Spring Cleaning Detoxified

It's that time of the year; time to start the new Spring season fresh and clean. Spring is a great time to clean out your home and your body.

 

I have always loved cleaning. When I was a child I would spend hours in my room dusting, organizing and moving my furniture around until everything was just perfect. I haven't changed. I still love a clean, tidy home.

 

Despite my love of cleaning though I don't have any cleaning products in my home at all. Like none...really! Keeping a home clean with 'clean' and natural products is much, much cheaper and better for your body than any of the more common cleaners filled with toxic chemicals on the store shelves. What makes conventional cleaners toxic? Well, there's the fumes, the toxic ingredients, and they are just plain terrible for the circulatory and respiratory systems.

 

Here is the list of all 'ingredients' that I use to clean everything in my home:

• baking soda
• vinegar
• borax
• washing soda
• ivory soap
• oranges or lemons

Below are how I use these ingredients.

 

Floors

 

To clean my floors I love my Vileda mop. I love it because I don't have to buy new pads for it (they're washable/reusable) and I can fill the dispenser with whatever cleaner I wish. My choice is a solution of 1/3 vinegar to 2/3 water.

 

 

I recently purchased something else for my floors that I wanted for a long, long time. I bought a Dyson vacuum. I absolutely love it. Despite the fact that I always keep a tidy home I am always surprised by what it picks up. It even picks up the dust and crumbs that end up between the cracks of the wood floor or under the baseboards. We don't even have carpets and look at what it found on my main floor alone. Yuck!

 

All-Purpose Cleaner (for Dusting)

 

My all-purpose cleaner is a simple mix of vinegar, water and orange. A few weeks ago I bought a few oranges and saved our peels in a jar and covered them with vinegar. I let them stew and prepared my cleaner by pouring the orange/vinegar mixture (minus the peels) into a spray bottle and filled the rest with water. So easy - and it leaves a wonderful scent; as opposed to noxious fumes. Any other citrus can be used, like lemons, grapfruits, etc..

 

Bathrooms

I hate cleaning bathrooms. It's never that bad once I get started but they do tend to be left for last. Today was no exception. They were again, the last rooms to get cleaned.

Again, my cleaners are simple but effective. The mirrors are cleaned with a vinegar/water mix, the sink and tub are cleaned with the same mixture (or the all-purpose cleaner above) along with some added baking soda. I spray the surface and then lightly shake a bit of baking soda on top and wipe.

For the toilet I pour some vinegar into the bowl, let it sit a few minutes and then add baking soda. The best part is when it starts to bubble and gets frothy. Use a toilet brush to scrub, flush, and you're done.

The vinegar/baking soda mix works really well for clogged drains too. Every so often I'll clean out the drains to prevent fruit flies in the summer and 'off' smells in the shower. Simply spoon a cup or so of baking soda down the drain, pour some vinegar down and block the 'eruption' from coming up with a facecloth. Leave for a few minutes and then pour boiling water down. The result is a clean, non-stinky drain (without the toxic chemicals).

Laundry

I did a post last summer about my homemade laundry soap (http://www.eatrealberealns.com/2012/07/homemade-laundry-soap.html). I've been hooked since and have not bought any other laundry detergent. All it contains is a shaved bar of Ivory Soap, 1 cup of borax and 1 cup of washing soda. Combine and use 1 tbsp per load.

To substitute fabric softener add some vinegar instead (don't worry - your clothes won't smell of vinegar I promise!).

For the dryer I haven't bought dryer sheets in years. Instead, I use 4 wool dryer balls. Well, that's if I didn't hang my clothes outside, of course (or in front of my wood pellet stove, which I learned is a great clothes dryer).

After 2 full days of cleaning I am very happy with the results. The floors are cleaned, bed sheets and blankets washed, everything is dusted, winter boots, mittens and hats are stored away, and closets have been organized. I would have liked to get the windows done too but I'll have to wait until it's just a bit warmer (and sunnier) out.

Here is my very clean, sparkly kitchen...

My organized pantry...

My daughters bedroom (she's not a clean freak like I was so this won't last)...

And..the main floor powder room.

Now, can everyone please keep the house clean!!!

Homemade Shredded Coconut

Have you ever bought a fresh coconut to bring it home, open it, drink the contents and then make shredded coconut? No? Sound like a lot of work? Yeah...I won't lie. It is.

