Are you ready for it? Chai Tea Latte Mix!

I love a good chai tea latte. I don't love the $6 price tag at the local coffee shop, the heavy syrup flavor in the ready-made mixes, or leaving the house when it's cold outside to go get one.

I invite you to add some heat to this recipe with a dash of cayenne pepper or a vietnamese cinnamon - delish! Throw on your favorite slippers, a winter diffuser blend, grab a book and sip your latte.

What you'll need: 

-food processor (very important or your chai tea will be chunky and funky, instead of smooth - I like small appliances that are multi-purpose, like this one)

-large airtight container 

-1 c powdered plain non-dairy coffee creamer

-1 c french vanilla flavored non-dairy coffee creamer

-1 c nonfat dry powdered milk 

-2 1/2 c white sugar 

-1 1/2 c unsweetened instant tea

-2 t ground ginger

-2 t ground cinnamon (my flavor fave is vietnamese cinnamon - it makes a difference!) 

-2 t ground cardamom (yummay)

-1 t ground cloves (yes! love my cloves!) 

Directions: 

Stir dry ingredients together in a large bowl until all ingredients are combined. Process half of the mixture in a food processor until the granules are fine and the mixture has a smooth texture. (Generally, this batch is a little too large to put through the food processor all at once, unless you have the mother of all food processors). Store your chai tea latte mix in an airtight container in a cool, dry place (you don't want all of that deliciousness sticking together!)

To enjoy: 

I have found this tastes best when you put 2 tablespoons of the mix into an 8 ounce cup first, then add piping hot water and stir well. Top with whipped cream. Add a dash of cinnamon and you're set! 

Homemade Aromatherapy Play Dough

Are the kids driving you nuts yet?

One of the early lessons I learned is to collect crafty things and stash them, so we have something to do during the winter months. This is especially helpful now that we're in the season when school is canceled due to winter weather. A few days at home staring each other down will usually do you in!

Home made play dough with essential oils is a fabulous way to keep the people smelling great and keep them busy.

What you'll need: 
-1 1/2 cups of flour
-2 T oil (extra virgin olive oil works well)
-1/2 cup salt
-2 t cream of tartar
-1 cup boiling water (add food coloring to the water before pouring the water in)
-food coloring
-5 drops kid friendly essential oil

If you're living the gluten free adventure, try this recipe instead: 
-2 cups gluten free flour
-2 T oil
-1/2 cup salt
-2 T cream of tartar
-1 1/2 cups boiling water (add food coloring to the water before pouring the water in)
-food coloring
-5 drops kid friendly essential oil

Directions for both: 
Mix flour, salt, cream of tartar and oil in a large bowl. Slowly add the water to the mixing bowl. Stir or fold in the ingredients with the water until the mixture forms a slightly sticky dough. Fold the dough into a ball and remove it from the bowl. Knead the dough to remove any lumps and bumps. Add essential oils and knead to mix the oil in. Keep your play dough in an airtight container to store.

Note: You can wait to add the food coloring until after the dough is made. Grab some plastic gloves and knead the food coloring into the dough before adding the essential oils. 

Kid friendly* essential oil ideas: peppermint, lemon, wild orange, rosemary, lavender



*Omit the use of essential oils for kids under 2 who are still exploring the world one mouth at a time.

Red Beans and Rice

If there is one thing that I am not and wish I was, it is a southern cook. The family has a hankerin' for hot stuff most of the time and I tend to stick to my good old German Russian/Scandinavian bland food. Every now and then I get a crazy idea and try something new.

Like that one time, I bought lots 'o small red beans.

One would think that dry beans are easy to cook with. Uh, no. Not for this northerner. We do tubers, but beans, well... Leading a gluten free life has to start somewhere!

I've played around with this recipe a little bit. If there's a spice missing that you adore in your red beans and rice, it's pretty safe to add it to this mix.

A few things I've learned, when playing around with this recipe:
-You can use ham or andouille sausage, both taste great
-You can add a few more spices or a little more heat, depending on what you can handle
-If you have food allergies, you can sub out Worchestershire Sauce for soy sauce, add 1/8 t brown sugar and 1/8 t ground mustard too
-I may or may not have tossed a little rosemary in to my pot for good measure
-White rice is so much better than brown rice in this dish
-Day 2 = yum also
-mash a few of the beans up a little when you add the meat if you want a mushier consistency

What you'll need: 

