Healthy Homemaking Series: Oats

Baby Step 15 - Cooking Oats (and Other Grains)

Challenge: Learn to properly prepare whole grains using the soaking method.

Why: Oatmeal is cheap and wholesome, full of protein, fibre, vitamins, and minerals.  Soaking is important for without it the phytates present in dry grains can lead to mineral loss, allergies, and irritation of the intestinal tract.

How: This challenge made me cringe.  I hate oatmeal.  I can scarf down the instant packets, but real oatmeal?  Sick.  Apparently there is a right and a wrong way to do it, so I am hoping this new method will make it tastier.

1. In the evening put oats and the appropriate amount of water into a pot. (For rolled oats the ratio is 1-1 1/2 cups of water to 1 cup of oats.)
2. Add 1 tbsp of acidic liquid - yogurt, kefir, buttermilk, whey, apple cider vinegar, or lemon juice
3. In the morning, turn on the stove and cook the oats according to the type.  They will require less cooking time after being soaked.
4. For rolled oats bring to just boiling, then turn down to low to simmer with the lid on for 5 minutes.
Method from Healthy Homemaking by Stephanie Langford.

Ta da!

I am sad to say, I still hate it.  I tried it first with cinnamon and honey (as pictured above), but it didn't taste any better.  Brad then added jam to it which made it tolerable but certainly not something I would choose to eat.  Other than my two bites, Brad ate it, (Husbands are good for that.) and even he didn't particularly like it either. Unfortunately, oatmeal is not something I can see myself making in the future.

Do you know how to make oatmeal tasty?

PS -
On Wednesday Brad and I are taking a trip from our home in BC, over to Sask, and then back again with a stop in northern Alberta.  For my next two blog posts, I will not be doing any baby steps since I will not be at home.  They will instead be product reviews, which I hope you still check out!

Healthy Homemaking Series: Repurposing

Baby Step 14 - Creative Repurposing

Challenge: Find a way to repurpose an item you would normally throw out.

Why: Repurposing is good for the wallet as well as the environment.  Reusing items cuts down on waste, unnecessary purchases, and ensures that everything is used to its full potential.

How:  This is something I struggle with.  I have a hard time thinking creatively to begin with, let alone thinking so far outside of the box as to come up with additional uses for items that I have been led to believe have only one purpose.  I had to really think to do this challenge, which made it a real challenge for me.  Here is what I came up with.

 

Fabric Softener Sheets for Freshness

After discovering The Wonders of Vinegar in a previous challenge, I have been avidly using white vinegar in my washing machine as a fabric softener and static reducer.  I thought to myself, "What will I do with all these fabric softener sheets now?"  I was tempted to throw them away, so I am glad this challenge came along to stop me.  They are perfect to stuff into shoes, drawers, or on clothes hangers to keep your articles fresh.

Toothbrush for Lint

After a good teeth cleaning at the dentist, I received a new toothbrush.  My previous toothbrush wasn't really worn out yet, but that is obviously something you can't give away.  Luckily I remembered the mug of toothbrushes my mother always kept in the laundry room.  They are the easiest tool for removing lint from the dryer lint screen, cleaning off my reusable dusting mitt and dry mop pad (as seen here) between washes or scrubbing in stain remover on clothing.

 Cards into Gift Tags

I never save cards.  I am not sentimental and rarely have emotional attachments to objects.  That is why I decided to cut up the Christmas cards I received last year to make gift tags for the presents I am giving away this year.  They're cute, festive, and good for the environment.

Anther two ideas I have mentioned in earlier posts are saving emptied jars to use for food storage and using newspaper as gift wrap.

What items have you repurposed?

Healthy Homemaking Series: Stuff

Baby Step 13 - The Story of Stuff

Challenge: Watch the video on the The Story of Stuff website with your family.

Why: This video is intended to be an eye-opening portrayal of the negative effects of consumerism.  It will challenge your thinking about possessions, where they come from, their true value, the domino effect of all the choices that we all make each day, and your place in it all.

How:  Brad and I and one of our best friends sat down together to watch the 20 minute video.

The Story of Stuff is narrated by a well educated, experienced woman who makes the information easy to understand and keeps it engaging with the use of simple animation.  It certainly contains a message that needs to be heard.  Some of the information I knew, but I learned a lot of new stuff too.  It goes through the system of extraction, production, distribution, consumption, and disposal showing how and why this can't work for the planet or us as people if we carry on the way we are.

I sometimes make the mistake of believing everything I hear or read without much thought, and thus I was glad to be watching the video with Brad and our friend as they are two intelligent, well educated, critical thinking men.  They felt that the video was sometimes overly biased, and that some of the facts may have been somewhat misleading.  It is always good to take everything you hear with a grain of salt, even if it's a message you believe in.  Overall, we all enjoyed and appreciated the video.  I was happy to have seen it and am glad to promote and support it.

This challenge came at the perfect time for Brad and I.  Just a week ago, we had decided that we had too much "stuff" and wanted to take on a more minimalist lifestyle.  We are on a mission to clear out our place, and this video is definitely some added motivation.

