Make Citrus Peel "Tazo" Style Tea Blends and Bags ~ Citrus Series

“Afterwards, they always had tea in the kitchen,

much the nicest room in the house.”

~ Flora Thompson, Author of Lark Rise to Candleford

As we load up on oranges and tangerines for the vitamin c punch this winter, don't forget the peels provide their own medicinal benefits. A cup of tea mixed with citrus peels would be a blessing to your health, a delight to the senses and rest for the weary.

We have dried some tangerine peels (how to here) and mixed them with a loose black tea for a simple effect. We used a ratio of 1 cup of tea leaves to 1/4 cup of dried peels but I encourage you to be creative! Prepare a rainbow variety using lemon, orange and tangerine peels!

The Tazo tea company prepares tantalizing blends featuring the abandoned peel for an enormous price. Perhaps these combinations will inspire you?

• The "Aloha Citrus" is made up of "black tea with pineapple, lemongrass, orange peel & coconut flakes".

• The "Wild Sweet Orange" blend features a "herbal infusion of orange peel, lemongrass, citrus herbs & licorice root" while the "Passion Tea" is comprised of "hibiscus, orange peel, rose hips and passion fruit flavors".

• The "Mintly Citrus" combines spearmint, tangerine peel, freeze-dried orange peel, blackberry leaves and orange oil (and they charge $5.95 for 2 oz!).

My question is… why have we been taught to throw our nifty citrus peels away?

For added "zest", you can make custom tea bags for your "house-blends". 

Simply make a pattern using a bag of tea (I traced it with the wrapper on to allow room for my seams).

Fold over your fine cheesecloth a few times so that you can prepare many bags with one cut.

Note: My cheesecloth could have been a bit "finer" but I used what we had.

You could also use other transparent fabrics such as organza.

Once you have your tea cloths all cut out...

...then sew three ends together (I used a sewing machine).

Fill with a generous teaspoon of your custom tea blend and sew the bag closed.

Enjoy your exotic tea! This would make a wonderful gift or a great reason to invite a friend over to enjoy a cup together. You could also serve your tea as a "loose tea" by utilizing a tea strainer. Loose tea is nice to gift in a pretty tin.

"Then Mrs. Tiggy-winkle made tea—a cup for herself and a cup for Lucie.

They sat before the fire on a bench and looked sideways at one another."

~ The Tale of Mrs. Tiggy-winkle by Beatrix Potter

This post may be shared with some or all of the following link-ups: Modest Mom Monday's, Homestead Barn Hop, Teach Me Tuesday, Raising Homemakers, Make Bake Create, Wise Woman Link Up, Christian Homemaking, Wildcrafting Wednesday, Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways, Homemaking Wednesdays, Homemaking Thursdays, From the Farm Blog Hop, Farmgirl Friday, Clever Chicks Blog Hop and Deep Roots at Home. Thank you lovely ladies for hosting these. 

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Freezing Lemon Juice and Our Favorite Uses ~ Citrus Series

If you have read this blog for some time, then you may already know that we have an abundance of free citrus fruit during the winter season (thus the reason for this citrus series). Hating to waste anything, here is another way to use your lemons. Freeze your fresh squeezed juice in ice cube trays and try the following:

Homemaking Hint:  One cube = approx. 2 tbsp's of lemon juice

• Simply thaw and use as lemon juice in your favorite cooking and dessert recipes.

• Instead of buying commercially purchased Fruit Fresh, use lemon juice to keep your fruits from browning when freezing pie fillings and such. It is also helpful in treating fruits that are prone to browning for dehydrating and making fruit leathers. To make your own citric solution, simply add two cubes of lemon juice to every quart of water (stir until dissolved). Let your fruit soak in the solution for at least 5 minutes prior to draining (keep apples in liquid until you are ready to use them).

• Use cubes to make a buttermilk or sour cream substitute. Drop one lemon juice cube into a glass measuring cup (let it thaw), add enough milk to bring the liquid up to the two-cup line and let sit five minutes. Use as much of this "buttermilk substitute" as your recipe calls for. 

• Use your surplus in canning recipes when it calls for lemon juice (though I must add that the canning authorities claim you need to use commercially packaged lemon juice).

• Use the thawed juice to make "honey lemon cough syrup" when the need arises.

