Homemade Chocolate Pudding

My good friend gave me this recipe, and since I had a craving for it tonight, I figured I'd go ahead and share it. It's a super-easy recipe for chocolate pudding, and the best part is that because you're making it, you can sweeten it in whichever way you choose, and you don't have to worry about weird thickeners and additives. I made some up while I unloaded the dishwasher after supper tonight.

Chocolate Pudding:

2 cups milk
1/3 cup cocoa
1/2 cup sugar (or 1/4 cup honey or agave syrup or maple syrup, or 1/4 tsp stevia powder) *note: you can adjust these amounts a little bit to taste. Feel free to make it a little sweeter if you're in the mood.
3 tbsp cornstarch
2 tsp vanilla (optional)

You can either microwave this recipe or cook it on the stovetop. It's up to you. If you're going for health, then use the stovetop. :)

Whisk together the milk, cocoa, sweetener, and cornstarch in either a microwavable glass container or a saucepan. If microwaving, put it in for 1 to 1 1/2 minutes, stir, and repeat until it thickens to your satisfaction. If you're using the stovetop, stir it periodically, making sure it doesn't burn or stick, until it's nicely thickened. Stir in the vanilla once the mixture is thickened.

Pour it into little glass or ceramic bowls, and eat it either warm or cold. Refrigerate any leftovers. Yum!

Sugar-Free Fruit Crisp Goodness

I love fruit crisps. They are the easiest thing in the world to make, they're a delicious dessert, and they're nutritious enough to even eat them for breakfast (or so I tell myself).

Maybe you think I'm weird to be writing about crisp in the summertime. Maybe I am a little crazy. But my goodness, so many summer fruits have made my crisps practically magical lately! I just can't keep it to myself any longer.

So, in honour of this year-round favourite of mine, I present to you my "recipe," which is really more like a whim-driven cooking experiment each time. It's always free of refined sugars, though, so if you're sensitive like me, or just want to eat a little healthier, dig in!

Sugar-Free Fruit Crisp Official Creative Guidelines:

1) Cut up lots of fruit, enough to fill your favourite baking dish to within an inch of the top. Some favourite combinations of mine this summer are apples & blueberries, strawberry & rhubarb, and apples & peaches & blueberries. (I tend to stay way from raspberries because I don't like picking them out of my teeth. If you love them more than you hate their seeds, more power to you.)

2) Sweeten your fruit in any of the following ways:

a) for a small pan (about 8x8 or 9x9), use either 9-12 drops of liquid stevia or a nice criss-cross drizzle (about 1 inch-ish between lines, to give you a rough idea) of agave nectar, maple syrup, or honey. Sometimes, I do a smaller drizzle of maple syrup and 9 drops of stevia. Then, mix the fruit and sweetener together so everything's nicely blended.

b) for a large rectangular pan, use twice as many stevia drops (about 18-24) or just drizzle your honey/agave/maple syrup all over the pan.

*note* If you're using tart apples, like Granny Smith, use the larger amount of sweetener. If you're using sweet apples, like MacIntosh, use less.

3) Sometimes, it's nice to add a good sprinkle of cinnamon to the fruit. It's delicious with any apple combination, but, as it turns out, not so good with strawberry-rhubarb. I'd recommend leaving the strawberry-rhubarb combo alone to do its own thing; it's happier that way. (You can also use a pinch of nutmeg, or use a yummy spice blend that's meant for dessert. Experiment and find a new favourite.)

4) Now, the crumble topping. (I'm afraid it's yet another adventure in getting around measuring. Less dishes to clean that way!)

First, you need butter. You can, if you must, use oil of some kind, like plain old canola or coconut oil, but butter has such a great taste. (Hmmm... I wonder what extra-virgin coconut oil would taste like in a crisp. If anyone's brave enough to try it, let me know how it goes.) If you want the flavour of butter and the health of oil, try using half of each. I melt about 1/4 cup of butter for a small pan, and obviously twice as much for a large one. Melt it in a large glass measuring cup, then you can add the rest of the ingredients without having to dirty another dish.

