That Darn Dirty Oven!

I've been letting my well-used oven become a bio-hazard. In not wanting to use any harsh chemicals, because they suck quite frankly, and not wanting to use the self-cleaning option, as it stinks up the not-well-ventilated apartment like a tire fire, I've let it get out of control. Like so bad that it actually caught on fire recently, ha ha!
I stumbled upon a cute little book recently - The Naturally Clean Home, full of lovely recipes for making your own household cleaners. Many recipes make use of essential oils, so not only are they effective, but they smell incredible too. It's a happy little book :)

Of course the book has a few recipes for oven cleaners - so I gave the following a try today:

Serious Oven-Cleaning Formula

• 1/2 cup salt
• 1/4 cup washing soda or borax
• 1 box (16 ounces or two cups) of baking soda
• 1/4 cup water
• 3/4 cup white vinegar
• 10 drops thyme essential oil
• 10 drops lemon or lemongrass essential oil   

(You'll also need a spray bottle, some rubber gloves, and you'll find it helpful to have a scouring pad or some steel wool)

1. Combine salt, borax, and baking soda in a plastic or glass bowl. Add just enough water to make a paste
2. Remove oven racks and preheat the oven to 250ºF for 15 minutes, then turn off the oven and leave the door open.
3. Carefully spread the paste on oven walls with a sponge or cloth and allow to set for 20 to 30 minutes.
4. Combine the vinegar and essential oils in a spray bottle and shake well. Spray the oven walls and wipe clean. Rinse well.

With the help of some steel wool (that ended up looking like something you'd pull out of a clogged drain once I had finished) and some serious elbow grease (it helped me considerably that I accidentally broke my favourite tea pot this morning - so I had some pent up angst to use), I was able to get my oven pretty darn clean! Admittedly, it's not fresh-from-the-store clean, but had I a tad more time, and had I broken my Gramma's antique vase, it probably would have been close to new.

With absolutely no foul odor - in fact it smelled pretty darn good - and no irritation to my eyes or lungs or skin, and no harm to my asthmatic husband, my 1.5 year old daughter or fluff-muffin dog - I was extremely pleased with the result. See for yourself! 

If you pop over and visit us on facebook you can enter for a chance to win a copy Karyn Siegel-Maier's book "The Naturally Clean Home". Good luck!

Wool Dryer Balls Baby!

After having Evelyn I changed our laundry detergent to an environmentally friendly, baby friendly, fragrance free, phosphates free, hypoallergenic etc. etc. type - AND stopped using fabric softener. In doing so I lost what I love so much about clean laundry - the scent - and our clothes, towels and blankets became ridden with dog hair that was previously kept at bay by dryer sheets. BOOOO! So I went in search of a solution, and quickly found that people use Wool Dryer Balls in lieu.

Wool dryer balls are just that. A wool ball that you toss into your dryer with your wet clothes. The lanolin in the ball is supposed to soften the clothes naturally, and the balls act as an agitator to reduce drying time. I thought I'd give them a try to see if they worked on our dog hair issue as well.

Okay, I love these things! From different things I've read, it is suggested that you have 6-8 of them to actually do a good job, but in the pack I ordered I received 4 and they do the job just fine. Yes, our clothes are softer. Yes, the drying time is reduced. Yes, our pet hair gets wrapped up in the balls and not on our clothes anymore! Admittedly, they don't work as well as dryer sheets for the pet hair, but they're pretty darn good. I also get my scent back by putting a few drops of vanilla and tangerine essential oils on the balls - also not as fragrant as commercial perfumes, but natural and pleasant; it's not overpowering.
The only issue the balls do not address is static. But I'm willing to live with a bit of electricity in exchange for healthier laundry.

I purchased my balls from MiniMittens on Etsy - This is a crafter from Ottawa - so I also feel great about supporting a Canadian business too.

What a great gift these would make too; paired with a few bottles of essential oils - awesome!

To check out MiniMittens on Etsy click here
To check out MiniMittens on Facebook click here

Warming Quinoa Chili!

My good friend Ashley recently posted pictures of some Quinoa Chili that she had thrown together in her crock pot. Her picture looked so yummy, and with Autumn coming in like a lion this year, our house was in need of something hearty and warm to eat - So I asked her how she made it :) Here is her recipe, with a few additions of my own.