 

Last weekend I noticed that the grocery store had coconuts on sale for $0.96 each so I figured I would buy one and experiment. I had bought one in the past and had lots of difficulty getting it open and then getting the meat out so I didn't bother getting another one. But for $0.96....why not?

 

I did some googling and some YouTube watching and these were the suggestions (and then my actual experience):

- To get the water out, feel the 3 eyes on the coconut and one should feel a bit softer. You should be able to use something to poke a hole through it and drain out the water

Well, for me none of the 'eyes' were any softer than the others and I couldn't find anything to 'screw' into it that actually worked; that is until my husband came in with the electric drill. Even the drill had a bit of a hard time but it made it through...eventually.

We all enjoyed a sip of the coconut water with our classy pink plastic straw.

- To break the coconut you should be able to use the dull side of a chef's knife and give it a few hard whacks on the seam.

Yeah...that didn't work (at all). I went against all recommendations and got the hammer out. The hammer worked perfectly. It did not 'smash' the coconut into a million pieces, but into two perfect halves.

 

- To get the meat out simply make small lesions with a paring knife into a triangle shape and then pop out the meat.

 

This worked perfectly. It was a lot of work and used a lot of hand and wrist muscles I didn't know I had but it cleaned out every last bit.

 

Once the meat has been removed you have two choices. Make homemade coconut milk or shred the coconut.

I didn't make the coconut milk this time and opted for shredded coconut. Apparently the milk can be made by simply blending the coconut meat and the coconut water together until liquified. I don't think this would have worked really well because there wasn't really 'that' much water in the coconut and I imagine I would have had to add more to get the right consistency.

Shredding the coconut was super easy. Plunk the meat into the food processor and process it until it looks like shredded coconut. Done!

I think I ended up with 3 cups of coconut. Not bad for $0.96, eh?

I used 1 cup of and toasted it with my homemade granola and then used the remainder to make chocolate macaroons.

Raw Chocolate Coconut Macaroons

• 2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut
• 1/2 cup coconut oil
• 5 tbsp cacao powder
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp salt

Mix ingredients together in a food processor. Roll dough into balls and place on a lined pan. Put the pan into the freezer or refrigerator for an hour or so. Take out and enjoy.

Would I buy another coconut and do all this work to get the meat out? Probably. Just not on a regular basis.

Keeping it Local in March

When it comes to buying local over the winter the most difficult month is February. December and January you are still enjoying root vegetables and apples and pears, but by February you're starting to want a bit more variety at the farmers market. When March comes in though it starts getting better. This is when the greenhouse produce starts to make an appearance. On this week's trip, for instance, I was happy to find locally-grown greenhouse tomatoes, cucumbers and spinach. Nothing beats a field tomato in August, but these will do just fine for now. Heck, anything's better than buying produce from Mexico or China.

 

So what else did I get on my market run this week? Well, I'll take you through what a market visit in March will get you. I started off my day at the Halifax Seaport market and found those tomatoes above at Noggins Farm, along with butternut squash, apples, garlic and spinach. Cucumbers I picked up at Elmridge Farm. I got some eggs from the nice Mennonite couple in the corner, and then some chocolate eggs for my daughter's easter basket at Rawthentic Chocolate. At that point I needed a snack so I picked up a Good Morning Love juice made of orange, carrot, ginger and apple. Delicious!

 

While drinking my juice I picked up some fresh Arctic Char from Strickland Farms, a local fish farm. Guess what we had for dinner?

 

Upstairs I visited Julien's Bakery and bought my usual loaf of Spelt Bread and then back downstairs, some pastrami from Getaway Farms, chicken from Windy View Farms, and Chicken Curry Sausages from Sweet Williams.

 

I also made sure to stop and visit Kathy from Made With Local for my weekly purchase of their bars. This time she had a special treat for me - a Haskap Berry and Ginger bar. I tested it out on my way home and wow...awesome bar! I hope they put this one into production!

 

Before I went home, however, I made a stop at the Historic Farmers Market at the Alexander Keiths Brewery (aka The Brewery Market). Sadly I have to admit that I don't often make a stop here. I am a creature of habit and tend to follow the same path each and every time I go into Halifax on my Saturday morning market run. I go to the Halifax Seaport Market and then head to the Superstore on Barrington to finish up my weekly shop with various items the markets don't carry (more so over the winter months). Then, I drive down Barrington and go home.

