Christy’s Simple Tips–How to Clean a Coffee Pot

How to Clean Burned Coffee From a Coffee Pot | TheSimpleHomemaker.com

You know the smell. Someone forgot to turn off the coffee maker and now you’ve got burned-on coffee stuck to the coffee pot until the end of time if not longer. Relax. I’ve got the inside trade secret on how to get that ooey gooey stinky stuff out.

How to Clean a Coffee Pot

  1. Allow the coffee pot to cool completely. This is important, so you skimmers and shortcutters better not skip this step. You’ve been warned.
  2. Toss in two or three spoonfuls of salt, a handful or two of ice, and a couple splashes of lemon juice.
  3. Swish it around—you know, hold the coffee pot and swish; don’t bother getting a spoon and stirring or anything as complex as that. That only results in more dishes needing washing.
  4. Watch in amazement and awe as the goo loosens.
  5. When finished, rinse with cool water.
  6. Repeat if necessary, depending on how long your coffee pot was neglected.

No lemon juice, no problem. Any acidic kitchen liquid will do just fine, like plain ol’ cheap ol’ white vinegar. In the restaurant biz we used lemons because we always had them on hand and already sliced at the end of a shift, so it was easy to grab, squeeze, and toss the whole shebang into the pot…almost every night…because we were so-not-good at remembering the coffee.

I knew my restaurant experience would come in handy. Now if I could only find a use for my college degree.

Contact me to submit your favorite simple tips for publication and a link to your blog or website from Christy’s Simple Tips.

 

How to Give Ebooks as Gifts (Even to People Who Don’t Use Computers)

Giving electronic gifts used to mean giving electronics. Now it means sending a file through cyber space to someone else’s stocking electronic device. I can’t entirely wrap my mind around this, but two things about it I really love:

  1. No wrapping paper mess.
  2. Books…lots and lots and lots of books requiring very little money or shelf space.

So how does one give ebooks as gifts, especially with Christmas around the corner?

How to Give Ebooks as Christmas Gifts (Even to Someone Who Never Reads Ebooks)

Allow me to offer you my simple ideas. (If you’re looking for something complicated, Non-Techie Mama is burying her head in the sand.)

How to Give Ebooks as Gifts

Sending a PDF from your computer:

  1. Write an email to the recipient.
  2. Click “attach file” or whatever your email provider uses, such as a paperclip icon.
  3. Locate and select the ebook you want, which should be easy since you just organized your entire ebook library!
  4. Send the email.
  5. Delete the ebook from your own files. Why? Because you purchased one license to that book, and by having two copies, you would be breaking copyright law and could go to jail forever. Okay, that last part’s a lie, but the authors did work very hard to write that book, and you’re robbing them by duplicating it.

Gifting E-reader Books

  • If you are sending a Kindle book as a gift, check out Amazon’s thorough and simple gifting guide. Remember, recipients do not need a Kindle to be able to read a Kindle book on other electronic devices, such as a PC or smartphone. They can download the free Kindle reading app.
  • If your recipient prefers Nook books (that’s so Seussian), check out Barnes and Noble’s gifting page…although I personally don’t find B&N’s Nook options as user-friendly as Amazon’s Kindle world.

How To Give Ebooks to Non-Techies

Face it, not everyone is totally in love with the technological age. That doesn’t mean you can’t take advantage of the affordable gift-giving potential of ebooks. Simply print the bundles front and back and package them in an attractive and useful manner. Some ebook authors post the pictures at the end of their books instead of interspersed throughout, in case you want to save ink and skip the pictures. Savvy.

Copyright alert: If you print the entire book to give away, you must still delete it from your files. Otherwise it’s like photocopying an entire book for someone else. Not legal! If you only print a recipe or a poem or a bit of encouragement here and there from different books, that’s no different than copying over a recipe from a hardcopy book. Just make sure you give credit to the author always! At least, that’s how I understand it. If my next post comes to you from the penitentiary, don’t take my advice.

Here are some printed ebook gifting options. Any appropriate ebooks would do. This is just a sampling of my ideas to trigger your creative side:

You get the picture. Print them attractively or practically, and make it the entire gift, add a few supplies or related items, or add it to a bigger gift as the icing on the Christmas cake. You are limited only by your creativity…or by my creativity if you’re not thinking at all.

