HJ Waxing Moon

If I'd known about this as a kid, my whole world would have been a lot different. You can put oatmeal in jars, add boiling water, and BOOM. BREAKFAST.   "Oh but Heather you need quick oats"/"It only works with some oats"/"You can't use other kinds of hot cereal." That's what they told me too, but they're wrong. I've tried it. I probably wouldn't use wheat berries, but any somewhat processed grain should do. Here's my recipe, you may need to tweak to your tastes. 1 pint jar 1/2 c oats 1/2 c toppings Dry sweetener if you're using it Pinch of salt Store at room temperature.  To eat: add boiling water to just below the fill line--I leave about 1/2 inch. Stir and rest for 5 minutes. Add liquid sweetener, butter, milk/cream to taste.  Cream of wheat/Farina plumps so much more than oats. I use 1/3c and no toppings.  What kind of toppings? Dried fruit like cranberries are easy & cheap Chopped or shaved nuts are great S...

I made a fantastic top-of-my-head Harvest Fruit Salad for thanksgiving, and everyone LOVED it. In a meal full of rich, dense, salty flavors, this salad felt like a palate-cleanser between courses. Very bright and refreshing, tart like cranberry sauce and serving a very similar purpose. Keep in mind, this recipe is a bit of a work in progress. Besides being a dump cook, I also made a recipe twice this big for 15 people and it turned out to be way too much, though no one was upset being sent home with leftovers! Scale up at about half an apple (or pear) per person, and you should be good, even with some leftovers. Salad: 2 Honey crisp apples 2 Granny Smith apples 2 Some other kind of apples (I tried to get the ones that are pink inside but no luck; make it flavorful and visually appealing) 1 Pear 3/4 cup dried cranberries 1/2 cup sliced almonds 1 cup candied walnuts, for garnish 4-6 lemons, probably Dressing: Zest of 1 lemon 1/3 to 1/2 cup canola oil (avocado or a light...

Power Balls One of the hardest parts of the candida diet is the sudden Hangries. Especially the first three days. Having something flavorful and filling to hand is a must. This recipe also helps sweep out the candida that's been starved & killed with supplements. I feel like the original recipe started with this one , but it's been perfected for our tastes since then. I had to double it, and it didn't work well. So, here's ours. --------------------- Power Balls (No-Bake) The Formula: 2 cups nut butter 4 cups binder 1/2 cup sweetener syrup 3/4 to 1 cup fun chunky bits Binders: coconut flour flax seed meal nut meal grain bran seeds Chunks: Nuts seeds dried fruits candy chips (chocolate, butterscotch, etc.) Mix nut butter, binder, and syrup in a mixing bowl, or using the dough hook of your stand mixer. Stir in chunky bits. Refrigerate 15 minutes, then roll into balls of preferred size. Candida-Cleanse friendly version! 2 cups almond but...

Spicy Shrimp Salad We like a lot of spice anyway, and I'm finding this cleanse has really made us crave spicy foods. So you'll see a lot of spicier dishes in this series. I'm not surprised by this; when I was super low carb before, my spice tolerance was at ghost pepper levels. Since I started eating sweets again, I noticed I have a much lower heat tolerance, and I wasn't sure if they were related. It's nice to get some more correlating data for my theory that the more sweets I eat, the less spice I can tolerate. I'd rather do spice. This as pictured, however, is surprisingly low on the spice despite the name. I've got tips for spicing it up as we go, what I'll do differently next time. Tip: Trader Joe's Mayo is candida diet friendly! It has no sugar, and the vinegar used in it is apple cider vinegar. Stock up, if you don't want to spend time making your own.  Spicy Shrimp Salad Candida Cleanse friendly! Salad greens Cucumber Tom...

Okay let's be entirely clear here, this is one of those "this is what *I* did" moments that you aren't expected to follow this recipe. But it was fun, so let's go through it! First, we chopped the bacon into roughly half-inch chunks. Like, over a pound of bacon. Go for it. Turned on the dutch oven and rendered the fat out; once it was about half cooked, it was obvious it wasn't going to brown in the puddle of lard going on so I scooped out the bacon & put it in the cast iron pan that most needed some more seasoning, topped that bacon with black pepper, and finished frying it up. We only had a half an onion in the house, so Mr. Moon chopped that up and we got it sweating in the dutch oven with the rendered bacon grease. A whole onion would have been nicer, but you take what you can get. Then it was time for roughly 3 lbs of potatoes. Peels on. Now, I had Mr. Moon cut these up SMALL. Like, small dice, 1/4 inch squares. I SHOULD have in this case had hi...

