My Blue Daisy...

Pumpkin Muffins: Gluten, Dairy, and Egg Free

2015-11-25T20:31:00.002-08:00

These are so good! This recipe is the first light and fluffy muffin/cake recipe I successfully achieved while baking according to my son's food allergies. Good pictures to come - someday when my mommy-load is lighter. I know it's hard to trust a recipe without good photos these days, but do try this one anyway. And if you do, let me know how it goes. I hope you love it!!!

(If you do not have Young Living essential oils, try using 1 scant tsp freshly grated nutmeg, scant tsp ground cinnamon, and 1/4 tsp ground clove.)

1 2/3 cup gluten free flour blend (I use Namaste brand which includes xanthan gum in the mix.)

1/4 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp Real Salt (or natural sea salt)

1 cup raw sugar

1/4 c. melted butter (I use Earth Balance or Coconut Oil)

1 to 2 drops each Young Living Cinnamon, Nutmeg, and a half drop of Clove essential oils.

1/2 c. unsweetened apple sauce (You could use eggs instead.)

1/4 c. cold water

1 1/2 pumpkin puree

Stir your dry ingredients together. Stir wet ingredients together.

Stir wet ingredients into dry until well combined. Mixture will be thick.

Spoon into your muffin cups or a cake pan. I spray them down with coconut spray and then fill to 3/4 full. Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes, or until done.

We do not ice these. I think a cream cheese icing would be sooooo good if you can tolerate dairy.

Enjoying Thanksgiving with Food Allergies

2015-11-15T21:15:00.000-08:00

Hello friends! Thanksgiving is almost here; are you excited? I love this time of year! The evenings start earlier and the weather is cooler. I look forward to evenings at home in front of the fireplace with all the family around. I look forward to big family meals, to Advent and to decorating the home. I'm not so great at decorating, but I love trying anyway.

My favorite Thanksgivings are the ones we get to stay at home. I love traveling to visit family, but traveling with ALL the family favorite dishes, even traveling across town, is quite the endeavor. So it's a special treat to be at home and be able to cook all our favorites in my own kitchen. Since my children have food allergies, traveling withOUT our own food isn't an option. I can't quite imagine expecting even our closest family to manage our food allergies for us.

Each of my children have their own favorite dishes, many of which are only prepared at Thanksgiving and Christmas. So twice a year, I make a huge meal plan, and cook everyone's favorite to be served at the Thanksgiving and Christmas table. Below is the list of what we are preparing again this year. Note: my children have different food allergies. What one child can safely eat, another cannot. So if this list seems like a crazy hodge podge of foods, rest assured it really is and it fits us perfectly. I will note which recipes contain dairy and eggs. All recipes are gluten-free. Some are grain free entirely. Every recipe, except the actual potato dishes are potato free.

Also note that we consume more sugar on Thanksgiving and Christmas than we do the entire rest of the year. ;) While we do our best to keep processed sugar to a minimum most of the year, including skipping out on Halloween and Valentine candy, Thanksgiving and Christmas I make our favorites and we thoroughly enjoy them without guilt on those two days a year.

Thanksgiving and Christmas Menu

Turkey with Gravy - yes, gravy! Its a gluten free Victory to have gravy.

Ham with Glaze

Stuffing - two recipes
Cinnamon Roasted Butternut Squash with Pecans (think sweet potato casserole, but with squash. So good!)

Mashed Potatoes

Baked Sweet Potatoes

Green Beans with bacon
Glazed Carrots

Broccoli Salad (contains egg)

Vegetable Tray

Deviled Eggs (contains egg)

Gluten Free Crescent Rolls

Gluten Free Turkey Pot Pie (for the leftovers)

Gluten Free Pumpkin Pie (contains egg and dairy)

Gluten Free Pumpkin Muffins with Coconut Whip Cream

Chocolate Cream Cheese Layer Dessert (contains nuts and dairy)
Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

Raw Cranberry Punch

Now how does all this happen in one kitchen, prepared (mostly) by one person? A LOT of planning. I even have to plan out what meals will be prepared in one pan/dish. When we first found out about our children's food allergies, we pitched most of our cheap cookware in exchange for better quality stainless steel. Not only does teflon cookware contain toxins that can be released into your food, but it also can hold onto allergens/proteins and lead to cross contamination. Because of cross contamination, most of my stoneware had to go also. I was able to keep my cast iron pans and simple strip those down and recondition. As we replaced and decluttered our old cookware, I kept the new pans to a minimum. That makes it easier to maintain and store my cookware, but it can make Thanksgiving and Christmas a bit challenging. I can manage this with careful planning, though. The prep work will start on Monday and the cooking begins on Wednesday this year. This year we are having a small family Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday with a larger family gathering on Friday. I cannot wait to see our family!!

Now for recipes. I will start adding those in here one by one throughout this week. For all those who are just starting on the journey of food restrictions, I hope this helps!!

-Michelle

Handcrafted soap - DIY real, luxurious soap!

2015-10-30T11:30:00.001-07:00

I have wanted to make soap for years. I first bought the supplies years ago, but then let them sit in the basement for ages and then even moved them to our current home 2 years ago. Why did I let

them sit out of sight? Because I thought making soap was hard and handling lye made me nervous since I have children at home with me. That alone is amusing to me because I'm a chemist and worked in labs with much more caustic and dangerous materials. But there is something about lye that makes many people nervous. So that's why I'm blogging about it and talking about it so much now. It's not scary, at all. Caustic materials should be respected and safety precautions taken, but as long as you do that you will be fine. And making your own handcrafted soap is rewarding for those of us who like to DIY, and it's one more step you can take to reduce the chemicals and synthetic materials in your home. Most store bought soaps, and even most handcrafted soaps contain synthetic chemicals and fragrances. Unfortunately, peppermint is not always peppermint, sometimes it's just a synthetic, adultered, chemical fragrance.

On this page I listed out supplies that you will want to have on hand for soaping. Keep this list on hand to refer back to as needed, but you may find you have most of the supplies you need right in your own kitchen. Note: My links are affiliate Amazon links at no cost to you. You may choose to use them or not. If you do use them, my family thanks you.

Let's jump right in to lye safety. Lye is sodium hydroxide, a base, that is necessary for the saponification process (turning oil into soap). You can find the material safety data sheet on lye online or with you product that you purchase. Here is one msds sheet. Let's break that information down. 1) Wear protective gloves. 2) Wear long sleeves. 3) Wear safety glasses. 4) Measure and mix in a well ventilated area. 5) Have water ready to wash anything that you might spill lye on. 6) Handle carefully. That's about it. Carry on, you've got this.

I don my safety wear (long sleeves, glasses, and gloves) and set my digital scale on some parchment paper on the counter. I weigh my lye out here because my counters and nice and steady. (How much? We'll talk recipes in a bit. Remember to always run your recipe through a lye calculator. Not sure what this is? Keep reading.) After I weigh out my lye (dry, crystals that look like a salt), I carefully carry the bowl of measured lye outside where I pour into my measured water. That's the last safety tip I can think of. Dissolving lye into water is an exothermic reaction - meaning the solution will become hot as you add the lye. That's why you want to make sure you always add the lye to the water. Lye to the water... That's your mantra as you stir. Keep a full arm length distance as you stir to avoid breathing any fumes. Once it's all dissolved, I wait a few minutes and then bring it back inside to cool before soaping.

Now that you have lye solution ready, the next thing to do is prepare your oils. There are many options on what oils to use. The most common, and readily available oils, are coconut oil and olive oil. My favorite recipe uses these two oils and also raw cocoa butter. Another oil you might want to considers is Castor oil. Coconut oil makes can help create a soap with a lovely lather - lots of bubbles. It can also help harden your soap to help make a long lasting soap. Olive oil makes a rich, moisturizing soap, but it can be a softer soap and less lather. Castor oil supports a rich later and also can harden your soap. Raw cocoa butter has a lovely natural smell (like chocolate) and creates a luxurious soap. You can research properties on other oils on this chart from Lovin' Soap. If you are interested in custom blending your fatty oils, I highly recommend thoroughly studying that chart.

The next resource you will need is a lye calculator. When making soap, it's important to measure accurately and add enough lye to create soap, but not so much that you have a skin-drying, or even caustic soap. For a small batch of soap the difference between a luxurious soap and a drying soap could be less than 0.5 oz of lye. That's why a soap / lye calculator is important. You just enter the amount of oils you have and the calculator will tell you how much lye to use. The calculator does the math for you. Perfect!

Now the lye calculator will ask you to choose a percent superfat. Superfat is basically a measure of how much "extra" oil is in your soap. If you want a soap that is very cleansing and has little to no extra oil, choose 2% superfat. Especially if you are making a soap to use for laundry. For a bath bar, 8-12% is a good range. Too high of superfat will leave you with a soft bar that is less cleansing. Too low will yield a cleansing bar that is drying. Experiment to find your happy spot.

Below is my current favorite recipe. It's a cold process recipe. More on cold process vs. hot process on a later blog. Please feel free to double check my math on a lye calculator and adjust your oils to fit your own needs. If you are using a loaf-type mold, this recipe will make about 8 - 5oz bars of soap. Note: I use virgin coconut oil, but refine will also work.

Now let's break down the process step by step.

First, measure out your fats/butters/oils. I'm following this recipe except I used Shea butter in place of cocoa butter. Keep in mind that if you swap out oils, you need to run your recipe through the lye calculator again. 30oz of olive oil requires a different amount of lye for saponification than 30 oz of coconut oil. You cannot swap most oils 1:1 in a recipe and yield the same soap.

