The Hoover at work!

Luckily there was still this pan full for the rest of us!

Overnight Coffee Cake

Beat the following until fluffy–

4 eggs, 2 cups sugar, 1 1/2 cups coconut oil, 2 t vanilla  (I used 1/2 coconut oil and 1/2 butter)

Mix with a whisk–

6 cups pastry flour, 8 t baking powder, 2 t salt  ( I also added cinnamon)

Add dry alternately with 2 cups of milk or buttermilk (I used plain yogurt)

Pour into 2 oiled 9x 13 pans  (I used 1 9x 13 and 1 deep dish pie pan)

Lay fruit on top ( I used a  frozen berry mixture)

Topping– 1 1/2 c sugar, 1 1/3 c flour, 2t cinnamon, cut in enough butter to make it crumbly)

Put in fridge overnight

Bake 350 for 40 minutes

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Post tags: Bake, baking, blog, c flour, Cake, cinnamon, coconut oil, coffee, coffee cake, deep dish, dish pie, double recipe, family, friends, Home, mixture, pastry flour, photo, photos, Pie, post, powder, recipe, Recipes, Thursday, yogurt

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I know every week I rave about how good my recipes are—and I am biased because I really do like to eat—but this Pad Thai is awesome!!!

For 1 package of kelp noodles

4 to 5 Tablespoons  nut butter

1 Tablespoon hot sauce

1 Tablespoon honey

1 Tablespoon tamari1 teaspoon vinegar

2 teaspoons seseme oil

1/4 cup of water

juice of 1 lime

I rinsed my kelp noodles and put them in a bowl then I  put all the above  ingredients in my vita-mix and poured it over my noodles.

Next I cut up lots of veggies and tons of cilantro. You can use any veggies you choose-I used red cabbage, scallions, pea pods, chard, shiitake mushrooms. Sprinkle a few cashews on top. Let the pad thai sit for ten or so  minutes to soften the noodles.

I have been participating in the green smoothie challenge this week.  I often drink green smoothies but not daily. I must admit I don’t really love green smoothies. But I wanted to see if I would see any benefits to drinking them daily for 2 weeks. I will let you know!

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Post tags: blog, blogs, cabbage, Cashew, cashews, chard, cilantro, clintonville, clintonville community market, community, crestview, GREENS, honey, kelp, lime, Noodle, noodles, nut butter, pad thai, RAW, recipe, Recipes, shiitake, shiitake mushrooms, smoothie, smoothies, tablespoon tamari, Thai, Thursday, veggies, vita mix

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This recipe may seem a bit time consuming, but once you make the curry paste it’s smooth sailing! And the curry paste recipe will keep for months in the fridge so next time you want to make this it will be even more simple!

Both of these recipes came from my new favorite cook book FEEDING THE WHOLE FAMILY

Homemade Curry Paste

makes 2 cups

1 cup extra virgin olive oil, 1 lb onion finely chopped, 1/4 cup whole cumin seeds, 1/4 cup whole coriander seeds,       1 teaspoon whole fenugreek seeds, 1 teaspoon whole cloves, 2 teaspoons black peppercorns, 2 Tablespoons whole mustard seeds, 2 teaspoons allspice, 1 teaspoon cardamom, 4 teaspoons ground cinnamon,  1/4 cup turmeric,               2 teaspoons cayenne, 1/4 cup peeled, finely chopped ginger.

whew-that’s a lot of spices!!

Heat the oil and saute the onion until very soft.

While the onions are cooking, grind the following whole spices to a fine powder in a coffee or spice grinder— cumin, coriander, fenugreek, cloves, peppercorns and mustard. Add to the onions along with all the other spices and ginger. Let cook for 5 minutes while stirring.

Store in sealed jar in the fridge for several months.

