Celebration GIVEAWAY: Making Herbs SIMPLE DVD (Vol. 1)

Well! I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and is looking forward to a great New Year!

Now, I was planning to post the 3rd Celebration Giveaway this past Sunday or yesterday, but we got knocked down to 24 hour dial-up after using up our limit with all the skyping we did with the grandparents  ;o)

BUT... better late then never!

So, the giveaway...

To FIVE winners, I am giving away 1 copy of Making Herbs SIMPLE DVD!

I really enjoyed this video and like how simply Shoshanna taught, step-by-step, on how to find, wash, dry and store herbs. She also teaches the hands-on steps of making poultices, tinctures and more!


When I first started watching the DVD... my 5 year old daughter, Naomi, came over and watched it with me and enjoyed it so much that she wanted to watch it again! Like the title says... it is so simple that my daughter is able to understand and thoroughly enjoy how God made all these amazing herbs (that are often considered weeds) to bring healing to our bodies. She even talked to me afterwards and pretty much explained what each herb is, the benefits and how to use them. I LOVED that! The video didn't have closed caption, so it was great to hear Naomi sum it all up like a pro and made sure that I understood what Shoshanna was saying! LOL!


So, if you are looking for a good instructional video on herbs for your child's homeschooling program or just to teach them in your own time... this is the one for you! Funny, captivating and simple... your kids will enjoy learning how to find and using herbs to improve their health!

Now, I have to talk about Bulk Herb Store.

I love their products, the prices and quality!

I made my own pregnancy tea using their herbs and the taste was delicious. I'll have to share with you my recipe... soon I hope!

Since we don't drink coffee in this family... we like to drink a lot of tea around here! I am a die-hard fan of Rooibos Tea and I like it just the way it is... no raw honey! I've learned to appreciate its earthy, rustic flavors. Of course, there are some days where I just need a little sweetness to my tea  ;o)

You can see that I have banners on my blog supporting BHS. If you are considering making some purchases... please use my links. I will get a small commission for each purchase and it is no extra cost to you! Thank you for your support!

Now, let's get to the giveaway... shall we?

How to Enter

Just leave a comment below sharing your favorite herb, tea or herbal remedy! (1 entry)

To maximize your odds of winning, you can leave a comment every day! (one comment per day strictly enforced)

4 bonus entries:

'Like' Bulk Herb Store on Facebook (1 entry)

'Like' Shoshanna on Facebook (1 entry)

'Like' Just Making Noise on Babble (1 entry)

Follow Just Making Noise via emails or RSS feed (1 entry)

So, you can have a total of 5 entries today and one everyday until December 31st January 14th! This giveaway is only open to US residents and the winners will be selected via random.org at the end of this month. Winner will be contacted in January.

PLEASE include your email in each entry to leave for me to contact you. Thank you!

Also, don't forget you can purchase Just Making Ice Cream for a suggested donation of $8 through this month! That is $4 off the original suggested donation.

Have a great New Year!!

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Sourdough Journel #12: Delicious Sourdough Cookies

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Have you checked out the great deals at GNOWFGLINS? With any of your purchases of classes, menus, ebooks and videos... you will get up to 5 free thank you videos (value $10!).

THROUGH NEW YEAR'S DAY (Monday 11/28/11 at 10pm thru 1/1/12) you can get:

   • Any 5 thank you videos with a yearly subscription

   • Any 2 thank you videos with a monthly recurring subscription

   • Any 1 thank you video with a single month subscription

I seriously can't say enough good things about Wardeh's wonderful e-courses! They have been so simple and easy to follow. So fun, too! Thank you Wardee!!!

So... 


I mentioned two weeks ago that I have TWO different cookie recipe to share with you all. I am hooked on making my cookies with sourdough now!


I love it because I can now serve cookies knowing that they are much healthier and we don't feel sick after eating a cookie or two.


For a long time I've made our family favorite - Stuffed Oatmeal Cookies - and they were healthy, for the most part... except the oatmeal part. I find that when I don't soak our oatmeal... we feel pretty yucky afterwards. Especially if we eat too much of it, which is hard not to because they are so good!


So, when I learned that I could change my recipe a little and add in the sourdough into the dough to help break down the oatmeal... I was all for trying it out!