(If you do not have cocoa butter, melt/blend together 16 oz of virgin coconut oil

Once your oils are measured, warm them up together on the stove or in a slow cooker. I usually end up with my oils around 135 degrees when they are all well melted and blended together. It's really helpful to have a temperature gun when making soap. A cooking or candy thermometer will work, but its messy and you have to clean it when going back and forth between the lye and oils. Remove the oils from the heat and let the mixture begin to cool.

While your oils are melting/cooling, carefully measure out your lye into a glass, stainless steel, or plastic #5 (polypropylene) container. I lay down parchment paper for easy clean up and measure on my counter. Be sure your area is well ventilated and pets and children know to stay back so there are no trips or accidentals spills. Measure out your water, also. Carry your water and your lye outside or to a VERY well ventilated area. This part gets fume-y. I go outside to do mine and have my daughter keep an eye on our dog who always follows me out. Once in a well ventilated area, slowly add your lye to your water. Always add lye to water and stand back a little when you do so. It's an exothermic reaction and it will get very warm. Adding water to lye could create a too warm, too fast, too fume-y mess. Once the lye is well dissolved into the water, let it sit outside for a few minutes. Keep your pets away so they don't spill it. Bring it inside, let it cool, and check the temperature every few minutes. You want your lye and your oils to cool to below 130 degrees F. Ideally, you want your lye and oils to be within 10 degrees of each other. I am impatient and I usually soap around 120-125 degrees.

Once your oils and lye are cooled to below 130, place your immersion blender into your blend of oils and tap it a few times to release any trapped air bubbles. Note: you can whisk soap up by hand. Just know that it takes a lot of arm power and about 90+ minutes of brisk whisking. Thus, I love my immersion blender for soaping.

Begin running your immersion blender then slowly pour your lye solution into your oils. I generally pour down the blender shaft to minimize splashing. Once all your lye solution is incorporated, continue pulsing your oils+lye mixture on and off while stirring. It generally takes me a little over 5 minutes to reach trace. What's trace? It's where the soap magic happens. Check out this video for a visual explanation.

If you are going to add essential oils to your soap, you will want to add them at trace. Mix them in well before pouring into your mold. As for molds, you can see in the video that I use mostly molds that I had around the house already. I have this great little wooden box and cardboard box that are just the right size for my personal preference. If you use something like this you have to line it well with parchment paper, which I admit is kind of a pain. If you choose a silicone mold like these, you will not have to bother with parchment paper. I'm looking forward to adding some of these to my soap supplies.

Once you have poured your soap into your molds, just let it set. Depending on your recipe, climate, temperature, etc., you can unmold your soap in a few hours to a day or so. My recipes are usually ready to unmold within 8 hours. Sometimes I let it set overnight and unmold in the morning. Here is what my soap looks like when I unmold, plus some clean up tips.

And cutting soap is nothing fancy either. Here is how I cut mine, and the guy who keeps me smiling. He brings the humor into our home.

To review, in short, here is how you make soap.

1. Select your recipe and check it in a lye calculator.
2. Measure and dissolve your lye into your water. Let it cool to below 130.
3. Measure, combine and warm your oils together. Let it cool to below 130.
4. Combine your lye solution into your fat solution. Blend well, pulsing until trace.
5. Pour your traced soap into your prepared molds.
6. Let set until set up - should not be squishy at all. Unmold and let sit until cooled to room temperature. If you need to cut into bars, cut. Let your soap set for 2-6 weeks so it will be fully hardened.

Please post questions below. Videos are way out of my comfort zone, so I'm sure I forgot a few things. I hope you all love your soap!!!

How I Organized My Young Living Business

2015-04-14T12:36:00.000-07:00

We have considered ourselves a holistic-minded family for quite a few years now. I remember back when our little ones were babies and my husband and I were both working full time and traveling with our careers. I remember staying up late hand washing fresh, organic spinach, then chopping and lightly steaming that spinach so I could prepare tiny ice frozen cubes of the best produce I could get to send with our babies for their day care lunch. A lot has changed since then, but we still try to do our best to provide healthy meals and a wellness-focused, Christ-based lifestyle for our "babies".

Last year we started sharing about one of the tools we use in our wellness-focused life - Young Living Essential Oils. Wow! Has it ever been an amazing year of business and personal growth. I had no idea that sharing a few simple testimonies would open the door to an amazing business. Learning to keep up with an ever-growing business, while maintaining relationships, homeschooling, and all the other things we are passionate about in life has been the biggest opportunity for personal growth. I can't think of a bigger personal growth accelerator.

One of the things that I wanted to tame is how the business can take over my small office area. I don't have a bunch of paperwork, inventory or "stuff" to keep track of, because this business does not work that way - Praise the Lord! But what I do have I like to keep accessible and organized. I also like to keep it mobile because we are an on-the-go family. It's so easy to meet a friend for tea before I pick up groceries or while the kids are at gymnastics, so I like to have a small class-on-the-go bag ready so I'm not spending time gathering things. I also love teaching essential oil education and make and take classes, but again - as a busy mom I want to be efficient with my time so I am not spending time gathering items. We LOVE our oils and we are constantly amazed at the power behind these essential oils that God created on the third day, but I can't effectively share about these oils if I'm constantly looking for my pocket reference or my keys.

So this is how I got myself organized this month. And yes, most people would get organized BEFORE they started a business. But we didn't intend to start a business, we were just sharing about what we loved. And so here I am a year later trying to get organized so we can reclaim our homeschool room for it's intended purpose - housing incredible books.

I set up class bags. That's it. It's that simple. I can get most everything I need for just about any type of class into two bags. Granted, they are sturdy and have pockets. But it all fits and doesn't look messy. I can set these bags onto a shelf or closet in the room we have designated for business use and I'm ready to run.

Here is what I assembled to make my business ready to run. This bag (Thirty-One Essential Storage Tote) contains the kit / kits that I have on hand for local friends and family who need oils and diffuser urgently. It also contains a cute little "welcome to the oily family" gift.

This "Class in a Bag" is the Deluxe Utility Tote. I stock this with:

Premium Starter Kit to display
Starter Guide Booklets from Oil Revolution Designs (I use those to teach 101 classes from and gift to new members.)
Welcome Kits (all the little supplies a new member would need, including a cute oils bag)
Product Guide
Golden Touch Kit - because everyone needs to know about DiGize, right??
Lavender Lotion - because it's awesome.
Pocket References (an usually a Desk Reference, too.)
Silver in 6 Pad Folio with an iPad
Clip boards for attendees to take notes, if they like
And then there is a little room left over for anything else I might want to take like a new Premium Starter Kit, maybe some Ningxia Red to share, or a laptop.

The Starter Guides, Product Guide, and anything else that is paper is kept secure in a Fold N' File to prevent any bent pages. Love that thing!

This is a smaller version of a "Class in a Bag" using the Large Utility Tote from Thirty-One bags. I put this together to show you how well it fits. This bag will actually become my home supply storage bag and will be kept up on a shelf in the office. It will be holding (in more Fold N File containers) note cards and envelops to send gifts and cards to friends. There is also plenty of space to store supplies to make Epsom salt gifts and roller bottles. Sweet!

All gathered together... we are organized, ready to share, ready to run. I love it!!

If you love these bags, too, please consider purchasing from this online fundraiser party. This party closes at the end of April. And in April - personalization is only $3.50 for each item. Thank you so much!!

And if you need oils (or just more information on essential oils) - use the link at the top or email me at mgeis01@gmail.com. We have a wonderful, supportive team to help you whether you are interested in a healthy lifestyle or in a home-based business. We LOVE what we do and are always looking for more amazing people to share with.

Be healthy, befficient, be organized, be successful - all so you can spend more time doing the things you love.

Power Meal - Perfect Dairy Free Protein Shake

2015-04-10T20:48:00.002-07:00

We absolutely love having Young Living's Power Meal at our home. Nourishing kids with food allergies who are also active, athletic, and on the go can be a challenge, especially when you are trying to avoid food dyes, perservatives, artificial sweeteners and other junk. I am thrilled to have this supplement!! Anytime I can get more nutrition into my kids and they actually like it and it's easy?? I am really thankful for Young Living's committment to providing the best.

We use Power Meal as a meal supplement on days that the kids are training for 2 or more hours at gymnastics. They generally eat pretty well, but the extra protein and calories are needed on those days, not to mention all the wonderful nutrients in Power Meal. And they just think they are sipping down a cool and tasty treat.
For myself, I love using Power Meal as a meal replacement for breakfast or even lunch on those really busy days. And when I'm working hard to get my protein macros up, this is my go to supplement. I have tried MANY different protein supplements but I just cannot tolerate the whey or soy products, not to mention that many protein shakes out there either have a ton of sugar or they have artificial sweeteners. No thanks. After much searching, this is where we are staying.

Power Meal is enhanced with 6 essential oils, provides 20 grams of protein, is dairy-free, easily absorbed, and is rich in amino acids and selenium (among other great nutrients). It is a rice-based protein shake and my kids prefer it blended with some fruit, kale, raw cacao, or coconut milk. They love to plan little chef and try different recipes everytime we make it. Some of our favorite recipes are listed here on this graphic. Below is a video of our all time favorite way to prepare it, but the options are endless. Just today I blended up recipe #1 above. Then I added about 3 drops of Young Living Orange Essential oil to my glass mason jar before pouring in the Power Meal smoothie. I mixed that up with a glass straw and it was soooo good. Try it and see what you think!! Then come back and let us know.

Coupon Code - Glass Straws!

