Soap Berries

A few months ago the family went out to Heritage Prairie Farms and among other things at the farm we found a great product by Naturally Green. It was none other than natural laundry detergent and fabric softener in the form of soap berries. We tried a small pouch of the product and really enjoyed the outcome. Our laundry didn't smell like laundry, it smelled like fabric, if that makes any sense. There was no odor or scent and everything was soft and clean. This included our STINKY load of clothes from the gym!

As we've done with all of our other transition items in the house we used up the last of our Tide and Downey. I don't care for wasting what we've already purchased, so when we change items we always use up the last of the old. When I ordered our soap berries I went for the BIG bag of 350 washes.

Soap berries are a fruit that comes from the Himalayan region of Southeast Asia. They are dried when you receive them and ready for use. In my 350 washed pack I received the berries and 3 small wash bags. The small wash bags hold the berries for washing. You place about 4 whole berries, or 8 halves, into the the small bag and tie and toss into the washing machine. We use cold water for all washing, except towels, so our berries will last about 7 washes. In between washes you pull the berries out of the small bag and allow them to dry. The berries do not go into the dryer. 

We have always used Tide laundry detergent because it's the only thing that doesn't irritate Kevin's skin. So on average we pay about $15 - $17 for a large container that cleans 96 loads, $12 (120 loads) for Downey liquid softener and $12 (240 loads) for Bounce fabric sheets. Our total per load of laundry is about $0.30. We have a HE front loading machine. 

The cost of the soap berries 350 load bag, shipping included, is about $38 and comes out to $0.10 per load. This is a $.20 per load savings. I don't know about you but thats a good savings for us! On top of that it helps the environment and is a chemical free option. I realize there were shipped or flown here and it hurts that it's not local. I'm always on the search for new options to remove chemicals from our house and this is one that presented itself that we are very happy with. 

In the process of reading through the Naturally Green site I came across a video they shared from For Greenies. Their site is currently down so I can't fully check it out. But there appear to be a few other uses for soap berries. One being that you can use them in soap dispensers for hand wash. I'll be looking for that tutorial as soon as the site comes back on line. 

These are the cute little berries out of the package :) Here's to happy chemical free washing ahead!

Enjoy!

Yvonne

subURBAN homestead class

 

Once upon a time there was a little boy who didn't like salad. He would eat it with begrudgingly and only with ranch dressing on it. One night he went to a subURBAN homestead class at his mom's CrossFit gym and he watched Amy make a funny looking salad. The salad had some of Charlie's favorite things in it like apples, walnuts and paleo granola. The little boy ate the salad and went back for seconds. He then talked to his mom all the way home about the fun salads they could make on their own. 

Yes a funny little story above but so very true. As part of the 8 Week Paleo Challenge at our gym it was arranged for Amy with subURBAN homestead to come and talk to us about different herbs and what we can grow and how to use them. subURBAN homestead offers classes and lectures on "healthful subjects". Whether its a farm tour, organic growing techniques or a cooking class there are plenty of options to choose from. With wanting to grow more of our food / herbs I'll be checking out some of the upcoming classes. I'll also be reading up more on herbs!

Now for the awesome salad that Amy made the night of our class, if I remember it correctly. She used mixed green, delicata squash sautéed in bacon grease, some fresh herbs from her garden, fresh diced apples, and Paleo Granola from CJK Foods.   

 For the dressing she used a mixture of 2/3rd olive oil and 1/3rd of this great orange vinegar from Trader Joe's. I now have this Orange Muscat Champagne Vinegar in my cupboard! Yum! The bonus is Charlie honestly liked the entire salad and the dressing. So he'll have another option besides ranch. 

Thanks again to Craig for arranging to have Amy visit our gym. Eating real food is a constant learning experience. It's not just boring chicken breast and a salad. There are so many flavors to marry, techniques to try, and foods to experience. So get out of your boring box! I encourage all of us to learn more and act on what we learn. It's for our health and to make fuel fun and yummy! 

Enjoy!

Yvonne

Southwestern Patties

Ok so I've become obsessed with roots / turnips. I found a new one at the store recently called Parsley Root. The leaves are parsley and you eat the root part. So a double use that's a win win. They are dirty looking white roots in the veggie section. Don't let that sway you to not pick them up. They don't tastes like parsley, which was my concern. 

When I got them home I treated them like any other 'potato' type root such as parsnips. I put them in fauxtato salad along with parsnips and didn't taste any difference. So I purchased them again this last week and found a wonderful new use for them.....Southwestern Patties! If you don't have Parsley root we also made a second round and used rutabaga in it's place and it worked just as well. So you have some options and no reason not to make these!

6 cups shredded parsley root or rutabaga

8 eggs

2 tablespoon taco seasoning (The recipe I use is from Whole New Mom.com)

1/2 cup green onions

1/4 diced poblano pepper

Coconut oil or ghee for cooking

Mix all ingredients in a bowl. 

Preheat pan and add either coconut oil or ghee to the pan and melt.

Add a large spoon full (1/4 - 1/2 cup in size) to your pan then flatten into a round patty. 

