Showing posts with label baking soda. Show all posts

Day 87: Detox Body Scrub

I've never really been a "girly girl." I'm not exactly a tom boy either but I've never really been into the whole make up, high heels, shopping and jewelry stuff. With that said, sometimes even I go for a little luxury. In Samoa you need a little reminder ever once in a while that you are in fact of the female gender. For Christmas I gave my friends a packet of this body scrub.....the only problem was I forgot to tell them not to eat it. They must have thought I was a terrible cook. I'm sure they thought this polongie was weirder then ever!


Body Scrub

1 container epson salt
1 cup baking soda
30 drops lavender essential oil


Mix everything together in a big disposable pan. You may not want to mix this in a plastic bowl because the essential oil my remain. Scrub all over with this scrub and leave on for a minute. You'll start to tingle as the epson salt kills bacteria on your skin. After you wash off your skin will be super soft and silky....even, dare I say, feminine.
baking soda epson salt lavendar
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Day 86: Face Wash

Have you ever tried to pronounce some of the ingredients in your food? Unfortunately today it is near impossible to pronounce what your eating, let alone what you put on your body. The last time I went to buy a face wash I thought I would read what was in it first. Big mistake. I left with no face wash and on a mission to find a more natural product. After stopping at three different health food stores I still couldn't pronounce what was in this stuff. Ok, perhaps the fault is mine because I can't read at a bio med professor level but should you really have to just to wash your face? I decided I would make my own and now I have a recipe that I LOVE! I can actually feel it tingle when I put it on which I never felt with my other wash. I am gentle exfoliated every day and my complexion has cleared up better then with my other wash. I love it! and it only has 4 ingredients and cost about nothing cents per bottle. Life is good! and being the generous soul that I am, I thought I would share it with ya'll.

FACE WASH
1/2 c baking soda
5 tb filtered water
4 drops lemon essential oil
4 drops lavender essential oil

I mix this all together in a squeeze bottle that I can keep in the shower. I like it as a runny paste but you may like it at a different consistency. Gently message into your face and then rinse off. I have oily skin and this has really evened me out. Lemon essential oil is great for cleaning and killing bacteria and stuff on your face and lavender is known for healing the skin. Between the two my skin comes out just right but you may want to experiment a bit for your own skin type. While our son doesn't use this face wash, he still has a gorgeous complexion!
baking soda lavender essential oil lemon essential oil
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Day 85: Toothpaste


All through our marriage my husband has been looking for the perfect toothpaste. You would think that by the age of 32 he would have found it by now. I can't tell you how many different kinds of toothpaste we have tried. I even broke down and bought the real expensive stuff to please the man but to no avail. Finally, when we moved to Amerikan Samoa we were unable to get any sort of toothpaste that met his standard.
Matthew, as many know, is quite the naturalist. I'm sure he would use a twig and a pine cone as a toothbrush if I let him. He says that all the toothpastes on the market are too sweet, thus loaded with sugar, thus not good for our teeth. I thought he was crazy until I made our own. Now I can't stand store toothpaste. They really are so sweet! While this toothpaste does take a little getting use to, it definitely shows how much sugar is in toothpaste.


Toothpaste

1 glass bottle or plastic tube
1/2 c baking soda
2 tb hydrogen peroxide
or 15 drops food grade hydrogen peroxide
8-10 drops peppermint essential oil
enough water to make a paste

Mix everything together in your container. At walmart they have a plastic squeeze bottle in the travel section that works great!
baking soda hydrogen peroxide pepperment essential oil
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Jessica, Is that you?

Talofa! We are back from Samoa! It's good to be back. We have been back for a little over a month....which is why I also haven't written. It's been crazy being back with family and friends. We haven't seen them in 2 years so we've had a lot of catching up to do. Since we've been back I've kind of noticed that I've let myself go a bit since we've been in Samoa. A pound here, a little hairy there....nothing that can't be taken care of with a girls day and a session of hot yoga. This weeks recipes are for the women out there that want to take care of themselves but don't want the junk that comes with beauty products. My mother always said, "there's a price you pay for beauty" but I'm not prepared to pay that much. I think there is a difference between being prissy and being comely (I've never liked that word...it sounds to close to homely which is totally different! Lets call is clekesy...clean, kept, and classy) You don't have to spend hours getting ready and wear layers of make up to look nice. These recipes will achieve just that....you'll be so clekesy!