2014-12-04T21:37:00.000-08:00

Who loves a discount? Especially with Christmas just around the corner. Enjoy a 10% discount on Glass Straws at Glass Dharma when you use the code AHG. That's a fundraising code. Every time you use that code, not only do YOU get 10% off, but Glass Dharma will send a small percentage to help support our local American Heritage Girls troop. Win-win! Please pin, share, comment and spread the word. Thanks so much for helping to support the troop and empower these young girls!!

Still here? Want to know more? Glass Dharma's products are made right here in the USA. Triple win! Hand made glass straws that come with a lifetime guarantee. They have a small size that even fits into the Eco Jarz canning jar lids. So if you like to keep your green juices plastic free or maybe you enjoy a refreshing glass of water with some lemon essential oil, then consider picking up a glass straw. 1) Lifetime guarantee. I mentioned that already, but it's great enough news to mention it again. 2) Dishwasher safe. Bonus. 3) No plastics! Did you know that citrus essential oils dissolve petrochemicals? Now that's awesome if you are interested in helping your body to detox. But just don't try to add a drop of lemon to your plastic/Styrofoam cup or even a glass cup with a plastic straw. Don't do it.

What else do you want to know? Please comment below. And for more info, head on over to www.glassdharma.com and remember to use the code AHG for 10% off.

Make it a great week!

Michelle

Thanksgiving and Christmas Specials!

2014-11-25T21:50:00.000-08:00

OFFER EXTENDED!! Merry Christmas and happy December. I hope you enjoy a month filled with worship for our One true light who gave life and meaning to Christmas.

Practical, Versatile, but also decadent. Luxurious, but also affordable. If you are thinking about Essential Oils for Christmas, I'm making it easier for you! I would love to help you out. Feel free to print this graphic and hand it to your loved one. Making a Pinterest WishList? I would love it if you would Pin this!

You can find a file of this graphic for download here: DOWNLOAD

Now through New Years Eve, everyone purchasing a Premium Starter Kit from me will receive some sweet, sweet gifts.
#1 An incredibly helpful Reference Text

#2 A welcome bag from me.

#3 Access to our Members Only education group on Facebook.

Please contact me at mgeis01@gmail.com for more information. I love helping!

If you are ready for your own oils, please purchase yours here. Feel free to contact me with any questions. I'm happy walk you through the process.

Young Living just sweetened this special time of year! Now through Dec 5th, these kits are 10% off.

And if someone else introduced you to oils, please follow up with them. Otherwise, I would love to work with you. Merry Christmas!

DIY Eye Makeup Remover

2014-11-16T15:33:00.000-08:00

At this point in my life with kids, I don't make time for much makeup. But I do love a nice line of eyeliner and a little mascara even on the days we stay at home and school all day. I just feel more put together and ready to take on the day. That means I need to take the extra step to remove it before I fall into bed at night. Here's my skin care recipe for cleaning my face... coconut oil. So simple. Healthy, nourishing for the skin, moisturizing, natural, and I can read all the ingredients.

It's a little thing called oil cleansing and it works really well for me. I've been using oil cleansing for years now because it leaves my skin feeling soft and clean. And my pores are smaller than they have ever been in my life - bonus.

A little coconut oil goes a long way, so even if you are buying the best coconut oil out there, it still makes an inexpensive face wash and face cream. I like to spice up my cleanser with Young Living Lavender and Frankincense Essential Oil. And in the summer, I will add in Lavender and Purification to really clean out those pores in the T-zone. In the process of cleaning my skin this way I learned just how awesome coconut oil is for removing eye makeup, even the night-on-the-town kind of eye makeup. So back to the DIY eye makeup remover...

Here is what you need to do to try it. Head down to your kitchen and grab a tiny spoonful of coconut oil. (If you don't already have some, you can pick some up at most grocery stores. Look for the best quality you can spring for.) Add a drop of Young Living Lavender essential oil to that spoon of coconut oil and mix it with your finger. If it's cool where you are, it will stay solid. Otherwise it make melt into a smooth liquid. Take a small pea-sized amount onto your fingertips, massage until fully melted, and then gently massage around your eye area. Grab a cotton ball and swipe down to remove. Repeat as needed, usually I only have to do this once unless I have gone all out with a dark-lined smokey eye look. Wash your face like normal. Go try it and let me know what you think.

Now if you like that little recipe, go ahead and mix up a batch to keep in your bathroom or whereever you remove your makeup. I add about 5 drops of Lavender to every rounded Tablespoon of coconut oil and just gently mix the two ingredients together.

Store your makeup remover in a small glass jar or other container. If you choose to use fractionated coconut oil it will remain liquid regardless of your room temperature. In that case you can simply pour it into a small squeeze bottle that you can pick up off Amazon or the travel container section of Target. If you use regular, extra virgin coconut oil like you would buy at the grocery store and it's solid, use a small glass jar canning jar (or baby food jar) or one of those awesome silicon travel tubes like GoToob from Amazon.

As a bonus, I found that once I started using Lavender in my mascara (Yep, that's a whole other post. I add 1 drop of Young Living Lavender essential oil to my mascara tubes. Ah-Mazing.) and in my coconut oil for my face, my eyelashes now look fuller and thicker.

Please feel free to message me for more information on Young Living oils. You can also find out how to purchase your own collection of Young Living Oils HERE. Be sure to message me because I like to send all my friends a welcome gift.

The Book of James

2014-09-25T09:45:00.001-07:00

This year in homeschool we are working through My Father's World Exploration to 1850. One of our challenges is to study and memorize the book of James. All of us - even momma. What a great challenge! I created digital note cards for our mobile devices to help us with memorizing and wanted to share them with you. Please join us as we work through the book of James. Feel free to Pin, share or download these digital note cards to spread the book of James across the web.

Please stay tuned and join us in memorizing this wonderful letter. Share your progress and what you have learned in the comments below. I will be updating this post as we go along. It's a work in progress and your comments are appreciated. Let's make it a great study!

We are starting at the beginning. James 1:1-3 If you are going to dig into the Word, it's good to know who is talking. This letter is written by James, a servant of God. He tells us who he is right up front, a servant of God - what a title! What he doesn't say is that he is also the brother of Jesus. Can you imagine?

When he starts writing, he gets straight to the point with a hard challenge. Consider it pure joy when you face challenges. Pure joy, friends. Meditate on that for a while. He is challenging us to look beyond this hard time we are in right now and to toward the victory ahead. To the growth, to what we will learn, to the finish line. And to be joyful while we do it.

There is no, "how are you? Oh that's tough, I'm so sorry..." No, right to the point. Consider it pure joy, friends. That can challenge you and if you let it, it can change you.

(Images may be downloaded on white background HERE.)

And not from James... But I love this scripture so I made a memory card for it as well. Let us hold...

Much love,

Michelle @ My Blue Daisy

My Favorite Sugar Scrub

2014-08-24T18:04:00.002-07:00

There is something really awesome about skipping the commercial scrubs and shave creams (which can dry skin and often has synthetic fragrances and other non-happy ingredients). Homemade sugar scrubs are easy, inexpensive and they work well for a luxurious and uplifting body scrub and shave cream. The only catch is that I have heard it's not a great product to use frequently if you have a septic system. So keep that in mind if you do.

The basic recipe is above on the info-graphic - basically 2 parts sugar to 1 part oil, then add essential oil to your 'taste'. There are so many ways to customize this. You can use any oil that you like: olive, coconut, sweet almond, apricot, or sunflower. Here is some information on carrier oils that may help you select the perfect one for you.

Personally, I love organic, extra-virgin coconut oil. If you use it in solid form, slightly chilled, it will whip up so nice. Just use your stand mixer and let it go for a while to create a lovely whipped texture. Other oils will not whip up the same way. But that's ok! This sugar scrub works great without a whipped oil, too. I often use olive oil with brown sugar, too. Which brings me to sugars.

Use your favorite sugar. Non-GMO, organic sugars are always best. Some of the more natural sugars are more coarse. You can give them a spin in your blender or food processor to break them down into a softer texture. While you do want a nice scrub, you certainly don't want to be scratching your skin off with large crystals of raw sugar.

A third way to customize is to switch up your essential oil. My favorites (so far) are Lime, Lemon, Grapefruit, Lavender+Frankincense, and Peppermint. There are countless possibilities. Mix, match and find your own sweet spot.
If you have sensitive skin, always try new oils on a small area first. And skip using citrus oils right before you head out for a day in the sun. The citrus oils can act like tiny light intensifiers and make fair skin more sensitive to the sun. If you are planning a day at the beach, try Lavender and Frankincense, instead of a citrus oil.

For a list of my other personal favorite DIY recipes, click here.

This Year's School Room

2014-08-07T09:27:00.001-07:00

Welcome to our beloved staging room for our family education! I love our school room - so much. Technically, it's the dining room but I don't see us using a formal dining room for many years to come. It's just not my style. Meet me in the kitchen - that's where I prefer to eat and chat.

We schooled at home for years without a dedicated school room and that has made me so grateful to have one now. We don't spend much of our time learning in this room, but it does at least provide us with organizational space to house our beloved learning materials.

As grateful as I am for this space I just spent way too much time decluttering this room this month. It's just amazing how quickly extra books, random art projects, and completed curriculum materials can take over a school room - or house. The results are worth effort, though. I'm in the process of setting up an overflow library downstairs and better organization in general. And someday, I will even lay down some fresh paint and new window treatments. (I really hate painting walls so I'm choosing to procrastinate.)

