Dad's Jambalaya

Jambalaya 1 whole chicken, boiled and deboned, (reserve broth) 1 pound sausage, andouille or polish or your favorite sausage. Up to 1/2 pound of venison, (can be omitted), back strap if possible. 1 large bell pepper 1 large Vidalia onion, (or your favorite onion) 1 to 2 cups chopped celery with celery leaves 1 to 2 cups rice, (depending on how meaty you prefer your Jambalaya) Tony's Creole Seasoning to taste Salt and pepper to taste 1 stick of real butter, if real butter is unavailable just use your favorite oil, just use the minimum amount needed to stir fry venison. Directions: Set chicken on to boil, barely covering the chicken with water. Chop onion. In another pot, cast iron preferred, start cooking the onion in butter on medium heat. After it has cooked about 10 minutes add the chopped celery and chopped bell pepper. Continue cooking vegetables about 10 minutes on medium heat then reduce heat to medium low or low and allow to cook another hour or so. The vegetables need to cook until they are unrecognizable...This is the key to excellent Creole cooking, it's the main seasoning in all Creole dishes. They can continue to cook the whole time the chicken is cooking and while you debone it. Some people cook them for several hours. While all that is cooking, stir fry sausage and venison. Once the meat and vegetables are done it's time to assemble the jambalaya! Place the meat and vegetables in a large stock pot making sure to deglace the pans they were cooked in, (it just adds to the yummyness). Now is a good time to add the Tony's Creole Seasoning, salt and pepper. If you are using 2 cups rice, add 4 cups of chicken stock to the meat and veggies and bring to a boil. Once it's all boiling, add rice, return to a boil, stir, cover pot and reduce to simmer. Allow to cook 20 minutes, (never opening the lid), turn off the fire, don't open that lid! Let it rest for about 5 minutes, give it 1 last stir and enjoy all the yummyness!

Favorite Grapefruit Milk Shampoo/Body Wash Bar Recipe

2 Whole Grapefruit, (seeds, juice, pith and rind), pureed in blender
2 tablespoons Epsom Salts
8.7 oz Sodium Hydroxide (lye) (Always wear protective goggles and safety clothing when handling Sodium Hydroxide.)
17 oz purified water
    In a heat proof container dissolve Epsom Salt in your water and then add the Sodium Hydroxide to the water. Stir to dissolve with a long wooden spoon. Never use metal in your lye water. (Warning: Always add your solid form Sodium Hydroxide, (lye) to the liquid. Never the liquid to the lye. That way you avoid an explosion!)
Place the following oils in a large crock pot on low heat with the pureed grapefruit and
1 cup of powdered Milk.
2 oz Avocado Oil
16 oz Coconut Oil
40 oz Olive Oil
Carefully add the lye water to the oils in the crock pot and blend with a stick blender.
Keep blending until you reach "trace".
It will be thick like pudding.
Note: this crock pot was too small for this batch and I had to take it out before the gel stage so that it would not go all over the kitchen! Which just means I had to let it cure for about 5 weeks before I could use or sell it. When you let it cook through the gel stage you can use it right away. It takes approximately an hour of cooking time. If you are a beginning soap maker it would be a good idea to check out this blog, http://frugallysustainable.com/2011/12/shampoo-bar-soap-recipe/ and do a bit more reading up on the whole process of soap making. It's also a good idea to run your recipe through a soap calculator such as this one, https://www.thesage.com/calcs/lyecalc2.php just to make sure you get the right amount of lye.

After your soap has gone through the gel stage add these oils and mix well:
2 oz Macadamia Nut Oil
1/2 oz Sunflower Oil
1/2 oz Wheat Germ Oil
1/2 tsp Orange Essential Oil
1/2 tsp Lemon Essential Oil
10 drops Lime Peel Essential Oil
5 drops Rosemary Essential Oil

Now it's time to put it into molds and let it sit overnight.

This is my favorite shampoo bar. I used to use Pantene 2 in 1 shampoo and conditioner because it made my hair feel so silky. This is much healthier and is really close to the same feel. I love it!

Raw Milk Chai Kefir

1/2 cup raw half milk half cream kefir
1 cup raw milk
1/2 cup Chai tea
Mix together and pour over ice. Very delicious!

Easy Apple Banana Kefir Water

Blend 1 very ripe banana and 1 apple in blender and add to plain Kefir Water. Delicious!

Easy Berry Kefir Water

1 to 2 cups Strawberries, frozen or fresh
1/4 cup Raisins
1/2 cup dried Cranberries
2 cups dried Blueberries
Plain Kefir water or Ginger Ale
Place all fruit in blender and cover with enough kefir water or ginger ale to just barely cover. Blend until pureed.
This makes a wonderfully sweet syrup to add to your kefir water or homemade Ginger Ale! I'm even thinking about adding it to my coffee in the morning!
Happy Monday everybody!