OK now on to the GREENS IN CASHEW CURRY SAUCE

1/4 cup cashew butter (I made this real quick in my food processor), 1 Tablespoon homemade curry paste, 1 Tablespoon tamari or shoyu, 3/4 cup filtered water, 2 cups quick boiled greens.

Blend cashew butter, curry paste, tamari and water in blender until creamy (I used my food processor)

Combine greens and blended sauce in a pan and gently heat before serving.

I chopped up a bunch of kale, chard and raabini and added it to about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of boiling water in my cast iron skillet with a top on it for a few minutes to steam.

Then I added the sauce.

I had some left over quinoa and added that to the greens and sauce.

I ate this for dinner several times this week. And now that I have 2 cups of homemade curry paste in my fridge, I can just whip this up real quick!

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Post tags: allspice, blender, cardamom, Cashew, cast iron skillet, cayenne, chard, cook book, cooking, coriander, coriander seeds, cumin, cumin seeds, Curry, curry paste, curry sauce, dinner, extra virgin olive oil, family, fenugreek, fenugreek seeds, Food, food processor, Ginger, GREENS, ground cinnamon, Homemade, iron, kale, mustard, mustard seeds, onion, pepper, quinoa, raabini, recipe, Recipes, SAUCE, shoyu, spice grinder, steam, tablespoon tamari, Thursday, whole cloves

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Homemade natural Fabric Softener Pouch

I try to always credit recipes and ideas when I post them here and these fabric softener pouches  came from a book on SouleMama’s side bar which I checked out of our local library.  MAKE YOUR PLACE by Raleigh Briggs

Also-let it be known, that I HATE the smell of dryer sheets. When they waft out of the dryer vent and scent the whole neighborhood or  especially when you pass someone while out running and the lingering smell of Downey or Snugglie fills my nose!!! Really that should be outlawed. These pouches are in no way overwhelming or offensive.

The directions say you will need to make pouches out of tightly woven fabric. I have never sewed before so I thought this would be a great little first project for me!!

These really don’t need to be very big at all-maybe 4 x 3.

Fold  a rectangle of fabric in half and sew up the sides. Add a couple of spoonfuls of this mixture:

1/2 cup baking soda

1 T arrowroot powder

1 T rice flour or cornstarch

1-3 drops essential oils of your choice

Tie up the pouch tightly and pop it in the dryer with your clothes. Refill the pouch when the scent fades. I made a couple with different scents…Lemon-Eucalyptus and the other Lemon-Orange.

The scent from these pouches is very subtle, really just fresh smelling, soft laundry.

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Post tags: arrowroot, baking soda, cornstarch, downey, dryer, dryer sheets, dryer vent, essential oils, Eucalyptus, fabric, Homemade, Laundry, laundry soap, lemon eucalyptus, mixture, Natural, natural fabric softener, neighborhood, ORANGE, PepperPaints, photos, Pouch, pouches, powder, project, recipe, Recipes, rice flour, scents, smell, snugglie, Softener, SouleMama

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Looking for a healthy breakfast cereal? Looking for a handmade gift? Homemade granola fits both bills! Store bought granola can be expensive and often unhealthy, but making a large batch at home can save you some money as well as allowing you to customize the ingredients.

We made two different granola recipes in the past few weeks. Both are really good and when put in a pretty jar make a great holiday gift.

The first recipe is taken from a new favorite cook book of mine, FEEDING THE WHOLE FAMILY

MAPLE BUTTER NUT GRANOLA

Makes 8 cups

Pre-heat 325

3 1/2 cups rolled oats

1/2 cup sesame seeds

1/2 cup sunflower seeds

1/2 cup pumpkin seeds

1/2 cup chopped almonds

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup maple syrup

1 Tablespoon nut butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients

In a small pan melt buter, add maple syrup, and nut butter and stir to blend. Remove from heat and add extracts

Slowly pour wet over dry ingredients.  Fold and evenly coat dry ingredients

Spread on cookie sheet or shallow pan and bake until dry and golden-45 to 60 minutes, turning every 15 to 20 minutes so that it toasts evenly.

