Healthy, Ecological Holidays
These next few months are some of the biggest
holidays of the season. That being observed, I have
decided to make this article chock full of tips for
the holiday season, that will help you save money,
the environment and yourself!
First off Thanksgiving. Woah. Now this holiday to
me, just always makes me think of food.
Just because it's thanksgiving, doesn't mean you can't have good healthy
holiday seaon!
But instead of just giving you a laundry list of healthy recipes, I will also be including tips for making things healthier.
Nine Healthy Cooking Tips
1. When a cake recipe calls for sugar, use honey instead -it's a natural food
and it's good for you; you could even use raw sugar or turbinado sugar -it's
For more information on natural sweeteners click here.
2. Always use olive oil in cooking as your main cooking oil -its a healthier oil
for you than other oils, and flavors your food the way no other oil can. Also,
cakes come out fluffier and better with this oil than any other oil. Remember
to use extra virgin olive oil.
3. When a recipe calls for flour, use unbleached flour, or better yet, whole
wheat pastry flour, or even soy flour.
4. Use real, natural butter. Hydrogenated oils, are bad for you -stay away
from them.
5. When a baking recipe calls for milk, use soymilk.
6. When cooking your veggies, lightly steam -don't boil! Boiling takes most
of the vitamins away from the veggies. Steam them just until they are still
crisp, and brighter in color.
7. Instead of white rice, use brown rice -it's chock full of vitamins!
8. When making a salad, use spinach, not romaine. Spinach is also full of vitamins.
9. Try to eat organic as much as you can! Potatoes, pecans and sugar
beet crops are commonly treated with a fungicide that tests show not only
renders immune system killer cells helpless, but they never recover and
A Few Crafty Tips for Thanksgiving
1. For a nicely scented trivet, get together some cinnamon sticks and glue
gun them together to make a beautiful trivet that smells lovely!
2. Get together some leaves from the backyard, and tape a few on the walls, around the house or on the doors decoratively. You can also glue them to
some construction paper and make wonderful placecards!
3. Save your baby food jars! Wash them, stick a candle in them, and wrap
some wire around them, so that you can hang them them; or just set them
on your table, sitting on top of a leaf.
4. Collect some acorns and set them in a pretty vintage candy dish or bowl
on your dining table for a nice decorative effect.
Leaf and Flower Press
This press offers endless possibilities for preserving beautiful flowers for
decorative use and provides the flattened material used in nature printing.
Materials:
1/2 inch plywood OR 2 (7 x 7 inch) square bought wood plaques
Sandpaper--medium and fine grit
Smooth cardboard
Paper towels or unprinted newspapers
4 (5 inch) bolts with 4 wing nuts and 8 flat washers
Paints for decoration--optional
Varnish or wood wax-optional
Pencil
Ruler or yardstick
Hand saw
Clamp
Drill and drill bit--larger than diameter of bolts
Mat for cutting
Xacto or box knife
Metal Ruler
Cut the plywood into 2 (7 inch) squares. If you like you may round the
corners by using a coping saw and sanding the edges smooth. Measure and
draw a line 3/4 inch from each edge of the top wood square. Clamp the
2 pieces together. At the point of intersection at each corner, drill through
both pieces of wood. Smooth the edges and tops of the wood with sandpaper.
First with medium grit then with fine grit. If you plan to decorate the press, remember that the top is the side with the wing nuts. You can either paint or varnish the wood top to give it a finished look.
Cut the cardboard into 7 inch squares. You will need 2 pieces for each
layer of plant material. Your press will hold up to about 20 layers. The edges
must be mitered to fit inside the bolt. Measure and mark enter center point
along each side edge of the squares. Mark each side, out 2-1/2 inch in each direction from these points. Connect the corners to create triangles. Cut the triangles off the a mat and knife, cutting against a metal ruler. The absorbent
paper must be cut in the same shape. Use a cut piece of cardboard as a
pattern, trace into several layers of paper towels and cut with knife or scissors.
To assemble the press, layer cardboard, one sheet of paper, the plant material, one sheet of paper, then cardboard again. Continue with layers of cardboard,
paper and plants until the press is full, but not higher than the 5 inch bolts.
