~~~CINDI'S LIFESTYLE TREASURES~~~: Have a Gourmet Lifestyle on a Macaroni Budget

WELCOME TO MY BLOG!

If you are looking for my store go to: www.cltreasures.weebly.com

Announcing the new April Recipe of the Month:

Larabar Copycat recipes!

There are 16 different varieties. . . check them out under the "Recipe of the Month" tab. Nutritious, so much cheaper than store-bought, quick, so incredibly easy, and best of all . . . no cooking involved!

For anyone who has fruit trees and lives in a climate where Springtime freezes can occur, I found a website that gives the best scientifically proven ways to protect your budding fruit trees from freezing temperatures, so you won't lose your fruit for the year. I'm so glad to have found this site! Good luck to all of you who's heart suffers like mine does when colder than normal weather hits just at budding time in the Spring! See the link below:

http://www.aces.edu/dept/peaches/frzpassive.html

I found a recipe the other day that I really wanted to try. But, it was done in metric. I must say that I am not proficient in metric conversion. So I found this wonderful site specifically for cooks who want to convert metric to the American measurements for recipes. Here is the link:
http://www.jsward.com/cooking/conversion.shtml

I had been wanting a way to disinfect anything in my house easily - without hurting the finishes. I had a squirt bottle of alcohol in my bathroom that would work fine for my needs in that room, but I didn't want alcohol in my kitchen where I always have a candle going. Alcohol is very flammable! And, the alcohol seemed to take off a layer of paint when I wiped down the walls or doors with it. So I did some research and found a way to combine the following natural products and make a very effective disinfectant that could be used anywhere, at anytime! I love this stuff!!!

All-Purpose Disinfectant

1 1/4 cups vinegar
1 1/4 cups water
2 drops Dawn dish liquid
32 drops grapefruit seed extract
20 drops orange essential oil

Vinegar, grapefruit seed extract, and orange essential oil have all been known to have disinfecting properties. Put all ingredients into a squirt bottle and give a slight shake just before spraying. SUPER easy! Because all these ingredients are not harmful in these measurements, you can use it on countertops and cutting boards as well as in the bathroom. Spray and wipe!

This formula actually works very well on glass and mirrors, when omitting the
orange oil because the oil will leave streaks. And, for faster evaporation when cleaning glass
or mirrors, use 1/4 cup rubbing alcohol in place of 1/4 cup water.

COCONUT OIL BUTTER

I have heard and read so much about the benefits of coconut oil that I wanted to encorporate more of it into my everyday cooking. Now, I must confess that I really love butter! I do not skimp on butter! Then I had a brainstorm the other day and decided to butter my toast with half coconut oil, then half butter over the top of it. It was good! I could not tell any difference whatsoever, with the exception of the salt content. It was a little lighter on the salt. So, I mixed a big batch of 1/2 butter and 1/2 coconut oil. Now I will have this on steamed vegetables, in baking, as an oil for the frying pan, etc. This is how I did it:

PUT ANY AMOUNT OF BUTTER INTO A MIXING BOWL