New Mexican red enchilada sauce

This is my favorite enchilada sauce. Their are no tomatoes, just Chilies, garlic, a little salt, and oregano. Man this sauce is amazing. Smokey, smooth, and a little sweet. Sometimes I like to mix it up by adding different kinds of peppers and maybe some cilantro and cumin.

Ingredients:
6-8 Dried red chili pods, stems and seeds removed
2-4 cloves of garlic
1 tsp sea salt
1 Tbsp oregano
Water

Directions: 
Cover the chilies with water and simmer for 10 minutes. Put that and all the other ingredients in a blender and blend till smooth. Put back into a pot and simmer for 20 minutes. This will keep for 1-2 weeks in the refrigerator or freeze.

That's it! If you want to make a more mild sauce with tomatoes, add in a can of roasted tomatoes when you blend it, or a can of tomato sauce. 

What I used for a natural labor and childbirth

So, I did this post a several months ago, like almost a year ago, and I found it today hiding out in my drafts folder. So, here we go! Their isn't really to much to tell. I mostly just sat around and moaned for two days haha!

This has bean a long time coming, I'm finally giving you my list of things that I used during my natural labor. I labored for two nights and one day, with three weeks of pre-labor. I thought this kid would never come, ohmygoodness! Finally he did, of course, with two hours of pushing, which was actually pretty darn great. Thomas was 10 days late, so wednesday (when he was 8 days late) when I went into my midwives appointment I was going to need to get a full anatomy scan and monitoring, which I really did not want to do because he was moving just fine and I wasn't concerned. Thankfully my midwife let me wait until friday to be monitored, however I was not even a cm dilated so she suggested that I take castor oil. I tried so many things before this, so i decided to give it a try. (I should add that I really don't believe in forcing labor, and I think that taking the castor oil might have been why my labor was so long and hard. However I didn't want the added stress of the full anatomy scan right before having him.) After 33 weeks of definitely feeling like I was in labor it really kicked in, but my contractions stayed 5 minutes apart the whole stinkin time so I couldn't tell how my labor was progressing. Finally at 7 in the morning my water broke so we headed to the hospital. Amazingly, I wasn't tired even though I hadn't slept for two days. My contractions wouldn't let me unfortunately. I'm not really sure when I was in transition, but I'm guessing it started on my way into the hospital and ended once I got in their. I would forget what the contractions felt like right after they ended, which I am incredibly grateful for. Once I got into the hospital my contractions basically didn't even hurt anymore, I was 8 cm dilated at this point. About an hour later when the midwife came in she told me to push. I actually really enjoyed this part, other than being told what to do. I felt so good that I didn't want to push as much as they were wanting me to. I wanted to enjoy myself instead but noooo, could do that! Haha!

1. Joy essential oil. I breathed this oil blend and applied it topically to help ease the contractions and to keep me in a positive mood. This helped so much at easing the contractions. Like, so so so much!
2.  A warm fuzzy blanket. I love to snuggle my fuzzy blanket when I don't feel good.
3.      Comfy pillows. Especially my king sized feather pillow (keeps its shape better than just down      feathers) and my buckwheat pillow. I used my feather pillow to hug and to support my belly and I liked the buckwheat pillow for putting against my back for some hardness and    counter pressure.
4.  Grape juice. For some reason grape juice made my contractions not hurt as much. 
5. Warm tea, I did a blend of nettles, oat straw, spearmint, red clover, raspberry leaf, and chamomile. This helped give me nutrients through my two nights of labor when I wasn't hungry.

I didn't do really anything else, except make sure that I didn't hold my breath or anything. I just let the contractions do their thang. I didn't even use that playlist that I spent months putting together. but I sure as heck used it later when I needed soothing music for Thomas.

Books that I loved and provided inspiration for birth

• Supernatural Childbirth by Jackie Mize
• Ina May's guide to childbirth by Ina May Gaskin

11 ways to feel better this spring

Here are 11 simple things that you can to to live healthier this spring. These are all things that I have incorporated into my life, and I definitely do not feel very good if I don't do them. Some of them are so simple, that you can do them right now. Others take a little bit of time to get used to 

1. Adding lemon juice to your water. This just really helps me feel refreshed, and helps me to drink more water. 
2. Body brush daily. This works wonderful to remove dead skin, increase blood flow,  If you take a shower afterwords you will get clean so much easier. 
3. I limit my sugar intake. After having to much sugar I can feel irritated and moody (sound like drug withdraws to any of you?) Sugar also 
4. drinking kefer and/or kumboocha. I love the probiotics and extra nurients from these drinks. They are great to add to smoothies too. Kumboocha also helps to remove excess toxins from your body. 
5. Switch to drinking more herbal tea rather than caffeine. 
6. Switching conventional foods with organic, free range, and grass fed products
7. Start oil pulling. This easy way to whiten teeth, make your mouth healthy, and to gently detox is great for people who don't want to do anything major but want to look a bit better.
8. Switch out harmful medicine cabinet necessities with homeopathic ones. Stop by your local health food store, the employees are always able to help give you suggestions too.
9.  Just walk more. weather you accomplish that by parking farther from the store or taking the stairs, getting in more daily steps will give you an easy exercise boost.
10. reduce TV time, and spend time on hobbies. It is amazing how much better you will feel after accomplishing something you enjoy doing. If you have had a difficult day, doing something you love to make you actually feel better about yourself instead of just vegging out and putting your low mood in the back of your mind till later can really help you to feel like you can do other tasks better.
11. Daily stretching. Even if its just simple stretches you learned in grade school, stretching daily helps "unclog" your body, helping blood to get places easier, increases oxygen in your body, and not to meantion helping your body feel good, especially if you spend a lot of time sitting. 

cream of chicken stew

So, I made this stew the other day, and it is delicious. It is one of the best stews/soups I have ever had. It has a sweet flavor that is accented by some fabulous herbs and it is wonderful.

