Alternatives to Neon Electrolyte Drinks

In case one of your tiny loved ones gets the barfing flu this winter (can you believe I just wished that on you?!), I thought I would pass along my recent research on non-neon electrolyte beverages. When EGirl was feeling terrible recently, I decided that the last thing her system needed while it was down and out was a whole mess of artifical colors, flavors, and sweeteners. Naturally, I turned to twitter for advice.

Thanks so much to the many people who helped me out. It turns out that you can make your own electrolyte concoctions, or purchase coconut water at Whole Paycheck or find this premade organic electrolyte drink. I did the first of the two options. I will have to admit that EGirl has tasted Gatorade before so she looked at these drinks like they were rat piss after one sip. I figured she was fine with just water, a little of the electrolyte, and some banana for potassium. Maybe the premade will help us out in the future! Worth a shot with your own kid, though.

Also, you should know there is a natural version of jello (anyone know how to make it with gelatine and fruit juice?), and we always hit up the probiotics for tummy troubles. Now to 'splain to CBoy that the white flour products in the house aren't coming back for awhile. His refrain of WANT COOKIE (animal crackers) is going to get ignored for a bit while we move back into the land of fiber. Hope you and yours are transitioning to fall with happy tummies.



*Photo courtesy of sxc.
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Protein-Packed Granola Recipe

We lurve granola in our house. Crunchy people, crunchy breakfast, right? But, really, what's a girl to do when Whole Paycheck's bulk bins have stale granola in 'em and I'm too lazy to get myself all the way over to the People's Republic of Takoma Park to their commie co-op nirvana of bulky goodness? Make my own cereal, of course. And, since I am even lazier than that, I had to shake down my interweb friends for recipes. So a huge thanks and shout-out to Jodifur, GreenBeanDreams, and BurbanMom for their amalgamated recipe(s). I also ripped off parts of a granola recipe from my Vegetarian Times Cookbook, btw. Since I grew up in the same house as a man I'll affectionately call Pumpkin Head (not to have gross insensitivity to people who suffer from life-threatening allergies, but, well, to have gross insensitivity in all honesty?), we avoid nuts in our home. Tree nuts, peanuts, you name it. I do, however, love the crunch and protein power packed in those yummy seeds. So consider this doctored recipe my paeon to crunchy, nut-free granola goodness.

MamaBird's Granola

7 cups rolled oats (not quick cook)
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup wheat germ
1 cup millet
1 cup (uncooked) oat bran cereal
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp allspice
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup honey
1 cup olive oil
1 tsp kosher salt
1 cup pumpkin seeds
1 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup flaxseeds (I used toasted ones)
1/4 cup maple syrup
5 egg whites
1 cup apricots + 1 cup diced dried plums OR 1 cup dried cranberries + 1 cup dried blueberries

I know you're not going to believe this from a kid who used to ask her mom if we could find yogurts with no sugar or artificial sweeteners, just fruit in them, but I really don't think this recipe is sweet enough. It's pretty good, but I think I will up the maple syrup and brown sugar to a full cup each.

Stir it all together, and bake at 300F for 30-45 minutes. Till it's as crunchy and golden as you like it! Mmmmmmmmm....

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Homemade Pizza

Mmmmm...quick homemade pizza dough. I used to have a recipe for whole wheat dough that doesn't need to rise, but I lost it! Arrrrgh. Luckily, I found another one that's pretty quick and is definitely tasty (thanks to Andrea's Recipes). Thought I'd pass it along because it's a great staple to rely on when you're short on dinner ingredients and time.

Our pizzas are both green and red because (dreaded foodwaste!) our pizza sauce in the fridge was moldy. We had to go with leftover pasta sauce for the kiddoes and a quickly-whipped-up cilantro-parsley-pesto for the adults. Anything with garlic, salt, and olive oil is edible in my book. With gooey cheese and portobellos from the farmer's market (sauteed in olive oil with a little sea salt), we had num nums in no time.

With deference to Andrea's greater wisdom, I actually used all whole wheat flour, subbed honey for sugar, and mixed by hand since I don't have a stand mixer. The crust still turned out great! I am a huge fan of the pizza stone. My brother got me hooked on them. It's critical to heat up the pizza stone before you use it, leaving you with the unwieldy proposition of moving your unstable pies into the oven, but it's worth navigating those dripping, soft-centered waters for the even cooking. Totally heads off the scorched bottom-top still raw syndrome.

I'm still searching for the no rise whole wheat crust, but this is the best I've seen so far (let me know if you've got my elusive recipe!!).


*photo of actual MamaBird food! originally uploaded to SurelyYouNest
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Make It From Scratch Carnival

Welcome to the Make It From Scratch Carnival! What great fun it was hosting this week. The English major in me had to go read every last post. So I can say with authority that there are some helpful, creative, and delicious-looking entries in today's roundup of frugal, eco-friendly, do-it-yourself ideas.

Gardening:
Putting some seeds or seedlings in the ground and wondering how to keep costs down in your garden plot? Melanie Rimmer presents Recycled Plant Markers posted at Bean-Sprouts.

