My Best Friend

On this day, fifteen years ago,

I married by best friend.

He is still my best friend.

Fresh Blueberry Muffins

I promised I would share some of my favorite Blueberry Recipes with you while we are enjoying our own fresh blueberries.

Blueberry Muffins

1 cup unbleached flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup + 1 1/2 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 to 2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla

1. Pre-heat oven to 425 deg F. Butter muffin tins.
2. Combine dry ingredients, except 1 1/2 Tbsp sugar, in a bowl and blend well.
3. In a separate bowl, toss 1 Tbsp of the dry stuff with the blueberries and set aside.
4. After butter has cooled slightly, stir in milk, eggs and vanilla. Blend well.
5. Add egg mixture to dry ingredients and stir until well moistened. Stir in berries.
6. Spoon batter into muffin tins. Sprinkle tops with reserved sugar.
7. Bake 15 min until golden brown. Let muffins stand 5 minutes before removing from tins.

Enjoy.

There are a few more lovely Blueberry recipes to come, IF, I can get pictures of them before my family snarfs them all.

It's in the Pudding

I have to say that pudding is my favorite treat of all time. My dad used to make cooked pudding for us when I was little. He would make it when we were all getting ready for dinner and would put it in a little dish in front of your plate at dinner. If you finished dinner quickly, your pudding was still warm (which meant that you most likely liked dinner.) If you didn't finish your dinner, you didn't get the pudding. I loved my dad's pudding, so I tried to finish my dinner. He made vanilla, chocolate, coconut, and banana. Often he would put a blob of jelly in the middle of the hot pudding. It would melt and run into the cracks of the surface of the pudding. I loved that!

Well now I make pudding for my children. They like it hot and cold and anywhere in between.
Sunday afternoon we were all wanting a treat and none of the usuals really sounded like they would do. Then we thought of good old vanilla pudding and we knew that was just the thing.

The recipe I use now is a combination of my dad's quickly recipe and my mom's cream pie filling recipe she got from her mom. It has all the flavor and texture I want in a pudding and the speed of my dad's "get it done" kind of cooking.

So for our Sunday evening treat we had vanilla pudding with fresh straberries, blueberries, and sliced banana. It was heaven!

Vanilla Pudding
5 egg yolks
3 cups milk
1/2 cup sugar OR 1/4 to 1/3 cup agave nectar (love it!)
1/4 cup corn starch
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 Tbsp butter (option - I usually forget to add this)

I put the milk and egg yolks in the blender and blend well. This makes it so you don't have to strain the hot pudding for "egg boogers" later. Pour this into a good heavy sauce pan. Then add the sugar, salt, and corn starch. Mix well with a whisk. Turn on to med to med-hi heat on your stove top and cook, stirring constantly until it thickens. Remove from heat and add the butter if you are using it. Then add the vanilla extract. Serve now or pour it into a covered dish and cool in the fridge.

Blueberries for Me

I am so excited I can't stand it! I have my very OWN blueberry bushes. I have always wanted them but never thought I would get to have them. Last fall a blueberry farm near us when out of business and sold off all their mature bushes for $10 each. I got myself 6 lovely bushes. I am so happy. I would have bought more but these weighed a ton and were hard to get home. I can't wait till June when they are ripe.

Breakfast Shakes

Here is another quicky breakfast we fix here for the kids. It is nutritious and delicious so kids say YES! and so does mom. My kids actually like to fix these as after school snacks when they get home.

We have several that we make.

My kids make them in our regular old blender that we have had for YEARS. It works fine. Sometimes the ice isn't all crushed but they don't seem to mind. When I make the milkshakes I now use my high power blender. I have a Health Master. I have liked it so far but don't recommend it to anyone. There are too many potential problems. I am already smelling the "hot machine" smell when I use for anything difficult which is what they advertise it for. If I had the purchase to make again I would get a Blendtec home blender. I have a friend that has had one for a long time and loves it and it still works beautifully. I wish I had been told that this was a better buy. I would have saved the $$ and bought this one instead. Hind sight. Oh well! On to the shakes. The advantage of the high power blenders is that they work way faster and I can blend up things in them that I can't in a blender, such as nuts and grains which add health benefits to my kids food.

Banana Milk Shake

1 cup milk

1 whole banana

2 Tbsp Peanut butter

1 Tbsp cocoa powder (I think we actually use a lot more than this) ☺

2 Tbsp whey protein powder (I don't do soy but you can if you like)

1 cup ice

Sweetener of your choice (we use honey, agave syrup, sucanant, or stevia depending on what is on hand)

1 tsp vanilla

Put everything in the blender and blend like mad until it is smooth.

This makes enough for 2 kids. In the big blender I will double or triple this recipe for the whole family.

Orange Julius

1 cup milk

1 cup carrot juice (originally called for water but hey I slip in veggies where I can. )

1 cup ice

6 oz orange juice concentrate (half a regular can)

1 tsp vanilla

2 Tbsp whey protein powder

Sweetener to taste - with the carrot juice in there it doesn't take much and again we try to use healthier choices like agave syrup

Put everything in the blender and blend like mad until it is all smooth and yummy.