• Thaw your extra juice for many of these "basic household uses".

• When the weather warms, place them in water as ice cubes to quench your thirst or make a batch of lemonade with them.

• Blend cubes up with water, honey and frozen fruit to make lemonade slushies.

• Add the lemon cubes to flavor and chill a pitcher of iced tea.

What do you do with your excess lemon juice?

This post may be shared with some or all of the following link-ups: Modest Mom Monday's, Make it Yourself Mondays, Homestead Barn Hop, Natural Living Tuesday's, Teach Me Tuesday, Raising Homemakers, Make Bake Create, Wise Woman Link Up, Christian Homemaking, Wildcrafting Wednesday, Whatever You Want Wednesday, Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways, Homemaking Wednesdays, Homemaking Thursdays, From the Farm Blog Hop, Farmgirl Friday, Clever Chicks Blog Hop and Deep Roots at Home. Thank you lovely ladies for hosting these. Idea for the buttermilk substitute was found  here.

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Making Mulling Spices and/or Simmering Potpourri ~ Citrus Series

"Smells are surer than sounds and sights to make the heartstrings crack."

~ Rudyard Kipling

The *sweet warm home* is the star of the season during these chilly months. Scents of cinnamon and spice offer a sense of coziness and will stimulate sweet memories for your children later on in life. Mulling spices offer fragrance in the form of a simmering potpourri (my favorite) or they can be used to enhance your hot apple cider on those frigid days. You could also brew some of your favorite tea, allow the mulling spices to soak and drink in the fall and winter flavors. The best part is that making your own is frugal, fun and easy!

Simple Supplies:

• 2 tbsp cinnamon chips (or sticks)
• 2 tbsp dried orange peel
• 1 1/2 tbsp whole cloves
• 1 1/2 tbsp whole allspice
• optional: string/twine and fine cheesecloth (to make a simmering bag)
• optional: 4 ounce jelly jars

For the cinnamon chips, we crushed a few cinnamon sticks with a household hammer and measured them out. We dried our own orange peel and purchased the other ingredients in bags as it is cheaper than buying the bottles of spices (since you are paying extra for the packaging).

Simply mix together and place everything in a clean container. You can introduce more or less of any ingredient depending on your likes. Crushed nutmeg can also be added for variation. The wonderful part is that all of these spices have medicinal value as well!

Williams Sonoma mixes in some essential oils of cinnamon and orange to their product. If you would like to try that, make sure your oils are edible such as the doTERRA brand. Leave them to sit in a closed container for a few days to absorb the oils once you stir them in.

To give as a gift, you may want to include a spice bag. Just cut out a rectangle of fine cheesecloth and sew up the sides (leaving one side open). Use this and the tie (which will seal the spice bag when simmering) to double up as a jar decoration.

The small, 4 ounce jelly jars are a perfect size for this project and you will find our free "orange" inspired labels here.

How to Use:

• Add the mulling spices to a hot tea (red rooibos would be an excellent choice)  by placing 1 tbsp. of mulling spices to every half gallon of beverage. Allow the spices to steep in the hot liquid for approx. 30-45 minutes. Strain out the spices before serving (or simply remove spice bag if you are using one).

• Place a few tablespoons of mulling spices into a pot of water, bring to a simmer and the sweet and spicy fragrance will fill your home. If you have a wood-stove, place a pot of this mixture on top to add needed moisture to the dry air as your potpourri simmers.

• Add the mulling spices to apple cider by placing 1 tbsp. of spices to every half gallon of beverage. Allow the spices to steep in the hot liquid for approx. 30-45 minutes. Strain out the spices before serving (or simply remove spice bag if you are using one).

This post may be shared with some or all of the following link-ups: Modest Mom Monday's, Make it Yourself Mondays, Homestead Barn Hop, Natural Living Tuesday's, Teach Me Tuesday, Raising Homemakers, Make Bake Create, Wise Woman Link Up, Christian Homemaking, Wildcrafting Wednesday, Whatever You Want Wednesday, Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways, Homemaking Wednesdays, Homemaking Thursdays,  From the Farm Blog Hop, Farmgirl Friday, Clever Chicks Blog Hop and Deep Roots at Home. Thank you lovely ladies for hosting these. 

