A Bravery Feather

When my girls were really small I would take feathers out of the feather pillow or feather bed and put it in their hair and tell them they were bravery feathers, you know, like Dumbo had. They would giggle and tell me they tickled and flounce around the house with them in their hair or tucked in their braids. Have you ever felt like you just needed a bravery feather to do some task that seems insurmountable? I know I do. This blog was one of them. 

Related Article: Have Courage And Be Kind

 We were walking through such hard times and we felt like that for over a year as we thought about starting a blog and sharing our lives, but it just seemed so scary and to be honest I just felt so insignificant and rather boring. 

 One day someone came to me and told me that what I feared is that I didn't have anything worth sharing. Wow, was that ever true? Because this is just life for us, this is just what we do... but recently I realized that this is not what everyone does. 

 This is not their life and that maybe our life, instead of being boring or not important might be a blessing to someone else just like others lives are to us. So I hope you are blessed by these posts and I hope we can learn from one another on this journey. Oh, and if you need a bravery feather, let me know... I will raid the feather pillow for you, we have plenty to spare.

Organic All Purpose Cleaner

With all the junk that is in cleaners and even the food we eat at the Rosevine Cottage we like to be as careful as we can with chemicals.  One great way we would like to share with you is with the use of Grapefruit Seed Extract. GSE is a great cleaner for so many things.

32 Oz Spray Bottle 

Water

50 Drops Grapefruit Seed Extract 

Fill a bottle with water and add GSE. Shake, and use. Or add 35-40 drops to your sink water as you are washing your fruits and vegetables or you can put 25 drops or so in a 32 oz sprayer and keep to spray your veggies, fruit, or even meats to make sure the bacteria is gone and they are safe to eat. 

 This spray is safe for counter tops, your baby's high chair tray, just about anything.  It is really amazing stuff.   I hope that you check it out.  It is an inexpensive way to keep your house clean and keep your family safe.

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Citrus All Purpose Cleaner

Believing The Worst

Why is it that people seem to always believe the worst about others? I was struck by this comment a couple of days ago on Facebook and I began pondering it.

On an episode of “Robin Hood,” the peasants in a town were shocked when the sheriff told them that Robin Hood was killing innocent people. Then, in turn, they quickly turned against him. One of Robin’s men commented that he wondered why they bothered giving them the last of their food when they hated them. Why do we hunger when all they do is hate us?

That is an interesting question, is it not? How is it that people and mostly those who we would think to know us best think the worst of us? People you work beside, pray beside, play golf with, or go to church with, or like Robin fed and cared for. It is hard to imagine and harder yet to go through, as I see a blogger on Facebook being torn apart by her fans on the Internet.

I think many of us have walked through this and Christ has walked through it. They sing "Hosanna" and wave palm branches as he comes into town and yell "Crucify Him" on that Friday. First, they adore you, and then they hate you, the early church is full of this. They are doing well. And yet people believe the rumors that the Christians are cannibals (eating the communion bread) and drinking blood, (communion wine) or any number of stories.

What is the answer? Well, the bible says that when we are innocently persecuted for his sake, we are blessed. It also says to pray your enemies and those who were persecuting you. Lastly, it says to do good to them.

Wow, how different that is to our knee-jerk reaction right? Let them go hungry. What is it to me? What if I am Mr. or Mrs. negative and always think the worst of people? Well, the bible talks about that too. It tells us to think on good and pure and lovely things. Then that is the opposite of negativity isn’t it? So, what if we actually practiced this? Say we daily think two nice thoughts about, our wife, our friends, or our kids? What if we actually spoke those things out loud to them or others? The bible says that the mouth has the power of life and death and to choose life. (Prov 18:21)

If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat, if is thirsty, give him water to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head, and the Lord will reward you. If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat. If he is thirsty, give him water to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head, and the Lord will reward you. Proverbs 25:21-22 NIV

Check Out He Looks At The Heart!