Mix in 1 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats and a heaping tablespoon of flour (double these amounts for a large crisp). Drizzle on your sweetener of choice (maple syrup is my favourite for flavour, and stevia is my favourite for healthiness; sometimes, I use a combination of both) in the same way you drizzled it on your fruit. (As you keep making your crisp, you'll know just how much to drizzle each time. This is an exercise in getting to know your cooking well.) Add one egg white for a small pan, and two for a large pan. Don't use the yokes. I've tried it, and the texture just wasn't as nice.

If the mixture looks too dry, add a little more oil or syrup. You want it to be clumpy and damp, not wet and gooey or clumpy and dry.

You can also add some cinnamon to the topping, but it's really not necessary. Oooh, and pecans are also a nice touch. Yum!

5) Spread the topping on the fruit and press it down just a little so it's not too bumpy. You'll want it nice and even or else the top bits will brown faster than any valleys. If you're using pecans, make sure they're squished in for the same reason. (I had sprinkled them on top one time, and discovered that perfectly cooked crisp is not so good with over-cooked pecans on top.)

6) Bake it at 350 F for 35 to 45 minutes, depending on the size of the crisp and the temperature of your oven. I always check mine ten minutes early, just to make sure it doesn't over cook. (It never does. I should really stop checking.)

You'll know it's done by sticking a fork in it to see if the fruit is tender of not. The topping will brown if you've used honey, but it won't really brown much with stevia, so that's not always a good indication. I know it's almost done when my kitchen starts to smell divine.

7) Eat it right away, or cover it and eat it later. It's really up to you. It's your crisp. I like mine re-heated if I've left some 'til the next day, which I always aim for because, like I said, it makes awesome breakfast. I do find the pecans are best freshly toasted, although still decently good once they've softened in the leftovers. If you hate slightly soft pecans, eat it all up right away.

You can keep it in the fridge if you want, especially if you're in the throes of a summer heat wave (and fruit-fly season -- ick), but in the winter and fall, I just leave it covered on the counter.

Okay, to recap, and to give you a coherent ingredient list:

Filling:
fruit
cinnamon (optional)
sweetener (liquid stevia, agave syrup, honey, maple syrup, or date sugar)
*If you're using really juicy fruit, like peaches, you might want to throw in a tablespoon of flour or cornstarch or arrowroot starch to thicken it up a bit. You don't have to.

Crumble:
1/4 to 1/2 cup butter, melted, or oil
1 1/2 cups to 3 or 4 cups rolled oats
1 to 2 heaping tablespoons (I mean huge) flour
ample drizzle of sweetener (see above)
1 to 2 egg whites
pinch of salt (optional)
cinnamon (optional)

Now go, and have as much fun as I do making up new flavour combinations. And, for goodness' sake, tell me if you discover something great I haven't mentioned!

p.s. My mother-in-law recently picked up an apple corer/peeler/slicer thingamabob at a yard sale and gave it to me. It is the best thing EVER for churning out apple crisp in no time at all. Even my three-year-old can turn the handle while I mix the topping. How cool is that?

Home-Made, Chemical-Free Deodorant

I don't know about you, but I've tried a couple different "natural" deodorants with no success. Crystal deodorant: still smelly. Random other deodorants from my health store: still smelly. Ick. I can deal with the sweatiness, but I did not want to smell. I didn't even want to smell like mostly roses with slightly smelly undertones. Again, ick.

So, when my friend smelled her armpits in the rest room one day and announced, "My deodorant seems to be working! And I made it myself!" I was all for getting the recipe from her. I told her if it worked well for her, I'd give it a try.

Now, a couple months later, I am in love with my home-made deodorant. I seriously don't smell anything, not even on the sweatiest, most disgusting days, like we've had around here lately. (Holy heatwave, Batman!) I am so in love with it that I will share the recipe with you. It originally came from somewhere else out there in interwebland, so let me know if you know its source, and I'll give credit where credit is due.