The white dresser holds our puzzles and family games. On top is a few of my favorite books, plus my favorite library references - Honey For A Child's Heart. The tiny book shelf with a castle on top holds our collection of Bibles, including some family Bibles. And above the dresser we will display a few favorite art work pieces made by the children.

The book shelf in the corner holds a row of current favorite books for each of my children. Any books that don't fit here are stashed downstairs on overflow shelves.

Pencils, colored pencils, markers, and extra fine markers all standing at ready. Easy to find, easy to put away - which is most important.

I love having some covered storage. This armoire holds a plethora of supplies. On the bottom shelf is our accumulation of math manipulaitves. The upright binder in the middle contains our favorite pieces of artwork the children have made over the years. I try to keep a few pieces from each school year. And then the paper stacker holds printer paper, lined paper and graphing paper. Up on the top row is our office supplies in a wooden box, colored paper, and some fun animal information cards that belonged to my husband when he was a child.

The three drawers below contain extra school supplies and all our most used art supplies: paints, paint smocks, oil pastels, chalk pastels, charcoals, large markers, crayons, watercolor paper and multimedia paper.

The other side...

I absolutely love having a large wall map. This room is home to the world view map. I have a US map in the 'formal sitting room' - there is nothing formal in my home, by the way. This book shelf is home to our curriculum recommended books, reference books, history and science books, classics that I need to read this year, our favorite poetry and dictionaries.

This is where I sit and plan and drink coffee. And knit. I've learned that I am much better off picking up some yarn and a hook or needles and just park myself here during "morning school hours" so that I am always available when needed. If I start working in the kitchen, doing chores, reading, or surfing on my phone I invariably end up asking my kids to "Wait just a minute while I finish..." and then we never finish school on time. So I am planning to get lots of yarn work done this fall. It's not always possible and it seems like such a time waste to just sit there for the morning hours. I always think I will be more productive if I can get up and run to switch the laundry and run to read one more chapter, etc. But that multitasking is actually counter-productive for me. It's HARD to sit there all morning and yarn helps. I can knit, talk, teach, soothe, love, hug, correct all at the same time. But if I get sucked into chores or reading then that time becomes about ME finishing a task/chapter instead of me teaching and inspiring them. As my youngest two grow, this will no longer be true. For right now, this is my spot.

That little round about caddy - I *love* that thing - it's from Staples. It's huge - which is good and bad. It blocks the walk way between the table and the bookshelf, but it is worth it. When it's time to switch subjects or grab my planner and my hands are tied with the yarn that I use the tie myself to that chair, most of what I need is at my finger tips.

This section is where we file our completed work and where the school room diffuser is stationed. It often comes to the school table during work times (especially when I'm sitting there), but otherwise it diffuses here. I love using Cedarwood and Orange during school time. Peace and Calming when someone is feeling stressed, Purification and Lavender when anyone is not feeling the best. Often the children will mix their own blends and start it up before I even get around to it. I will be keeping a stash of favorite Young Living oils right on this counter behind the diffuser. They really do work and they keep school flowing well. I use that wall space to rotate through work from our favorite artists.

This little station is set up in the adjoining room for my youngest. She just likes having her own Mommy-Daughter spot. And she needs to finish up the last bit of first grade before joining her older siblings in Exploration to 1850, this spot will be where we work together.

The family room - this is where read-alouds, strategy games and math usually take place. Although my oldest usually prefers to do her math in her room early in the morning before anyone else is awake. I love having our on-going time line that we add to year after year. It's not exactly... aesthetically pleasing. If anyone has a better idea for me, I would love to hear it. Please comment and let me know! I was wondering about running something like a wallpaper border around the room after we paint - or maybe even putting up a wide chair-rail like trim? I don't know. Hanging frames level and room decor is not my strength. I doubt any frames will stay level regardless of how carefully they are hung when the living room is used like a gymnasium most days.

And this would be why I call our school room a staging area. Because no matter how cute your desks or how perfect your tables are, sometimes they learn best by finding their own little spots. Learning happens everywhere in our home.

Gluten Free Crescent Rolls

2014-07-14T20:51:00.001-07:00

These are the best things ever. They are. You have to try them. I am not a baker and I generally eat grain-free, but I challenged myself to make a decent gluten-free, egg-free roll for my son one year for Thanksgiving. Mission accomplished. Oh these are so tasty! This recipe is modeled after Pioneer Womans cinnamon rolls and they are worth the effort. I now make them regularly, usually with ham and sausage wrapped up in them middle.

First, let's talk gluten free flour blends. Oh what a wide and winding path to go down! There are so many options commercially available and for mixing on your own. Gluten free flour is an entire series of posts on it's own, so I will just tell you that my current favorite is Namaste All Purpose Gluten Free Flour. And it ranks as our favorite simply because it is nut free, legume-free, dairy-free, egg-free and potato-free. My girls are intolerant to potatoes, and they react severely. Unfortunately for us, more and more companies are adding potato flour and potato starch to their flours and products. So currently, I either mix my own flours using xanthum gum, arrowroot starch, tapioca starch, sorghum flour and sweet rice flour, OR I buy the Namaste. Please feel free to use your own favorite Gluten Free flour blend in this recipe.

Here is how we make 'em.

Ingredients:
1 can Organic Coconut Milk
1 cup Sunflower Oil
1 cup Sugar
2 pkg Active Dry Yeast (0.25 oz per pkg)
9 cups, divided, Gluten Free Flour blend
1 heaping tsp Baking Powder
1 scant tsp Baking Soda
1 Tablespoon Real Salt
Melted Earth Balance
1/2 teaspoon xanthum gum (ONLY add this if your gluten free flour blend does not contain xanthum gum)
Optional add-ons: cinnamon & sugar for cinnamon rolls or ham for ham rolls

1. Pour coconut milk into a 1 qt measure and add water to bring the volume up to the 1qt line. Whisk gently to combine. Combine this now diluted coconut milk with the sunflower oil and sugar in a large sauce pan. Heat the milk, oil and sugar over medium heat to just below a boil. Set aside and allow to cool slightly. While still warm, but not hot, sprinkle the yeast over the top of the liquid and let it sit for one minute.

2. Add 8 cups flour and stir until just combined. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and set in a warm spot for 1 hour.

3. After 1 hour, remove towel and add the baking powder, baking soda, salt and the last cup of flour. Stir to combine well then chill for one hour. Your dough is ready! (Anyone spend winter weekends kneeding bread dough at your Grandma's? I love those memories, but they also remind me that this recipe is so much easier than that.) At this point, you may use the dough as is or you may keep it covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Punch the dough down as needed if left in the refrigerator.

4. Preheat over to 375 degrees. Prepare half the dough at a time, leaving the remaining dough in the refrigerator. It just works up better if the dough stays chilled. On a nicely floured baking surface, pat your dough out into a thick, even circle. Use a rolling pin to roll the dough out very thin, approximately 1/4 inch or less. Slice into strips about 1.5 inches wide. For crescent shapes, slice the rolled dough into pie wedges.

5. For crescent rolls, lightly brush the cut dough with melted Earth Balance (or butter of your choice). The roll up into crescents or rolls, pat the extra flour off, and place on a baking sheet. For ham or sausage rolls (my son's favorite), place a slice of fully cooked ham or sausage at one end and roll up inside the dough then place on a baking sheet.

6. Bake for 25 minutes, or until golden brown on top and done all the way through. By the way, these freeze *really* well. I always make a double batch and freeze them. I pull them out of the oven before they hit the golden brown stage and allow them to cool before sealing in freezer bags. Each morning I can pull out a single meal's worth of ham rolls and pop them in the oven while we get ready for the day.

7. Cinnamon Rolls. This dough works really well as cinnamon rolls, too. It does not make a light and fluffy cinnamon roll. It's more of a dense, but delicious, confection. So make this adaption, go back to step 5. After you brush your dough with Earth Balance, sprinkle it liberally with cinnamon and sugar. Roll and then place on your baking pan. Feel free to top with more butter, cinnamon and sugar as fits your sweet tooth.

Enjoy. Please let me know how you like them!
Michelle

What is in Your Sunscreen?

2014-07-02T09:27:00.000-07:00

Read through your typical commercial sunscreen label and decide for yourself it that's a good thing to apply. Do some searching on sunscreen chemicals. Personally, chemical-laden sunscreen is not something I feel good about applying on my own skin, let alone my children. Please do your due diligence and research the chemicals in your skin care products before you apply them to your children.

There are many recipes available for free on how to make your own sunscreen from safe ingredients. Here is the recipe we are using this summer. It has worked so well for us during long afternoons on the beach, a full day at Disney, and even a full week of sunny church camp. Not one time did we burn when we applied this mixture and followed common sense rules of being in the sun ALL day long - staying hydrated, eating well, and re-applying occassionally.

The wholesale cost of Myrrh is $64.75. That single bottle of approximately 265 drops will make about 13 batches of our sunscreen recipe - so about $5 per batch. (For us, a family of 6, that single batch of oil lasted us two days at the beach and a day at Disney. It would have lasted longer, but one of my industrious children accidently tossed it out while washing dishes. It was my fault for mixing it up in a stainless steel Hello Kitty Thermos container while we were on vacation. The next batch is still going strong.)
That's easily enough to last you the whole summer and then some, or enough for a few families to divide the cost and share a single bottle. If it seems cost prohibitive, go back and read the label and research the chemicals in your typical commercial sunscreen. Let me know if you do not have a Young Living membership. I would love to help you set up an account to purchase your own oils at wholesale.

