Make your own dish washing detergent

I told you earlier about a natural dish washing detergent recipe that you could use also in the automatic dish washers. I tried it today in our dishwasher and it worked great. I think even better than my store bought earth friendly detergent. The recipe is here) if you want to try it.

More about the I am not a Dirty Hippie -party

My new friend Monica wrote about the recent I am not a dirty hippie party in her blog too. The previous posting I wrote about it is here.

I am not a dirty hippie -party: homemade deodorant and lip balm

 
Tonight some people from the Living Naturally in Louisiana group and some people who are not in the Living Naturally in Louisiana group got together to make natural deodorants and lip balms. We got the idea and recipes from The Angry Chicken -blog and The Artful Parent -blog. The first two first recipes are originally from Angry Chicken's blog (with maybe a tiny little adjustments). Ingredients are from Mountain Rose Herbs.

I have to mention that I made a test deodorant already two weeks ago and it works GREAT! It works much better than any other natural deodorant I have tried before. And it it cheaper. And I know what is in it.

NATURAL HOME-MADE DEODORANT (4 oz)

3 Tablespoons of shea butter
3 Tablespoons of baking soda
2 Tablespoons of corn starch
2 Tablespoons of cocoa butter
1/4-1/2 teaspoon of vitamin E oil
A few drops of essential oil

Smell the essential oils first and choose one(s) you like. You can also combine several. Use with care, essential oils are strong. Good essential oils for deodorants are for instance
Eucalyptus – gentle and soothing, refreshing, antiseptic (mix for instance with lavender and rosemary)
Lavender – soothing, antiseptic, deodorizing, cleansing and drying to the skin, an aphrodisiac (good to mix with patchouli and rosemary), not in big quantities for people with low blood pressure or in early pregnancy
Patchouli – deodorizing, antiseptic, moisturizing (good to mix for instance with lavender)
Rosemary – fights bacteria, not for people with high blood pressure
Sweet Orange – fresh and uplifting (mix with lavender)
Or any other you like! Get creative!

1. Melt all the ingredients (except the vitamin E and essential oils) in the microwave (60 seconds or so) or in a pot on the stove until melted. Stir well.
2. Add the vitamin E oil and essential oil, stir again.
3. Pour it in a jar.
4. Place it in the fridge for a while to solidify.

NATURAL HOMEMADE LIP BALM (1 oz)

2 teaspoons of cocoa butter
2 teaspoons of shea butter
2 teaspoon of jojoba oil / olive oil / almond oil / some other cosmetic grade oil or a mixture of them
A drop of vitamin E oil
A drop or two of peppermint essential oil

Melt everything together except the essential oil and vitamin E oil (30-60 seconds in the microwave or in a pot on stovetop until everyhting has melted). Add a couple of drops of essential oil and vitamin E oil and stir. Pour it in the tin. Put it in the fridge to solidify it.

LIP BALM 2 (about 1 oz)

1 tsp of beeswax
1,5 tsp shea butter
3/4 tsp cocoa butter
2 tsp olive oil or jojoba oil
(a couple of drops of peppermint essential oil)


We made lavender and sweet orange deodorants (sweet orange and eucalyptus mix was nice too!) and peppermint lip balms. We ate good vegetarian food. Pita bread with salad, tomatoes and lettuce, hummus, potato salad, tapenade...

Hummus

about 2 cups of chick peas, soaked overnight and boiled until soft (you can also use canned chick peas)
juice of half a lemon
2-4 tablespoons of Tahini sauce
3-4 gloves of garlic
1-2 tbsp olive oil
water as much as needed for good consistence
cummin, pepper, salt to taste

Mix boiled soft chick peas with other ingredients in a food processor or with an electric blender. Add water little by little to get a nice creamy spread/sauce. Serve for instance in pita bread with veggies and feta cheese.

Tapenade olive paste

A jar / can of black olives (pitted)
A jar can of green olives (pitted)
1 tbsp capers
4 pieces of sundried tomatoes
2-3 cloves of garlic
seaweed, optional (soak first)

Mix everything together in a food processor or with an electric blender. Serve with good bread.

"I feel like I would have been cooking", one of the attendants said when she was leaving. That is the fun part about making your own stuff! You know what is in it and nothing beats the feeling of using stuff you made yourself! We plan to have other parties like this too and make maybe other cosmetics or cleaning products. Does anyone have good recipes for cleaning products, face cream or body butter?

Make your own bread spread

On my bread I like to use organic butter instead of store bought margarines that contain who knows what. But the butter is not spreadable straight from the fridge so I have started making my own bread spread. It is fast, easy and it tastes good!

All you need is

a blender or an electrical mixer
1 cup of butter
1 cup of vegetable oil (I have tried canola oil, didn´t like the taste and now I use sunflower oil, but you could use any oil you like)
1 cup of icecold water
a container, like an old margarine container - I prefer using glass containers, like Pyrex, photo below, instead to avoid possible chemicals leaching from plastic.
(If you want to try something different you can also add some garlic or herbs!)



Let the butter soften for a while. Mix it with oil in the blender until the mixture is smooth. Keep on mixing and pour the water slowly in. Pour the mixture in the container. It will harden in the fridge but it will still be easily spreadable.

Repair it yourself: Clogged sink

Maybe you already know this, but in case you don´t I wanted to share this good tip for unclogging sinks that I used today while waiting for the plumber or my husband to come and repair our clogged kitchen sink. I looked for instructions online and found some that worked (and it was really easy to do to) from ThisOldHouse.com.

"Most minor sink clogs can be cleared with a plunger. Partially fill the sink with water, then start plunging. Vigorously work the plunger up and down several times before quickly pulling it off the drain opening. If it's a double-bowl kitchen sink, stuff a wet rag into one drain opening while you plunge the other one. If it's a bath sink, stuff the rag into the overflow hole. In both cases, the rag helps deliver the pressure directly to the clog."

So no plumber (or husband) was needed this time.