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Make an Orange Sugar Scrub ~ Citrus Series

Making your own "orange sugar scrub" is so easy and fun to give as gifts. All you need are these simple supplies and a few minutes to prepare this cheery body product:

• 3/4 cup sugar (plus 1 to 2 tbsp. more to get desired consistency)
• 1/4 cup coconut oil (melted)
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 4 drops orange essential oil
• 1 tbsp. coarsely ground dried orange peel
• clean container or jar with lid

Four simple steps:

1. Measure out your sugar.
2. Add ground, dried orange peel.
3. Stir in orange, coconut, and olive oils (*see note below).
4. Pour into container and label with love.

*Note: If the mixture is too dry, add a little more oil. If it is too oily, add more sugar until you reach the desired consistency.

Directions for Use: In the shower, massage a small handful of scrub all over wet skin (avoiding sensitive areas, concentrating on dry ones), rinse off and pat dry. Don't wipe away the oil feeling since this will keep you moisturized without applying lotion. Suggested use is once a week. Not recommended for your face. Be careful as the tub may become slippery when using.

Our printable recipe and label (which fits perfectly on top of a regular-mouth mason jar) is shared below. You may want to download it and print it out for your herbal. Happy handcrafting :)

"A man ought to carry himself in the world as an orange tree would if it could walk up and down in the garden, swinging perfume from every little censer it holds up to the air."

~ Henry Ward Beecher

HERBAL RECIPE Orange Sugar Scrub by JES

This post may be shared with some or all of the following link-ups: Modest Mom Monday's, Make it Yourself Mondays, Homestead Barn Hop, Natural Living Tuesday's, Teach Me Tuesday, Raising Homemakers, Make Bake Create, Wise Woman Link Up, Christian Homemaking, Wildcrafting Wednesday, Whatever You Want Wednesday, Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways, Homemaking Wednesdays, Homemaking Thursdays,  From the Farm Blog Hop, Farmgirl Friday, Clever Chicks Blog Hop and Deep Roots at Home. Thank you lovely ladies for hosting these. Clip art is courtesy of Reading, Roses and Prose.

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Uses For and How to Dry Orange Peel ~ Citrus Series

"Orange peel contains aromatic compounds that are antiseptic, reduce muscles spasms and decrease the thickness while increasing the production of mucosal fluids. It also contains bitter compounds that are anti-inflammatory, reduce muscle spasms, increase the production of digestive fluid and increase blood circulation. Citrus peel has been used to treat coughs, colds, flu, fevers, and bronchitis."

~ Nutritional Herbology: A Reference Guide to Herbs by Mark Pedersen

With so many medicinal benefits and practical uses, I am in awe that we are taught to throw away the orange peel. A few moments later and we repurchase them in prettily packaged products that someone else produces. We are sharing some of our favorite ways to use your peels and instructions on how to dry them. Some of these recipes use the fresh peel while others use dry, so keep that in mind when preparing them. It is quite fun to play in the kitchen and it feels so good to be frugal!

Important Note: Because we are using the actual peel for these products, I highly recommend using an organic (unsprayed) source of oranges.

How to Dry Orange Peel (Two Ways) ~

Simply remove peel from a clean orange with a zester, paring knife or vegetable peeler. If you keep the pith with the peel (and peel it like you are going to eat the orange) that is fine too, but keep in mind that the pith is a bit bitter. 

• Orange pieces (or any other citrus peel) dry for 3 - 6 days (depending on the humidity) on a cookie sheet, single layer, in a warm room. Stir peels every day until dry and brittle. Drying only the zest will take half of the time.

• Although I prefer the slow dry method because I believe it retains more of the beneficial orange oils, you could also dry them quicker if time is limited. Simply place in the oven on cookie sheets (single layer) at 170 degrees for an hour (or more) until completely dry and brittle. 

Store your dried orange peel in an airtight container in a dark, dry and cool place (such as your pantry).

Make Your Own Orange Peel Granules ~

Build up your pantry by preparing your own orange peel granules for cooking, baking and handcrafting needs. Simple grind up your dried orange pieces in a clean coffee grinder. Store in an airtight container. They can be used to enhance flavors in your preserves, desserts, sauces, grilled vegetable and meat dishes. Dried orange peel can also be used as a pretty garnish and many of the projects in this post.

