Blog - Our Heritage of Health

How to Store Apples to Last for the Winter

One of the many reasons why apples were such a popular fruit in previous centuries is the fact that they are one of the few fruits that will keep well in long term storage. Unlike berries that will only keep for a few days if you don’t dry them or turn them into jams and jellies, apples that are stored properly can often last for several weeks or even months. This is one of the reasons why knowing how to store apples for the winter months was such an important skill for our ancestors who needed to have enough food in storage to last them until spring.

For those of us living in modern times, though, it’s still a very helpful thing to know even if we aren’t dependent on our harvest to see us through the winter. Knowing how to store apples to last through the winter months allows us to enjoy having fresh apples for eating and for baking with for as long as we possibly can (because you can only make so many batches of applesauce with your fresh-picked apples, and it’s so nice to be able to enjoy eating fresh apples at Christmas time and beyond!)

Heirloom Apple Crisp Recipe

One of my favorite things to make each fall is apple crisp, and this year I was especially excited to make an heirloom apple crisp to celebrate the autumn season.

I’ve decided to call this recipe an heirloom apple crisp recipe for a couple of reasons. First, because it’s a recipe that my grandmother, mother, and I have all used, so it’s an heirloom in the sense of being a recipe that has been in my family for a couple of generations now. And the second reason is because this year I used all heirloom varieties of apples in my crisp.

How to Save Seeds from Carrots, Beets, and Other Biennial Plants

Saving seeds from your own garden plants is a great old-fashioned way to save money in your garden, but the process of saving seeds from some vegetables isn’t always quite as simple as harvesting the plants at the end of …

4 Times When It’s Best NOT to DIY

DIY projects have become increasingly popular the past few years (as anyone who has visited Pinterest lately is well aware of), and there are lots of great reasons to give them a try.

They are a great way to customize things exactly the way you like them, and when you’re making things yourself, you can use simple and natural ingredients and avoid the harmful chemicals in many store bought products – especially for personal care and household products. DIY products can also often allow you to save a decent amount of money compared to what you would spend buying a similar product at the store.

There are a few situations, though, when DIY projects aren’t the best option. In the natural health and simple living world, we can sometimes end up feeling like we have to make things ourselves if we truly want good quality products that are the best for our health.

Dark Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread Recipe

One of my favorite ways to use up an abundance of zucchini is to make this dark chocolate chip zucchini bread recipe.

The zucchini and the coconut oil in the bread make the texture rich and moist, and the chocolate is so decadent and delicious that is seems more like a chocolate bread than a zucchini bread, so it’s a great recipe for converting vegetable-haters and picky eaters too!

I decided to call this recipe a dark chocolate chip zucchini bread because it doesn’t really look like your typical zucchini bread recipe. You can’t see the zucchini at all (even though there are two cups of it in there), and the color is dark like the color of chocolate cake.

I found this recipe in with my grandmother’s collection of old recipes, and I believe it was one of my great aunt’s recipes. The original recipe calls for raisins and nuts, so you could certainly use those in the recipe if you like, but my mother and I have always substituted chocolate chips in the recipe due to our incurable chocolate addiction 🙂

How to Blend Your Own Custom Perfume Scent

Making your own natural DIY perfume is a great way to avoid the chemicals in many store bought perfumes, and it’s a great way for people who have sensitivities to the synthetic scents in regular perfumes to still be able …

12 Ways to Hygge in the Spring

The art of hygge is something that has become more and more popular in recent years. Hygge is usually associated with the cold, dark winter months, but hygge isn’t something that needs to be limited to just the cold months of the year. Practicing hygge in the spring can be just as enjoyable and as rewarding.

Hygge (usually pronounced “hoo-gah” or “hue-gah”) is a Danish word that doesn’t have a direct translation into English. Some of the connotations associated with hygge include the ideas of creating an atmosphere of warmth, light, comfort, and connection; an awareness and appreciation for the beauty and joy around us; enjoying simple pleasures; and the feelings of coziness and well-being.