Pomegranate Kefir Water

Make kefir water as usual. Seed 1 fresh Pomegranate for every quart of water. Put about a cup of kefir water in blender with the fresh seeds and juice from 1 Pomegranate and blend until seeds are pureed. Pour into quart jar with the rest of the kefir water. Enjoy!

Products

Hibiscus Flower and Raspberries 

 Ingredients: Saponified Organic Virgin Coconut Oil
                   Saponified Extra Virgin Olive Oil
                   Saponified Butterfat
                   Saponified Sweet Almond Oil
                   Brewed Organic Hibiscus Tea
                   Dried Organic Hibiscus Tea
                   Fresh Raspberries
                   Fresh Squeezed Lime Juice
                   Organic Evaporated Cane Juice
                   Organic orange, lavender and tea tree essential oils
This made a nicely sudsing scrubbier type bar. I use this to shampoo with.  

       
      

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Pumpkin Pie Shampoo/Body Wash Bar 

Ingredients: Saponified Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil and Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Fresh Pumpkin

Dried Spices: Cinnamon, Nutmeg, and Cloves

They smell only faintly of pumpkin pie

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Skin Cancer Balm...

Melt beeswax in a double boiler, add essential oil to castor oil and pour into clean sterilized containers, working quickly so that it doesnt harden before poured.

     Ingredients: 1/2 oz beeswax 

                           4 oz castor oil

                           30 Drops Frankincense     

                                 essential oil

Starting to melt beeswax in makeshift double boiler.

                        Skin  Cancer Balm

Vaseline Alternative...

 The stretch mark creme and the Vaseline Alternative have the exact same ingredients, except for the Aloe Vera gel. I melted all the oils together, poured 1/2 of the mixture into a jar for the Vaseline Alternative, then added the Aloe Vera gel 1/3 of a cup at a time, while blending, for the stretch mark creme. Both turned out beautifully! 

     Ingredients: 

                       1/6 cup olive oil 

                       1/6 cup avocado oil 

                       1/6 cup extra virgin coconut oil 

                       1.1 oz beeswax 

                       1 oz sweet almond oil 

                       3 drops tea tree oil 

                       3 drops lavender essential oil

                       3 drops sweet orange oil

Adapted from this recipe by Jill at  http://www.onegoodthingbyjillee.com/2012/04/make-your-own-petroleum-free-jelly.html

                                                                         Vaseline Alternative

             Moisturizer/Stretch Mark Creme

I have heard Aloe Vera gel shrinks pores. This smells kind of like Lemon Cream Pie. Since I have been using this, the bumps on the side of my face seem to be going away!

     Ingredients:

             1/6 cup olive oil 

             1/6 cup avocado oil 

             1/6 cup extra virgin coconut oil 

             1.1 oz beeswax 

             1 oz sweet almond oil

             1 2/3 cups food grade aloe vera gel

             3 drops tea tree essential oil

             3 drops lavender essential oil

             3 drops sweet orange oil

    *This needs to be kept in refrigerator to stay fresh or it will only last a few weeks. BUT This is probably THE BEST moisturizer I have ever used. It has to be made in small batches and used quickly, but is SO worth it!

Adapted from this recipe by Andrea at  http://frugallysustainable.com/2011/12/non-greasy-homemade-moisturizing-lotion/

          

                           Honey Lip Balm

This turned out wonderful! 

     Ingredients:

     .5 oz beeswax

     Heaping tablespoon extra virgin coconut oil

     Heaping tablespoon Shea butter 

     1/4 teaspoon of food grade vitamin e oil

     Generous tablespoon of raw local honey 

     3 Drops Essential Oils of your choice

Adapted from this recipe by Renee at http://www.hardlotion.com/diy-hard-lotion-kit/

Hard Lotion Cups

Hard Lotion Cups... 

...these can be used for lip balm or to rub on dry cracked heals or for any dry skin areas! These smell lovely!                                                       
     3.2 oz Raw Shea Butter

     3.2 oz Beeswax

     3.2 oz Organic extra virgin coconut oil 
     6 Drops Lemongrass Essential Oil

     2 Drops Tea Tree Essential Oil

Adapted from this recipe by Renee at http://www.hardlotion.com/diy-hard-lotion-kit/

     Caramel Coffee Shampoo/Body Wash Bar

 Fresh Basil/Mint Shampoo/Body Wash Bar

Both soaps were Adapted from the recipe at http://frugallysustainable.com/2011/12/shampoo-bar-soap-recipe/ 

 * For the coffee one I used really strong coffee for the liquid and for the Basil/Mint soap, I used the fresh herbs blended in a Vita Mix with the liquid the soap called for... The Basil/Mint  soap turned brown over time but was a really great soap until it was all gone!

Many thanks to Jill, Andrea and Renee for their great blogs and recipes!