Homemade Granola recipe

 

     My sister asked for this recipe the other day and I realized I never posted it.  It's really good and certainly better for you than store bought granola bars made with high fructose corn syrup.  I got the recipe from a sister-in-law, so I really don't know where it might have been published.  When I make it I skip the second baking and just add the raisins.

 

 

3 cups oats (whole or quick)

1/2 cup sliced almonds

1 cup coconut

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup butter

1/3 cup honey

1/4 tsp. salt

 

Toast oats, almonds, and cocunut in a thin layer at 350 for 12 min, or until coconut is slightly brown.

 

Melt brown sugar, butter, honey, and salt in saucepan.

 

Reduce heat to 300.  Coat oat mixture with honey mixture.  Bake for another 15 minutes on cookie sheet.

 

After baking you can add 1 cup craisins or raisins if you like.

 

Variation: Use 1/4 cup brown sugar and 1/3 cup maple syrup in place of brown sugar and honey.

 



Kefir

If you haven't ever tried kefir you really should.  It is so good for you, inexpensive, and easy to make.  Kefir is full of probiotics, which are great for your health.  My family has it for breakfast every other morning.  It is a nice filling and tasty drink.  When you research it online it's impressive the benefits that many people claim they've had drinking it.  This shouldn't be too surprising since many physical problems can be connected to our diets, and probiotics help to keep our digestive system cleaner.  I noticed since we've been drinking it my kids don't get the stomach flu as often, and when they do they don't usually get as sick as they used to.  Many people who are lactose intolerent like to drink it because the kefir grains pre-digest everything making it easier on the digestive system.  It is important to know that many people when they first start drinking it have a little diarrhea or sometimes upset stomaches.  Everyone I've known who has had these problems find it usually lasts no more than a week and then they begin to see some of the positive effects of probiotics. 
In order to make kefir you must have kefir grains.  These are seen in the picture in the jar of water.  In water these grains (or live and active cultures) are dormant.  This is how I store the extra grains that are produced in the process of making kefir.  I store them so that I can have them on hand to give away to friends or family who are interested in trying them.  You can buy some grains online that have usually been frozen. When you start with previously frozen grains, you might often find that the first few times making it, the kefir doesn't ferment as fast or as well.  To make the kefir you put the grains in your milk and leave on the counter for 24-48 hours.  It's important to use a container that isn't metal or that has no metal that will touch the kefir or the grains.  The metal interferes with the process.  I use a half gallon mason jar.  For my half gallon mason jar I use about 3 Tbsp of kefir grains.  They should grow and produce more as you use them.  If you order kefir grains online you will usually only recieve enough for 1-2 cups of milk.  If you need more than you can make it until you've produced enough grains for the amount you need to make.  After it's sat on the counter it should become kind of thick like yogurt and smell like yeast.  In order to be able to continue to make some you need to drain your kefir through a plastic colander so you can preserve your grains for more use.  When I fix my kefir I put my half gallon of kefir in my blender and add a couple of handfuls of frozen fruit, a little vanilla, and some type of sweetner.  My kids love it and drink it up really well, they usually like it with a little toast.  It's a great way to start the day.

Helpful home remedies

Here's just a few good helpful things to know that could save you from a visit to the doctor's. I did this as a handout at a recent church activity, but there are are so many other things that I could share, and might in coming weeks.  I've been studying some things and been impressed with some of the things that you can do, to care for yourself.  This kind of information might be far more valuable as there appear to be many studies showing that healthcare costs will rise even more in upcoming years.

HOME REMEDIES

Bee stings—After removing stinger fresh onion juice is great to relieve the pain, cut a piece of onion and rub onto sting. Or you can mix a little baking soda and water and rub on sting, this relieves the pain and cleans out any poison quickly as well.

Bed Wetting—If a child has a constant problem of wetting it could be an indication that the child has a toxic build up in the kidneys or bladder.  A good way to cleanse the kidneys and also strengthen the body is barley water.  To make barley water you use ¾ cup barley and 6 cups water, boil on the stove for up to 20 minutes.  Drain and discard barley grains, then add the juice from two lemons and sweeten with a little sugar.  Barley water is also good for clearing urinary tract infections. 

Cough—Make a homemade cough syrup with honey and onion.  Chop up onions and place in pan, cover with honey and cook on low (130 degrees or less) until onions are clear.  

Diarrhea--  Raspberry leaf herbal tea is a good thing to keep on hand and can be very effective in treating diarrhea.  Peach leaf tea and sunflower leaf tea work, although the sunflower leaf is very potent and should only be used in small amounts.

                Common household spices that are good for diarrhea are cayenne, cinnamon, cloves, rosemary sage, thyme, and nutmeg.

Earache – Lightly bake a large onion, cut in half and place half on each ear holding them in place with a hat.  And leave on overnight.

               You can use colloidal silver, which is somewhat costly yet much cheaper than a doctors visit.  You should only need 1 drop in the ear.   My son had complained about an earache a few months ago, and I put in only 1 drop and his ear drained a puss like mucous for five days.  Colloidal silver is extremely effective but shouldn’t be used much because constant regular use can permanently change the skin to a gray blue color.