 

Every time, though, I always tell myself on the way home I should really stop at Pete's, or Planet Organic, or the Brewery Market, or really any of the other downtown shops. Time and weather are usually the factors that deter me though. Luckily winter is leaving us and I'll be up earlier in the morning and able to make extra stops, especially to the Historic Farmers Market.

 

The Historic Farmers Market was where the main market used to be (before Halifax Seaport Market was built and many vendors went with it). There are still vendors that stayed behind and it is growing. It's a lot quieter than the other market but a great place to find different treasures.

The first time I went I was a bit confused when I saw the handful of vendors in the main area of Alexander Keith's entrance. Then, I realized that vendors could be found in other parts of the building as well, like up some stairs here, down the hallway over there. It's quite interesting and a great way to tour the building.

On my March visit to the market today I found some great spices. I didn't purchase any this time but now that I know about them I'll go back when I know what I need.

I was also excited to see that a vendor carries locally-produced hard red, soft red, and rye flours. Those can come in handy! Again, didn't purchase any on this trip, but will go back and get some another time.

What I did get was a great loaf of Kamut Red Fife bread. Awesome! They also had a Spelt Buckwheat and Pumpkin Seed bread as well as Red Fife Rye. This alone will encourage me to make the extra stop on a weekly basis.

Hutten Family Farm had the usual winter root vegetables, but like other farmers, also had many greenhouse vegetables making an appearance (look at all the spinach). I got two white turnip and a small head of cabbage (all for just $0.75).

 

Further along the way I came upon Cocoa & Honey, who makes organic and fair trade chocolates using local ingredients when possible. Look at those cute Easter bunnies! Since I already purchased chocolate bunnies and easter eggs from Rawthentic chocolate I made a pass at these ones, but bought homemade marshmallow from her instead.

 

Moving along my March trip through the market I came upon Odells Gluten Free and his large selection of baked goods. From him, I bought a dairy-free/gluten-free chicken pot pie. This will be our lunch today.

 

You Are What you Eat - always a great reminder! I came across this mural downstairs and thought this is probably the best reminder and the main reason why I shop at the market. I shop at the markets not just to support local farmers and producers (great goal too) but also because I want to feed my body the freshest ingredients possible; and provide variety too. There are so many things we can find at the market that you would never find at the grocery store, like that great loaf of Kamut Red Fife bread.

Well, that sums up my Saturday market run this week. Although March and April are traditionally seen as 'dry' months at the market, there are still many locally-grown and produced treasures to be found.

Here's the final list of the purchases that I made (in a traditionally dry time at the market):

Kamut Red Fife Bread
Spelt Bread from Julien's Bakery
Homemade Marshmallows from Cocoa & Honey
Chicken Pot Pie from Odell's Gluten-Free
Apples from Noggins Farm
Spinach from Noggins Farm
Garlic from Noggins Farm
Cabbage from Hutton's
Butternut Squash from Noggins Farm
Tomatoes from Noggins Farm
Turnip from Hutton's
Chicken from Windy View Farm
Apple Cider Vinegar from Boates
Pastrami from Getaway Farms
Chicken Curry Sausages from Sweet Williams
Arctic Char from Strickland Farms
Made with Local Bars
Chocolate Easter Eggs from Rawthentic Chocolate

My goal this summer is to visit as many farmers markets as I can. There are 3 in Halifax that I visit regularly but I'm going to think outside the box and visit the markets in Lunenburg, Truro, Wolfville, Cape Breton, and many others. Who knows what kind of treasures I'll find on those adventures! Stay tuned!

Acadian Maple Products Brunch

It's maple syrup season!! And you know what that means - Spring has pretty well arrived!

This past weekend the family and I headed out to Upper Tantallon for a maple brunch at Acadian Maple Products. I had driven past the shop a few times on the way to Peggy's Cove last year but never seemed to make the time to actually stop and go inside. Being that there were so many mentions on Twitter about them and their brunch I figured there was no time like the present to go and check them out.

When we arrived we were pretty hungry so brunch was first on the menu; exploring the shop would have to wait. The main ingredient on the menu? Well, maple syrup of course (and blueberry sauce)!

