Egg Shells Are Great For Gardens!

5 Ways to Use Eggshells in Your Garden

 

Photo credit: Darny / Foter.com / CC BY-NC-ND

 

1. You can add crushed eggshells to planting holes. (Especially good for tomatoes, peppers and eggplant because they are susceptible to blossom-end rot because of calcium deficiency. Although at times, blossom-end rot is do to improper watering, putting egg shells in your garden will give them the calcium they need and nourish your soil and plants.
2. Wash out your eggshells, then use them as seed starters. After breaking your eggs and cleaning it out, place back into egg carton and fill with soil and plant your seed. When they begin to grow, just put the whole starter in the soil– eggshell and all.
3. Crushed eggshells are known to deter slugs, snails, and cutworms. Because of these pest’s soft undersides, the sharp eggshells will deter them from bothering your plants.
4. Add your eggshells to your compost. This will add calcium to your compost and will be great for your garden!
5. If you have bird feeders in your garden, put some crushed eggshells close to the feeder. Female birds, especially those about to lay eggs or have just laid eggs, require extra calcium. They will love you for it!

 

 

Added bonus–

If you boil eggs, use the water you boiled them in to water your garden. The water becomes enriched with calcium! Why waste the water when your garden would love it!?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mushroom Burger

Best Mushroom Burger Recipe

Ingredients: 

4 Tablespoons of Olive Oil
2 Packages of Mushrooms
1 Onion
4 Cloves Garlic (Or Garlic Salt/Powder)
2/3 Cup Oats
1/2 Cup Shredded White Cheese
3/4 Cup Breadcrumbs
2 Eggs
1/2 Teaspoon Italian Seasoning
Salt/Pepper (to taste)

• Grab your ingredients!

• Rinse off your mushrooms (some people say to just wipe them with a towel, either way works– just get them clean.)

• Now chop all of the mushrooms up into smaller pieces and toss into skillet.

• Add your chopped onion and cloves of garlic. (Make sure they are finely cut. I used a food processor for this step.)

• Pour your olive oil into the skillet with the mushrooms, onions, and garlic and stir together and sauté. Now add your salt and pepper. 

• The salt will cause the liquid to escape from the mushrooms so continue to cook until most of the water disappears. 

• Now grab a large bowl and pour the cooked mushroom mixture into it. 

• Now it’s time to add the oats and cheese.  

(I didn’t have plain oats, but I had maple syrup oatmeal. Then I had a brilliant idea. I used a sifter and poured 1/2 of bag of oatmeal in at a time and sifted it, causing the seasonings to leave the oats! Not everyone has plain oats lying around but most have at least a couple packages of oatmeal, right!?)

• Stir up the mixture then add your breadcrumbs, two (beaten) eggs, and a little more salt.

• Grab your skillet again and pour oil into it and allow it to get hot on the stove (any oil will work.) While you’re waiting for the oil to get hot, go ahead and start forming your patties.

(If you put some oil or water onto your hands while you’re forming the patties they will not stick to you as much.)

• Now let’s fry these burgers!

• Once browned on both sides (about 3-4 minutes per side) place the burger on a paper towel that’s sitting on a plate. This will help drain a bit of grease.

All done! Now all you have to do is pair it with your favorite burger toppings! 

I suggest pairing these with some Sweet Potato Fries. For that recipe, click here.

Mmmm Mmm Delicious!

Credit for this recipe belongs to Food Wishes with Chef John.

You can see his YouTube tutorial of this recipe here.

Sweet Potato Fries

Recipe for Sweet Potato Fries; 

Ingredients:

Two Large Sweet Potatoes
Olive Oil
Spray Oil (optional)
Salt/Pepper (to taste)
Seasoned Salt (to taste)

Sharp Knife
Large Baking Pan

• Preheat your oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit and then grab those sweet potatoes and start peeling. After peeling, rinse potatoes.

(I’d suggest investing in a carrot/potato peeler on Amazon here or any local store that has kitchen utensils. It lessens peeling time by A LOT!)

• Now this is the hard part. Cutting into the shape of fries.

(Sweet potatoes can be much harder to cut compared to normal potatoes so make sure you’re using a sharp knife and be careful. And remember, they don’t have to be perfect.)

• Once you have the potatoes sliced, grab a large bowl and toss them in.

• Now comes the extras. Pour about 2 tablespoons of olive oil (or any kind of oil you prefer). Then add some salt, pepper, and seasoned salt for taste. 

• Stir up the sliced potatoes so they all become covered with the oil and seasonings. Now, grab your baking dish and spray some vegetable oil onto it.