Monday: Toothpaste
Tuesday: Face wash
Wednesday:Detox body scrub
Thursday: Toothbrush soak
Friday: Sugar wax
Saturday: Refreshing body spray
Sunday: Shampoo for Thick Hair
Bonus: Bed Spray

Shopping List

baking soda
essential oils
distilled water
sugar
Epsom salt
hydrogen peroxide
castile soap
coconut oil
vitamin e oil
1 lemon
baking soda bed spray body detox scrub
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Day 83: Dishwasher Detergent

If you've read my post about dish soap you know that I know that dish soap and dish Washer soap are two completely different things. But, that still left me with the dilemma of what to put in the dishwasher. If you think about it, your washing your dishes with chemicals that leave a residue and then you eat off them. Ya, I don't think so! Here is a recipe that will clean those dishes, nix the residue and the water spots and you don't have to worry about the bubble fiasco....but I do recommend it if you're looking for some good clean fun!

Dishwasher Detergent
1 c borax
1 c baking soda
10 drops lemon
10 drops grapefruit
2 c white vinegar

In a container mix the borax, baking soda, and essential oils. In a pour bottle put the vinegar. In the pre-wash section of your machine put the powder mix and in the other place with the lid put the vinegar. The vinegar gets rid of the residue and water spots and rinses away all the junk. You may also want to run the dish washer once in a while with just the vinegar to make sure it's clean. I just heard a report that 94% of dishwashers that were examined in a study had mold. Vinegar will help a lot with that. Or hand washing can help with that too. I remember one week as a kid when our dishwasher broke. That was one of the most bonding experiences of my young life for my family. The family that works together... works!
baking soda bora x dishwasher detergent
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Day 78: Laundry Soap

I learned to do the laundry at a very young age....of coarse I didn't do the laundry per say, but I knew how to do it. I'm sure we went through laundry detergent like it was water. There was always that mound of laundry waiting by the machine. I used to hear stories from my grandma about laundry day at her house growing up. This is when they did it all by hand on a rock in the river or something like that.

In Western Samoa they do their laundry in a 5 gallon bucket at the local village pool/"laundry mat." Once they get to Amerikan Samoa and find out about the washing machines it's bye bye bucket!

I find it's best to make a big batch of this. To take it to the laundromat we put it in gallon jugs but if you have a left over bucket, that will work great too.

Laundry Soap
2 bars ivory soap pulverized or 2 c soap flakes
2 cups baking soda
2 cups borax
6 cups hot water

In your bucket add the ivory, soda, and borax. Boil the water and pour over powder stirring well. Let sit till cooled. Use 1/2 cup of soap per load.
baking soda borax ivory soap
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Day 52: mmm cake.......

Ok, I'm back. I think those brownies really did the trick. And to celebrate I say "let them eat cake." I've never been a big fan of sugar, chocolate in particular. They always tend to give me sugar head aches, does anyone else get those? But since I can control the sweetness factor I've been liking chocolate a lot more. Ever since I was a kid my birthday cake has always been a chocolate cake with no icing....icing...yucky!

When it comes to vegan cake, our favorite line is from the movie "Bedtime Stories" with Adam Sandler when he walks into the birthday party, "whats that smell? Is that the donkey" and the little kid with his mouth full of cake replies " no, it's the cake" while vegan cake isn't always "rank"ed on the top of the list of party foods - This cake really takes the cake if ya know what I mean.

Vegan Chocolate Cake
1 1/4 c white flour
1 c sugar
1/3 c unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 c warm "milk"
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 c oil
1 tsp vinegar

In two separate bowls mix the wet and the dry. Pour the wet into the dry and blend. Pour into a greased 9 x 13 pan and bake on 350 till a toothpick comes out clean. Let sit for a few minutes and only put icing on it if you absolutely have to.
baking soda brown sugar coco powder
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