Sugar Gang Convoy to Bear Creek!

This is on my Must try list!

Homemade laundry detergent



Having a family of four means having scads of laundry to do. Which means spending a pretty penny on laundry detergent. I decided it was time to make our own detergent; it was much easier than I'd anticipated. The hardest part well be scouring the town for ingredients.

Found the recipe on this blog (www.marigoldroad.com)
You will need:
--1 bar Fels Naptha soap, grated (amounts to approx 2 cups)-use smallest grater size so it's super fine (found bar at Ace Hardware for $1.29)

--1 cup Borax (found box at Ace Hardware for $5.49)

--1 cup Washing Soda (found box at Dillon's for $2.85)

--1/4 cup OxyClean (not necessary, but can be added) *I didn't use it*

Mix all of it together with a spoon; will look bumpy, granular, and probably not all-mixed (that's ok).

Use 1T for a light load and 2T for a large or really dirty load.

Drea has some helpful notes on her blog about the cost-effectiveness of homemade versus store-purchased laundry soap. She makes a strong case!

The smallest grater hole on my grater caused the soap to stick. I had to use the next largest size, and the soap came out in little curlie-cues. I'm not too worried about it because it's still pretty fine. I've heard food processors can grate soap down pretty fine as well, but I don't have one.
I doubled the recipe to make the effort worth it (Drea mentions a double-recipe lasts up to 6 months!!), and used Ivory as the second bar of soap. For storage use a GladWare reusable storage container (8-cup size).

few of my FAVS

MINTAIDE

This is a new favorite in our house!
Takes a few minutes to make with all freshly squeezed fruit!
You can feel good letting your kids gulp down this drink!


Mintade

1 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice, strained

1/2 cup fresh squeezed orange juice, strained

1/4 cup fresh squeezed lime juice, strained

6 cups icy cold water

1 cup fine granulated sugar*

1 cup fresh mint leaves, torn

lots of ice

Combine juices and water in a pitcher. Stir in sugar, until dissolved. Stir in mint leaves, smashing leaves with spoon to release mint oil. Pour into ice-filled glasses.

*I like to use fine granulated sugar, however regular sugar works okay too. It will just take a little longer to dissolve. You may enjoy using more or less sugar, depending on your taste.

Grilled Vegetable Puff

Grilled Vegetable Puff

This one is surprisingly simple, but looks nicely impressive. I had a recipe that called for a white wine cream stock but I didn't end up doing that, I kept if simpler, and it was divine.



1 package puff pastry

1 egg, beaten



Filling:


2 Tbsp olive oil

1 leek, sliced

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 red bell pepper, sliced Julienne

1 orange bell pepper, as above

1 green bell pepper, as above

]1 yellow green pepper, as above

3/4 cup mushrooms (I forgot these!)

1 zucchini, sliced on a diagonal.

1 Tbsp VE Vegetable seasoning.

1 tsp Vegetable bouillon (not prepared)

VE Giardino salt and VE 4-Pepper blend to taste.



I just grilled these veggies very simply in oil, on medium-high for a couple of minutes, till they were slightly softened with very bright colours. You can also grill them and then add some flour, vegetable stock, a smidge of white wine and milk, and bring it to a boil and thicken. I'm sure it's lovely, but I kept it really simple.



Roll half of the pastry puff (they come in 2 blocks) on a lightly floured surface into a rectangle about 13 X 6.



Roll out the other pastry puff into a slightly larger rectangle, and score it on a diagonal.



Place the first pastry puff on a cookie sheet lined with dampened parchment paper.

Spoon the grilled vegetables onto the bottom and then roll the scored one up onto a rolling pin and roll it out over the bottom and the veggies. Make sure you've left a decent "border" along the bottom.



Brush the edges of the bottom rectangle with the egg, and place the larger one on top, and then seal the edges with comfy pinches. This is nice stuff to work with, very elastic and user-friendly.



Brush the entire piece with either egg or cream to let it brown, and cook in a preheated oven at 400 for 30-35 minutes (mine took 40), until risen and golden. (For the record, I did NOT use egg to bind it shut, and it sealed up just fine.)



This was beautiful, and very tasty. I'm sure the wine sauce is great, but even a simple veggie grill was just lovely. I'll be making this again for sure. Substitute any veggies that are nice for grilling. Eggplant would be yummy, too, I'm sure!Add a captionGrilled Vegetable Puff

PEACHLAND'S BUSINESS2CONSUMER TRADE EXPO

I'm Appreciated!