Our first batch was gone in one night.


I kid you not!


Yeah, it was so good with some fresh milk and we didn't have that ache in our stomaches after having one too many cookies. Yeaaaa!

Stuffed Oatmeal Sourdough Cookies

1 cup sourdough
1 cup butter, melted
2 cups whole wheat flour (plus more, if needed, to get a stiff batter)
1 1/2 cup oatmeal
3/4 - 1 cup rapadura or coconut sugar
3/4 tsp sea salt
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon (optional)
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
2 cups dark or semi-sweet chocolate chips (sometimes I throw in 3 cups!)
1-2 cup chopped nuts
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
1-2 cups dried fruit (optional)


In a medium size bowl stir together the sourdough starter and butter. Add 1 cup of flour and the oatmeal. Stir to incorporate. Continue adding flour until you have a thick dough. You may need more or less flour, depending on your starter consistency and your flour choice. Cover and allow to sour for 8 or more hours.


Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and lightly grease your baking sheets.


In a small bowl mix together the eggs, sugar, vanilla, sea salt,  optional cinnamon and baking powder. Pour mixture on top of your soured dough. You will need to get both of your hands in the bowl and use a squeezing motion to break up the very firm dough or use a thick, strong fork (that's what I do). Stir until free of lumps and of one mind, stir in your chocolate chips, nuts, coconut flakes and optional dried fruit. Then sprinkle on the baking soda. Stir well to incorporate.


Drop by spoonfuls onto a cookie sheet. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes (about 15 minutes in my higher altitude) OR spread the whole batter in the cookie sheet and bake for 20 minutes or until lightly brown around the edges. Remove to a wire rack to cool. Store in an airtight container. Enjoy!

Next I wanted to make some unique sourdough cookies for a Thanksgiving Potluck that we were invited to go. We met a lot of missionaries and made some new friends.


It was a little too crazy and loud for me, but I was glad to see that people were enjoying my cookies! I made them pan-style so I didn't have to spend hours laboring over every drop of dough and cookie to make enough for 80+ people  ;o)


I started off following the recipe from the Sourdough eCourse for Molasses Ginger cookies, but then realized I didn't have molasses. So, I used honey instead and started changing up the recipe from there.


The final touch was the orange zest... oh my sweet goodness! I actually threw that in there in the last minute because I felt that it needed something.


Wish I had a picture because they looked pretty & yummy!

Cranberry Orange Spice Sourdough Cookies

1 cup sourdough

1 cup butter, melted

2 cups whole wheat flour (plus more, if needed, to get a stiff batter)

1-2 cups oatmeal

scant 1/4 cup raw honey

1/2 - 3/4 cup rapadura or coconut sugar

3/4 tsp sea salt

3 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp cloves

3/4 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ginger
1-2 Tbsp orange zest (I used a whole orange's worth of zest!)
1 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1-2 cups dried cranberries, chopped
1-2 cups walnuts, chopped

In a medium size bowl stir together the sourdough starter and butter. Add 1 cup of flour and the oatmeal. Stir to incorporate. Continue adding flour until you have a thick dough. You may need more or less flour, depending on your starter consistency and your flour choice. Cover and allow to sour for 8 or more hours.

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and lightly grease your baking sheets.

In a small bowl mix together the honey, eggs, sugar, vanilla, sea salt, cloves, cinnamon, ginger, orange zest and baking powder. Pour mixture on top of your soured dough. You will need to get both of your hands in the bowl and use a squeezing motion to break up the very firm dough or use a thick, strong fork (that's what I do). Stir until free of lumps and of one mind, stir in cranberries and walnuts. Then sprinkle on the baking soda. Stir well to incorporate.

Drop by spoonfuls onto a cookie sheet. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes (about 15 minutes in my higher altitude) OR spread the whole batter in the cookie sheet and bake for 20 minutes or until lightly brown around the edges. Remove to a wire rack to cool. Store in an airtight container. Enjoy! 

Have a beautiful Christmas everyone!


PS- don't forget to enter for a chance to win some fabulous cookbooks (check it out here & here)!!

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Candied Orange Spice Peels

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Since last week I've been going through several pounds (at least 30 lbs, if not more!) of oranges... washing, cutting, peeling, slicing and blending.