Quinoa Chili...mmmmm

2 tbsp EVOO
2 cups dried mixed beans (or two cans drained and rinsed kidney beans or whatever kind you fancy)
1 cup dry quinoa
2 sweet potatoes peeled and cut into chunks
1 large onion chopped
1 large zucchini cut into cubes
2 celery stalks chopped
3 cloves fresh garlic minced
1 cup chopped mushrooms
1/2 cup frozen corn
4 cups veggie stock
4 cups tomato sauce, or 2 cans diced tomatoes
1 13oz can of tomato paste
Chili seasoning to taste (I used 3 tablespoons)
Salt and pepper to taste

If using dried beans, soak them for 12-24 hours in advance (until soft or sprouted)

In a large pot, on med-high heat, add your EVOO, diced onions, minced garlic and chili seasoning - sweat your aromatics for 5 min or until they become fragrant. Do not over cook them.
Add your veggie stock, tomato sauce, tomato paste, beans, quinoa, and all of your veggies. Simmer covered on med-low heat for 4-5 hours, stirring occasionally. Simmer on low heat for an additional hour, stirring occasionally. Add salt and pepper to taste.

This can also be made in a slow cooker - cooked on high for 3 hours; then low for 12 hours.

Garnish with some grated sharp cheddar, and serve with buttered crusty French bread.
Even meat-lovers will love this Chili!

I finished this meal off with an amazing apple pie for dessert - recipe taken from The Pioneer Woman blog.. it's like an apple-crisp tart.. it's delicious! Check it out :)

Another Great Fabric Sale!

For those of you in Toronto area - or those who will be passing through sometime soon - There is a killer sale going on at "King Textiles" @ Richmond & Spadina, downtown.
They're moving, so prices are awesome - and if you can find Jonathan, tell him that Julia from The Retro Nest sent you; maybe he'll be able to help you with an even better deal on your loot ;)

It's only on until July 31st, so get you butts down there before they run out of the good stuff!

Homemade Baby Wipes!

So I'm about to pop with our first baby, and have jumped into the world of homemade baby wipes :) I decided to go down this path for a number of reasons. #1) there is a long history of very sensitive skin in both hubby and my families - the number one offender being eczema on my side. #2) Cost effective. #3) Environmentally friendly. #4) Super cute fabric options make it fun.

Here's how I did it.

The Wipes

- 1 metre of your favourite flannel, washed in baby friendly detergent and ironed
- Any colour of thread your heart desires - I chose a colour that stood out b/c I used a zig-zag stitch  
  on my sewing machine
- A sewing machine

Cut your fabric into 6"x6" squares

Put two pieces, wrong sides together; stitch all the way around your square with a zig-zag stitch.

Clean up any uneven edges with your scissors - and that's it! Easy peasy!

The Solution

Many of my mom friends use reusable wipes - and most of them use only a flannel with water. But of course I feel the need to be fancy, ha ha - so I did some research into different homemade solutions other people use. I didn't want to use anything too harsh (like tea tree oil or witch hazel) b/c it is afterall going to be used on a sweet little baby bottom, and the idea is to keep it gentle. So from what I've read, a good combo for a gentle solution is simply water, soap and oil. This is mine:

- 3 cups distilled water
- 1 tbsp apricot oil (I chose this one b/c it has natural vitamin E in it - it has no scent)
- 1 tbsp unscented baby wash (I went with Burt's Bees' Baby Bee Shampoo & Wash)
- 2-3 drops rose essential oil (b/c I can't resist a good smelling baby bum)

I have a wipes warmer that I will store the wipes and solution in - and any excess solution I will just keep in a jar until I need to refill!

Toronto Woofstock 2012 - the place to be for dog lovers!

If you live in Toronto, or are visiting Toronto this weekend, and you have a dog (even if you don't have a dog), you've got to make your way down to the St. Lawrence Market neighbourhood for Toronto's annual WOOFSTOCK!