Here is what Young Living has to say about myrrh. "having one of the highest levels of sesquiterpenes available. Sesquiterpenes are a class of compounds that have a direct effect on the hypothalamus, pituitary, and amygdala, the seat of our emotions. Myrrh is referenced throughout the Old and New Testaments of the Bible. The Arabian people believed it helped wrinkled, chapped, and cracked skin. Today, myrrh is widely used in oral hygiene products. Myrrh has an approximate ORAC of 3,193,813 (TE/L). TE/L is expressed as micromole Trolox equivalent per liter."

A quick Pubmed search for myrrh turns up even more encouraging news about this amazing oil. And it helps keep our skin healthy while we enjoy the summer sun.

So give it a try. Wouldn't you rather use a natural oils to nourish your skin? Just remember to reapply often.

Planning Out your Essential Rewards

2014-05-30T12:13:00.000-07:00

Are you a planner? With 4 amazing children, 3 of whom are homeschooling, I have learned that planning and preparation is key for my peace of mind.

Previously I shared about how awesome Young Living's Essential Rewards program is. Today, I will take you through how I am utilizing this to cover our families needs and wish lists. Many essential oils are seasonal. And as I have learned the hard way, sometimes those oils go temporarily out of stock. So I came up with this plan to make sure we always had the oils we wanted stocked in our medicine cabinet. We started with a great base of oils with our Everyday oils that came in the Premium Diffuser Kit, so now I just focus on keeping our favorites in supply. I typically order enough oils and product to receive the monthly promotions of free oils, which more than exceeds the minimum Essential Rewards order. Since not everyone orders oils like we do (I love sharing my oils so I often order for friends and family), I made this base plan out at an estimated monthly order of around 50 PV ($50 in oils).

Disclaimer: In case my calculator typing fingers are flawed, all amounts are approximate and are based on wholesale prices as of May 2014. And keep in mind this is only my example.

So that is what goes on my base order each month to cover our needs and likes. I try to stock up on those oils a month or two before we would actually need them, just in case something would go out of stock. And for the most important oils I try to make sure we always have at least one brand new bottle hidden away. I don't ever want to get caught without Thieves, especially in the middle of winter season or without Lavender with the trees are budding and the flowers are blooming. Then I add to my order whatever else we need for ourselves or family.

If you don't have your own stash of Young Living Essential oils, feel free to ask any questions. Or click here to access your own Diffuser kit and Everyday Oils stash.

I hope that helps to explain how Essential Rewards can benefit any member! I have a document loaded here that might help you create your own custom ER Yearly Plan. Fee free to print that out and use it to help make sure your family's needs are covered. Have some better ideas? Join us in the discussion in the comments below.

~Michelle @ My Blue Daisy

Understanding and Making the Most of Your Essential Rewards

2014-05-30T11:16:00.001-07:00

If you are a regular essential oil user and you like free stuff, then take a moment to learn about Young Living's Essential Rewards program. I love that Young Living makes it easy for me to order at wholesale prices and then turns around and gives me shopping rewards. Yes, they will actually give you frequent shopper rewards just for buying what you were already going to buy when you utilize Essential Rewards. And that's in addition to the free oils they already send out when you take advantage of the Young Living Monthly Promotions.

To find out more about the Essential Rewards program, you can start by simply calling Young Living. They have great customer service! You can also log in to your virtual office for information. (The web page you use to reorder your favorite essential oils and other household needs.) This "virtual office" is full of information for all of us Young Living members.

This is what your virtual office web page looks like, well this is what mine looks like anyway. Just go to www.youngliving.org and log in with the user name and password that you set up when you first purchased your diffuser kit.

Need a better explanation? Click here for a video to watch and listen to.

The short and sweet of what's great about Essential Rewards is that you receive discounted shipping (Yay!!) and cash back rewards you can use towards any Young Living products you like. What you must do? Enroll. It's easy. Just click on "Essential Rewards" on your virtual office and follow the directions. After that you will be ordering your oils and products by adding them to your Essential Rewards cart into of by clicking on "Products" at the top of your page or "Order" on the left side menu of your virtual office. You will need to order 50PV ($50 in oils) each month in products - any products you like. And because Young Living is just this awesome, you can change your order date each month, change the products each month and you can even cancel at any time or put your Essential Rewards on hold for a month. So enroll, collect some rewards, and do so without worrying about the strings that are typically attached to an autoship program.

Now you can cancel anytime you want. Anytime. But if you love your oils like we do, and you keep ordering, the rewards keep getting better. The first 6 months, they give you 10% of your order back in points. Months of 7-12 Young Living gives your 15% back. And after that? 20% back. Young Living will add your Essential Rewards Points into your bank each month and you can see that total on the upper right of your page. I just cashed in most of my points last month for several free products. Whoot! Love free stuff. Here is what I chose when I cashed in my points last time. I know, its an odd hodge podge of products, but that's another awesome thing about Young Living's Essential Rewards. You get to pick what works for you. It doesn't matter what works for me because you can customize your orders and rewards for your own family.

And to make it even better, Young Living even counts Essential Rewards orders towards the monthly promotions! That's probably a whole other blog post. Check your virtual office for details on the monthly promos. In short, every month that you place an order of 190 PV ($190 in oils), Young Living sends you the free monthly promotion oils. I have received Frankincense, Sacred Frankincense, Oregano, Aroma Siez, Christmas Spirit.... So many. Next month (June 2014) I heard the free oils are Purification, Lemon and Citrus Fresh, although that hasn't been confirmed yet. So by ordering 190PV in oils in your first - sixth month on essential rewards, you would receive 2-3 free oils + $19 in Essential Rewards points. The next few months you would receive 2-3 oils + $28.50 in ER points each month. And so on.

My best tip for making the most of your Essential Rewards program is to save up your rewards and then cash them in on a large order of free products. Since you still need to pay shipping on those free products, group your order to minimize your shipping costs. Another great tip is to not order heavy items like the Thieves cleaner or Ningxia Nitro with your rewards points. Order those heavy items on your regular monthly Essential Rewards orders when you get the super awesome discounted shipping.

Want to know what a year's worth of ER orders might look like all planned out? Click here for my base order plan to serve our families likes and needs.

Wait - do you not have your own stash of oils? What?? Click here if you aren't working with another member and want to your own stash of amazing Young Living oils.

Have great tips to share about Essential Rewards or your favorite oils? Join the conversation below in the comments.

Tried and True Essential Oil Recipes

2014-04-23T00:57:00.001-07:00

I really love essential oils. Last year we switched over to Young Living essential oils. We have had nothing but great experiences from using the Young Living oils. I love using peppermint on my lower back when it starts tightening up, my gymnast really loves frankincense, lemongrass and peppermint massaged onto her knees. And when we were feeling unwell last winter, the oils really supported our immune systems without the need of other interventions. I am so thankful we made the switch! It's amazing how powerful pure essential oils are.

Over the months we have tried various ways to use the oils in our home and I have Instagrammed our favorites along the way. Keep in mind that I'm not a doctor. I'm just sharing our family's experiences. This post is a collection of our favorite, tried and true recipes/uses.

All Purpose Spray: This is my go to all purpose bathroom spray. I use it as a baby wipe spray, for a quick spritz and swipe of the bathroom sinks and counters, walls, floors... You name it, I will spritz and swipe it. It works great for quick cleanups and smells great. Nothing like a little aromatherapy while cleaning! Feel free to change up the essential oils as you like.

Bug Spray!! To turn this same bottle of spray into a bug repellant for our family, I add 8 additional drops of Purification and 4 drops of Peppermint. Works like a charm for our family when we play outside. You can also add AromaRepel, Citronella or Thieves if you like. There are lots of options!

Essential Oil Hand Soap: Love, love, love this soap. This soap helped support healthy skin during the driest part of winter. It's on the runny side in a traditional pump, but we liked it just fine like that. A little goes a long way. If you have a foaming pump, great! Use that instead. If you don't like adding the olive oil, just skip it. And if you prefer ready made soap, try Young Living's Lavender soap or Thieves Foaming Hand soap. They are both wonderful!! And Young Living's hand soaps leave my sink cleaner.

Face Wash: This one is especially good for problem prone skin. I used my hand mixer to mix up 1/4 of chilled coconut oil with 15 drops of Purification and 15 drops of Lavender. If non-cystic acne is more prominent, then add 30 drops of Melaleuca A essential oil instead. Massage this on and then remove with a warm, wet cloth. You can also use the Lavender essential or the Purification neat on blemishes to soothe the skin. If you need extra moisurizer, this cleanser doubles as a moisturizer. Sweet!

Luxury Lotion Bars: Disclaimer, I made these lotion bars really soft. If you want a harder lotion bar add in and additional ounce of Cocoa Butter and reduce the olive oil by 1/2.
In this batch, I used 1 oz each: pure beeswax, cocoa butter, coconut oil, shea butter, scant 1/4 cup olive oil. I gently melted the wax, coconut oil and cocoa butter together, then added the shea butter and 8 drops each Ylang Ylang, Lavender, Frankincense and Joy essential oils from Young Living. Add the essential oils at the very end so they are not affected by the heat. Pour into molds and enjoy!

Lemonade: We love this drink! I make this almost everyday. It helps me keep me hydrated and gives me that extra energy boost in the mid-afternoon. I mix the above ingredients into a 1.5 quart pitcher of water and sweeten with liquid stevia as needed. Sometimes we don't sweeten it at all. Sometimes I use grapefruit essential oil or orance essential oil along with the lemon. Try it and then tweak as you like. Disclaimer: check your oils. Please only ingest oils that are known to be safe, known to be pure, and have Seed to Seal verifcation.

