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Top 5 Uses for Coconut Oil in Your Bathroom

Coconut oil is one of the most talked about oils to cook with but did you know it’s benefits for your skin, hair and teeth?  If this is the first time you’re hearing about coconut oil health benefits – it’s because of the fatty acid composition; the oil contains a high concentration of medium-chain saturated fatty acids like lauric acid. These are easily digested and fight bacteria, viruses, etc. To fully reap the benefits of coconut oil, select unrefined oil to bypass chemicals in the processing. Unrefined oil is processed by mechanically pressing the coconut meat soon after picking so it retains the compounds naturally present. Once you have selected an unrefined coconut oil – here are my favourite five uses for personal care:

Makeup Remover

Coconut oil magically melts away stubborn mascara and makeup. Add coconut oil to a dry cloth or Q-tip and remove makeup.

Facial Wash

When I ran out of store bought face wash last month I decided to try coconut oil to wash my face. I mix my coconut oil with a bit of baking soda to give it some abrasion then I apply with dry hands to my face and wash clean with water. I’m completely hooked and love how soft my face and lips feel after using! All store bought facial cleaners contain water and therefore require preservatives to ensure shelf life. Avoid these chemical preservatives with using this technique to wash and moisturize your face.

Tooth Polish

Have you heard of oil pulling? It sounds complicated – don’t let that stop you. All you need is a spoon and coconut oil. Think of it as oil swishing! You put approx. 1 tablespoon of coconut oil on a spoon, put inside your mouth, wait for the oil to melt into liquid form, then swish through your mouth (mixed with saliva) for 20 minutes. Don’t swallow the oil, swish for 20 minutes and then spit into the toilet. I promise you’ll feel like you just got home from the dentist. I’ve incorporated oil pulling into my morning routine and love how it whitens my teeth and removes plaque. Other benefits with dental care is coconut oil facilitates absorption of calcium by the body, so it helps in getting strong teeth. Coconut oil also stops tooth decay and whitens teeth.

DIY Deodorant

Aluminum-based compounds are used as active ingredient in antiperspirants. So I set off to make my own deodorant many years ago expecting it to be difficult and expensive. I was wrong and have used this 3 part ingredient recipe every since.

Ingredients:

5-6 Tbsp Coconut oil
1/8 cup baking soda
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons arrowroot powder or cornstarch

Combine equal portions of baking soda & arrowroot powder. Then slowly add coconut oil and work it in with a spoon until it maintains the substance you desire. I keep the ball of deodorant in a sealed jar, wrapped in parchment paper so I don’t get my hands sticky when applying. Store in a dark cool area of the bathroom so it won’t melt on hot, sunny days.

Hair Conditioner

Do you have dry ends or dry scalp? Coconut oil is one of the best natural nutrition for hair. Adding coconut oil to the ends of dry hair produces a beautiful shiny effect. It is effective in reducing the protein loss for hair and it’s my favourite part of maintaining long hair. After my hair is washed and dry, I add a quarter sized amount to my hand, rub into liquid form and add to hair ends. It can also be used as a slicker for fly away pieces of hair.  Also when your scalp gets itchy from dry skin – rub coconut oil into your scalp before bed. It will sooth itching and heal dry skin.

The best part of starting to incorporate coconut oil into your personal care regime is you’ll keep finding more ways to use it. It’s also very empowering to replace store bought products with ones you can make yourself because it ensures you know the ingredients you are applying to your family’s skin and body. A high quality unrefined coconut oil is pricey, but one jar goes a long way so the cost savings long-term are significant.

Bubble and Squeak and Other British Delights

When I saw my fellow blogger Carly’s last post on leftover veg, I was pretty excited. ‘She is going to mention bubble and squeak’ I thought, but of course there was no mention of this British dish! I’m sure most Canadians have never even heard of it!

I call bubble and squeak a delight because I can’t call it a delicacy! Bubble and squeak is a dish made from leftover vegetables, specifically from a traditional English roast dinner. You fry up your veggies with mashed potatoes or crushed roast potatoes and usually serve with breakfast or brunch. The name bubble and squeak comes because the dish does just that as it is fried up.