Place a washer onto each bolt and thread each bolt through its hole in the two pieces of plywood. Then place another washer and a wing nut on each bolt
and tighten the press, applying even pressure among the four corners.
TO USE:
Collect leaves and flowers that lend themselves to pressing (pansies and
cosmos work very well). If you will not be pressing the specimens
immediately, put them in zip seal bags filled with air and store in a cool
place like the refrigerator. When you are ready to press, use a soft brush to remove any debris from the plant material and place it on the paper towel or newspaper. Fit as many items as you can on each layer, without allowing
them to touch one another. Pile up the cardboard, towel and plant layers;
put the plywood on top and press tighten the press. Change the paper
towels or newspaper daily depending on the plant material. It will take
1-2 weeks for them to dry thoroughly.
NOTE:
If you are pressing leaves and flowers for nature printing, it may not be
necessary to dry them completely, but rather just enough to flatten them
for inking.
Craft Source: Gifts for Herb Lovers by Betty Oppenheiner 1997
Christmas Gift Ideas -Frugal and Fun!
A nice frugal idea for gift giving is to make the gifts yourself. This can save
you alot of money and also looks good -the fact that you made these gifts
yourself. It comes from the heart.
Below are a couple of nice ideas.
Peppermint Candle
What you need:
Glass votive holder or small glass jar
Double sided sticky cellophane tape
Peppermint candies
Zip loc bag and rolling pin
1 inch wide decorative red and gold ribbon
miniature candy cane
hot glue gun
1. Cover the side of the votive holder with the double sided sticky cellophane
tape.
2. Place the peppermint candy into the bag, seal and roll with the rolling pin
to crush the peppermint very fine. How much candy you need will depend on
how big your holder is.
3. Empty the peppermint onto a piece of aluminum foil and roll the glass
votive holder in the peppermint, adding a little pressure to get it to stick real
good. Make sure to cover all surfaces of the glass holder. If you run out of
crushed peppermint, make more.
4. Tie a 1 inch wide decorative red and gold ribbon around the jar or votive
holder and make a nice bow. Hot glue on a miniature candy cane, either real
or fake. When the candle is lighted, the heat from the flame will release the fragrance of the candy.
Almond Joy Brownie Mix in a Jar
2-1/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1-1/4 cups flaked coconut, sprinkled with 1 tsp. almond extract and
tossed to blend
3/4 cup coarsely chopped whole almonds
1-1/4 cups flour mixed with 1 tsp. baking powder and 1 tsp. salt
Layer ingredients in order given in a 1-qt. wide mouth jar.
Press each layer firmly in place before adding next ingredient.
NOTE: A wide mouth jar must be used because it is a very tight fit
to get all ingredients into jar.
Attach recipe to the jar:
Almond Joy Brownies
1. Empty jar of brownie mix into a large mixing bowl. Use your hands
to thoroughly blend mix.
2. Add: 3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks) butter or margarine (not diet) melted,
4 eggs, slightly beaten.
3. Mix until completely blended.
4. Spread batter in a sprayed 9x13-inch baking pan.
5. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Cool completely in pan.
Cut into 2-inch squares. Makes 2 dozen brownies.
Another idea is to make your own Christmas tree ornaments.
1. You can make a beautiful garland by stringing stale popcorn. Stale works
best because it won't break as easily.
2. Make gingerbread or sugar cookies as ornaments. You can poke a hole
on the top before baking, and string it with some nice ribbon.
Cinnamon-Applesauce Ornaments
3/4 cup applesauce
1 cup ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon tacky glue
1 tablespoon orris root (fixative)
Straw (for making holes, if desired)
Mix applesauce and cinnamon well. Add tacky glue and orris root. When mixture is well blended, roll out on a cinnamon dusted countertop and cut out desired shapes. Place on a cookie sheet and bake for 1 hour at 150 degrees F.
For another wonderful homemade ornament recipe click here .
I hope you enjoy this holiday themed article. Happy holidays to everyone!
