My Shrinker Concentrate

If you haven’t guessed by now, I love Trim Healthy Mama by Serene Allison and Pearl Barrett. This biblical approach to healthy living has given me hope after decades of being overweight and obese. They did the research and wrote the book, but it is God’s gift to me.

So, when they share recipes with ingredients that have HUGE health benefits, I sit up and take notice. I follow the recipe precisely the first time, and then I tweak. One section I had to force myself to try is their sippers.

I love water. I drink it all day long. I seek warm baths when I feel sick or sore. I swim in the river as much as possible in our very short summer. I even had water births with my daughters. Why would I need to drink something else?

Oh, oolong tea prevents obesity and burns fat (along with a whole host of other health benefits you can read about here: The Shrinker:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=526073044113214&set=a.394655747254945.94224.277546472299207&type=1&theater: SIP THE SHRINKER!!!)

Yay! They're finally in!

Don’t the tea leaves of this oolong look mysterious and tempting? I had to look, and look for it. I looked in every grocery store locally and in most of the larger stores in “the big cities” of Coeur d’Alene, ID and Spokane, WA. No, oolong doesn’t really factor into country life here.

Then, talking with one of my father’s long-time friend I bumped into at the library, I discovered she is a distributor for Frontier Foods. I asked if they had oolong? Why yes, yes they do: just $17.50 for an ENORMOUS 16 oz. bag of it. (She gave me her wholesale cost, hoping I would continue shopping with her buying group.) I know, 16 oz. doesn’t sound big, but using just ½ cup each week, I think it is a great bargain.

Ok, now I didn’t have the excuse that I couldn’t find oolong. Fine, I like vanilla chai lattes occasionally. This could work. I tried it, and liked it, but I didn’t love it…yet.

Cinnamon helps lower blood sugar. Turmeric supports adrenal function and reduces inflammation. Yes, I know, that ingredient isn’t in the original recipe. It is part of The Singing Canary (https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=543644169022768&set=pb.277546472299207.-2207520000.1378502583.&type=3&theater: Drink Away Adrenal Fatigue with the Singing Canary!) However, I did not enjoy this exotic spice in that particular drink. It overwhelmed the lemon and orange flavors I prefer. So, I figured I would try it in my second batch of shrinker.

Loose oolong leaves in my French Press. It's cute and functional, just like me!

All ready to experiment

Hmmm, exotic spices and oriental tea. I decided to go a little crazy with some of the spices on my shelves I rarely use: allspice, cardamom, cayenne, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, nutmeg, and turmeric. Here is a picture of my experiment. 

I know, the allspice remains invisible. I overlooked it at first, but when I was putting my spices back on the shelf before continuing, I saw it and said, “Why not?” The camera refused to focus on an individual bottle, so no picture. Kind of like that kid who always missed picture day back in school: “No picture available of Allspice.”

I'm actually measuring! This is just for you, I usually dash, dollop, and dump.

So, I pour the oolong leaves into my French Press (thank you Susan Stanton Hitchcock for suggesting that.) Then I put in the cinnamon, ginger, and the rest of the spices.

Oooo, exotic and mysterious! What will it taste like?

I pour boiling water to fill the canister and stir it well with a spoon. Then I let it infuse for hours. Sometime this afternoon, I will transfer this concentrate into a sterilized quart jar and store it in my refrigerator. This concentrate lasts me a week.

All the spices float to the top. Must stir!

Stirred and Steamy

Infusion Starts. It will get much darker.

With the last ¼ cup of my last batch, I mixed up my shrinker for today. I put the concentrate in a quart jar, add 1 cup unsweetened almond milk, vanilla, and sweetener. I prefer the liquid sweetener for this drink, as it mixes well with the cold liquids. Today, I chose my French Vanilla liquid stevia. Be careful, 4-6 drops is usually enough. I think I got 8 today, and it is a bit too sweet for me. 

Voila! A sipper that I love, easy for me to make throughout the week with minimal prep time. (Happy sigh.) THM makes my life a bit more relaxed and a lot more healthy!