In the earliest know recipes bubble and squeak was fried up with either leftover meat or whatever meat you were planning on having for breakfast, but nowadays this isn’t the case and your meat is always on the side.

Here is a simple bubble and squeak recipe for you to try, but to be honest, this really is as easy as throwing everything in a pan with some butter:

Ingredients:

• 4 tbsp butter
• Any leftover vegetables, cabbage, swede, carrots, peas, Brussels sprouts, finely chopped
• ½ cup onion, diced
• Leftover mashed potato or roasted potatoes crushed up
• Salt and pepper

Keep Celebrating with Easter Leftovers

It’s Easter weekend, one of my favourite holidays because it usually brings with it beautiful spring weather, not to mention family togetherness. And chocolate. And turkey. All wrapped up in a long weekend.

Another of the innumerable pleasures of Easter weekend is … leftovers! Not last year’s eggs that never got found, but the leftovers from turkey dinner (sorry, ham people, I’ve got nothing for you). After Easter dinner is over, I love how the holiday continues to the delightful ding of the microwave as miniature versions of Easter dinner arrive steaming and ready. And don’t even get me started on how delightfully light on the palate a turkey sandwich with mayo, tomato, and lettuce is.

Once you’re down to the turkey bones, Easter surely seems over unless you’ve got a few chocolate eggs stashed away. You’re ready to toss the carcass in the compost bin or (god forbid) the garbage. But wait! There’s still plenty of turkey meat on those bones, and Easter doesn’t have to be over yet. The easiest and tastiest way to use up the last of the turkey is to make a soup or stew from the carcass. If you can boil a pot of water, you can make a turkey stew and keep celebrating Easter well into next week. Here’s how you get started:

Turkey Stew (or Soup)

Step 1

Put the carcass into a large pot, breaking it up if necessary. Fill the pot with enough water to cover about half the carcass or more, depending on how much water you want in your stew or soup. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for about 3 hours. You are done this step when you can easily separate the meat from the bones just by picking it up, like in this video:

Step 2

Remove the bones, leaving the meat and the broth in the pot. Depending how much meat was left on your turkey bones and how much water you added, you may have a turkey soup going on, or a turkey stew so meaty you can stand your spoon up in it.

Step 3

At this point you have a nice, meaty turkey broth and you can take this recipe anywhere you want by adding cut up veggies like onions, carrots, celery, diced potatoes, a chopped up sweet potato, some cubed turnip. Add flavour with spices or seasoning such as a chicken bouillon cube and/or salt, pepper, poultry seasoning, thyme, sage, marjoram, garlic.

This year I think I’m going to take my meaty turkey broth and make this Turkey & Wild Rice Soup recipe by adding chicken bouillon, wild rice, onion, celery, carrots, spinach, sage, and balsamic vinegar.

Step 4

Cook at a low boil for 30-60 minutes until the veggies are cooked to the desired tenderness. Done! Easter is the best!

What are you doing with your Easter leftovers?

Soap Stars: Castile.

I’ve had a little theme of late with natural cleaning products. As I’ve mentioned before, there’s a reason my house smells like fish and chips at least once a week and no, it’s not because I’m addicted to succulent pieces of battered cod – though I could be. It’s because I use vinegar and baking soda to clean everything! Here is a link to my natural cleaning product article.

One of the comments on a recent blog of mine was in regard to making a natural dish soap. What a challenge! Yep, there are a lot of recipes on the web – there’s a lot of everything on the web, but do they work?

Last week, my fellow Used blogger Lisa, showed us a mighty fine and mighty thrifty recipe for natural laundry detergent. I’ll be gathering the ingredients for this this week and am very excited to save some money on laundry! But what about dish soap?

When I began looking for natural recipes for dish soap, there was one common denominator and that was castile soap. I’ve used Dr. Bronner’s tea tree castile soap for years. It was recommended for a skin problem I was having which cleared up within a few weeks of using it, but I use it for everything, including dish soap when I’ve run out of store bought.

What is Castile Soap and Why Use it?

Castile soap is made from plant based oils mixed with an alkili. It is gentle on you and the environment because it’s biodegradable and free from harsh cleansers, oleochemicals, artificial foaming agents, petrochemicals and/or chemical anti-bacterial agents.