In the big blender I skip the carrot juice and just put in 2 raw carrots for this recipe. For the whole family I double this recipe in the big blender and blend the carrots and liquids first before adding the ice. It does a great job of liquefying the carrots.

Berry Smoothie

1 cup milk or orange juice or plain sweetened yogurt

1 cup frozen berries ( or frozen fruit mix)

sweetener if needed (or sometime we just add a banana and that is plenty sweet)

Put in blender and blend like mad till it is as smooth as you like.

Big blender berry smoothie

2 1/2 cups milk, Orange juice, or plain sweetened yogurt (or a mix of any of the three)

1/2 cup old fashion oats

handful of nuts

2 Tbsp flax seed - ground

1/4 cup whey protein powder

2 tsp vanilla

Blend this till smooth

Add

1 banana

2+ cups frozen berries of your choice - we like to buy the big bags of mixed fruit with strawberries, mango, pineapple, peaches and grapes.

If you think it needs sweetening, you can add a squirt or two of agave nectar or another sweetener you like.

This takes the higher power blender to get the oats and nuts blended enough to be able take. The kids and I really love this. It really fills you up and lasts all morning.

I have tried adding the flax seed, oats and nuts to all the above recipes and we like the addition. It does change the texture though.

I got the idea for this recipe from my friend Vea. Go check out her blog for more ideas for great food and money saving tips.

Simple Breakfast

I don't know about you but that looks really yummy to me. I picked the idea for this breakfast up from an old diet book I found. It is just fruit, cottage cheese and nuts. It fills me up and keeps me going all morning. With the fruit, I have enough carbs to get my brain going. With the cottage cheese, I have enough protein to keep be going. With the nuts, I have enough good oils to make me feel satisfied. I love it. You can substitute what ever fruit you like with the cottage cheese. I have used strawberries, grapes, melon, and pears. I love them all but the pears are my favorite right now.

Simple Breakfast

1 cup cut up fruit

3/4 cup low fat cottage cheese

a handful of nuts (not roasted, raw)

Give it a try, you will love it!

Carb Plan

My dear blogging friends,

I have something I need to share and maybe by doing so I can encourage myself to stick to it.

Since having my five little Byrds, I have had a really hard time keeping weight off. Due to metabolic problems that are a part of life with Thyroid disease, I just can't seem to keep it off. However there are some things that seem to help.

I exercise everyday for at least 20 minutes and my calorie burn goal (set by my Dr) is 300 calories per day.

I also try to watch what I eat. We already use whole grains; honey, sucanat, and stevia instead of sugar; we also eat fresh fruits and vegetables and have a garden. Still weight is an issue for me. I have found though that a carbohydrate monitoring diet helps. I can't have a very low carb or no carb diet or I get sick because of hypoglycemia. That isn't fun and I get really grouchy.

A few years ago my SIL gave me a print out of a diabetic diet she was using and liked. I gave it a try and have loved it. When I use it, I lose weight, don't get hungry, and generally feel better.

So I am posting this carb plan PDF version of it HERE.

Please remember that I am NO Doctor and that you should consult your physician before starting any new diet or exercise plan.

This is just something that has worked for me.

Here is how it works. It breaks down the food you eat into Carbohydrate (carbs), Proteins (meats), and fats. All three are necessary for your body function.

One diabetic serving of Carbs is 15 grams of carbohydrates. Each meal and snack lists the number of carbs you can have. It also gives you a limited list of foods and the number of carbs they have.

The thing I love about this plan is that it educated me enough that I could start planning my own meals with things that I love in the amounts that I can have. The first thing I noticed was that some of the foods I had been eating were not so great for me. When I ate my carb quota of them, I was still starving.

I also learned that 1 cup of raw vegetables has 5 grams carbs so that meant that I can eat 3 cups of vegetables which equals 15 carbs or 1 Carb choice in the plan. Well that fills me up and I love them! That also usually left me 2 Carb choices for that meal that I could fill in with all kinds of things that I wanted to eat. I could even "afford" to have a cookie or small dessert now and then.

I grew with the plan and went to several websites to learn the "carb" amounts for ingredients I used often. That way I could tweak my own recipes so they were better for me and I could regulate the portions to comply with the diet.

I have also incorporated several South Beach Diet ideas into what I am fixing. Kalyn's Kitchen is a great place to get recipes and ideas for low carb recipes that work well in any diet.

Whew, that was a lot of typing. Can you tell I feel strongly about this?

Anyway my friends, I wanted to share this tool with you. Maybe it will help you in your quest for a healthier life style.

**Note**
This diet is set for a preganant or lactating woman. For my regular diet I just cut back on the fat and carbs some or have 3 cups of veggies be one of two carb choices at a meal. That gives you lots of food, lots of fiber, still has carbs for good blood sugar levels, fills me up .... etc.

From My Files

This is a shot of some of my recipe files. These folders are almost 30 years worth of recipe collecting and perfecting. There are some serious treasures in here. Problem is the recipes don't always make it back into their folders and the folders don't always make it back into their box.

One of the reasons I share so many recipes on this blog is to ensure that some of the best of these recipes are not lost.

Here is one of my children's favorites. It is simple to make, requires few ingredients, and always makes them happy.

