Recipe: Cobbler

I recently bought some “canning” peaches at the Farmer’s Market, they were a little past their prime, perfect for jam. Instead of jam, I made cobbler! I love making cobbler using Robert’s great Aunt’s recipe. If you are needing a bare bones, super simple yet delicious recipe, this is the one!!

Aunt Bessie’s Cobbler

4 cups fruit (I love peaches & blueberries mixed)

3 T melted butter

1 c flour

1 c sugar

3 T sugar with 1/4 tsp cinnamon (for sprinkling on top)

2 teaspoon baking powder

2/3 c milk

Melt the butter and pour into square pan, I use 9×9 (it ends up pretty thin in a 9×9)

Then mix flour, sugar, baking powder and milk – pour over the butter. Then add your fruit. Fruit should be cut up is necessary (obviously). Then spring 3 Tablespoons of sugar with 1/4 tsp cinnamon on top

Bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees.

I have made this with blackberries, blueberries, peaches and mixed options as well.

My favorite is to make it in a 9×13 – I double everything and add about 8 cups of fruit, give or take. It ends up a great thickness. You can always add more fruit to make the square plan thicker.

Hope you enjoy!!

Laundry Detergent

In 2010 a woman came into my life that had a profound impact on me.  She was younger than me, and at the time had two adorable little girls.  We spent many afternoons that summer at her apartment pool.  Her family introduced us to Aldi, as her husband was the manage.  Sweet memories.

Those are not the memories that stand out the most though!  Kimberlie inspired me to ask questions.  She showed me how to dig into things and find out what was going on behind the scenes.  Specifically she told me about a website that you can look up your person care items (face cream, body wash, etc) to see how toxic it was.  WHAT?

Stop the presses!  Toxic body care products?  Ugh!

My youngest son was about 6 during this season, and he had what we called allergry induced asthma.  Not sever.  He did not have frequent issues, but enough to realize something was not right.  When I started doing some research I realized that he might be reacting to some of the things in our house; that we were bringing in toxins that were impacting him.  (soaps, candles, etc.)

So I looked up body wash, laundry detergent, and more.  That was when I started a no-poo approach to my hair.  We switched to Dr. Bronner for our body wash and even for hair for the kids.  I stopped using lots of products and replaced many with Coconut Oil! (LOL)

Fast forward to 2018, I am still no-poo.  We primarily use goat milk soap now.  Soap that I make, with ingredients that are safe.  As far as household cleaners, we use Theives cleaner and several shaklee products.  Rarely do we bring in traditional cleaners.

Most of all though, we stopped using normal detergents, for a couple of reasons.  The smell in our laundry lasted forever, but I realized that it should not.  Detergents contain phthalates, to extend the scent, and these are not good for our health.  Not to mention the price to wash laundry for 6 people!!

So I make my own.  I have done this for many years, not sure how many.  We have used a thick paste like product, until our new washer did not fully dissolve it.  Now we use a powder that I mix up in a bucket about every 2.5 months.  This recipe leaves no scent (a good thing to our family) and it seems to clean things just fine.  My boys work at the feed store and come home stinky and dirty and their clothes come out clean.

Something I read about house hold detergents :

Laundry detergents. These products contain enzymes (as noted by the names “cationic,” “anionic” or “non-ionic” on the label) to loosen stains and ground-in dirt. Cationic detergents are the most toxic when taken internally. Ingestion can result in nausea, vomiting, shock, convulsions and coma. “Non-ionic” detergents are less toxic but can irritate skin and eyes or make you more sensitive to other chemicals. Asthma can develop if a person is exposed to large quantities of detergent. Detergents are also responsible for many household poisonings from accidental swallowing.

So just another reason we do what we do.  Since 2010 I have taken baby step after baby step to clean our environment, clean our bathrooms and laundry room – eliminating toxins everywhere.

So the recipe I use is the following :

1~ 4lb 12 oz box of Borax

1~ 4 lb box of Arm And Hammer Baking Soda

1~ 3 lb 7 oz box of Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda

3 bars Fels Naptha Soap, grated

If I have ugly goat milk soap, or ends or pieces I will grate those up and add them to our laundry.  I am intentional about not using soap with any coloring, since I do not want to introduce that into our wash water.  But otherwise I use scraps to add to the cleaning power.

Mix all the ingredients in bucket (we have buckets coming out of ears thanks to the soap business).  If you cannot find a bucket to use, you can use a trash bag and then twist the top and mix up the ingredients in your bag.
Try not to breath in over this mixture as borax may or may not be great for your lungs.  I just turn my head when mixing up.

This mixture smells clean, and many people add downey scent things – I avoid all that stuff because it is all toxic – none of it is good for you.  If you want scent added to your clothes, use wool dryer balls (fabric softener sheets are another soap box of mine- lol) and you can add essential oils to the dryer balls – this will give your clothes a soft scent.

I have a large jar that I put the soap in and I use about a tablespoon per load.  This lasts our family about 2-2.5 months depending on how much laundry we go through – or depending on if my kids throw their clean clothes on the floor only to wash again without wearing! (ugh)

I wold encourage you to think different about scents – and realize that those scents can be very dangerous and are not what they seem to be!

Make sure anything you use that is scented has not Phthalates, especially.