Laura Williams presents Plantin' Season around the Ol' Homestead posted at Laura Williams' Musings. It's a snapshot into the garden tasks of an established vegetable gardener as spring emerges.

Decorating/Crafts/Gifts:
Silvia presents Gourd Basket from Mother Daughter Weekend posted at Po Moyemu--In My Opinion. It's a step-by-step description of how she uses her home-grown gourds to make baskets from them with pine needles. Sylvia says, "This can be a fun and easy first basket project for kids and adults!"

Cindy presents Recycled Plastic Hobo Handbag at MyRecycledBags.com. Cindy comments, "It's a crocheted handbag that is a variation of the knockoff hobo bag from Dao. But this one is done with plastic bag yarn or plarn. This project has a free pattern and I hope crafters out there have as much fun as I did making it. It's a great summer handbag."

Rosemary Rugnetta presents Creative Interior Painting posted at Her Home Blog. She suggests we use varying shades of one color to lead from one room into the next, and to vary the curtains to easily change the look of a room. Since she's got a whole section on her blog called Going Green
I'm betting she wants you to use low-VOC paints. ;)

Kellie presents Patchwork butterfly card with tutorial(ish) posted at Greenhab: The Browns Go Green. It's a thorough look at a DIY craft project to make your own greeting cards from repurposed scrap paper.

Eco 'Burban Mom presents Best. 40th. Birthday. Gift. Ever. right here! She says: "I made from scratch one felt envelope using scrap halloween costume felt and some leftover scrapbook paper. Inside the envelope contained 40 handwritten wishes for my husband from each of my 4 boys and myself. Some were very silly, such as "I wish you a home run at wiffle ball", while others very insightful "I wish you no stress at work". My boys had to think hard about their Dad and he loved reading every one of them. Twice! Homemade and worth every penny!" Check out her blog at Eco 'Burban: Going green in the suburbs, one plastic bag at a time. She's got lots of local food tips and waxes nostalgic about cute glass bottles of organic cream.

MamaBird presents Nature Art Bag at Surely You Nest. An easy sewing project for a beginner, this bag made out of old pants will allow your child to sketch, paint, and collect acorns to his or her heart's content.

Recipes and foodie tips:
Gotta start with the attention-grabber from the minister's wife. christinemoers presents A buttload of hoes posted at welcome to my brain. Now, before you think it's NSFW, head on over to the self-described "ramblings from a pseudo-crunchy woman" 'cause she's right. This (hoecake recipe mmmm) just might be up your alley. Christine comments, "If you have never blessed your home with some hoecakes ... baby, you are really missing something!"

FoodieTots presents At Market: Strawberries posted at FoodieTots...The Apple Doesn't Fall Far From the Tree... Mouth-watering-looking recipe for Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp. My mom used to make the most unbelievable strawberry-rhubarb pies, and all I can say is that the combo of that tart-and-sweet flavor in an easy recipe I have hopes of throwing on the table is a winner in my book. Unless someone wants to come make my pie crusts, that is....

Cathy presents Chocolate & Zucchini Cake posted at Chief Family Officer. You know I love that she modified the recipe to use fair-trade cocoa!

Lynn presents Stinging Nettles Need a New Name at OrganicMania. Says Lynn, "This post includes a simple way to cook stinging nettles. That's the easy part. The hard part is getitng a kindergartner to eat them!"

Sher presents Lefty Treehugger Granola at wrekehavoc and although she's been blogging since Al Gore invented the internet, thought you'd like to read it right here instead of posting it on her own blog. The sweetness. You should still head on over to her blog, though, since you can see her humor shine through - even in a granola recipe.

heheh, well, you know me to be a granola head lefty treehugger. it stands to reason that i make my own granola. and it's E-Z. i borrowed from a recipe i found on the web and do it MYYYYYY WAYYYYYY.

feel free to steal it.

Yummy Granola That Doesn't Cost $5 billion at Whole Foods
1 1/2 cups rolled oats (preferably the old fashioned kind)
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup chopped almonds (or whatever nuts you like. i like almonds. sue me.)
1/3 cup real maple syrup (or i suppose some day i'll try it molasses and see whether it works.)
1/3 cup canola oil
1 tsp. vanilla
pinch of salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Mix it all up. Spread it on an oiled/sprayed cookie sheet. Bake it at 325 for 20 minutes, stirring it a time or two while it bakes. Let it cool. Voila! Granola with the requisite crunchies that I like. You can probably add things, like coconut or dried fruit or, in my case, chocolate chips. Cos I'm evil like that.

Jane presents Home~Made Pumpkin Soup posted at Kidzarama. Jane comments, "This is a totally scrummy recipe that WonderHubby has developed over years of trial and error, with me as the innocent guinea pig."

Joanna presents Chive Flowers posted at Sunflowers in my Kitchen. Her blog is a welcome find, as is her recipe for chive butter (mmmm!) 'cause you know I've been gobbling those purple lovelies up!