Now I’m done with MY science experiment. Going to post this and then get the girls started on their science: Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day.

My Shrinker Concentrate

Ingredients:

½ ounce (I'm changing from ½ cup) loose oolong tea leaves

1½ tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ginger

¼ tsp each: allspice, cardamom, cayenne, cloves, nutmeg, turmeric

Layer in a French Press, add boiling water, and stir to combine. Allow the medicinal properties of these herbs and spices infuse for at least 2 hours. I have let it sit as long as 6 once, when I forgot about it. Store in a sterile, glass jar in the refrigerator for up to a week. Makes 6-7 sippers of The Shrinker.
To dilute, I take 1/4 cup concentrate, 1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk, vanilla, and sweetener. I put it all in a quart jar with a straw, and dilute it with cold water until it is the flavor and consistency I want.

Apprenticing Myself and My Daughters to an Herbalist

     

Sounds medieval, doesn’t it? No, we are not becoming indentured servants. We won’t be slaving away without pay for 7 – 10 years. Well, the without pay part is correct.

My Mom, Terry Rae Rogers, has long had a servant’s heart. She started volunteering for the local ambulance as an EMT almost 40 years ago. 33 years ago, she was invited to a family’s home birth because she had this medical training and could bring oxygen. The two local midwives at the time welcomed her with love and offered to share their knowledge with her. At that point, she began her service as a midwife. At one point in my teens, she was the only midwife in northern Idaho below Sandpoint and Bonners. She travelled to assist families as far as Kamiah and Post Falls. Many of her clients were on the Palouse.

She has trained and worked with many new midwives, so that now she usually stays in Benewah County for her clients. However, she does still travel farther, especially  to support long-time clients…and for the children she delivered who are now starting families!

Photography by Kira-lynne Hanson

Believing that natural is often better than synthetic, she wanted to study herbalism so she could make her own tinctures, teas, and salves instead of having to buy them. She took Shonda Parker’s herbalism class nine or ten years ago. Shonda has written some wonderful books helping moms live naturally healthy lives and raise children more naturally http://www.naturallyhealthy.org/. This intensive, two-year course taught Mom a lot that she then put into practice.

Photography by Kira-lynne Hanson

Every year, she gathers local herbs at the peak times for their medicinal properties. This year, I asked her if she would take my daughters and I out with her and teach us all she knows. Enthusiastically, she said, “Yes! Of course!” For those of you who know her, you can probably hear her excitement to share her love of herbs and years of wisdom with her “girls”.

So a month ago, I shared with some of my friends how much I was looking forward to these wildcrafting trips. Tracy immediately asked, “Can I go too?” Several other friends (and a brand new one) also showed interest and excitement. Taking as many as what to go is fine with my Mom: the more the merrier! She just encourages them to realize they will have to supply their own materials and containers, and that we gather at the whims of nature, in God’s timing.

Ignore the date, this was a comfrey infusion we made to soak the leg of one of Kira's hens, last September. 

So now I have to put together the jars, bottles, and materials needed for our early spring herbs. I better get busy! 

Snickers, Shakes, and Other Snacks

Prep Day #2

Next week I will leave the comforts of my wonderful home (and kitchen) for USPS training. I’ll be living out of a hotel room, and then I’ll drive straight from there Friday afternoon to our annual Ladies’ Retreat at the lovely Palouse Divide Lodge in northern Idaho. I applied for a part-time clerk position (2 hours every Saturday) for a little extra spending money every month. Now, I’m going to spend SEVEN days away from my loving husband and two beautiful daughters. Fortunately for all of us, this training falls on the week we were taking off homeschool for Spring Break! It is great that God is in control!

So last week, I turned my lemons and limes into concentrates for two of my favorite Trim Healthy Mama sippers: Strawberry Margarita Good Girl Moonshine (recipe on Turning Lemons into Lemonade article) and the Singing Canary. I stored these in sealed plastic containers in my freezer. Blessings again, I made enough to have some to take with me next week!