Simple Kitchen Cleaner: This is super easy to mix up for spritzing and swiping the counters. Cuts grease, deep cleans and I don't have to worry about my children staying safe while they help me clean. Awesome.

Foot Rub Spray: My kids love the Peace and Calming essential oil blend. It smells so good and supports peaceful slumber. For my little glass spray bottles, I dissolved a scant 1/4 cup of Ancient Minerals Magnesium Bath Flakes into 1/4 cup of hot filtered water. I allowed that to cool and then added approximately 20 drops of Peace and Calming blend of essential oils. Poured that into cobalt blue spray bottles. This is what we use to give the little ones foot rubs at night. They love it when we add this into their bedtime routine.

More information on this recipe here.

Next up, Sugar Scrubs! Click HERE for the full recipe that I love and several possible adaptations.

Ultra-simple, ultra-luxurious DIY Eye Makeup Remover! I looooove it.

If you have tried any of these, I would love here what you think. And if you would like more information on Young Living Essential Oils, feel free to email me at mgeis01@gmail.com. Or click here to purchase your own diffuser kit and amazing collection of oils.

Thanks for reading!

Chelle @ My Blue Daisy.

Operation Breakfast Update | Meal Plan w/ Grain-Free Granola

2014-01-16T20:42:00.002-08:00

We are two weeks into the new year and new plan, and Operation Breakfast has been a huge success. It's not been easy, but the reward has been so great that the effort has been worth it.

So what has changed? Me and my approach to breakfast. Such a simple idea. But for this non-morning person introvert, it was a hard calling to answer accept.
I'm getting up earlier and making a full breakfast of whole foods for the kids. Once breakfast is finished, I set the table with a hot breakfast, wake my son, call my daughter, and scoop my youngest from her bed and deliver her to the table with snuggles. We all eat, clean up together, then they start morning chores while I have some quiet time.
The result? We have a huge improvement in attitudes around our home. School is going so much smoother and instead of trying to fit in time for snacks around school, we are able to stay out of the kitchen until lunch.
Here is the first recipe I whipped up for breakfast for my kids with food allergies. It's a favorite around here and I hope you love it.

Ingredients:

2 cups organic, raw sunflower seeds

2 cups organic, raw pumpkin seeds

2 cups organic, coconut flakes

1/4 cup coconut oil, warmed gently until melted

1/4 cup (scant) raw honey (or sweeten to taste)

Directions.

1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees F.

2. Add the seeds and coconut flakes to a large mixing bowl. Drizzle with coconut oil and honey. Toss until well coated.

3. Spread the mixture onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Spread the mixture out into a thin, even layer. Bake for approximately one hour, turning every 20 minutes. Continue baking until the coconut toasts to a light golden brown.

4. Cool and store in a covered container.

5. Serve with milk, over coconut yogurt, over berries, or snack on it dry. Feel free to substitute any nuts or other seeds in place of the sunflower and pumpkin seeds. My options are limited by the food allergies in our house. Feel free to add more honey to make this sweeter. You can easily turn this into a granola bar by adding additional honey, pressing it into your pan, and baking longer. Granola is just so incredibly flexible that you almost can't mix a bad batch. Add in what you like.

The rest of our meal plan for the week is below. I typically serve a raw fruit and veggie at every meal, including breakfast. For my kid with food allergies... Monday: Granola Cereal w/Ham Tuesday: Sausage Wraps (recipe coming) Wednesday: Ham Wraps (recipe coming) Thursday: Granola Cereal and Bacon Friday: Steak
For my girls and myself... Everyday - pretty much some form of bacon/ham and eggs or a veggie omelet.
I hope our family recipes and our experiences can help someone else. Homeschooling alone can be hard enough. And so many know the struggle of nourishing children with food allergies.
Make it a great week! ~Michelle @ My Blue Daisy

New Year's Homeschool Reflections | Operation Breakfast

2014-01-01T21:54:00.000-08:00

I love this time of year! New year, new plans - or maybe just a new look at old plans. I use this time at the first of the year to take a look at how our school year is going, pray, and determine if we are still on the best path.

After just a bit of prayer and reflection, it became clear to me that we are on the right track but have some problems to solve. One of the little-big issues that I found hindering our progress is my own morning routine (which is a whole other future blog post) and the second is breakfast. Who knew something as simple as breakfast could be such a huge hang-up to our morning school work?

I wish I could make a quick scramble of eggs and a side of bacon for everyone and then move on with the day. Everyone would be well nourished, satisfied and ready to focus on school. But my little guy is allergic to eggs and several other foods. Cooking whole food lunches and dinners isn't much of a problem for me after all these years of dealing with food allergies, but breakfast has been my hang up for a long while. I am not a morning person. I prepare lunches and dinners from scratch, but breakfast? I taught my children from an early age to prepare their own breakfast. Great, right? Evidently, not so much. It's a fine plan for my girls. My older ones are capable of preparing eggs, greek yogurt and smoothies as they like and my youngest typically shares my breakfast. But my little guy... And he's become quite picky about breakfast. Left to his own choice, he would choose a bowl of rice cereal with a side of rice milk - the sweetened kind. You can just imagine how well that works for him. About the time breakfast is done, he's already looking for a snack and complaining that he is STARVING and there is nothing to eat. Regardless of what healthy, whole food options I list off, he still sees nothing of interest for breakfast. His second preference for breakfast would be a fresh grilled steak. Smart kid! But I don't have the budget to grill steak every morning.

Thus, Operation Breakfast begins. We created a weekly breakfast meal plan for my son and another for my daughter's and I. Together we make the plan, shop, and prep the dishes on the weekends or evenings - although most of that prep work is on me. No more "There's nothing to eat!" complaining as they stare into the refrigerator. And no more "I don't want that!" when I respond with their options. The plan is made (with their input) and the plan is what they will eat. It has worked just fine for lunches and dinners all these years, I'm not sure why I didn't do this for breakfast sooner as well. Oh right, that whole I am not a morning person thing. This year that is also changing.

Our first breakfast item - Homemade Granola (egg free, grain free, sweetened with honey) is prepared, Instagrammed, and ready to be stored for the week to come. It's delicious, crunchy and filling. Pictures, Meal Plan and food-allergy friendly recipes coming soon!

Also stay tuned for updates as we move our way into the second half of our 2013-2014 homeschool year in Rome to Reformations and First Grade with My Father's World.

Happy, Happy New Year!

~Michelle @ My Blue Daisy

2013-08-09T15:07:00.000-07:00

Life has been busy this summer! My garden is growing, my children growing and learning, and so am I. In May I took on a new adventure and began training in Olympic Lifting (Oly Lifting) at CrosFit Olathe. Today I want to brag on this a little bit. Please know this is not a paid review by any means at all.

In short - I love this place! It's hard to not type that out in the all-annoying all capital letter format. My husband and I have held about 5 various gym memberships over the course of life since college. CrossFit Olathe is nothing like any of those 5 gyms. People are friendly, encouraging and happy. There is a sense of friendship, giving, camaraderie, challenge and joy inside this cinder block building. I'm telling you this place is like some kind of therapy.

As their name describes, Crossfit Olathe provides fun and challenging Crossfit classes. I am constantly impressed by the effort the members put into their own workouts as well as encouraging those around them. There are high fives all around at the end of the hour. It is impressive to witness.

As for me, I have been specifically training with Oly Lifting. Crossfit Olathe has much to offer those with fitness goals. My posture has improved as my confidence and strength have increased; I have added 35lbs to my back squat in just three months. Overall, I simply feel better and I don't sigh heavily at the gentleman at Costco who loads up the over sized insulated bag to where it is literally overflowing with heavy fresh and frozen food. Instead I smile as I lift that bag out of the cart and into the back of our vehicle.

I had been lifting weights on my own and trying to learn a proper back squat for about 18 months before I walked into Crossfit Olathe, so I am not new to the bar or the squat. But I was stuck at 85 lbs and frequently injuring myself and having to start back with just the bar. What I have accomplished in 3 months of training with Jerell, is just amazing to me, especially when compared to the results of that previous 18 months of lifting. Last week I squatted 120lbs. My next goal is to squat body weight and that should be happening very soon.

If you are looking to achieve some fitness goals, to get stronger, come by and check out Crossfit Olathe. Give them a LIKE on Facebook, too. And for more images of Crossfit Olathe, the owners, coaches and members, see my photography website.

Our Family Garden: Pt 2 of 3

2013-05-09T01:00:00.000-07:00

You can find Our Family Garden: Part 1 here. In part one, my little scientists/engineers assembled the Tower Garden, set up the pump, and started our seeds in the provided rock wool.

Once our seedlings reached at least 3 inches tall (and weather permitted) we finally moved our Tower Garden outside into the sunshine, filled it with water, mineral solution, and transplanted our seedlings. Once filled and plugged in out backyard was filled with the sounds of trickling water. So our backyard garden doubles as a water feature. The most relaxing sound ever! (By the way, there is no reason to set this thing up inside at all. We could have waited to set it up until our seedlings were ready to transplant outside. We were just so excited to see that huge box when it arrived and wanted to set it up immediately, even though that meant living with it in the kitchen until our plants were ready.)

So how we did it. We used our popsicle stick labels to cut and divide the rock wool 'brick' that we started our seeds. My laborers carefully transplanted each little section of rock wool filled with its seedling and roots into each little black basket on the tower.

We placed our cucumbers and zucchini on the bottom, kale and lettuces in the middle, and left room at the top for our basil and stevia plants. (More on the basil, stevia, and tomatoes in Part 3 of this series.)