Why use it? Because it’s gentle enough to use on you and yet effective enough to use on your rugs, kitchen floor, bathroom tiles, etc.

In fact recently I read an article on Dr. Bronner’s castile soap in a celebrity magazine! Even Lady Gaga and Gwynth Paltrow love Dr. Bronner’s so it must at least be effective on putrid meat smells whilst still being a vegan option.

What can it be used for?

What can’t it be used for?

• Shampoo – when mixed with water in a 1:3 part ratio
• Dishwasher detergent – as is
• Body wash – 2:1 castile to water
• Toothpaste – I’m not going to try this but many sources assure me it is far better for your teeth – I’ll have to trust you on that one!
• Veggie wash – just mix 1:2 ratio soap to water, but in a squeezy bottle and squirt your veggies
• Carpet cleaner – 1/4 cup soap with 1 cup water, put in blender and blend until you have a stiff foam – voila!
• Dishsoap – see my recipe below

 Homemade Dish Soap Recipe:

This is the recipe I have seen on a multitude of sites. I don’t usually write about anything I haven’t tried myself, that’s my number one blogging rule… but today I am breaking it and I vow to try this recipe in the next couple of weeks and report back. This is for you Mark Johnston, thanks for reading my blog!

• 1 ¾ cups boiling water
• 1 Tbsp borax
• 1 Tbsp grated bar soap (use castile bar soap, homemade soap, Ivory, or whichever natural bar you prefer)
• 15-20 drops essential oils, optional (find 100% pure essential oils here)

Directions: 

1. Heat water to boiling.
2. Combine borax and grated bar soap in a medium bowl. Pour hot water over the mixture. Whisk until soap is completely melted.
3. Allow mixture to cool on the countertop for 6-8 hours, stirring occasionally. Dish soap will gel upon standing.
4. Transfer to a squirt bottle, and add essential oils (if using). Shake well to combine.

If you try this before I do, please let me know!

Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

Have you heard the good news? If baked goods and desserts are made from scratch in your kitchen they are not considered unhealthy. It’s actually a great rule to follow when trying to eat a clean food diet; eliminating store bought baked goods is a great step in that direction. Here is an awesome recipe that kids and adults love that includes chocolate chips and cocoa but the secret ingredient to the moist muffins is zucchini. And this green veggie is undetectable so anyone with fussy eaters – just don’t mention the fact they contain zucchini and it’s a win/win for the entire family!

Ingredients:

Tip – Canadian company Camino keeps baking organic, fair trade and tasty! I use their cocoa powder and whole brown sugar in my recipes.

1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup oil (I use olive oil)
1 3/4 cups sugar (I use whole sugar)
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup buttermilk or sour milk (*tip* Add 1 tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice to regular milk to make your own buttermilk)

2 1/2 cups flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. cloves

2 cups fine grated zucchini
1/4 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

Beat together butter, oil, sugar, eggs, vanilla, and buttermilk. Combine dry ingredients and then add to creamed mix. Add zucchini and chocolate chips and stir into mix. Add to muffin cups 3/4 full and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

These muffins are our household favourite. The zucchini keeps the muffins moist and I like hiding veggies in my baking especially to balance the chocolate chips added. We made chocolate cupcakes last month for a birthday and the kids all commented they liked these muffins better than the cupcakes, so they’ll be a birthday party treat for future celebrations. Easy, homemade, and clean ingredients!

Gotcha Sriracha? Homemade Hot Sauce

About three years ago, I decided to change my life around by adopting a progressively healthier eating and exercising regimen.  The experience has been awesome as I’ve focused on taking baby-steps in order to make sure all the lifestyle changes become permanent.  As of today, I am back to my proper weight, having lost approximately 30 pounds – weight which I’ve now kept off for the last two years.

The journey hasn’t been easy, that’s for sure.  Out of all the obstacles and there were many, one in particular proved immensely difficult to overcome: My love of condiments.

Gosh, do I like sauces.  So much so that I refer to myself as a “sauce guy”.