I’d love to hear your best e-book gifting ideas.

How to Organize Ebooks (and Create Your Own Library) in 5 Simple Steps

This post contains affiliate links. They don’t bite, so don’t be afraid of them. If you purchase something through my affiliate link, I receive a portion of the proceeds at no additional cost to you. It’s kinda like a great big thank you for my time.

How To Organize Ebooks Pinnable

Just as real books in the real world can cause a real big mess real fast, ebooks in the e-world can become e-clutter. They can get all jumbled up so you don’t know what’s what and can’t find what you’re looking for when you need it. Even e-clutter makes me shudder. Shudder. See?

Stocking up on useful-to-you ebooks allows you to create an amazing resource library, but it’s a waste of time and money if you can’t find them when you need them. That totally used to be me, but not anymore! Is that your dilemma?

Never fear! Librarian-Wanna-Be is here! I’ve got your back with my ultra-simple ebook organization method.

How To Organize Ebooks in 5 Simple Steps

Simple Step #1: Create a Folder for Your Library

  1. Right click on your desktop.
  2. Scroll down to “new” and click.
  3. Scroll down to “folder” and click.
  4. A folder will pop up on your desktop with the current name, “New Folder” highlighted. Type over “New Folder” and hit “enter” to give it a pretty name. I call mine “Christy,” because that’s a pretty name. 🙂 Not really; I call it “Library,” because I always wanted a library. We will henceforth refer to it as “Library.”
  5. Double click on “Library” to open it up. You now have this image:

How to Organize Ebooks 2b

Because I share my computer with all my minions, I have my own “Christy” folder on my desktop. I created my “Library” folder within my “Christy” folder on my desktop. If you want your “Library” folder inside of your version of a “Christy” folder on your desktop or anywhere else, just drag and drop your newly created Library folder into your “Christy” folder, or create a “Library” subfolder by performing step 2 below inside your “Christy” folder. When I double click on “Christy,” it opens up to the image below, where you can see my “Library” is located:

How to Organize Ebooks

Simple Step #2: Create Subfolders Within Your Library

  1. Either simply click “New Folder” in your open “Library” window and skip to 5, or follow the next three steps.
  2. Right click anywhere within the Library window.
  3. Scroll down to “new” and click.
  4. Scroll down to “folder” and click. (Is this sounding redundant? Yawn.)
  5. Type in a category for your books. Categorize by genre, topic, alphabet, whatever tickles your organizational fancy. I categorized by use, such as recipes, homeschooling, getting fit–that folder’s dusty. (It’s really called health and beauty…and it is dusty.)

Simple Step #3: Create Subfolders for Current Reads and Duplicates to Use as Gifts

  1. Create a subfolder for books you’re currently reading or that are on your immediate “Read This Now!” list. I began my “Current Reading List” or “Ahem! Read This Now!” folder with an “A” so it sat at the top of my other folders as a nagging reminder. Nag nag nag.
  2. Create another subfolder for duplicate books or those that came as part of a bundle but which you don’t want or need. This is important to keep down clutter. These can be used as gifts or as giveaways. (Learn how to give ebooks as gifts without breaking copyright laws or selling your soul.) I began my “Duplicates” or “Zany Gift Basket” folder with a “Z” so it was bumped to the bottom of my folder line-up where it’s out of the way, but I’ll know where to look for it.

How to organize Ebooks 2

Simple Step #4: Create Subcategories Within Subfolders

  1. Double click to open one of your topic folders, such as my “Homeschool” folder.
  2. Repeat step 2 within that folder to create subcategories. These can go as deep as you want, although I’ve never actually tested that theory, nor will I. I do, after all, have a life and an extensive “Ahem! Read This Now!” folder calling my name.

How to Organize Ebooks 3

 Simple Step #5

  1. Locate your downloaded ebooks.
  2. Right click on the ebook of your choice.
  3. Scroll down to “cut” and click.
  4. Locate and double click to open the folder of your choice in your “Library.”
  5. Right click in the window.
  6. Scroll down to “paste” and click.
  7. Alternatively, open the window where you currently store your ebooks and open the “Library” in a separate window. Drag and drop each book to its respective folder.
  8. From now on, save each book to its respective folder. That’s a good librarian.

Where do I get my ebooks for my ebook resource library?