I added some of this to a bowl of pomegranate seeds and literally thought I had died and gone to heaven!!! No milk necessary.

The next day I added dry coconut and a banana to my bowl of granola/pomegranate. Equally delicious!

The kids had theirs parfait style. (In a tall glass, layered with frozen fruit and almond or coconut milk)

The second recipe is from the files of Abby, who swears she doesn’t know where she got this recipe.

MIX AND MATCH APPLESAUCE GRANOLA

3 1/2 cups rolled oats

2 cups puffed rice cereal

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 tsp ground ginger

pinch ground cardamom (don’t skip this!!)

3/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup plain applesauce

1/4 cup maple syrup or honey

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

up to 1 1/2 cups chopped nuts (almonds, walnuts, pecans, hazelnuts, cashews, macadamia nuts, pumpkin seeds…..)

up to 1 cup chopped dried fruit (cranberries, raisins, apricots, cherries, blueberries, raspberries…….)

Pre-heat 325 and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper (or two smaller ones)

In a large bowl combine oats, cereal and spices. In another bowl, whisk together sugar, applesauce, maple syrup, and vanilla.

Pour wet over dry, adding nuts and stir to combine.

Spread on baking sheet in an even layer

Bake 30 minutes, turning over and baking 15 more minutes or until golden brown

This recipe was great for snacking. It was more clumpy than the first recipe. The cardamom really gives this one a warm taste.

You can find some cute glass containers at the grocery or the thrift store. Add a pretty label with the recipe and you have a wonderful handmade inexpensive gift that anyone would love to receive!

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Post tags: almonds, apple, applesauce, Bake, banana, breakfast, Cashew, cashews, chopped almonds, chopped nuts, cinnamon, coconut milk, cook book, COOKIE, cranberries, cup brown sugar, cup maple syrup, cup pumpkin, cup sesame seeds, cup sunflower seeds, dried fruit, dry coconut, family, granola recipes, grocery, ground cardamom, ground ginger, healthy breakfast cereal, holiday, homemade granola, macadamia, macadamia nuts, maple syrup, oats, photo, photos, pomegranate seeds, Pumpkin, pumpkin seeds, Recipes, rice cereal, sunflower, sunflower seeds, syrup, Tea, teaspoon cinnamon, teaspoon salt, teaspoon vanilla, thrift, thrift store, Thursday, walnuts

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If you are looking for a special occasion cake or need something impressive( or just want to go into a diabetic coma)…look no further!!

I recently found out about Apartment Therapy. What??? How did I not know about this site??!! It is awesome and could keep me glued to  my computer screen ALL day! What else is out there you are not telling me about???

Anyways, it was while going through each and every back post of Apartment Therapy that  I found this Epic Rainbow Cake. As soon as I saw it I knew we had to attempt it! So I borrowed 6 cake pans from my Mom and my neighbor Abby

and set to work.  I followed Whisk Kid’s cake recipe but could have bought boxed cake-it’s not like we were baking for health here! Note-these cakes are very thin so don’t be intimidated by a 4 foot high cake-it wasn’t that big. My family likened the taste of the cake to sugar cookies, which was really good I might add.  It was really 1 or 2 cake batter recipes divided between six pans.

The cake recipe I used is as follows

2 sticks butter, room temp
2 1/3 c sugar
5 egg whites, room temp
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 c flour
4 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 1/2 c milk, warmed for 30 sec in microwave to bring to room temp
Red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple food coloring

Preheat the oven to 350F degrees. Oil and line how ever many 9” cake pans you have.

Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

Cream the sugar and butter, then add the egg whites (I cracked them all into one bowl) and add them a little at a time. Add the vanilla and mix until fully incorporated. Then, alternating between wet and dry, add the milk and flour mixture in two parts.

