The Great Homemade Deodorant Experiment of 2012, Part 2

So, as I mentioned in Part 1, my first batch of homemade deodorant was effective, but very messy. In fact, I’ve come to the conclusion that this stuff actually works BETTER than the commercial deodorant I was using previously. I got the The Man of the House to try it, as well, though he was skeptical that it would work for a guy. I can attest that he’s been smelling great, although he wasn’t thrilled with the messy gloppiness, and wasn’t a big fan of the idea of applying the deodorant with his fingertips. So… I did a little more experimenting, to come up with something that was still effective, but a little more “user friendly.”

I increased the amount of baking soda and added some cocoa butter to the mix. Cocoa butter is not on the Simple Living Shopping List, but I just love the skin-soothing luxury of that stuff, so I couldn't resist. You could leave it out, and just increase the coconut oil, if you don't feel like buying more stuff. Here is the recipe I settled on:

Homemade Deodorant

½ cup baking soda

¼ cup corn starch

¼ cup coconut oil

1 Tbsp cocoa butter

Essential oils of your choice, 15-20 drops

Put the cocoa butter in a bowl and  microwave on 50% until just melted. Add in the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Pour into your desired container. In theory, this stuff should firm into a solid. But...

I tried putting this batch into an old, washed out commercial deodorant container (with the leftover just going into a small jar) but it didn’t work out so great.  It was definitely not at all solid, which is what I was going for, but more like a thick cream. As I mentioned in my last post on this subject, I think this is still due to the fact that warm temps this time of year don’t allow the coconut oil to firm up enough. I put it in the fridge, and it was perfect! However… I don’t really want to keep my deodorant in the fridge, as that’s not very convenient. I will be curious to see how this recipe works when the cooler fall weather arrives.

So, to sum up: Current batch still effective, but still messy, unless you refrigerate it. Hmph.

If you try this, let me know how it works out for you! This is still very much an “in progress” experiment, so I welcome any suggestions or insight!

Basil Pesto

It was a busy day in the Homestead kitchen yesterday! I made two huge batches of pesto, a batch of pickles, froze some green beans and made some pizza dough, which, along with some of that pesto, turned into some pizzas for dinner!

But let’s talk more about that pesto! Our basil plants are growing like crazy… look at this harvest from yesterday!

When the basil is extra-plentiful in summer, I like to make up lots of pesto to freeze for the winter, so we can enjoy one of our favorite summer flavors year round. This recipe makes a pretty good amount, but you can half or double this to suit your needs, and the amount of basil you happen to have on hand. NOTE: This is a vegan pesto, without cheese. I feel like it freezes better without the cheese in it, plus, I like to use this cheese-less pesto on pizzas, when I am already using other cheese.  If I’m using this on pasta, I add some grated cheese to it when I thaw it out. It’s also perfectly delicious as is, for those who cannot have dairy.

You will need:

4 cups of basil leaves (fairly packed)

4-6 cloves of garlic (depending on how garlicky you like it)

½ cup of pine nuts or walnuts

¾ cup of extra-virgin olive oil

Salt to taste

Put the garlic cloves into the food processor and pulse a bit. Add the basil and nuts, then run the processor while drizzling in the oil. Add salt to taste.

After this is made, you can set aside some to use straight away, then spoon the rest into an ice cube tray, cover with wax paper and freeze. Once the cubes are frozen, just store them in a zip bag or container in the freezer. To use, just take out the amount you need, and thaw. We use this on pasta, on tomato and mozzarella sandwiches, on pizza and even in omelets. We’ve even been known to just spread a little on a hunk of bread or a cracker for a little snack! We really love our pesto, around here!

A small slice of crusty bread with pesto & sliced red & yellow cherry tomatoes... YUM.

It's a rainy day here, today, so it's another good day to spend in the kitchen, preparing food for the busy week ahead. I've got some bread dough to start, some veggies to prep, and I'll be making a big pot of bean chili to freeze.  

Pickles!

I’ve done quite a bit of canning over the years, but one thing I have never gotten around to making is PICKLES! I keep saying I’m going to, but I never seemed to have enough cucumbers at one time (my kids LOVE them, so even if I get a few each day from the garden, they’re usually gone before we pick more the next day!)