• 1 lb small red beans - I like to soak the beans for 4ish hours, but they will lose color if you soak them for too long (lots 'o small red beans)
• 1 lb Andouille sausage or cooked ham, chopped
• 8 cups chicken stock 
• 1 ham hock
• 2 T olive oil 
• 1 chopped green pepper (red if you'd rather that flavor instead) 
• 3-4 stalks of celery, chopped
• 1 large yellow or white onion, chopped
• 4 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 4 gloves of garlic, minced
• 1 t ground black pepper
• 1 t salt
• 1 t oregano (our most favorite spices)
• 1 t thyme
• 1/2 t smoked paprika (yep, it's a thing! substitute 1/2 t paprika with a pinch of cumin)
• 1/2 t cayenne pepper (this is optional, add a pinch or two more if you like the heat)
• 4 bay leaves
• 1 T tabasco sauce or other hot sauce (Yay! Tabasco has no gluten ingredients!) 
• 6 cups prepared white rice 

Making mouths happy: 

1. Cook the mirepoix and peppers, along with the salt and pepper, oregano and thyme, in a large pot in the olive oil until just tender (low medium, 5-7 minutes). Add the garlic and cook for another minute.
2. Add chicken stock, tabasco sauce, smoked paprika, cayenne, ham hocks, and beans. Heat on high, stir until boiling. Once boiling, decrease the heat to simmer. Cover and cook on a slow simmer for 2 1/2 hours, stirring every 15-20 minutes. 
3. Chop Andouille sausage or cooked ham in to bean sized pieces. If using sausage, brown the sausage near the end of the 2 1/2 hour simmer. (No need to brown if using cooked ham). 
4. Add the meat to the beans. Cook at a high simmer for 30 minutes. 
5. Remove ham hock and bay leaves before serving. 
6. Serve over white rice. 
7. Add extra yum with cheddar cheese or sour cream to your liking if you need to bring the heat down a notch! 

Simple Salve

I'm going to let you in on a little secret: one of my favorite ways to use essential oils is in a salve. It's moisturizing for the skin, creates a protective barrier, and helps us heal without harsh chemicals and alcohols that dry out our skin.

Plain salves with ingredients that we can count on are hard to come by, even with added essential oils. Before I use something on my already sensitive skin, I want to be sure that the oils are pure and the therapeutic value is high.

This ain't no easy thing...

We tried all sorts of products, before we figured out how to make our own salve. It is quite possibly the best deep skin moisturizer ever! You can change up the oils in the ingredients to support allergies, too. We use it on the itchiest, dry, cracked skin. When we haven't been able to get other remedies to work, this salve has done the trick every time.

If you've tried my miracle salve, you know.

Even your dry, cracked, flaky flip flop feet will come out feeling smooth. What I love the most about this salve is that I can add any essential oil to it and put it anywhere on my body. Dare I say, it's edible. Use some common sense here. Don't eat the salve. That's just wrong.

We store our big batches in glass jars - mason jars, jelly jars, etc. Keep it neat and you can melt it down any time to add an essential oil to it.

Here's how we make it: 

• Fill a sauce pan 1/4-1/3 full of water on medium heat on the stove. It's important not to crank the heat, because you don't want your oils to burn (stinky!) and you need even melting. 
• Place a glass measuring cup in the water and add the ingredients to the measuring cup - the beeswax takes extra time to melt completely. Be sure all of the oils and the beeswax have melted together, or your salve will be chunky and/or grainy. 
• After all ingredients are melted together, carefully remove the measuring cup from the pan.

You'll need: 

• 1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil (any is fine, the lighter the scent of your olive oil, the less you will pick up on that scent in the salve) or sweet almond oil 
• 1/4 cup coconut oil 
• 3T beeswax pellets (white beeswax pellets or yellow beeswax pellets - both function the same) 
• 2T shea butter
• Optional: essential oils of your preference (we love these ones) 

Pour the salve in to the containers that you want to store them in before it starts to set. If you're adding essential oil, do that right away, by stirring the essential oil in to the mixture. Then, pour the final magic in to the storage container to allow the salve to cool and set.

The salve will look something like this when you're done. Your salve may come out a little darker, depending on the depth of color in the olive oil or beeswax you use.  

Words to the wise: 

Beeswax may give you a bit of a challenge when cleaning your measuring cup. It's helpful to fill the measuring cup up with warm water and dish soap right away, to keep the mixture from hardening in your measuring cup.

If you're a herb or flower lover, infused olive oil works well too. (I have not tried store bought, but have infused with fresh herbs and plants. 

You can melt this down in the microwave, though you will get a grainier texture that you won't like in the salve. Heating the oils in the microwave also breaks them down and can create a cooked scent (not good when mixing with essential oils). No one wants to smell like Thanksgiving Turkey!