Homemaker Gone Natural

…live life naturally!


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Pasta Noodles

Yes, pasta noodles.  With this recipe that I found here, I make my lasagna noodles, multi-purpose broad noodles and really thin noodles I use as spaghetti.  It was way easier than I thought making my own pasta would be.

     Pasta Noodles

  • 2 1/3 c whole wheat flour (I milled a combo of hard red, hard white and soft white for this)
  • 1/2 sea salt
  • 2 eggs (beaten)
  • 1/3 cup water
  • 1 t olive oil

Mix flour and salt together in a large mixing bowl.  Make a large pit in the mixture.  Pour your beaten eggs into the pit then add the water and oil.  Stir until the ingredients are all combined.  Put on well floured surface and knead.  Begin rolling out dough with a floured rolling pin.  If the dough begins to stick to your surface, just lift it up and sprinkle more flour under.  Once dough is about 1/8″ in thickness or less, cut with knife or pizza cutter into desired shape.  Photo below was from my lasagna noodles. 1 recipe of this dough made enough for exactly one 3 layered lasagna in a 9×13 dish.

 


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Salmon Patties

I am not a huge fish fan, BUT I will eat tuna and sometimes salmon.  This salmon patty recipe is one of my favorite ones so far.

      Salmon Patties

  • 14 oz salmon (wild caught)
  • 1 egg (free range)
  • 1/2 cup bread crumbs (I save from my fresh milled bread)
  • 1 t worcestershire sauce (use a good quality one with natural ingredients)
  • olive oil for frying

In a bowl mix together all ingredients.  Heat small amount of oil in a skillet on med-low.  Grab golf ball sized amount  of salmon and pat it into a flat patty and place into skillet cook 5-7 min turning once, you just want a nice brown crusting to form on each side.

 


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Homemade Natural Dish Liquid

This is what I use when I hand wash my dishes:

  • 1/2 c liquid castile soap ( I use Dr Bronners Castile Soap )
  • 1/8 c water
  • 4 drops essential oil scent of choice (I often use Peppermint, if you aren’t using the vodka, I would choose an oil that is disinfecting)
  • 1 t Vodka (you can omit this if you choose not to have this in your home)*
I shook it up a little to show you just how sudsy this could be 🙂

*Changed Vinegar to Vodka because Dr. Bronners brand suggests never mixing vinegar and castile soap… I figure they probably know what they are talking about 😉


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Lasagna

I made this recipe with noodles I made following this recipe, making them from my fresh milled wheat.

     Lasagna

  •     1 batch lasagna noodles
  •     1 lb ground beef { grass fed of course }
  • ≈  1 lb Ricotta cheese
  • ≈ 1/2 lb Mozzarella cheese, shredded
  • ≈ 6 oz Cheddar cheese, shredded { I use raw if available or hormone/antibiotic free at least }
  •     1 jar spaghetti sauce
  •      garlic powder, italian seasoning, minced onion to taste
  •     1 1/2 T olive oil

Cook noodles in boiling water or broth for 20-25, I add about 2 Tablespoons of olive oil to it to keep them from sticking.  Brown ground beef adding garlic powder, italian seasoning and minced onion for added flavor.  Add in spaghetti sauce (if you are not cooking with grass fed/clean meat, you will need to drain first then return to skillet) and simmer for 5-10 min.  Layer noodles, then 1/3 sauce mix, then half of the ricotta and half of the mozzarella, repeat, then last layer is noodles, remaining sauce mix, and the cheddar.  Top with the olive oil drizzled across the top and sprinkle with italian seasoning.  Bake at 350º for approx 35min.  Serve with garlic bread.. yum.


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Sausage and Egg Puff

Sausage and Egg Puffs

  • 6  eggs, beaten
  • 1lb. sausage browned and drained (I used chicken, free-range)
  • 1 c biscuit baking mix (I use my quick mix)
  • 1 c Shredded Raw cheddar cheese
  • 1 3/4 – 2 c Milk (I used almond)
  • 1 t dry mustard
  • 1/2 t dried oregano

Mix all ingredients. Cover and refrigerate.

Heat oven to 350º.  Pour mixture into greased 2 quart casserole dish.  Bake until knife inserted in center comes out clean approx. 1 hour.

