Bugs Be Gone

I got this email the other day so thought I would share the recipes for making natural bug repellents.

NATURAL INSECT REPELLENT
Recipe #1: 10 drops Peppermint, 10 drops Tea Tree,
5 drops Lemongrass

Recipe #2: 5 drops Peppermint, 10 drops, 5 drops Lavender,
5 drops Cedarwood

Mix chosen essential oil recipe in 2 oz spray bottle of water. Shake and spray on liberally. You must shake the bottle each time you use it, oil & water naturally separate. Re apply as often as needed.

Use recipe of choice in your sunscreen (natural choice please) or keep 
it simple and just add 1 drop of Peppermint to your  
sunscreen and apply. Sunscreen and insect repellent combined!

Other tips:
DEET (N,N-diethyl-3-methylbenzamide)   is a potent neurotoxin that you 
want to stay away from. If you absolutely had to use it, it should only be 
used on your clothing, never on your skin. It is far too deadly to ever 
consider using it on your skin.

Other mosquito deterring treatments: Don't eat bananas during mosquito 
season--mosquitoes love bananas! There is something about how your
body processes the banana oil that attracts these female
sugar-loving insects.

 INSECT BITES: Apply lavender, peppermint or Tea Tree Oil for 
 instant relief of itch and swelling.

Bye Bye Grass....

I love grass, but really it has no purpose. I am by no means saying to tear out grass and lay down concrete, quite the opposite, rip out the grass and use the land you have. I can't eat off my 'land' (even if it is a small city plot!) with all that grass. Every square inch of the backyard is accounted for, between kids, dog and summer bbq's, there is absolutely no room for a garden. I really wanted to plant a garden, to see what I could grow, to let my kids see what food looks like when it grows, and best of all to make and enjoy a meal made from the food! So, with the backyard used, I turned to our front yard! We have quite a deep from yard, and the grass/weed combination needs to be worked on anyways. I tore out a good chunk of grass and we planted a variety of tomatos, red peppers, dill cucumbers, and basil. If all goes well, much more of the grass will be going next year!

digging

and more digging....
helpingplaying (with worms!)
growing

stay tuned.....

Stove Top Popcorn

I love making popcorn. It is so easy and fun to make and the kids love it! We don't have a microwave but it does not mean we can't use the stove top. Here are the directions of how I make the perfect stove top popcorn....
3 tbsp grapeseed oil (or any high temp. burning oil)
1/3 cup of corn kernels (i get organic from the health food store)
a mdm/large pot

Heat the oil on mdm/high and put 3-4 kernels in the pot with the oil and cover the pot.
When these kernels pop, take the pot off the burner and add the rest of the 1/3 cup and let it stand off the burner for 30 seconds. Then put the pot back on the heat and gently shake the pot back and forth allowing kernels to pop. You can open the lid a crack on and off to let some steam out. When the popping slows down (it is less than a minute), take it off the heat and give it a few seconds to finish popping, then dump into a bowl. Season with salt, if desired!

Using this method the popcorn never burns and there may be 3 kernels that don't pop!

Enjoy!!

Cherry Blossoms

We went to the cherry blossom festival in high park yesterday. I've never been before and with the tragedy that happened in Japan a few months ago, I wanted to go and see the cherry blossoms well known in Japan, called sakura. It was really beautiful and you should try to get to high park to see them. We met some friends, ate lots of food and watched the kids run and play. When asking Aidan what his favorite part, he said chasing Brian and Bella's was riding the choo choo train. Mine was sitting with friends under the beautiful blossoms.