Spice Rack & Bulk Foods

Today I'm going to talk about the secret of my kitchen.  What makes all the delicious meals here in the Busy Beaver Household.

Its the ingredients!

My array of spices, real butter, fresh eggs and other ingredients that I get from Spice Rack & Bulk Foods.
A local dry goods store.

I first saw them at 2nd St. Market, a local farmers market in an old train depot.  They then expanded to a store in my hometown. EVEN BETTER! It's on the way home from work, so I can get any missing ingredients from there on my way home.

Now, I haven't bought traditional store bought eggs in years. In fact, I can't stand the taste of eggs from my grocery store anymore. That's because I've been buying my eggs from Spice Rack, and they are just better!
They are fresher, and I believe they are pasture/grass fed. No matter how they do it, the eggs just taste awesome.

Then there's the butter! Amish roll butter to be exact. I don't know about you, but real butter makes everything taste better.
In fact, I only cook with olive oil and butter. No margarine in this house.

I use instant oatmeal, raw sugar and dried apples from there to make my own instant oatmeal.  This is much cheaper than the packets.

Their quinoa and chia seeds are at the best prices I've seen around town!

There's cheddar cheese powder for popcorn, instant yeast, flour. Anything you could possibly need for baking, even rarer items like arrow root powder.

I won't list every single item, as you can see the list can be quite exhaustive... but I will say, they are my GO TO place for spices and seasoning. In fact we'll be going there soon to get the ingredients for my son to refill his container of baby bam.

Oh! And my 10+ rated bbq  chicken seasoning (per my foodie Aiden) comes from mixing the honey bbq seasoning and rotisserie chicken blend spice together... absolutely delicious!

If you've ever wanted to try to make something you're not familiar with, like curry, you'll find the ingredients there!

Their spices are the freshest and best bargain around! Absolutely perfect for attempting the latest recipe.
They've also partnered with other local businesses to bring fresh bread and pastries and the latest eco-friend gear!

If you're in the Dayton area, definitely check them out! You won't regret it!

Yup! Even Castile Soap!

Cinnamon sticks to stir your hot chocolate!

My son's favorite snack!

Tea Time

I like coffee, I do, but I'm more a tea girl. Today I decided that I really didn't want to do coffee, I've been a bit jittery lately. So I drank Yerba Mate Chai Tea instead.

I love the flavor, and its a great diet tea, as it gives you energy and suppresses your appetite. I kinda ran out of time for breakfast this morning, so this was a great way to get me through to lunch.  Also, since I was at work, this is in a tea bag. I don't really feel like lugging my tea strainers and loose leafs to work.

My pretty tea cup.

Normal Yerba Mate teas are packed with energy and great teas for you, but truthfully, to me... they taste like a tea cup of yard clippings. Bleh.
So the chai packs enough flavor in without being overwhelming.

My other favorite teas are Earl Grey and English Breakfast. Tea is one of the few things I can drink without sugar, any time. Although, I do enjoy real southern sweet tea as well.
But if you are trying to give up sugar (like in forebearance February for example) it works well.

I tend to prefer loose leaf tea over tea bags, but I'm not a snob and take the shortcut when I have to.
When making loose leaf its important to have a good tea strainer.  You know, one that doesn't accidentally spill tea leafs into your cup.

I love mine because its fine mesh doesn't let any stray tea particles through, but plenty of flavor.  Its also machine washable. A total bonus in the busy beaver household.

Now depending on the tea, usually you put in water that is just under boiling, and let it brew for 4-5 minutes. Sometimes less. Typically if you want a stronger cup of tea, put in more tea. Don't let the tea brew longer!
That just makes it bitter.
So strong tea = More tea.

Of course then there is the whole array of teas that are herbal... basically any plant you wanna try.
When I cut back my lemon balm this summer because it was insanely overgrown (its in the mint family after all).  I made a lovely light lemony tea.

Another favorite is Kava Kava tea.  Its super relaxing, and calms the nerves. I usually do my own herbal blend of chamomile, kava root, ginseng, ginko and mint tea... makes for a calming, relaxing good night sleep tea.  There are commercial brands of the tea ready to go if you don't feel like making your own blend.
With Kava though, it can be tough on the liver, so use with care.


Despite what JigglyPuff says, after drinking Kava tea and having a great night sleep, I can handle the morning.

Foodie Friday: Meatloaf cupcakes.

Meatloaf is a wonderful tasty dinner, but with just two of us in the household, making a whole one seems such a waste.
So this week I tried something I had heard about.

Meatloaf cooked in a muffin or cupcake pan.

You can also think of this as really big meatballs.
This makes about 6 meat-cakes (I know horrible name, still trying out different options)
1 lb of ground beef/chuck
1/2 package of dried soup mix
1/2 cup of crushed saltines
1 egg

Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl.  I used my hands to make sure it was well mixed.

Spray the cupcake pan with oil.  I have a wonderful misto oil sprayer.  It uses oil I already have and makes it into a fine mist. The Misto Oil Sprayer!

Form balls out of the meatloaf, large enough to fit into the pan, but not overflow too much.