I could guzzle down pretty much any type of condiment except for mustard, which I’m not a fan of (ironic since mustard contains almost no calories).  It doesn’t matter the food – eggs, chicken, pasta, you name it – I enjoy slathering it with a tasty sauce.  But since sauces can add hundreds of calories per day to one’s diet, and since the added sugar in sauces is quite bad for you, I decided I had to break free.

In my dash for freedom, I decided to hitch a ride on the ‘hot sauce train’, seeing as hot sauces are usually low in calories and have little in the way of sugar (and they’re not mustard).  I fell in love with Sriracha sauce, which I’m sure many of you have tried or at least heard of.  Sriracha sauce is fantastically, awesomely tasty, hitting all the right notes of heat, spice, vinegar, garlic and a touch of sweetness.

Unfortunately though, underneath all that awesomeness lies a health monster.  Sriracha sauce is laced with sulfite preservatives, which have recently been questioned in relation to chronic bodily inflammation, asthma and a host of other issues.  So for me, in my attempt to get healthier, this hot-sauce freedom-train had gone off the rails.

That is until I came across this recipe for homemade Sriracha-style hot sauce.

It’s not exactly the same as store-bought Sriracha but where it comes up short, it gains in overall freshness of flavours, an absence of artificial preservatives and, if you’re interested, it’s paleo-diet friendly (if you use honey instead of sugar).  Over the past few months, I’ve eaten tons of it, enjoying it so much that I feel I really should pass-on the recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 pound red chilies (I use the red hot finger peppers but feel free to experiment)
• 4-6 garlic cloves
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup white vinegar
• 2 tablespoons liquid honey

Equipment:

• sealable container
• fine-mesh kitchen strainer
• blender

Instructions:

1.  Dice the garlic and peppers, place all the ingredients in a sealable container and give them a stir.

WARNING: Wear plastic gloves or at the very least, only handle the pepper with your non-dominant hand.  The chemicals from the peppers can burn your skin and eyes (I found this out while removing my contacts at the end of the night!)

2. Cover and place in the refrigerator for 24-hours.  Feel free to stir the mixture a few times to keep all the peppers soaking.

3. Pour the contents of the bowl into a pot and bring to a boil.

4. Stir in the honey, reduce heat and simmer for 5-minutes.

5. Remove from heat and let stand until room temperature.

6. Transfer mixture to a blender and blend for at least 5-minutes.  The length of time is key, as the mixture goes from quite runny to a thick, smooth sauce the longer it is left to blend.

7. Smush the mixture through the strainer and into a sterilized jar.  The strainer removes the fibrous seed husks.

8. Refrigerate.  The hot sauce stays good for about a month.  Enjoy!

If you try any other types of peppers, feel free to share it in the comments section.  I’ve already tried Thai chilies myself and found the sauce much too hot and chemically tasting.

Healthy Valentine Potluck Snacks

Healthy Valentine-themed potlucks are easy with 2 kitchen accessories: bamboo kabob sticks and uniquely shaped stainless steel cookie cutters. If you have these tools leading up to school celebrations during the holidays, you have empowered yourself to easily create uniquely themed snacks for parties that kids will love. More importantly, you’ve ensured that the more convenient last minute scramble to whip up something kids will love can be healthy! As parents we know food presentation is important and with these easy tips, children won’t miss or notice the traditional chocolate, cupcake, and candy options are missing.

Bamboo Kabob Sticks:

Kids will eat almost anything on a stick and kabob sticks are great in the classroom to avoid kids dipping their hands into snack bowls. With flu and colds going through schools, having kids just pick up a stick to eat already portioned fruit or veggies is an added bonus! You can either stick with Valentine complimentary coloured fruit on the Kabob – purple grapes, watermelon, cantaloupe, strawberries, etc. or veggie kabobs of tomatoes, peppers, and radish. Kids love to eat from a stick so why not load it up with healthy options? You also eliminate allergy concerns by bringing fresh produce and the teacher will thank you for not supplying energetic children with the not-so-lovely after affects of artificial colorants and sugar. These fruit kabobs shown by Parents.com show how cute fruit on a Popsicle stick can be! Photo credit: Parents.com

Shaped Cookie Cutters:

