Save Money on Vanilla Extract

I make my own vanilla extract. It is easy and far cheaper than buying teeny bottles of it at the store. Imitation vanilla flavoring is made with an ingredient of paint thinner, so making your own is healthier too. I just made a fifth of vanilla extract for about $13. I bought 2 vanilla beans at Meijer for $6.99 and a fifth of cheap vodka for $5.75. Just put the vanilla beans in the vodka and let it sit for a couple of weeks. Vanilla extract. If you look at the store bought bottles of real vanilla extract (not imitation vanilla) it says vanilla beans and alcohol are the main ingredients. I stumbled across a website selling a bunch of 25 tahitian vanilla beans for $29.99(1.20). That is far cheaper than what I paid at Meijers($3.50 each). Next time I need to make some I will order the beans from them and have it even cheaper. The link for the beans is:http://www.fotvn.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=13 Hope this helps y'all live more frugally.

Strawberry Rhubarb Crunch

Like others, I too decided it was cool enough to bake today. I made a strawberry rhubarb crunch for my hubby. He wanted pie, but crunch is easier. I don't do pie crusts well. I thought I would share the recipe.

STRAWBERRY RHUBARB CRUNCH

1 cup sifted flour (I used oat bran flour)
3/4 cup oats
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup melted butter
1 teaspoon cinnamon
4 cups sliced strawberries and rhubarb, mixed
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon vanilla

Combine flour, oats, brown sugar, butter, and cinnamon; place half the crumb mixture in 9-inch square pan. Add fruit. Combine sugar, cornstarch, 1 cup water and vanilla in medium saucepan ; cook until thick and clear. Pour over fruit; cover with remaining crumb mixture. Bake at 350 for 1 hour.

White yarrow

Yarrow (Achillea Millefolum) -Yarrow is a common plant that grows wild all over the world. It has feathery leaves, white, yellow, or pink flowers sometimes they look like daisy, some of them grow in heads like dill or queen anne's lace. All parts of the plant is used medicinally.

Some common names are soldier's woundwort, milfoil, nosebleed plant, and old man's pepper. It grows in poor, well drained soil. It improves soil and the leaves make a good addition to compost. Yarrow is a good companion plant. It repels some bad insects and attracts good ones, such as predatory wasps, ladybugs, and hoverflies. It improves the health of sickly plants growing next to it and increases the potency of other herbs around it.

Yarrow flowers are used for allergic mucus problems including hay fever. A tea from yarrow, peppermint, and elderflower will cure colds and flu. An infusion of the flowers can be applied to eczema. Yarrow intensifies the medicinal action of other herbs taken with it.

Yarrow leaves are used to stop bleeding from cuts and nosebleeds. The root, when chewed, will relieve a toothache. The stalks are dried and used by the Chinese to forecast the future.

Yarrow overall promotes good digestion, improves circulation, lowers blood pressure, and in the Middle Ages, was used to flavor beer.

Canoe Trip

We went canoeing today. Dad, Mom, and three teenage girls. We took the girls just for the entertainment factor. They had their own canoe. After they figured out who was supposed to be steering they did well.

Picture it. Michigan, early summer on the Huron River. The river is higher than it has been in a long time. The dog roses are blooming, the lily pads are just starting to bloom. The sun is shining, the sky is blue. Cedar waxwings are chasing bugs while the egrets fish in the reeds. The silence is broken only by the sound of teenage girls gossiping. The day started well. We headed upstream. Upstream when you are fresh is always the wisest choice.

We soon left the girls behind as they tried to figure out how to steer the canoe. I wanted to watch, but Dad wanted to get going. We passed a canoe with a Vietnamese family of three. The father was casting along the bank while Mom paddled. We pulled up next the shore in a shady spot to wait for the girls to catch up and had a nice chat with a couple more Vietnamese women. Apparently there was a large group on an outing. When the girls finally banged into sight we went on. Not too soon after that Dad told them that the person in the BACK of the canoe is supposed to steer. Once Harley understood that the noise level from their canoe fell to normal levels.

We paddled on to a picnic spot where we stopped for lunch and the girls went swimming. They were amazed at how hard it was to swim upstream. After lunch we continued upstream. I was starting to get tired. We paddled for another 45 minutes or so until we reached the dam that separates the river from a lake. We turned around and headed back to the livery. The girls handled the turn quite well. The trip back was quite nice. I took some pictures and just rested. By this time everyone was sunburned and getting tired. Harley was getting frustrated because the other two girls didn't know what they were doing. Poor Hailey was so tired she just curled up and lay her head on the gunwale. Shaina and Hailey had to work tonight, so I feel bad for them. All in all it was a good day. That was definitely $56 well spent.

Sleep Pillow for Baby

I made this pillow for a baby shower I am going to. They are easy to make and very useful. It has brown rice, lavender, sage, chamomile, and lemon balm inside. It can be put in the crib to help calm a fussy baby and it can be heated in the microwave for 30 seconds to warm, then lay it across the abdomen of a baby with colic. When the child gets older you can store it in the freezer for soothing boo-boos.

I used two 7" x 6" squares of scrap material and some leftover rick rack from another project. Sew them together right sides facing leaving about 3/4" open for turning. Turn right side out and fill. I used about 2 TBSP of dried lavender buds, a handful of sage leaves (dried), a handful of lemon balm leaves (dried), a chamomile tea bag {I left the chamomile in the tea bag because it has a tendency to powder and sift out through the weave of the material. Fine dust is not a good thing for babies to inhale.} , and about a cup of dry brown rice. I'm guessing because I didn't measure. A funnel is a big help here. After everything is inside sew the opening closed.

I put these in plastic bags when giving them away. I enclose a card explaining what they are and how they can be used.

I usually get the herbs from my garden, but my chamomile is not big enough to harvest yet this year. Everything else came from my yard. Lemon balm grows like a weed once established, and sage and lavender are not difficult to grow. Neither of them mind poor soil, and lavender likes dry spots.