Westside Curb Appeal has Incorporated and I have been given my own business cards!
I guess I'm appreciated!

Haiti

I know that everyone has been talking about Haiti and the devastation that has gone on there! It hurts my heart when I actually take a moment and let it sink in what has happened!
It brings me back to when we experienced our devasting Fires here in the Okanagan! We had amazing firefighters, brave police offers and amazing citizens that helped emotionaly, physically and monitary!
Haiti does not have this! Everything well almost everything has been destroyed! They didn't have very much to begin with and their expectations are no where near ours, but they still don't have anything! No food, clean water or roofs over there head!

I always feel that I want to reach out and help where I can but I never trust the organization that are gathering the money! I want 100% of my money to go to the victums! There has been so much great support from all over the world for Haiti!

If you feel a tug at your heart and want to donate but feel the same way I do than please visit this blog to hear true stories from a Canadian that calls Haiti home now! Her stories are so priceless and just breaks my heart!

Karen who runs Hats for Haiti happens to be the mother to Dana Kayal who is My upline for Epicure here in West Kelowna ,BC.
There is information on this blog to make a one time donation or to request to support a child through monthly payments!
I have been told that once the dust settles there well be a lot of children that have been left behind and well be place in this orphange!

Please click on her blog and hear her passion and truth!

www.hatshaiti.blogspot.com

What to make for dinner?

I always have a hard time figuring out what to make for dinner! It has to please everyone and needs to be somewhat healthy! I'm not one to make something more than once and I'm not creative in the Kitchen! So the other night I pulled out
"RECIPES BY GOD" cook book,
& thought I would try the "TURKEY ROLL"!

Oh My is was soo easy to make and Kanaan had 4 helpings! We ate the whole thing!
I thought I would share with you the receipe:

Turkey Roll

1 1/2 pounds ground turkey
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Filling
1 1/2 cups frozen corn
1 egg
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley( I used Epicure)
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper

Mix turkey with sea salt and pepper. Mix filling ingredients in a separate bowl.
Place turkey mixture on a piece of heavy-duty foil and press with hands into a 12inch x 10 inch rectangle. Spoon the filling over the turkey mixture, with one inch of the edge. Roll up ( jellyroll style), starting with the short side and peeling foil away while rolling. Seal seams and ends. Place on greased 13 inch x 9 inch x 2 inch baking pan. Bake uncovered at 350 for 1 hour.


I placed mine in a cassorole dish and added sweet potaotes and yams with some 3 onion dip( epicure) sprinkled on top! It took more like 1.5hrs to cook!

ENJOY!

Snow Day In Peachland!

Awsome!

It has been a joke in our house around the dinner table regarding if dinner was good, great or awsome! Chris well always comment on other peoples dinner that it is "Awsome" but my dinners are never up to par until tonight!

Tonights dinner was " AWSOME" according to Chris:

Epicures Chicken Cordon Bleu
Boiled carrots with VE vegetable sessoning
rice

YUM

GOTTA TO LOVE EPICURE!

see previous post for Chicken Cordon Bleu receipe!

Dinner question!

Don't know what to make for dinner tonight!
Try this Epicure Selections receipe from there website:
www.epicureselections.com

Chicken Cordon Bleu

4 servings
Ingredients
1 lb (450 g) chicken breast tenders
2 tsp (10 ml) VE Poultry Seasoning
VE Sea Salt - Grinder, to taste
VE Black Pepper - Grinder, to taste
1/4 lb (125 g) cooked sliced ham, cut into small pieces
1/2 cup (125 ml) bread crumbs
1 Tbsp (15 ml) VE Dijon Tarragon Dip Mix
1/3 cup (80 ml) shredded Swiss cheese

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350° F (175° C).
2. Season chicken with VE Poultry Seasoning and VE Sea Salt and VE Pepper. Arrange in bottom of shallow casserole dish.
3. Sprinkle pieces of ham over chicken and combine bread crumbs with VE Dijon Tarragon Dip Mix or VE Lemon Dilly Dip Mix.
4. Top chicken with bread crumb mixture and shredded Swiss cheese. Bake in oven for approximately 35 minutes, or until chicken is fully cooked and cheese pleasantly melted.


Per Serving: Calories 220, Fat 8 g (Saturated 3.5 g, Trans 0 g), Cholesterol 90 mg, Sodium 560 mg, Carbohydrate 5 g (Fibre 1 g, Sugars 0 g), Protein 31 g.