Bug Spray

It is that time of year again where little pests come out.  Yesterday my kiddos and I were starting our study on insects and it talks about that even though they feel like pest to us, God made each one for a reason!  Has anyone ever figured out why the mosquito and tick?  If you have let me know! 

I hate ticks more and more each year!  We live in an area where the tick population is very high and this year has been very bad! And now the mosquitos are starting to come buzzing around too!  

Finally, a few weeks late, I have gotten my bug spray made!  I have been slowly trying to get away from bug spray at the store, for as everyone else is slowly learning it can cause cancer and be very harmful to you.  Don't know why I waited this long, was so easy to do!  And this is suppose to help with ticks too!

You will need witch hazel, and three essential oils; lemongrass, eucalyptus, & peppermint, along with a clean empty spray bottle.

Now I have heard you should not leave essential oils in plastic very long, so what I did is made a big batch in a mason jar and just pour what I will need for a day or so in a little spray bottle. 

So for a small recipe you take 2oz of witch hazel, and 10 drops EACH of lemongrass, eucalyptus, and peppermint. 

That is it, spray it on as needed.  You might have to put it on every couple of hours.  And make sure to have the kids cover their eyes when spraying around the face or maybe just spray into your hand and rub on their faces.  If you have had anything that you have used that works please share! I know they are pests, but God did make them and He also has blessed us with the gift of essential oils to hopefully protects us from those little bugs!

BBQ Sauce

Are you looking for an easy BBQ sauce recipe?  Well here is one for you to try and my family really enjoys it.  Not too spicy for the kids but still has a little kick to it. 

1 c ketchup (I use simple Heinz-no corn syrup)

1 c tomato sauce

2/3 c brown sugar
2/3 c apple cider vinegar
1/4 c molasses
1 TBS butter

1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp garlic granules
1/4 tsp onion granules
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (or to taste-we use less-1/8)
1/4 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp cinnamon powder

Whisk together the first six ingredients in a sauce pan over medium-high heat. Then add remaining spices and stir.  Simmer on low heat for 45 minutes.  Give a stir every once and a while.  Enjoy that wonderful smell that fills your kitchen.  Your hubby will love it when he walks in from work for guys love that BBQ smell!  Makes about 3 cups. 

Here is a side note: a lot of BBQ sauce recipes call for Liquid Smoke that is what gives you that smoky flavor, I have never used it in this recipe.  Liquid smoke is full of MSG, so I avoid  it!

I have read that if you want to can your BBQ sauce, leave out the butter.  In water bath, process pints or half pints for 20 minutes.  I have never tried this, for I don't mind making a fresh batch or double batch when I need to. 

You can use this for chicken, pork chops, pulled pork sandwiches, BBQ sandwiches, BBQ chicken pizza or whatever else your little heart desires.

Vanilla Extract

Here is something I use everyday in my kitchen, Vanilla Extract.  I use a lot of it and when something calls for a teaspoon, I don't really measure, I just dump and most of the time it is more then what is called for! 

Well some of you might think "when I need vanilla extract, I'll just go to the store and pick some up".  The first thing that got me to want to try to make my own is the cost.  Those little bottles at the store are not cheap and they don't last me a long time.  Second reason is that the ingredients list is smaller in homemade then the store bought.  If you really want to check out a good post about why not to buy the stuff at the store, I like this one: labels and mccormick pure vanilla. 

Did you read the part (or if you didn't check that website out) that is has corn syrup in it?  Here is another link that show five dangers of corn syrup: five dangers of corn syrup

Here are what the five where: 1. Significant Risk of Weight Gain and Obesity, 2. Increased Risk of Developing Type-2 Diabetes, 3. Hypertension and Elevated "Bad" Cholesterol Level, 4. High Frutose Corn Syrup and Liver Damage, 5. Mercury Exposure from HFCS

I will warn you at first if you are use to vanilla extract that has corn syrup in it, homemade will taste very different for it is not sweet for there is no sweetener in it and remember they put that in it to bring out the flavor.  Now with that being said, I told you how I love the vanilla flavor in things but I can tell in cookies or whatever it might be where there is the "fake vanilla extract"  and I don't like it, it is fake tasting to me and way to sweet. 

Okay so now that I went over the reason why I don't buy store stuff, I will now tell you the simple thing I do for my vanilla extract. 

First I go the the liquor store  and get a big bottle of rum. (I am not a hard liquor fan, so I feel very funny buying a big bottle- if they only knew what I was using it for right?!?!)  I like rum but you can use vodka, or bourbon.  I have tried vodka but I can't stand the taste of vodka at all, and I have not tried bourbon.  I do a liter at a time, but you can do smaller or larger amounts at a time, just depends how much you go through. 

You also need to buy some vanilla beans. They have the best price I have found.  Nice thing is there is no shipping fee for the vanilla beans.  I use about

20 or so vanilla beans for one liter of rum. 