  1. I subscribe to four and soon-to-be only three newsletters that offer freebie alerts. Two are specific to my homeschooling approach, one is a generic homeschool site that I’m booting soon, and one is a general frugality site. I skim them quickly and am very selective about what I download.
  2. I save freebies offered as newsletter subscription bonuses for sites I follow at one season of life or another. Eventually I unsubscribe if that blog overwhelms me or is no longer relevant to my life.
  3. I receive them as gifts. Ebooks make great gifts. I talk about that here.
  4. I occasionally buy a book specific to my homeschooling, homemaking, writing, or blogging needs, usually on sale.
  5. I occasionally purchase a mega-bundle, mostly for the bonuses to be honest. Even if I’m only interested in 5 or 6, it’s cheaper to buy the whole bundle than those few separately. The rest go in my “Zany Gift Basket” folder.
  6. I keep my eye on the Bundle of the Week, 5 related books for $7.40. Usually I pass, because I don’t like to spend too much money and I already have other books on the same topics, but sometimes I jump.
  7. I write my own! Ha ha! Except I’m not joking. (If you’re keen on that idea, check out From Idea to Ebook, an affordable course to help you write and market your own ebooks.)

Now get to organizing, and enjoy your library! Librarian-Wanna-Be signing out!

How do you organize your ebooks?

From Idea to eBook Online Course

BundleoftheWeek.com, 5 eBooks for $7.40!

Why Are You on The Tummy Team If You Don’t Have a Pooch!

When I announced that I was part of The Tummy Team, I heard quite a few remarks like this:

  • But you don’t even have a pooch!
  • But you look good for having seven kids! (I always wonder if that’s a veiled insult. If you looked like this after two kids, whoa and yikes, but the fact that you gave birth seven times and you’re standing mostly vertical is amazing.)
  • Why are you so hard on yourself? You shouldn’t be expected to look perfect.

And my favorite, which gets an extra cookie for creativity and making me laugh:

  • You’re not qualified to review this! That’s like putting a 20-something on a Depends commercial.

To this I say yes and no…or no and yes.

The fact is that appearance-wise, no, my abs have never been much of a problem area. I carry my imperfections a bit lower. (If there’s a Butt and Thigh Team, sign me up!) Plus I keep my clothes on, which does quite a bit for my overall look. I recommend that fashion statement—fully clothed—to people everywhere.

The other fact is that, despite my general lack of excessive pooch, yes, I am an ideal candidate for The Tummy Team.

The Tummy Team can help YOU fix your pooch, back pain, bladder leakage, and more!

You see, Friends, The Tummy Team is not only about how you look. That’s just a side benefit. It’s about strengthening the integral structure of the core of your body. It’s about giving your foundation an overhaul, healing the cracks and stabilizing the supporting beams. To borrow a term from Kelly, The Tummy Team Master as I like to call her, it’s strengthening your “corset,” the abdominal muscle that runs from your spine all the way around to the center of your abs, up to your ribs, and down to your pelvis.

When your corset has its rear in gear and is supporting you like it’s supposed to, everything works better. For me that means a few vital things:

1. The spine is supported.

My goal in that area is that my posture will improve, which is an enormous issue for me. I have weak “standing up” muscles and pop my hips out one way or the other like a dancing girl from the 80s. I also slump my shoulders, stick out my tummy, and rest my hands, purse, or baby on the resulting “shelf.” It ain’t pretty. (Well, the baby’s pretty…just not the shelf.) Stronger sit-and-stand muscles are useful for everything I do in a day, except, maybe, doing my Shaggy imitation. I need them to work for me, not against me.

I also have frequent pain from mild scoliosis in my upper back, an over-extended lower back, and a forward-protruding neck. I’m a vision. I used to visit the chiropractor for realigning my spine and for fixing an extremely painful rib displacement, but I didn’t have the muscle control to hold it all where it needed to be. Plus, on the road, it’s tricky to find a chiropractor…and some of them are expensive. I’m hoping my muscles can help prevent future problems, ‘cuz I don’t want pain or the depression into which it plunges a person.

2. The organs function better.

I like well-functioning organs as much as the next guy, but I’m more concerned about my daughter Hannah, whose organs have to last longer than mine do, and who was handed an extra challenge to rise above in the form of her Crohn’s Disease. The program should help her overall digestion and intestinal function as part of her gradual big-picture survive-and-thrive healing protocol.

