Homemade Lip Balm = Epic Win!

I made another batch of lip balm this morning and I decided to take what I learned from using the recipe and just kinda wing it. I used the same amount of beeswax, but used coconut and safflower oils instead of just almond. Kept the Vitamin E, used Sweet Orange again, but I skipped the cocoa and honey.

It turned out good. It's yummy, it's a little more solid this time, and I managed to make a slightly bigger batch of this one.

I'm not sure whether the solidity is owed to the coconut oil (which is solid at room temp, if you've never seen it) or if it's because I left out the honey, but I need to remember that this recipe hardens faster than the other one does. I think I'll need to pour this one without dropping the pot into cold water.

At any rate, I'm having a blast and feeling really good about what I'm doing. Especially after the week with a sling in which I basically sat around and bitched about the sling, because it was something to blame my boredom on. Honestly, even without the sling, there's no way I could have grated beeswax with how my wrist and fingers felt last week.

I think that I'm going to whip up one more batch of balm before I have to pack it in and head to work. I'm thinking Wintergreen this time. I really want to make mint, but everybody does Peppermint. I also need to spend some time working on a list of infused oils I want to make. Definitely Vanilla Bean, because Vanilla Bean + Sweet Orange + Wintergreen = Root Beer! Not kidding, it's an incredibly close approximation. And I can probably get closer if I wait until spring and dig some sassafras root at my grandparent's house.

Any flavor ideas would be welcome, let me know!

Homemade Lip Balm = WIN!

I made homemade lip balm using one of these Recipes, from Crunchy Betty.com, the Luscious Lavender one. I used a little extra cocoa and sweet orange oil and I've really excited about how it's turning out. It's not even totally set up yet but I stole some anyway to give it a shot.

It's super yummy and seems to work pretty good. And having a recipe to follow for the first batch has totally gotten me over my fear of making lip balm, so keep an eye out for new stuff from your favorite hippy.

Salt and Sugar and Soft Hands, Oh My!

So about 2 weeks ago or so, I put together a Peppermint and Tea Tree salt scrub to go with Auntie Age's Best Foot Soak Ever. It still needs some tweaking to perfect the formula, but I was pretty happy with the results, given that it's only the second scrub I've ever made from scratch and the first one turn out to not have a very good shelf life even though the results were pretty awesome.

Tonight I tried another new scrub. This one is a Orange Spice Sugar scrub and I'll going to try it tonight before bed. (I'm nervous about the idea of trying a new scrub and then sitting down with the laptop, just in case it turned out too greasy.) I will post the outcome after I've tried it.

I'm thinking that if I can get the formulations right, I just might start to package and sell them. Any takers?

More cocoa recipes.

Plain Jane Classic Cocoa

combine:

• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 1/2 cup superfine sugar
• 1 Tbsp powdered vanilla
  

in a mixing bowl.

To enjoy, mix 2-3 Tablespoons into 1 cup of hot water or milk.

My friend Ann told me she doesn't like fancy cocoa, and it occurred that I never posted the basic recipe that all my fancy cocoas start with.

Another Convert

A while ago, I bought my friend Lisa a stick of Crystal Rock Deodorant. I gave her some time to give it a try and asked her the other day what she thinks of it. SHE LOVES IT. That is all.

I spent my snow day on Cocoa (pt 3)

Candy Cane Cocoa

combine:

• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 1/2 cup superfine sugar
• 2 Tbsp finely crushed (almost to powder) peppermint candy

in a mixing bowl.

To enjoy, mix 2-3 Tablespoons into 1 cup of hot water or milk.

Crush your candy canes or starlight mints in a coffee grinder, or food processor to get to a powder quickly. I did mine with a mortar and pestle and it took forever. (My coffee grinder make everything taste like cloves from using it to grind spices a few too many times.)

I spent my snow day on Cocoa (pt. 2)

Gingerbread Cocoa

combine:

• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 1/2 cup superfine sugar
• 1/4 cup Sugar in the Raw (crushed to powder)
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp powdered vanilla

in a mixing bowl.

To enjoy, mix 2-3 Tablespoons into 1 cup of hot water or milk.

Sugar in the Raw comes as rather large crystals and will need to be crushed down somewhat for this recipe to make sure it dissolves completely. It's added for it's molasses content and could be replaced with superfine sugar without sacrificing much taste.

I get my powdered vanilla at Kitchen Krafts in Quakertown.

I spent my snow day on Cocoa

First off, any day spent creating and sampling homemade gourmet hot cocoa recipes, automatically qualifies as awesome. Plus the snow was gorgeous and hubby was home to share it all with me. Or I should say, I was home to share it with him. It's unusual for me to have a Saturday off.

Anyway, here's the cocoa recipes.

Deep Dark Cocoa


Combine

• 1/2 cup dark cocoa
• 3/4 cup superfine sugar
• 1 Tbsp powdered vanilla
• 2 Tbsp grated dark chocolate (70% or so cacao)

in a mixing bowl.

To enjoy your cocoa, mix 2-3 Tablespoons in 1 cup of hot water or milk.

I like to use the side of the grater normally used for cheese to grate my chocolate. Something like Ghirardelli's Twilight Delight (72% cacao) works great for this.

If you're local to the Allentown area, I got my powdered vanilla that Kitchen Krafts down in the Quakertown Farmer's Market (Q-Mart) I haven't seen it anywhere else.

Auntie Age's Best Foot Soak Ever.

Add the following to a zippy bag.

