Whole-Grain Blueberry Muffins

A trick I realized when  making this recipe: If you don't have buttermilk you can substitute the same amount of milk with two drops of lemon essential oil. These whole-grain muffins were eaten in minutes.

Whole-Grain Blueberry Muffins
1 3/4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 cup whole wheat flour
3 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt
2 large eggs
3/4 cup wildflower honey
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups milk
2 drops lemon essential oil
1 1/2 cups blueberries

Preheat oven to 400.

In food processor or blender, pulse oats until resemble coarse meal.

In a large bowl, whisk flour, cinnamon, oats, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

In a cup mix milk and lemon essential oil.

In another bowl, mix eggs, honey, oil and vanilla until well blended. Mix in milk. Fold into flour mixture. Fold in berries.

Divide batter into muffin cups. Bake 18-23 minutes.

Patience and My Pew

I confess: I am a Country Living kind of gal. I have wishes and dreams of old-fashioned furniture, modeled just so, like the pages of a magazine.

The reality is I live in a six-year-old nondescript house, dressed with a blend of old woodwork, cheap, packed bookshelves and worn-down sofas and chairs. 

Most of my finds haven't taken much effort at all: an old school desk and chair found at an antique store; old dressers that belonged to my husband's grandfather. But really, nothing that screams "me."

And then I found Freecycle. Or it found me.

Until this point, Freecycle had been just a novelty to me, a way to put out calls for strange things like the long-lost DVR remote or to get rid of the random item that just hadn't made its way to Goodwill as yet.

And then one day a magical moment happened.

Someone was giving away pews. Lots of them. Free for the taking.

I'd idealized having a pew in my home, more of a decorative element than anything functional. And I figured when the time was right - when there was no college or grade-school tuition to pay; our debts were paid down - we would get one.

But on this day, Broad Ripple United Methodist Church was doing a massive renovation, and pews - handcrafted in the 1960s - were free for the taking.

I have to say, I've been impressed with the coordinated sweep it took to get those pews out to the homes in just a few hours time. And even more impressed that they thought to donate the wood to those who were interested. Pews found homes in everything from start-up churches to homes like mine.

Right now, my pew has found a temporary respite in the front of my house, while I make arrangements to pass along an old love seat to a new home. And I haven't decided still whether to keep the original finish or to strip it and stain it a nice cherry.

And while it may not be picture-perfect, I've been pleased with the moments this pew has already found - from my children playing "church" to little boys sneaking under it to play. And that beats a picturesque magazine shoot any day.

Removing paint fumes with essential oils

Preparing to paint your room? This is a tip from Modern Essentials I'll be sure to try during my repainting this spring:

Add one 15 ml bottle of essential oil (such as lemon oil or doTerra's Purify TM, Elevation TM or Citrus Bliss TM blends) to a five gallon bucket of paint. Stir it vigorously to mix.

You can buy these online by following my affiliate link.

Wake up with this body scrub

A simple shower scrub idea that doesn't require sugar, which always makes me feel sticky afterwards. Even better, it reuses those coffee grounds that my husband would typically toss in the trash.

Wake Up Shower Scrub

leftover coffee grounds from one pot of coffee

approx. 2 Tablespoons doTerra Fractionated Coconut Oil 4 Ounces or grapeseed oil (more or less depending on desired consistency)

15 drops grapefruit essential oil

Mix. Makes enough for multiple batches. 

It sounds strange, but trust me on this.

Looking for grapefruit essential oil or fractionated coconut oil? You can buy these online by following my affiliate link.

Easy Brownie Girl Scout Service Project: Plastic Lid Recycling

I'm a firm believer that service projects should be something the girls can do, not something that requires extra work from mom and dad. That's why I was thrilled to find a simple recycling project that ties into both the Brownie Household Elf badge and the Wonders of Water journey.

Last summer, I was reading Beth Terry's book, Plastic-Free: How I Kicked the Plastic Habit and How You Can Too, and stumbled on a nugget that cried out for girl involvement:

While no organism can digest plastic, there are quite a few animals that are harmed while trying: according to Greenpeace, at least 267 different species are known to have suffered from entanglement or ingestion of ocean plastic debris, including seabirds, turtles, seals, sea lions, whales, and fish.38 Leatherback sea turtles choke on plastic bags they mistake for food; Laysan albatross chicks starve with their bellies full of plastic bottle caps and lighters...

But how can second graders in Indiana make a difference in the world's water? By becoming aware ad learning how recycling can impact our world.

I thought, let's do a plastic project that won't require a lot of space or mess, and will bring to their attention all the plastic that we use.

For a month, the girls were challenged to collect all the plastic lids they could. While we didn't charge them to specifically look for No. 5 plastic, we asked them to look for clean lids from milk jugs, water bottles, soda bottles, prescription bottles, etc. The girls were asked to bring them to the February meeting, with the girl collecting the most winning a water prize (in this case, a "snow" making science kit that we stumbled on at clearance.)

The girls collected more than 300 lids - which, compacted, fits into about a half of a cookie case. The lids will be sent to CapsNCups, based in Evansville, Ind., which collects bottle caps and No. 5 plastic cups to downcycle into an array of secondary products ranging from mud flaps to stadium seats. Even better, since I have family in Evansville, we won't waste the shipping and will just bring the box to them at our next visit.



Need other service project ideas for Daisies or Brownies? Check out previous posts on Christmas shoeboxes and shoe collections for tornado victims through Soles for Souls.