3. The surrounding muscles operate more reliably.

I don’t want to become a 40-something on a Depends commercial. I had seven children. That’s 63 beautiful months of pregnancy…well, the puking wasn’t so pretty. Besides the extra silly putty skin seven pregnancies have left around my middle (great for entertaining the kids) those seven beauties did a number on my bladder. I mean, like a tap dance number. I had one particularly difficult pregnancy during which I got severely ill with  bronchitis during the later stages, and coughing and sneezing and leaking was out of control. My pelvic floor muscle (the one that keeps people off the Depends commercials) isn’t what it used to be. Sneezing on a full bladder used to be a problem. I want to make that an un-problem, and I’m seeing baby steps in that area.

I will admit that learning proper kegals in week four is hard. It’s hard. But, hey, I’m exercising a muscle. Pull-ups are hard if you don’t do them. And, just like pull-ups, it’s getting easier. That’s exciting to me. Not like chocolate and pie exciting, but super close!

Did she just admit she leaks when she sneezes? Yes, I did! Honestly, People, you should know by now that I keep it real.

Physically prepare your core for pregnancy, labor, delivery and recovery after your precious baby arrives.

4. The back is stronger overall.

That means I can carry my baby longer. Does that need any further explanation?

5. The brain and body learn to work together properly in the real world.

Through Kelly’s training, we are learning everything from how to get out of bed to proper potty posture (yeah, there’s some potty talk). Applying what we’re learning helps prevent further damage or future re-injury, and it enables us to exercise those muscles in a practical, everyday manner, until it becomes second nature. It’s not unlike word problems in math. Some of you are saying “Oh, I get it,” and the rest of you are saying, “I hate math.” Hating math is irrelevant. The point is that if you can subtract 75 from 100, but you can’t figure out that paying a buck for a 75-cent chocolate bar gives you 25 cents in change, your math training was useless. The Tummy Team teaches you how to make change.

6. The abdominal region looks more “even” and controlled.

A side benefit to all of this is that the abdominal region doesn’t pooch out. I don’t mind a little pooching, because I don’t expect to look like a supermodel. I was given brains over beauty. (Ha, little joke there. Ha. I’m not really that full of myself. Ha. Ha. Hmmm. Okay, not funny.)  I do, however, mind pooching when I know it’s putting excess strain on my back and making it harder for me to live life the way I’m supposed to. Plus, I am 40, which my husband tells me rounds up to 50. I know whatever pooch I’m dealing with now will only get bigger over the next ten years and exacerbate any current problems. I’m not cool with that. I’m not really cool at all, but that’s irrelevant.

There you go. That’s it in a nutshell…or a bowl of nuts, really. That’s why I’m part of The Tummy Team. Plus this girl, Kelly, she’s super sweet, smart, and helpful, and really has a heart for helping people. Love her!

Kelly of The Tummy Team can help YOU fix your pooch, back pain, bladder leakage, and more!

Have I seen improvement?

Indeed I have. I have gained an awareness of my core (yeah, a month ago I would have said SO WHAT?! to that, too.) and have “engaged” it to be an active, helpful participator in my life, not just a droopy little tag-along. What does that mean? I’m stronger! My posture is better. Hannah’s middle is toning up and trimming out. The exercises from the first week that seemed to puny became hard, and then easy, and now they’re second nature. Second nature is a pretty big deal for someone who forgets to brush her teeth some nights.

I’ll be talking to you a little more about this in a couple weeks, and about 0ne particular benefit I’ve seen that I’m excited about. Plus, Hannah and I will be sharing our progress and hosting a giveaway after we have graduated. If you’re not a subscriber, jump on board to get the low-down on the giveaway. Maybe there will be cookies. (Cookies don’t contribute to a pooch. Yes, I’m in denial.)

If you have any questions I can answer in my next review, please let me know in the comments below, or check out The Tummy Team.

(As of 11/14/13, I am an affiliate for The Tummy Team, so this post now contains affiliate links.)

Can You Use the Ultimate Healthy Living Ebook Bundle as You Simplify?