A Great Granola Recipe

In this house, we try to eat as healthy as we can.  That means not eating refined sugar, high fructose corn syrup, and even soy products.  This brought us to making things ourselves and not buying things in bags and boxes.  Granola is a simple way that you can begin this process in your house.  You control what goes into it so you control what goes into your family.  This particular recipe has no oil in it. We have made it with coconut oil added to the honey but if you do decide to add some healthy fats to it, please remember to store this in the refrigerator. If not, it can be stored in the cupboard.

Ingredient List:

4 cups of oats (we use organic rolled oats)

½ cup raw nuts that you are going to toast in your oven

½ cup of raisins or chopped dry fruit. We love to use all kinds of fruit. We have an orchard so we use our apples and pears that we sliced thinly and dehydrate. Then we put them in this with raisins and

YUMMY!!!!!

Ok, back to the recipe.

½ cup warm raw honey can also use regular honey but raw is so much better for us. (This is a starting point if you want it sweeter then use more. It is better to add more honey now than to have your little ones spooning it out of the sugar bowl.) Or you can use real maple syrup.

Goodies to add:

1 teaspoon Real Organic Vanilla Extract 

2 Tablespoon Organic Ground Flax

2 teaspoons Organic Chia Seeds (these are a superfood and full of nutrition)

Organic Cinnamon  (optional)

Organic Nutmeg (optional)

Organic Allspice  (optional)

Pans:

Small pan for stove top
Large Baking pan with tall sides.

Get all your ingredients measured and in bowls where they are handy. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.

We found that when we are just beginning to make this recipe it helped us to roast our nuts first. You can use any kind of nuts for this. We have used almonds, pecans, and walnuts. When you get the hang of this you will know how long and can just throw them in with your oats at the right time. For now, put them in your roasting pan and watch for them to get more golden and taste them, they should have a good crunch. Once they are done cooking, set aside and turn to your oats.

In your large baking pan roast the oats. Stir them around the pan often so they will not burn but are turning a beautiful golden brown and start to smell really good.

It is now time to our dried fruit. Again, whatever sounds yummy. We have used no sugar cranberries, dates, currants, raisins, dried apples, dried pears, dried peaches, dried berries the sky is the limit here.

Stir the honey that has been warmed on the stove into the oats in the pan and return to the oven. Stir often and cook until it has reached the desired crunchiness for you. Some like granola chewier and some crunchy. It is all up to you but keep stirring often. Remove from oven and let cool. Place in an airtight container to keep it from getting stale.

This is wonderful on top of our homemade yogurt with some fresh fruit, or frozen berries are great too, they are also wonderful with fresh milk and sliced strawberries or other berries. Even on the go, this is a great and satisfying snack. I hope you really enjoy this as much as we do. Make this your own and let us know how you like it. We would love to hear from you.

This post contains affiliate links. Affiliate links cost you nothing extra but help to support the Rosevine Cottage Girls, so we can continue bringing you recipes, travel posts, garden and farm posts and so much more.

For more great recipes check out our Recipe Page! 

Check out our Egg Casserole Recipe!

Organic Cheese Its Crackers

These are my very fancy Tornado Cheese It Crackers.  They  are wonderful but really have nothing to do with a tornado, except I ate an entire batch in my basement when I was hiding uh... er... seeking safety during a tornado warning with my family (Sorry, not kidding here. Ok, I shared, a little.)

It is funny though, it seems every time I make these little gems the weather turns bad and I end up in my basement clutching a bowl of them... that sounds bad, doesn't it?

Moving on... Well anyway, it is a really easy recipe and your children will think you are amazing (You are, right?) and you don't have to worry about the chemicals, food coloring and preservatives in that OTHER cheese crackers at the store. Make sure you store these in an airtight container after they cool because they will get stale. Yeah, right... as if they will last long enough to get stale!


These are great for a snack alone, with apples and grapes, on top of potato or mushroom soup, topping your favorite salad. OK I need to stop now, drooling madly.