(Not as much as I did in the picture, I was trying to get a picture of it spraying. Bad idea. Just lightly coat the pan.)

• Toss on the slices of sweet potatoes and put it into your oven once it’s preheated. Cook these fries for about 8-10 minutes and then flip them over or at least move them around. Cook for another 8-10 minutes. 

• Once they’ve cooked, sometimes they won’t look as crispy as some may like them. If this is you, turn on the broiler and cook them another 3-5 minutes until they’re perfected to your taste.

I must say, these sweet potato fries were DELICIOUS!

I suggest pairing these with some Mushroom Burgers! For the recipe click here.

ENJOY!

Find Out If Your Eggs Are Bad

If you’re like me, I love a good deal on my groceries. Lately, eggs have been SO cheap! Of course, I stocked up. Now the time is rolling around to clean out my fridge. So, which eggs should you keep and which should you toss? We all know that sometimes the “expiration” date or “sell by” date isn’t as accurate as we once thought. Why throw out completely edible food!? I’m here to show you a little trick so that next time you see that date on the carton you can be your own judge. Waste not. Want not.

• Grab your eggs and fill a large glass bowl full of cold water.

(The temperature is important. If you try this with warm/hot water you may cook your eggs a little and we do NOT want that. Also, you need a larger bowl so you can tell the difference between if it sinks or floats. A glass bowl will help you determine this as well.)

• Grab an egg and slowly place it into the bowl of water. 

• Now is when you will determine whether to KEEP or DISCARD the egg. 

IF THE EGG SINKS — Your egg is fresh and is definitely worth keeping.

IF THE EGG SINKS BUT STANDS AT AN ANGLE (STANDS ON IT’S POINT)– Your egg is still capable of eating, but do so soon. These are especially great when baking.

IF THE EGG FLOATS— Discard. It’s NOT good for consumption.

Of course, if there is an odd color to the egg or it has a foul odor, please toss in the trash. Obviously, those are NO good.

I hope this helps! Next time be sure to test your eggs before tossing those good deals in the trash!

The Multiple Uses of Coconut Oil

Coconut Oil is the edible oil extracted from the “meat” of the coconut. It has been used for generations upon generations in food, beauty, and health.

Today I’m going to list you 50 uses for virgin coconut oil even though there are SO many more!

1. Moisturizer for your face, body, and neck.
2. Helps with diaper rash (with no chemicals).
3. As an eye cream. Placing under your eyes will reduce puffiness, wrinkles, bags, and dark circles.
4. As a pre-shave. It will help prep your skin for shaving.
5. As an aftershave. Helps heal the skin without clogging your pores.
6. Makeup remover– even for mascara!
7. Deodorant– alone or with baking soda.
8. Chapstick. Has an SPF of 4. (I’ve been using this as chapstick for a while and my lips stay so soft!)
9. Mix with sugar (or salt) for a natural body scrub. You can even add in some yummy smelling essential oils!
10. As a body cream for stretch marks to reduce their appearance.
11. Nipple Cream. For nursing mothers, this will help with the dry, cracked nipples between feedings.
12. As a sexual lubricant. All natural, but can damage latex condoms so do NOT use with latex.
13. As a daily conditioner. Uses on the bottom half of your hair and rinse like normal.
14. For a deep conditioner. Apply all over and leave on for 20 minutes, or even place a shower cap over it and leave it overnight for an even deeper conditioning.
15. Insect repellent. Mix with a little peppermint oil (or catnip or rosemary) and apply on skin.
16. For cat and dog health. At a teaspoon to their water bowl daily. (I’d check with a vet before doing so)
17. Goo Gone. Mix with baking soda to create a paste and allow to sit on sticky area then remove.
18. Gets gum out of hair! Put all over the stuck gum, leave in for 30 minutes, then roll gum between fingers. Should come out without having to cut!
19. Polishes bronze.
20. Toothpaste. (I’ve showed you how to make the toothpaste with coconut oil HERE.)
21. As oil in cooking. Has a 350 degree smoke point. Great for baking, stir-fry, etc.
22. As a coffee creamer.
23. Taken as a supplement for daily energy.
24. To lighten age spots. Just apply directly to the spots.
25. To prevent stretch marks during pregnancy.
26. Supports healthy thyroid functioning.
27. In homemade lotion recipes.
28. Topically to kill yeast or yeast infections.
29. As a massage oil.
30. Dab a little into your hands then into your hair to cure frizzy hairs.
31. Intensive nighttime facial moisturizer.
32. On feet to fight athlete’s foot or toe fungus.
33. Helps sooth eczema and psoriasis.
34. If ingested, could help prevent or reverse Alzheimers.
35. With apple cider vinegar for a natural lice treatment.
36. Rub a little inside your nose to help with allergies.
37. Can help improve insulin levels.
38. Blend a tablespoon into some hot tea for a speedy cold/flu recovery.
39. As replacement for vegetable oil in ANY recipe.
40. Helps reduce appearance of varicose veins.
41. Helps speed up the healing of a sunburn.
42. If applied daily, can help reduce cellulite.
43. Reduces the itchiness of bug bites, chicken pox, and poison ivy.
44. Can help reduce the appearance of acne if used regularly.
45. Rubbed into scalp to help hair grow faster.
46. Helps relieve pain of hemorrhoids if taken topically.
47. On cuticles to help nails grow.
48. Clears up cold sores.
49. In children’s ears to help with a speedy ear-infection recovery.
50. As an anti-aging moisturizer.