Before you read this post, I want you to know something. I want you to know that every time I am asked to participate in a bundle sale, I struggle. I struggle with the idea of introducing you to 86 ebooks and an e-course and 9 bonuses, because that’s a lot of stuff. I preach simplifying, and having a lot of stuff is not simplifying. Second, while there are some excellent items in here, I don’t have the time to read through all the ebooks, so I can’t personally recommend each one, and that matters to me. I don’t preach “fear” to my readers, and I can’t guarantee the bundle isn’t 100% fear-free. Third, I receive a commission on every purchase you make through my link, and, while I love that you support The Simple Homemaker site through your purchases, I never want you to think I’m promoting something just for the money, and I don’t ever want you to feel pressured to buy. That’s why I often say “no” when I’m invited to share these deals with you.

So why am I participating? Because some of these resources are excellent, the price is amazing, Christmas is coming (think gifts), and there are a good many people who could benefit from this bundle. If it’s not you, please don’t feel pressured to purchase, and please don’t unsubscribe just because I’m sharing a great deal with others who may be interested. If you want to unsubscribe because of my lame humor, I totally get that. Thanks for listening. Onward!

Ebook bundle sales are a growing trend in the ebook world. The team at Ultimate Bundles know this, so they worked hard at making this Healthy Living Bundle totally worth your while. Totally! I for one think they could have made it better…if they coated it all in chocolate. Ha ha. Little joke. It wouldn’t hurt you to laugh. Ooookay, then, moving onward.

Read the details about the Ultimate Healthy Living Bundle here.

Here’s my super brief summary of the Ultimate Bundle. (You don’t think I can be super brief, do you? Just watch!):

  • 86-ebook library worth $809
  • FREE 12-week online conference with over 40 authors worth $67
  • 9 FREE physical and online bonuses worth $158
  • Total value of $1034 for $29.97

See, that is ultimate! (And I was super brief. Apology accepted.)

Get the full scoop on the Ultimate Bundle here.

Now I want to tell you from my perspective who would benefit from this bundle so you don’t spend superfluously or complicate your life. While you’re skimming through, keep your eyes open for anything that will help simplify your life. Simplify! For example, in my season of life, making my own beauty products is not simplifying, but whipping up 15-minute freezer meals totally is. Adding to your load is not simplifying! Cluttering your life with things you will never get to is not simplifying! Building a solid resource library to meet current or future needs is simplifying. Get it? Good. Onward.

Who could benefit from this healthy living collection?

1) Anyone wanting to cook healthier, tastier meals for their family.

Real Food

2) Anyone with a hubby and kiddos who want you to break free from the usual breakfast, lunch, and dinner ruts so easy to fall into.

More Food

3) People dealing with food allergies who would like help, fresh ideas, and encouragement from others who have been there. I totally empathize with this. It can be overwhelming!

Allergies

4) Anyone wanting to clean without chemicals and not wanting to scour the web for “green-clean” recipes. I’m in this boat, but I don’t have the time to move beyond a few basics without complicating my life right now. This is therefore not an immediate selling point for me, except that it could be a valuable part of a resource library for the future. (I show you how to organize a ebook library later this week.)

green

5) Anyone who is not me who wants to fit exercise into her day. Ahem. Oh, and anyone who is me who wants more energy. Hmmm. Correlation? Nah.

get fit

6) Your kids, who want homemade sweets from a mama who may want to be cutting back on sugar. That’s totally me…and my kids…and my man.

Treats

7) Your hubby, who totally wants to smooch your ruby red lips without eating your lipstick made from coal-tar, lead, and aphid-cousins. Um, gag! He’ll appreciate the recipe for homemade lip balm so you can ditch the stick. Who needs bright red, anyway!

Beauty

8) Those of you interested in stocking a more natural medicine cabinet.

Natural Remedies

9) Anyone experiencing emotional or physical difficulty that life throws our way. Sometimes we need to stop everything else and get these aspects of life in order to be able to move forward.

Life Troubles

10) Your brown thumb–the one that always wanted to become a green thumb. Mine is doomed to be brown forever.

Green thumb

11) Anyone who eats more than once or twice a week–the meal plan tools will be a big hit. Check out that homeschool version. I am all about meal planning! This is a crucial aspect to a simple home!

