DIY Taco Seasoning in Bulk

April 18, 2017April 18, 2017 / Liesl Clark / Leave a comment

Buying taco seasoning is pricey and when you have the ingredients in your own home, why not just make a batch that’ll last you days. Your own seasoning is also lower in salt content. Here’s our family recipe that we’ve used for the past year, and sometimes the amounts of each ingredient change a little, based on just how much we have in the spice rack. We buy our spices in bulk, too, to save money, have a zero waste kitchen, and so we don’t accumulate a lot of those little plastic bottles.

Taco Seasoning (makes about 1 2/3 Cups)

½ Cup chili powder (we sometimes use speciality chili powders we find in Mexico. Go with your favorite!)
1/3 Cup cumin
3 teaspoons garlic powder
3 teaspoons onion powder
1 Tablespoon coarsely ground pepper
2-3 Tablespoons ground coriander seeds
2 Tablespoons paprika (sometimes we add smoked paprika)
1 1/2 Tablespoons salt (feel free to add more if you like your seasoning salty)
2 teaspoons red pepper flakes
2 teaspoons oregano (we like Mexican oregano)Enjoy!

Breakfast Nut Bars

December 4, 2016December 17, 2016 / Liesl Clark / 9 Comments

We were hungry for something new at breakfast-time, and my mostly-vegetarian family just loves nuts. Inspired by Our Paleo Life, we were able to come up with a recipe that is better than any Kind Bar we’ve bought. These nut bars are perfection, and have become a family breakfast or snack-time staple. This recipe, like all my recipes, is meant to be played with, to suit your palate and what’s in your cupboards:

Use any combination of the following nuts, to reach a total of about 6 cups:

Almonds

Walnuts

Pecans

Pumpkin Seeds

Hazelnuts

Chop nuts into smaller sizes, so you have pieces of nuts that’ll stick together well in a bar.

Add:

1/2 Cup Flax Seeds

1/2 Cup Toasted Coconut

1/2 Cup Rolled Oats

1/2 Teaspoon Sea Salt (I use a Fleur de Sel)

1/4 Cup Cacao

1/4 – 1/2 Cup Agave

1/2 Cut Raisins

1/2 Cup Peanut Butter

3-4 Tablespoons Molasses

1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

Mix everything together in a bowl and place the mixture into a glass baking dish lined with parchment paper that comes up the sides.

Place in a preheated 350 degree oven for 20 minutes. Press the mixture down with your overlapped parchment when you pull it out of the oven, to compress the bar mixture. Pull out the square mixture with the parchment paper sides and place on a wire rack to let it cool for 30 minutes. Press your large square again when your mixture has cooled and then turn the whole thing over and place on another square of parchment so the bottom is facing up.

Cut your nut mixture into bars and wrap individually for snacks!

How to Catch Fruit Flies

October 27, 2016October 27, 2016 / Liesl Clark / 2 Comments

Fruit flies share 75% of the genes that cause disease in humans, so scientists love studying fruit fly genetics to learn more about scenarios of human resistance to disease. But let’s face it, other than in the lab, we really don’t like having these 3mm-long flies in our midst. Females can lay up to 50 eggs per day in your worn-out fruit and in drains and sponges. This time of the year, a kitchen with any overnight wine glasses left unattended will bring about a few hundred fruit flies in no time.

Relief is here, in the form of advice from by big brother. This trick is so simple, and it works. Bryn demonstrated it, and my kitchen has been thanking him ever since.

Make yourself a fruit fly funnel with paper. I just used some scrap paper from an art project my daughter left on the counter.

Place the funnel in a glass jar with a few tablespoons of wine or vinegar inside. Leftover red wine has worked really well for me. And, that’s it! Just leave the funnel jar on the counter and it will attract the unwanted flies quickly and thoroughly. It’s a bit like Hotel California: The fruit flies can check in any time they want, but they can never leave.

See the little fly there? Proof! I even poured the wine through the funnel and some of it stained the paper and, frankly, I think that helps to attract more flies. I don’t see any fruit flies flying around my kitchen anymore and this jar is sitting right next to some very ripe fruit.

What are your fruit fly trap ideas?

Easy DIY Snack Boxes

October 25, 2016October 25, 2016 / Liesl Clark / 2 Comments

By Finn Clark

My Aunt Kelly gave me the idea to make snack box containers because she made us one as a gift for Christmas. Since we get local organic milk delivered in cartons, I started saving some so I could try to make my own, using Kelly’s as a template.