Donburi is basically Japanese fast food. It consists of a bowl of hot, sticky rice and some meat, eggs, or vegetables on top. This particular recipe only has eggs and onions but any veggies could be added for more nutrition and flavor.

Tama Tama Donburi (egg bound onions)

1 onion sliced

1 cup water

1 tsp hondashi (fish soup stock flavoring)

1/2 tsp salt

4 Tbsp Soy Sauce

2 Tbsp Mirin + 1 tsp

4 eggs lightly beaten

Put everything but the eggs into a pan and boil till the onions are translucent.

Pour the eggs over the onions in a thin stream. Cook just until the eggs are set. DO NOT STIR.

Remove from heat and serve over rice.

Variation:

Add any chopped veggies to the onions you like such as carrots, celery, broccoli, etc.

Hollandaise Happiness

I have to admit that I haven't always loved this sauce. As a child I didn't trust it but knew that something had to be up because of the fuss the adults made about it. I have had it in many forms, some of which I think must be aberrations. (nasty things)

I have now made it a few times myself with varied success. This past week though I found a fast, and fabulous recipe for it. It is made in the blender. Here is the recipe.

Fast & Fabulous Hollandaise Sauce

3 egg yolks
2 Tbsp Lemon Juice
1/2 tsp Salt
Dash of hot sauce
1/2 cup melted butter

Blend the egg yolks, lemon juice, salt and hot sauce in the blender. Melt the butter and bring to a boil on the stove top. You want to boil it until it start to brown (like an light tan) this starts to caramelize the flavor of the butter and really opens it up.
Turn on the blender with your egg mixture in it. Start gradually pouring the boiling butter into the running blender in a steady stream. It will thicken quickly.
Serve immediately with your steamed vegetables or on eggs Benedict. (that sounds so yummy, I might have to get some fixing for that tomorrow!)
Enjoy!!

If that doesn't "feel" cooked enough for you, you can place it in a double boiler over hot water. You really have to watch it though. It can curdle which isn't cool. (you can fix that though by adding a table spoon of boiling water to it and mixing it well.
You have to serve this immediately. It is not something that is meant to last a long time so fix it very last before serving your food.

Dad's Amazing Fresh Strawberry Ice Cream

Among the many things my dad was amazing at, cooking was one of the most interesting. He tried to be a shiterein cook. However, he didn't always achieve the desired results and some of his more famous dishes were "frope stew", and "last trip to Tulsa" (if you have ever tried to navigate from East to West through Tulsa you would understand). However, when he did get it right, he got it right and I would make him write it down before he forgot. My favorite things that he cooked were his hot pudding, rice pudding, Spanish rice, chop suey, Dad's old rashioned oatmeal cookies (my kid's favorite too), instant fudge, whole wheat bread, blender madness, and fresh strawberry ice cream. The ice cream became an institution of it's own. In it's day it was pretty much expected at all family and church put luck gatherings.
Well with the plethora of strawberries DH purchased for me this past week, I HAD to break out the old recipe and introduce my children to it. I am also going to share it with you because I promised some nieces and nephews that I would post it so they too could carry on Grandpa's tradition. (my mother also made this ice cream and I highly suspect her influence in the recipe)

My Dad's Amazing Fresh Strawberry Ice Cream
(OCB)
3 pints fresh strawberries
1 (3 oz) pkg. strawberry gelatin
1/2 cup hot water
3/4 cup lemon juice (fresh, frozen or bottled)
1/2 (6 oz) can can frozen orange juice concentrate
1 quart milk
1 pint half and half
1 pint heavy cream
3 1/4 cup sugar

Clean and wash the strawberries and whirl in blender until liquid. Strain out the seeds if desired. Dissolve the gelatin in hot water, then combine with the remaining ingredients. Freeze in a 6 quart ice cream freezer according to manufacturers directions. Pack to ripen. Serve the same day.
You can also use fresh black berries and raspberries and substitute raspberry jello for the strawberry jello.
To pack the ice cream, remove the dasher, put the lid on and cork it. Then pack more ice around the ice cream canister and wrap blankets around the whole bucket. It is a long wait but so worth it in the end.
My mom and dad would bring this to church socials at the creek with their hand cranked ice cream machine. People would take turns churning while the meal was being prepared and people gathered. Then it would be packed and ripening while we ate and played. Then at the end of the social my dad would break out the ice cream and it was divine.
I have taken this mix and frozen it it solid and then cut it into chunks and sent it through my champion juicer and have instant soft serve ice cream for my family. They love it! I think the flavor it the best when you make ice cream immediately but the frozen stuff was still the best strawberry ice cream ever!
Enjoy!

Strawberry Sale

So my local Stuff Mart had strawberries on sale this past week for $1.50 per quart. That is way better that $3.99 or worse so I told my Honey to pick me up a lot so I could re-stock the freezer with the kids favorite jam. Well ...... He DID! I brought home 22 pounds of strawberries. Yikes. That is a ton. So I spent the next day making said jam. I put up 56 pints of freezer jam. It is fabulous.