Meal plans

12) Anyone wanting to enjoy life a little more and stress a little less.  Hello! They’re totally preaching to the choir here! I should have written those books. 🙂

Destress and Enjoy

13) Anyone that wants to be armed with an extensive library of natural, healthy, and practical solutions to the wacky situations life can throw at a person in a day, or who wants to gift others!

Other stuff

And there’s much, much more!

Did you see yourself in any of those? I did…but not in the lipstick-wearing one. I don’t like to freak my readers out, but that’s just disgusting. If I wore lipstick, I would totally be buying this…even though I already bought it.

Check out the Ultimate Bundle here…especially if you wear lipstick! 😉

Here are a few extra reasons you may want to buy:

  1. Skim through the included books and see if there are a few you have been wanting. If the total price of the books you want is more than the total bundle, buy the whole thing for less cash and download only the ones you want, or download them all and give the rest away.
  2. Christmas is coming. You can use ebooks as gifts. More on giving ebooks as gifts here.
  3. You want the laundry detergent for free, which is regularly almost as much as the entire bundle.
  4. You want any of the other bonuses.
  5. You want to host a giveaway or 86 giveaways on your own blog or launch a blog with a giveaway.
  6. You want to build a resource library for future use. (I teach you how to organize your ebook library here.)
  7. You want to read all the books this week and show up next Monday at the office or homeschool co-op totally smarter than anyone else…ever! (That’s really why I bought it, since I don’t wear lipstick. Just so you know, you won’t learn how to make lipstick–it’s lip balm)

Learn how to get smarter than anyone else…ever! 😉

Who should not buy this bundle?

  • My mom and sister-in-law who don’t read ebooks.
  • My grandma, whose computer doesn’t work and who doesn’t have a Kindle or smart phone or smart anything else…except a smart husband…and a super-smart granddaughter…at least after she reads all these books! 😉
  • My dog, who doesn’t have opposable thumbs and can’t read very well.
  • Anyone who gets a few too many wrong answers in “When a Good Deal Isn’t.”

Get the details on the bundle by clicking here

or skip the middle man (which is me–hi!) and

click here to go straight to the Ultimate Bundle site to buy.

You can also try out the buy button, which is much more fun. Wheeee.

(That last link is an affiliate link. That means if you purchase the bundle through that link, I receive a commission at no extra cost to you. It’s how I buy ebooks to get super smart and homeschool books to make super smart kids.)

 

 

Ultimate Information on the Ultimate Healthy Living Bundle Sale

Bundle sales are a growing trend in the ebook marketing world. The team at Ultimate Bundles knows this, which is why they worked to make this Ultimate Healthy Living Bundle the best yet! Click here to read my thoughts on the bundle and who might benefit from it.

Here’s what the Ultimate Bundles team says:

Providing you with fabulously useful eBook resources is what we, the team behind Ultimate Bundles, are all about. This year we decided to throw caution to the wind and make the package more of a no-brainer than ever before.

What’s in the Bundle?

Get Educated 

We took 86 eBooks (plus 1 eCourse) by popular bloggers on topics like real food & recipes, green living, natural cleaning and beauty, mental and emotional health, fitness, herbal remedies and more.

Get Mentored

Then we added the brand new “Coffee Table Conversations,” a 12-week series of author mentorship through interactive online conference calls and private support groups.

Get Equipped

We finished it off with 9 bonus sponsors offering you $150+ of incredible products and services to help you along your way. This includes bonuses like $25.98 of FREE eco-friendly laundry detergent from Dizolve (because we all need clean clothes). This bonus nearly makes up for the entire cost of the bundle!

How Much Does the Bundle Cost?

Ultimate: Maximum; decisive; conclusive. The best or most extreme of its kind.

We wouldn’t call it the “ultimate” bundle if it wasn’t true.

As our hard-working team pulled together the Ultimate Healthy Living 2013 Bundle Sale, we had 3 basic goals: to put a comprehensive health library at your fingertips, to offer something for everyone, and to provide so much value for an itty-bitty price that it would be irresistible.

In a nutshell? This bundle is brimming with more than 80 ebook and ecourse resources, from authors and bloggers known as authorities in their fields.

For less than $30, you can pick up your own bundle complete with more than $800 of ebooks, $67 of interactive “coffee table conversations” with their authors, and $158 of products and services to help you on your way toward healthier living. That’s over a $1,000 value!