Alison presents The Local Connection Saturday Night Dinner at Green Me. Alison notes, "I didn't think I'd have something to contribute, but then we went to the Farmer's Market!" Love that her post shows how easy it can be to make a "locally-based, gourmet dinner."

vh presents Cheap Eats: Delicious Veggie Spaghetti posted at Funny about Money. Mmmm, a sauce made with sage. I just bought some to plant!

Kate presents Easy, Cheesy Potato Chowder posted at Our Red House. Looks like total comfort food, which is good, since poor Kate's got a cold to kick.

Kathy Hester aka GeekyPoet presents Vegan Heirloom Carrot Salad with Seared Oyster Mushrooms posted at Geek, Poet, Housewife Wannabe. Check out her delicious-looking recipe; she cut out her toast rounds with leaf cookie cutters! I personally have never seen an heirloom carrot. Now I want to track some down.

Lisa K presents Beef Pot Pie posted at Lisa's Cookbook. It's a quick and dirty recipe using canned beef stew and biscuit mix for the topping.

Barbra Sundquist presents Edible Creations: How to Make a Fruit Bouquet posted at Edible Creations. Barbra notes, "Fruit Bouquets can be one of the easiest edible creations to make. The trick is to avoid the fancy cutting required by some edible creations design instructions. This article shows you how to make an attractive Fruit Bouquet using small fruit (plums and strawberries) wrapped in cellophane and wired to look like flowers on stems."

Jenny B (aka Mother Hen) presents Squash Eatin' Squid posted at Ship Full O' Pirates. It's a whole wheat-summer squash muffin recipe her 8 year old son loves. He even keeps tabs on the size of the squash in the garden, he loves them so.

Linda presents Cooking : Sébastien's first pizza posted at Mes crazy expériences. Linda notes that this "recipe of home made pizza" is her son "Sebastien's first time at it. Delicious!" Never seen a pizza with eggs on top!

Stephanie presents Keeping Guacamole Fresh & a Recipe posted at Stop the Ride!. She's the creator of the Make It From Scratch Carnival. Thanks, Stephanie! I'm with you, there can never be too much guac in the world.

Mama Bear presents Speedy Triple Decker Clubs posted at I've Got a Little Space to Fill. Quick and dirty club sandwiches, with a side of financial freedom (MamaBear paid off her credit card debt today - congrats).

Meta of food:
valereee presents Time, Money, Recipes: Experience is the answer posted at Cincinnati Locavore. Valeree encourages all of us," Don't be daunted by the challenges of eating locally!"

Health and Beauty:
Stacy presents Non-Petroleum Jelly posted at Teaching Diligently - Homeschool Blogger.

Auto Repair:
Money Blue Book: Personal Finance Blog presents Repair Your Car With Used Auto Parts which brought me back to the halcyon days of driving my older brother's rolled Honda Civic. He gave it to me for free! All I had to do was use a bungee cord and get a driver's side rear view mirror from the junkyard (and my find was easier than Money Blue Book's 'cause the junkyards I called looked for the parts for me). It really horrifiedimpressed the high school kids (do you really drive that?!) Anyhoo, if you want to read about how to repair your car via used parts aka junkyard scavenging, just jump on down to the 4th paragraph of the hotlink.

Check out next week's Make It From Scratch Carnival over at The Miller Way....

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Make It From Scratch: Nature Art Bag

Check out the Nature Bag I made for EGirl's 5th birthday. She's forever tucking leaves and rocks and flowers into my hand as we walk, so the nature bag should come in handy! I think she's got her grandfather's interest in and love of plants and insects (he's been birdwatching since he was a child and kept a detailed sketchbook of animal drawings as a young boy...later on this morphed into notes on bird sightings which he keeps to this day). EGirl also loves to draw and paint, so much so that when CBoy was born, the way we kept her occupied while I nursed was to set out 2-3 projects every time he napped. They'd consume her interest and keep her rapt for hours. So when I saw the idea for a bag designed to take art supplies outdoors, I knew it was perfect for her.

You know how excited I was about my freecycled sewing machine? This was totally the right project to tackle after the beanbags. Had I actually followed Lori Pickert's instructions (sigh) and measured my existing art supplies before cutting the jeans and whipping the bag out, it's possible that I would not have had to buy anything. 'Cause I had a pair of old pants and a bunch of ribbons hanging around. But I sure do have a weak spot for quality art supplies for kids, as I think it inspires them and makes them feel you're taking their work seriously (in other words, I'm not sorry I got her two spiral bound notebooks just like my dad used, a set of crayons, and a set of colored pencils, all to fit her nature bag!).

Here's a link to the Camp Creek instructions on Making a Field Bag from Recycled Clothing (in our case, a pair of her dad's jeans). They are explicit, step-by-step, and I followed them to the letter. Just in a girlier format, of course. EGirl had shredded one of her favorite butterfly shirts during an ill-fated, scissors-wielding, pushing of the envelope so it was nice to reclaim it on her bag. The ribbons are upcycled from giftwrap. The woven fabric handles I just had lying around (pack ratta!). Now I can't wait to head outdoors and tackle some of Lori's outdoor art lessons.



*Actual photo by MamaBird! Read more!