Tuesday, January 15, 2013
at
6:05 PM
By:
Amber
Rosemary and Lavender Calming Spray
Original article from: http://frugallysustainable.com/2011/11/holiday-travel-solutions-rosemary/
Ingredients:
-2 ounces water
-20 drops rosemary essential oils
-20 drops lavender essential oils
Combine all ingredients in a 2 ounce mister/spray bottle. Spray
whenever necessary for calming effect. Shelf stable, no need to
refrigerate, and will last indefinitely.
Red Clover Lemonade
Original article from: http://www.adventuressheart.com/2011/08/red-clover-lemonade.html
Ingredients:
3 cups of red clover blossoms
4 cups of water
1 1/4 cups of lemon juice
4 tbsp. of honey
Boil the blooms and water for 5 to 7 minutes.
Strain the petals from the water and add lemon juice and honey.
Stir and chill.
Serve over ice.
Enjoy!
Make Your Own Vitamin Water
Original article from: http://www.theyummylife.com/Flavored_Water
Ingredients
fruit -- 2 cups berries, citrus, melons, pineapple...most fruits will work (see recommended amounts in directions)
herbs -- a sprig of mint, basil, sage, rosemary, tarragon, thyme, or lavender
water (tap or filtered)
ice
Directions
Supplies needed: 2 quart pitcher or jar with lid; muddler or wooden spoon
General formula for whatever fruit/herb combo you desire.
1. If using herbs, add a sprig of fresh herbs to jar/pitcher; press and
twist with muddler or handle of wooden spoon to bruise leaves and
release flavor; don't pulverize the herbs into bits.
2. Add approx. 2
cups of fruit to jar/pitcher; press and twist with muddler or handle of
wooden spoon, just enough to release some of the juices
3. Fill jar/pitcher with ice cubes.
4. Add water to top of jar/pitcher.
5. Cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days.
Suggested flavor combinations:
ALL CITRUS (no herbs) -- Slice 1 orange, 1 lime, 1 lemon into rounds,
then cut the rounds in half. Add to jar and proceed with muddling, add
ice & water.
RASPBERRY LIME (no herbs) -- Quarter 2 limes; with
your hands, squeeze the juice into the jar, then throw in the squeezed
lime quarters. Add 2 cups raspberries. Muddle, add ice & water.
PINEAPPLE MINT -- Add a sprig of mint to the jar (you can throw in the
whole sprig; or, remove the leaves from the sprig, if you prefer to have
the mint swimming around and distributing in the jar). Muddle the mint.
Add 2 cups pineapple pieces, muddle, add ice & water.
BLACKBERRY SAGE -- Add sage sprig to jar and muddle. Add 2 cups blackberries; muddle, add ice & water.
WATERMELON ROSEMARY -- Add rosemary sprig to jar & muddle. Add 2 cups watermelon cubes; muddle, add ice and water.
Homemade Peppermint Extract
Original article from: http://wholenaturallife.com/2012/08/09/how-to-make-homemade-peppermint-extract/
Ingredients:
Peppermint leaves
Vodka
1. Harvest a bunch of mint leaves from your mint plant. I chose to cut
off stalks of mint because my plant was getting quite big, but I’m sure
that you could just pull off individual leaves if you prefer.
2.
Remove mint leaves from stalks (if applicable) and pack leaves into a
measuring cup to determine how much mint you have. I ended up with about
1/2 cup of mint. Since I wanted to make my mint extract in a pint jar,
1/2 cup of leaves was a good amount for me, but you could easily use
more or less leaves if desired.
3. Rinse mint leaves with water,
then squeeze leaves in your hands to bruise the leaves before placing
them into a clean glass jar. (Bruising the leaves helps them release
their oil when they’re placed in the vodka.)
4. Add about two to
four times as much vodka as you have mint, making sure that use enough
to submerge all of your leaves. I originally planned on adding one cup
of vodka for my 1/2 cup of mint, but that didn’t end up being enough
vodka to cover my leaves so I bumped it up to 1 1/2 cups.
5. Cover
your jar with a lid and allow to steep for about a month in a cool, dark
place. (I put mine in my pantry.) After the month has elapsed, you can
start tasting the extract to see if it’s developed the flavor and
intensity you want. If so, strain out the leaves and use the extract
just as you would store-bought extract.
If your mint extract is not yet strong enough, allow it to continue to steep until it reaches your desired flavor.
Make Your Own Herb Infused Herbal Waters
Original article from: http://www.stonegableblog.com/2012/04/herbal-infused-waters.html
STONEGABLE APPLEMINT HERBAL WATER
good fresh water
fresh applemint, rinsed
Fill a pretty bottle with good quality water and add sprigs of
applemint. Depending on how intense you want the flavor, slightly bruise
some of the leaves, releasing the applemint oils into the water.
Refrigerate for a couple of hours. Serve with plenty of ice and a nice
sprig of mint.
Show restraint... herbal waters should be very
lightly flavored, so you only need a small amount of herbs. They should
gently infuse the water.
Some recipes call for steeping herbs
in boiling water. This can changes the flavor of the herbs, loosing
their just picked, fresh taste. I would not recommend this for herbal
waters.
Be creative with herbs and tasty add-ins!
Here are some other delicious combinations for HERBAL INFUSED WATER...
~thinly sliced unpeeled cucumbers, thinly sliced lemons, spearmint and rosemary
~ lemongrass and lavender
~lemon verbena, lemon peel and thyme
~ citrus peel and and pineapple mint
~ lemongrass and mint
~ strawberries and basil
~ parsley... that's all
~ cucumber and basil
~thinly sliced oranges and sage
Make Your Own Saltines
Original article from: http://www.littlehouseliving.com/homemade-saltines.html
What you need:
• 1 c. flour
• 2 T butter
• 6-7 T water
• 1/2 t. salt
• plus a little more salt and butter for the tops
1. Melt the butter and mix it well with the flour and salt.
2. Add the tablespoons of water slowly, one at a time, and mix them in
well. Don't add too much water so the dough is too sticky. You want a
nice smooth dough.
3. Roll out the dough until it very thin, about 1/8in. Transfer the rolled out dough to a greased cookie sheet.
4. Score with a pizza cutter. Brush the tops very lightly with butter
and sprinkle with a little salt. You can leave out this step if you want
unsalted crackers. Bake these at 400F for about 15 minutes. They will
harden more once they start to cool.
Homemade Graham Crackers
Original article from: http://www.littlehouseliving.com/homemade-graham-crackers-2.html
Ingredients:
• 1 1/2 c. all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 c. all purpose wheat flour
• 1/2 t. salt
• 1 t. baking soda
• 1 t. cinnamon (or less)
• 1 c. butter, softened
• 3/4 c. brown sugar, sucanat, or turbinado
• 2 T. honey
1. Mix together the honey, sugar, salt, and butter.
2. Add in the rest of the ingredients. Add the flours 1/2 c. at a time so it works itself in well.
3. Place the dough in between wax paper or parchment paper and roll out.
4. Cut into squares or any shape you'd like. Place the crackers in the freezer for about 15 - 20 minutes to hard up.
5. Take the crackers out of the freezer and place on a greased cookie
sheet. Poke with fork tines. Bake at 350F for about 4-5 minutes, flip
over carefully with a spatula and bake another 3-4 minutes. Watch
carefully so you don't burn.
6. Enjoy!
