Asparagus

Pick a bunch of asparagus that looks good. I prefer thin to medium stems.

Wash, snap off the ends

Place in a 12 inch skillet with about a few Tablespoons of water.  Cover and place over medium heat.  Let the asparagus steam until it's bright green.

Drain the water

Add a small amount of EVOO (and small amount of butter for flavour if you wish), minced garlic, minced red onions, and a TBSP of balsamic vinegar. Sauté until the vinegar is mostly absorbed. Super delicious, sweet, healthy, and easy! Great with fresh grated Parmesan cheese

Peppermint Breeze Shampoo (name courtesy of Crystal)

what you need:

• empty shampoo bottle (16 oz is great, I recommend one with a cap that has a small hole)
  
• Peppermint Castille Soap (hint: Trader Joe's, natural stores, Amazon.com)
• 100% Aloe Vera Gel [optional]
  
• Lemon Juice (very important)
• Jojoba Oil (again, TJ's or natural food stores)
• distilled water
• eucalyptus oil [optional]

Put 4 oz each of Castille soap and water in the bottle, add 2 oz lemon juice, 1 Tablespoon of Jojoba , 1 TBSP of Eucalyptus oil, and 2 TBSP of Aloe Vera

This is very thin, so instead of pouring in your hand, squirt it directly on your wet scalp, give yourself a good massaging, let sit for a couple of mins, and rinse. This can also be used as a body/face soap, but do not get it near eyes!!  I have noticed with my most recent batch (possibly due to the addition of Eucalyptus oil), it is a LOT thicker. Sometimes I have to add a TBSP of water and shake it up.

I highly recommend following up with an apple cider vinegar rinse. Get a spray bottle or one that has a cap like this. Just squirt on to your hair. Yes, it will stink in the shower, but you will get used to it after a few uses. Once you rinse it out, you just smell peppermint. The acid smooths down the shaft of your hair, preventing knots and adding shine.

Conditioner is hard to make homemade and shelf stable. I recommend Trader Joe's spa conditioner. It is cheap, and has no sulfates. After 2 shampoos/conditions with this combo, almost all of my flaky dry skin is gone, and my hair looks and feels great! Amazing!!

**also recommend Organix Tea Tree Mint Conditioner, though it costs more than TJ's Conditioner

Laundry Detergent

Ok, so I know this is not edible, but it IS still a recipe. . .

Save up those detergent bottles, and when you run out, try making your own detergent. Here is what I did:

grate (finely) 1 bar of Fels-Naptha soap ($0.97 at Wal-Mart). Other lightly scented soap can also be used (body or laundry--another laundry soap I saw is Zote)

1.5 c Sodium Carbonate (pH plus or Washing Soda. Cannot find Washing Soda, so I used pH plus from the pool chemical section. It is 98% Sodium Carbonate and 2% Water. $5.97 at Wal-Mart)

1.5 c Borax. ( I believe it was $3.97 at Wal-Mart)


boil 3 c water in a large saucepan. add grated soap, whisk well. add sodium carbonate. mix; add borax, mix again. pour into a bucket and add about a gallon of water (more if you want it thinner, less if you want it concentrated. I simply did this amount because it was the combined capacity of my bottles). If you add about a gallon, use one ounce per load. It must be shaken before each use, as it will separate almost immediately.


I figured out that this costs about $4 for 120 loads. a lot less than you pay for Tide

Cutting Onions

simple way to prevent burning eyes--chew a piece of gum. Love this tip, why didn't I know about it sooner??

Roasted Chicken, Squash, and Potatoes

a.k.a, Vitamin A and Protein.

So, I wanted some of my favourite veggies--sweet potatoes and butternut squash.

Had some chicken breast tenderloins in the freezer, and the urge to cook.

In a 9x13ish dish (woot-Pyrex, or your LeCreuset), place:

a drizzle of olive oil
a few chicken tenderloins (I did under a pound cuz that's what I had, and I like more veggies)
1 medium cubed/peeled butternut squash
1 huge or 2 small cubed yams/sweet potatoes
1 purple onion, cut up into 1 inch-ish pieces (mincing isn't as cool!)
a handful of pine nuts
a few tablespoons of chopped garlic
some fresh chopped herbs (I've used sage, thyme, rosemary, cardamom and cumin in varying combinations)
fresh ground pepper
a dash of sea salt
more olive oil


here's what it looked like, just before going in the oven. sorry, low-Q cell pic.
bake at 400 F for about an hour and 15 minutes. I covered it in foil for the last 30 mins the 3rd time I made it, which helped keep it moist.


This is SO delicious, and easy. . .and. . .it was my first time cooking butternut squash! hooray!

I think maybe even a 2nd onion would be good for some more colour!

Southwestern "Eggrolls"

Tonight I was thinking about how to get rid of some egg roll wrappers left over from when I made cream cheese wontons.
Soooooooo, I decided to do a southwest veggie egg roll.

In the food processor, I 'processed':

About 4oz frozen chopped spinach, defrosted and drained
the leaves of 10-15 stems of cilantro
1 jalepen, ribs removed, most seeds left (remove seeds if you don't like some heat)
About half an onion
About a third of a zucchini
1/4 cup green onion
2 cloves garlic

Place in a large bowl.

Process one can of diced tomatoes, drained. Don't go overboard, you don't want a puree, just smaller pieces

add to other ingredients

Add
1 can corn, drained
1 can black beans, drained
About a tsp cumin
About 1/2 tsp chipotle
Red pepper flakes to taste
Black pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients together.
(also get some shredded cheese if desired)

Lay a wrapper out in a diamond shape, and put some filling in it, about 2/3 of the way down, leaving spaces on the side. It's great with a little shredded mexican cheese blend. Start to roll it up, tuck in left/right corners (think an envelope), then wet the top inch or so of the wrapper (a bowl of water to dip fingers in works great), and seal it up. Yeah, terrible instructions, the package should have a diagram, so you can look at that.

(this should give you a good idea of how much to put in)

Fry them in oil over medium heat until desired crispness.

Place on a paper towel-lined plate, tilting upward to aid oil drainage. Flip em over so the other side can drain too.

They're GREAT dipped in greek yogurt. I added some more cumin to my yogurt. . .it's one of my fave spices!

Pizza-Pretz's

So, I found this really cool idea while getting lost on cyber trails.
It's pretty simple, and reminds me of those little pizza bites, but in the shape of a pretzel.
Here's what you need:1 can refrigerated pizza dough (like biscuits, but for pizza)1 jar pizza sauce
some pepperoni, cut into stripssome shredded cheese. I used a 'mexican' shredded cheese blend; my dairy-sensitive partner in crime used Trader Joe's yogurt cheese chopped into small bits.
1 egg white

flour
italian seasonings

Directions:
roll out the pizza dough on a floured surface; cut into 4 strips lengthwise. actually, we think 3 might be better, our pretzels kinda fell apart.

spoon some pizza sauce onto the dough; add cheese and pepperoni. Make sure to leave space to roll the dough up. we had some trouble with the liquid from the pizza sauce--it likes to leak out.

roll 'em up! try and get it well sealed.

place each roll in the shape of an upside down U, grab the ends, twist once, and fold them over so they look like pretzels. This article is helpful.

whip up that egg white really well with some seasonings. I used oregano, basil, pepper, powdered onion, garlic powder, and black pepper. brush over the pretzels.