Note: You will find our printable "seasoning and spice" labels for your dried orange peel here.

Sweet $avings: Williams Sonoma sells 2 oz. of blood orange peel for $10. Yours was created from a by-product and can be considered free!

Make an Orange Peel Sugar Scrub ~

Use your dried and coarsely ground peel to make an "orange sugar scrub" for a luxurious bath product. Here is the simple tutorial.

Sweet $avings: Burt's Bees sell an 8 oz. orange sugar scrub for $10. Ours is all natural and cost 90% less to make!

Make Your Own Orange Extract ~ 

Make your own orange extract by using this tutorial but replacing the citrus zest with fresh orange zest. You will find a printable recipe link featuring our label and gift tag at the bottom of this post (simply download and print). You may consider adding it to your herbal.

Sweet $avings: Nielsen-Massey sells 4 oz. of orange extract for $12. Our cost is 50 cents!

Make Your Own Mulling Spices and/or Simmering Potpourri ~

It is easy to make your own simmering potpourri or mulling spices with your dried orange peel. Our tutorial is shared here.

Sweet $avings: Williams Sonoma sells 4.5 oz of mulling spices for $12.95. Ours probably cost $1.

Make Your Own Citrus Grilling Salt ~

Mix together 2 tbsp. fine sea salt, 1/4 cup of dried, ground orange peel and 1 tbsp. freshly ground black pepper. Prior to grilling, add oil and vinegar to some of this rub and spread on vegetables for a distinct flavor. This would also be tasty sprinkled on marinating meat. This recipe was inspired by Kami McBride from her book, the Herbal Kitchen.

Note: Free printable "orange" labels are found here.

Make Your Own Custom Tea Blends ~ 

Use dried orange peel in your own handcrafted tea blends. Health benefits of the peel are shared above and more information is here so consider them in your next brew. They also make a frugal addition to your medicine cabinet. Visit this post for tea blend ideas. 

Make Orange Peel Potpourri ~

For a frugal autumn/winter potpourri blend, follow these three easy steps:

• Place your dried orange peels in a large bowl and add what you can find in your pantry and your backyard. Some ideas are broken cinnamon sticks, dried pods or cones from trees, whole (or coarsely crushed) nutmeg, cloves (whole), allspice (whole), dried leaves, bark, wood chips, sticks and/or an assortment of dried, pretty petals.
• Add in a few drops of your favorite seasonal essential oils such as clove, orange and/or cinnamon.
• Toss well and store this mixture in an airtight container for 3 days to allow the aroma to infuse (shake a few times a day). When the time is up, place your potpourri in a pretty bowl or vase. 

Note: You may want to be creative with your cuts when drying your orange peel for potpourri. In the photo above, however, we just used regular orange peel pieces.

Make an All-Purpose Citrus Cleaner ~

Place fresh orange peels into a clean jar (peels contain d-limonene which is a natural degreaser and excellent cleaning solvent). Cover peels with white household vinegar (make sure they are submerged under the vinegar so that they do not mold). Cap your blend with a plastic lid and let it infuse in a sunny spot for 3 - 4 weeks. Once the time is up, strain the vinegar and discard the peels. Pour through a coffee filter (or fine sieve) to remove any excess solids. You now have an effective and aromatic cleaning solution (our printable cleaning labels are shared here).

Ideas for Use:

• Use a 50/50 mixture of citrus infused vinegar and water for an all purpose cleaner.

• Add a cup of this solution to a bucket of hot water to clean your floors.

• For tough cleaning, use pure without diluting.

Make an Orange Peel Scouring Scrub (Household Cleaning Cleanser) ~ 

Grind up approx. 2 - 4 tablespoons of dried orange peel until powdery (I used a coffee grinder) and add approx. 1 - 2 cups of baking soda (this is flexible). Blend mixture together and pour into your cleanser jar or empty spice shaker (tutorial to make your own cleanser jar is shared here).

Optional: Stir in a few drops of orange essential oil.

Misc. Orange Peel Ideas ~

And this is just the beginning of what can be done! You could also make candied orange peel, add orange zest into your preserves for a flash of flavor, use the peels to keep your brown sugar soft or try this natural ant control remedy. Preparedness Mama shares "24 Uses for Oranges" in case you would like inspiration for the entire orange. We will be sharing more ideas in the future because there is a creative art to being frugal and we seek to develop it in our little home.

