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Category: Organic Lifestyle

  • How To Make Calendula Salve

    How To Make Calendula Salve

    Calendula has amazing medicinal properties, and is commonly used in salves & tea’s. Aside from its amazing medicinal properties, the blooms are beautiful and abundant throughout the growing season. In fact, calendula has to be one of my favorite plants to grow, because it’s so easy to maintain & the blooms are endless! By pinching the tops of your flowering stems, you’ll get twice as many flowers, and when the season is over collect the seeds by removing husks or pods and store in a brown paper bag away from any moisture.

    Calendula is easy to grow and should be planted after your last frost date. Calendula is an edible flower and will continue to provide new blooms as you harvest them. This encourages the plant to create more branches around the base, increasing the amount of flowering stems. Fertilizing will also help extend your blooming season.

    If your looking for a more in-depth guide, check out Bloom- A Flower Seed Starting Guide. This guide is designed to help you succeed in growing beautiful blooms! Covering annuals, biennials, perennials, bulbs and tubers.

    Harvesting your blooms is really simple. Pinch just under the head of the flower/bloom and place the flowers face down on a drying rack or counter top to dry. Allow them to completely dry at room temperature or on low within a dehydrator. Be sure your flowers are completely dry before storing them together or they will mold. Once you have enough blooms you can begin to process of making Calendula Salve.

    CALENDULA INFUSED OIL

    • 1 half pint (8 oz) jar of dried calendula flowers (*Note: you want to use the whole flower)
    • 1/3 cup olive oil
    • 1/3 cup coconut oil
    • 1/3 cup sweet almond oil or vitamin E oil
    1. Pinch just under the head of the flower/bloom and place the flowers head down on a drying rack or counter top. Allow them to completely dry at room temperature or on low within a dehydrator. Be sure your flowers are completely dry before storing them together or they will mold.
    2. Fill 1 half pint (8 0z) jar with calendula flowers. Cover them with olive, coconut(melted), and sweet almond or vitamin E oil.
    3. Store calendula infused oil in a pantry or dark place for 2-4 weeks.
    4. Strain the flowers.

    CALENDULA SALVE

    • 6 half pint jars of calendula infused oil, strained
    • 5 oz beeswax pellets
    • 5 oz refined shea butter
    1. You’ll be creating a double boiler- Bring a large pot of water to a simmer. Place a stainless steel or glass bowl inside the pot of bowling water.
    2. Fully dissolve the beeswax and calendula infused oil, stirring occasionally.
    3. Add the refined shea butter and stir until it’s completely dissolved.
    4. Let cool for just a few minutes before handling the hot bowl. Carefully pour the mixture into 4 oz jars or back into your 8 oz jars. This recipe makes approximately 12- 4 oz jars or 6- 8 oz jars.
    Download the recipe here!
  • How To Make Zucchini Chips

    How To Make Zucchini Chips

    How to make dehydrated zucchini chips.

    Dehydrating food from your garden, farmers market or grocery store lets you preserve it at its best flavor, lowest cost and prevents waste.

    This year I decided to grow zucchini even though I wasn’t a fan of them. I have learned that I am way more likely to eat vegetables I normally wouldn’t, if I grow them myself. I knew that the rest of my family wouldn’t help me eat them so instead of sautéing or baking them, I tested them in my dehydrator as chips and they quickly became a hit!

    This post contains affiliate links, which means I make a small commission at no extra cost to you.

    dehydrating zucchini chips, how to dry zucchini, zucchini chips

    How to dehydrate zucchini chips?

    • Slice and place them directly on your dehydrator rack.
    • Slice and place them on paper or kitchen towels to absorb moisture.
    • Slice and coat with olive oil & vinegar. Then place on your dehydrator rack. Optional salt.
    • My favorite: Slice and sprinkle with salt. Mix your slices in a colander, so that they are all evenly coated with the salt. Place a pan underneath to catch the water and place in the fridge for up to 3 hours. Coat with olive oil and vinegar and then place them on dehydrator rack.

    Set your dehydrator to the fruits and vegetable setting (135 F) and cook overnight 12-15 hours, depending on your preference.

    PIN IT FOR LATER!!!

  • Pumpkin Bars

    Pumpkin Bars

    A tasty fall treat my family likes to call pumpkin bars.

    As a kid, I never liked pumpkin pie. I think it was the mushiness that resembled baby food, I couldn’t get past. The only pumpkin recipe I could handle where these pumpkin bars my mom would make every year. I couldn’t wait until the colder months.

    Fall is my favorite season. I love the cool cozy weather it brings, the endless treats and of course my birthday. I think my favorite reason for loving the season is how it brings people together. I have watched so many people come together to make a beautiful dinner. Each family making a favorite past time recipe and showing up for one another. Whether they are family, friends or kind strangers.. I’ve watched so many connect over food.

    Pumpkin bars have always been our go to treat to bring to a friends house, once fall arrives. They quickly become a hit and for most of the gathering I’m texting the recipe to everyone who has asked for it.

    My favorite part about pumpkin bars is the texture. If you don’t love pumpkin pie, but crave a pumpkin treat this fall, try this recipe. I know it will quickly become your new favorite reason to love fall.

    They’re moist like a sweet cake and have the perfect pumpkin flavor. Add the cream cheese frosting, whether homemade or bought and your hooked! Top with walnuts, pecans or cinnamon if you like or let the pumpkin bars and cream cheese frosting speak for itself. Either way, I know you can’t deny this tasty fall treat!

    Download the recipe here!

    A-pumpkin-bar-recipeDownload

    PIN IT FOR LATER!!!

  • How To Use Up Extra Garden Tomatoes

    How To Use Up Extra Garden Tomatoes

    Do you have more tomatoes than you know what to do with? Today I am sharing how I use up extra garden tomatoes.

    With summer comes tomatoes and lots of them.

    If your like me and don’t necessarily like eating tomatoes straight from the garden or you have way more than you can eat, then this post is for you.

    This post contains affiliate links, which means I make a small commission at no extra cost to you.

    I had so many tomatoes, I couldn’t give them away fast enough.

    Each day I was getting bowls full. I started giving them away, but I still had so many in the fridge I knew I couldn’t eat. Knowing nothing about how to make spaghetti or marianna sauce, I thought what about sun dried tomatoes! That’s pretty simple and they’re delicious.

    I pulled out my dehydrator and the bowls full of tomatoes from the fridge, then began slicing away. I found myself walking out to the garden looking for more. More tomatoes, more herbs, searching for anything else to add to the dehydrator.

    It couldn’t be more simple.

    Slice small tomatoes in half, medium tomatoes in fourths, and larger tomatoes in six or eight slices. Be sure to slice the tomatoes evenly so they each dry in the same amount of time. Place tomatoes on dehydrator wracks, sprinkle with salt, pepper if you’d like, and top with fresh herbs of choice. I used rosemary and added halved garlic cloves.

    Allow tomatoes to fully dry on the “fruit and vegetable” setting overnight or up to 24 hours. Store in a plastic ziplock bag/air tight container up to 6 months or in the fridge with olive oil for 2 weeks. Canning is another option that will give you a longer shelf life.

    PIN IT FOR LATER!

    As summer is quickly coming to an end and the thought of warm bread and hot soups enter my mind, I decided it was a good idea to pick some bay leaves to add to the dehydrator too. Now I’m on a dehydrator kick!

    What will you add to your dehydrator next?