I encourage you all to take a little time to watch The Story of Stuff, especially with your families, and discuss it afterwards!



If you really enjoyed that, there are more videos to check out on their website including The Story of Electronics, The Story of Cosmetics, The Story of Bottled Water, and more!

Healthy Homemaking Series: Homemade Condiments

Baby Step 12 - Homemade Condiments

Challenge: Make any condiment homemade.

Why: There are so many unnecessary ingredients in store bought condiments including sugar, preservatives, MSG, colouring, white vinegar (stripped of nutrients) and lots of table salt.  Homemade equivalents can be quick, simple, and wholesome.

How: I have been wanting to make my own ketchup for a while now.  This gave me the push I needed to seek out a suitable recipe, and just do it.  I found this recipe on the Epicurious website.  It was the most basic, simple one I came across.

• 1 (28-oz) can whole tomatoes in purée (I just used a can of crushed tomatoes)
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 2/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Chop onion and cook it in the oil for about 8 minutes (until soft) over medium heat.  Add the remaining ingredients (blend tomatoes first if you use whole ones) and stir over low-medium heat.  Allow to simmer for about 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

Pour half at a time into a blender and blend until smooth.

Pour into suitable containers and keep in the fridge.  Chill for at least 2 hours before using the first time.

I love the flavour!  It has a rich tomato taste with a bit of a kick from the onion and vinegar.  It doesn't taste like Heinz, so don't expect that.  It is so much better.  I read some reviews and noticed some people were cutting down the sugar and apple cider vinegar while added garlic or other spices.  Next time I will experiment with those alterations as well.  Cheap, tasty, healthy.  What else could I ask for?

I do have a warning though... the clean up is intensive! And wear an apron!

Have you made any condiments at home?

Healthy Homemaking Series: Evaluating Fat Choices

Baby Step 11 - Evaluating Fat and Oil Choices

Challenge: Remove one bad fat or oil choice, and add one good one.

Why: The fats we ingest have an effect on our hormones, skin, tissue, hair, brain development and function, heart health, cancer risk, and more.  This is why the type and quality of fats chosen is critical.  It is also important to note that some fats are only suitable when produced, stored, or used in particular ways.

How: I had a bit of a hard time with this baby step because I really rarely use fats.  I only own organic butter (which I switched to from margarine in the Lighten Up Your Pantry baby step post) and extra virgin olive oil.  I was pleased to see that these are both considered good fat choices.  I wasn't particularly into the idea of buying another type of oil from the good fats chart as they are expensive and mostly said to use sparingly anyways.  Instead I am just going to stick with what I have and talk about that.

 Organic butter.

According to Stephanie's The Good Oils chart, butter is useful for baking, frying, sauteing as well as spreading on toast or adding to steamed veggies.  Buying organic is ideal since most toxins are stored in the fat of animal products.

Extra virgin olive oil.

Extra virgin olive oil is best for non-heated use such as salad dressings or dipping bread but can also be used for frying at low temperatures.  Look for tins or dark glass bottles and store it out of the light to prevent spoiling.  Extra virgin is a better choice than virgin which is a better choice than regular.

Other good fats I may have to consider trying in the future are...
-coconut oil
-palm oil
-grapeseed oil
-sesame oil
-sunflower oil
-peanut oil
-flax oil

What fats and oil do you use?

Nature's Bounty

Just a little bonus post to show you how our garden's doing.  As I've written before, we have a tiny garden at our home, but we also have an amazing garden that we share and work on together with 2 other couples.

The garden at our house is quite pitiful.  Even in the summer, we only get about 3-4 hours of sunlight a day, so it's having a hard time.  The "community" garden though is growing beautifully!  We stopped by Thursday evening to do some weeding and grab some goodies.

Raised garden beds.

 Side garden.

 Taking home wax beans, zucchini, lettuce, spinach, and herbs.

In our garden we've got carrots, radishes, strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, potatoes, yellow wax beans, green beans, an assortment of peas, green onion, tomatoes, broccoli, lettuce, spinach, green peppers, cucumber, zucchini, squash, corn, parsley, basil, dill, cilantro, and probably even more than I'm forgetting.  It's so exciting!

Do you have a garden?  What do you or would you like to grow?

Healthy Homemaking Series: Cleaning Au Naturel

Baby Step 10 - Cleaning Au Naturel

Challenge: Choose one household cleaner to replace with a less toxic, more environmentally friendly option.

Why: Cleaning products in the stores are full of toxic chemicals, dangerous fumes, and non environmentally friendly substances.  They have harmful effects on our bodies, threaten water quality and wildlife, and are dangerous to have around children.

How: This week I made laundry detergent, a multi purpose cleaner, and an air freshener spray.  I have only used the laundry detergent so far, and thus that is what I will talk about in this post.  The others will be coming too though!

I've moved to a new website! Head on over to Heartful Habits to get the laundry detergent recipe (and a natural fabric softener) from this post. Thanks!