Here’s how it’s done:

1) You’ll want your box to be square. Each carton is about 3.5 inches wide. Measure 3.5 inches up from the bottom of each corner and put a dot there with a Sharpie. This will be the point where you will cut down to from the top.

2) Then measure another 3.5 inches above that and put another dot there. This is the high point of your arch.

3) We used Kelly’s as a template so just traced the arches, but I’ve given you the measurements above, so you can now draw your arch like we did.

4) Now that you have an arch drawn for each side of your carton, start cutting them out with scissors. Be sure to cut on the corners all the way down to your 3.5 inch mark (up from the bottom.)

5) Now cut out your arches.

6) Fold your sides down at the 3.5 inch marks.

7) Sew on a nice large button. Just sew it on like you would normally sew a button. We chose our favorite side to sew the button onto, centered it, and measured about 1.5 inches down from the top.

8) Wrap a rubber band around the button once tightly and use it to cinch down your little snack box.

You’re done! Enjoy your snack box. I use mine to hold apple slices, or home made crackers, nuts, whatever I can find in our pantry for a school snack. And it’s really easy to wash out!

Wine Cork Pot Lid Grips

February 1, 2016February 1, 2016 / Liesl Clark / 9 Comments

No Need for Potholders © Liesl Clark

Wine Cork Pot Lid Grips: Lift off hot pot lids with your fingers! Simple wine cork-stuffed handles mean no need for pot holders around the stove. Cram the corks tightly into the handle of your pot lid and you’ll never need to remove them again.

Those are my 10-year-old’s fingers, lifting a hot pot. © Liesl Clark

They’re dishwasher and sink-washing safe, too! Smart. Easy.

20 Banana Peel Uses

January 27, 2016April 19, 2017 / Liesl Clark / 4 Comments

The banana peel, like coffee grounds, tea leaves, and orange peels has a lot of beneficial qualities that’ll make you think twice the next time you toss it in the trash. We’ve gathered 20 of the best banana peel uses for you to try:

1) Shoe Polish: Did you know banana peels (on the inside) make a great shoe polish? Just rub it around your shoe and then buff it with a soft cloth.

2) Teeth Whitener: Rub the inside of your banana peel on your teeth to whiten them. Apparently, the manganese, magnesium and potassium helps whiten the enamel of your teeth.

3) Wart Cure: It only takes 1-2 weeks to remove a wart with a banana peel.

4) Itch Soother: Banana peels can help relieve bug bites and poison ivy. It won’t remove the oils that cause the itching but it’ll soothe the bite or rash altogether.

5) Monkey Party: Have a Curious George party and put 30 peels on your deck for the kids to slip around on! (Just kidding.)

6) Silverware Polish: Blend banana peel with water and use on your silver to take the tarnish off with a soft cloth.

7) Meat tenderizer: Some people add a banana peel to their roast and it’ll add just enough moisture to ensure that roast doesn’t get too dry.

8) Splinter Removal: Banana peels help ease splinters out of your skin. Place banana peel on a splinter with athletic tape for a while and then try to ease the splinter out.

9) Aphid Control: Aphids don’t like banana peels. If you bury some around your roses or other plants aphids love (like cauliflower), you’ll deter them from coming around.

10) Rose Food: Here are a few great recipes for feeding your roses with banana peels that are rich in calcium and magnesium, as well as many other trace minerals that your flowers love.

11) Bruise Patrol: Banana peels on the inside, if rubbed on a bruise, will aid in making it disappear.

12) Compost: Banana peels break down pretty quickly and add wonderful nutrients to your soil. Throw them in your compost!

13) Acne: Banana peels rubbed on your acne will help in the acne curing process.

14) Dry Skin Cure: If you have psoriasis, try rubbing the inside of a banana peel on your affected areas twice a day and you’ll see the dry scaly skin dissipate.

15) Banana Boat Campfire Dessert: This recipe will please all who are sitting around the campfire.

16) Hemorrhoid Cure: Yup, you guessed it. As with acne, banana peels help cure hemorrhoids.

17) Banana Peel Message: Leave a message for your child on their banana peel by pricking out letters with a toothpick, the skin will bruise and there will be a dark brown message for your sweetie by lunchtime.

18) Tomato Plant Fertilizer: Wrap a banana peel around your tomato starts when you plant them in the garden and they’ll enjoy the nutrients from the peel as they grow throughout the summer.

19) Banana Peel Steamed Pork and Rice: Try this recipe out for size.

20) Anti Depressant: Researchers have found that drinking boiled banana peel water (or juicing the peel) can ease depression.

What are you doing with your banana peels?