Baby Wipes

After poring over no fewer than 20 different "recipes" for homemade baby wipes, I decided to just combine the best aspects of a few recipes and make up my own!  Here is what I came up with:

What you'll need:
1 Tbsp olive oil (or melted coconut oil, grape seed oil, or almond oil)
1 Tbsp baby wash (whatever kind you use--pictured here is California Baby Lavender and Tea Tree Oil shampoo and body wash)
1.5-ish C warm water
Tea Tree Oil
Lavender Oil
Select-a-Size type paper towels
Container to fit 1/2 the height of the roll of paper towels (pictured here is ClickClack 3.5 qt container from Target--$14.92)

First, let me explain just a few things about the ingredients.  The essential oils are technically optional; however, USE THEM.  If you can only use one of them, use tea tree oil.  The tea tree oil will keep away any mold that could potentially grow in the container.  The container is a very humid environment--mold's favorite place to grow.  In most baby wipes that you buy, the mold is kept away from the alcohol they put in the wipes...but we don't want to use alcohol, so we use tea tree oil instead.  It is naturally an antiseptic, an anti-fungal, and infection-reducing.  That means that it will also help with diaper rash (getting it to go away AND keeping it away), eczema, and any sort of skin inflammation.  Lavender oil shares some of those same properties (and it just smells good!).  It is an antiseptic, an analgesic (pain killer), and a cicatrizant (promotes healing through scar tissue), among other things.  That means lavender oil can help with eczema, dermatitis, psoriasis, scabies, and myriad other skin problems.

As for paper towels, pick whatever brand you want to...but make sure they're the "select-a-size" type.  Here is what I know about paper towels: much like toilet paper and cheese, YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR.  I paid less than $1.50 for the pictured roll of Viva paper towels.  However many towels the package says it has, you'll be getting twice that many wipes...just make sure that unless you have a wide container, you don't want one of the double rolls.  

So how do you make them?

Get out your cutting board and a sharp knife!  Some recipes said to make sure you use a serrated knife, but I had no problem with a flat-edged knife.  It just needs to be sharp.  Lay the roll of towels on their side.  Now saw away until you're all the way through.  Now you have something that looks similar to two rolls of toilet paper.

In a glass measuring cup that holds at least two cups, add 1.5 cups of warm/hot water.  Add in the baby wash and oil.  For the essential oils, I used about 10-12 shakes of the tea tree oil and 15 or so shakes of the lavender oil.  It'll look really pretty like this:

At this point, I put the liquid into another container with a tight fitting lid, and shook it around to mix the oils up a bit.  In retrospect, I would probably add all of the oils, shake it up, and THEN add the body wash.  It got a little foamy!  Oh well.

Put one half of the paper towel roll into the container, cut side down.  Pour the liquid over the towels slowly.  I tried to get a good amount around the center and the edges so it could soak in from both sides.  If your towels are still really dry, feel free to add a little more water.  It'll look like this:

That yellowing is the olive oil.  See how the cardboard tube is pulling away?  Once it's pretty wet, you can pull it out of the center.  The towel that is attached to the tube can be pulled out of the middle.  This is where you'll pull the wipes from.  Now put the lid on and let them continue to soak for awhile.

I used these today and they work wonderfully!  The only thing I would change is that I would add maybe an extra 1/2 C warm water at the end.  I like my wipes a little more wet than these were--you know, for the demon adorable poops that come out of the toddler.

Have fun and happy wiping!



 

SupercalifragilisticexpealiPANCAKES!

I've only put one food item on this blog so far, but these pancakes were good enough that I decided to post the recipe.  I found the recipe on Pinterest a month or so ago and wrote it down so I could make them.  I lost the recipe and just found it this morning...so I decided to make them.  Unfortunately, I didn't save it on my recipe board, so I can't give credit to the person who originally posted it.  Whoever you are, these are DELICIOUS!