Drum roll, please... :

6-8 tbsp coconut oil, in its liquid state
1/4 cup baking soda
1/4 cup arrowroot starch or cornstarch (I used cornstarch because that's what I had the most of and because it's cheap. My friend used arrowroot powder because some people are sensitive to cornstarch and she didn't want to take any chances.)
Mix it all up, and store it in a jar.

Now, over the last month, when the weather here got really hot and my deodorant completely liquified (coconut oil is such fickle stuff!), I've had to tweak the recipe to make it summer friendly. I basically re-melted it in the microwave, then stirred in another 1/4 cup each of the baking soda and cornstarch (or so -- maybe more). I guess you could say I re-saturated the mixture because the top layer had become only oil, which was completely useless as deodorant on its own. Now, it's back to working like a charm. Just be aware that its consistency will change based on the temperature in your house. The fridge, which I thought would solve this problem, only served to make it rock-solid and almost impossible to scrape out.

Well, I'm off to do some air-conditioned shopping right now. And I know that when I get there, I will still smell like... nothing!

p.s. If you want scented deodorant, I'm sure you can guess it's pretty easy to add some essential oil to the mixture to get the effect you want. Or, if you love the smell of coconut, you can use the extra-virgin variety for a nice, tropical flair. Just don't lick your armpits! (Well... I guess you could, since all these ingredients are edible, but it might be kind of gritty.)

Enjoy!

It's been ages since I've written because I didn't think I had anything to say. Plus, life around here is kind of busy, and I like to keep it simple.

But, reading through my older posts, I have to laugh at myself. I was so worried about having more energy and getting better sleep back then, and now, after my writing hiatus, I find I come back with answers! How weird is that?

It turns out that caffeine suppresses the thyroid, which is, of course, a regulator of the body's energy levels. I was so full of caffeine that my body couldn't make its own energy.

Also, eating fresh vegetables has been a great way to get a boost of energy in the mid-afternoon when I usually droop. Cucumbers and hummus are a favourite snack of mine.

I've also been going to bed at a reasonable hour most nights, so yay for me! My new wake-up time? 8 or 8:30 am. Woohoo!

Kicking the coffee habit was pretty hard at first, but I asked God to help me and I stuck with it. I'm drinking a funky "instant coffee substitute" called Bambu, which at first seemed like a pretty weak imitation to my yummy strong coffee, but now satisfies my taste buds well. I've also come to crave water. Plain old tap water. Who knew it could taste so good and be so satisfying?

I assume that all these positive changes show up in my blood, which I had my homeopathic doctor friend look at in a live blood analysis. (It turns out that all my red blood cells were stuck together and unable to do their job properly. Ick.) I'll have to go back and see her in a little while for another peek at the little guys.

Keep finding new ways to be healthy! :)

The Energy Project, Day 8

I realize I haven't blogged, like promised, the last couple of days. But I have a really good reason: I went to bed on time instead.

For some strange reason (maybe it's the four kids at home during the day), I find it easiest to write at night. But, the last couple nights, by the time I was ready to write something, I was also ready to sleep. I am very proud to announce that I, like a good girl, chose sleep.

I realized, when I woke up this morning, inwardly groaning and resentful at starting a new day, that I needed a serious attitude adjustment. Why was I being so grouchy about waking up? Here's my theory: for the last couple months, I had reverted to cared-for status while nursing a broken ankle, and, now that I'm back to being in charge of everything -- with no help, I might add -- I've been having trouble making the switch back to grown-up thoughts. Sad, but true. That groaning resentfulness? Completely reminiscent of my high school and early-twenties attitude.

Thank God, I have learned since then not to be such a whiny baby. I guess I just temporarily forgot about my new skills.

So, I rolled up my mental shirtsleeves, said no to self-pity, and got myself out of bed. I made some extra coffee today for added emphasis. I kept moving, forcing myself to focus on accomplishing those tasks which I had been mentally listing for the moment I could walk, and which I had sidelined in favour of being tired.