Now I am preparing my dinners, desserts, and snacks. My first choice, a Snickers Protein Shake created by Dashing Dish. Oh, it is creamy, crunchy, and just what I need when I feel stressed. I use it as a meal replacement occasionally, since just with the scoop of whey protein powder I am getting 25g of protein! I know I will be taking my unsweetened vanilla almond milk, a carton of low-fat cottage cheese, my stock of extracts, and water and ice from our wonderful well. These make the base of wet ingredients for all my shakes and some of my smoothies. Today, I put all the dry ingredients together for 7 frappas, shakes, and smoothies in these cute little jelly jars.

Left to Right: Peach Smoothie, Coconut FSF, Big Boy Smoothie, Snickers Shake, Samoas Shake with topping, Reese's PB Shake, & Thin Mint Shake

I’ll include the recipes (or links to the recipes if they’re not mine) below. However, I need to check on my next project: roasted almonds and glazed walnuts!

Right now, I have two batches of nuts in the oven at 250^oF. I am dry roasting 1½ cups of almonds and glazing 1½ cup of walnuts. I didn’t have a recipe for the glaze, so I created my own. You’ll need:

Medium glass bowl

Foil lined baking tray

Ingredients

1½ cup Walnuts (or any other nut)

2 T butter, melted

½ tsp cinnamon

¼ tsp Himalayan pink salt

2 T truvia (or sweetener equivalent of your choice)

I covered a baking tray with aluminum foil (to make clean-up easier.) In the glass mixing bowl, I melted 2 tablespoons of butter (microwave for 30 seconds). Then I added all of the ingredients except the nuts and stirred until combined. I tossed in the walnuts and stirred until they were completely coated. I then poured the coated nuts onto the prepared tray and baked them at 250^oF for 15-20 minutes, checking every 5-7 minutes. I already had my 1 ½ cups of almonds in the oven on a separate baking tray. You’ll know when the walnuts are done because they smell warm and nutty, and they haven’t started to brown. You definitely do NOT want burned nuts…ewww! Let them cool completely and store in a sealed container.

The dry roasted almonds can bake longer because they don’t have the sweetener and butter which can burn easier. I usually just leave them in the oven 20-30 minutes. If I leave them any longer, the whole house starts smelling like roasted almonds, and my family eats them before I can use them in a dish.

Here are all my nut snacks ready to be packed for my week away. I feel more prepared, less stressed about leaving for a week, and pleased by the crunch of a couple almonds fresh out of the oven. Happily, Erik and the girls are outside and not in here eating them all!

Shakes, Smoothies, & Drinks Recipes

Coconut FSF (FP)

1 tsp coconut oil

1 tsp coconut extract

1 ½ tsp vanilla extract

1 cup vanilla almond milk (unsweetened)

½ tsp Glucomannan powder

4 tsp sweetener (stevia/erythritol/xylitol blend)

1/8 tsp sea salt

1 tray ice cubes

1 scoop vanilla whey protein powder

Stevia extract to taste

Blend all the ingredients (coconut oil through sea salt) together. Add ice cubes and pulse until broken into small pieces, then blend until smooth. Add protein powder and blend until creamy. Taste and add extracts or sweetener to taste (I used 3 drops French Vanilla liquid stevia.)

Trim Healthy Peachy Dream~ E (http://www.treasuresunseen.com/2013/07/trim-healthy-peachy-dream-e.html?m=1)

Big Boy Smoothie Trim Healthy Mama page 242.

Snickers Protein Shake (http://dashingdish.com/recipe/snickers-protein-shake/)

Low Carb Caramel “Samoas” Milkshake S (http://www.gwens-nest.com/family-favorite-recipes/low-carb-samoas-milkshake/)

THM Thin Mint Chocolate Chip Milkshake (http://www.gwens-nest.com/family-favorite-recipes/thm-peppermint-chocolate-chip-milkshake-recipe/)

THM Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Shake

I can’t find the author/creator. This was posted in the Trim Healthy Mama Facebook forum in early February. If you know the creator, let me know and I’ll give her credit!

