Nutty Coconut Chocolate bars

Warning!!!!!!! These are REALLY good! I would not eat a lot of them though, as they are high in fat. But it's dark chocolate so it's good for you, and nuts are also good for you... so, just kidding. I would eat a lot of them. Who can resist chocolate?!?

To start melt 2 cups of dark chocolate in a double boiler, we just put a smaller pot into a bigger pot filled with boiling water. If you're careful you can melt straight on the burner on very, very low. Be careful not to scorch it!!! The water method works best so you don't have to worry about burning the precious chocolate!

While the chocolate is melting put parchment paper onto a cookie sheet or baking pan. I use a glass one that my grandma gave me, it works great (also our lasagna pan ;) Sprinkle 1-2 cups of nuts onto the parchment paper, how ever many you like! I also added coconut, and mixed it up. When the chocolate is melted pour it over the nuts and try to cover the lot of them. Set in fridge to cool until the chocolate is hard. You can then take it off the parchment and break into smaller pieces or my hubby used a big knife and sliced it into squares. These are super easy, and taste really good! Would be great as gifts, or for a party, orrrr just eat it all yourself. No one really needs to know you made it, do they? :)

Mattress Deodorizer

Homemade Toothpaste

I've seen on the internets a few recipes for this, we made it plain and simple! You can add stevia as a sweetener if you don't like the plain minty taste. We are getting used to no sweetness though, it just takes a few days. We ran out of the homemade stuff so I had to use some of the "regular" stuff in a tube and it tasted so weird and gross!

All you need:
Equal parts of baking soda and Coconut Oil
Peppermint essential oil for flavour
Stevia (if you want it sweetened)
Glycerin if you choose (We omitted the glycerin for health reasons, but feel free to use)

Mash all ingredients together in a jar, and use as needed.

We originally made this with Vanilla flavour, but it wasn't very good. Kind of tasted like salty cake batter. The peppermint is MUCH better! You can play around with flavours and find what you enjoy the most! Easy, inexpensive, and our teeth feel dentist clean all the time!

Coconut Oil is a natural pain reliever also. Any sore spots along your gum lines will hopefully be reduced as mine have. There were two spots that couldn't even be touched and it has made such a difference that I'm not afraid to eat cold things anymore!

If you are looking for Coconut Oil, here is a link through Amazon. It's amazing stuff, and you can use it for may other ailments. Just copy and paste in your browser to get more info. Good luck and shiny smiles!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003B3OOPA/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B003B3OOPA&linkCode=as2&tag=fanthagaran03-20

Garlic Breadsticks

Fall is on the way, make these at home in minutes and enjoy with soups or stews! Yum!

1 cup warm water
2 1/2 yeast
3 Tbls brown sugar
1 tsp salt
1/4 oil (I used olive)
Herbs of choice (I used peppered oregano)
3 cups flour

Dissolve yeast in water in large bowl until frothy, add sugar and salt and dissolve. Add oil and herbs, stir. Add flour to bowl and mix, then knead into a large ball. Roll out on floured surface into a rectangle approximately 10x12 inches. Cut strips about 3/4 inch wide and give a quick roll. Place on lightly greased baking sheet to rise for 30 minutes then bake for approximately 15 minutes or until golden brown on the bottom. Brush lightly with butter and sprinkle with garlic powder.

Cooking times may vary due to different elevations, so check around the 10 minute mark if your baking usually cooks faster!

Frozen Strawberry Yogurt Pops

It's now September 1, and with that comes berries, berries and more berries! It's still warm enough out that popsicles can be enjoyed, and I have wanted to try something new. Just finished making these, and they taste divine!!

They are super easy as well, and probably cost less than buying them pre made at the store.

First I added water to the popsicle mold to see how much I needed to make (we are missing one of the pokers ;) which was 2 cups.

Sliced strawberries - pureed (made up to 3/4 cup line)
Topped up to the 2 cup line with Vanilla yogurt, mixed it all up and added to the molds.
Freeze for 6-8 hours, until they are frozen through. Rinse the bottoms with hot water to remove easily from the molds once they are done. I'm guessing almost any berries would be good like this, next going to try blueberries!

*We usually get one of the big boxes of Organic Yogurt and it lasts quite a while. It's cheaper that way and can be used for breakfasts and in other treat meals. If you purchase the plain you can use it for dips as well!

Blueberry Syrup (Fresh)

1 cup Organic fresh blueberries
1/4 cup cold water
2 tsp corn starch
Sugar to taste

Add blueberries, cold water and corn starch to pot and simmer on medium low heat until liquid starts to bubble. It will thicken up as it warms up. Add sugar to taste. Add over top French toast, waffles or pancakes! If you like it chunky leave as is, if you like smoother syrup squish the berries with a fork or potato masher. If you like it really smooth you can run it through a blender or use a hand blender. Takes about 5-10 minutes from start to finish.