But you don’t want to wait! This bundle is available for only 6 days, from 8 a.m. (EST) on Monday, November 4th to 11:59pm (EST) on Saturday, November 9th.

Get yours now for just $29.97!

Buy Now

What’s Included in the eBook Library? ($800+ value)

Real Food Cookbooks

Allergy-Friendly/Special Diets

Menu Planning/Meal Prep

Natural Skincare

Natural Health

Healthy Lifestyle

Fitness

Gardening/Sustainability

Green Living

Special Health Concerns

Healthy Kids & Babies

Learning About Real/Whole Foods

What are Coffee Table Conversations? ($67 value)

For 12 weeks starting in January 2014, we’ll offer a series of weekly one-hour live conference calls, where you can join in and ask your questions on relevant and timely healthy living topics to a panel of eBook authors. We’ll look at issues like allergy-friendly cooking, fighting fatigue (and finding energy!), eating well on a tight budget, an introduction to alternative health and herbal remedies, and tips and tricks for making real food in less time. You’ll be able to listen to authors converse with each other on any (or all) of the 12 calls that you choose to take part in, and get answers to your questions in real time!

We’ll also provide a private Facebook group, where that week’s “mentors” will pop in as often as they can and chat with you on the topics at hand. Talk about up-close and personal learning!

What are the Healthy Living Bonus Offers? ($150+ value)

  1. Dizolve—A FREE 128 Load Twin-Pack of Dizolve Natural Laundry Detergent. Dizolve laundry detergent strips are an innovative, phosphate-free way to clean your clothes. ($25.98 Value. Standard shipping rates apply. Limited to the first 5,000.)
  2. Bulk Herb Store—An instant download of their instructional video Making Herbs Simple Volume 1 for only 1 cent. ($14.95 Value. No shipping restrictions.)
  3. Wise Choice Market—A FREE $15 store credit to be used at Wise Choice Market on the Finest Real Food around, including traditionally-made bone broths, organic fermented vegetables, wild salmon, sprouted breads, and many more. ($15.00 Value. Standard shipping rates and restrictions apply.)
  4. Fit2Be Studio—A FREE Two-Month Membership to Fit2B Studio (for new members) where their wholesome workouts for the whole family are TummySafe™and particularly target Diastasis Recti. Current members may apply the coupon code for $20 off a 1-year membership. ($19.98 value. No shipping restrictions.)
  5. Jenuinely Pure—A $15 discount off of any $30 order to be used at Jenuinely Pure on the beautifully-crafted natural skincare products. Make the switch to natural skincare with Jenuinely Pure. ($15.00 Value. Standard shipping rates apply.)
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Simple Tips for Baking with Stevia and Xylitol {Guest Post}

Today we have a guest writer, cookbook author Sarah from Whole Intentions. Be on your best behavior please. 🙂

You all know my stance on the real food movement, but just because I refuse to scare the pants off of you with all the doom and gloom about food (I don’t want a bunch o’ readers in their skivvies) doesn’t mean I’m not generally careful about how I feed my family. On the flip side, just because I want effortless food perfection going into the bodies I love, doesn’t mean I get it. I also don’t get Alton Brown and Paula Deen fixing dinner in the travel trailer. It’s a life of compromise.

One area of family life that has seen some compromise is sweeteners. My main squeeze likes a bit o’ sweet, but sugar gives me…trouble. Our dads have diabetes, so sugar has the potential to give my kids quite a bit of trouble, too. Therefore we explored the world of stevia, a natural sweetener extracted from the stevia plant. (Yeah, I know cyanide is natural, too. Just for today, let’s not go there. We’ll scare away our guest.)

When Sarah and Paula wrote me about guest posting about natural sweeteners as part of their new e-cookbook launch and massive giveaway, my tummy growled. (Yeah, I think with my stomach.) Sugarless sweets made with a natural sweetener are right up my alley…as long as they don’t have that nasty aftertaste that the fake sweeteners have. Blech and gag. No thanks! Sarah touches on that in her tips below.

Speaking of tips, let’s get to it! Readers, meet Sarah from Whole Intentions. Sarah, my amazing readers. (Oo, oo, readers, check out tip number six. Sweet!)

Disclosure: All the links to the Whole Intentions site are my affiliate links. 