Here is a close-up of one of our kale seedlings newly transplanted into its basket on the Tower Garden. It is being nurtured by the mineral solution that is pumped from the base and rained down on the roots. What are you planting this season?

We live in Kansas where you never know what the weather is going to be like. So 4 days after we transplanted our seedlings, we ended up with snow, sleet and freezing temperatures. We raced home from that Thursday afternoon to rescue our lovely little plants. I grabbed this image with my phone while we were frantically pumping water out of the base in order to the lighten the load before we carried it back inside. Fortunately all of our little plants seemed to have survived.

Our Tower Garden is back in our kitchen for now. Below are some close-ups images of how the rock wool sections and seedlings sit in the Tower Garden.

This is the basket where the seedlings will be 'planted'. It's important to securely place your rock wool transplant all the way in. The roots need to be touching the very bottom of the basket to make sure it receives sufficient water and minerals.

The rock wool and base of the plant will nearly fill the entire basket. This is one of our cucumber plants.

Another cucumber plant.

The left and middle plants are the cucumbers above and the one on the right is one of the zucchini. I can't wait to get them back out in the sunshine.

Stay tuned for Part 3 to see it back in action outdoors and see how quickly our plants are growing! Anyone else have to make a mad dash to save their little plants due to weather change? Your comments are blessings!

Our Family Garden: Part 1 of 3

2013-05-06T10:49:00.001-07:00

I am so excited to have an aeroponic garden this year! I cannot wait for fresh tomato and basil salad. No worrying about GMO's or pesticides. Yay!

Last year our backyard garden was nearly a complete failure. The heat and the drought were just too much for our daily watering, and then there was a fungus that attacked some of our tomato plants. It was deflating. And then there is the month of June. Every June I am away at church camp with my little ones for one to two weeks. And when I'm away, I always lose about 1/3 of my garden due to heat and lack of attention. Even when I hire someone to water. I need a garden that required less maintenance, could stand up to the heat of a Kansas summer, and didn't require a gazillion gallons of water to maintain. What I found was the Tower Garden.

We ordered ours in April and promptly set it up. Set up was so easy that my little ones tackled it while I was still fumbling with my camera and the instructions. (Please excuse the mess. I still had moving boxes in the living room when we set this up back in early spring.) This fall I will be picking up a grow lamp and setting up the garden in the basement to keep us supplied with kale, lettuces and herbs all winter. So excited about that. I will be journaling our experience here at My Blue Daisy.

Unpacking and organizing. Can't you tell it's organized?

Installing the pump and connecting it to the base of the tower.

All assembled!

Preparing the rock wool for the seeds. They aren't always so thrilled about having a camera following them around...

This is what we planted. So far all the seeds came up beautifully except the canteloupe. None of the canteloupe seeds germinated. Sad, sad.

Inserting seeds into the center of each rock wool section.

All carefully planted and labeled the seeds. Just waiting to be covered with a teeny bit of vermiculite to hold in the moisture. My 10 year old made a nice diagram and write up for her science notebook.

All done! The basic Tower Garden can hold 20 plants. We started 18 seedlings and I ordered several tomato starts from an organic heirloom seedling store that we will transplant into those last two spots.

And here is the warm, sunny spot for our seedlings to germinate. Next week I will show you our current status of beautiful seedlings transplanted into the Tower Garden! Anyone else using an aeroponic garden? Or are you planting traditional style? What grows at your home?

You can find out more about the Tower Garden here. In part two I'll show you where we set our aeroponic in the back yard, how we transplanted our seedlings, and the result of Kansas snow in MAY. Argh!

Scheduling School

2013-04-26T10:51:00.001-07:00

I hope this will cover the questions on how I plan school. The pictures are fairly hard to see; click on them to scroll through larger images.

The first thing I do is figure out how many week's of school need to be completed. Check your teacher's manual (if you use one) and double check your state requirements to make sure you aren't left in a deficit.

Then I look ahead at the coming year and decide when I want to be DONE with 'school'. My little ones compete on swim team in the summer, plus the pool, lake and parks are just irresistable when the weather is lovely. I know I want to be done with our core curriculum before swim team practices start up in the last week of May. (Daily reading and math are completed year round. Get up, eat breakfast, do your math and read something - that's just how we roll; I'm sure you will find your own path for family education.)

Once I know when I want to be done and how much there is to be done, and I start counting backwards adding in flex time as needed. I rarely build in specific days off, aside from important holidays. Instead, I build in margin so that days off can happen naturally without causing tension in our schedule. Adding in margin allows for a day off for nature hikes on gorgeous fall days, rest days when everyone is tired, or scrubadub days when we need to pull the house back in order. Once that is done I find I am typically looking to start school around the middle of August for second grade on up, and September for kindergarten and first grade.

This is what our calendar has looked like for the 2012/2013 school year. My second and fifth graders are working together through the same core curriculum - My Father's Work Creation to Greeks (CTG). Each school week is denoted by CTG: Week 1, etc. Note that I didn't schedule kindergarten most of the school year? Explanation on that down below.

August 2012. We start the year out slowly in mid-August adding a subject at a time into our daily routine.

September 2012. We took off the week of Labor Day (again still completing math and reading daily).

October 2012: We schooled all through October, but stretched two weeks of curriculum out across three calendar weeks to allow for rest, nature hikes and deeper study of some subjects.

November 2012. We stretched one week of curriculum across two weeks to allow for Thanksgiving cooking and time with family.

December 2012: Plenty of time off to spend with family.

January 2013. Back to schooling right on through.

February 2013. We moved in February, so we definitely took some time off for packing and unpacking.

March 2013. Spring break in March was full of snow sledding.

April 2013.

May 2013. Finishing up Fifth and Second grades in time for swim team. Still working through A to Z (kindergarten).

June 2013. Continuing with kindergarten.

July 2013

August 2013. Finishing up A to Z (kindergarten) just in time to start first grade.

My youngest isn't technically school-aged, yet. Through most of the school year I have been fairly laid back about using our kindergarten curriculum. She sits with her older siblings during most of literature, history, science and Bible and enjoys a computer-based phonics program, too. But recently she has been more interested in having her own school time. Plus I am enjoying more one-on-one time with her now that my second grader has better study habits. So we are now moving quickly through her own curriculum (My Father's World A to Z) and plan to start her in first grade (My Father's World Learning God's Story) in the second week of September. If we had started our kindergarten curriculum in September, we would be done about now. And honestly, with the work she has done with her siblings this year we don't even need to go through this curriculum. We are only continuing on through because we love it so much. It is such a full and fun curriculum. It's like icing on the cake she already has in front of her. I love the flexibility and customization of home education!

So that is how we schedule our school years but it's only one way. Feel free to share how you go about this process!

Linked up with We Are That Family, Mom's Library, Teach Me Tuesdays and Titus 2 Tuesdays.

Counting the Costs

2013-04-23T09:35:00.000-07:00

When friends and acquaintances ask me about homeschooling, my response tends to sound like rainbows and roses. Not because I intentionally spin homeschooling in a golden-hour glow, but because we love it so much. My husband often warns me to send people to him to chat about homeschooling after they have spoken with me -tongue-in-cheek, of course. So today, let's talk about the hidden costs of home education and counting those costs. Did you count the costs at first or did you just jump in with both feet?

I recently read through Educating the WholeHearted Child again (by Clay and Sally Clarkson). I appreciated the section in chapter one where Clay talks about counting the costs. I recommend their book! Check your library for it.

Homeschooling will change you; it will change your parenting; it will change your heart. Are you ready for that? WERE you ready? I wasn't - at first, but now I am so thankful. I am a better parent for my decision to homeschool. One of the things I have learned is that I can't HIDE from my children on bad days, messy-house days, or sick days. I can't pretend life is grand when my head feels like it's going to split open or when our schedule has become overbooked. My children can see right through any mask I might try to paint on during those tired and cranky days. I have learned that they can see right through me so I might as well get real and honest with them. What a blessing in disguise. Homeschooling has brought me so much closer to my God, my ever present Help. I can do anything through Him, right?

Homeschooling will change your life in unexpected ways. Some changes take prayer and sacrifice to accept and some changes are blessings in disguise. I have finally embraced shopping with my children. I have learned to involve them - not just in meal planning, but even in the budgeting and selecting. And guess what? They are excellent helpers! The only time I blow the budget now is when I shop alone. When they are with me, we run by the bank first and pick up cash. My three little ones arm themselves with calculators and diligently subtract away as we add items into our cart. When we get close to our goal we have to start making tough choices. Do we pick up an extra pack of nitrate-free bacon or that dark chocolate bar as a treat? Do we still need 8 pounds of organic apples this week, or can we substitute a pound or two of the bananas or oranges that are on sale? My children never cease to amaze me in their decision-making capabilities.

Have you surrendered your home and housekeeping? We just recently moved and not everything is in place, yet. We needed to get back to our studies, so much of the painting and arranging will have to wait for summer. I have a spacious dining room, that has become the homeschool room. We are planning out built-in bookshelves for the dining/homeschool room, but that will have to wait until summer. In the meantime I have cardboard boxes as book shelves. In our last house we didn't have a homeschool room at all. Our books and supplies pretty much took over the living room, and well - the whole house. Even now with a dedicated room, we have to be diligent to keep it contained. My early-rising 10 year old prefers to do her math in her bedroom as soon as she wakes up - even before breakfast. My little guy likes to do his math lying in the floor. Reading happens everywhere all at once - literally. Science typically happens in the kitchen and dining room. My house often looks like a paper explosion.

There are papers, memory scriptures, notes, maps, and art randomly stuck on my walls. I do try to keep this limited to the homeschool room, but its there. Flip side is everyone seems to love huge wall maps. I would love to have another. It's a great conversation piece!

