Homemade Green Insecticidal Soap

This winter I noticed two of my plants had Whiteflies, my Jade plant and a Fern.  As soon as the temperatures got warmer I moved them outside.  At this time of the year as long as it does not get below 32 degree F, plants do Ok if they are put somewhat near the house.

A natural way of treating white flies, aphids, spider mites and scales is by spraying the plant with Insecticidal soap.  I had on hand Dr Woods Pure Tea Tree Castile Soap which contains  hemp oil, olive oil, tea tree oil, sea salt, citric acid and rosemary extract.  Dr Bronner's Castile soap is also all natural and will work well.

Castile Soap is mild enough to use on your face so it won't hurt your plants or pets and will attack the infestation.  Here's the recipe.

Green Insecticidal Soap

1 Quart of water

1 tablespoon Castile Soap

Dissolve the Castile soap in the water.  Pour into a spray bottle.  Label the bottle.

Tip: the Method All Purpose cleaner bottle holds 1 quart of water.

Spray the plant thoroughly preferably early in the morning or late in the afternoon.   Place the plant in a shady location during the treatment.  Do not spray in a sunny location.  Check the plant and repeat spraying after 3 days.  If it rains and the rain washes away the soap, you may spray again before the third day.

My infected Jade Plant

A Visit to the Carolina Raptor Center

The weather was perfect for today's visit to the Carolina Raptor Center which is located inside the Latta Plantation Nature Preserve. I had been there more than 20 years ago when the Center which cares for injured birds of prey was being established.



I did not take many pictures of the birds in cages. I did managed to take this one of Mathilda a majestic Great Horned Owl, who is also part of the Guardians of Ga'Hoole exhibit.



We walked the trails and came upon this neat illustration on how to draw an owl. Might have to try that someday.


You could purchase Owl pellets in the Gift Shop.  You might wander what these are.  I did not know but owls regurgitate what they eat.



A close look at a dissected owl pellet will reveal what they eat. Owls need to consume bird or rodent bones to get calcium. That is why an Owl as cute as they are should never be kept as pets.


We finished walking the trails with one to spare before the Bird show so we walked back to the car and relaxed in the car. My souvenir Plush Owls perched on the Sunroof look so adorable. I want to keep them but not this time.


The Volunteer in charge of the Bird Show was fantastic and quite knowledgeable of the Daytime Eating Birds of Prey. Here she educates the audience about the Cooper's Hawk.



This Peregrine Falcon is around 7 years old and suffered injury to one of its wings. It's a little sad to see a beautiful bird like this achieve sustained flight. She assured everyone they have a good life at the Center and get quite used to living around people.



Last but not least the Red Tailed Hawk has been a resident at CRC more than 20 years.


The admission to the Carolina Raptor Center is affordable and well worth what you will experience during your visit.

Homemade Laundry Detergent Revisited

I am still making my own laundry detergent.  I made one change in the way I make it so I thought I would revisit this post  The only change I made is in the shredding of the Fels Naptha bar of soap.  I am now finely shredding the bar of soap using my metal  grater.  I usually do this while watching TV.  Cover your lap with a towel or cloth.  If you do not find Fels Naptha soap you can also use Ivory Soap.

Finely shredded Fels Naptha Soap

Recipe

1 Cup of Borax

1 Cup of Washing Soda

1 Bar of Fels Naptha Soap 

In a glass bowl combine well the Borax and the Washing Soda.

Mix well the Borax, Washing soda and finely grated Fels Naptha.  To even pulverize more you may use a food processor.

 Store your homemade detergent in a jar.  For one load use  1 tablespoon of the mix.  Sometimes I use 2 tablespoons for heavily soiled clothes.

 This is a super economical recipe.  One box of Borax will yield over 9 cups and 1 one box of the washing soda will yield just under 7 cups.

Misty Rain Walk

I find it very relaxing to take walks during my lunch or dinner hour.  The weather has turned cold again and even though it was misting a little bit I managed to get out of the Library building.  It's really invigorating to come close in contact with nature especially after 4 + hours of Library work.
Now that I take one picture a day as part of the Flickr Project 365 challenge I always have an excuse to take walks and find subjects to photograph.

Layers and Layers of Termite Damage

 Old Pine Tree

 This log is completely covered in moss.  So beautiful!

 This tree Lichen is as bright as it looks.  I love the beautiful shade of green.

This walk was particularly special today and it did wonders to refresh me.  I'm so glad I did take the walk even on this misty day.

Spinach Lasagna

Love eating Lasagna but dread the boiling of the noodles.  You can skip this step by using No Boiling noodles which are now available in most Grocery stores.  I particularly like the Trader Joe's Italian No Boiling -Oven Ready noodles.  For this recipe you will use almost all the box.  I ended up with four layers of noodles.  You can actually have 5 layers of the lasagna noodles if you put less spinach and ricotta filling on each layer.

In a frying pan cook together in a small amount of oil (Canola, Vegetable, Olive or Grapeseed oil) 1 cup of onions and the chopped mushrooms.