This is a recipe I cobbled together back when I was low-carb. While I'm certain I used a number of recipes as inspiration, as I always do, I always seem to throw specific recipes out the window in favor of making my own, and I so rarely measure unless proportions matter. Much of the time, this results in having no idea what I did or being completely unable to recreate the genius. This is not one of those times! What you need: 2 lbs bulk sausage of choice: I like a good sage sausage, or a breakfast sausage, but even a spicy hot version has some appeal.  2 stalks celery 1 large yellow onion Fresh, hearty herbs: Sage, rosemary, thyme, stuff like that. Avoid softer herbs like basil & oregano, even parsley I think doesn't hold up.  1 butternut squash 1-2 apples a handful of nuts: walnuts, almonds, mixed nuts, hazelnuts, all good.  seasonings to taste What to Do: Peel the butternut squash and dice it (1/2 inch cubes). You can rinse the strings off the seed...

Given my grape allergy, you can imagine I miss out on a lot of delicious things. Chicken Marsala. Boeuf Bourguinon. Cinnamon raisin buns. Sangria. I do alright with most things, but every once in a while I feel a little deprived. Especially on the Sangria. Now, every place I've worked that made sangria used vodka in it, but my brother (whom I do trust as an expert in the field of alcohol's history) informs me that sangria is intended to be a low-alcohol version of wine, hence juicing it down. So, this is more of an exploration of sangria than a true recipe, but we're going to go for it. The important thing to note is, make the flavors work together. This recipe was intended to be a seasonal-foods recipe, hence the name. In effect, this is basically a party punch. Things You Need: Wine! You can use grape wines, obviously, but here we're using mead/honey wine. Because I had a 3/4 bottle of mead that I couldn't drink straight. Make the wine about 50% of your ...

I would number this, but I've been struggling with Dandruff for as long as I can remember and could not possibly tell you what attempt number this is to get rid of it or to find a routine that keeps it manageable. The internet seems to think there are two kinds of scalp maladies: dry skin and dandruff. The internet also seems to think that you can't get fluffy clouds of tiny white specks if you have dandruff (characterized by thick or large chunks of white or yellow gunk) but to that I say Bah Humbug. Because I clearly get both, and there is no way this is "just dry skin." You can Google dandruff if you really want more science. I'm not reinventing the wheel here, and you're going to get a much better education on the topic if you do. What I'm worried about is the fact that my dandruff has gotten so bad over the last two to three years. So bad that I'm scratching incessantly some days. So bad that it's in my ears, and I will obsessively pick un...

We had a BBQ today, and our hostess has a gluten allergy. So while shopping this week, we kept our eyes peeled for inspiration on what to bring. And inspired, we most certainly were! This could easily be called coleslaw as it had cabbage in it, but I definitely wanted to steer the idea away from your standard coleslaw recipe right from the start. Anyway, while we were shopping at the local restaurant supply store, I saw a giant bag of slaw-cut greens. Kale, brussels sprouts, broccoli stems, both red and green cabbage. It was beautiful! And I wanted it in my mouth right then. We used some of the bag earlier in the week for stir fry noodles. And then we mixed up a nice big bowl of slaw this morning. Salad:  Mix of slaw greens Scallions, sliced large & on the bias (I'll save you the googling, that's a diagonal cut) Sesame seeds, either black or white Nuts would be amazing, as would crispy noodles (but we didn't have any, and it didn't NEED them) Dressing, belo...

A family-of-friends on Facebook posted that one of them had brought forth a family recipe and it was amazing. This family recipe such as it was came with some vague instructions (not unlike my own "recipes"), and I added it to my mental list of Things To Try At Some Point. Of course, being me, I didn't need much more than the vague instructions to fly off in my own direction. And thus, this casserole was born. (I'm adjusting directions for better flavor than what I did, don't be alarmed that the layers are in a different order than the pics; you still get the idea.) Ingredients: 3/4 lb or more ground beef 1 onion, diced seasonings to taste 1/2 lb mushrooms, quartered (optional) 1/2 green pepper, diced (unpictured, optional) Pickle chips, or relish ketchup mustard Cheese of your choice, separated (pictured: muenster sliced, cheddar shredded) Raw biscuit dough, enough to feed 2 biscuits to everyone (canned is fine, as is Jiffy mix) garlic bread ...

