Tips for around the kitchen

Today's guest blogger is Danika over at "Is it Lupus" her awesome blog shares lots of details, tips, wisdom, and recipes that she has discovered along her path of searching out health and wholeness while living with Lupus. It has tons of helpful information- whether you have Lupus or not- on how to seek out healthy living, physically and spiritually. I encourage you to stop on by.

For now she shares with us her top 10 tips in the kitchen:

1. To keep strawberries fresh for a long time keep them in a sealed container in the frig with a paper towel in it.
2. To keep leafy greens fresh, store a paper towel in the bag they are kept in to absorbs the moisture and only wash them right before using them.
3. Keep onions in the frig and you won’t have much of a problem with tearing or burning eyes while chopping them.

4. Store mushrooms in a brown paper bag in the frig and they stay fresh much longer.

5. When using fresh ginger root, if you have some left, freeze it. When you need if for later use, it’s actually easier to use frozen because it grates really easy (just don’t forget to peel it as you use it).
6. Freeze liquids or soups flat in the freezer, once they are frozen, you can stand them upright so that stack nicely and it saves tons of room.
7. Anytime you’re roasting vegetables, potatoes, ect. lay parchment paper down on the baking sheet and it makes clean up a breeze with no sticking.
8. When making cookies, use a 1 inch scooper and scoop all the cookies onto a plate and freeze (I’m talking the raw dough). Once hardened, about an hour, transfer to a zip lock or container and you always have cookies available. Just take out however many you need and bake, just add an additional 2-3 min because they are frozen. This is my favorite tip because it allows us to only cook what we should eat, not what we want to eat which is the entire batch!
9. Leave a small bowl of distilled vinegar on the counter to get rid of bad odors

10. Put a penny in the bottom of a vase of tulips and they stand right up!

Tons'O'Tips...

Alright everybody... here we go! This upcoming week I have some guest bloggers and we are going to share with you some tips that we use- around the kitchen, the house and in our everyday life! They are all things I have wanted to share about, so we decided to do a whole week on "Tons'O'Tips" just for you. Please feel free to leave any comments, questions or tips of your own!

Here's what you can look forward to this week:

Monday: Tips for the Kitchen

Tuesday: Tips on Essential Oils

Wednesday: Tips on the Top 10 Kitchen "Tools"

Thursday: Tips on Vinegar

Friday: Tips on Hosting a Party

Mini Pita Bites

Here's a quick, nutritious, and MAJORLY tasty lunch option- it is SO SO SO great it you have kids (little fingers love little sandwiches!) but just as great for big kids too! They are perfect for a luncheon, shower, or any ol' get together where you are bringing along something to munch on! Bring them as an appetizer, for a pot luck, or serve them any day of the week for snacks or lunch- I introduce to you, Miss Mini Pita Bite. Ain't she cute??

Ingredients:

Pita Breads (I get whole wheat ones at Trader Joe's)

Your favorite flavor hummus

Lots of fresh veggies and herbs like:

• carrots
• bell peppers
• cucumbers
• bean sprouts
• sprouts
• spinach
• avocado
• fresh parsley
• fresh dill*So, recently I clued into the "mini" pitas available at Trader Joe's (verses the ones that are the size of a salad plate) and my daughter loved them because they were so "tiny!" They also leave a "star" shaped piece in the bag once you remove the 4 mini circles that are connected- so that is extra fun to dip!

Simply slice your pitas in half, open them up and stuff them full of your favorites! Enjoy!!

Spanish Potato Omelet EXTREME!

(Notice the pesky little fingers trying to sneak a bite!)

So, I did it, I ventured to change an old and passed down family recipe of my Grandma's. She used to make it with her mom in Spain, then when she started her own family here, she made them a staple in her house, making them multiple times a week. She would always bring them to family gatherings and we would sneak piece after piece until it was gone. I have found this to be such a great dish now that I have my own family. My little one loves them- as does my husband, it's great for breakfast lunch or dinner, it's hardy and easy to serve, and easy to make. Need I say more??

The original recipe is simple, and I like it that way. It has Canadian bacon/ham, green onions, parsley, eggs, and potatoes. This time, I thought I would throw some more ingredients in to see how it fared- it was still tasty and delicious! I don't think you can go wrong adding whatever ingredients you are in the mood for!