For this recipe I used a large container of Part Kim Ricotta Cheese and two 10 oz packages of frozen chopped spinach.  Ragu sauce is not only economical but delicious and available in an array different flavors.  I used the Chunky sundried tomato and sweet basil and loved it.  You will need two of the 10 oz large jars.  Mix the drained spinach, 1 tablespoon dried basil or dried oregano,  the entire  container of

Ricotta cheese and 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese in a large bowl.

As you can see the noodles are layered uncooked.  You can prepare this Lasagna 24 hours ahead of time. Sweet!  My large baking dish had room for 6 noodle pieces overlapped.

Use a measuring cup to add the sauce.  You can actually add less than the cup of sauce per layer.  Just make sure to spread the amount of sauce evenly on each layer.

 You will be able to put a generous amount of the spinach filling on each layer.  Drop using a tablespoon and distribute.

Serve your lasagna with a tossed green salad and garlic bread.

The entire detailed recipe can be seen and downloaded here:

http://www.scribd.com/full/51659233?access_key=key-uxwpp1finx096vdodrc

Sprout my Chia Kitten

I have been having a lot of fun looking after my first Chia Pet. I even gave the Chia kitten I got for my birthday from my daughter and grand kids a name.  Meet Sprout.

The Chia kitten I got for my birthday came with a softie Chia Bear.  Here he is looking at the seeds which are soaking in water.  The instructions tell you to soak in 1/4 cup water 2 teaspoons of the Chia seeds.  In reality this is way too much.  You only need 1 teaspoon of chia seeds.  You have to soak the seeds for 1 hour.  Do not go over this amount of time like I did the first time.  If you do the seeds will be hard to adhere to the ceramic kitten.  As  the seeds soak they become gelatinous and this actually will help to spread the seeds on the surface.  Use a small spoon to pick up the seeds and spread all around the ridges.

If you leave  the seeds soaking for more than an hour, they turn really slimy and slippery.  As you  can see my first attempt was not successful.  I wasted a lot of seeds. Cliff has ordered me more Chia seeds.  You can buy them online from Amazon.

Keep you Chia Pet in a well lit space and fill the clay container daily with water.  There is a hole at the very top of the clay  container.  Always place the Chia pet on the plastic tray provided because it will leak water.  It also helps to mist your Chia pet with a spray bottle.

As you can see, I had much better results on my second try.

Chia seeds are considered a super food.  They can be consumed as seeds or after the seeds sprout.  This article provides information about the benefits of including Chia seeds in your diet.  Sorry Sprout....I will be eating your sprouts.

This is Sprout without his lush green coat!

 Keep the harvested sprouts in the refrigerator.

I added some Chia sprouts to my Avocado Sandwich.

 

Check this lady's blog for recipes and more ideas.

Breakfast Couscous

I love to eat Couscous because of its nutritional value but also because it is so easy and quick to prepare.  Most people think Couscous is a grain but it really is considered a Pasta.  Up to know I've used Couscous in savory dishes and I was pleasantly surprised how good it was cooked in orange juice.  I found the recipe I used this morning in the book The New Glucose Revolution Low GI Family Cookbook.

 

I did not have the exact ingredients but went ahead with what I had and it turned delicious.

This is my interpretation:

Breakfast Couscous

1/2 cup Orange Juice

1/3  cup water

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/2 cup Tri Color Couscous

2 tbsp dried chopped apricots

Plain greek yogurt 

1 tsp Agave sweetener

2 tbsp toasted unsweetened coconut

1 tbsp whole wheat germ

1. Combine the orange juice, water and cinnamon in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer.

2. Add the chopped dried apricots to the juice.

3. Once the orange juice begins to simmer, add the couscous and turn off the heat.  Cover and allow the Couscous to absorb the liquids.  Fluff with a fork.

4. Sweeten the Greek yogurt using the Agave sweetener

5. Serve the warm couscous with Sweetened Greek Yogurt and top with the toasted coconut.

If you do not have any coconut you can add: slivered almonds or Wheat Germ.

Delicious and quick!

Whole Wheat Israeli Couscous

I really like Zahas Whole Wheat Israeli Couscous. It is nothing like the Bulgur couscous used to make Tabbouleh. I like to keep it in my pantry because it's very quick and easy  to prepare.    It is sold in small 8.8 oz packages and  the instructions only tell you how to cook the whole package.  I usually cook enough for one serving using 1/2 cup of the couscous with approximately 3/4 cup of water.

The instructions tell you to cook it in 2 tablespoons of oil (I use olive oil or grapeseed oil).  Basically you will be browning it and then you add boiling water.  It will be ready in 6 minutes.  The cooked couscous will be crunchy.




After I cook the couscous I usually sautee onions, mushrooms, peppers or tomatoes.  Any of your favorite veggies will do.  I added spinach to this recipe.





The yellow peppers and sugar plum tomatoes from Trader Joes were delicious in this recipe.


This delicious alternative to pasta supplies 6 grams of protein per 1/3 cup and it only contains 1 gram of sugar.