Ingredients

o    3/4 cup unsweetened almond milk

o    1 scoop unsweetened vanilla whey powder (or plain)

o    4 tsp. Truvia

o    3 sprinkles Nunaturals pure white stevia

o    1Tbsp coconut oil

o    Dash of sea salt

o    2Tbsp. natural, no sugar creamy peanut butter (we use Adam's)

o    1Tbsp Cocoa Powder

o    1/4 c. boiling water (this is to melt the coconut oil. I know, it sounds weird but it works.)

Mix everything together in your blender. At the end, I pulse in less than 1 oz. 85% dark chocolate for a little extra yum!

Turning Lemons into Lemonade (and 8 Other Uses)

Prep Day #1

I sin, I know I do, when I envy some of the ladies on the Trim Healthy Mama Facebook forum. I see them post pictures of all the wonderful snacks and drinks they prepare for the week on Sunday afternoons: their Prep Day.  I love organization, but my day seems to get away with me, and I rarely take time to prepare ahead of time. Also, our Sundays are full of worship and fellowship, so choosing Sunday to be my prep day is out of the question. So, while I had the girls work on their math for an hour, I prepped on Monday.

Well, my hour became more like three. I had bought 12+ lemons and 7 limes. Before I had a chance to turn them into wonderful concentrations for my Singing Canary and Strawberry Limeade Good Girl Moonshine (GGMS), 2 of the limes turned into rocks and one of the lemons grew a science project. Unfortunately, we are currently studying flying creatures for science, not molds, so the lemon was immediately sent to the trash can.

I peeled, and peeled, and peeled. I thought lemons must be the HARDEST of all the citrus fruits to peel…then I started on the limes. I put half of the lemons in my wonderful ninja’s largest pitcher and filled it half-way with water. Then I blended for 2 minutes or so, and poured the resulting sludge into several handy containers. Then I took my handy-dandy pulp strainer (a nylon kneehigh) and stretched the top across the top of my pitcher. I poured all the lemon juice, pulp, and seeds back in and then squeezed out ALL the juice. Serene and Pearl are right, it IS the fun part! I poured the strained juice into 1.5 cup freezer containers with lids and dumped the pulp into the trash.

Normally, most of my kitchen waste goes to our chickens, but my wise Chicken Chick informed me that citrus isn’t good for poultry. At least none of our hens died the last time I tossed them peels!

Then I repeated with the rest of the lemons, and again with the limes. The lime juice I poured over 4 frozen strawberries, to make it simpler when I want to make my GGMS. 

Leaning Tower of Lemon Concentrate

I was left with a PILE of peels! I couldn’t feed them to the chickens, so what was I going to do with them?? I hate to throw away something that could be useful. So I went to Google, typed in “How do I make lemon extract” and found this wonderful blog: http://www.thankyourbody.com/31-ways-to-use-lemon-peel/

I was a bit overwhelmed: 31 more things for me to prep?!? I decided to just make a few. I use lemon extract, and want to make lemon essential oil, so those were my first two choices. Unfortunately, I couldn’t make those immediately, because I didn’t have enough olive oil or any vodka. I put them on my list, and will make them later this week. I DO have the prep work done, though, so great feelings of organizational happiness filled my soul. I put a couple handfuls of lemon and lime peels into a gallon plastic baggie and set it inside the fridge for later.

I turned the peels of a lemon or two into zest with my cute, little parmesan grater. Then I put the zest in a zipper snack baggie and set it inside my freezer.

Oooooo, I can clean the microwave!!! I took a bowl of water, added a handful of the smallest pieces of lemon peel, and put it in the microwave. I nuked it for 5 minutes. When I opened the microwave, I could see a fine condensation all over the interior. I wiped everything down, but it still didn’t smell fresh enough. I repeated the process with another bowl of water and peels. This time, the microwave glistened and smelled wonderful!

