How to Make Your Own Homemade Coffee Creamer

I have been trying to have less and less chemicals and preservatives in my families diet. While we are a far cry away from being a chem-free family I do my best. I am currently nursing my youngest so I am really trying to watch what I take in, being that I am his primary food source. Below is my recipe for homemade coffee creamer. There are some preserves and chemicals in it but it is far far better then other pre-made flavored creamers you would buy off the shelf at your local grocer.

Homemade Creamer

2 cups milk
1 cup flavoring
1 can condensed milk


Mix well every time! The condensed milk will settle to the bottom of container.

 

Cilantro Lime and Avocado Southwest Salad

I love a nice crisp salad in the summer. This is my version on a Southwest Salad.

Southwest Salad with Cilantro Lime and Avocado Dressing

Ingredients:

Salad:
Romain lettuce (chopped into strips)
Green onions (chopped finely)
1 Can of corn (rinsed)
1 Can of black beans (rinsed)
1-2 Large colorful bell peppers (chopped finely)
Pint of cherry tomatoes (sliced in halves)

Dressing:
1 avocado
1 bushel of fresh cilantro (break off stem **where the rubber band is)
1 lime (roll before squeezing to loosen liquids to make it easy on yourself)
1/4 cup of olive oil (California is a nice option but use whatever you have on hand)
1 teaspoon of salt
1 tablespoon of cider vinegar

Blend dressing in whatever blending device you like...I used my infants baby bullet because it was on my counter at the time. If it blends it will work!

I butchered a bird like a MasterChef

DH and I love to watch cooking shows and get super hungry doing so.
Masterchef is one of our current favorites. While watching we are always commenting,
   "oh I can so do that!" 
   "What are they thinking?! Apples with turmeric, in THAT dish?! Come on!"
   "What is that? Is that alive?"
   ....you get the idea.

I decided that since I am raising 2 kids under 2 that I should take and put more challenging things on my plate, like recreated things they do or other crazy Pinterest ideas (***Side note: DH hates to go out to eat in a restaurant so if I want something fancy more then 4 - 6 times per year I have to create it myself .... and no darling, Wendys drive thru isn't 'going out to eat').

I found a local farmer from a lower west-side Cleveland farm and bought a few half chickens from her. I love a good free range/hormone free chicken. Below is a picture of my first attempt of butchering my own chicken. I am quite pleased with how it turned out. The breast was cut short and that thigh has seen better days. However, for a first try I think I did fairly well.

I watched a video on YouTube.com to get a grasp on how to this this magic with a knife. I wanted to share the URL, but it has been deleted. Probably had hidden Nazi subliminal messaging in it, like most YouTube videos do. ***Side note: this was butchered with your basic table steak knife. I was unable to get threw the skin (yes, I also removed the skin myself) with the huge butcher knife, so the good old trusty table knife it was.

A week after attempting this I visited the West Side Market in Downtown Cleveland, Ohio. I found beautiful skinned and separated, yet bone in, chicken parts and will be purchasing my parts from them in the future.

Here is a link to the butcher:
 http://westsidemarket.org/vendor/kauffman-poultry/?portfolioID=955

Because my children dont listen to me...

Because my children don't listen to me I will pretend that the internet does!

This is the beginning of a blog that will be more of a space cadet, ADD, hmm, I can see that, why am I still reading this, sort of blog.

:::prances off screen:::