3/4 C. milk
2 Tbsp. white vinegar
1 C. flour (I used a mixture of different whole wheat flours--regular, pastry, white whole wheat)
2-3 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 egg
2 Tbsp. melted butter
1 tsp. vanilla

Pour the 2 Tbsp of white vinegar into a measuring cup and add milk until it reaches the 3/4 C. line.  Give it a quick stir and let it set for 10 minutes.  In a large bowl, combine all dry ingredients.  In a small bowl, whisk together milk, egg, vanilla, and butter.  Pour wet into dry and whisk until most lumps are gone.

LET THE BATTER SIT FOR 10 MINUTES AND DO NOT STIR IT AGAIN FROM THIS POINT ON.

Heat a skillet on medium heat.  I used coconut oil in the pan, but you can use whatever oil you want to.  Coconut oil gives the pancakes a slightly sweet crunch to the edges.  The batter will be thick--I dropped just shy of 1/3 C. at a time.  The pancakes don't really get the same "bubbles" as regular pancakes...you know, the ones that let you know it's time to flip the pancakes over.  I cooked them for about 2 minutes on the first side and 1 minute on the second side...but it'll vary by how hot your pan is.

Now...EAT THEM!  I had mine with just a little butter and some blueberries.  Isak ate his dry with blueberries, blackberries, and sliced banana.  I'm sure they'll taste good with syrup--but I'm not really a syrup person LOL!

Have fun and happy cooking!

Shower Cleaning Spray

There are loads of products on the market that claim to do everything from eliminate soap scum to babysit your children make your bathroom sparkle.  None of them really work all that well, at least in my experience--and all of them have such a strong chemical clean smell that they leave me with a headache and sniffles.  I've looked all over for different homemade recipes, and finally found one that works.  Unfortunately, I don't have a really gross "before" picture to show you how well this stuff works (we have one of those dish wands filled with Dawn and vinegar in the shower that I do a quick scrub down with every day...so it never gets REALLY bad...but the soap scum still eventually builds up).  But you'll get the idea with what I have.  

So what will you need?

Vinegar
Dawn (the original blue stuff)

The recipe is a 1:1 ratio, so equal parts of vinegar and Dawn.  Here is the important part--you want the vinegar to be hot.  I put it in a glass Pyrex measuring cup and microwaved it for two minutes.  If you use smaller amounts, you might not need to heat it that long.  I used a cup of each, in order to spray down the whole shower.  Put the hot vinegar and Dawn in a spray bottle and flip it over a few times to mix it without shaking it too much.

 Now spray it all over the shower (or the area of the shower that you want to clean).  It won't run all that much, so you want to saturate the soap scum areas (otherwise when you wipe it down, you'll have clean areas where the gel was and soap scum surrounding it).

Okay, so I forgot to take out my hair and body stuff when I sprayed it down.  Don't do that.  It's annoying to clean up.  This part of the shower didn't have a whole lot of soap scum on the walls, so they aren't saturated as much as, say, the area under the products where all of the soap and junk collects.  Once you spray down the shower, leave it alone for two hours (or longer if you have really stubborn yuckiness).  After that time, get a sponge wet in warm water and wipe everything down.  Most of it was just gentle wiping and everything came off--there were a couple parts where I had to scrub.  Regardless, it all came off!  After wiping it down, spray it with your shower head (or if it doesn't reach, just get a bucket and dump water on it to finish rinsing it).

Voila!  All clean!  It's somewhat time consuming, but if you figure that the majority of the time was taken up with Isak napping and me watching SVU while doing laundry, it doesn't really matter, right?  Now I need to find out if this works on shower liners.  No amount of cleaning seems to work on the liner curtain!

Have fun and happy de-scumming!

 

Summer Rolls

I don't know about you, but Vietnamese summer rolls are one of my favorite things to eat...all year long.  There is something so refreshing about biting into a summer roll, especially when it has just been made.  One of my favorite parts is dipping it in copious amounts of peanut sauce; however, JR is allergic to legumes...so I don't make the sauce at home, I just have it at restaurants.

I was amazed to find out how easy these are to make.  Honestly, the hardest part is figuring out how long to soak the rice wraps before using them.  You can put basically whatever you want into the rolls.  Some things would be harder to wrap than others, so use your good judgment when deciding what to use.