But this year, our cucumber patch is producing more! I did put in a couple of extra plants this year, in the hopes that we’d have a better harvest… apparently, it worked!  And, finally, I made those pickles I keep talking about!

Pickles!

Since this was my first attempt at pickles, I decided to try a small batch, to start. I used this recipe, and made 1/2 batch (2 jars).  I must say, this was one of the fastest, easiest canning projects, ever. Start to finish, less than an hour! They need to sit for a couple of weeks before we open them, though… so we won’t know until then how they taste.

While I was mixing up pots of brine anyway, I decided to whip up some Pickled Green Beans, too! I used the recipe from www.pickyourown.org, which, by the way, is a good resource for those who are new to the business of canning.

Pickled Beans!

Now the weekend is upon us, and both our garden and our farm share seem to be providing us with lots of goodies! So I will be spending a good bit of time in the kitchen over the next couple of days, preserving some of our bounty for the cold winter months. I have some old tried-and-true recipes that I'll be using, but I’m always on the lookout for more. Do YOU have any good pickling, canning or freezing recipes?

Homemade Window and Glass Cleaner

We have a lot of windows and mirrors in our home, and LOTS of little fingers, which means we end up with lots of little glass smudges that need to be cleaned up on a regular basis! I take care of all those little fingerprints with my own homemade, all-natural glass cleaner. I also use this stuff like an “all-purpose” cleaner, for wiping down the bathroom counter, cleaning the kitchen appliances, etc.  Here is my recipe!

2 cups of water

½ cup of white vinegar

A little splash of castile soap (I don’t measure, but the amount is probably between ¼ and ½ teaspoon)

10-15 drops of essential oil of your choice (see note below)

Just mix all of the ingredients up in a clean spray bottle. You can re-use an old one from a commercial cleaner (just make sure it’s washed out well) or you can buy plastic spray bottles at any pharmacy or discount store.  Use this as you would any other spray cleaner!

The essential oil serves two purposes in this recipe. Mostly, it makes this stuff smell better, as the smell of the vinegar can be off-putting to some. But also, if you’re going to use this as an “all purpose” cleaner for counters and such, it’s nice to use an essential oil which has some antibacterial properties.  Here are some to try:

Tea Tree

Cinnamon

Lemon

Geranium

Rosemary

Thyme

Lavender

Eucalyptus

Peppermint

Clove

Please note, if you've been using commercial cleaners, you may find that you get a lot of streaks the first time you use this. That's the buildup from the old cleaners! Just keep re-spraying and wiping a few times to remove the buildup, and that should take care of it.

In other news... I'm going to try making pickles today! My kids usually eat up all the cukes from the garden as they're picked, but this year we've got an extra good crop, so I finally have extras to can. I'll be posting about this adventure tomorrow, perhaps! 

Sometimes Even The Simple Life Feels Complicated

Lately, I’ve been struggling A LOT with the challenge that all working mothers face: Balancing Work, Home and Family.  Working is not a choice for me... I must work in order to support my family, but... I also made the choice a long time ago to do whatever it takes to be at home with my kids, homeschooling them and raising them according to my beliefs and ideals. I have always taken the job of raising my kids very seriously. I believe that having children is such a privilege, and I’ve always tried to give them my very best. But lately, I find that the responsibility of raising a family, homeschooling and taking care of things on the homefront while running a home business (which requires me to put in a minimum of 60 hours a week) has taken its toll. Most of the time, I don’t feel as though I’m doing ANY of those things particularly well. I know that I’m not alone in feeling this way… I have heard other moms with demanding jobs voice similar concerns. It is SO difficult to be Present for our family when we’re feeling stressed out about financial burdens, mounds of paperwork, responsibilities and deadlines.  I’ve been trying to work on this issue of finding balance for quite some time… I no longer work on weekends, unless it’s extremely important (like a tax deadline, or a class I need to finish) I now try to be done with all work-related tasks by 7pm in the evenings. . I’m trying to get some good, solid, consistent routines in place to help me manage my home and life in such a way that things run smoothly.  I’ve been trying to find outlets for my stress (running, when I can… and writing) so that I don’t take that stress out on my family. But, by no means do I have all the answers to this age-old dilemma. I’m figuring it out, as I go, finding some things that work, and making some mistakes, as well. This is very much a Journey Toward Simplicity.

