Remember these: Monster Cookies??

Monster Cookies

3 eggs
1 1/4 cups packed light brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 12-ounce jar creamy peanut butter
1 stick butter, softened
1/2 cup multi-colored chocolate candies
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/4 cup raisins, optional
2 teaspoons baking soda
4 1/2 cups quick-cooking oatmeal (not instant)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or nonstick baking mats.

In a very large mixing bowl, combine the eggs and sugars. Mix well. Add the salt, vanilla, peanut butter, and butter. Mix well. Stir in the chocolate candies, chocolate chips, raisins, if using, baking soda, and oatmeal. Drop by tablespoons 2 inches apart onto the prepared cookie sheets.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Do not overbake. Let stand for about 3 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool. When cool, store in large resealable plastic

During the summer break I like to give my kids a special treat. I have made some suggestions at the bottom for healthy substitutions, but to me a it's a once in a while treat. I remember making these with my mom as a child and we got to stir it with our hands just like my kids do. Hopefully they will have good memories of making them too.

Two of my "Cookie helpers"





Cookie Batter

Healthy Substitutions:
~Whole wheat flour instead of white flour
~Organic cane sugar (rapadura) in place of white sugar
~Sunspire Drops in place of M & M's
~Dried fruit or more raisins in place of some of the chips
~Carob chips in place of chocolate chips
~If you want a cookie that is not so dense, cut down on the oatmeal and add more flour in place.

Be sure to check out more great kitchen tips at Tammy's Recipes.

Gentle hand scrub & pregnancy home remedies....

I love to use items that I already have on hand in my kitchen, plus they cost pennies to make.
I have made the salt type hand scrubs and sugar ones which are nice, but too rough for my hands. I have nurse's hands and mommy hands ie: always being washed or in water and they made my hands too dry. Try this one and if you don't like it you're only out about 5 cents.

Cornmeal Hand Scrub

1/4 cup cornmeal
3 Tbs. milk
1 drop almond oil or almond extract
* I thought this was a little bland smelling so I add a few drops of essential oils
depending on my mood- lavender at night and grapefruit for a pick-me-up*

~In a small saucepan, mix the cornmeal with the milk. Heat the mixture over a low flame on the stovetop until it forms a paste. Remove from heat and stir in almond oil or extra oils. Allow to cool.
~Spread mixture on hands and allow it to sit for up to 10 minutes. Gently scrub your hands then rinse off with warm water.



As you can probably tell by my new ticker on the right- I'm newly pregnant with pregnancy number 3 and child number six. I am too tired still to get pictures up right now, and please excuse all of grammar. Since pregnancy dominates my thoughts right now, thought I would post a few good pregnancy remedies. These are all safe, but use your own judgement please- only you know if you are high risk or not. I would strongly advise you not to use too much during the first trimester. The less chemicals the better, right?!

Soothing Footbath

1 Tbs. Sea Salt (or Kosher salt )
2 drops lavender essential oil
1 drop rosemary essential oil
1 to 3 drops of peppermint essential oil

~Dissolve salt in a basin of warm water and add essential oils. Mix them well . Soak your feet and enjoy.

Momma's Peppermint Foot Lotion

1 Tbs. almond oil
1 tsp. avocado oil
1 tsp. wheat germ oil
10 drops of peppermint essential oil

~Put all of the ingredients in a small, sterilized glass bottle with a tight-fitting stopper. Shake well to combine. Store in a cool dark place. Shake well before each use. Massage into tired legs, especially after a soak.
*Some people cannot tolerate peppermint oil. It will sometimes feel a little tingly. If you're worried about it; do a small patch test on your forearm or cut the amount of oil in half to start.

Ginger Morning Sickness Tea

1 cup boiling water
1/2 tsp. minced fresh ginger

~In a large cup, pour the boiling water over the ginger. Steep 10 minutes, strain into another container and refrigerate. Drink in the morning when you wake. You can drink cold or reheat. I have another tea recipe here.

Hemorrhoid Pads

1 ounce witch hazel
5 drops cypress essential oil
3 drops geranium essential oil
5 drops lavender essential oil
2 Tbs. aloe vera gel
Cotton cosmetic pads

~In an open-mouthed jar with a tight-fitting lid, combine all of the ingredients. Saturate several pads in the liquid and place in the refrigerator. Use a pad on the affected area as needed. Especially great for the first few days post-partum. Will keep for about a week.

For more great tips and recipes head over to Tammy's Recipes.

Ziploc Baggie Alternatives....