                Garlic oil in the ear can also help to get rid of ear infections.

                A drop of Basil essential oil on a cotton ball and put in the ear over night will also clear an ear infection

Flu—Be sure and keep a good diet and get plenty of rest, but you can also take a hot bath with ginger in it.  You may need a lot of ginger or you can use a couple of drops of essential oil.

                Oil of Oregano is also taken by many people for colds and flu.  This stuff is pretty strong so put just a few drops in milk or juice, or you can mix it in a little olive oil and rub on the bottom of your feet.

                Cayenne pepper taken the day you begin to feel symptoms can help to stop it before it starts.  If you can’t handle having some mixed in warm water you can but a bottle of the capsules for cheap and just take one with each meal to get over your sickness.

Nausea—Ginger is great for nausea whether from morning sickness or motion sickness. It can be made into an herbal tea, or there hard ginger candies that are good to suck on.  You can also mix a little ginger and baking soda in water and drink it to settle the stomach

                Chew on some hard cloves.  Or have raspberry leaf herbal tea, or peppermint herbal tea.

Urinary Tract Infection-  Often these are caused by an poor pH balance.  A good way to clear one up fast is to mix a teaspoon of baking soda in a cup of water and drink it.  Usually one or two cups of this within a few hours will clear it up completely.

Yeast Infection—A yeast infection can sometimes be cleared by drinking water with baking soda in it like UTI’s .  If that doesn’t work take fresh crushed garlic, if you can’t tolerate eating the raw garlic plain, try taking a garlic supplement.  My daughter had a yeast infection for weeks a couple of years ago.  After going through 3 tubes of prescription cream I finally cut open a garlic tablet and mixed it in a spoonful of yogurt and fed it to her.  We did this a couple of times a day for a few days, and the stubborn yeast infection went away.  I’ve since used garlic more commonly in meals to prevent the occurrence of future yeast infection.

Bean dip

Some years ago my husband kept pestering me to prepare beans more because they are so cheap.  I think initially I was very reluctant because I can't say that I really like beans much, and I was pretty sure I couldn't make them in a way that he liked them much.  After searching recipes and a little experimenting I began making them in a way that he enjoys.  This blog is showing the bean dip that I make, but it also includes the recipe for the beans plain, which can be good in burritos and my kids often like to eat them just plain.
I use dry beans which isn't much more work, but it often requires thought the night before.  I love to make this on days when I have to take my children to doctor's appointments (which are an hour away) or when I need to go to Sam's club (an hour and a half away).  This usually is an all day event for me as a mother of 5 young children going alone with all of them.  So it make's it possible to have a good dinner ready when my husband comes home.  There can be some great advantages to using dry beans, they have a long shelf life and they also are less likely to cause gas.  When I make a pot of beans I do a very large pot and we have a 2-3 meals that week with them.  I probably make them about twice a month.  I've included a picture on the bottom of a jar with all the ingredients except for water, oil, and garlic, I have all the spices in a bag.  To prepare a few jars of this at a time saves me some time since all my spices are in a corner cabinet and I have to take all of them out to get to the ones I need.  With these ready made jars, which aren't sealed, I can just grab a jar rinse the beans and rice and add all the wet ingredients.

For those who don't know how to prepare dry beans, you first need to sort through them and pull out any rocks or lumps of dirt.  Then you rinse them thouroughly.   I put mine in the crockpot and fill with water until the water covers 2 inches over the beans.  This should be done the night before so they can soak.   You can do a "quick soak" method the day you want to eat them, it requires boiling at a higher temperature for about an hour, or if you're doing it in crockpot I think it's cooked on high for a couple of hours.

BEANS AND DIP

This recipe almost fills a 6 qt crock pot, if your crock pot is smaller you’ll want to cut it in half.

3 cups dried pinto beans  

 1 cup rice

1 onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic

1/3 c oil

1Tbsp Paprika

1 Tbsp Salt

2 tsp seasoned salt

1 tsp cumin

1 Tbsp chili powder

    When cooking with dry beans it’s best to let them soak overnight.  Sort through dry beans to clean out any rocks, then rinse beans and put in crock pot.  Fill with water so that the water is about 2 inches above the beans.  You can do a “quick soak” of the beans the day you are wanting to have the meal if you put the beans in the croakpot and cook on high for an hour, then turn to low and add all other ingredients.  These beans are better if they can cook on low with all ingredients for a few hours to get all the flavor.  They are good for homemade burritos or I most often use them for my dip.

   To prepare dip take 4-5 cups of prepared beans and rice, add about ½ cup cream cheese and ½ cup salsa and blend in the blender. 

 

Buttermilk Syrup

 

So here is a great syrup recipe that has been passed around a lot here.  I'm not really sure where it origniated, but like all recipes I've posted at some time someone asked me for it, and I doubt I ever gave it to them.  So here it is for anyone who hasn't gotten their hands on the recipe and would like to.

 

 

*When you add soda the syrup will foam, be sure to make it in a much bigger pan than you think you need.

 

Bring to a boil:

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 cup butter

2 Tbsp light Karo syrup

3/4 c. buttermilk

 

 

Then add:

1 tsp. soda

2 tsp.vanilla