Author: Kyla

Make your own homemade healthy mayonnaise with avocado oil!

Mayonnaise and healthy don’t often go together; mayo is far from the top of the health food list. I get it. But guys, it doesn’t have to be bad. Mayo earned a bad reputation from gloopy (that’s a word, right?) store-bought gunk full of preservatives, questionable oils like partially hydrogenated vegetable oils or soybean oil, and the ever mysterious “natural flavorings”.

Let me introduce you to real mayonnaise. Homemade healthy mayonnaise. Full of flavor, healthy mono-saturated fat, and nothing you can’t pronounce.

After a couple of months of making my own mayonnaise some store-bought mayonnaise actually made me gag. I may be eating a lot less sandwiches now that I’m gluten-free, but mayonnaise isn’t just for sandwiches! This homemade healthy mayonnaise makes an excellent base for dips and dressings. It’s silky. It’s tangy. It’s everything you never knew you wanted from mayonnaise. And, it’s not hard to make. Really.

The hardest part of making homemade mayonnaise is the whisking. I’m going to tell you my secret; the one thing I do that helps my mayonnaise turn out perfect every time.

It’s an immersion blender. Specifically, this KitchenAid Hand Blender. The whisk attachment for this thing is a game changer. I can now make mayonnaise, Hollandaise, lemon curd, and all sorts of wonderful whisk required recipes without feeling like my arm is going to fall off.

Even without an immersion blender, mayonnaise isn’t terribly hard to make. Just remember to start slow while adding your oil, and whisk vigorously.

Do you make any condiments at home? What’s your favorite way to use mayonnaise? Comment below!

 

DIY Rustic Wall Letters can add texture and charm to a nursery, bedroom, or any room in the house!

While pregnant a lot of my nesting energy went into dreaming up the perfect nursery. I wanted something rustic. A room that the entire family felt comfortable in that matched the decor of the rest of the house. After looking at thousands (I might not be exaggerating with that number) of nursery pictures on Pinterest and beyond there was one bit of decor I knew I wanted. A giant wall letter. I saw letters with sticks, crayons, every color in existence, glitter, maps, sports, you name it. But, I didn’t see exactly what I wanted. So, I decided to make it.

I knew that I wanted to use real wood. I wanted a lot of texture. And I wanted something that would grow with Z. Something that would look great in his room at 6 months, 6 years, and 16 years.

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Improve your bone broth with these 7 tips for a better and tastier homemade bone broth!

Not long ago, I was quizzing my best friend on how she made her bone broth. I had tried many times, and ended up with bland broth that tasted more like carrots than anything else. Multiple friend interviews, google searches, and batches of bone broth later I can now reliably make a delicious and healthy batch of bone broth.

This post contains affiliate links. That means, if you click on a link and buy a product I can earn a small commission. I’m only linking to products I own, love, and use!

  1. Take your time. 

Seriously. Good bone broth takes a long time to cook. I ended up with too many watery tasting batches of broth that I just didn’t let cook long enough. I now let mine cook overnight.

  1. Use Your Slow Cooker.

No need to monitor a pot on the stove or temperature. Just set it and forget it. We have This One and I love it!
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I love meal planning. Actually, I love food. The process surrounding meal planning is one of my favorite things; picking meals, planning days for them, shopping, prepping, and cooking.

Make meal planning easier with these 6 tips on the basics of meal planning!

Even if you don’t love the process, if grocery shopping is a chore instead of a day out, meal planning can still be a wonderful thing for you. Some benefits we’ve found from meal planning include:

  • a whole lot less of the “what’s for dinner” dance
  • a lower grocery bill
  • healthier meals
  • more cooking at home vs eating out
  • better variety
  • trying new things

So, where do you start? Here are six tips and tricks for starting meal planning in a way that’s effective and will last.

1. Use One Ingredient for Multiple Meals

This is my number one tip for saving money and building a functional meal plan. Meat is generally easy to use for different meals. Think of a roasted chicken with vegetables one night, then chicken enchiladas another night. Other examples would be a big bag of spinach for spinach salads one night, then spinach in a frittata; or tortillas for taco night and quesadillas.

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This two ingredient citrus vinegar cleaner smells great ; and is easy and inexpensive to make!

Now that you have citrus infused vinegar, what do you do with it? Well, you make citrus vinegar cleaner.

This cleaner could not get much simpler. Take your citrus infused vinegar (after it has been hanging out for at least a week) mix it with water in a 50/50 ratio. Pour into a spray bottle and you’re ready to go! My quart jars usually yield about 2 cups of vinegar, so enough to make 2 full 16 ounce spray bottles.

As soon as my jar is empty I refill it with lemons and vinegar and it’s ready to go by the time I need to make more cleaner.

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Citrus infused vinegar can help homemade cleaner smell and work better!

Citrus infused vinegar can help homemade cleaner smell and work better!

There are a few moments for me that I consider highly impactful in my attempts to do things more naturally. Like: ditching the coffee creamer I loved, making my own moisturizer, and this citrus infused vinegar. Citrus infused vinegar is super easy and very inexpensive to make. Read More…

DIY Colored Burp Cloths - Easy and Inexpensive!

Let’s get to it. Easy and gorgeous DIY colored burp cloths!

This post contains affiliate links. That means, if you click on a link and buy a product I can earn a small commission. I’m only linking to products I own, love, and use!

For my baby shower I received a ton of the Gerber Prefold Cloth Diapers, which I refer to as burp cloths. You can find them Here They are an awesome size for throwing over a shoulder or down on a changing pad, and are definitely more absorbent than some products marketed as burp cloths. While I was consumed by nesting I was overwhelmed with the need to make everything organized and adorable. I wanted something more interesting than a drawer full of plain white burp cloths. I brainstormed and googled and came up with a plan to dye my burp cloths. As far as DIY projects go, colored burp cloths are fairly easy. If you can pour and stir, then you can make these.

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Natural Birth Story

I get a lot of crazy looks when I tell people I gave birth naturally, to a 10.5 pound baby (10 pounds 9 ounces to be exact). If I hadn’t been there, and done it, I would think I was crazy too. Giving birth was the hardest thing I have ever done. It was also the most beautiful, rewarding, bad ass, exhausting, and most amazing thing I’ve ever done.

Let’s get to it, my natural drug free water birth of my giant baby. Alright folks, this is going to a long one.  Read More…

Learn how to drink more water with 5 Ways to Stay Hydrated from Montana Doodle!

Learn how to drink more water with 5 Ways to Stay Hydrated from Montana Doodle!

Continuing on the theme of New Year resolutions, lets talk about staying hydrated.

I see a lot of resolutions about exercise and food, but not as many about hydration. This doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. Drinking water and staying hydrated is so important for overall health! In the last year I’ve been pregnant and now nursing, so staying hydrated is a high priority for me in my day-to-day life. Unfortunately, drinking water isn’t always something that comes easily. Fortunately, I’ve come up with 5 tips that help me (and hopefully help you!) get and stay hydrated.

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Hello and Happy New Year! Welcome to the new Montana Doodle. I’ve started this year with a big fat pile of resolutions, as I’m sure many of you have as well. There’s something about the new year that fuels the new year-new me attitude. Making resolutions is easier, sticking to them is a little bit more difficult. I’m here to help! Let’s talk about planners.

Start your year organized with the bright colors weekly planner from Montana Doodle!

Start your year organized with the bright colors weekly planner from Montana Doodle!

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