I am going to start off with mom's recipe as-is, so if you don't want to go any further you don't have to. But I do have some tips, tricks, and upgrades I've done to make it a little cheaper, and a little healthier along the way. But we'll get to that. Every year on Halloween, we had chili for dinner. It was a great way to have a nice warm dinner on for whoever wanted to eat it, whenever they were ready. Last minute costume adjustments, homework, etc. before trick or treating, plus that and the candy sorting... it made for a busy evening! So having chili in the crockpot was great, because we could have a bowl before we went out (thus ensuring no cranky, hungry kids being too tempted to dig into too much candy before we got home!) and usually another when we got home to warm up. We also figured out the best way to eliminate the gassiness usually associated with chili: Start this recipe before 10am! By dinner around 5 or 6, most of the complex starches that cause...

I pinned a recipe for slow-cooker Guinness french onion soup, and my sister-in-love asked me to tell her how it went. Well of course with an abundance on onions and just such a request, how could I resist?! Original recipe here: http://www.theskinnyfork.com/blog/2013/2/25/crock-pot-guinness-french-onion-soup Well I don't have internet at home right now, so when I went to make the soup I didn't have access to the recipe. Like I would have followed it anyway. So here's what I did, and then the usual "how I would make it better next time." What I Did: Julienned ~4 medium-sized red onions, and tossed them in the crockpot.  Sliced 3 smallish leeks (minus the top half of the green parts which were wilty), rinsed well, and tossed those in.  Crushed an entire head of garlic, where the head was only as big around as a quarter, maybe a little more--last year's garden garlic! I was also testing the theory that you don't need to peel the garlic when using a...

Once upon a time, I decided I wanted to make Gumbo. I'd never had gumbo before, and I wanted to try it. So I looked up about 100 different recipes, and figured out what they all had in common: Roux, especially a peanut butter roux Mirepoix Stock, mostly chicken stock Spice Andouille sausage (in most of them) Shrimp (also in most but not all) Well, I had no idea what half of that was. So I started asking questions.  What is a roux? It's a thickening agent for sauces and soups. It's a mixture of equal parts fat and flour. You melt the fat and mix the flour into it slowly so as to avoid lumps. Works best if you sift the flour directly into the fat. You can use pretty much any fat, but lard, bacon grease and butter are preferred. All purpose flour is best, but gluten-free websites have other suggestions with good results and you can use whole wheat for some things but you may have to adjust your proportions and thickening expectancy. It is great for anything you ...

As with so many of my recipes, a lot of this was "dump shit in the crockpot" and "clean out the fridge." Which it wasn't even intended to be! But that's ok. It smells (and tasted!) yummy. Ingredients: 1 smallish head of cabbage 1 cup brown rice 1 can diced tomatoes 1/2 jar spaghetti sauce (or just add another can of tomatoes) 1 chopped onion 1 chopped red bell pepper 1 to 1 1/2 pounds pork shoulder roast leftovers (totally optional!) 2 chicken or veggie bouillon cubes 6-8 cups water (or skip the bouillon and use stock) Seasonings to taste Directions: 1) Chop cabbage: cut into quarters, cut out the stem portion, then slice each quarter into 1/4-1/2 inch strips. Cut pork roast into cubes. 2) Dump into crockpot: rice, tomatoes, cabbage, spaghetti sauce, onion, pepper, pork cubes. If you substituted an extra can of tomatoes instead of spaghetti sauce, and even if you didn't, you probably want to add some extra Italian seasonings here. Drop ...

Since Mr. Moon and I have SUCH a busy schedule this week, and a VERY strict budget, we knew we'd better do something about snacking and meals on the go. We've found ourselves allowing a splurge now and again of fast food (albeit not the worst choices in fast food) because we're out and about, hungry, and need something fast. Having decided to do something about this, we put a list of snack ideas on our menu plan, but haven't been great at using it.  Enter the busy week. Now it's imperative that we have solid meal plans! And finger foods. And while staring blankly at the whiteboard, I suddenly blurted out, "Lunchables." Not so much exclaimed it, just blurted. And then I looked at Mr. Moon and said, "I don't mean buy them, I mean make our own." I think I could safely describe the look on his face as "ravenous" or perhaps "crazed," and he informed me that he had no idea what I had in mind but he knew it would be deliciou...

