Pantry Staples by Julia LeRoy

It takes barely any time to cook dinner at my house. This isn't because I have a freezer loaded with Swanson meals and frozen pizzas, or cupboards jammed with instant rice. It's because I have an arsenal of healthy, nutrient-dense ingredients that allow me the versatility to cook quick, tasty meals. The best advice I can give to anyone trying to eat healthier is this: Don't buy junk food. If it's not in your cupboards you can't eat it!

The U.S.D.A. has released a statement saying that produce in our country is losing nutrients. When I read that it made me think about how all food is not created equal. I want to make sure that I'm getting the most out of what I'm eating, because empty calories lead to obesity. When your body is nourished the cravings disappear!

Here's a list of ingredients I like to keep on hand, and a little something about what makes them so great.

1. Butter: Real butter. Preferably from a local creamery. It's chalked full of vitamins a, d and e as well as potassium, phosphorus and calcium. Why should you ditch the margarine? It's a hydrogenated fat that your body doesn't know how to process and it is completely void of nutrients.

2. Brown Rice: I cook it in the rice cooker every time. Sometimes I cook it in chicken stock if I have it on hand. I usually add a little bit of butter, a clove of garlic and a few sprigs of fresh thyme. Brown rice hasn't been stripped of all it's nutrients, and it tastes just as good as (if not better than) white rice. And the beauty of the rice cooker is that you don't have to pay too much attention to it. Just set it and come back in 20 minutes to beautifully cooked rice!

3. Garlic: I pick up a fresh head of garlic every time I go grocery shopping. The best way to use it is to peel the clove and then crush it with the back of your knife. Let it sit for about 5 minutes because this allows two of the enzymes present in garlic to react with each other in order to provide maximum health benefits. It's a strong anti-viral and anti-cancer food.

4. Honey: This has to be local! Local honey is a great weapon against allergies. It is also important to support local bee keepers! I rarely use sugar at home. I substitute with honey whenever possible. This is an easy way to add nutrients to your diet. Sugar is full of empty, useless calories. Honey is an antioxidant that has B vitamins, iron and manganese.

5. Cold-expeller Pressed Oils: I always have three oils in my cupboard; grapeseed oil when I'm looking for a neutral flavor in a vinaigrette or when I need to fry something; olive oil for marinating and salads; and sesame oil (quickly becoming a favorite) for it's unique flavor. Most cheap vegetable oils are rancid before you even pop the cap because they are extracted at a temperature that is too high. This causes the production of more free radicals in your body and weakens your cell walls.

6. Medjool Dates: I always keep a package of these in the fridge. Sure, they are ridiculously expensive. But you can't imagine how many times these little things have kept me from driving to the grocery store in the middle of the night for ice cream! Considering the fact that it's a healthy choice that manages to completely satisfy my sweet tooth, I think that it's worth it!

7. Redmond Salt: Throw the bleached salt in your cupboards away and switch to a salt with a high mineral content. My favorite brand is Redmond. It's speckled with 60+ trace minerals, it's completely unrefined and 100 percent natural.

8. Fresh Fruits and Vegetables: I get these locally whenever possible because I know that the fresher my produce is, the higher its nutrient content. Because I usually know the person who is growing my food I don't have to worry about the organic labeling so much.

Winter Tip: There are a great variety of root vegetables available now. There are potatoes, sweet potatoes, parsnips, rutabagas, celeriac, carrots, and more. The easiest way to prepare these tubers is to roast them whole in the oven. This actually concentrates the natural sugars and leaves you with a sweeter tasting product. Scrub them, pierce them with a fork a couple times, wrap in foil and put them in a 350 degree oven until they are tender. When they cool a little bit you can slice them open. Add a little salt, butter or even sour cream and you've got a delicious meal; or you can peel them and puree them with some heavy cream for a tasty alternative to mashed potatoes!

Chickens and Homemade Soap --Our First Post!

Just came inside from letting my chickens out this morning. I don’t think they know that this is going to be the last really nice day with temperatures in the 70’s for a while. I know God prepares creatures for the seasons, but I am going to have to do my research about cold weather dangers. I am especially concerned about frost bite to the feet. I definitely want to prevent it from happening, but I need to learn how. Even though it is not a huge problem here in Georgia for people, there has been a great study using homeopathic remedy made from Aloe vera juice to treat frostbite in Chinese soldiers. Might be a good idea to have some around when it starts getting really cold. It helps with the burning sensation people get in their hands and feet after cold exposure.

I have eight birds now, but only three are producing eggs. The others will be starting very soon, as I have noticed their combs getting bigger and turning red. If more people realized how easy it is to keep chickens, I know more would do it. My three layers produce more eggs than my family and I can use, so I have started giving them away. The chickens are the easiest “pets” I ever had. If your zoning allows you to keep some chickens, you might want to start this spring. The web is of course a great information resource, but in Cherokee County our library has great books on raising chickens. If you do your homework, and like eggs, you can have extremely nutritious eggs for a fraction of the cost of store bought. Plus if you have a fenced backyard, you will never have to weed it again!

One thing that makes me laugh in the store is the label “eggs from vegetarian chickens”. I don’t consider a worm and insect eating creature a vegetarian. I know it means that the chickens’ feed doesn’t contain animal parts, but it still makes me laugh.

I want to share these recipes for laundry detergent and dishwasher detergent. Both are extremely inexpensive, and work well. As a matter of fact, I believe the dishwasher recipe cleans my dishes better than any commercial brand I have tried.

Home Made Laundry Soap

To make a 5 gallon bucket of this cheap detergent first get a large pot and heat on medium about one half gallon of water in it. While your water is heating up, grate a whole bar of Ivory soap, or Castille soap, or my personal favorite, Fels-Naptha soap.

Add the grated soap to the hot water and heat on medium heat. Stir continuously until all the soap melts into the water. Remove the pot from heat after soap has totally dissolved into the water.

Into a 5 gallon bucket add about 3 gallons of hot tap water and then add the dissolved soap mixture, plus three quarters of a cup of Borax, and 1.25 cups of Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda. Stir this mixture well until all solids dissolve. You can buy these products at your local grocery store in the detergent aisle.

Then top off the bucket with more hot tap water and stir well again. Let set up over night. It should coagulate into a gel or just thicken somewhat, but that depends on what type of soap you used. Regardless of whether it is watery or gel-like the next day, it should still work well.

Get a clean container and dilute the laundry detergent by filling half with water and half with the detergent. If you want to make it more aromatic you may wish to add several drops each of one or several of your favorite therapeutic grade essential oils such as lavender essential oil, rosemary oil, vanilla essential oil, or jasmine essential oil.

Add 5 to 10 drops of Tea tree Oil (Meleluca) for extra antiseptic anti mold/mildew power.

Home Made Dishwasher Detergent

Combine 1 cup of washing soda with 1 cup of borax. Stir the ingredients carefully until mixed well. Add 2 tbsp. of the mixture into the detergent dispenser of your dishwasher. Pour 2 tbsp. of white vinegar into the rinse aid dispenser. Run the dishwasher to clean your dishes. Store the leftover detergent in an airtight container in a cool and dark environment.

These recipes are courtesy of frugalcity.com and ehow.com