An apple a day keeps the doctor away!

Apples can be used for so many things, after doing a bit of research, since I have sooo many apples to deal with I’ve found a bunch of neat things to do with them! First, we had a whole bunch to make cider with. Then I had some more, so have been drying slices, then had so many peels that I didn’t know what to do with them, and found out that you can also dry those until they can be ground into a powder and used in things like oatmeal, or granola as extra flavor (plus that is where a lot of the fiber is!) or use the powder in things like potpourri, and other things you might scent. You can boil the skins and cores of the apples to make jelly, or syrup (we are going to try apple syrup! Yummm). You can freeze apples, or even just the skins and use those in your smoothies as an extra boost too! You can turn extra apples into sauce, or even apple butter!

My aunt lent me this AWESOME kitchen gadget for peeling and coring apples, I’ll put a link to it at the bottom of this post. It’s amazing, I was able to peel  4 trays worth of apples in just a few minutes, and didn’t take a chunk out of my thumb this time ;)

Dehydrated Apples: Core and remove skins, if you don’t like the “brown” you can spray with lemon juice, or apple cider vinegar (I used that last time, and they are good!) Place on dehydrator 6-8 hours until dry but still pliable.

I ran out of space on the dehydrator so placed the skins on a tray in the oven on the lowest setting for a few hours, checking every hour on their progress.  

We use dried apples in granola bars for kids lunches, you can dehydrate other fruit and make a mix, add some nuts, pretzels, and enjoy a healthy snack, or add to oatmeal. Make an apple chutney for a pork dish, oh the possibilities are endless! 

Tip for drying fruit** Place in a Ziploc bag. If it steams up right after you remove from the dehydrator, they still have too much moisture in them and could mold. Place back onto the trays checking each hour. Would be such a shame to have dried a whole batch only to come back to it next week and it’s moldy L

Peels can be boiled to make hot toddies, or simply to perfume the room without the chemicals of synthetic deodorizers. Add a pinch of cinnamon for a holiday smell. 

This is the link to this awesome tool, it can also be used to peel potatoes and make curly fries! 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000DE2SS/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B0000DE2SS&linkCode=as2&tag=fanthagaran03-20

Mattress Deodorizer

Homemade Toothpaste

I've seen on the internets a few recipes for this, we made it plain and simple! You can add stevia as a sweetener if you don't like the plain minty taste. We are getting used to no sweetness though, it just takes a few days. We ran out of the homemade stuff so I had to use some of the "regular" stuff in a tube and it tasted so weird and gross!

All you need:
Equal parts of baking soda and Coconut Oil
Peppermint essential oil for flavour
Stevia (if you want it sweetened)
Glycerin if you choose (We omitted the glycerin for health reasons, but feel free to use)

Mash all ingredients together in a jar, and use as needed.

We originally made this with Vanilla flavour, but it wasn't very good. Kind of tasted like salty cake batter. The peppermint is MUCH better! You can play around with flavours and find what you enjoy the most! Easy, inexpensive, and our teeth feel dentist clean all the time!

Coconut Oil is a natural pain reliever also. Any sore spots along your gum lines will hopefully be reduced as mine have. There were two spots that couldn't even be touched and it has made such a difference that I'm not afraid to eat cold things anymore!

If you are looking for Coconut Oil, here is a link through Amazon. It's amazing stuff, and you can use it for may other ailments. Just copy and paste in your browser to get more info. Good luck and shiny smiles!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003B3OOPA/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B003B3OOPA&linkCode=as2&tag=fanthagaran03-20

Back to school!

As we head into another school year, figuring out what to make for lunches seems to be a great idea at the beginning of the year, only to turn into a daunting part after a few weeks once the kids get bored of the same old things. Here are some tips to keep them eating their lunches instead of going in the garbage! As the year goes on, hopefully the kids can help me to find new and exciting lunch ideas. 

Keep them involved in some choices. What types of veggies or fruit do they want this week? Do they want cheese, deli meats, or tuna sandwiches? Give them choices, we, as adults get bored with the same old cheese sandwich day in and day out. Try different veggies in their sandwiches, cheeses, sandwich meats and dressings. And of course a treat is nice sometimes! We make a lot at home so that we can control the amount of sugar and which ingredients are in their food. Obviously this isn’t for everyone, so read labels.

Send mini trays of different things, a few grapes, watermelon, orange slices, broccoli and cucumbers with dip. The ideas are endless. You can find dishes for lunches that have separate sections and they can be quite handy. 

Try different breads, crackers, pita pockets, bagels or wraps. The flavours are pretty much endless these days from spinach, to cinnamon, or even cheese.  

Sometimes making a meal plan over the weekend works well for some families as the kids can be involved in the choosing process of what they like. This works well for our kids, one of them likes the same things most of the time, the other wants different things all the time. One week he’ll choose fruit salad, the next green salad with dressing.

Pre making veggie trays might help with picky kids, as you can say “You choose which you want to have” and they are more likely to eat the item they pick. This won’t work with all kids, but I’ve seen it work on a few ;)

If you send juice boxes, you can freeze them in advance and use them as mini ice packs. The kids love eating them frozen at lunch.

Remember to read labels, some of the pre packaged lunches look great to kids but don’t hold a lot of nutritional value. They need vitamins, and good whole foods with energy to keep their little brains going. 

Some schools have a "No Peanuts" rule. They will usually send a note home with your student if that is the case, but in case you are worried, you should contact your school or district to find out for sure. 

If you have any awesome lunch ideas, please post in the comment section! We will be sure to try new recipes out!