Once you have your rum, vodka or bourbon and your vanilla beans, you will then take your vanilla beans and slice them open down the middle for that is where all the flavor is.  I use my bottle (I make sure I buy glass) that my rum comes in, so to do that I just dump just a little out, you can in a glass so that way if you

dump to much you can always top it off later.  Then I stick my cut vanilla beans in the bottle so they are cover in the rum, top the bottle off with the rum I poured out, put the cap back on, mark the date I either made it or when it will be done by, or both, and let it sit in a dark place for 6 months.  Every once and a while give it a little shake .

That is it.  I have used my vanilla  earlier then 6 months before (like when my three year old dump a half of bottle of my vanilla on the table, boy, did my kitchen smelled good)  not always as strong vanilla flavor but it still works if you need too.  Also this last batch I made, I am trying to reuse my vanilla beans one more time, I place three fresh ones in and filled my bottle up.  I let you know how it goes!

I know you can strain it once it is ready, I have never done that for I don't mind the little speaks of vanilla bean in my stuff, I only really see it in frosting or whipping cream and its not bad.  I bought some amber bottles off of amazon or you can off of Mountain Rose Herbs to store you homemade vanilla in.  This is a great gift idea for birthdays, wedding showers or Christmas!

If you think you don't want to try this or want to try something else first that does not have corn syrup in it I do highly recommend Cooks.  This is the brand I used before I made my own, plus they have other extracts to try too. 

Have fun and give it a try. 

Seasoning Salt-Ditch Lawry's



When you think seasoning salt, most think Lawry's!  Some say this is the only thing they use for lots when they need seasoning salt and that any other brand does not taste the same.  I grew up on Lawry's and used it in my own kitchen for years, until I found a homemade recipe for my very own Seasoning Salt. 

Ingredients: SALT, SUGAR, SPICES (INCLUDING PAPRIKA AND TURMERIC), ONION, CORNSTARCH, GARLIC, TRICALCIUM PHOSPHATE, (prevents caking), NATURAL FLAVOR, PAPRIKA OLEORESIN (for coloring) Contains NO MSG

You might be thinking, "Why worry, it contains no MSG?"  Well here is the deal.  The Lawry's factory where this bottle was made, they probably didn't add any MSG to it, but the company that they bought their ingredients from, like the "Spices" which included BUT NOT LIMITED TO paprika, and turmeric (so you don't know what else in that right there), could have easily added MSG to it and the Lawry's bottle does not have to label what ingredients are the other ingredients, like Spices. 

The other one I am going to hit on is the Natural Flavor.  You need to check this video out that was on "60 Minutes".  I was trying not to buy things that had Natural Flavors in it before, but WOW, really going to double check anything I do buy that I am not making myself!  Check it out for your self: 

Natural Flavor Video

Okay so did you get the one part that strawberry flavoring is for the anal glands of a beaver?  MMMM how about some strawberry ice cream topping!

Here is the recipe I use for when I need Seasoning Salt and to me it is MUCH BETTER than Lawry's! 

4 TBS fine sea salt

2 tsp Paprika

1/2 tsp Turmeric

1/2 tsp onion granules

1/2 tsp garlic granules

1/2 tsp celery seed

1/2 tsp ground cumin

Mix all the spices together and I store my in a mason jar-but any air tight container works

Makes about 1/3 cup (I will at least double my recipe at a time)

I use mine for a lot of things, grilling-steaks, chicken, pork chops etc, my potatoes, harsh browns, etc.

Ditch the plastic bottle junk and make some of your own!  If you want good quality herbs and spices go to either:

 Mountain Rose Herbs or Frontier Coop.  Otherwise check out your local health food stores, for they will sell buy the weight and if you don't need that much or want to try a recipe out that is your best bet. 

Your reflection

Something that God has been showing ME for myself!   Or what about when you are home all day with your children, what do they see that others don't?

Hash browns

Here is something that is very simple to do!  Make your own hash browns.  Really there is no recipe to this, just a few simple steps

1. Wash your potatoes

2. Poke holes in them with a fork

3. Bake your potatoes at 375 to 400 degrees for about 45 to 1 hour (depends on the size of your potatoes)
           Bake them until they are cooked but still hard, not cooked as much as you would for a baked potato

4. Let them cool completely, the longer you let cool the easier to grade

5. peel your potato, if you like the peeling leave it on

6. Take a cheese grader and grade your potatoes

7. You can make into hash browns or lay them on parchment paper and cookie sheet and freeze for a while. 

8.  Put them in a zip lock bag and freeze ( you can skip the cookie sheet step but it might help not having them freeze all together.  If you do just put them in one bag, have, put only the amount that you will use all at once)

9. Make them into hash browns and enjoy. Put lots of butter/coconut oil/palm oil to get them nice and brown.  Also make sure you salt them a lot, for I think potatoes need lots of seasoning. Sea salt, pepper and seasoning salt (no msg) is great! And the trick is not to flip them all the time but to leave them until golden brown at the bottom then flip. 

10.  You can add cheese, and before you put your potatoes in you can add onion/garlic/peppers to your pan for more great flavors.

You can use this as hash browns, cheese baked harsh browns, or throw them in an egg dish. 
They are so good and yes I can tell a difference from the frozen ones at the store! 

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18