I would post a recipe BUT freezer jam is a tricky beast. You have to follow the recipe on the box exactly or you DON'T get jam and jells. You get runny stuff. Great on ice cream but not great in a sandwich.
However, I will post some tips I have learned over time in making jam.
*Freezer jam is the easiest jam ever. You just mash the fruit, add the sugar, add the pectin and wait and you have scrumptious jam.
*Measure, Measure, Measure. It is very important to measure your jam ingredients precisely. Freezer jam is a science, not an art. That means to measure exactly don't guess and dash. That makes it something that anyone can do. Not talent required. :o)
One pound (or quart) of strawberries will make about 3 pints of jam. We usually freeze it in half pints because that is enough for one meal (usually).
There are several kinds of pectin on the market. The kinds I have tried and liked are Sure*Jell, Ball, and Certo.

Canned Turkey

Looks kinda like some really odd science lab specimen doesn't it?! I have to tell you the truth, that I had a hard time using home canned meat the first time I canned some. However, when I finally did try it, I was blown away by the flavor and the quality. It was wonderful. My kids prefer home canned turkey or chicken to tuna any day. We use it in casseroles, sandwiches, meat pies and pasties. We love it!

When I get a screaming deal on meat I try to snatch up as much as I can and then can it. Winter and Spring are the best times to do the meat because it is cold outside and you aren't going to kill yourself with the heat of the pressure canner.

To can mean you HAVE TO use a pressure canner. Steam and water canning isn't safe.

What I do to can meat is .... cut it from the bone if there is a bone, and cube the meat. Then I pack it raw into clean pint or quart jars. Then I add salt, 1 teaspoon per quart and 1/2 teaspoon per pint. I do not add any liquid. Then I add new lids and rings and pressure can it according to the weight and time for the canner I have. Each type of canner is a little different and you have to check out the instructions for your canner. I have the rocker kind and love it.

You can also pre cook your meat. I wasn't sure about that at first but learned that if you pre cook your meat even for a few minutes. This keeps the meat from shrinking while you are pressure canning it. This is great but when you are canning 100+ pounds of meat at a time, time is the key and I don't have time to pre-cook the meat. When you pre-cook the meat you do have to add liquid. The liquid you see in these jars is just the natural juices from the meat. It is like liquid gold in your recipes.

If you haven't given canning meat a try, you should. It is a wonderful addition to your home storage pantry and a way to control what is in the food your family is eating. This week I was able to put up 63 pints and 19 quarts of turkey breast. I am so thrilled to have this in my pantry again. We have sorely missed it. My old children were pretty excited to see it. They remember it from when they were really little. I actually had 2 pints that didn't seal and they were pretty happy to make "turkey fish" sandwiches with it.

Canvolution 2010

Whether canning is the new trend or not it is something I have always loved to do.

My mom started me (and all my siblings) early. We would shell walnuts, pit cherries, mash berries, etc...... It was a family thing and we did it together from planting, to picking, to storing, to enjoying. Seriously, nothing beats home canned peaches or strawberry freezer jam.
One of my NEW favorite blogs is Everyday Food Storage. This girl has it going on. Back in January she did a spot on her local TV about the trend of canning this year. I love the idea of a Canvolution. I am posting this button on my side bar and will start listing what I am canning. I want to keep a record this year of what I have stored for my family. I am recording things I can. I would love to see what you are canning too. And don't forget to go check out Crystal's blog and get some great food storage and canning tips.
Now is the time to be planting your garden and getting ready by gathering supplies, jars, lids, sugar, salt, etc when they go on sale or when you can afford to slip an extra in here and there. I will also try to post recipes for some of my canning treats as I go along.
Check out My Square Foot Garden for simple gardening ideas. This girls gardening abilities are amazing. She has only been at it for 4 years and has done amazing things and taught so many people so much. She has two new e books that really help you get started. Yes I ran out and got both of them and am impressed. I have read them and recommend them to anyone interested in starting a garden but isn't sure where to start.

Paddle

I think I am in love!

My friend has just started an Etsy shop selling hand crafted, wooden cooking utensils. He has been in carpentry for about 20 years now and specializes in gorgeous custom cabinets. Now he has started this side business of making utensils. I am trying to talk him into starting up a dutch oven cooking blog. He and his wife are dutch oven pros and I think they really should share some of that info in blogdom. I have only used my dutch oven a few times because, honestly, it intimidates me. I would love some tutorials for dutch oven basics and them maybe some of the fabulously awesome things you can cook with them.
He mainly makes dutch oven tools right now (which are simply marvelous I might add).

Now I need to let you in on a little secret part of my life. I made fudge. Big deal you say? I made fudge from my grandmother's recipe which is over 100 years old. This is old school fudge like you get from specialty candy houses that is made on marble slabs and cooked slowly and carefully to the right temperature which is reached when it smells right, sounds right and does the right thing when dropped into cold water. Thermometers are for novices. Then you cool this pot of chocolaty goodness and poor it onto a large marble slab. You cool it there and then start stirring it and forcing the sugar crystal to for in a very delicate pattern.
The resulting fudge is pure indulgence. I think it should be a sin it is so good but am really glad it isn't or I would be is so much trouble.
I have been making this fudge for 20 years now since I was in my early teens. I have used many different tools in that time. Each tool offering different qualities but none really doing the job like I had hopped. I have made a kind of quest of finding the perfect fudge making tool and have finally found it. I asked my friend if he could come up with a fudge paddle (not telling him how much was riding on this attempt). I gave him a few details about how the fudge is made, what tools I had used in the past, some of the disappointing features of them all and some of their finer points. He asked a few questions and went to work. That afternoon he dropped off this beauty.