Bass Brigades, by Jacob

My son Jacob wanted to share about his Brigade experiences.  I can attest to the changes this camp has had in my son’s behavior and maturity!  I highly recommend these camps – they are amazing!  Now, here is what he has to say:

The Texas Brigades is a wildlife conservation camp, where they teach the cadets leadership skills like public speaking, team building, and how to perform interviews.  At the same time they are also teaching them about wildlife habitat, animal biology, habitat management, and everything in between. There are six different brigades : Bobwhite, Buckskin, Bass, Ranch, Waterfowl, and new this year is Coastal. I have been to Bobwhite which focuses on quail, and recently attended Bass Brigade which focuses on freshwater fish. Each camp focuses on different plants, trees, animals, and habitats and I learned something different at each camp.

Last year was my first year to attend a brigade camp, and I went to Bobwhite as a cadet. Prior to this camp I knew next to nothing about a bobwhite quail. Over the course of a week, I learned all about radio telemetry (tracking animals), habitat needs for quail, firearm safety, and much more.  Some of the activities that they had was a mock stake holder meeting, where each group was assigned a viewpoint to represent and then present their viewpoint in front of a board of representatives; and while at the camp, each cadet designed and assembled a trifold for presentations. I especially enjoyed media training, where we practiced giving radio and television interviews.

While at camp, they told us that we could return as assistant group leaders. The requirement was that you went out into the public and educated people, whether that was thru a speech, or a trifold presentation. To help encourage the cadets to get out and educate, they had an early bird hunt, where if I did ten things before November 1, then I would get a free hunt. I was determined to return to camp, so I completed as many things as I could. I earned the early bird hunt in November, and was able to return to Bobwhite Brigade camp this year.

At camp they have three positions for the youth to perform, cadet, assistant group leader, and special agent. I was a special agent, so my job was to help the whole camp out in any way I could. I helped fill water coolers, run errands, helped cadets work on projects, scored quizzes, and help with the trivia contests. Since I was returning to help out, I attended the camp for free, and I received a scholarship while there. I loved getting to meet new people, and make new friends.

I was especially looking forward to Bass Brigade, and was wondering how it would compare to Bobwhite Brigade. While at camp I learned about fish anatomy, habitat requirements, how to tag and track fish, different casting techniques, and how to make lures. We also practiced fish collection methods like electro-fishing, where we used electric currents to stun the fish for easy collection. I enjoyed the media training, and the stakeholder meeting as well, and it was really neat to see the differences in the camps. I hope to return next year as assistant leader.

Through the Texas Brigades, I have become more confident and sure of myself in front of a group, and I have become a better leader and team builder as well.  If you are interested or know someone who would be you can find all of their information at www.texasbrigades.org, it has all of their contact info, as well as information on all of the camps. The fee for the camp is $500, but scholarships are available, and they encourage you to solicit some or all of your funds from your local soil and water district, wildlife committee, and local outdoor supply stores.

Table for 14

Holy Cow!!  We are about to have 14 people under my roof.  That’s right!  Kristen and her family are coming to visit for 3 nights!  We are so excited to see them, its been 2 years since we saw them last!!

However, feeding 14 is not a small task!!

So when I brought home a box (25lb) of peppers, I figured why not?

I looked up a Paleo Friendly recipe for stuffed peppers and whipped them up and froze them!!

First we grabbed some italian sausage, ground turkey, yellow squash, zucchini, onions and some canned tomatoes.  I browned up the meat, drained it, and while it was draining I sautéed the veggies.  I mixed them all together – in a big bowl, then added the jar of tomatoes.  I did use lots of seasoning.

Then I prepped the peppers.  I cut off the top and took out the seeds & ribs inside the peppers.  Then I boiled them for 3 minutes to get them a little softer and easier to eat.

Took them out and let them cool, and put them in my baking dishes so I knew how many would fit.

Then I filled and covered with foil and froze them.  They are going to be perfect on Wednesday after we spend the morning at the Arboretum playing outside!!I am not sharing a specific recipe, because honestly I would just wing it.  Plus not too many of you will be cooking for 4 adults and 10 kids anytime soon!!

GF Italian Cream Cake

So while we are not 100% gluten free in our home, we try to do it as much as we can.  Fir birthdays we try to find something wonderful but gluten free (GF) since Eli is GF all the time.  So for Anna’s birthday this month we decided to make an Italian Cream Cake with pecans.  But it needed to be GF for Eli, but super yummy for Robert & I since we were starting a WHOLE30 the next day.  We wanted our last dessert to be remorable.

Well, it was!!

Here is the recipe altered (I based it on a recipe on All Recipes)

Ingredients

• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 2 cups white sugar
• 5 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup flaked coconut
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup GF 1:1 Bob’s Red Mill flour
• 1 cup GF Pamela’s Baking Mix

• 8 ounces cream cheese
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 2 tablespoons ice water
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 1 cup sweetened flaked coconut

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (175 degrees C). I cut parchment paper to fit the bottom on the pans – 3 x 9inch. In a small bowl, dissolve the baking soda in the buttermilk; set aside.  Separate eggs into a bowl of yolks and a bowl of whites.
2. In a large bowl, cream together 1/2 cup butter, shortening and white sugar, vanilla and yolks until light and fluffy. Sift flour mixture with baking powder, and mix with coconut.  Alternate by adding 1/2 the buttermilk mixture, then 1/2 the flour mixture to the creamed butter and eggs mixture.  Stir until just combined. Pour batter into the prepared pans.
3. Bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool.
4. To Make Frosting: In a medium bowl, combine cream cheese, 1/2 cup butter, 1 teaspoon vanilla and confectioners’ sugar. Beat until light and fluffy. Mix in 2 T ice water to attain the desired consistency. Stir in chopped nuts and remaining flaked coconut. Spread between layers and on top and sides of cooled cake.

Please let me know if you try it, we sure loved it and would not know it was GF based on the consistence and taste!  Happy Birthday to my sweet 10 year old!!