Looking at the above heart shaped melon leads us to the next fun and budget friendly Valentines kitchen accessory – heart shaped cookie cutters. If you’re desperate, just dig through your play dough shape cutters…. you’ll probably find a heart! If you have time, source a stainless steel cutter in a few different sizes, but go pretty small for fruit and veggies; a larger heart shaped cutter could be used for packing sandwiches on the 14th.  Other awesome heart-shaped healthy snacks are cucumbers (pictured below), melon, and apples. Stamp out your heart using the cookie cutter and the presentation will have kids flocking to your plate of heart shaped snacks. Photo Credit: Workman Family Blog

Free hand more your style? Use your creative skills to cut up cherry tomatoes with toothpicks to create cupid’s bow. Photo credit: Eye Candy

With many of the fruit options not being currently in season, bringing fresh produce might not be the most budget-friendly option but you are buying yourself quick convenience (think of the time and mess to create cupcakes) and you can’t put a price on healthy snacks and food. So on Feb 13th, when your child casually mentions they need to bring a dish for the classroom party the next day, don’t even bat an eye – sticks, stainless steel cutters and fruit to the rescue!

A New Spin On School Valentine Exchanges

Kids learn through play, which is the best time to absorb information about their environment and the people around them. That is why greener birthday parties and fun up-cycled activities are such a great idea.  Up-cycling is something that kids notice and a concept you can include in crafting or gifts for school Valentine exchanges. The secret is to use up fabric scraps or felt that showcases your child’s personality when making handmade Valentines.This isn’t a craft that should be tackled the night before card exchanges, but with some planning, it is a great introduction to sewing and a project younger kids can work on during the week before Valentines Day.

How do you make a DIY reusable Valentine?

Materials:

• Felt
• Fabric Scraps
• Needle
• Embroidery Thread
• Scissors
• Lollie Pop (optional)

Instructions:

With a sharp pair of scissors, cut out two hearts – the larger heart from felt and the smaller heart from either felt or fabric. Cut out hearts like you are making a paper heart (think back to elementary school) – fold the fabric and cut out 1/2 a heart on the opposite side of the folded line. This ensures hearts are even on either side. Thread your needle with embroidery thread and hand stitch. To get kids excited, pick an inner fabric that shows your child’s imagination. We loved using camouflage fabric with brown exterior felt – nobody says that Valentines always need to be pink and red! Children will love making Valentines for their friends and you can slide an organic lollie pop through the stitching of the heart if you want to include a treat. Easy for kids to handout, no writing required. Easy for teachers since they aren’t searching for kids to match up with names.

If you start running short on time, and the thought of making 30 DIY Valentines is overwhelming, make just a couple for family members and get creative with more sentimental materials. Use an old infant sleeper or baby blanket that contains lots of beautiful memories. This gift would be the ultimate for a Grandparent or your spouse.

Making felt stitched hearts isn’t just for kids! I made up a few recently to add to a tin of granola bars I gave as a gift. The felt heart minimizes having to write out a gift tag or card and truly adds that perfect touch of handmade.

Related Articles:

Homemade Granola Bars Kids Want To Eat

Homemade Granola Bars Kids Want To Eat

What is the number one packaged/processed food item going into schools, lunches, and snack bags? If you are a parent you’ll know the answer because granola bars become a staple food item once you have kids, mainly because we believe they are healthy, but also very convenient. I won’t try to take away your convenience but I can’t get over how easy homemade granola bars are to make. Once you nail the recipe and get the enthusiastic reaction from your kids  – there’s no going back to store bought.

This recipe is also nut-free so the bars are safe to bring to school for  kids with allergies. Other benefits of homemade bars is you lesson your environmental impact because they don’t have non-recyclable wrapping and the ingredients can be altered so the entire bar is organic and made without genetically modified ingredients. They’re also filling and provide more than just a light snack for the entire family. The recipe I use is not less expensive than store bought but there are certain things in life that are more important than saving money and food is becoming one of these areas in my life. Try making these bars once and it’s tough to ever go back to store bought – especially when the kids like them more!

A few tips before reading through the recipe: I would recommend buying the ingredients in bulk. I make this recipe twice a week for my family and buying ingredients in bulk is the only way to reduce cost. Especially when using organic oats, wheat germ, flour, and raw honey.