Russell Custom Utensils

I have to admit I was skeptical at first. It is HUGE. It measures 5 1/4 inches wide and almost 24 inches tall. I think the largest utensil I had used in fudge making was just over 12 inches tall. This also has an angled blade. I had only ever used straight bladed tools. Well I got a chance yesterday afternoon to give it a try. I usually only make this fudge at Christmas (for obvious consumption reasons). I have to say again....

I am in Love!

If asked right now what one kitchen tool I would save in a house fire, it would be this one! It is everything I have ever looked for in a potential fudge paddle. The angled blade makes it much easier to scrap and fold the fudge. The long handle made it easier for me to reach the whole batch of fudge without having to over extend my reach. Love that. Also, the handle is very long and curved on the end making easy to swivel back and forth so I can stir and scrape the fudge from the right or left. That was an unexpected bonus. Thanks you!! Love that feature.

My oldest son watched me as I made the fudge (he usually does). He commented on how much quicker the fudge turning went and that the new paddle seemed so much easier for me to use. I thought that was cool that he noticed the difference.

Here are some shots of the paddle at work.

This makes making fudge so easy I just might have to start selling it in my etsy shop. What do you think?

Sorry this recipe is very old and has been in the family for a couple of generations and I am not at liberty to divulge the recipe yet.

Sorry!

Soap, Soap, Soap!

I have been really busy making batch after batch of soap these past few weeks.

I am listing here each kind that I make, a brief description, and whether they are in stock or not. There will also be links to the shop so you can buy them there if you so desire. I will constantly edit this post to keep the list current to available soaps.

All Byrd Bath Soaps are made completely from scratch in small batches to ensure the highest quality and attention to detail.

All Bars average a generous 4.5 oz.

Our products contain no detergents, fillers, or lather boosters, no formaldehyde, and no parabens - just naturally-good, skin-loving ingredients.


My soaps may be purchased through my Etsy Shop, My Byrd Nest
I have tried to keep my prices as low as possible. Hand made soaps are not cheap. Due to the quality ingredients and the personal time involved in all the steps along they way, making soap is expenseive. However, I didn't want to make a product I couldn't afford to buy myself. So my prices are slightly below market value. You as my cyber friends get to take advantage of that fact and take part in the savings. The costs for the raw materials does keep going up. I will try my best to keep my prices down.

Here is my current price list:

Single Bars = $3.50 each
10 Bars = $32.50 (that's $3.25 each)
20 Bars = $60.00 (that's $3.00 each)
30 Bars = $82.50 (that's $2.75 each)

When you order a bulk bar listing, you just tell me which of the soaps listed below you would like while quantities last. You can even conact me and get a bulk of one kind if you like. I can also make special listing in the shop for you if you want more than 1 and less than 10.

Soap List:

Almond Scrub


This soap has a deliciously strong almond scent. It also contains corn meal which is a great exfoliante for hands and feet.

Ingredients: food grade saponified oils of coconut, olive, canola, and soy, naturally occurring glycerin, corn meal, and almond fragrance oil.



Apple

This smells so wonderful. It reminds one of being in an apple orchard on a crisp fall day picking apples and enjoying the good life. I have searched high and low for just a scent and here it is. I think you will enjoy it too.

Ingredients: food grade saponified oils of coconut, olive, canola, and soy, naturally occurring glycerin, greed oxide for colorant, and apple fragrance oil.


Bella (a Twilight soap)


Yes this soap is in honor of Miss Bella Swan of the Twilight books. Bella is described as very floral smell, like lavender . . . or freesia. And Edward has noted "It's mouthwatering." This is a fragrance blend created by one of my favorite soap supply companies and I love it. Bella fragrance has notes of rose, iris, violet, and soft musk. Sexy, but also fresh and innocent. If you haven't tried the Twilight series yet, it is a great escape, a very good read.

Ingredients: food grade saponified oils of coconut, olive, canola, and soy, naturally occurring glycerin, ultramarine colorant, and Bella fragrance oil.

Black Cherry

This is a fun, light, candy scent. If you are into that sort of thing, you will love this soap.

Ingredients: food grade saponified oils of coconut, olive, canola, and soy, naturally occurring glycerin, pink and black pigments, and Black Cherry fragrance oil.


Cantaloupe

Fresh, delicious cantaloupe. This scent is dead on. I love it!

Ingredients: food grade saponified oils of coconut, olive, canola, and soy, naturally occurring glycerin, paprika for color, and Cantaloupe fragrance oil.



Coconut Lime

I love this soap, creamy and tart at the same time. It smells so yummy and refreshing. This is a great good morning soap and a great soap for after a long day at work. I think you will find you love it too.

Ingredients: food grade saponified oils of coconut, olive, canola, and soy, naturally occurring glycerin, greed oxide for colorant, and coconut and lime fragrance oils.