We take our Watson every year, and even went before we had her because we love to see all of the different dogs - it's simply awesome :)

Here are the deets:

Saturday June 9th & Sunday June 10th
10am - 6pm daily
Admission: FREE
Where: St. Lawrence Market Neighbourhood




Be sure to visit some of our favourite vendors:

Buddy Belts - The best of the best in harnesses for dogs and cats. Our Watson LOVES hers (so do we)! The best part is that the belts are offered at a huge discount at the Woofstock booth. So if you're in the market for a new harness for your pet, be sure to stop by the booth nice and early because they always sell out fast! This is the belt we snagged for Watson last year and it's been fantastic - check out the video below.

The Hydrant - My favourite place for doggie leashes! Fantastic craftsmanship, handmade, machine washable - and the best part? AWESOME one of a kind prints! Some retro inspired, some contemporary graphics, these leashes are the bees knees. Whenever we're walking with Watson's "Space Babies" leash we are always stopped and asked where we got it. Go visit Lindsay, she's cute as a button too, and she'll love that you stopped by :)

"Best Loved Food of the '50's"

I stumbled across this cookbook years ago in the bargain section of the book store. I was captivated by the look of that chicken on the cover, and snatched it up for $5! The book itself is cute to say the least in it's style, the pages are full of retro styling, and the recipes are authentic to the time with it's inclusions of "Spam" and "Jello", to name a few of the '50's kitchen staples used in the recipes.

Admittedly I haven't been through all of the recipes in the book yet - but this past weekend, with it's blazing sunshine made me crave some summer BBQ food, so I reached for this book for some inspiration. Immediately the "Hawaiian Burgers" and "Carmen Miranda Cake" called my name - so I gave them a whirl - they were great! Here are the recipes:

Hawaiian Burgers

1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1/3 cup chopped green onions
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1/3 cup pineapple preserves (I bet an Asian style pineapple dipping sauce would work too)
1/3 cup BBQ sauce
6 Pineapple slices
6 hamburger buns split and toasted

1) Combine beef, onions, Worcestershire and pepper in a large bowl. Shape into six 1/2-inch-thick patties.

2) Combine preserves and BBQ sauce in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat.

3) Grill, covered 8-10 minutes (or uncovered 13-15 minutes) until cooked through (160*F), turning and brushing often with sauce. Grill pineapple 1 minute or until browned, turning once.

4) Serve burgers with pineapple on toasted buns.

Broiling Directions: arrange patties on a rack in broiler pan. Broil 4 inches from the heat until cooked through (160*F), turning and brushing often with sauce. Broil pineapple 1 minute, turning once.

*I also added blue cheese to this, mmmmm, And I think next time I will also add bacon as well.

Carmen Miranda Cake

1 1/3 cups cake flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup granulated sugar
3 eggs
1/2 cup vanilla yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup (6 ounces) frozen tropical fruit punch concentrate
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon dark rum
2 teaspoons cornstarch
2 cups fruit chunks (pineapple, peach, star fruit, kiwi, watermelon, berries, grapes)

1) Preheat oven to 350*F. Grease and flour 8x4 loaf pan. Sift together flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl (tip: if you hold your sifter higher above the bowl you will get more air in your flour mixture - makes for a better batter in my experience)

2) Beat butter and sugar iin a large bowl with electric mixer until fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time. Beat in yogurt and vanilla. Gradually add your flour mixture and beat until blended. scrape down side of bowl as necessary. Spread batter in prepared pan.

3) Bake 50 to 60 minutes or until toothpick inserted into centre come out clean; cool 20 minutes. Turn out onto wire rack to cool completely.

4) Meanwhile, prepare glaze. Combine fruit punch concentrate and honey in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring to dissolve honey. Boil 5 minutes. Mix rum and cornstarch together in a small bowl; stir into hot fruit mixture and cook 1 minute or until thickened. Let glaze cool to room temperature.

5) Set cake on wire rack over baking sheet. Brush thick coat of glaze over cake top, allowing some to flow down sides. Arrange fruit chunks on top. Pour remaining glaze over fruit and cake top. Let stand at room temperature at least 1 hour before serving.

What a fitting name for a cake - it actually is reminiscent of the stunning Carmen Miranda! Love it! The cake itself is delicious and refreshing with all of the fresh fruit! Perfect for a summer BBQ. Enjoy!