Dry Ingredients:

2 cups rolled oats (organic)
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup wheat germ (organic)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup all-purpose flour (I use half and half with organic whole wheat flour and white)
3/4 cup raisins (optional – I use chocolate chips)
1 tablespoon of chia/hemp seeds (I buy Anita’s Chia & Hemp Breakfast Boost)

Wet Ingredients:

1/2 cup honey (unpasteurized)
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract (organic)
1/2 cup organic apple sauce (or more*)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Generously grease a 9×13 inch baking pan with butter.

In a large bowl, mix together the oats, brown sugar, wheat germ, cinnamon, flour, chocolate chips and personal extras (nuts, chia/hemp seeds, dates, etc.). Make a well in the center, and pour in the honey, egg, oil, vanilla, and apple sauce. Mix well using your hands. Pat the mixture evenly into the prepared pan.

*When you are mixing the ingredients and if they don’t appear really wet, add more apple sauce! This will ensure the bars are really chewy and moist!*

Bake for 30-35 minutes in the preheated oven, until the bars begin to turn golden at the edges. Cool for 5 minutes, then cut into bars while still warm. Do not allow the bars to cool completely before cutting, or they will be hard to cut. Store on your counter in an airtight container.

Craving better health? Green smoothies to the rescue!

The arrival of January has most of us looking for ways to get back to better eating habits.  Maybe you are the type to make resolutions, maybe you have a warm weather holiday coming up, or perhaps you just want to feel energetic again.

Whatever your motivation, you need a plan.

The most obvious thing you can do is give up the junk.  Get rid of the soft drinks, the chips, the sweets, and commit to keeping them out of your shopping cart. The fastest way to improve your eating habits is to get rid of the worst offenders. Look at what you reach for in the evenings or in mindless quantities during the day and get rid of them.

Another great way to speed your way back to health and energy is to adopt a new habit or food that will make a big difference to your days – either by trimming calories, adding greatly needed nutrients or replacing other, less wholesome foods.

One of my favourites in this category is green smoothies.  Have you gone green yet?

Green smoothies are a great way to revamp what you’re eating without the frustration of starving yourself or skipping meals. Your body wants fuel!  Better you just learn better ways to feed it than try to cut everything out. And don’t tell me you wouldn’t like green smoothies because you don’t like most veggies. I promise you, they don’t taste anything like you’d expect, so don’t hesitate to try them out. What have you got to lose?

The idea is pretty simple – take a popular breakfast/snack/beverage idea like smoothies and pump up their nutrient level by adding a couple of handfuls of spinach or other fresh green to the mix.  You can keep the recipes simple or get really into adding different fruits, supplements or other healthy boosters. Do what feels right for you, but I’d recommend starting with a simple base of water or juice (I like orange), bananas, strawberries or other sweet fruit, crushed ice and two handfuls of fresh spinach.  I add the spinach last to be sure the blender can manage the leaves, and within a couple of minutes, have myself a smooth, fresh, sweet drink that is a treat to enjoy.

I went to Pinterest for inspiration, but you can find recipes almost anywhere.

Try any of these combinations to inspire you:

Easy green monster smoothie perfect to tempt wee kiddies.  Around my house they are called Dinosaur Smoothies and go down without a hitch.

Spinach and kale, plus a bright burst of citrus.

On days when you just want smooth, creamy goodness, try avocado.

If we’ve sold you and you want to make it a regular habit – a huge list of green smoothie recipes with a ton of variety.

Save this cool green smoothie rocket popsicle idea for your kids for summer.

A good guide to greens.

If you want to get all technical about ingredients, supplements and healthy boosts.

And for those who just aren’t quite ready to take the leap, here is a blueberry banana smoothie with a delicious purple colour to hide the spinach.

And this doesn’t need to be a costly venture, either. Many good quality blenders can handle daily smoothies if you use crushed ice, and if not, you can always look on used sites to find a top-notch brand for a lower price than buying new.

Have you been craving a way to get back to feeling healthy? Green smoothies might just be your ticket.

Have you tried green smoothies? What is your favourite recipe, ingredient or tip?