Many people don’t drink cows milk. They’re lactose intolerant or they’re vegan so don’t eat or drink any animal products. You can get calcium from plenty of other sources.

It’s not surprising that some would have trouble digesting it since it is specially made for baby cows. Two of my children are lactose intolerant and we have tried soy milk, rice milk and almond milk.

Almond is my favourite and it’s easy to make your own. 20 to 25 almonds give you the same amount of calcium as a quarter cup of milk.

How to Make Almond Milk

• The easiest way to make almond milk is to grind almonds in a blender with water and strain with a cheesecloth. A basic recipe is one part almonds to four parts water. It’s good with a little vanilla too but don’t go overboard. Even a quarter teaspoon is enough. Store it in the fridge as you would any other milk and it will keep for several days.

If you want to explore other calcium options, see Alternative Calcium Sources. It’s an article I wrote covering a little more than almond milk.

Here’s a video demonstrating how to make almond milk:

Tags: General, Recipes, Saving Money // 5 Comments »

Oregano oil has been touted as a cure all but many people say it does help improve their immune systems. It’s very strong tasting and you can feel it burning your mouth if you take it straight. It’s better to take it diluted in milder oil or in capsules.

Other uses for oregano oil:

• Antiseptic for wounds and insect bites.

• Disinfectant for cleaning. Add several drops to water in a spray bottle to disinfect and prevent mold and mildew.

• Insecticide: According to a study by Algerian scientists, it works just as well as synthetic insecticides without damaging the environment. See Study: Oregano oil works as an insecticide for more information.

Oregano oil has also been effective for treating head lice. On PureLeNatural’s website they suggest adding 30 drops to shampoo.

We often use tea tree oil as precautionary measure in our shampoo but oregano oil is a new one for me. Since most pesticides are toxic, natural remedies are much safer with less side effects and risks.

Cinnamon leaf and/or lavender is also a suggested option and if combined with either it would smell more pleasant. See the Science Daily article Cinnamon oil kills mosquitoes.

These natural methods save you money and help keep you healthy. Essential oils may seem expensive initially but they can help prevent the necessity of purchasing cold and flu medications and/ or synthetic insecticides.

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I made this in between catching up on laundry, assembling acceptable lunches for school and running around like a chicken with my head cut off.

It’s just a little wooden laptop tray I grabbed for a couple bucks from the craft store but it saves your legs from getting burnt.

It’s not quite dry but I’m happy with it. Sort of a rustic modge podge picture mixture. I might throw a coat of shellac on it later but right now I’m pooched. I hope you all had a great labor day with some down time.

Tags: Crafts, General // 2 Comments »

It was a beautiful sunny day perfect for garage sale hunting. I found a few bargains and the kids are home from the cottage.

Here’s a pretty song by Alison Krauss called Simple Love. I wanted to share it with you before catching up with my family, the laundry and digging into a new novel. I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend.

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I’m actually all set with everything for the kids to go back to school. Sorry if that annoys you. It drives me crazy when people tell me they’re finished their Xmas shopping early, but school is starting soon.

Hit factory outlets

I got lucky because my kids are older and fussier but we found a Bluenotes outlet that had all kinds of clothes they were crazy about.  I even grabbed myself a couple turtlenecks and my husband a couple golf shirts.

I swear my shoes were $2.50 and they’re not goofy looking. The downside was that the store had this strange sign up that said “Change rooms closed permanently.” When we got home, everything actually fit.  It was a miracle.

Of course they didn’t like my $2.50 shoes and who wants to match with their mother so we had to get those separately. Shoes are a nightmare because they need a pair for gym at school, a pair to kick back in at home, and a pair for school. That’s not including dress shoes. My son wears jeans with a dress shirt so casual shoes are alright but runners look kind of funny in a dress. Anyway, we found a buy one get one half price deal at Zellers so that helped.

Scan fliers for sales

If you keep your eyes peeled on the fliers you can find paper for 50 cents and pencils for even less. Stock up on those. It doesn’t seem to matter how much paper I buy them because they will always come back asking for more. I suspect they give it away to their friends so keep a secret stash.

If you buy a little here and there ahead of time when you see the sales, it’s more manageable.