This recipe came about because Mum wanted homemade Mac & Cheese, and I wanted to feed them something vegetarian and that had some vegetables in it. Voila, Broccoli Mac was born. Bonus, this recipe makes three loaf pans, so you can freeze two for easy meals later. Ingredients: 2 cups (or one 1lb box) whole wheat noodles (rotini or elbow is best) 2 lbs cheddar cheese, shredded ___ Broccoli florets (I don't know how much! A few handfuls? 2 medium heads?) 3 bread loaf pans Salt, pepper, granulated garlic to taste Milk (not much, separated) Directions: 1). Boil the noodles, and strain, saving the water if at all possible--READ THE NEXT STEP before you drain! [This water is great for your plants once it cools, or to poke some life into your compost pile over the winter when the water is still warm.] 2). Chop your broccoli into small florets. You want these to be able to fit in your mouth with noodles too, so don't go too big! If you can save the water easily, cook th...

A couple weeks before Christmas, I tried my hand at baking some whole wheat soaked grain cranberry orange muffins. Not having planned very far ahead, the grains only soaked for a couple hours instead of overnight. But I'm getting ahead of myself. One of the goals that I made for myself last year was to become better at baking. Of course, I decided to do so by delving into sourdough, which is largely recommended against. I am, you may have noticed, not one to shay away from things just because someone says it's not the easiest way to start. My tenth grade English teacher once told me that I was making a research paper a lot harder on myself than I needed it to be, and pointed out my tendency to do that in a lot of my endeavors. I believe at this point it is simply a personality trait that will at times be a hindrance. But at others it has been the same trait that has propelled me forward into projects that are just a little outside my reach, to take risks even when there was a...

A few years ago, I made everyone in my family a gift basket for Christmas. This was the first time I'd ever given my own gifts to extended family, instead of letting my mom put my name on a tag of something she had bought for them. It felt very adult. I'd originally intended to make my own hot cocoa mix, give it in jars or bags, but I ran out of time to do that myself and bought packets of mix instead. In a basket with paper stuffing (in case of small children or pets), I included baggies of marshmallows, some cookies, and a mug for each person in the house. For the couple people who don't drink cocoa, I gave them tea. I made gifts for 27 people by spending $73, and was very proud of myself. This year, I wanted to do a reprisal of the hot cocoa baskets, though I was going to skip the mugs this time. I was going to make my own cocoa and perhaps help with the baking of the trays my dad and brother make for everyone in lieu of material gifts. However, looking at all the in...

Here's another "tweaked from Pinterest" recipe, though I haven't made it yet. I'll be making this on Sunday and will report back (with pictures if I'm not too sleepy to remember!) with results. But the idea is such: Friday/Early saturday:  Shred potatoes. Soak in salt water until ready to assemble to reduce browning. Dice onions, maybe some bell peppers and mushrooms, bacon, whatever looks good. Brown any meat going in. Saturday, right before bed (ish): Drain potatoes. Put in crockpot. Mix in any veggies and meat. Layer with a can of cream of mushroom soup, and a cup of milk (maybe I should mix this up?). Top with shredded cheddar cheese. Turn on crockpot to low, cook for about 8 hours. Sunday: Turn off, wrap in towel and/or put in thermal bag, take to Football Brunch. Serve and enjoy. --------------------- I suppose we shall see how it goes, eh? Are you using Pinterest for any good dishes lately?

I love Pinterest. And unlike what seems to be the internet trope, I do actually create a good number of the things I see on there. I've used it as inspiration for at least 15 of menu items in the last three months, if nothing else, and discovered some awesome cleaning tricks along the way. Even some natural home remedies for illness, which I'll be discussing at a later point. One of the most recent things that I got to use from Pinterest was a low-carb egg-in-a-basket/nest recipe, using a bell pepper ring instead of bread. I showed Mr. Moon, he made it for me for breakfast, and presented me with this: Saying as he did so, "Believe it or not I am NOT the embodiment of Pinterest, and it's not as pretty as the one you showed me." Well it was delicious. But I'm going to share a recipe with a few tweaks of my own to make it even better (and prettier!) than Mr. Moon's first attempt, which I must say was VERY well done from just a picture with no directio...