It's finally February! I think we all can agree that Januaries can be the worst. So lets do a little happy dance that February has finally arrived. One of my favorite things about February is obviously Valentines Day. Our lavender products are so romantic. Between our lavender bouquets, massage oils, and sugar scrub - we've got the perfect gift for that special someone in your life. Even if that special someone has four legs and a tail... Our dog soap is the best!
To celebrate Valentines Day we are offering free shipping on all orders over $20 this entire week! Happy shopping! www.lavenderapple.com
A few months back we posted a delicious roasted beet salad on this blog. It is delicious with a capital D. As much as I crave that salad, I don't get to have it that often because it involves a lot of planning and prep. Roasting beets is not a quick 5 minute endeavor. But my tummy was telling me that I needed to figure out a way to get beets into my salads more frequently, and of course, my husbands mistress (Costco) came through for us. Costco sells the most delicious pickeled beets. They are roasted and marinated in the most delicious brine. They taste practically as good as home grown roasted beets, but all you have to do for these babies is open a jar. That is my kind of treat. Today we are blessing your bellies with a recipe for a beet salad with pistachios and goat cheese, and all sorts of wonderful and easy toppings.
Ingredients:
16 ounces pickled beets, chopped
8 ounces goat cheese, crumbled
6 cups spinach, washed
1 cup pistachios, shelled
1/2 cup pickled beet juice
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp lavender salt
1 tsp pepper
Mix the last 5 ingredients together as your dressing, then just toss everything else together on a plate. The beet juice will dye your goat cheese the most beautiful and fun pink color. The beets are beautiful and fun enough to be an anomaly for your kids and they actually might eat them!
This salad has a wonderful earthiness and heartiness due to the beets. Its got a pack of protein and creaminess from the nuts and cheese, and a very mild get in my belly dressing to compliment it. This easy salad will become a quick go-to when you don't feel like spending any longer than 3 seconds making your lunch. Enjoy!
Tonights recipe is an elevated version of a fatty philly steak and cheese. This still has all the richness and goodness associated with a philly cheese steak, but with a much crisper and refined taste on your pallet.
Ingredients:
4 naan pitas
2 new york steaks
1 tablespoon olive oil
16 ounces mushrooms
1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled
1 cup spinach
pinch lavender salt
pepper
Directions:
Salt and pepper your steak on both sides, grill until golden on the outside and medium rare on the inside. Meanwhile, in a large skillet heat your oil. Chop your mushrooms into strips and add them to the skillet. Season with salt and pepper. Cook over medium heat until all the liquid is steamed out and they begin to brown and crisp up. After letting your steak rest, cut that into strips as well. Remove your mushrooms from the skillet and warm your naan on both sides. Once warmed through, top with your mushrooms, steak, feta, and spinach. Fold into a wrap, and enjoy!
This delicious beefy and filling wrap will have your family satisfied and their taste buds happy. Bon Appetite!
So we recently highlighted a recipe of how to brew your own stove top air freshener in your house this winter. Some of our customers were aghast that we suggest anyone use anything besides our very own Lavender Apple Mulling Spices. Mulling Spices have been used for centuries to help brighten and freshen the aroma of homes. I find that when I use particular brands of mulling spices, they bring up such strong nostalgic memories for me. I love using The Lavender Apple Mulling Spices in January because it's such a delightful winter smell. I know that I am creating fun family memories this time of year and whenever my family smells these spices, they will have a strong connection back to these years. Its like a way to ensure their brain will remember these wonderful days, as smell is the strongest sense tied to memory.
Anyway, visit our online store to grab yourself some mulling spices and start infusing your home with scents that will help bring your loved ones memories back to this day.
We love having chickens on our farm. Sure, we love the delicious fresh eggs they bear us, but there are so many other reasons we love having these birds around.
The most economically compelling reason to keep chickens is to recycle food waste. This composts it into a wonderful organic soil builder for your garden as well. The more kitchen waste you feed your chickens, the more nitrogen rich fertilizer they will give you to compost with.
Hand in hand with that is their natural digging, pecking, and scratching abilities. This helps you to create top notch gardening beds. You can grow more produce in a smaller space, which means less water - which should be important to us all.
Chickens also love to eat all of those nasty protein packet insects in your yard. This is awesome for you because maybe it will save you from a tick bite or two, but it will also protect your precious garden as well. They also love to eat most weeds, making your work load much lighter.
And my favorite reason? Chickens are loveable pets. Increase your stress lowering hormones and form a relationship with these useful and happy birds. Some chickens are even bred as therapy birds. We find the most happiness in caring for our chickens, just getting outside with them each day and exchanging food for eggs and giving them a hello is enough to make all of us smile.
Another beautiful vintage photo from Mike's collection. He was instagram trend ready decades ahead of its time.
Hope your weekend is just as beautiful.
Confession time.... I have gotten really upset with my husband for buying me flowers. I'm terrible, I know. To me flowers seem like such a frivolous gift. They are expensive, they don't last very long, and pretty soon you have nothing left to show of your "gift". I know flowers are romantic, but I would so much more love for my husband to spend our hard earned money on something that I'm not throwing in the trash 3 days later. Enter LAVENDER.
Then dried lavender entered my life. It is the perfect flower for a gal like me. In it's dried state, it still looks fresh, but it will stay beautiful like this permanently. It smells wonderful, looks wonderful, and doesn't cost near as much as real flowers. So gents, do your wife a favor this valentines day; if you want to be romantic and get her flowers, get her dried lavender. Its unique, elegant, romantic, and something she can cherish all year long.
Find our store online at www.lavenderapple.com