The brunch, offered during the months of February and March is prepared by The Feisty Chef, Renee Lavallee in the store's kitchen (see: www.feistychef.ca). The all-you-can-eat meal consisted of eggs, thick-cut Oulton's bacon, locally made maple sausages from Cavicchi's Meats, pancakes, baked beans, and Pudding Chomeur. The beans were delicious and my favorite part of the meal!

Unfortunately we didn't get a chance to try the Pudding Chomeur that I had heard so much about. It was quite busy and there were some people waiting for a table. We figured that since we had already reached our sugar limit for the day anyways we gave away our table and checked out the shop instead.

Acadian Maple Products is a gourmet food producer, distributor and exporter. Initially, in 1982, Acadian Maple Products was started by accident as an innocent family hobby but they quickly learned that they were on to something. They started selling their extra syrup to local stores and eventually to other areas of the province and the rest is history; they now ship worldwide!

Over the years the product line increased from just maple syrup to a full range of maple, blueberry and cranberry items. They sell maple syrup, maple butter (spread), maple cream (fudge) , maple candy (soft and hard), maple BBQ sauce, a line of maple and fruit jams, bulk maple sugar, maple roasted peanuts, brittle, gourmet maple coffee, blueberry syrup, blueberry maple sauce, blueberry vinegar (used as a salad dressing), cranberry mince, chutneys and marmalades.

It turns out that the location I visited in Upper Tantallon on Peggy's Cove Rd. is actually the head office and shop and not the actual production facility. The farm itself is actually located in Wentworth Valley north of Truro. In addition to their own syrup they also purchase sap from other local farms and process over 225,000 pounds of pure maple syrup a year. Crazy!!

There were quite a few things in the shop that I wanted but here is what my final purchases were: cinnamon-infused maple syrup (with the stick of cinnamon still inside - no artificial flavours here), a jar of maple butter, some maple flakes (great on oatmeal), icewine tea, and Valley Flax Flour Pancake and Cookie Mix . Valley Flax Flour is another great company that I hope to visit/blog about in the very near future.

Acadian Maple Products is open year round and is conveniently located on the main road leading to Peggy's Cove. Great stop to make and an easy way to support our local producers!

Acadian Maple Products

13578 Peggys Cove Road
Upper Tantallon, NS

www.acadianmaple.com

Homemade Frozen Spinach

So how many of you are consistently throwing out your uneaten lettuce, spinach, or other greens? Do you have the 'intention' of eating a lot of salad and then don't?

I used to be one of those people. My husband and I get a good laugh now when we think about the produce that we wasted trying to eat healthy. There was a time when cucumber, lettuce, mushrooms and even strawberries wouldn't get eaten at the end of the week and just trashed. What a shame! That was years and years ago thankfully. Things are much different now. Now we eat what we buy and make good use of it.

Last week, however, my husband was away in Newfoundland for a few days and I ended up with a lot of extra spinach that was quickly going downhill. Between my daughter and I we didn't get a chance to eat it but yet I didn't want to just toss it so I thought about using it to make my own homemade frozen spinach.

Frozen spinach is often called for in recipes and is just one of those things that I never have handy in my freezer. Up until now, that is!

Making your own block of frozen spinach is super easy. Place the spinach in a large pot on medium heat. Cook down the spinach until it is wilted. You'll be surprised by how little spinach you'll get from a pot full of spinach leaves.

Once wilted, rinse the spinach under cold water to stop the cooking process.

Squeeze the water out of the spinach by pressing on the spinach with a spoon in the strainer. There will still be some water, however, so you'll then need to squeeze the rest out with a paper towel. Once the spinach has been 'dried' chop it up and place into a container. Put it into the freezer and use next time you have a recipe asking for frozen spinach. Voila!

There you go. Rather than tossing my spinach into the trash I was able to save it for future use.

Frozen spinach is great to have on hand for omelets, pizzas, pasta dishes, dips, etc..

Turkey and Sweet Potato Shepherd's Pie

Shepherd's Pie is one of those winter comfort foods that I go to time and time again. The shepherd's pie that I make now though is a lot different from the traditional version most people have grown up with.