Divide the batter amongst 6 bowls—I used a large soup ladle, It was about 2 and a half scoops per bowl. Then add the food coloring and mix WELL.

Pour into cake pans and bake 15 minutes-or more or less according to your oven.

I tripled a buttercream frosting recipe. It made a ton of frosting but we ended up using every bit of it. This cake was super sweet and ends up being like a slab on a plate because it is so heavy with frosting. You could cut down on the amount of frosting if you choose-it is super sweet. Also-I might add this cake tastes better chilled.

This recipe frosts two 9 inch cakes–I tripled–my mixer was full of frosting(I was in heaven)!

1/2 cup of butter

3 1/2 cups powder sugar

4 to 5 Tablespoons of liquid—milk, creamer, water   I used Snowville Creamery 1/2 and 1/2

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Molly did a bit of decorating

And we all did some eating!!!

Note-my cake looks much less professional than Whisk Kids-but sure did taste good!!!

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Post tags: Bake, baking, batter recipes, c flour, cake batter, cake pans, cake recipe, egg whites, family, flour mixture, Food, food coloring, frosting recipe, occasion cake, photos, rainbow cake, recipe, Recipes, Thursday

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The weather has allowed us to let some fresh air in this week which unfortunately  won’t be happening for long. The sneezing and coughing is filling the air in our house with lots of nasty germs.  So to help fight the germs flying around in our house I made two natural, non-toxic,  disinfecting air sanitizers this morning.

I went on a hunt in my cupboards for some empty spray bottles. I was successful! I only had to rinse the colored water out of one of them. You can find cheap spray bottles at beauty supply stores, dollar stores and Target to name a few.

I filled them both up with our Reverse Osmosis water. If you don’t have filtered water you can purchase distilled or purified water. I used about 1 1/2 to 2 cups of water.

I went through my stash of essential oils and chose those that are known for their anti-bacterial, antiseptic and disinfectant qualities.

For the first bottle I added

20 drops sandalwood oil  (antiseptic properties)

20 drops patchouli oil (antiseptic and anti-bacterial properties)

20 drops lavender oil (antiseptic, anti-bacterial and disinfectant properties)

20 drops orange oil (antiseptic and disinfectant properties)

Shake it up and spray it around!! Don’t spray at people or too close to fabric as the oil may stain. Mist high into the air.

We used this good smelling, germ fighting, air cleaner/sanitizer in the bedrooms.

To the second bottle I added

20 drops Eucalyptus oil (antiseptic, anti-bacterial and disinfectant properties)

20 drops tee tree oil (anti-viral, anti-bacterial, anti-microbial…pretty much anti everything!)

20 drops lavender oil (see above)

20 drops lemon oil (same as orange oil)

20 drops orange oil (see above)

Again, shake it up and spray, spray, spray those germs away!! We sprayed this in the kitchen and the bathrooms.

These make the perfect, SAFE, non-toxic  addition to your fight against both seasonal, swine flu (H1N1) and other viral infections. These essential oils are proven natural germ fighters!  Safe because you can let you kids spray these around and help kill germs with out worrying about what harsh and poisonous  chemicals they are coming in contact with.

Just another safe way to keep us healthy!!

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Post tags: air cleaner, air sanitizers, antiseptic properties, disinfectant properties, essential oils, immune systems, lavender, lavender oil, nasty germs, ORANGE, recipe, Recipes, reverse osmosis water, sandalwood oil, Sanitizer, spray bottles, tee tree oil

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This is the best “salad” I have ever had!! It is from The Pioneer Woman’s recipes. I changed it up a little bit to fit my taste-I’ll add in on the original recipe where I added or deleted ingredients.

Warning—-this makes 2 tons so you can feed an army or half the recipe!

Asian Noodle Salad

1lb linguine cooked, rinsed and cooled—-The first time I made this I used 1 lb of rice noodles but found that to be way too much noodle for me so the second time I used a smaller 1/2 lb package of rice sticks and it was much better. It was more like salad with a few noodles instead of noddles with some veggies! Some day I will get around to ordering kelp noodles and substitute these in this recipe!