I actually got some things done today. And I feel great about it!

So, the day's lesson: attitude might just be worth as much as caffeine when it comes to energy levels and motivation.

Here's hoping -- no, deciding -- that I'll wake up on the right side of bed tomorrow morning. After all, I still have all that filing to do...

The Energy Project, Day 5 (I missed Day 4! Oh no!)

Well, my first hurdle in gaining more energy has been officially leapt over a couple of times now: bedtime is about 10:30pm, and getting there on time (or at least, before 11), has helped with my waking up in the morning. Yay for hurdle number one!

Now, on to the biggest hurdle of all: discovering a way to have energy throughout my day.

I usually drink coffee from the time I get up in the morning until about mid-afternoon, and that helps with the initial waking-up phase, but does little else for me throughout the day. It can sometimes help me get over that horrid mid-afternoon hump, when everything slows down and it feels like I'm walking (and thinking) through a watery, thick atmosphere, but lately -- gasp! -- it hasn't even been helping with that. Even after two cups, I find my brain is still fuzzy and indistinct, as if I'm looking at the world through a gently spinning kaleidoscope. No matter what I try to do to focus during this time, the best I can do is give up on any activity that requires sharp thinking and turn to a more relaxing activity, like knitting or playing the piano. Such pastimes require only my fingers to think, and that helps my brain to take a break until it's recovered its equilibrium.

Sadly, the rest of my afternoon and evening is an exercise in self discipline as I make supper, clean up, and put the kids to bed. I'm so tired that it's all I can do not to snap at people and all I can do to keep moving.

I have a couple theories here:

1) I'm so addicted to caffeine that my brain can't function without it, and I just plain need more.

2) I need to eat a bigger afternoon snack and drink more water. Low blood sugar also really affects me, and by dinner time, I'm toast if I haven't eaten much since lunch.

3) I might need to visit my friendly neighbourhood homeopathic doctor for more advice and clearer insight.

4) My body is tired from healing a broken ankle (which still isn't quite better), and I should just give myself a break.

Who knows? I guess the logical next steps are to try a combination of numbers 2 and 3, while taking number 4 into account. Oh, the possibilities!

The Energy Project, Day 3

I want to have good sleeping habits so a) I can live a better, more rested and happy life; and b) so I'll fit in with everyone else's sleeping habits.

Telling people that I have four kids, and we wake up at 9 in the morning (or later), usually gets a reaction of some sort, whether it's surprise or envy or ... something else.

Getting to the library for 10 am is hard for us. And if we want to participate in programs, we have to get up early and rush around to get ready.

Sometimes, morning play dates don't work well because by the time we've all eaten breakfast -- and I'm always last -- it's almost lunchtime. And by then our friends need to be at home, eating their lunch, while we're still full from our late breakfast and ready to start some activities.

Our differences make me wonder if I'm doing something wrong. Since we're not the same as everyone else, I think maybe I'd better "buckle down" and "get on the ball."

But seriously, no one in my family is either a) in danger; b) unhappy; or c) deprived. We're just good sleepers. We take our time in the morning. We gradually ease into our day instead of jumping in with both feet.

At least, I do, and the kids tolerate that.

Is there really anything wrong with that? I wonder.

Having said that, I have been appreciating the benefits of an earlier bedtime. It's nice to open my eyes in the morning and think coherent thoughts. Granted, I still require at least one cup to reach full coherency levels, but while my brain is percolating with the coffee, I'm enjoying an extra hour of spring sunshine coming in the through my tall kitchen windows.

In between filling cups with milk, of course. And hunting through the cupboards for more applesauce.

I guess we all, as mothers, are terrified that our particular quirks may ruin our children for life. This may just be another one of mine to add to the list of potential reasons for future therapy.

In the meantime, I may as well use the motherguilt for good instead of evil, and let my wondering spur me on to become a little more disciplined. A little discipline never hurt anyone, did it? And neither did a little extra sleep.