Cook on the first side for 4 min on a medium heat. When first side is cooked then flip and cook for 4 minutes on the 2nd side. 

Top with SOOO many wonderful options and enjoy! We went to town with a few different options. 

 A patty topped with burger and all the toppings of your choice.

 Patty topped with sausage patty, egg, sweet potatoes, tomatoes and olives.

 Patty topped with coleslaw, alaskan pink salmon (fresh from the source! thanks dad!), tomatoes, avocado and hot paleo mayo.

The first meal of the above that I made was with a burger. I shoved the patty into the bottom of the boys lunch thermos and cubed up their hamburger. They were raving about it after school. 

Enjoy this awesome patty! Share with me on Facebook how you use it! I love seeing food photos :)

Thanks!

y

It's Chili Time

As much as my family cooked growing up you would think that I would have been some awesome cook when I moved out....NOT! When I left for college I knew how to bake, as that was my job growing up. Past that I made spaghetti from the box and mac n' cheese. When Kevin and I got married I started to cook a little but it was mostly Rice-A-Roni to go with chicken that he cooked. Clearly times have changed.

Some where along the way I started making chili. For 15 plus years I've winged it. I knew what ingredients to pick up and what fresh ingredients went with it. I never had an actual recipe for it. That is until last fall when a friend asked for it. I figured it was time to write it down. 

• 2 medium onion, diced
• 2 lbs ground meat, browned
• 5 tomatoes, diced
• 2 28oz. cans TJ Marinara Sauce 
• 2 green bell pepper, diced
• Salt and pepper to taste 
• Amanda's Chili Seasoning doubled if you like a stronger chili flavor, like me :)

1. Dice up tomatoes, onion and green peppers. Add to large pot with marinara sauce and heat through. 

2. In a separate skillet brown your meat then add a single or double batch of Amanda's Chili Seasoning. Mix seasoning thoroughly into meat.  

3.   When meat is done add to the pot and continue to heat through on low for about 20-30 minutes. Add salt and pepper as needed to taste. Turn chili off and let sit covered on stove for a few hours or serve right away. We love it best after it sits over night. 

I enjoy serving my chili with a dab of paleo mayo on top and some crunchy fresh cabbage. It is a great substitute for sour cream. Plantain chips are also a favorite for the kids to add in place of cabbage.

This chili also freezers perfectly so you can save it away for another chili day. 

Enjoy!

Yvonne

Prep Day Game Plan

For those of you that have sat with me through a prep class you know this is what my weekly menu looks like, except this is neater. I use the back of Charlie's school work sheets and sort it into three sections and write breakfast, lunch, and dinner across the top. 

I've typed in this weeks menu for you so you can see the thought process that goes into meal prep. Please remember in advance that i'm almost 1 1/2 years into this. You need to find what works for ou. I've found that by making a full menu for the week, to include each meal, it enables us to be prepared and not buy too much at the store.

Please also keep in mind that for those of you on Whole30 not all the above meals will / could apply to you. I have 2 boys in the house that eat paleo but not Whole30 (I think they'd move out on me! lol). Most of the breakfast options are for them. Kevin usually has eggs, meat and veggies. I'll eat whatever I find in the fridge. If nothing else then I eat eggs, meat and veggies also. The majority of the lunches this week are the boys as well. The leftovers usually apply to Kevin and I, which you'll see the 'leftover lunch' menu. Dinners apply to everyone.

You'll notice a block in the lower right labeled 'Next Week' and this is literally for next week. Often times as I'm asking for everyones wish list for eating, or I'm browsing through cookbooks / Pinterest I find items that we haven't had in a while or just want again. Those I list on the menu so I don't forget about them next week. 

On the lower left you'll see 'Extra Prep Items'. These are just that, other things that need to be made also , for one reason or another. This week we are having chicken salad and coleslaw and both require paleo mayo, so that's on the list. The boys are also having muffins to go in lunches or after school snack. There are several season mixes that are needed also for different meals as well. I usually keep taco seasoning made but we are running low. I'm slowly adding to my premixed seasonings as our cookbook grows. The newest one is sausage seasoning. We are now purchasing just ground pork and making sausage from scratch. The taste is much better and I control what goes in it. 

The notes in red tell me what can be done in advance for each meal. Today was my prep day and I completed the meatballs, shredding cabbage, making taco meat, made fauxtato salad (not on the list but was a whim at the store), shredded rutabaga, made chili, pre-made the spice mixes, made mayo. We have meals ready now for Sunday through Wednesday of this week. Depending on how it goes (how hungry everyone is) we will make the pulled pork on Wednesday or Thursday. Overall a good day and a good start to the day. 

Tomorrow, since there is a group coming over from the gym for a prep class I held off on making chicken salad until then as it's on their list also. Kevin will grill up all our chicken at the same time. It's all about efficiency. Cook ONCE and eat multiple times :)

Please keep in mind that prep does not mean you have to set aside an entire afternoon to cook until the fridge is full. Although this is my favorite plan of attack it doesn't always work. There are weekends that prep just doesn't happen. However I still create a menu and a plan. It will require is to do a little prep each night in order to prepare for the following day. So perhaps after we come home from the gym and eat (because our meal was ready) then we clean up the dishes and spend 30 minute on a meal for the next day. It can be as little as putting some meat in the oven to cook while we shower. 