My kitchen has been full of sunshine and wonderful smells of delicious oranges! Yummm!

Can't get enough of the smells and beautiful colors, but I've had enough of all that work! LOL! 

You may be wondering when I'm going to get to the point. Right?

Well, we have several citrus trees giving us more than enough oranges and I was wondering what to do with it all! Especially the peels. One day I was browsing through my Facebook and saw one of my friends posted that she was making candied orange peels. Of course, that grabbed my attention.

Candied orange peels?! Honestly, never heard of that!

I quickly googled for a recipe and found one at use real butter (Beautiful photography!). Honestly, I was very surprised to find out that making candied peels is so easy... just a little time consuming  ;o)

Seriously, the work was well worth it... for Christmas we will be giving away small bags of these treats to all our Honduran neighbors & friends, the kids we work with and missionaries we know. I've already had a few kids taste the candied peels and they LOVE them!

While I was waiting for the raw sugar water to get hot... a great idea popped into my head. I  threw in some cinnamon sticks, whole cloves and chunks of ginger to bring about a spicy flavor. Success! Delicious, warm spices drifted up to my nose... oh yum!

After pouring the peels in and simmering them for forever... they came out golden, glazed and sticky. Dropped them in a pan of cane sugar and they separated beautifully. 

When Jon took his first bite of the sugar covered peel... he said the texture and flavor reminded him of those old classic sugar-crusted gumdrops!

I rolled some batches with cane sugar and some without. I am thinking the ones without the sugar crust would be fabulous in some oatmeal cookies. Hmmm, maybe I'll have a recipe coming on that idea!

I made my first batch for a Christmas party for the missionary women. They were a hit! I put the orange peels in small plastic bags and tied them up with a cute ribbon along with the recipe & suggestions... simple and easy. I would rather packet the orange peels in parchment paper or glass jars, but I am in a country where those are not easily found and often expensive. Boohoo. At least they looked cute in the plastic bags!

I am doing the same when passing them out to our Honduran neighbors and kids. I put on different tags that say, "Feliz Navidad!! Bendiciones! Familia de Jon & Marillyn Beard".

Can you believe how much I've made?! LOL! Next year I would like to plan ahead and have some girls help me.

Wish the picture of the gift bag looked a little better, but its good enough and you get the idea!

So, after all that glorious work.... I was left with 6 1/2 quarts of dark, dark brown, orange flavored syrupy sweetness! So, now I have plans for those!! Caramel popcorn, granola, candied nuts, hot chocolate, pancakes and more.

*Sigh*

Candied Orange Spice Peels

4 oranges (or any thick skinned citrus fruit)
3 cups sugar (rapadura, coconut sugar or unrefined cane sugar)
1 cup water
1-2 cinnamon sticks (optional)
5-10 whole cloves (optinoal)
1 chunk of ginger (optional)
cane sugar for rolling

Quarter oranges into wedges. Carefully slice or peel the flesh away from the orange peels (I generally don’t like to remove too much pith, only if it is really thick). Slice the peel of each wedge lengthwise into 1/4 inch strips.

Place peels in a medium saucepan and cover with cold water. Heat on high until water comes to a boil. Pour off the water. Repeat two more times.

Meanwhile, mix 1 cup water with 3 cups of sugar in a large saucepan or pot. Add optional spices. Bring to boil over high heat until temps reaches about 230F. Stir it to make sure sugar is dissolved. Add peels and reduce to a simmer. Simmer until peels are translucent (30 minutes or longer - about 50 mintues at my 6,500 ft. elevation). You will want to stir the peels every so often.

Drain peels in a colander (catch all the syrup in a bowl!). Add sugar into a deep, wide bowl. Use tongs to move peels into the bowl and roll in sugar, if desired. Set on a rack or wax covered cookie sheet to dry for 4-5 hours OR 2 days (best results). I put my peels in my dehydrator and set it on low heat (95-115F). They came out great!

You can now eat the candied peels! If you won’t be eating them within a week, store them packed in sugar in an airtight container.