Simple Tips for Baking with Stevia and Xylitol

Guest Post from Sarah of Whole Intentions

During September, I had the pleasure of creating 40 dessert recipes using purely stevia and xylitol as the sweeteners. My friend Paula, who blogs at Whole Intentions, and I got this whacky idea that we’d write a cookbook. We’ll both tell you that the Lord’s hand was over the entire process because we could never have imagined that at month’s end we’d have over 70 recipes to share!

Both Paula and I have suffered with candida. Our personal struggles combined with our love for baking lead us to write The Sweeter Side of Candida. In my introduction, I wrote that the process of writing these recipes was, “almost like medicine to my soul as I created them with the anticipation that they might help some of you continue in your journey to health.” But this cookbook is definitely not just for those who suffer from candida. It’s for anyone trying to avoid refined sugar, to lose weight, or to just be healthy!

Our month-long course of baking boot camp (or paradise, for me) taught us quite a few things about our dear friends stevia and xylitol. As people tested our recipes, they couldn’t believe there was no “sweetener” aftertaste that so often comes with using sugar alternatives. Paula and I both believe that using the following “tricks” create the beautiful marriage of flavors that will delight you.

Lemon BlondiesStevia and Xylitol Baking Tips

Here are our favorite MAKE-NOTE-OF-THESE tips:

1.) There are a LOT of brands of stevia, as we’re sure you’re well aware. Some brands are sweeter than others, some have an aftertaste, some are cheap, some are spendy, and then there’s all those off-shoot brands like Truvia (more on that here).

This makes it hard to follow any cookbook that uses stevia unless you’re all using the same brand. Even Paula and I don’t use the same brand! 🙂

Every time we mention stevia in our cookbook, we say to use it ‘to taste’. You’ll probably want to ring our necks for being so vague, but really, there’s no other way around it.

The best words of advice we can give is to start out sprinkling it. Taste test, and sprinkle a little more. Stevia is a LOT sweeter than sugar (like 200-300 times sweeter), so you definitely don’t want to use equal proportions, however there is such a thing as too much stevia which can make your baked goods have a bitter aftertaste. So be sure to play, taste – play, taste. . .

2.) Stevia and salt are best friends. Some things simply taste better when they’re together. So is true with stevia and salt. You’ll find that nearly every recipe in The Sweeter Side of Candida calls for ‘a pinch of celtic sea salt’ and ‘stevia to taste’.

Stevia and salt have made friendship bracelets, buried a time capsule, and promised to be best friends until the day they die. Do. Not. Separate. 😉

Mock Cinnabons

3. Sometimes xylitol needs to be powdered first. Xylitol doesn’t dissolve as easily as refined white sugar does, so in some recipes it’s best to grind it first in a coffee grinder or high-powered blender so it’s more like powdered sugar. In some of our recipes we measured already powdered xylitol, and in others we measure the granules and then powdered them.

4. Stevia and xylitol compliment each other. Like a good marriage we’ve found that when a recipe seems like something is missing, it comes together beautifully when both sweeteners are used. Some recipes can stand alone with just one or the other, but others needed them both for that finishing touch (cue violin music).

There’s no right or wrong way to use these two sweeteners, but we found that Paula likes to add stevia first and then top it off with xylitol whereas I like to start off with xylitol. Each method works well.

If you want to play around with your own recipes, here is a good Sugar Conversion Chart.

5. Use a bit more sweetener in recipes you’re baking or freezing. When you’re using stevia or xylitol in a recipe that you’ll be baking or freezing, get it to the point of perfection, and then add just a tad more. When it’s almost too sweet – it’s perfect. Baking and freezing seem to subdue the sweeteners.

6. Get a spoon, dip your finger, or swipe the beaters. You have our complete and total permission (like you need it!) to taste your batters, dough, and frostings to tweak the sweetness factor to your liking. Just be sure there’s enough to bake with. 😉 We both taste all of our batters (a lot!) to make sure that they’re just right, so don’t be shy, taste away!

The Sweeter Side of Candida

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Need recipes that will help you stay healthy, lose weight, and fight candida? We can help! This cookbook is *not* only for those who suffer from candida. It’s for anyone who wants to lose weight and/or stay healthy too!

Thank you, ladies, for sharing with us today!

Do you use stevia or xylitol in your baking?