stuffed peppers

ingredients:
32 oz organic beef broth
6 large sweet peppers (all colors), tops removed, cleaned
2 lbs free range ground beef
4 cloves crushed garlic
1/2 red onion, chopped

instructions:
1. add broth to crock pot, arrange peppers "standing up," ladle some broth into each pepper, cover, and turn on high.

2. heat olive oil on medium-high heat, saute garlic and onions

3. brown the beef, along with the onions/garlic

4. fill each pepper with the hot beef/onion/garlic mixture. baste with broth. cover and continue to cook on high.

5. bast with broth 1-2 times per hour, for 3-4 hours.

6. serve and enjoy :)

soupy beef stew

i enjoy making soups quite a bit (and will try to do better at sharing those recipes here)! as for my beef "stew," the ingredients are all stew, but i have yet to deal with thickening the broth, and hence it ends up a bit soupy!

CROCK POT version.

ingredients:
32 ounces of beef broth
2 lbs stewing beef (browned, if you prefer - i don't bother)
6 parsnips, peeled and cubed
6 turnips, peeled and cubed
2 cups of carrots (peeled and cubed)

instructions:
1. place broth, beef, and vegetables into the crock pot on "high"

2. once at a boil, allow to boil for 30 minutes

3. reduce to "low" for an hour or two

*usually takes 4-5 hours total. i suppose you could leave it on low all day while you go to work so that you have an instant dinner when you return home, but i have yet to verify that!

*vatiations:
a. add (cooked) noodles (brown rice noodles are gluten free) at the end.
b. add a cooked grain (millet, brown rice, quinoa)

homemade cleaning products

while cleaning products aren't exactly delectable edibles, they are most easily formulated in one's kitchen :) and hence i have chosen to share my adventures in making and using them here on this blog.

my aunt-in-law bought the book the naturally clean home for me. i have made several recipes thus far, and will share them, and an assessment of them, later. i'd like to dedicate this blog to the supplies i have procured thus far and the costs of each. i was happily surprised to find that most supplies are super cheap!!!

dr. bronner's castile soap (tea tree) $11.99
20 mule team borax (4 lb) $4.29
arm & hammer washing soda (3 lb) $2.89
arm & hammer baking soda (2 lb) $1.99
lavender essential oil* (1 oz) $10
lemongrass essential oil* (2 oz) $7
lemon essential oil (1 oz) $5.89

*bought some of the essential oils a while back, and don't recall the prices with certainty. and, while it may seem expensive to pay several dollars or more per ounce, the quantity really does go a long way. many formulas require only several to twenty drops of an essential oil... they last forever!!

i still need to find soap flakes and/or glycerin in order to make the laundry detergent that i have in mind.

i bought the essential oils at a local natural foods store. the other agents were available at the chain grocery store. surely whole foods and such places would carry dr. bronners products.

i also picked up some spray bottles and small plastic buckets with lids at home depot. the dollar store has spray bottles as well, for half the price of what i paid at home depot. as for the buckets - i bought 1/2 gallon buckets for < $1 each, and lids to go with them, also less then $1 each. these are good for storing powder formulas, such as those for laundry detergent, dishwasher detergent, etc.

and with that i will close for now. stay tuned for some recipes and adventures in using them!