You can find coconut oil in almost any grocery store!

GO BUY SOME TODAY AND ENJOY ALL THE BENEFITS COCONUT OIL HAS TO OFFER! 

Green Onions are MAGIC!

After spending what seems like the majority of my day on Pinterest, I found several links about Green Onions (aka Spring Onions, Scallions) and how they have a renewable energy and will keep growing! I decided to try it out for myself a few weeks ago and let me tell you something… it WORKED and QUICKLY!!

Next time you buy green onions and use them, try this new trick!

When using the green onions, only chop them down to about where the white starts–close to the bulb.

• Grab that old spaghetti sauce jar you kept, and washed that’s just been taking up space, and fill it half way with water.
• Throw those bad boys greens in the jar!
• Sit next to a window (or some say in a  fridge will work).
• In a day or two, you’ll begin to see them growing!

I’d say…

NEVER BUY GREEN ONIONS AGAIN!

But… after doing some research, many individuals say that this process only works between 4-6 times before they will stop growing.

However, you will save some money in the process and the kiddos love watching them grow!

And while we’re on the subject of green onions and how amazing they can be… let me tell you a little more about their benefits!

• They are available year round. 
• They can be eaten raw, grilled, or any other way you’d like to use them.

According to Suite 101 they can also:

• Lower blood sugar
• Decrease high cholesterol and blood pressure levels
• Reduce the risk of developing colon and other cancers
• Reduce inflammation

So, buy those green onions– keep them growing, and continue enjoying the benefits of these delicious greens!

Oh, and check this out:

Eggless Eggplant Parmesan

Ingredients: ​

1 Eggplant
1 Cup Flour (White or Wheat)
2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil
(Additional Oil for Frying)
Italian Seasoning (Oregano, Parsley)
Marinara Sauce
1 Half Onion
2 Garlic Cloves
1 Half Jalapeno Pepper (Optional)
Parsley or Cilantro to Garnish
1 Bag of Pizza Cheese
Garlic Powder (or Garlic Salt)
Salt/Pepper to Taste
Paprika (optional)
Bread Crumbs (Regular or Seasoned)
Spaghetti Noodles

*Yes, this does have cheese so if you’re vegan or a vegetarian who doesn’t eat cheese, feel free to buy vegan cheese at a local store.

This classic Italian meal takes about 45 minutes total to make.

First, gather all your ingredients.

For the eggplant, slice ahead of time into 1/4 inch slices and place in bowl of water with a little bit of salt. This will keep them from browning and will soften them up a little.

First, we’ll be making the batter for the Eggplant slices. Put your cup of flour in a mixing bowl, followed by your garlic salt, italian seasonings, and paprika. Mix all dry ingredients together first.

Now, add in about 3/4 cup of warm water and about 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Mix this together.

Once you finish mixing all the ingredients together, the texture should resemble a thinner version of peanut butter.

Put some oil into a skillet and allow it to get hot. I usually turn my stove on high until the olive oil is hot, then I turn down the heat to more of a medium/high. Fry all these bad boys up and sit them aside.

Now onto the sauce! First, grab those veggies you want in your sauce (you can add different vegetables or eliminate the extra veggies all together if you’d like) and chop them up. The seeds in peppers are what makes the jalapenos and other peppers so hot, so remove those if you’d like. Then, I added mine to my food processor and chopped them up even more.

Take your favorite marinara sauce and dump it into a pan and add all those chopped vegetables! You can also add some garlic salt, italian seasonings, etc into the sauce (it’s all about your taste preferences) Go ahead and put this on the stove on low while you’re finishing up frying all of those eggplant slices.

