Do You Grow Your Own Foods?

Welcome to fresh oranges right off the tree! 

I have to say I'm pretty disappointed nowadays with even the restaurants. 

I guess in my mind, behind the wall, just like the Wizard of Oz - you don't know what is real or fake, they were still juicing fresh fruit for drinks. When your charged $3.95 a glass, and it's NOT fresh squeezed, I'm totally disappointed! 

Recently my husband took us out to IHOP and we were right in front of the food line. I could see everything behind fixed for meals. I saw they took out a juice carton, just like you buy at the store. I was so blown away, maybe just naive for sure! I can't believe we fool ourselves to go to a restaurant to eat and it's just the same as if you just did it yourself! Why do we decide to go out then? Unfortunately, this was a morning we were clear across town and needed to grab a bite to eat! 

I guess whatever excuse we put in our mind to eat out, it's a decision we have to make when we have to. If you only eat out every once in awhile, is it okay? Do you like to eat out? Why do we go to a restaurant to get the overpriced same food we have at home? 

I have my Mom down here in Arizona for a few months and it's really cool that they have orange and lemon trees in their neighborhood. I am amazed with all the people there hardly any eat the fruit off the trees! The picture above is the fresh oranges that were picked yesterday! I absolutely love the fresh juice! I wish there was trees everywhere to feed people fresh fruit! 

Why do we cut ourselves short? Instead of planting trees that cause pollen and flowers, why not grow trees with fruit? I feel our Government never wants us to be ahead of the game, fall behind and be broke buying fruit from other countries. Your thoughts? 

When we lived in Arizona a few years back we were renting a house that had grapefruits, oranges and lemons, boy was I in heaven. I actually had too much fruit and had to put a Craigslist add for free fruit, bring your bags! I had a lot of people come and grab fruit, loved it. I love sharing and not wasting. 

My long term goal is to do more for my family. Eat better! Have our own small garden and some fruit trees. If I get to that point we will see, but it's on my goal list. 

What is your thoughts on this? What would you like to see our communities do together to eat better and eat for free? 

Love to hear your thoughts! 

Stay Smilin' and Healthy! 

Leah 

Homemade Bean Soup I Crockpot Style

Can you believe it’s already holiday time again?

I feel like every time I get ready for the Summer to end, it’s already holiday time. Time just flies faster and faster every year! What do you think? Do you rush your days?

Seems like we always want to RUSH the weeks, but boy, the weeks are flying so fast already on their own. Why do we do that? If it’s Monday, we wish for Friday! If it’s Sunday, we wish it was not Sunday! I have this feeling more as a work a Corporate job, compared to a home job! So I love my home job waaaay more than the Corporate job!

Today was a day of patience! Did I say patience? Oh my, not my in my line of work haha! I try hard to have patience but it doesn’t come easy! What do I mean by this? I wanted to clean out my pantry today and check what foods I could use now and not go to the store. I feel I constantly add more and more food to my pantry and don’t follow my own words “use up what you have before going to the store!” So, with that being said, I decided to use up my dry beans! I had in my mind, I’m going to make a good bean soup. Even though in Arizona, it’s chilly these last few days, so I needed to make a good soup!

OH my! Thank goodness for Facebook! Some days I just think I have it all together to make a simple soup! But, I did what the package said, and it didn’t work.

1. Clean the beans
2. Soak over night and add some salt (added pink Himalayan salt)
3. Soaked in the Cast Iron Dutch Oven pan with a heavy lid
4. Soaked over night and then in the morning rinsed the beans
5. Added new water after rinsing
6. Put the beans back in the Dutch Oven pan and cook till boiling
7. Let soak for 4 hours

Okay, the beans should be ready! Ah no! The beans were hard as rock still, after all that! So headed over to my mom’s that are on Facebook and asked “what is the secret to dry beans?” Well, it seems like the Crockpot is a better way to cook the beans and keep them cooking long term. So, back to the Crockpot and on high for a few hours! Wa-La! It was what these beans needed to soften! Patience and the Crockpot!

Added a good amount of spices, a few teaspoons of Wildtree Bouillon Soup base and a can of tomatoes. Wa-La the soup is amazing! I did let it cook all day with the spices and mixed can of tomatoes, the bean soup is fantastic!

So just a quick reminder! Wish homemade food, it takes Patience!

What would you add? Do you make soup often? What do you like to add to your soups for great flavors?

Supporting Local Small Businesses

Taking time to purchase from a small local business helps in so many ways! Learn how to help your local small business owners.

• supporting families
• helping pay for sports
• helping pay family bills
• supporting families that need to stay home
• and soo much more! 

2016 FREE Food Rewards I No Coupons I Organic Foods

Hey Wildtree Workshop fans!

I know...I know! January 2016 is a LONG way off! But really it will be here VERY Quick! That said, my open dates to teach workshops in January are already almost gone. Crazy!

So why the early rush? 

Because Wildtree fans know that every January is DOUBLE host rewards.

Let's get started with the FREE stuff! 

Here's the math--a workshop with 8 friends prepping meals gets you a free workshop bundle plus another $130 to stock your pantry. Start the new year off right!
Will you be looking for $130 of FREE food? I can help!

Dates will be gone by fast, so let me know if you are up for new meals in the new year!

PS. Don't need my "help?" "DIY-it with your friends!