Lemon Cleaner

Ah! I love fresh scent of Lemon All-Purpose Cleaners, and now I am making my own. I took an old spaghetti sauce jar that still had its lid, filled it with lemon peels, and then poured white vinegar over them until the jar was full. I set the sealed jar in the windowsill and will shake this tincture several times every day for 2 weeks. Then, I can mix it in a spray bottle 50/50 with water, and voila! I have my own, homemade cleaner.

Now I was really getting excited about Prep Day #1. I went back to my computer to find something else to make. I still had about half of the lemon peels, and all of the lime peels to use. I wanted to freshen my refrigerator and trash can by putting a couple peels in each (under the garbage bag for the latter).

I remember my favorite grandparent, my Grandma Mary, setting a small pot of water on her wood stove and floating orange peels in it to make the house more humid and fresh-smelling. I promptly put a small saucepan on the back burner of my stove and floated some lemon and lime peels in water inside of it. This simmered all day, and the house smelled...like lemons. Everywhere I went, I could smell lemons. Good thing I love that scent, and so does my family.

I put water and lemon peels inside the tea kettle that resides on the other back burner of our stove. I let this come to a boil, and then poured it out. The kettle gleamed in the early—er, late—morning light.

By this time, I’m realizing that the girls have finished their 30 minutes on Khan Academy as well as another 45 minutes of Life of Fred. OK, time for Home Ec! I invite my beautiful, attentive daughters into the kitchen, and show them what I have done so far. I figure they could help me use up the rest of the lemon and lime peels. They like everything I have done, and figure that it would be ok to throw the few remaining peels away. Don’t they understand frugality? Don’t they get the pleasure from having things prepared ahead of time? Nope, they don’t really care. Now, if I could make lemon bars from the last peels, then they would be more interested. Sigh.

Lemon-Lime Sugar Scrub

I returned to my computer one final time. A sugar scrub! Well, that is something wonderful to do with sugar now that I don’t want to eat it anymore. Since they don’t want to help me with my final prep project, this scrumptious skin smoother is going to be all mine! Hee hee hee. I took one of my empty Truvia containers, filled it about ¾ with sugar, and started finely chopping the last of my peels. I mixed them into the sugar, and set it on the shelf in the bathroom. Now, when I want to use it, I’ll just take a small bowl and some olive oil in and mix up my paste. Yay!

Prep Day #1 is done! Lunch anyone?

Strawberry Margarita GGMS

My Favorite Good Girl Moonshine – Strawberry Margarita GGMS

Put all the following into blender:

6 Frozen Strawberries

@ 1-2 Tbs Lime Juice

@ 1-2 tsp ACV

Dash powder ginger & cinnamon so each strawberry gets some

1 dash cayenne

6 tsp sweetener

3-5 dashes sea salt

@ 1 cup water

Blend – taste – tweak – Blend

Pour over ice in a 1 quart jar 

About Me

Yes, I’ll put myself out there, and you can correct any mistakes I make. I LOVE SPELLING and GRAMMAR! My family (including my mom) used me as Spell Check before Microsoft incorporated that wonderful function in their software. They STILL prefer, “Hey, Becca, how do you spell…” rather than looking it up or using Spell Check, even if they are currently typing in Microsoft Word. This makes it hard for me to teach my daughters the wonderful world of looking things up themselves, because my mother and husband have programmed me to answer, and answer quickly. Every once in a while, I’ll catch myself and actually tell Trinity to sound it out or tell Kira to look it up. Then I pat myself on the back!

            My name is Rebecca Hanson. My husband and I got married in 1999, and we have two wonderful daughters whom we are teaching to become young ladies. I love teaching and training in small groups or one-on-one. I had a taste of teaching in a preschool when I was 21, and I decided the classroom was NOT for me. However, I love guiding and teaching our daughters. The biggest challenge we have discovered is teaching them how to live in this world and still be children of God. I have received Godly counsel from many homeschooling moms, and I realize this is a journey for all of us. I want to share that journey with you.

            On this blog, you’ll find recommended curriculum and books, enjoy recipes for families learning and living according to the precepts from Trim Healthy Mama, visit homeschool families in my Meet the Family articles, and hopefully have a wonderful journey with homeschoolers in northern Idaho.