Ingredients

• 1 whole chicken (cover in water and cook on low for a day on the stove or in a crock pot substitute chicken broth and cooked chicken)
• 2 cups of chicken broth (from the broth you made or good quality store bought) 
• Meat from 1 whole chicken cut up (you could use 6 chicken thighs)
• 2 Tbsp of butter
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 stalks of celery, chopped
• 2 carrots, chopped
• Optional red peppers, mushrooms, corn, peas, other veggies
• 2 tsp-1 Tbsp of sea salt (do not use if substituting store bought chicken broth)
• 1 tsp-1 Tbsp of pepper
• 2 tsp of dried thyme
• 2 tsp of dried rosemary
• 1 Tbsp of dried parsley
• 1/2 tsp of mustard
• 1 tsp of lemon juice
• 2 cups of full fat milk (can substitute coconut milk)
• 1/2 cup of cream. This is optional, it tastes great with or without it.

To make the chicken broth and cook the chicken, Place the whole chicken in a stove or crock pot, (Remove the bag from the gizzards and cook them too) cover with water and cook on low for a day. You can add in herbs or veggies to make the broth more nutritious. Remove the chicken from the pot, carefully, into a large bowl. Let cool until you can manage to handle it. Remove the meat and put the bones back into the broth and continue to cook on low for a day. You can either continue to cook the gizzards in the broth, eat them, or put them in the stew. The next day you can strain out the bones and put into jars and keep in the refrigerator. this tastes great to cook rice, veggies, add to sauces or drink by itself. 

To make the stew, melt the butter in a pot (I like my dutch oven) and cook your vegetables until the onions become translucent. (If you are using raw chicken, add them in now and cook before adding everything else)  Add everything else and simmer for about an hour. 

Recipe inspired by the chicken stew recipe in the cookbook, "part time paleo"

Something a little different

Today I woke up to the most darling face.
The most darling face, smiling at me.

I love waking up with Thomas trying to get over to his dad, to attack him. He is such a boy! Already at seven months, he crawls over me up to Jacob, pounces on him and yells like we do when we tickle him. Jacob tickles him back and I take neither side, just to be fair.

We then went downstairs, started breakfast, changed a very full diaper, and Thomas played with a peach while I started breakfast.
We ate, all together. Thomas at his highchair, Jacob and I at the table.
Our morning, full of love and laughter, was beautiful.
Thomas played while I came up with new recipes, and he took a bath while I cleaned.
He had so much fun, as usual.
When he was done his arms came up, reaching for me to hold him.
We played peak a boo while I finished cleaning and had lunch on the kitchen floor. All three of us sat on the cool tile; Jacob and I held hands, Thomas switched from my lap, to Jacobs, to the floor playing with an apple, and back again.
While I cleaned up and Jacob went back to work, Thomas had a couple tantrums letting me know it was time for his second nap.
This one was marvelous! Two hours of reading while he slept in my arms. He slept too long, and woke up cranky and had to be carried in his wrap while I made dinner. He played outside with his dad while I played with plants; and we all ate shortly thereafter.

Jacob and I watched a documentary while Thomas played with his food; he made such a mess that he had to have another bath. We listened to music and relaxed for a while until Thomas nursed before going to sleep. He held my hand and looked into my eyes. It's a funny thing, how a baby can make you feel like they know the reason for everything.

My night is not over yet, Thomas will still wake up too nurse, not to mention the dishes, soon it will be though, and a new day will start with its own blessings and challenges; But what a wonderful, ordinary day it has been.

Crab apple facial toner diy

Its crab apple season where I live, so to take advantage of these marvelous little fruits I decided to try out a new toner that worked surprisingly well. 

This toner uses crab apples to deliver nourishing vitamins like vitamin A and C to your skin. 

Ingredients

4 crab apples, or one small apple cut up
1/2 cup of water
Optional 2 Tbsp of witch hazel or floral water/hydrosol 

Directions

Simmer the apple in the water for 10 minutes. Let cool, add in witch hazel or floral water if desired. Place in either a sparay bottle or apply to the skin using a cotton pad. 

Diy Gelatin hair gel

I like to use this hair gel to keep my hair in place when I put it up or in a braid. It is so easy to make, and costs only pennies. 

1/4 - 1/2 tsp of gelatin mixed with 1/2 cup of water.

Let it heat up for a couple minutes in a sauce pan until the gelatin has dissolved. Pour into a container, and chill in the refrigerator until set. 

Mix it up with a fork to make it easier to use. Keep in the refrigerator. Will last a week or two.

Additional options; use rose, or orange blossom water in place of some or all of the water. Add in some vanilla extract, or essential oils for sent.

Watch how to

I usually post recipes, beauty DIY's and health tips once or twice a week so if you want more then subscribe over on the side ba