What did I use?

Butter lettuce leaves (I used the living lettuce--I LOVE it!)
Cooked vermicelli noodles
Shredded carrots
Chopped green onions
Mint leaves (these give it the traditional summer roll taste, so don't leave them out!)
Cooked shrimp (cut in half as shown)
Rice wrappers

You'll want to cut all the vegetables first and put them in separate containers.  It's MUCH easier this way.  Although I say you can pick whatever you want to put in them, there are a few staples: mint (trust me, if you've had a summer roll before, this is what you taste), cooked vermicelli (noodles will make up about 1/2 of the contents, give or take), and lettuce leaves (this is important in order to keep vegetables from tearing the rice wrap).

Put a couple inches of water in large bowl or pie plate.  Only soak ONE wrap at a time.  Just make sure all of the wrap gets wet, soak it 10-15 seconds, and pull it out.  Do not wait until the wrap is totally pliable to pull it out of the water--it will be impossible to use.  When it comes out of the water, it will still be mostly stiff.  Don't worry, it'll continue to soften.  At this point, put it on a damp towel/paper towel/whatever on a cutting board or hard surface.

Pile your stuff on the wrap about 2-2.5 inches from the bottom of the wrap.  Lettuce on bottom, then noodles, then veggies.  Fold the bottom over the vegetables, then fold each side over snugly (think: like wrapping a burrito...you'll still have a relatively wide middle part of the wrap to deal with).  Fold the vegetable part over once.  At this point I placed (right next to the filled part) a mint leaf, a shrimp half, and another mint leaf.  Then roll the rest of it up (just like a burrito).  If you want to make them vegetarian, you can put anything in other than shrimp--tofu, a peach slice, a spare tire, whatever.

This is what the finished product looks like.  It's not beautiful, but it is incredibly delicious!

Have fun and happy rolling!


 

Lip Balm

JR and I both love Burt's Bees lip balm...but at $4 a tube, it starts to get expensive (as does any brand of organic lip balm).  I've been reading through multiple recipes of lip balm, but the problem with most of them is that they require a handful of products that I don't regularly keep around the house.  Part of the whole point of this is being able to make my products with things that many people would somewhat regularly have.  There were two components of the recipe that I didn't have; however, the expense for them was negligible. 

So what do you need?

8 Tbsp organic unrefined virgin coconut oil (if you get refined or non-organic, it'll work fine--you just don't preserve the full health properties of the oil)

3 Tbsp Beeswax Granules or Pearls (white or yellow, doesn't matter)

1.5 Tbsp raw honey

30-50 drops of essential oil (optional)

20-30 lip balm containers

Put the beeswax, honey, and coconut oil in the top of a double boiler.  I just put it in one of my Pyrex glass measuring cups and set it in a tiny sauce pan with an inch of water.  Turn the burner on medium-ish and let it melt.  I tried stirring it as it melted...do so at your own peril...it makes a mess.  The best bet is to just let it melt until it's a translucent liquid.  It will take a good 20-30 minutes for it to fully melt, and then it'll look like this:

 Take the pan off the heat, add essential oil, and stir until mixed.  The recipe I was looking at said to set the glass measuring into a bowl with a cold bath until the mixture began to cool; however, I found that not to work (and subsequently involved an additional 10 minute re-heating process).  Basically what I'm telling you is to take the glass measuring cup out of the hot pan, let it set for about 45 seconds, and then start pouring.  You may still need a reheating process halfway through, but it's fine if you do.  I poured the mixture directly from the measuring cup to the empty lip balm containers.  Fill almost to the top (mine are slightly low), cap, and stand up to set.  If you want, you can put them on a tray in the refrigerator for a few minutes for them to set up--that's up to you.  I got 30 tubes out of this recipe; however, it may have been a little better if I had filled 25 tubes a little more full that I did.

Oh well, you learn as you go!

This is after they have set up--when you pour the mixture in, it will be bright amber/gold.  I tried some as soon as they had set up, and it is AWESOME!  Moisturizing, not greasy, and the honey/beeswax give it a nice, light honey scent to go with whatever oil you choose.