1 cup of shredded organic cheese (I used mild cheddar and also used with pepper jack for a spicy cracker)

1/4 of a cup of softened grass fed butter

1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon Celtic sea salt (adjust to taste)

1 cup of organic all purpose flour 

2 tablespoons of ice water

Measure grate and measure your cheese. Place your softened butter and sea salt into a bowl and add the cheese and stir well until creamy. Next, you want to add your flour. Then, add your water slowly until it forms a nice ball. It takes a little bit for it to get into the ball so don't add too much and get mush. :)

Pat your dough down and refrigerate it for until nice and stiff (about an hour or so).

Preheat your oven now to 375 degrees F.

Remove from the refrigerator and roll out with your rolling pin until it is nice and thin. It needs to be about 1/8" thick.

Pat the dough into a disk and put in the fridge for an hour.

Then, roll out the dough until it’s 1/8 of an inch. When your dough is the right thickness cut them into 1" squares.  You can use a pizza wheel, a ravioli wheel, pastry wheel or knife to do this.

 Place them on your baking stone or cookie sheet and poke a hole in the middle with a skewer or chopstick end. 

Bake for 12 minutes.

 Remove and let cool and then taste (often).

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For more great recipes check out our recipe page!

Check out our Pizza Rolls Recipe!

Citrus All Purpose Cleaner

Orange, Lemon or Grapefruit Peels

Vinegar 

Organic Castile Liquid Soap

Save all of your orange, lemon or grapefruit peels and place them in a mason jar (or other jar that seals on top).  Fill it to the top with vinegar and replace the lid. Sit it in your cabinet for 7-14 days (I do 14) and it really releases the citrus oil from the peels. 

 Take 1/2 cup of the vinegar and pour it into a squirt bottle with 1 cup of water and 1/2 tsp. of liquid Castille soap (This actually can be used this with just the vinegar, but I like the Castille one too).

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How To Save Money on Organic Fabric Softener

How To Save Money on Organic Fabric Softener

Who doesn't love to save a few dollars? I know we do, especially when you are trying to live as healthy as you can and things add up quickly.  That is when we discovered this tip to make your organic or any really fabric softener last longer.  Interested? Well here is our super easy tip on how to save money with still getting the same quality of softening to your laundry! I mean, who can beat cheap and healthy?

 2-3 Containers of Organic Fabric Softener 

Several inexpensive sponges, cut in 4 pieces.  

2 Gallons of water for every bottle of softener

Pour the contents of the softener bottles into a 5 -gallon bucket. You can buy these at your home improvement store or get them free at places like SAM's and Walmart in the bakery if you ask nicely.

Then fill your empty fabric softener bottles with water and pour into the bucket with the softener. For every bottle of softener, you add 2 bottles full of water.

Now take the package of sponges (mine had three in the package) and cut into 4 pieces with a pair of scissors. Throw your sponges into the bucket and leave to absorb the mixture.

When you are ready to put your load of clothes in the dryer, open your bucket, reach in and grab a single sponge, wring out the sponge and throw in just like you would a dryer sheet.

They work wonderfully and lasts a long, long time. Like over a year for a family of 6

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This post contains affiliate links. Affiliate links cost you nothing extra but help to support the Rosevine Cottage Girls, so we can continue bringing you recipes, travel posts, garden and farm posts and so much more.  

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Check out Easy Alternative For Fabric Softener!

Easy Alternative For Fabric Softener

This is totally natural and is disinfecting and it really helps to make your towels more absorbent. 

Add 1 cup of vinegar to your cycle for soft fabric.  

It will also help to lock in the color of your clothing so they do not fade on one another if you sometimes have a habit of not separating your laundry and making your whites the color of  your dad's jeans... uh, um.  Moving on, right?

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This post contains affiliate links. Affiliate links cost you nothing extra but help to support the Rosevine Cottage Girls, so we can continue bringing you recipes, travel posts, garden and farm posts and so much more.  

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Check out our Laundry Detergent Recipe!