There are random toys mixed in with school and water bottles left all over the house. Everyone has their own summer and winter water bottles and I am constantly chasing them down. And there is no doubt that learning happens in this home.

See that pile on top of the white counter space? That's my to-be-filed pile. I promptly cleaned that up as soon as this picture was taken, but I know it will return. I am outnumbered by my children, after all. Keeping up with them is a full time effort.

Yes, we have systems and closed storage, but life happens and this is a real blog post. Sometimes my house is neat and tidy just they way I prefer and other times it looks just like this with paper stacks on the counter and hair bands and paper airplanes on the floor. I am learning to be content in all situations and learning that somedays school is set aside while we all scrubadub. I am certain this will be easier when our built-ins are completed or after I declutter our books (hardest thing for me to do!!) In the mean time...

What costs have you had to count? What unexpected sacrifices and blessings in disguise have you encountered?

Linked up with ABFOL One Project at a TIme, Mom's Library, Teach Me Tuesdays and Titus 2 Tuesdays.

Why do we Home School? And How Did We Start?

2013-04-11T07:36:00.000-07:00

This question comes up occassionally. And wow is it tough to answer short and sweet. I doubt there is a simple, one-sentence answer for most families. And it seems the longer we homeschool, the more reasons I have to continue.

Let me start with how. How did we start?

I researched. I looked at curriciulums. I read books. I planned. But in the end, I just had to START! That is the most important step - just start. If you choose the wrong curriculum, you can change. If you don't have the right materials for your child, you can change. Sometimes you have to actually start before you can figure out exactly how this will work for your family. Our homeschool has grown and evolved through practice, grace, and prayer.

Google your local area for homeschool conferences. I am thankful for our local Midwest Parent Educators group. They host a conference in Kansas City every year. Families can attend workshops, find mentors, and browse homeschool curriculum materials. It can be overwhelming at first, but I loved being able to flip through the top curriculums on my list.

Why did we start?

We were called to do so. When my first child was born, I just couldn't even imaging handing her over to someone else to be educated. She was our blessing and I wanted her at home. I enjoy watching her learn and grow. I enjoy learning and growing along side her. I wanted to give her a thorough, customized, individualized, Biblically-based education. I looked deeper into public school and researched the best local private schools, but what I envisioned for her could only happen at home. I wanted to be able to read all day on those rainy days when that's what seemed best. I wanted to get outside for all-day science experiments on the most beautiful days. Homeschooling isn't something (most people) just wake up and decide to do. It's a conviction, a calling, a committment. It's something for which we changed our life.

As I type this out, it's 2:30 in the afternoon and we have yet to "do school" today (in the traditional sense of that phrase.) But what we have done is:
make breakfast and lunch together, plant 6 different kinds of seeds, learned about and built an aeroponic garden, wrote a report about that aeroponic garden, built two large forts, and everyone has composed their own short story. As soon as they complete that second fort, we will all snuggle in that fort with a snack while I will read history and literature and help the youngest two finish their math. This is not our typical day, as many days do resemble a more traditional school. And it's not everyday you get to build an aeroponic garden! But rainy days, like today, might look just like this.

How do you choose a curriculum?

That's a big question. There are many great choices available these days and many curriculums even use very similar literature, math, and science. But perhaps the teacher's manuals, the schedule, or arrangement is laid out differently. And then! Well then there is unschooling or pulling your own curriculum together. One method isn't necessarily better than the other, but one method is very likely better for YOUR FAMILY than another. Here are a few of my favorite books on homeschooling that might help you in your research.

101 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum Cathy Duffy's book gives a nice general view over all different forms of homeschooling. This book will take you through a questionaire to help you find your preferences and strengths.

A Charlotte Mason Companion: Personal Reflections on the Gentle Art of Learning If you are interested in incorporating more nature, exploration, literature and flexible scheduling, you might enjoy this book. I did so love this book.

The HSLDA website is also a good place for information on state regulations.

After combing through curriculum reviews and choices, we chose My Father's World curriculum for our home. My Father's World meets the key points in my reasons for homeschooling. And it meets and exceeds the requirements for university acceptance at all the universities I checked. It is flexible, Biblically based, partly classical, partly Charlotte Mason, and thorough. And they have excellent customer service.

As more children have been added to our family, each with their own personalities, likes and dislikes, our reasons for homeschooling have only grown. We used to say that we were only homeschooling for now, or taking one year at a time, or that we would continue to do so as long as it worked. After 6 years, I can't imagine it NOT working for our family. It's a blessing - a little bit of magic that happens right in front of us on a daily basis.

Zuppa Toscana - Paleo Style

2013-04-09T07:50:00.000-07:00

Our family loves Zuppa Toscana. Ages ago, we enjoyed this soup in the traditional recipe. But these days I have my own modified recipe that works around all our food issues.

Let me recap those food issues real quick (or not so quick). One daughter is highly intolerant to potatoes - and that includes anything related to potatoes, like "enriched" products, potato starch, and anything with added "vitamin B" to name a few. She also cannot tolerate dairy and grains together at the same meal. Strange, yes? But evidently not as uncommon as you might think. It took us three years of praying, searching, food journaling, and allergy testing to finally identify what was causing her such pain.

My son has full-on food allergies. He is allergic to... Are you ready for this list?
Wheat, Oat, Barley, Rye, Dairy, Egg, Strawberry, Nuts and Treenuts. Strawberries give him hives, gluten-containing grains and dairy produce eczema, and nuts yield wheezing and anaphylaxis - generally speaking. I make sure none of these are in his diet and am careful to avoid any cross contamination.

As for myself, well I avoid grains, sugar, most dairy and all legumes. I've learned through trial and error that those ingredients just aren't tolerated well in my body. Can see why most paleo-style recipes work really well for us?

Back to zuppa. The protein in my recipe is Italian pork sausage. Find one that does not contain any MSG and is light on sugar. The label should read something like pork, water, sea salt, fennel, pepper, and oregano. Possibly some sugar as the last ingredient. If you don't like pork, feel free to subsitute with some grass-fed beef. You will love it just the same and your soup will be lighter. Add some fennel when you brown the meat to bring in that sausage flavor.

The broth of my recipe is chicken bone broth - homemade and packed with minerals. You just can't have enough homemade bone broth in your diet or freezer.

Here is my tour of Zuppa Toscano for the paleo / Whole30 / food allergy family. Start out with good ingredients. Not many required are for this simple recipe. I'm going to make a double batch and freeze half; feel free to halve the ingredients if you are not interested in batch cooking.

4 pounds of Italian Sausage (or grass-fed ground beef)
2 large onions
Cauliflower (two heads or two packages of chopped frozen)
2 Qt bone broth (and another 2 qt on hand for the half to be frozen)
seasonings: oregano, basil, crushed red pepper, real salt and pepper (details below)

If you are using homemade bone broth that has been frozen, start warming that up while the other ingredients cook.

Go ahead and start browning your meat while you chop the onions. Add those when the meat is about half-way browned.

When the meat and onions are nearly cooked through, add your seasoning to taste. Now this can be tricky. Did you salt your bone broth when you prepared it or are you using seasoned store broth? Did you make your bone broth from well-seasoned chicken bones? What about your Italian sausage - was that well seasoned or mildly seasoned? This is where it pays to know your ingredients. So please consider your own ingredients and season the zuppa to taste.

1/2 teaspoon dried Oregano and 1/2 teaspoon dried Basil
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper (How spicy do you like it?)
1 Tablespoon dried garlic
Salt and Pepper to taste - remember to use a good quality salt.

While the meat finishes and the seasonings are marinating, wash and chop the cauliflower. If you are using frozen cauliflower, grab it from the freezer.

Give it a rough chop. It's going to break up nicely while cooking, so no need to be percise.

Once the meat is cooked through and seasoned, I pull half of the meat and onion mixture off to cool in a mixing bowl. I'm going to reserve this for the freezer.

With half the meat cooling for next week's menu, add in your chopped cauliflower. Give it a stir and let it start to cook.

Once your cauliflower is warmed nicely, add your broth.

While your cauliflower is warming through and softening up in the soup, go ahead and prep a freezer stash of zuppa. I add the cooled meat into the bottom of a freezer container and then top it with chopped cauliflower (fresh or frozen). Seal it with a lid and stash it in the freezer with a 2 quart container of bone broth and a stash of kale. The next time our family needs a quick meal, this soup can be warmed up and served in less than 20 minutes.

The next step comes with my favorite greens tip. I love the big bags of organic kale found at Costco. I buy them two or three bags at a time (because you never know when Costco is going to run out!) and drop them into the deep freeze as soon as I get home. For soups or smoothies, just open the bag and crumble in the amount you enjoy. No chopping and no worries about any of those greens spoiling in the bottom of your refrigerator. Add as much as you like. Kale is so nutrient dense, so add plenty.

It only takes a minute to warm the kale through and you are ready to serve. Give a taste to check your seasoning level and then dish out a bowl.

This is exactly how my son loves his zuppa. Two of my girls prefer heavy cream drizzled into their bowls, so I keep grass-fed whole cream on hand for them.

I have read that many in the paleosphere enjoy coconut milk in their zuppa, and occasionally my son does, too. As for me, I like it just fine without.

I hope you enjoy this recipe! Don't be afraid to tweak your past favorite foods to fit your current food lifestyle. Please feel free to share what tweaked traditional recipes you love below in the comments!

Linked up with Kimi @ the Nourishing Gourmet: Pennywise Platter.