Backpacks you can’t really skimp on once they get older because they need to hold a bit of weight without falling apart. We did manage to hold out until we found a sale on some good ones.

• For years I have attempted to solve the sock dilemma by making everyone wear the same socks. Unfortunately, two of the boys tear them up and/or lose them fast and the girls are left sockless. Now I have colour coded the twins. One is blue and one is black so they can’t fight over whose is whose. This will save money because my husband  won’t be able to bust the toes out of the kids socks or claim they’re his.

Haircuts

I keep coupons for haircuts but my youngest son actually prefers me to cut it. I guess I have done it so many times I’m getting good at it and he knows what to expect.

My youngest daughter is not so easy and this year she wants her hair relaxed so we have an appointment to get that done.  I figure since I cut my son & husband’s hair, it evens out paying the salon for my daughter. I tried relaxing it myself once and it was stiff as a board so I’m missing something.

My stepson is 20 and working so he’ll get his own done. I buzzed his off for him once and he never asked again so don’t think he liked it.  My eldest daughter moved out but she still comes around if she wants her hair dyed a weird colour.

• I have heard that some schools sell back to school kits. Does anyone have experience with that? Does it save you any money? I kind of enjoy the hunt for bargains but I’m strange. Does anyone else have some money saving tips for back to school shopping?

Tags: General, Saving Money // 2 Comments »

This is one of our family’s favourite recipes and I make it a lot. It’s based on The Joy of Cooking’s fruit crisp recipe. If you don’t have the Joy of Cooking, consider getting it because it’s one of the best cookbooks out there. It has just about every standard recipe you could think of although I hack many of them depending on the ingredients I have on hand.

You could use just about any other fruit but I’m stuck in my ways and use Macintosh apples. I bet it would be good with a little rhubarb mixed in as well.

• Because we have a gang to feed I usually use 8 or nine apples, 1 cup of flour, half a cup of butter and one cup of sugar. If I don’t have brown I use all white but otherwise use half white & half brown. Don’t forget the cinnamon. We go a little heavy on the cinnamon but use at least half a teaspoon full if you’re not crazy about it.

Slice the apples up the same way you would a pie. Mix together the flour, sugar, butter and cinnamon until it’s a little crumbly and spread it on top of the apples. The book says to bake for 30 minutes at 375 but mine always takes at least 40. That’s probably because mine is thicker.

This is so good with vanilla ice-cream and it’s an easy classic dessert.

Tags: General, Recipes // 2 Comments »

Thanks to Leisure Guy at the blog Later On, I found a homemade Gatorade recipe I could stomach. Some recipes call for Koolaid and others for much more salt but this one seems just right.

The ingredients are simple and include sugar, salt, lemon juice and water. He also throws in a couple tea bags for caffeine but leave those out if you want. It wouldn’t be a great idea to pump your kids full of caffeine. It only costs 17 cents a quart as opposed to Gatorade’s $1.29 a quart. Omit the teabags and you’re down to 11 cents a quart.

Have you noticed they’re throwing green tea in everything lately? I know it’s good for you and I enjoy it on its own but mixing it with other things tastes nasty. The latest thing my son came home with was ginger ale with green tea. Eww.

It’s been extremely hot here and if you have drinks like this handy it helps keep your energy level up. When we were camping I was hiking and lugging things around in the heat. At one point I was a little dizzy. Next time I’ll make some of this energy drink before busting any sudden moves.

Pic of black & white Gatorade by Teri Gosse

Tags: General, Pets, Recipes, Saving Money // 2 Comments »

Our camping holiday was a little simpler than what I intended. I couldn’t get a signal anywhere and we didn’t have access to a vehicle.

To top it off, our old coleman stove didn’t work because the tank was the wrong size. I suggested we use the lid of it to cook our food over the fire since it was metal. There was also a grill that fit along the top so between both we could fit two pots and a frying pan over the fire.

The first night we just roasted hotdogs on sticks over the fire, the second night I made burgers and baked potatoes wrapped in foil and the third night I made chili.

We also managed to make oatmeal, bacon and eggs, coffee, hot chocolate and soup.

Making smores was the most fun. We roasted our marshmallows and put them between two graham wafers along with some chocolate chips.