The bread crumbs step is completely optional. I like using it because it adds a little more crunch to the meal. Mix all your dry ingredients together in a small bowl. Paprika, breadcrumbs, italian seasonings, and salt. Once mixed, set this aside

All of your eggplant slices should be fried and browned and ready for the next step!

Grab yourself a baking dish and spread just a little of the sauce along the bottom. Then place the eggplant directly ontop of it. (if you have more eggplant than room on the pan make another layer doing the same thing, that’s what I did).

The order for the layers starting from the bottom is sauce, eggplant, bread crumb mix, cheese, sauce. Like I said, if you need to make another layer ontop of that for the extra eggplant, go ahead and do so using the same order.

Now make sure that oven is pre-heated to 350 and toss the baking dish inside for about 10 minutes or so.

When the dish is ready, the cheese should be golden brown and fully melted.

Once the spaghetti noodles are done (make these while the eggplant is in the oven) pour the rest of the sauce into it and mix so all the noodles are covered in the sauce.

The final step is to place the spaghetti noodles onto the plate and put some of the eggplant (looks almost like lasagna at this point) onto the noodles. Sprinkle with a bit of parsley garnish and boom! All done.

This meal will give the Olive Garden a run for their money! It’s delicious, cheap, and easy to make!

Enjoy!

Veggie Fajitas

Veggie Fajitas

Ingredients:

1 Orange Bell Pepper
1 (or more) Green Bell Pepper(s)
1 Fresno Red Pepper
Several White Mushrooms (5-8)
1 Large Onion
Green Onions
2 Garlic Cloves
2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil
Paprika
2 Teaspoons of Garlic Salt
1 Tablespoon of Cumin
A pinch of Chili Powder
1/3 of a Package of Taco (or Fajita) Seasoning

Optional:

Fresh Jalapeno Pepper(s)
Any other vegetable you enjoy in Fajitas

Feel free to leave out anything you may think will make it too spicy. This dish can definitely get too spicy if you let it.

These fajitas are delicious! Perfect for any time of the year.

​Preparation time is about 10 minutes.
Cooking time about 10 minutes.

​You can make this entire meal in under 20 minutes! Talk about a quick meal!

First, gather all of the vegetables you will be enjoying in your fajita.

Wash all the vegetables thoroughly. Grab your favorite cutting board and let’s get to slicing these bad boys up!

For the Fresno (Red Pepper) I cut off the tips and sliced it like a banana and then cut those slices in half. For the Onion, I cut it in half, cut off the ends, removed the outer layer and just cut them up however you’d like. The Green and Orange Bell Pepper, I cut in half, removed the seeds and junk inside, rinsed them again (to remove excess seeds) and sliced them length-wise.

For the Green Onions, I grabbed a few and sliced off the ends. (We are saving these for when the fajitas mix is almost done to keep the delicious raw taste of them.) The cool thing about these Green Onions (aka Spring Onions) is that once you cut them down towards where the white begins, you can plop them down in a cup of water, sit in near a window and they grow! Never have to buy Green Onions again! For the mushrooms, I pulled out the stem (you don’t have to do this step) and then sliced them up like you’d find on a pizza. The Garlic Cloves, make sure you get that papery outer layer off, then chop them however big or small you’d like.

Toss all the veggies into a skillet beside you as you’re slicing them up. Once they are all sliced and diced it’s time to season them!

Use your Olive Oil (amounts of any of these seasonings are based on your preferences), Garlic Salt, Paprika, Ground Cumin, Chili Powder, and Taco Seasonings Packet.

Turn your stove on HIGH heat and let it begin to sizzle. Depending on how crunchy or soft you want your vegetables will determined how long you will cook them. I like mine in between soft and crunchy so I cook them for about 6-7 minutes. Make sure to stir (almost continuously) until they’re perfected. Once they have about a minute or so left, toss those Green Onions we sliced up earlier in!

Now it’s done. Your mouth should be watering right about now. The smell of these veggies cooking will cause your neighbors to want to try a bite!

Next, grab your favorite toppings and Whole Wheat tortilla shells and you’re ready to make those Fajitas!

Healthy, Delicious, and Quick.

What more could you ask for?

Oh, and an added bonus– instead of using sour cream, try using some plain Greek Yogurt. Sounds odd, but it’s just as good and a LOT better for you!

ENJOY!!

Don’t forget to check out Bahavna’s Kitchen on YouTube where she has a video of her own Vegetarian Fajitas in which these were inspired by!