A Vitamix found itself delivered to my front porch. I don't really know how or why, but it did. My loving husband (my sweet, kind, wonderful husband) ordered it without really telling me so it was a big surprise. Our stick blender died and our food processor was on it's last leg. Instead of buying another $100 blender or food processor that is just going to die on us in a couple years he went ahead and invested in a Vitamix.
I saw the UPS truck pull up and I assumed my husband had ordered something from Amazon as he is fond of doing. But as the UPS driver emerged from his truck I saw that he was holding a large cardboard box with big bold letters spelling out "Vitamix". What a surprise! Initially I scoffed at the idea of spending so much on one kitchen appliance but I really do love it. I have been experimenting with it as much as possible. I've been making homemade almond milk, smoothies, pureed soups and sauces. I still have more I want to try, like peanut butter, hummus, and dairy free Nutella.
I have collected 5 of my favorite smoothie recipes plus a bonuse vegetable juice. I love that I can make vegetable juice without a juicer in my Vitamix.
Whole Fruit Smoothie - Orange, banana, blueberries and spinach
Mango and Coconut Smoothie - Mango, coconut cream, and coconut milk with a hint of lime
Summer time is right around the corner and if you are looking for a new favorite recipe to take to cookouts and backyard parties, this just might be the thing you are looking for. Everyone loves baked beans and these beans are so delicious and easy to put together. Large meaty butter beans, bacon and kielbasa in a rich homemade sauce. A great change from your usual baked beans made from small navy or great northern beans.
This recipe came from my grandmother's friend Edith. I knew her when I was a small girl but my family has been enjoying this recipe since before I was born. Try this recipe for a potluck or just with your family. I know you will enjoy it :)
Ingredients:
3 (14 oz) cans butter beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 pound bacon, sliced, fried and drained
1 large onion, large dice
1 green bell pepper, large dice
1 jalapeno seeded and finely diced
1 (14 oz) can stewed tomatoes
3/4 cup ketchup
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 lb keilbasa sliced into 1/4 inch rounds
Today is the day. The Flats and Handwashing Challenge starts today.
I really wanted to do this challenge last year but life was very overwhelming at the time. I was a new mom with a 6 month old and although I was 6 months post partum I was still struggling to recover physically. The idea of flats seems impossible.
The whole idea of cloth diapers seemed impossible when I first started learning about them. When you are pregnant or preparing for a baby there are several topics that can overwhelm you but cloth diapers is one of the biggest. Seriously, I was more worried about cloth diapers than I was about breastfeeding (and both ended up working out well for us, thank God!) I had read so much and watched so many videos about cloth diapers and I never felt like I was making any headway, I still felt so confused and had no idea where to start. I watched one video which broke everything down in the simplest terms. I am grateful for that video because it really helped things start to fall into place in terms of understanding how to use cloth diapers but there was one single comment on that video that put me off flat diapers. In the video the person was telling about all of the different types of cloth diapers. Prefolds, pockets, all in ones and......flats, but nobody uses those. I remember that off hand comment all the time as I am folding my flats, or whenever I tell someone I use flats and they tell me they use them (and love them) too. Lots of people use flats and those who use them love them!
Now one year later, with one year more of mommy experience (but still feeling lost and overwhelmed a lot of the time) I am taking on this challenge. I already use flats. They are my primary diaper. My Little One grew so fast and furious in the beginning that I had to size up her prefolds 3 times in the first 6 months. I went online to buy toddler size (TODDLER SIZE!!) prefolds when I decided to give flats a try. I ordered a couple and started using them. I was able to get a perfect fit around her chunky thighs and I fell in love :)
I guess I am sort of cheating on this challenge. I am all gung-ho and feeling confident but would I be if this was my first attempt at using flats? I already use flats and I already hang to dry so the only challenging part of the challenge is the handwashing (which I admit, is a big part).
So what a difference a year makes. Flats no longer seem so daunting, they seem like the easy part.
I think the challenge was meant to target people who never used cloth before, or had limited incomes. Showing how accessible cloth diapers for someone with no experience and/or no budget for fancy fluff is an important message but when I was first starting with flats I ate up all the information about using flat diapers that was now available because of this challenge. If not for this challenge I am afraid that the only information out there would be similar to the "nobody uses flats" message
I had heard. I am grateful to the people who took this challenge before me, and who documented it. I am taking the challenge this year because I want to add my perspective to the collection of other people who have documented their experience with the challenge. I want there to be so much information out there that the "nobody uses flats" message is not as powerful to anyone else as it was for me.
Starting next Monday I will be participating in the Flats and Handwashing Challenge. I will be documenting all throughout the week. So be sure to stop by and hear me talk about poop and pee! lol!
The first time I made homemade mayonnaise it turned out perfectly; soft and velvety, creamy and smooth. The second time I made homemade mayonnaise it turned out perfect as well. The third time I made it.... disaster! The emulsion broke. The egg and oil separated into a runny and soupy mess. After that I had some success and some failures. It really pained me to waste the ingredients and it pained me more to continue to add additional egg yolks in the hopes of saving the mess to have it still fail. I experimented with all the variables and still only had about a 40% success rate. It was only after I started experimenting with different machines did I get a really consistent mayonnaise. The stand mixer and food processor usually gave me soupy mayo and my immersion blender most often gave me thick creamy mayo. I was just getting the hang of making mayonnaise when my stick blender burned up. I thought I was going to have to revert to buying the jarred mayo again but I was able to get my smaller hand mixer to work. I would never guess that my cheap $20 hand mixer would work better than my large powerful Kitchen Aid stand mixer, but in this case it does. The secret to perfect mayonnaise every time is to make sure your vessel is not too large. The ingredients do not have enough contact with the beaters or blades to get a proper emulsification. Using a mini food processor, an immersion blender, or a small hand mixer with a small bowl will give you the best result.
Ingredients
1 egg yolk
1 cup oil
1 T dijon mustard (or to taste)
1T lemon juice or white wine vinegar (or to taste)
salt and pepper
This recipe is very popular in Pennsylvania where my family is from. There are slightly different names and slightly different recipes but basically halushka or haluski is a braised cabbage dish with either noodles, pasta or dumplings and sometimes bacon, ham or smoked sausage added. It is sometimes a side dish but most often it's a main dish. It is a common potluck dish.
In my version I use bacon and drippings and homemade dumplings. Most recipes will call for cooked wide egg noodles, kluski noodles or bite size pasta like farfalle (bowties). Instead, I like to make dumplings because they are delicious and because its more likely that I'll have a cup of flour and an egg on hand than a bag of noodles. Either way it is a quick, easy, inexpensive and delicious dinner.
If you want to omit the bacon you can substitute butter for a vegetarian version or use olive oil and an egg-free pasta for a vegan friendly version.
I hope you give this recipe and try and I hope that you love it as much as my family does.
Ingredients:
1 medium cabbage, quartered, cored and sliced into 1/4" ribbons (about 10 cups)
2 cups chopped onions
1 cup matchstick carrots (or 3/4 cup grated carrot)
1/2 pound bacon sliced across in 1/2 inch slices
salt and pepper
Dumplings
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking POWDER
1 egg
2-3 TBSP cool water