“Wealth is certainly a most desirable thing, but poverty has its sunny side, and one of the sweet uses of adversity is the genuine satisfaction which comes from hearty work of head or hand, and to the inspiration of necessity, we owe half the wise, beautiful, and useful blessings of the world.”

~ Louisa May Alcott, Little Women

HERBAL RECIPE Orange Extract by JES

This post may be shared with some or all of the following link-ups: Modest Mom Monday's, Make it Yourself Mondays, Homestead Barn Hop, Natural Living Tuesday's, Teach Me Tuesday, Raising Homemakers, Make Bake Create, Wise Woman Link Up, Christian Homemaking, Wildcrafting Wednesday, Whatever You Want Wednesday, Welcome Home Wednesdays, Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways, Homemaking Wednesdays, Homemaking Thursdays,  From the Farm Blog Hop, Farmgirl Friday, Clever Chicks Blog Hop and Deep Roots at Home. Thank you lovely ladies for hosting these. Clip art for the orange extract is courtesy of the Graphics Fairy.

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About Chocolate Chip Cookies ~ Our Printable (Revised) Recipe

"I am still convinced that a good, simple, homemade cookie is preferable to all the store-bought cookies one can find."

~ James Beard

Some women look up to Amelia Earhart for her famous flights in the 1930's. However, one of my favorite females in that era happens to be someone of a different caliber. She was a "household arts" major. May I introduce you to Ruth Graves Wakefield? You might say she was an inventor of sorts...

As co-owner of the Toll House Inn (with her husband), she become well known for her tasty desserts. In fact, her resourcefulness changed the way many Americans eat their cookies!

Legend has it that her famous recipe was prepared on mistake when she ran out of baking cocoa. Instead, she added broken pieces of chocolate, hoping that it would melt into the batter. The result was the creation of the "Toll House Chocolate Crunch Cookie". Mrs. Wakefield then sold the recipe to Nestle in exchange for a lifetime supply of chocolate chips.

During World War II, popularity of the chocolate chip cookie grew as local soldiers from Massachusetts shared their care packages overseas with others. Soon, soldiers from all over were writing letters back home requesting these tasty morsels and the rest is homemaking history...

Here are some tips from our little kitchen on how to make a tasty and chewy chocolate chip cookie. We are also sharing our healthier version of this favorite American treat (below in printable format).

• Use real butter.

• Once the dry ingredients are added into the bowl, do not over mix the final dough. Place in the refrigerator for an hour if you think you over-beated the dough (meaning it resembles a creamy cake mix instead of a thicker paste like it should). 

• Use an ice cream scoop if you want to create cookies of a uniform size.

• Do not grease your baking sheets as this can cause the cookies to spread and flatten.

• Once the corners of your cookies show signs of being golden, remove them from the oven. Let them sit on baking sheets for 4-5 minutes before removing cookies from baking sheets so that they have time to "set". 

• Finish cooling the cookies on cooling racks.

• Chocolate chip cookies freeze well so we prepare a large batch at one time. Our recipe makes approximately 6 dozen.

While I still adore the famous "Toll House Cookie Recipe", I wanted to prepare something a bit more wholesome for our family. We do try to eat healthy but still struggle in this very delicate department of desserts (*sorrowful sigh*).

Here is how we ended up making them a bit more heartier (this is the recipe shown in these photos and shared below) by introducing some whole wheat flour, oatmeal, coconut sugar and a splash of coconut oil. You are welcome to download our version and print out for your recipe book if you like :)

RECIPES Hearty Chocolate Chip Cookies by JES

This post may be shared with some or all of the following link-ups: Modest Mom Monday's, Make it Yourself Mondays, Homestead Barn Hop, Natural Living Tuesday's, Teach Me Tuesday, Raising Homemakers, Make Bake Create, Wise Woman Link Up, Christian Homemaking, Wildcrafting Wednesday, Whatever You Want Wednesday, Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways, Homemaking Wednesdays, Homemaking Thursdays,  From the Farm Blog Hop, Farmgirl Friday, Clever Chicks Blog Hop and Deep Roots at Home. Thank you lovely ladies for hosting these. Information about chocolate chip cookie history was found here.

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