Ingredients

4 potatoes, peeled and sliced

12 eggs, beaten together

2 TBSP expeller pressed coconut oil

1 TBSP butter

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1/ onion, diced

1 red bell pepper, diced

4 pieces turkey bacon, diced

4 mushrooms, diced

2 green onions, diced

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 425. Wash and peel your potatoes. Slice them thinly and set aside. Dice your onion, bell pepper, turkey and green onion. Add a drizzle of oil and your butter in your largest skillet, saute your diced vegetables, then add your potatoes and let them brown for about 3- 5 minutes. Next, beat your eggs with your s & P, and pour over the top of your sauteing vegetables. Let it cook for about 3-4 minutes, pulling the sides away from the pan with a spatula so that the egg continues to run down the edges of the pan and continues cooking. Then put it in the oven to bake for 20-25 minutes until it's golden brown on top. Remove with a pot holder and LEAVE THE POT HOLDER ON YOUR HANDLE OF YOUR SKILLET SO THAT YOU DON'T BURN YOUR HAND!!! Let it cool, then run a spatula around the outside and slide it out onto a dish. Serve warm or cold, slice like a pizza (if you serve it as a meal) or cut it into cubes if you serve it as an appetizer or finger food.

Tostada Bowls and Nacho Feasts!

So the other day I threw some chicken breasts in the crock pot with a splash of Chicken broth, s & p, and some garlic powder to cook up while I was gone. All day I contemplated what I was going to do with it, I knew I was in the mood for something crunchy... so here's what I came up with.... Tostadas, Tostada Bowls, and Nachos!

Just for fun, I tried to turn my brown rice tortilla into a tostada bowl without frying it... and to my surprise, my attempt was successful! I put an oven safe bowl face down on a cookie sheet, then I laid a tortilla over the bowl, and laid another bowl face down on top- so the bowls sandwiched the tortilla in between. Then I baked it for about 5 minutes on 400, took the top bowl off and baked it another 5 minutes or so until it was golden and crunchy! Then I loaded it up with black beans, shredded chicken, salsa, lettuce, cheese, sour cream, avocado and a little cilantro. It was delicious!

My hubby didn't want to wait for my crazy tostada bowl experiment so he just popped his brown rice tortilla in the oven (on a cookie sheet) for a few minutes until it brown up. Then he added the same toppings for the same delicious results! (His was a little harder to eat though.... maybe next time he'll be up for my experiment!)

And the following day, we had left over yumminess, so I grabbed some tortilla chips and made myself some Nachos! There are so many good options for chips out there- my favorite chips at Trader Joe's are their "Blue Corn" Tortilla chips but I also love a "Black bean and Garlic" chip that I found at our local health food store, Lassen's. There are lots of alternatives to corn chips, so take some time to look around and "test taste" some different options!

Crunch on my friends!

Powder Concoction for Helping a Lingering Cough

I know what you are thinking right now, "What is this crazy girl trying now?!".... do you know how I know you are thinking that... because my family thinks the same thing! HA! That is until they try it.... and then have to zip their lips because it really does work!

I was searching online for something to try to get rid of my pesky cough. I am willing to try just about any crazy concoction that's natural, especially if it means forgoing an antibiotic. And well, I found this little mixture and I gave it a whirl and in less than 2 days my cough was 90% better- I can live with that! If you are desperate (or crazy too!) and you are sick of coughing- try it, what can it hurt!

*** Disclaimer: I AM NOT A MEDICAL DOCTOR, this is just a home remedy that has worked for me so I am passing it on, try it at your own risk!***

Ingredients:

1/4 tsp. pepper

1/4 tsp. dried ginger

1/4 tsp. dried cloves

honey

Directions:

Mix all 3 dry ingredients in a small bowl. Then get a cereal spoon, squeeze a glob of honey the size of a quarter onto the spoon and shake about 1/8 tsp. of your powder mixture onto the honey on the spoon and lick it off. Do this 3 times a day until your cough subsides.

Soothing & Healing Warm Ginger Beverage

This is an oldie (AND goodie!) from my growing up years that my mom would make for us when we were feeling a little under the weather- suffering from a sore throat or worse yet- a hacking cough that wouldn't leave. I also returned to it when I had morning sickness during my pregnancies because ginger is so great at relieving nausea. This is simple to make, only takes a quick minute and I almost always have the ingredients on hand. I sip on it throughout the day and just continue to refill my cup as needed. I enjoy the taste and sometime just make myself a cup on a chilly day if I am short on tea.

Ingredients:

hot water

a slice of lemon

1/2 slice of fresh ginger root, peeled

a drizzle of honey.

Add all the ingredients together in a mug, poor in your hot water and let steep for 5 minutes. Sip on it continually as your sore throat or cough persists.

**Ginger has great anti-inflammatory & anti-viral qualities that are great in fighting the flu or colds.

TIPS ON FRESH GINGER ROOT: You can store fresh in the fridge in an air tight container for up to 3 weeks, or you can store it in the freezer in an air tight container for up to 6 months (in both circumstances, the ginger should be left unpeeled).