Have fun and happy balming!
 

Antiperspirant

Antiperspirant has been the one product that I have had a really hard time giving up.  Yes, I know that there is aluminum in all of it.  Yes, I know that it's really bad for you.  Yes, yes yes...  That being said, especially in an environment that has an average of 472% humidity, I'm sweaty all the time!  So sue me, I hate having wet armpits and then sweat stains on my shirts.  

Yes, there are "organic" deodorants that I could buy for $8 per container.  They seem to come in two scents: hippie BO, and essential oil scented hippie BO.  In other words, they don't work.  Whatever oils they seem to put in them seem to smell like cardboard, which when mixed with sweat, just smells gross.  Other kinds don't use oils and just sell you a $10 salt lick to rub on your pits.  I never found that they worked...at all...and anyway, they're mostly deodorants, not antiperspirants. 

Well, I found a recipe for homemade antiperspirant and decided to give it a whirl!  What do you need?

1/4 cup baking soda
1/4 cup arrowroot powder or cornstarch (yes, that bag is arrowroot powder...not cocaine)
6-8 Tbsp coconut oil
1/2 - 1 Tbsp olive oil (or grapeseed oil)
Essential oil (if you want it to smell like something other than coconut)

I cleaned out one of JR's old pomade containers (I think it's called Surf Head) and it was the perfect size to hold the whole recipe.

Whisk together the baking soda and arrowroot (or cornstarch).  Add the coconut oil and mix well (I used the whisk on my hand mixer, which is infinitely easier).  Add in olive (or grapeseed) oil and optional essential oil.  Once fluffy, transfer to any airtight container.

A quick note:  This is the consistency of a body cream.  There is no putting it in deodorant applicator containers or any of that.  You put it on your armpits like a lotion (I actually like it better).  You only need very little.  Experiment and see what works for you!

Happy De-Stinking!
 

Beach Spray

Over the past year or so, I fell in love with using Not Your Mother's BEACH BABE Salt Texturizing Spray.  It's great stuff--not really a spray for hold, but a spray for texture.  It gives the same look as having been at the beach all day (you know, with the great waves and volume...not like you sprayed your hair with AquaNet and hung out in a wind tunnel).  I had stopped using it when I stopped using commercial shampoo and conditioner; however, from time to time, I'd really like to use it!  Unfortunately, I looked at the ingredients of the spray, and it's definitely a no-go for use.  That being said, it's a great bottle...so I cleaned it out and saved it...and set off to find a homemade version of my favorite spray!

I had no idea that it would be so simple.  Here is what you need:

1 cup hot water
2 Tbsp sea salt (I used pink Himalayan salt)
1 tsp coconut oil (or 1/2 tsp almond or jojoba oil)
Essential oil (if you want it to have a scent)
* If you want this to have a little more hold, add 1 tsp of aloe vera gel

*EDIT* One of my friends just brought to my attention that in some climates, coconut oil will solidify in the water, clogging the pump.  In San Antonio, it's warm and humid enough that my coconut oil is partially in liquid form at all times LOL!  So, if you keep your house cold, live in a less humid/cooler climate, try almond oil, jojoba oil, or grapeseed oil instead (remember, only 1/2 tsp).  Additionally, my hair is baby fine, so I don't need a lot of "grit" in my spray to obtain the desired texture.  If you don't have super fine hair, or if you have heavier hair, use 2 Tbsp of EPSOM salts and 1/2-1 tsp of sea salt instead of the 2 Tbsp of sea salt.




So...put the hot water in a large measuring cup or whatever.  If you're using coconut oil, drop it into the water and it will melt fairly quickly.  Put in salt and optional essential oils and/or aloe vera.  Mix.  Pour it into whatever spray bottle you have lying around.  The opening of my bottle was pretty small, so I used my handy dandy funnel to pour it in the bottle.  For whatever reason, when I first put it in my bottle, it didn't spray right (it may have been because I didn't clean the pump enough and something got stuck in it).  An hour later (and since then), it has worked just fine.


Happy Spraying and Beach Hair!