Happy-Sacks for snacks and goodies or anything!

My tip for this week is for cutting down on plastic bag use. I found these bags that were so cute.

My latest great find......I came across these adorable little bags at Green Island this weekend while shopping in Traverse City. We have a cottage near Big Rapids and I love to make the trip to Traverse which is a little more than an hour away. I have been searching for an alternative for baggies for a long time. Now granted, they don't actually "seal" so you can't use them for everything, but for sandwiches, snacks, popcorn, carrots etc. it's really a great thing. I love the way that the velcro is set low enough down so that it actually makes a fold to keep things inside better. I paid $8.50 and $6.50 for each of the two smallest sizes. I think if you do the math they are worth the investment because they can be used over and over. They can go in the washer/dryer or just wipe clean. They are organic on the outside cotton & bamboo and nylon on the inside. I think you could probably use them for transporting mama cloth as well. I'll let you know how that works in a later post. Visit the website here. For more great tips and recipes visit Tammy's Recipes here.

View of the bags open.

More resources for plastic bag alternatives here and here.

Homemade Remedies

Kitchen tip Tuesday is hosted by Tammy at Tammy's Recipes. My kitchen tip this week is a few "recipes" for homemade remedies using ingredients from your kitchen. I have five kids and this past week they were all sick with either the stomach flu or a bad cold (or Both). Here are some cheap and safe remedies that work for us. My children hate the taste of pedialyte but will tolerate the homemade version. Why pay $5.00 for a bottle that's loaded with chemicals when you can make it for next to nothing?

You can make your own remedies with just a few ingredients.

~Homemade Pedialyte Type Drink

1 cup apple juice (I use grape juice or punch that's 100% juice to hide the salty taste better)
2 cups water
1/2 to 1 tsp. salt (I use light salt or fine sea salt; and only 1/2 tsp. for kids)
Juice from one lemon or lime

Combine all the ingredients in a pitcher and store in the refrigerator. Tastes best very cold. Please see the comments section for more info on using the lite salt.



~Stomach Soothing Tea (also good for morning sickness)

1 cup boiling water
1 tsp. dried peppermint
1 tsp. dried camomile
1/2 tsp. minced fresh ginger * optional*

In a small pan, pour boiling water over all the ingredients. Cover and steep for 10 minutes. Then strain into a teacup.



~Mustard Plaster (for chest congestion)

1 T. mustard powder
2 T. flour

In a small bowl, mix the powder with the flour. Add enough water to make a paste.
Spread the paste over half of a dish towel. Fold the towel in half over the paste then apply to the chest. Don't apply directly to skin without a towel. Check often to make sure there is no irritation to the skin.


~Fever Spray

1/4 cup rubbing alcohol
1/4 cup witch hazel
3 drops peppermint essential oil
2-3 drops lavender essential oil

In a clean spray bottle, combine all the ingredients in the order listed. Shake to mix and then chill in the refrigerator.
Spray onto pulse points to reduce fever, avoid eyes and mouth.
This feels cool and soothing when you have a fever. It smells nice too.


~Chest Rub

12 drops eucalyptus essential oil
8 drops hyssop essential oil
4 drops peppermint essential oil
2 T. almond or olive oil

Mix essential oils into carrier oil in a small bowl. Rub onto chest. Cover chest with a cotton towel and place hot water bottle on top.

You should be able to find all of the ingredients at the grocery store and a health food store. If you cannot find some ingredients you can purchase online here, here and here.

As with all home remedies; please use caution and common sense while using them. If you or your child has health problems, you should check with your doctor first before trying them.

Some of My Favorite Resources

This is my first time participating in Kitchen Tip Tuesdays which is hosted by Tammy @ Tammy's Recipes. My "tip" for this week is to share my sources for hard-to-find items. It has taken me a long time to find sources for different kitchen items as I have started to cook everything from scratch. I thought it might save someone else some time to see 25 great resources-ok 24 if you're coming here from Tammy's ;-) (in no particular order) all in one place. Hope you find something new.

1. Pleasant Hill Grain. Great resource for juicers, grain mills, dehydrators.

2. The Homestead Kitchen. Lot's of recipes, photos and links.

3. Juicers For Less. Juicers of course, yogurt making supplies, grain mills.

4. Something Better Natural Foods. Huge supply of organic food, herbs and products. I especially like the fact that they have pictures of each product and lots of recipes. They can ship nation wide.

