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

Cheesy Pepperoni Sticks

This recipe was easy peezy! Use this breadsticks recipe to make the dough for around the pepperoni sticks. Instead of making the rolls first, make the dough and let rise until double in a bowl, about half an hour. Roll out to about 1/4 inch, and try to roll into a rectangle on a floured surface. Grate some cheese for your cheesy sticks into a dish. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and start to get your dough ready! Place your pepperoni stick onto the dough and slice the dough big enough that you can wrap the pepperoni in it like a blanket. Before rolling add some cheese on the inside and roll and pinch the edges so it's closed up tight. Place on a greased sheet and continue until your tray is full. Use some more cheese and put on top of the rolls. Bake for about 20 minutes, until cheese is melted and the rolls are nicely browned.

Needed:
Pepperoni sticks (we sliced into 3's and made smaller sticks for snacks and lunches)
Cheese
Dough

Nutty Coconut Chocolate bars

Warning!!!!!!! These are REALLY good! I would not eat a lot of them though, as they are high in fat. But it's dark chocolate so it's good for you, and nuts are also good for you... so, just kidding. I would eat a lot of them. Who can resist chocolate?!?

To start melt 2 cups of dark chocolate in a double boiler, we just put a smaller pot into a bigger pot filled with boiling water. If you're careful you can melt straight on the burner on very, very low. Be careful not to scorch it!!! The water method works best so you don't have to worry about burning the precious chocolate!

While the chocolate is melting put parchment paper onto a cookie sheet or baking pan. I use a glass one that my grandma gave me, it works great (also our lasagna pan ;) Sprinkle 1-2 cups of nuts onto the parchment paper, how ever many you like! I also added coconut, and mixed it up. When the chocolate is melted pour it over the nuts and try to cover the lot of them. Set in fridge to cool until the chocolate is hard. You can then take it off the parchment and break into smaller pieces or my hubby used a big knife and sliced it into squares. These are super easy, and taste really good! Would be great as gifts, or for a party, orrrr just eat it all yourself. No one really needs to know you made it, do they? :)

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

Garlic Breadsticks

Fall is on the way, make these at home in minutes and enjoy with soups or stews! Yum!

1 cup warm water
2 1/2 yeast
3 Tbls brown sugar
1 tsp salt
1/4 oil (I used olive)
Herbs of choice (I used peppered oregano)
3 cups flour

Dissolve yeast in water in large bowl until frothy, add sugar and salt and dissolve. Add oil and herbs, stir. Add flour to bowl and mix, then knead into a large ball. Roll out on floured surface into a rectangle approximately 10x12 inches. Cut strips about 3/4 inch wide and give a quick roll. Place on lightly greased baking sheet to rise for 30 minutes then bake for approximately 15 minutes or until golden brown on the bottom. Brush lightly with butter and sprinkle with garlic powder.

Cooking times may vary due to different elevations, so check around the 10 minute mark if your baking usually cooks faster!

Frozen Strawberry Yogurt Pops

It's now September 1, and with that comes berries, berries and more berries! It's still warm enough out that popsicles can be enjoyed, and I have wanted to try something new. Just finished making these, and they taste divine!!

They are super easy as well, and probably cost less than buying them pre made at the store.

First I added water to the popsicle mold to see how much I needed to make (we are missing one of the pokers ;) which was 2 cups.

Sliced strawberries - pureed (made up to 3/4 cup line)
Topped up to the 2 cup line with Vanilla yogurt, mixed it all up and added to the molds.
Freeze for 6-8 hours, until they are frozen through. Rinse the bottoms with hot water to remove easily from the molds once they are done. I'm guessing almost any berries would be good like this, next going to try blueberries!

*We usually get one of the big boxes of Organic Yogurt and it lasts quite a while. It's cheaper that way and can be used for breakfasts and in other treat meals. If you purchase the plain you can use it for dips as well!