Take a look at your schedule and see what will work for you. It may take a bit to get into a routine that works for you. 

I hope this gives you some idea on how to attack your week!

Enjoy,

Yvonne

Egg Free Breakfast and Post WOD Snacks

I was asked recently for some egg free breakfast options. Below are ones that we've made and enjoy. There are a few at the end that I've not made but will be doing so soon.

One of the things I came to terms with early on in paleo is that breakfast is no longer breakfast like we are raised to think about it. Breakfast is the first meal of the day, the first opportunity to fuel your day properly. It doesn't have to be traditional breakfast foods. One of my all time favorite breakfasts is taco salad. Getting past the notions of what breakfast should be vs what it can be makes paleo much easier. It's not always for everyone but give it a try. Pull out some of yesterdays left overs and re heat them, you might be surprised.

Rethink your breakfast ideas.


Breakfast Bacon Maple Meatballs (Post WOD)
This is by PaleOmg. I omit the maple syrup for Whole30 as well as the bacon unless you have a sugar free paleo bacon. They are wonderful for post WOD, snacks, and meals. Make these during prep and you'll have a few days of snacks / meals. These go great with some sautéed spinach for breakfast or a green smoothie (spinach, banana, frozen berries and coconut milk all blended).

Brussel Sprouts & Sausage
For Whole30 leave the bacon out if it has sugar. Also be careful of the sausage that you use if you are doing Whole30. This is a great breakfast as well as for any other meal. It reheats nicely so can be prepped ahead of time.

Rutabaga Bacon Breakfast Hash (Post WOD)
Again for Whole30 remove the bacon. If you don't like eggs or can't tolerate then remove those as well. What you have left still works very good together for a breakfast. You can substitute the bacon grease for ghee.

Apple Butternut Squash Hash
I'm sounded redundant but remove the bacon like above. If you like eggs then you can add to this one.

Sausage and Egg Sandwich (Post WOD)
For this filling sandwich remove the egg and just have the patties and sausage. The patties also work on their own for breakfast. However the patties are made with eggs, so if you can't tolerate then this one won't work for you.

Winter Breakfast Bowl
I've not made this one like all of the others. However after reviewing the ingredients there shouldn't be any reason why this why this one doesn't taste great. I'll be adding this to our 'to make' list.

Bananas and Cream Paleo Oatmeal
This is another one I've not made but will be soon. We've made another banana oatmeal that was wonderful. Again all the ingredients are good so it should be yummy!

Create your own breakfast skillet
This link gives you some great ideas on different things to put together in your own egg free skillet. Pick and choose to create your own.

More Post WOD options:

Sweet Potato Latkes
You can pre make these and add meatballs or another meat of your choice.

Sweet Potato Hash
This is one of the first paleo meals we made and is still a favorite. Make a batch of this and your are good for the week!

Jicama & Meatballs

Baked parsnip cubes and meat of your choice

One last thing to wrap up this post. I found this listing of starchy paleo carbs to help you out when selecting what to make for your post WOD snacks. You'll want a starchy card and protein. The options are endless!

Enjoy!
Yvonne

Warm Breakfast

Back in the olden days (a year and a half ago) my kids loved their oatmeal, especially on cold days. Since oats were gone from our diet they've made do with Paleo cereals, which they love. However that warm creamy oatmeal for really cold days has been missing, until this!

This past winter while I was searching for new meals I came across this great recipe from Paleo Spirit. I was delighted to see that one of the ingredients was Flax Meal. I first stocked this item for this recipe and we've used several times since then. I like adding new ingredients to the pantry. We've gotten to the point with our pantry that even the odd ingredients are stocked in there. I like when I look at a new recipe and have all the seasonings or dry ingredients (saves on the grocery bill). 

This took maybe 10 minutes to put together!

Paleo Breakfast Porridge

by Paleo Spirit

You can find the recipe here.

Ingredients

▪                2 ripe bananas (or one large, very ripe, plantain), mashed

▪                2 cups coconut milk (or 1 can plus extra water)

▪                3/4 cup almond meal

▪                1/4 cup flax meal

▪                1 teaspoon cinnamon

▪                1/2 teaspoon ginger

▪                1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

▪                1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

▪                1/8 teaspoon celtic sea salt

▪                maple syrup or raw honey (optional)

▪                toppings like berries, unsweetened coconut flakes, nuts, seeds, etc… (optional)

I put all the ingredients into a pot and heated over a medium fire. I did leave out the maple syrup / raw honey and it tasted very good. With the dish heated through I served to the boys plain. I put a few almond slices on mine and it was very good. I’m going to re make this again this next week and remember to pick up some blueberries to top it with.

So the next cold morning you are craving something warm give this recipe a try!

Enjoy!

Yvonne