Suggestions:

• Don't throw out the sugar! Use it to sweeten your morning coffee or drink for some yummy orange-flavored sweetness.
• Chopped up your orange peels and mix it with some nuts.
• Don't throw out the syrup! Use it over your pancakes, sweeten drinks, make caramel popcorn and more.
• Instead of rolling the peels in sugar. Allow them to dry for up to 2 days and dip each peel into some dark chocolate! Allow it to harden before storing in an airtight container.

Don't forget you can order Just Making Ice Cream ebook for $8 through this month! Also, enter for chances to win gluten-free & savory cookbooks!!

Have a wonderful Christmas!

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DPP 2011 > Help Us Help Them

It isn't easy to catch a beautiful smile like that with these kids.


Most are so solemn... life is hard for many of them.


But when they come here to RO4Y, they are able to forget for a while and just be kids... silly, goofy and laughing. There is so much peace here and they can feel it!


I know a real smile when I see one... it lights up their eyes.


Like Diana, up there.


She has a hard life... Dad is alcoholic and can't keep a job. Both Mom and Dad can't read. They live very simply on beans, rice and corn tortillas.


Thankfully, Diana has chosen to learn to read and write. She has chosen to come to RO4Y. It seems that she wants to choose a better life and learn more about Jesus.


Help us help her.


We want to help with her spiritual needs and physical needs. We want to do that for every kid that comes here as much as possible!


For Christmas, we are planning to put together food baskets and give them out has gifts to the families of the kids we work with. For $25 we can give a family a basket of wholesome food that will last them anywhere from 2 days to a week... depending on how many people are in the family.


Would you like to help us?

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DPP 2011 > CrockPot Christmas Potpourri

I LOVE Christmas Potpourri.


It makes the house smell festive and delicious!


Since I was a little girl... every year my Mommo would throw together a pot of water or apple juice, fresh oranges, apples, cinnamon sticks, cloves, nutmeg and let it simmer 24/7. She would keep refilling the pot with water or apple juice and change out the fruits about once a week when they would get so mushy.


The house would smell simply HEAVENLY from Thanksgiving till just past New Year!


With all the oranges that we've been picking off our trees and cutting them up for different things... all the smells from the oranges brought back to memory of that delicious potpourri that my mama used to make every year.


It got me thinking, "Why haven't I done that in my home?"


Well, I couldn't use my gas stove for 2 reasons... 1) I need all the burners for all the home cooking I do daily and 2) the gas burns too hot, that I couldn't leave it with fear that it would burn up to smoke (ugh).


Then I thought, "What about my crockpot? Perfect!"


So, I've been "simmering" my homemade Christmas Potpourri on high throughout the day without the lid on. I just LOVE coming into my house after working outside and taking a deep breath of delicious cinnamon-y orange fragrance.


Here's my simple recipe:

• Oranges, sliced
• Cinnamon sticks
• Whole Cloves
• Nutmeg (I used the old chunks after grating them)
• Water

Throw everything in your crockpot. Cover with water and set it on high. Add in water as the level drops below the oranges. Change out the fruit about once a week.

Also, you can add in sliced apples... I didn't because I didn't have any and they are kinda pricey here. Not worth it to me.


I've also seen people put in bay leaves... hmmm. Maybe I'll try that.

NOTE: A small crockpot would be ideal, but if you don't have one... you can always shop on craigslist or garage sales!

I think I might play around with the recipe and try adding pineapple! Going for the tropical Christmas smells  ;o)


Tell me, what kind of potpourri do you like? What would you add in?

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DPP > Dog Love

We love our Danes... they are the Gentle Giants! Here is Tobi riding Daisy like a horse. I don't know how many times people have suggested that we should buy a small saddle for our Danes and train them to give "rides" around the yard. Like that would ever happen! LOL!!

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DPP > Happy Birthday Tobias!

Happy Birthday little man!


Here he is... eating a banana cupcake made with coconut flour and sweetened with bananas, stevia & dates. So simple & good! The recipe came from Elana's Gluten-Free Cupcakes. The only thing that was missing was whipping cream... didn't have enough cream to make any, BUT I made homemade ice cream (maple cinnamon), of course!   ;o)


He LOVED his cupcake, but found the ice cream too cold. LOL!


I know I said I would share the birth story today, but it was a full day for me and I ran out of time.  So, l'll have to do it later! Thanks for your patience!

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