I served with salsa over top.

 sausage egg puff

 

 


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Chicken Pot Pie – Whole Wheat

Chicken pot pies have always been a favorite in my house, but I used to make them with the pre-made pie crusts, all the canned (non organic) veggies, Campbell’s cream of chicken soup and canned chicken meat even.  Since we have went with trying to reduce canned stuffs and eating more natural/clean/organic I have pretty much given up on the Chicken Pot Pie phase of our life until I found this recipe at heavenlyhomemakers.com.  I decided to give it a whirl and this was my result:

Before typing up the recipe, I just want to make note that my oldest (boy-17) took a few bites and said ‘I like this, I mean even if we weren’t eating organic, I would ask for this again, I really really like it’

So, this is a huge keeper for me. Here is what I do:

Chicken Pot Pie

  • 6 cups free range organic chicken broth
  • 2 cups cooked free range chicken torn into bite size pieces
  • 5 handfuls (yep that’s an accurate measurement) of organic baby carrots cut up
  • 6 medium organic potatoes peeled and diced
  • 2 cups organic frozen peas
  • sea salt and pepper to taste
  • also added dashes(es) of: turmeric, parsley, and italian seasoning
  • 2-3 T arrowroot powder
  • 1 cup milk (I used almond)
  • 1 cup mayonnaise
  • 1 cup whole wheat flour (I milled soft white for this)

In a large pot, boil the broth, chicken, carrots, potatoes, and peas until veggies are tender.  Mix arrowroot powder with water until smooth.  Stir mixture into the broth/chicken/veggies, cooking for about a minute longer on the stove to help thicken.  Pour contents into a 9×13 (or larger as mine did want to spill a little) baking dish.

 In separate bowl mix milk, mayo and flour (may decrease milk a pinch or increase flour a pinch). Spread mixture over top the broth and veggies.  (yes, it will be runny)

 Bake in 350º oven for 45min.

Delicious!!!

*Edited 4/17/13 To note variations:

I used 8 T arrowroot powder, mixed it with 1/2 cup milk, 1 T mayo and then enough water to make it the right consistency.  I only seasoned with italian seasonings and  salt and pepper on this one.  The broth was much less runny this way. This is what updated Chicken Pot Pie looked like.

*Edited 6/22/13 To note that for the mayonnaise we use either Spectrum organic or Safflower.

 


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Detox Bath

For making your own detox bath:

  • 1 cup sea salt (salts have different mineral properties based off of where they come from, for an all around benefit of the salts, you can combine several different types to make up your cup)
  • 1 cup epsom salt
  • 2 cups baking soda (aluminum free)
  • 2 tsp glycerin (completely optional, feel free to leave out)
  • several drops of your favorite essential oil.  (Ravensara and Verbena have detoxing qualities. I used 5-6 drops Ravensara, 15-20 drops Lemon and 15-25 drops Lavender)

Stir well and store in a well sealed glass jar.  Don’t forget to label it!  When ready to use your detox mixture, add 1 cup apple cider vinegar and 1/4 cup of your detox mix to comfortably warm water.  Not too hot because it may dry out your skin and make you feel tired. Until you are used to the detoxing effects, I recommend only soaking 10 minutes the first time.  Although you can use this as often as you like, I would recommend starting at no more than 2/week for the first few weeks.


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Chili-Basic Recipe

Chili is something I make ALL the time, and I can guarantee you, I have not made it the same 2 times in a row.  The basics are the same but chili is so easy to add your own personal variations to, that you can have lots of fun with making it your own. Oh yeah, and remember, I use organic ingredients and my beef is grass fed.

Jen’s Chili

  • 32 oz tomato juice
  • 30-60 oz chili beans (2-4 cans)
  • 2 lbs ground beef  (I will reduce to 1lb when the budget is a lil tight){grass-fed}
  • 1 onion diced
  • 1 green pepper diced
  • 1/2-1 t   dry mustard
  • 1/2-1 t   turmeric
  • 1-2    t   cumin
  • 2-4    t   chili powder
  • 1-2    t   garlic powder
  • 1/2-1 t   black pepper

Fry up your beef with the peppers, onions and half of the garlic powder.  Combine this and remaining ingredients in crockpot and cook for 4 hours on high or in a pot on stove and simmer on low for 2 hours.

 


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Homemade Basic Bread Recipe

This is my basic go to bread recipe.  I occasionally will switch things up or make variations, I will post some of those later.

Basic Bread

  • 1 1/2 c hot water
  • 1/3 c extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/3 c raw honey
  • 2 t sea salt
  • 1 free range egg
  • 4-4 1/2 c freshly milled flour (I mill 1 1/3 cups hard red wheat and 1 1/3 cups hard white wheat)
  • 1 T dry active yeast

Put ingredients in order I have them listed into your bread machine making sure to mound and crater your flour for your yeast.  Set your machine to desired settings and viola! Bread. 🙂

 

 


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Homemade Powder Laundry Detergent

After using the Homemade liquid laundry detergent and liking it, I wanted to give the powdered a try just for a comparison.  I will let you know which I like better after more washes.

     Powder Laundry Detergent

  • 1 bar natural soap (I used Tom’s Sensitive)
  • 1 c Borax
  • 1 c Washing soda
  • essential oils of your choice (6-8 drops)

Grate soap, add powders, mix.  hmmmm simple enough but well, who likes that?  So, I made this x5, and the last cup of washing soda I had to replace with 1 cup baking soda, because I ran out…… oops!  Also I added about 30-40 drops of Peppermint before I stirred it all up just to give it a nice ahhhhhhh smell, my kids really like the peppermint.

Enjoy!

Purchase pre-made HERE