil, garlic, and thyme, salt and pepper to taste.
- Brush eggplant with oil & broil for 2-3 minutes until brown. Remove from oven.
- Toss other vegetables to coat (but keep them in separate sections in your bowl or separate bowls.
- Layer vegetables in an oiled baking dish, tucking basil leaves between layers.
- Repeat until all have been used up.
- Pour any remaining oil over pan
- Bake uncovered for 1 hour at 350F
Serve hot or at room temperature. This torte can be refrigerated for 1 day. Reheat before serving.