5. The Vegetarian Express. A vegetarian and vegan food line. But don't over look them if you are not veg, they have bulk herbs, unique seasoning blends, unsweetened coconut which can be hard to find and other cool products like brown sesame seeds for cooking.

6. Azure Standard. The grand-daddy of organic bulk buying. Great prices on organic items, herbs, and groceries especially if you don't live close to a health food store. First time customers can request a free giant catalog. Monthly specials and they ship nation wide.

7. Lehmans. This is probably one of my favorite sites for all things for the home. They started in 1955 in Kindron, Ohio to sell products to the Amish. Today they have a retail store with a cafe in it. They still cater to Amish families so many of their products are old fashioned things that can be hard to find. Here are some highlights of things that they sell: tools, toys made in the USA for reasonable prices, kitchen gadgets, canning items, Zote and Fels-Naptha soaps for those of you who like to make your own laundry soap, recipe booklets for $2.00 that cover all kinds of topics including cheese, yogurt and butter making. They even sell wringer washers like I remember my grandma used to have and root beer making kits. They have a free print catalog for non-electric annual items with any order, and if you spend over $25.00 you can request their "visit us" packet that has local brochures and maps in it. You have to request both items as they don't come automatically.

8. Mountain Rose Herbs. Lindsay at Passionate Homemaking gave me this tip: organic coconut oil by the GALLON for $30.00 plus shipping. WOW I just paid $11.00 for 16 oz. at the health food store. Many other herbal products that are great deals as well.

9. Bulk Herb Store. Tammy at Tammy's Recipes gave me this tip on buying bulk herbal teas. You can get 1/2 pound of pregnancy tea mix for less than $8.00. Lot's of great recipes and herbal mixture instructions. Don't miss their new mama & baby kit. It contains teas, salves and herbs to make different baby products like a baby powder that contains lavender powder. I bet it smells great!

10. Essential Wholesale. Have you ever seen recipes for natural cleaners and soaps but wondered how they could be economical? I used to think that making a cleaner with lavender in it couldn't be very frugal when a 1 oz. bottle can be $7.00 to $11.00. I realize that you only need a few drops, but still.... this site sells everything from 1 oz. size to 55 gallon drums. Obviously it's geared towards people who want to make natural products to sell, but for example: you can get an 8 oz. bottle of lavender essential oil for $24.00. That should last a long time. You can also get soap making supplies and cosmetic products to make yourself like beeswax lip gloss.

11. Naturally Frugal Cleaning. Michelle has a great website with tons of "recipes" for making your own natural cleaners. Huge amount of great resources and tips.

12. The Herbwife's Kitchen. This is a really unique site with a mix of recipes that combine herb use for cooking and healing. Really fun to learn from and read.

13. Tammy's Recipes. Tammy has the most wonderful recipes that taste great, and her pictures & personal anecdotes about her family make for a fun and sweet blog.

14. Passionate Homemaking. Lindsay is a mom who has loads of great information about cooking healthy for your family and recipes. She has great info on soaking grains if you are following the Nourishing Traditions type of diet.

15. Pioneer Woman Cooks. Wow is all I can say! Her pictures are so yummy looking you want to try everything! A must read blog.

16. Bakerella. All things yummy from the oven. Esp. great cupcake recipes.

17. The Nourishing Gourmet. Great recipes and lots of info about nourishing food.

18. The Hillbilly Housewife. Tons of free information and research as well as recipes. I really love the section on making your own convenience foods.

19. Living on A Dime. I ordered Tawra's book and just love it. The ebooks are a great resource. Sign out for her newsletter for free with lots of great tips and recipes each time it arrives in your email.

20. Nourishing Indian Food. If you like the book Nourishing Traditions than you will like this site as it has Indian food with unique ingredients.

21.The Aldi Queen. If you shop at Aldi's then you will like this site with shopping lists and recipes.

22. Vermont Country Store. Looking for a product from yesterday and can't find it?? here's your source. Everything from food, vintage candy from your childhood, herbal salves, modest clothing, perfumes, tools and gadgets. I am going to give my grandma a gift certificate and catalog this year for her birthday as they carry all kinds of products that she has a hard time finding.

23. Sue Gregg. She is a wonderful teacher and her approach to whole foods is very down-to-earth and easy to do. I have my wish list going of all the books I want to purchase. I esp. like her Christian approach (for myself) as I don't care for the "new age" philosophy.

24. Urban Homemaker. Lots of kitchen gadgets as well as books and cookbooks.

25. The Real Food Revolution. Nice blog with recipes and info on "real food" on a budget, losing weight while eating healthy etc.