 

There are a lot of different versions out there. The 'real' shepherd's pie usually contains either lamb or beef as the base with a mashed potato crust. It is often called Cottage Pie. Alternatively, it can be made with ground chicken or turkey, lentils, or mushrooms. Growing up, my mom made hers with ground beef, canned creamed corn and mashed potatoes.

 

Fast forward to today, and mine has a ground turkey base, tons of veggies, and a sweet potato crust.

 

Turkey and Sweet Potato Shepherd's Pie

• 3 large sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
• 1 lb ground chicken or turkey
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 large carrot, diced
• 1 red pepper, diced
• 1/2 cup frozen corn
• 1/2 cup frozen peas
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp chili powder

 

Sweet potatoes are a great alternative to the white potato. They are much lower on the glycemic index and don't cause blood sugar spikes. They are also a source of many nutrients, like beta-carotene, Vitamin C, Niacin, B6, Potassium, Magnesium, Copper and Iron. The best part is that they actually have some flavor! They don't need anything added to them like butter, cream, etc..

To put the 'pie' together, steam 3 large sweet potatoes in a steamer for 20-30 minutes. They can be boiled but a lot of the nutrients are lost with this method.

While the potatoes are steaming heat 2 tbsp oil in a pan and soften the diced onion, carrot and red pepper. Add the ground turkey and heat until cooked through. Season with salt, pepper, oregano and thyme. Add the frozen peas and corn.

Note: you can either use a pan and then transfer the mixture to a baking dish or use a dutch oven. With the dutch oven you can saute the vegetables and cook the meat and then bake all while using the one dish. I like using the dutch oven.

Once the sweet potatoes are cooked through place them in a bowl and mash them. Add cumin and chili powder. Top the meat mixture with the mashed sweet potato.

Place the pan or dutch oven into a 375F oven and bake for 20 minutes or until bubbling.

Look at all of those colors in there. Now that's a healthy shepherd's pie!

The NEW Boondocks Restaurant

There's a new kid in town. Well, not really. It's an old kid made new again. Boondocks Restaurant in Eastern Passage has had a few owners over the years and they've reopened again this past weekend. Located in Fisherman's Cove the restaurant has had a bit of a 'reputation'. To be honest I don't really know what the restaurant was like before since I had never been so I'm only going to talk about the NEW Boondocks restaurant.

 

The new owners are Jamie and Fran Rouse, also the owners of Ma Belle's Cafe in Dartmouth with Peter Boudreau as the chef. Boudreau was most recently the owner of The Fish Shop at the Halifax Seaport Market.

 

In my opinion despite the large number of residents living in Eastern Passage there isn't much here, especially if you're looking for a place to eat. Emma's is awesome, but is only open for breakfast and lunch so a nice dinner place has been much-needed.

 

The grand opening was a really big deal and from what I heard they were busy, busy, busy and ended up turning people away at the door. I did not make an attempt to check them out opening night. I had a feeling...

Although we didn't go on Friday night, we went the very next day for lunch. As I expected it was quiet and there were lots of tables to choose from. The downside? Turns out they weren't offering 'lunch', just brunch, except for the children's menu because there isn't a kids brunch menu, just lunch. Confused? Ha! Luckily the only brunch option was just for the opening weekend and that a lunch menu will be available going forward.

My husband didn't care. He wanted brunch from the get-go. He was very excited to see that they had what he calls a 'real' English breakfast. On his business trips he often went to England and this is what he always ate while there - baked beans, mushrooms, tomato, sausage, bacon, egg and toast. He wouldn't stop talking about it...

The kid had fish and chips.

For me I had originally wanted a mediterranean salad and a side of mussels (it would have been my first time eating mussels). Instead, I ended up with fishcakes, baked beans, and homefries. I omitted the toast from my meal. I would have liked to see 'healthier' options available for the breakfast but I'm sure that will come with time. It was still just the 2nd day open after all.

Overall we had a nice meal. I was expecting lunch and ended up with brunch but I did get a good look at the rest of the menu and there were quite a few options that I hope to try next time, like those mussels! The restaurant itself is nicely decorated, although I couldn't tell you if it looks the same as before or not. Either way, the decor works. Being able to sit outside on the patio on the water with a cold drink in hand will be really nice during the summer months.

Thank you for opening a decent new restaurant in the area! Now, can we please get a hardware store and a decent grocery store?