Making natural antibacterial soap one gallon under 4 dollars

Get a good bar of soap, I used a pretty big bar, all natural oatmeal exfoliant soap from trader joe's. It was like $3. Vegan, and no lye (which is bad for your skin)

Shave your bar of soap with a cheese grater.

Bring about 1 gallon of water to a boil.

Add your shaved soap and stir.

Add a tablespoon or so of honey, a tablespoon or so of vegetable glycerin or rose water glycerin..

Now to make it antibacterial you can add witch hazel, tea tree oil, alcohol, peroxide, oil of oregano, a combination of things... You could also add things like vanilla extract for fragrance!

This particular batch I used tea tree oil and some witch hazel.

stir until everything is well blended, and let sit for 12 hours.

After 12 hours, use an immersion blender to make everything well incorporated.

You can also stir, and mix in batches in a kitchenaid, or use a hand mixer.

After it is evenly mix, use a funnel and a wooden spoon to pour it into a one gallon container.

I use empty iced tea gallon jugs from trader joe's, because they are BPA free and downright awesome! They even have a handle, how convenient!

Spilled some on the floor, Oh well, I used it to mop the floors, worked heavenly.

The end result:

Ewwww grossss..
If you can't stand the way it looks add some food coloring or use a different soap! I might get a lavender bar next time. You will also notice it doesn't get crazy sudsy, this is mainly because it is all natural, and does not contain sodium lauryl sulfate-- a foaming agent. I might experiment with hydrogen peroxide. hmmm

Pasta primavera with shrimp asparagus broccoli peas spinach and organic whole wheat pasta

This is one of my favorite recipes, it's delicious, super healthy packed with protein, vitamins, and it's low in fat!
If you are gluten free I would recommend a quinoa/corn pasta, or an organic corn pasta.

Ingredients:

• organic extra virgin olive oil
• organic sweet onion
• organic garlic
• fresh or frozen organic broccoli
• fresh asparagus (organic if available)
• organic frozen peas
• organic/pesticide free frozen spinach (can also use fresh)
• organic free range chicken broth
• fresh organic basil--about 1 large handul
• lemon juice
• sea salt
• organic oregano
• cleaned and devined raw wild caught shrimp (thawed) >>> you can use cooked shrimp, just warm them do not overcook
• organic whole wheat pasta >rotelle or fusili is best

So I didn't take a million pics along the way for this recipe, Hopefully all my readers have read my prior recipes, or know how to cook...

1. Examine your shrimp. Call me crazy, but all the shrimp you buy, that says CLEANED! DEVEINED! READY TO EAT!, ALL LIES. hahaha. So "they" say the shrimp is cleaned, but... it's not!! Take a look at your shrimp. It's a C shape. Take a sharp knife along the belly, the inner part of the C. Make a small slice, make sure there is no vein or poop, slice all the way to the top, a very shallow slice, don't tear the thing apart. Do the same with the outer part of the C. You'll find some lovely stringy stuff and brown poo. Whenever you go to a restaurant, you usually eat this, because they can't be bothered properly cleaning it! Yum! Place cleaned shrimp in a bowl, and rinse with water a few times.
2. Bring a large pot of water to a boil while you cook everything else.
3. Heat some olive oil on medium-low in a non stick cooking pan,or stainless steel. (I like Green pan- no pofa's)
4. While you heat your oil, finely chop about half of a medium onion. Toss it into the hot pan.
5. While the onion heats up, finely chop about half a head of garlic, like 7 or so cloves. Don't do less. This blog is about amazing recipes, not some baby-kid-stuff-wah-I-don't-like-garlic. If you don't like chunks of garlic use a garlic press/crusher. But use 7 cloves anyway! 
6. Stir the onion, once it starts to soften add the garlic, stir, cook for a minute or two..
7. Now, what comes next all depends on if your using fresh or frozen, and what veggies... It should go like this...
8. Add enough chicken broth to coat the bottom of the pan, more as needed.. Add a few squirts of lemon juice.
9. Add you fresh or frozen broccoli, cover, and steam for 2-3 minutes. Stir.
10. Then add your trimmed asparagus (cut into 2 inch pieces) cover cook for 2 minutes longer.. stir
11. add frozen peas , and frozen spinach.. stir and cover. add more chicken broth or oil as needed. Simmer on low, stirring and checking occasionally.
12. By now hopefully your water is boiling for the pasta.. salt the water, add a touch of oil, and add your pasta, 2/3 lb or so. Set a timer for 6 min, or test until al dente.
13. In a separate small pan, heat some olive oil on medium heat. Add your shrimp. flip half way. When the pasta is almost done, break your shrimp in half with the spatchula. Make sure it is cooked, and white inside. Taste one if you are unsure.
14. When the pasta is done, drain, put in a large bowl, add some salt and oil, toss.. dump veggies, liquid and cooked shrimp on top.Toss. Add finely chopped fresh basil, oregano.. And sea salt to taste.

Perfection!

Grilled bacon wrapped mahi mahi

This is super delicious, and pretty easy, it should please the pickiest fish eaters.

What you will need:

• Wild caught mahi mahi (I buy it frozen from Trader joe's, and thaw it overnight)
• natural turkey bacon (I buy it from trader joe's)
• paprika, south african smoke spice, garlic powder, chili powder (optional)

 First things first, take your skin-less, bone-less mahi mahi... gently sprinkle the seasonings on each side.
Notice how i don't use salt. It's not necessary, because the fish is salty, and so is the bacon...

 You want to partially cook you bacon before wrapping the fish with it, cook it about 5 minutes or so, or until it gets firm, yet pliable, right before it gets crispy. Cook your bacon in some vegan butter, or some oil..
After it is partially cooked, let it dry a little on some paper towels. Once it is cool enough to handle, either wrap or lay the bacon on the fish, and tie with some kitchen twine.

 Grill on medium heat for about 3-7 minutes per side (depending on your grill)
The bacon should have nice grill marks, and the fish should be firm white and flakey inside.

Enjoy!