Steamed is what's for dinner

I bought the best thing in the world for $20 at Walmart, and this may be the first time I have bought anything cheap that actually works as intended.

Rival Double Stack Vegetable Steamer - it's cheap and a little thin.  It does not have all of the bells and whistles that the more expensive models have.  It works!!!! Most important for me.

This is why it is worth it to me.  This was my dinner.  I put all of this in the steamer.  About 25 minutes and Bam! Done!  I added a spoonful of butter and tossed the okra.  A little salt and everything was so yummy.  You just throw some vegetables together and some Ms. Dash.  Put it in there, and it comes out amazing.

Here is what it looked like stacked before I turned it on.  This picture is before I figured out that my stacking seals were stuck together.  It still cooked wonderful.  Fool Proof!

More food pictures for you.  This was the first time I tried it.  Broccoli, Squash, Celery, Onion, Ms. Dash.  I ate every bit of it.

This is what it looked like while it was cooking.  Like I say, I didn't have the stacking seal on it, and it still cooked up great. This is using only one layer of cooking. 

Look at the vibrant color of the finished food.  It is not cooked to death and has plenty of flavor.  You can toss with some olive oil and salt or nothing at all.

This may be the best $20 I have spent in a long time.  This is especially the best time of year to find something like this with all of the fresh vegetables around.  I do plan on cooking some meats in it, too.  I am also wondering if tamales are an option.

Make your own Peppermint Water

If you like the taste of MetroMint Peppermint Water but do not like the price, you can make your own. I bought some of this water and paid a little over $2.50. Wow Expensive! I saw the ingredients and knew I could make something similar.

You can add 1-2 drops of Peppermint Essential Oil in a glass of water. That's it. Stir it around and you have peppermint water. You can also steep some peppermint leaves if you wanted to go that route. You can get a small bottle of Peppermint Essential Oil for $4 online.

There is a huge savings to making it yourself, and the health benefits of Peppermint Oil is very long. It can help with digestion, UTI, immunity, and blood circulation among many other things. You can view a great page of info here.

I soaked the oats

I made this recipe, and it turned out fabulous. I soaked my oatmeal in buttermilk that I made last week when making butter. I used this recipe from this blog below:

Baked Soaked Oatmeal Recipe from Kelly the Kitchen Cop

This is the picture from her site. I did not take any pictures, shame on me!

The only differences I did were that I added some prunes in with my raisins. I also added some peaches with mine along with the apples. I kept the fruit measurement the same. Super yummy!

ALO Awaken with a side of Ginger

My friend, Michelle, told me about the health food store in Texarkana called Granary Street Discount Store. It is pretty awesome! I grabbed a few different drinks while I was there and popped them in the fridge.

My favorite so far is a drink called ALO Awaken. ALO's official website here. It has chunks of aloe in it with wheatgrass. It is surprisingly good to me. I already juice and have been drinking aloe juice almost daily so the flavor was not weird for me. My normal aloe juice does not have a taste. It can be put beside water, and I couldn't tell it apart. This drink has 2 servings in it. One serving is supposed to be equivalent to a cup of coffee, naturally.

A review of the ALO drink here: BEVNET. The user reviews outweigh the site's review. :)

The other night while I was working out, I tried another drink called Ginger enerGizer. It is put out by the Ginger People. It really is an energizing drink. It has triple the Ginger with a splash of apple. You can feel your body start to heat up when drinking it. It is said to improve digestion and metabolism. Woohoo! I usually add ginger to my juices when juicing, but I had never had this much at one time. It did its job. The taste was a little strong for me, but I would probably grow used to it quickly. It can be served hot or cold.

Sniffing Oils on Friday Night

Yep, that is what I am doing. I am trying to put together a blend of oils for a fragrance that I may want to use on some of my household cleaners or salts. I took the advice of a book I was reading that said to dip some test strips just barely in the oil. Put only 2 or 3 scents together and make one strip higher than the rest (dominant). I wondered if this would really work as well as it sounded. It did. I would take turns holding each strip higher than the rest and then fan them in front of my face. I was breathing in the coffee bean aroma between smells so my nose would be clear. I read that there should never be equal portion of dominant smells. The smells just compete too much.

Had a good day today. I juiced earlier and shared with my husband and friend. Apple, Tangelo, Celery, Cabbage and Carrot! I am celebrating today. I have lost 11 pounds in the lat 3 weeks. Woohoo for the Elliptical.

A Shot of Life

My brother said this when he came to visit and I made him a glass of juice. A Shot of Life. He's right. It is better than you would think.

I only made a small amount tonight and shared with my husband. Down the hatch! Mmm. I make my juices with an Omega Masticator Juicer. That is why it is so thin. Usually, I make more. We usually each get a glass with 6-8 ounces.

Ingredients: handful of spinach, 2 carrots, 1/3 cucumber, 1/3 sweet potato, small apple, handful of grapes, mandarin orange, and a shot of lemon juice.

Here is what the Omega J8005 looks like. 

I love mine. I have not only made juices, frozen banana puree, pasta, minced up veggies and pork for egg rolls, but I can also grind nuts into nut butter, coffee beans, make baby food, and juice greens including wheatgrass.