1/2 to 1 head sliced napa cabbage

1/2- to 1 head purple cabbage

1/2 to 1 bag baby spinich

1 red, 1 yellow and 1 orange pepper sliced thin

1 small bag of mung bean prouts

3 (or more!!) sliced scallions

3 peeled and sliced cucumbers

lots (2 bunches for me) of chopped up cilantro

cashews

Dressing:

juice of 1 lime

8 T olive oil

2-3 T seseme oil

8 T soy sauce

1/3 c brown sugar –I used a large spoonful of honey

3 T fresh ginger chopped (I used more)

2 cloves garlic–again more

2 jalapenos (be careful when chopping!!)

Mix together salad ingredients. Whisk together dressing ingredients and pour over salad. Mix with tongs Top with cashews

Hint if using rice noodles-cook them for only a few minutes and taste DO NOT OVER COOK-rinse them repeatedly in cold water so they don’t become a sticky mess.

Also I added some Chinese hot garlic oil to my bowlful to make it super spicy!! Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

If you have a recipe to add to this weeks quarter recipes be sure to leave a link in the comments to your recipe post.

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Post tags: asian noodle salad, Cashew, cashews, cilantro, cloves garlic, dressing ingredients, kelp, lime, linguine, mung, napa cabbage, noddles, Noodle, orange pepper, photos, pioneer woman, purple cabbage, Quarter, recipe, Recipes, rice noodles, rice sticks, salad, salad ingredients, salad mix, spicy, spinich, Thursday

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So here is my meager but tasty and healthy recipe for this week.

We enjoy smoothies many mornings. On this day we mixed up a couple of frozen bananas, about 3 large handfuls of spinach,  some orange juice, a couple of tablespoons of goji berries, a couple of tablespoons of chia seeds, and a whole lot of frozen blueberries in my VITA-MIX.

I keep my chia seeds in the freezer, that’s why they look sweaty.

This may be a green smoothie, but the blueberries really make it more purple.

If you have a favorite recipe to share (it doesn’t have to be raw) leave a link in the comments to your blog’s recipe post.

Or think about joining in next week. Because I have the world’s best salad recipe to share next Thursday! (I have been eating it for days)

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Post tags: banana, blog, chia, chia seeds, frozen banana, frozen bananas, frozen blueberries, goji, goji berries, healthy recipe, orange juice, PepperPaints, Quarter, RAW, recipe, Recipes, smoothie, smoothies, spinach, Thursday, Thursdays

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I had really wanted to go here on our way into to Philly , but it was a bit out of our way. While in New York I scrolled through the list of raw restaurants (-yes I said list-there are several, and unfortunately here in Ohio there is only one), to find one conveniently located. I was really excited about possibly going to Sarma’s Pure Food and Wine,  but after reading the reviews of the cost decided on Quintessesnce.

The menu was full of salads, soups, smoothies and lots of raw entrees and appetizers. We decided to try a few desserts.

Ginger had a coconut cream pie with a carmel sauce-It was really light and tasty.

Molly had a strawberry-banana smoothie

I had a chocolate fudge cake with ice cream. One bite of the cake and it was way too rich for me. Too many nuts and coconut oil. But the ice cream-OMG. If you are local and you have ever had Jeni’s salty carmel real ice cream-let me tell you this tastes just like it! It was too die for! I wish I would have gotten just a bigger scoop of ice cream.

It was a cute little place. We ate outside. Makes me wish we had more raw food choices and a more walkable city here in Columbus.

If you have a raw recipe to share this week, please add the link to your raw post in the comments.

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Post tags: carmel sauce, chocolate fudge cake, coconut cream pie, Columbus, desserts, pure food and wine, RAW, raw food, raw recipes, recipe, Recipes, sarma, strawberry banana

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