Coffee/Kitchen Soap

If I could eat a soap it would be this one. It smells so good I want to just take a nibble. It smells like coffee caramel goodness. This soap has grounds in it which are abrasive so this is a hand, and not really a body soap. The coffee grounds also have an Oder eliminating ability. This makes it a great kitchen soap to get rid of cooking smells from your hands from onions, garlic and much more.

Ingredients: food grade saponified oils of coconut, olive, canola, and soy, naturally occurring glycerin, freshly ground coffee beans, and Cappuccino Brule fragrance oil.

Country Heather

This soap's scent is a lovely green floral, not to heavy like some Heathers can be. I love it and think you will too!

Ingredients: food grade saponified oils of coconut, olive, canola, and soy, naturally occurring glycerin, oxide and ultramarine colorants, and Country Heather fragrance oil.


Cucumber

This is NOT a Melon blend Cucumber scent. It smells like fresh sliced cucumbers with just a hint of sweetness. NO MELON.

Ingredients: food grade saponified oils of coconut, olive, canola, and soy, naturally occurring glycerin, paprika for color, and Cucumber fragrance oil.

Desert Sage

This soap is very nostalgic for me. It reminds me of my childhood and playing in the sagebrush in the Utah Desert. It is a blend of sage and cedar. I should call it Green Jacket Soap but only my siblings would get the reference. :o)

Ingredients: food grade saponified oils of coconut, olive, canola, and soy, naturally occurring glycerin, ultramarine and herbs for color, Cedar essential oil and Desert Sage fragrance oil.

Edward

Yes I couldn't leave dear Edward out. Edward is described in the book as smelling like honey, lilacs and sunshine. The Edward inspired fragrance I chose is fresh, clean, and sexy. They added a bit of vanilla, heliotrope, dry wood, and grapefruit. This is a young and sporty type scent, very masculine. It is a definitely a guy scent BUT one that you wouldn't mind enjoying in the shower ladies.

Ingredients: food grade saponified oils of coconut, olive, canola, and soy, naturally occurring glycerin, body glitter, and Edward fragrance oil.

English Ivy

This soap has a lovely "green" plant smell. Very nice and very refreshing.

Ingredients: food grade saponified oils of coconut, olive, canola, and soy, naturally occurring glycerin, green oxide for color, and English Ivy fragrance oil.


Facial Blend


This IS my favorite soap. It is the bar I reach for the most. It has been called "Energy" here before. We are listing as a facial bar though because it is very good for your skin. It contains green French clay, lavender, peppermint, tea tree, and patchouli essential oils. These are all anti bacterial and great for your skin. There is also French clay in this soap which is great for oily skin making it a great facial bar.

Ingredients: food grade saponified oils of coconut, olive, canola, and soy, naturally occurring glycerin, green oxide for color, green French clay, lavender, tea tree, peppermint, and patchouli essential oils.

Fudge Berry Brownie

This smells good enough to bite. My kids think it smells like a tootsie pop. This is my own blend of chocolate and berry fragrance oils. Pretty much everyone loves this scent.

Ingredients: food grade saponified oils of coconut, olive, canola, and soy, naturally occurring glycerin, cocoa powder for color, and Chocolate and Blackberry fragrance oil.

Gardener's Soap

This has a bug repelling yet gardener delighting blend of essential oils, including lemon grass, citronella, tea tree, lavender and several more. It also contains corn meal for a mild scrubbing effect.

Ingredients: food grade saponified oils of coconut, olive, canola, and soy, naturally occurring glycerin, cornmeal, a special blend of essential oils.


Georgia Peach

This is a very different peach scent. It doesn't smell like candy or soda pop. It has a real green plant kind of smell. I will not be replacing our Peach Nectar scent but just might make it to the permanent line-up

Ingredients: food grade saponified oils of coconut, olive, canola, and soy, naturally occurring glycerin, pink and yellow pigment for color, and Georgia Peach fragrance oil.

Harvest Festival

Whether it is fall or not this is wonderful homey soap scent. Every time you sniff this soap you will smell something different; apple, citrus, spice and pumpkin notes meld into this fabulous fall blend!

Ingredients: food grade saponified oils of coconut, olive, canola, and soy, naturally occurring glycerin, grated white soap, red and yellow pigment for color, and All Hallows Eve fragrance oil.

Honeysuckle

Honeysuckle is another one of my favorite floral fragrances. This one is dead on in my book (or close enough). We have honeysuckle vines in our backyard and my little girl took one whiff of this soap and said "hey that smells like those pretty honeysuckle flowers in the back yard." That was good enough for me.
Why purple?? Long story..... just say I grabbed the wrong bottle of scent so the color is perfect for Huckleberry soap but the scent is perfect for Honeysuckle. Either way it smells divine.

Ingredients: food grade saponified oils of coconut, olive, canola, and soy, naturally occurring glycerin, grated white soap, pink and black pigment for color, and Honeysuckle fragrance oil.

Huckleberry



At long last, I have found a berry scent that not only smells great BUT also works in cold process soap. Berry scents are just really hard to make soap with but this one works and it smells wonderful. If you are berry fan you will love this soap.