• 1.5 cups of Epsom Salts
• 8 drops of Peppermint Essential Oil
• 6 drops of Tea Tree Oil
• a healthy dollop of Vitamin E oil (make sure it's just Vitamin E, many are diluted with Soybean or some other oil)
• a few drops of dye (I use liquid soap dye)

Close bag tightly. Knead bag until color is consistent throughout mixture. (That's what the dye is for - the oils are very transparent and it's hard to tell if you've mixed well without the dye.)

Yield: 25 amazing foot soaks.

Directions for use:
Add 1 Tablespoon of Foot Soak to a basin of hot water. Soak feet and enjoy.

If you're soaking in the bath tub, I would double the amount of soak, so it's not too dilute to work it's magic.

Info about ingredients:
Epsom Salts: great for a relaxing, skin softening soak. Also good for soaking minor sprains and sore tired feet.

Vitamin E: softening nourishment for your skin.

Peppermint Oil: the scent is great for mental clarity and stress relief. Plus it has a cooling effect when applied to your skin.

Tea Tree Oil: know for it's antiseptic and deodorant properties, the inclusion of this is a must for a foot soak. Also, it's scent blends well with peppermint, softening it and adding an earthy note.

I don't love my canvas tote as much as you think I do.

So, a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away. Ok, it was like 4 years ago, in NYC, I bought a couple of things at SoHome and they gave my a little unbleached canvas tote instead of a plastic shopping bag. Out of convenience - I loved the size of it - I started carrying it. A lot.

When work changed the dress code, and I had to start wearing dress pants (which if you don't know, means I no longer had pockets), it was fantastic. Just big enough for wallet, keys, cells, and a small craft project.

Well, at any rate, my cheaply made, not meant for daily use tote finally started to give out one me. One of straps finally tore off. Apparently, everyone thought that I adored this little tote bag.

I went up to my sister and she said "I have a couple of canvas totes if you want them." I thought, sure, why not? and took them. Then I was at my mom's and she said, "oh, I have a canvas tote you can have."

I said to her, wow, does everyone think that I love canvas totes or what?

"Well, the strap tore on that little one that you carried all the time, and we felt bad that your favorite bag tore, so we decided to give you ours."

Wow, I never realized that anyone thought I liked that little bag so much. Weird.

Gotta get back on track.

This week, when I get paid, there will be a hard-core, fill the pantry farmer's market trip. I need to make granola bars. I have an idea for almond bars. I'm out of zippy bags. I need veggies. (All i have is mutant cucumbers from my garden.)

I might try to make some popcorn bars, also.

In other news, I made amazing Wasabi mustard this past week. I'll measure next time and post the recipe. Which brings me to the next item - Robyn is going to teach me to can, which means healthier eating (with no Onion - yay) and reusable packaging (ball jars).

This all makes for a very happy hippy. Now if only my house would clean itself.

Oil Cloth Snack Bags - Fail!

Awhile ago I saw some girl on Etsy was selling oil cloth, reusable snack bags. Now, it's not that I don't want to support another artist, it's just that I'm loathe to buy it and pay shipping if I could make my own. So, I decided that I'm going to make my own. I figured one 6" square folded in half for a snack bag, two 6" squares sewn together for a sandwich bag. Velcro closures on all of them.

So I go to Joann's for the oil cloth. I get there and they don't seem to have it. I asked the girl at the fabric table and she tells me it's hard to find and that I should try Fabric.com. I told her I was gonna try Fabrics by Allen out in the Kmart Plaza to see if they have any.

I browsed around some more and found a remnant of red checked flannel back vinyl and I'm thinking, that this could make a super cute lunchbag, and then at least the trip to Joann's isn't wasted. When I checked out, I mentioned my project to the girl up front, who proceeded to inform me that they don't make oilcloth anymore - this is completely untrue, we carry bags made of it where I work.

So then I drive out to Fabrics by Allen. They don't carry oil cloth either, but they're intrigued by my idea. I ended up buying some nylon mesh to make a bath puff, and some lightweight clear plastic that we're thinking may work for my bags. I promise them I'll let them know how my bags turn out and head off to finish my errands.

Then I come home and go online. Fabric.com does, in fact, carry oilcloth!! Yay! But, I'm not totally in love with any of the patterns, so I start Googling oil cloth. And I find out that the jury's still out on whether modern oil cloth is actually foodsafe, because it's cloth impregnated with vinyl.

So I look into traditional oil cloth, which is canvas or cotton duck, impregnated with Linseed oil. Which also may or may not be foodsafe. But you can make your own. With linseed oil from the healthfood store which is produced to by eaten as a supplement of some kind or another. Which means it's food safe. But probably a huge pain in the ass to make.

So now I don't know what I'm going to do, but I know that as much as I hate throwing them all away, I am not going to start washing zippy bags. To me, that just screams crazy person. I mean no offense to you if you wash yours, I just can't quite bring myself to do it.

What exactly is a Diva Cup?

After much consideration, I finally bought a Diva Cup, so far so good. Honestly, I love it! I bought it earlier today, and I'm already thrilled with it. I have "good" timing, having puchased it when I could immediately use it.

So, what is a Diva Cup exactly? It's a menstrual cup, a tampon replacement, an environmentally friendly feminine hygiene product, one of the best purchases I have ever made. It collects your flow rather than absorbing it (it's a silicone cup), and it's re-usable. You wash it up and keep using it. It does cost about $40, and may need to be ordered online if your local health food store doesn't carry it or can't get it.

I had Sign of the Bear, in Allentown, get me mine. Here's the thing - it's FDA approved for a year of use. In other words, $40 once a year, rather than $5-10 every month for pads and/or tampons.

If you want the details or more information, please look at the Diva Cup website, or check in with the girls at LunaPads.