Garden Trading

My cucumber vines have been SO prolific this week. I’ve been up to my ears in cukes, and just haven’t had the time to make up some pickles. My neighbor had a similar problem… but instead of cucumbers, she’s been swimming in a sea of Swiss Chard.  Gardens are funny like that… sometimes when something is in season, it’s REALLY in season, so you find yourself eating the same vegetables day after day, for weeks at a time, scouring the internet for new and exciting ways to serve them. But if you have a friend or neighbor who also gardens, you can break up the monotony and get more variety by trading things you have in abundance! Last night I brought my neighbor five cucumbers and a small bunch of oregano, and she gave me this huge, gorgeous bunch of Swiss Chard!

Isn’t it beautiful?!  I plan to sautee this up in olive oil, with some minced garlic and a touch of sea salt. YUM!

The Great Homemade Deodorant Experiment of 2012, Part 1

For so very many years now, we’ve been hearing about the dangers of commercial deodorants. Research has shown that daily use of deodorants containing aluminum and parabens can increase our risk of cancer… yikes! Seems like a very good reason to skip our traditional deodorant and try out something natural, right? Yet somehow, although I’ve removed most all other chemical personal care items from my life, I was hesitant to give up my old deodorant, for fear that I’d end up stinky and embarrassed. I did try switching to Tom’s of Maine natural deodorant once, but it made me break out in a rash with the first use. Damn sensitive skin! So I switched back, because at the time my desire for sweet-smelling and rash-free pits won over my chemical fears. No, I am not proud of this vanity! But now, finally, a good 10-15 years after I first heard of the dangers of deodorant, I finally decided to take the plunge, and give up traditional deodorant for good!

Now, let me just begin by telling you that I embarked on this little experiment during the month of July in New England, when temps were in the 80’s to upper 90’s! It was quite a chance to take, but I figured if I could find something that kept me fresh in this weather, it had to be good, right? Also, it happened to just be when I ran out of my regular stuff. So… The Man of the House agreed to support me in this adventure, and promised to (very nicely, of course) let me know if things got… unpleasant. So the experiment began!

Day 1: I found a recipe online which looked easy…plus, I already had all the ingredients on hand (Hello, Simple Living Shopping List!) This particular recipe was made with baking soda, corn starch, Coconut oil and essential oil. I mixed it all per the instructions, but the consistency wasn’t quite what it was supposed to be (very gloppy!) but I assume that’s mostly because it’s been so hot here that the coconut oil is all melty and liquidy. Still, I think next batch I might try using less oil, to see if that makes it a little thicker and less messy.

So, I poured the gloppy deodorant mixture into a little jar, and put some on, using my fingertips (much messier than my old stick) and waited to if it kept me from getting stinky.

End of Day 1: Still smelled good! Though, The Man of the House was already tired of hearing me ask, “Do I stink?” He reassured me multiple times that I smelled just fine… Bless him!

Day 2:  When I opened the jar this morning, I noticed that the oil had separated a little bit from the solid, but I just stirred it back up and put some on again. It was 90-plus degrees, and my pits were fresh smelling all day! Dare I say, I felt like it might have worked even better  than my regular deodorant?!

Day 3: Same as Day 2… except… Uh oh! I noticed my left armpit stung a bit! Hoping it was just some razor irritation, and not from the deodorant! Also… I went for a run in 80+ degree weather today… very sweaty, but no stinkiness!

Day 5: Razor irritation is gone, and armpits are feeling good and smelling good! Still not thrilled with how messy and gloppy this stuff is, though. Going to try tweaking the recipe and making a new batch.

As of today, I still haven’t gotten around to making that second batch! (Been very busy with Birthday Celebrating, and taking care of some work stuff!) But I plan to get to it this week, and will post the results. Meanwhile, I'm still using the gloppy batch, and still feelin' good! 

Happy Monday, Everyone!