Ingredients: food grade saponified oils of coconut, olive, canola, and soy, naturally occurring glycerin, pink and black pigment for color, and Huckleberry fragrance oil.

Jacob Black



Jake the Snake and Zeek the Freak

Ok unless you grew up anywhere near my dad you won't know these two old cowpokes. When I was a little girl my dad would come home from work, lay down on the living room floor and put an arm out for me and my little brother to rest our heads on. Then he would tell us the most marvelous stories about these two crusty old cowboys. There were so many things he could have done with his time but he chose to spend it telling stories to two little kids. We loved those stories and still do.Why did I name this soap after them?? Because, to me it smells like the Southern desert, tumble weeds, willows at the waterhole, and soft yet rugged scent cowboy cologne.

Ingredients: food grade saponified oils of coconut, olive, canola, and soy, naturally occurring glycerin, dill weed for color, and Pinion Pine and Sage Brush fragrance oil.

Lavender

This is simply pure lavender goodness. It is so calming and soothing to the soul. It is the perfect end to any day. And a peaceful way to start your morning.

Ingredients: food grade saponified oils of coconut, olive, canola, and soy, naturally occurring glycerin, lavender buds, ultramarine blue for color, and Lavender essential oil.

Lavender Mint

This soap is made with a refreshing blend of Lavender, Spearmint, and Peppermint Essential Oils.

Ingredients: food grade saponified oils of coconut, olive, canola, and soy, naturally occurring glycerin, lavender buds, ultramarine blue for color, and Lavender, Peppermint, and Spearmint essential oils.

Lemon Zest


Licorice/Anise/Fisherman Soap


Why three names? Because people call this soap by those three names. It is just pure soap with poppy seeds and Anise Essential Oil. Why Fisherman's soap? Because this scent masks human scent and is attractive to fish so fishermen swear by it. As for me it smells like the best, most mouth watering black licorice ever. If licorice is your thing, you will LOVE this soap!

Ingredients: food grade saponified oils of coconut, olive, canola, and soy, naturally occurring glycerin, poppy seeds, and Anise essential oil.

Lilac

This soap is very nostalgic for me. It reminds me of my childhood and playing in the lilac bushes in my mother's front yard. The bushes were so large you could play under them with your dolls. This scent is dead on in my opinion. I think you will like it if you are a lilac fan. I have search high and low to find one that was a good match.

Ingredients: food grade saponified oils of coconut, olive, canola, and soy, naturally occurring glycerin, lavender pigment for color, and Lilac fragrance oil.


Lily of the Valley

This scent is almost dead on for Lily of the Valley which happens to be my favorite flower. It is a delicate flower with powerful scent which is amazing. If you are a fan of this flower you will love this soap!

Ingredients: food grade saponified oils of coconut, olive, canola, and soy, naturally occurring glycerin, white pigment for color, and Lily of the Valley fragrance oil.

Mint Lemonade

Sweet, tart and refreshing. Isn't that was you expect from a good lemonade? This soap scent delivers just that. I can't get enough of this one. I know I would love it and I do and I know you will too. Spoil yourself silly with a bar just for you.

Ingredients: food grade saponified oils of coconut, olive, canola, and soy, naturally occurring glycerin, dill weed, yellow oxide for color, and Jordan's Mint Lemonade fragrance oil.

Mint Magic

This has be one of our all time favorite soaps. I think it is the first scent we started blending ourselves. It is a lovely mix of peppermint, spearmint and a dash of wintergreen. It smells lovely and bright. A real pick-me-up.

Ingredients: food grade saponified oils of coconut, olive, canola, and soy, naturally occurring glycerin, lavender buds, green oxide for color, Peppermint, Spearmint, and Wintergreen essential oils.

Morning Bliss

This is a special batch of soap made with a special bunch of girls at my church. They picked the scent name and the add-ins. The scent is a lovely blend of lemon, cintronella, lavender and cedar. It has such a bright citrus scent with the earthiness of the cedar and the mellowness of the lavender. I think they gave the soap a wonderful smell.

Ingredients: food grade saponified oils of coconut, olive, canola, and soy, naturally occuring glycerine, calendula blossoms, yellow oxide for color, Lavender, Lemon, Citronella, and Cedar essenial oils.

Oak Leaves & Acorns

This bar has a wonderful fall smell. There is a warm amber musk scent with high fruit notes and the scent of warm earth. It smells like a fall festival and crunching leaves.

Ingredients: food grade saponified oils of coconut, olive, canola, and soy, naturally occurring glycerin, paprika, yellow and red for color, and Oak Leaves and Acorns fragrance oil.

Pan Dulce

This soap was inspired by my favorite Mexican pan dulce, Pan de los Muertos or Bread of the dead. This bread has a heavely blend of orange rind and anise seeds and is sometimes topped with a vanilla glaze. The soap version has a wonderfully swirling blend of Anise and orange essential oils and a hint of vanilla fragrance oil. It is a real treat and smells good enough to bite.

Ingredients: food grade saponified oils of coconut, olive, canola, and soy, naturally occurring glycerine, yellow and red oxide for color, Anise and Orange essential oils, and vanilla fragrance oil.

Pineapple

Smells like a wonderful pineapple treat. Very mellow scent.