It was great to get away from everything and we did a lot of walking, a little fishing and some swimming. Monday night there was a huge thunderstorm and at one point it was so loud I swear lightening stuck right beside us.

The kids found this great spot behind the campsite with soft grass so they asked if they could go there to chill. I said sure but they came flying back straight away because there was a skunk there who also liked the spot.

It was my husband’s birthday yesterday and I was happy because he finally caught a couple fish. I was starting to wonder if I had steered him wrong about fishing there but I guess it just takes time. It probably helped that he was alone this time because when we were with him we probably scared the fish away with all our racket.

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Our family went to Canada’s Wonderland yesterday (Tuesday) thinking it might not be too busy. Wrong.

Luckily we did land in there early so the kids weren’t stuck waiting for hours to get on the Behemoth. If you haven’t heard of the Behemoth, it’s an insane roller coaster that loops and speeds all over the place with one crazy steep spike that goes straight down. You can see what it’s like on this video and here’s a pic I snapped of it.

Arriving early saved us time but our picnic saved us money. I wasn’t sure if we were allowed to bring our own water or food so I was nervous when it was my turn to go through the gate. My giant purse/tote bag set off the metal detector so I proceeded to open my bag for them to check it.

Some of the strange stuff in my purse:

• First aid kit

• Sun block

• Insect repellent

• Rain ponchos

• Granola bars

• Rice crispie squares

• Water bottles

We got through the gate anyway. That was a relief because a drink of water costs 3 or 4 dollars a bottle which I think is insane. There were seven of us and we needed at least three bottles each. Even at $3 each that’s $63 for water alone. (edited this even though I know my times tables)

For food we brought pita bread and humus, granny smith apples, cheese, submarine sandwiches, potato chips, baby carrots, granola bars and rice crispie squares. If you want a  hot dog at Canada’s Wonderland, you’re looking at $5.50. The things we brought were also much healthier. I know potato chips aren’t healthy but nobody’s perfect.

We went back to the van a couple times to raid the coolers and eat but the granola bars kept us going in between. That was a workout on its own because we usually had to walk half a mile just to get out of the park and the parking lot is huge.

Once there though it was great because there were beautiful big trees for shade and grass beside the parking lot. We set out our stuff after putting blankets on the ground and enjoyed a quiet picnic. If you eat inside Canada’s Wonderland, it’s convenient in that it’s fast but it’s also crowded. You’re lucky if you can find a place to sit.

We arrived at about 9:00 am and left at 9:30pm so by that time we were beat. They all went on a bunch of other insane rides and we hit the water park to break up the day.

I went on the Backlot Stunt Coaster, which I suppose is a tame roller coaster. It used to be called the Italian Job and I don’t know what’s up with the name change but it was good enough for me. My husband was funny because he held onto his baseball cap the whole time.

I’m not sure what other amusement parks are like but if you can bring your own food and water it can save you hundreds of dollars. I can only imagine how much we would have spent since we were there for 12 hours.

Tags: General, Holidays // 4 Comments »

I have mint growing everywhere in my front garden and I don’t even know where it came from. Since I have so much of it I thought I would look into what I could do with it besides make tea.

Mint is very soothing on the stomach so try making a tea with it if you have an upset tummy. Pour boiling water on a couple spoonfuls of dried mint and leave it steep for a few minutes. This would also be perfect for iced tea although I would also add black tea, lemon juice and sugar.

For more information on medicinal uses of mint, see Gardens Ablaze. Apparently mint is good for relaxation, dandruff, stimulating appetites, cramps, face wash and more!

Mint in food

Besides traditional mint with lamb what other ways can you use it in food? How about peppermint candy? I vaguely remember watching a woman in Quebec make this from scratch.

Use it in ice cream. Mint is excellent when combined with chocolate but it would be tasty in vanilla ice-cream and/or combined with fruit.

Mint is also good combined with some vegetables. Try adding a few leaves to the pot when you’re boiling potatoes or add some to a lettuce or spinach salad.

Do you have any favorite recipes using mint? I haven’t used it much in cooking but I would like to try since I have so much of it.

Tags: Gardening, General // 5 Comments »