Next cook at 350 degrees farenheit for about 1/2 an hour.  Adjust cooking time as needed for your oven.

My son was wary at first since it didn't look like normal meatloaf, but once you add ketchup to the plate, it was all good.  1-2 cupcakes as a serving.  I was able to freeze the remaining cupcakes for quick dinners in the future.

I swear it was clean an hour ago!

I cleaned my living room, it was picked up, neat, and vacuumed.  That was 1 hour ago. 

A lot can happy in 1 hour when you have a puppy.

After 1 hour

As you can see from the photo.... the dogs decided to de-fluff a toy. They generously spread the love  fluff across the whole living room. As well as spreading the dog toys across the room as well.

After I've cleaned (again)

So to help me get this BusyBeaver house clean I have 2 (yes 2) vacuums. After using my last vacuum to death, I got a Bissell Lift Off Revolution Pet Vacuum.

It's done pretty good for the last 8 years. (approximately)

That's with 2 cats and 2 dogs and a kid.
It's still hung in there and cleaned well.
I will say my old version (because you know they are always improving things), is a beast.   It's heavy and I don't really feel like carrying it all around my 2 story house.

So for upstairs, a few years ago, I received a much smaller, more portable vacuum..

I use this for my stairs, and the smaller area upstairs. It's fantastic, and light enough my son can use it to vacuum as well. BONUS:  one less chore that I have to do.

These two vacuums help to keep us ahead of the game in the pet hair.
Now in our house, I've come to terms of never being one of those "magazine homes".
I heard it most eloquently put....


" Clean enough to be healthy, dirty enough to be happy."

Really, when it comes down to it, would you rather spend your time cleaning or spending time with family.
When we are at the end of our journey, looking back, what do you think you'll wish you had spent more of your life doing? Dishes, or board games with the kids? Getting ice cream, or vacuuming?

Clean enough to be healthy, dirty enough to be happy.

Puppy Toys!

This summer we got a new puppy.

My beloved Kira died suddenly in June. 

My son, who is 9, is now ready for a puppy and to learn all the responsibilities associated.  He chose the pup, the name, and is responsible for her. 

We rescued her from PetPromise in Columbus, Oh.

6-8 weeks old

12-14 weeks old

Her name is Ruby.

He's getting really good at the taking care of the messes Ruby makes. 

Soon, when she's old enough, he'll take her to puppy classes.

We recently upgraded her tiny puppy collar to her permanent Lupine Collar. 

I love Lupine collars, not only do they come in awesome colors, but they are guaranteed for life. 

That's right, have a dog who likes to chew through leashes? (Cough, Cough, SPARKY).
They'll replace it for free.

My son chose our dog Sparky's collar, which I didn't care for, but he chose it, so there you go.
This summer however, Sparky met our neighborhood skunk. So out the collar went, and hello skunk bath!

A perfect time to replace his collar with a better Lupine collar. 

Sparky sports a blue and brown Muddy Paws collar.

And Ruby has the Purple Jelly Roll collar.

Now just wait until she's full grown for the matching harness!

Ruby certainly keeps us on our toes. At 14 weeks, she's getting into everything.

As her confidence and strength increases, so does the amount of "everything" that she gets into!
She's only 5 pounds but she jumps the last 2-3 stairs on our staircase.

Now something our other dog sparky absolutely adores is his Wobble Kong.




It keeps his mind busy and entertained while working for the treats and food inside.

I think it took him about 30 seconds to figure out how it works.

Even Ruby is jumping onto the wobble kong wagon, even though its as big as her!

Two Peas in a Pod - SNUGGLES!

Coffee

Being the BusyBeaverMom can be exhausting.

I generally get up around 4:45 in the morning so I can squeeze in a shower before my son gets up at 5:30 for his shower.  Breakfast is at 6:30 and out the door to the bus by 7:00 am.

Then off to work for me, for my full time job.   Home again, meals, homework and evening activities, before finally sitting down to write this blog. 

Needless to say, I need a little kick start in the morning. 

On my trip to Puerto Rico earlier this year, I got to experience some exquisite coffee. 

Nothing like the watered down stuff we get back home.

So I bought some to take home with me.  Yaucono Coffee..   

Very delicious stuff! I highly recommend it!

Life needs coffee. Or at least my life does. :)

My Little Chef

My son loves to cook. He's a young foodie.  Around 3-4 yrs old he dove into sushi, and he's been a fan of fish, salmon, quinoa and almost any vegetable you throw at him.
Yes, a child who loves broccoli, raw spinach, green beans, and asparagus.

He's my taste tester for all sauces and soups. He lets me know if what's cooking needs more spice, pepper, salt, or soy sauce.

Now that he's back in school, they have Library day. He has repeatedly checked out the same book so many times I've decided to buy it for him.

Emeril's There's a Chef in My Family!

He has 2 favorite recipes from here......

Baby Bam! - A spice mix, we put it on everything! Pasta, veggies, meat!
He loves the spice mix so much he doesn't allow me to use it!

Then there's the recipe for Chicken Parmesan:  Absolutely delicious!



A chef in the making! One with a refined pallet and a taste for veggies!