Home Made Toothpaste

I love to make things from scratch so I know what is being put in my bodies of my family. As far as toothpaste has gone, I have tried several and have my favorites (Dr. Christophers herbal tooth powder), but they cost money I don't have right now. This recipe is a good one that I usually have the ingredients for.

3 Tablespoons coconut oil
3 Tablespoons baking soda
25 drops peppermint essential oil (make sure it is certified organic)
10 drops stevia

Just mix it all up and put it in a baggie. Cut a hole in the corner of the baggie(teeny tiny hole), and squeeze!

Bling My Way To Health

I have this new idea that is helping me to stick to my eating plan.
I know how I should be eating, but temptation loves to get in the way and derail my best laid plans. I often have goal charts and incentives to help me and now I have come up with a fun one that has kept me motivated. It is all about bling.

I have a clip board and a backpack that are with me wherever I go. When I have projects I am working on (like planning a greenhouse) the papers are with me on my clipboard. The problem is that my clipboard is plain old wood and is kinda boring. I like things with color and personality and that are made 'mine'. I have put stickers on things before to personalize them but now I have taken that a step further. I now EARN my stickers to put on my clipboard so that every time I see how it is decorated I remember the days that my eating plan went well. I see the hard work that I have done plastered over my clipboard. I have other places I am going to put stickers too when the clipboard is full of stickers showing my progress. Eat according to plan for a day = 1 sticker.

My sister in law gave me another idea. I don't have to keep this to stickers. I can Bedazzle my backpack and clothes too! She bought me a small Bedazzler and I have earned 2 "dazzles" to put on my backpack.

This might not work for the more macho among you. I'm not sure how to help you. I am sure stickers and bling won't do it for you. Sorry. Maybe you could do some other sort of collection to show your progress on health goals. Maybe if the stickers were funny sayings or pictures of guns....

The Tomatoes are Sprouting!

I planted the tomato and sweet pepper seeds 3 days ago and they have already sprouted!!! I was skeptical about not putting any sand or anything on top of the seeds, but with these plugs that stay completely moist, they are sprouting beautifully and I get to watch the whole process. Fun.

 

These sprouts are onions :)

Tour The Liberty Hill Farms Greenhouse

I will take you on a tour of what is happening in the Liberty Hill Farms greenhouse in February.

Check out the seed starting greenhouse, the greens and the plans for more growth.

Cooking a spaghetti squash

Did you know you can put a whole spaghetti squash in the oven and bake it without cutting it? Wow,it is so easy. It is recommended to punch a few holes in it for steam to escape so it doesn't blow up in your oven but I haven't done the holes the last few times and its been fine.......

I put a whole squash in an oven that is 375 degrees. Then I leave it for 60-90 minutes.

Then take it out of the oven carefully and let it cool for an hour or so, being careful even after the cooling time for possible escaping steam.

Scoop out the seeds, then scoop out the flesh.

To this squash I added garlic butter, sea salt,pepper and parmesan. It was heavenly. I ate most of it myself:)

The Greenhouse Supplies Order Came!

I was jumping up and down when this shipment came to the farm a few days ago! Now I have all of the pots and trays, fans and leuvers that I need to have a successful greenhouse experience this Spring and Summer. I am so excited to start planting:)

Pita Bread

I am going to start having pita bread as an option for people to order. I was going to wait a few weeks before I made them available and wait until I had them perfected but my first batch turned out totally awesome!
Here's the recipe if you want to make your own.

1 1/4 cup warm water
1 Tablespoon oil
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons sugar
2 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
1/3 cup gluten
1 1/2 teaspoons dry yeast

Mix ingredients into a ball.
Cover with a damp towel and let sit for 25 minutes or until doubled.
Punch down and divide with a sharp knife into 8 balls.
Roll each ball flat and thin and cover with a towel.
Let them sit for another 25 minutes.
Heat oven to 500 degrees.
Put two pitas on a cooling rack and put in the oven.
Let bake and puff for 4 minutes.
Take out of the oven and wrap in damp paper towels.
Proceed with then rest of the pitas and let them cool completely.
Store in an airtight container for up to a week!

If you don't want to bake them you can always come to Fort Collins and order them from me. ;)

If you look closely you'll notice the baseball bat in the picture. I couldn't find a rolling pin and this was all I could find. It worked great!  Now you know what to do if you can't find a rolling pin.:)

Happy Healthy,
Elisa

Farmer boy

Check out my famer boy. :). This is how he dresses every day. We have been getting the boys nice boots for their birthdays for being out in the pastures and working. It is so fun to go places with my farmer boys. :) We sure don't fit in when we are in the city but we wouldn't have it any other way.

Today's juice

This is the juice I have been making for breakfast lately. Here is why:

Kale is super full of antioxidants, vitamins, minerals,fights fat and has lots of fiber.
You can read more about Kale HERE.

Apples are cleansing for the blood, are full of fiber, give sweetness to the juice, and much more.
Read more about Apples HERE

Cucumbers are like drinking distilled water plus getting lots of nutrients.
Read more about Cucumbers HERE

Lemons are cleansing to the liver and the peel fights cancer.
Read more about Lemons HERE

To see my video of juicing these wonderful foods, go HERE.

Making Yogurt

I barter my breads and veggies for raw milk. It is the only kind of milk I will bring into my home because I know there are no hormones or antibiotics in it and because it has not been pasteurized which kills the nutrients in it and makes it harder to digest.

I usually make all of it into yogurt which makes it even better for the system because of the pre-digestion that happens to it, and for all of the beneficial bacteria which are introduced to the gut which boost our immune systems and help our digestive system perform better.

This video shows how I make my yogurt. I am not an expert and am learning all of the time. I still need to play with temperatures and I should really use a thermometer to make sure I am not killing everything that I am working for (nutrients and healthy bacterias). The yogurt turns out wonderful every time despite not being a pro. All in all I have made yogurt for under 6 months.

To watch the video go HERE.