Ingredients: food grade saponified oils of coconut, olive, canola, and soy, naturally occurring glycerin, yellow oxide for color, and Pineapple fragrance oil.


Plumeria

This is secented with a fragrance oil. It smells so wonderfully sweet and flowery. It is not a heavy perfumish flower. Very soothing.

Ingredients: food grade saponified oils of coconut, olive, canola, and soy, naturally occurring glycerin, lavender pigment for color, and Plumeria fragrance oil.

Red Clover Tea

This is a wonderfully bright fruity scent.

Ingredients: food grade saponified oils of coconut, olive, canola, and soy, naturally occurring glycerin, dill weed, pink pigment for color, and Red Clover Tea fragrance oil.

Rosemary Mint

This is a unique batch of soap. In making the batch it decided it didn't want to fallow the normal path of soapmaking SO.... I rebatched it (melted it back down and re-poured it.) As a result it marbled it'self and has very interesting swirls of color. The scent is very light and a wonderful earthy mint which is a blend of Peppermint, Spearmint, and Rosemary essential oils

Ingredients: food grade saponified oils of coconut, olive, canola, and soy, naturally occurring glycerin, grated mint magic soap, Rosemary, Spearmint and Peppermint essential oils.

Spiced Forest

This is a lovely blend of Pine needle, Fir Needle, Orange and Clove Essential oils. It smells just like Christmas to me, like real pine trees and pomader balls. I think you will love it. It is very soothing and refreshing and nostalgic.

Ingredients: food grade saponified oils of coconut, olive, canola, and soy, naturally occurring glycerin, green oxide for colorant, grated orange mint soap, Fir needle, Pine needle, Orange, and Clove essential ols.

Spearmint & Eucalyptus


This is a fragrance oil NOT and essential oil blend. It has a bright clean smell. Rather masculine. Great for guys.

I have to share a story with you about this scent. My mother is now 80 years old. She grew up in Berkley California during WWII. As a little girl she had a huge Eucalyptus bush in her front yard near the sidewalk. When I made this soap and let her smell it. She said it smelled just like the bush in her front yard. Then she told me delightful stories about her life there in that lovely house in 1940's Berkley. Isn't it interesting what memories scents can bring. I hope some of these soap scents can bring back happy memories for you too. For me it is the Lily of the Valley soap. That was my grandmother's favorite flower and we grew them in our yard and I would pick them with my mother to put on my Grandmonther's grave each spring.

Ingredients: food grade saponified oils of coconut, olive, canola, and soy, naturally occurring glycerin, dill weed, pink pigment for color, and Red Clover Tea fragrance oil.

Strawberry

This is a very soft creamy strawberry candy scented soap. I love it. Reminds me of the candy counter when I was little. This scent is very soft, not bold at all.

Ingredients: food grade saponified oils of coconut, olive, canola, and soy, naturally occuring glycerin, pink pigment for color, and Strawberry fragrance oil.

Sweetgrass

This smells like new mown hay. It is so lovely and fresh. A very nostalgic scent.

Ingredients: food grade saponified oils of coconut, olive, canola, and soy, naturally occurrng glycerin, dill weed, and Sweetgrass fragrance oil.

Tea Tree Special
(yes this is the same bar as the Facial bar just under it's other name).

This IS my favorite soap. It is the bar I reach for the most. It has been called "Energy" here before. We are listing as a facial bar though because it is very good for your skin. It contains green French clay, lavender, peppermint, tea tree, and pachouli essential oils. These are all anti bacterial and great for your skin.

Ingredients: food grade saponified oils of coconut, olive, canola, and soy, naturally occurrng glycerin, green oxyide for color, green French clay, lavender, tea tree, peppermint, and patchouli essential oils.



Tihitian Vanilla

This rich, dark and fragrant soap is Natural Soap Goodness. It is made with fresh goat's milk, oats and a sprinkle of cinnamon. The Fragrance oil used is Tahitian vanilla and it is a lovely rich heavy vanilla scent. There is also a small ammount of Cinnamon Essential oil added.

Ingredients: food grade saponified oils of coconut, olive, canola, and soy, naturally occurrng glycerin, goat milk, oatmeal, Tihitian vanilla fragrance oil, and cinnamon essential oil.

Tropical Fun



The scent is actually called Sex on the Beach but I thought it smelled like Hawaiian Punch, very fruity.

Ingredients: food grade saponified oils of coconut, olive, canola, and soy, naturally occurrng glycerin, paprika for color, Sex on the Beach fragrance oil.

Vanilla Creme

This soap has a warm, delicious, and simple Vanilla fragrance. It has no colorants added and is just the natural color of soap.

Ingredients: food grade saponified oils of coconut, olive, canola, and soy, naturally occurring glycerin, Vanilla Cream fragrance oil.

Volturi

White Tea & Ginger

This beautiful white soap is scented with white tea and ginger fragrance oil. This is my sister's favorite scent so I scanned the net looking for it to make soap and am so happy I did. It smelles divine, a very etherial floral scent. It also reminds me of her everytime I smell it and that is always a happy thing.

Ingredients: food grade saponified oils of coconut, olive, canola, and soy, naturally occurring glycerin, White Tea & Ginger fragrance oil.