Aromatherapy Candles

Today at Wild Oats I discovered Aroma Naturals Candles. They are fabulous! There was a display for some of their holiday candles (scented with 100% plant aromas). I immediately fell in love with the "Wish" peppermint and vanilla scent. Yum! I also picked up an evergreen votive. I love having natural, seasonal scents in my home, and these candles are a welcome addition. Not only do they smell great, but they are aromatherapy candles, so they have an extra dimension to them. Hmmm, I wonder if I should get the candles called "Tranquility," "Serenity," and "Peace" to light when my little boys are bouncing off the walls?!

What will kids eat?

I read this article yesterday, which details a study done by the University of Minnesota showing that when children were served healthier school lunches, the sales did not decline. I found this to be encouraging and I hope it will be eye-opening to parents (it certainly was to me). I've always found it disturbing that children's menus at restaurants rarely have healthy options. At a local seafood restaurant we like to visit, the children's menu only has deep fried options. Before I had kids, I wondered if that was because children simply would not eat things that weren't breaded and fried. According to this study, that belief is false.

Obviously, children will eat fried foods if that's all that is offered to them. Those foods are immediately pleasing to the palate for most people. But if kids never try the fried stuff, they will be much more likely to try a fresh, healthy option when they are hungry. I know this is true, because I see my boys eating broiled and poached fish on a weekly basis.

As the article stated, it takes more work and costs more to prepare foods in a healthy way. But how encouraging to know that if the effort is made, children WILL eat the healthy stuff.

Fantastic Cranberry Sauce

I've always loved cranberry sauce, and this year I made some using agave nectar. Wow, it was delicious, and SO easy to make. We didn't have any cranberry sauce left over after Thanksgiving dinner. I ended up making an entire new batch so that we would have it to go along with our other Thanksgiving leftover foods!

Cranberry Sauce

1 bag fresh cranberries
1 c. water
3/4 c. agave nectar

Place cranberries, water and agave in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and continue boiling for 5-7 minutes until the cranberries have popped and sauce has thickened. Stir several times while the mixture is boiling. Allow to cool, then refrigerate.

A Chocolate Cake Recipe for All Occasions

Martha Stewart has a fantastic chocolate cake recipe that I have altered to fit my family's preferences. This cake can be used to make sheet cakes, frosted birthday cakes, cupcakes and more.

Here are my changes to the recipe:

*Instead of all-purpose flour, use unbleached flour.
*Instead of 3 c. sugar, use 2 or 2 1/2 c. agave nectar (I tend to use the smaller amount and the cake is still plenty sweet).
*Instead of buttermilk, use plain organic yogurt, OR use goat milk, organic milk, or raw milk with an added tablespoon of vinegar.
*Instead of vegetable oil, use virgin coconut oil (high oleic safflower oil would work well too).

I usually use my basic cream cheese frosting recipe when I frost this cake.

Cream Cheese Frosting

8 oz. cream cheese
1/2 c. butter, softened
4 T. honey or agave
1 t. vanilla

Beat cream cheese and butter until fluffy. Beat in honey or agave. Add vanilla.

For Tie-Dye's birthday last year I made a lion cake using this recipe. I got the lion idea from Martha Stewart's website as well. She used buttercream frosting to do the lion's face, and licorice for the whiskers. I just whipped up some organic heavy cream, liquid stevia, and natural yellow food coloring for the base of the lion's face and in between the two cake layers, and then used cream cheese frosting for the mane and face.



Tomorrow is Tie-Dye's 4th birthday, so today I will be making chocolate cupcakes. I'm going to try a little experiment and turn them into Chocolate Cheesecake Cupcakes. For the cheesecake filling I will use 6 oz. softened cream cheese, 1/4 c. agave nectar, 1 egg and 1/8 tsp. sea salt. I hope they turn out!

***As a side note I wanted to let you know that my posts may continue to be less frequent than usual this month and next, not only because it's a busy time of year with birthdays and holidays, but because I'm now 9 months pregnant and my baby is due in 23 days! Once the baby has arrived and we're all settled I should be able to resume more regular posts. Thanks for your patience!

Chili for an Autumn Evening

It is our annual tradition to have crock pot chili on the evening of October 31st. We like to eat it with organic corn chips and organic sour cream. The house smells so good right now as it cooks. I can't wait for tonight!

Chili in a Crock Pot

3 cans tomato sauce (sugar free)
1 lb. ground beef or turkey
1 medium onion
2 cups pinto beans, cooked
1 bay leaf
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 stalk celery, chopped finely
2 Tbsp. parsley flakes
1/2 Tbsp. oregano
1/2 Tbsp. basil
1 Tbsp. chili powder
1 c. beef stock or water
ground pepper, to taste
10 drops liquid stevia (optional)

Brown ground meat with chopped onion in a large skillet. Put all ingredients in crock pot and cook on low all day (approx. 8 hours).

Good toppings include chopped lettuce, scallions, fresh spinach, grated cheese and sour cream. Eat with corn chips.

Another Pumpkin Recipe

Here is another recipe we have been enjoying this season. I like it because you can really taste the pumpkin, and it's so moist.

Pumpkin Bars (aka Pumpkin Cake)

4 eggs
1 c. agave nectar
1 c. virgin coconut oil
1 can (15 oz.) pumpkin
2 c. unbleached flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. sea salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

In a bowl, mix the eggs, agave, oil and pumpkin until light and fluffy. Separately, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Stir into the pumpkin mixture until thoroughly combined.

Spread the batter evenly into an ungreased 9x13 dish. Bake for 25 minutes in preheated oven.

These can be enjoyed plain or topped with whipped cream cheese, or topped with a cream cheese frosting. Enjoy!

Hot Dogs

It's becoming more common and mainstream to see hot dogs and sausages labeled "nitrate free" these days. Even Costco sells some nitrate free meats now. While this is a step in the right direction, I think it's still important to be cautious when buying these products. Again, make sure to read the ingredient label! I've been disappointed so many times when finding a product that looks great on the front, only to turn it over and read that it still contains sugar or dextrose, along with other additives. So many of the nitrate free hot dogs still contain plenty of other ingredients I wouldn't want my family to eat. And I have to wonder why would they add sugar to hot dogs, of all things? The only reason I can think of is that we as a culture have become so addicted to the taste of sugar that we need to have it in everything, including hot dogs.

There are two brands of hot dogs that I deem acceptable for my family. Shelton's Turkey Franks and Applegate Farms Hot Dogs. Of these two, I find the Applegate Farms Hot Dogs to be superior in taste and texture. Applegate has beef, chicken, and turkey dogs.

A final note about hot dogs - When serving them to your children, PLEASE be sure to use safety guidelines by first slicing them lengthwise after cooking, and then cutting them into small, bite-sized pieces. And always supervise a child eating a hot dog. Hot dogs are a leading cause of choking deaths in children because the circumference of a hot dog is the same as that of a child's throat. A round hot dog chunk can act as a perfect plug. While children (and adults) of any age need to be careful, it is especially important to monitor little children. I know this firsthand because I choked on a hot dog as a small child. Fortunately my dad was right there and used the Heimlich Maneuver to save my life!