Something new. . . No Shampoo!

I came across a very interesting post a few months ago and decided to give it a go.  Giving up shampoo.  Your first thought might be, "Ewwww!" but you should still read on. :)

If you would like to read the post that I did, click here.  I'm all for making things myself rather than buying them.  Even though I can get many things for practically free with coupons, I would rather make something (cheaply) and know that everything in it I am putting on or in my body is free from many harmful chemicals.

The way that shampoo works is that it strips your hair of it’s natural oils. So your body reacts from it’s oil shortage by making more. Then you wash it the next day and strip the oils again, which means that once again your body produces more oil, you see how the cycle works. But by not using shampoo you let the hair oil factory regulate it’s oil production levels to create a healthy balance.
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So, I decided to try out using baking soda instead of shampoo.  It was a pretty risky venture since I tried in out on a Saturday night before Sunday church. :)  I don't know what I was thinking!  BUT, I was pleasantly surprised with the fabulous hair day that I had!  My hair felt totally light and soft and bouncy and it straightened and/or curled just the way I wanted it to!

Do you want to try it out now?  Here's the recipe I used--

1 cup water

1 Tblsp. baking soda

Mix and put in some kind of bottle with a squirty top. 

And that's it!  I had a larger bottle that fit about 4 cups of water and 4 tablespoons of baking soda so it is still sitting in my shower and I use it every 2 to 3 days.  An old shampoo bottle would work great.   I squirt some on top, around and underneath to cover all my hair and scrub it around like shampoo.  Now, it doesn't make  a lovely lather of scented bubbles, so if that is what you love, you might not like this, but I think the end result is worth it.  I do still use conditioner on my hair after I use the baking soda mixture.  I haven't explored the options when it comes to conditioner yet, so we'll see.   

So, just another wonderful use of this amazing stuff!  

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DELICIOUS Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies

I have started to make way too many goodies for Christmas.  I try to give them away before I eat them all...:)  

Here is a super yummy recipe for Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies

1 cup butter

 1 1/4 cup brown sugar

1 1/4 cup sugar

Cream together, then add:

3 eggs (I always use powdered eggs for baking)

1 cup peanut butter (creamy or crunchy)

2 tsp vanilla

Mix, then add:

2 1/2 cups flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/8 tsp salt

Mix.  Roll into balls.  Flatten slightly.  Put Hershey's Kiss in the middle.

Bake at 325 degrees for 11-12 mintues

Just a little note...if you think the cookies don't look quite done and want to wait until they are looking slighty brown--you will bake them for too long.  (From personal experience. :)  Just bake them for the 11 to 12 minutes and take them out because they will be done.   Also. . . I usually double the recipe to make LOTS.   I either give them away or stick them in the freezer for later.

ENJOY!!

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Christmas Gifts

I downloaded a WONDERFUL eBook from a favorite website of mine,  http://heavenlyhomemakers.com/.  The book is called Gifts in a Jar and has a ton of great ideas.  Here is the link, it is a free download.  

So, today I made up the recipe for Peppermint Sugar Body Scrub.  It took literally 2 minutes to make.  Here's the recipe:

1/2 c sugar (side note...what a great thing to do with refined white sugar without eating it!)

1/4 c olive oil

10 drops peppermint oil

1 drop eucalyptus oil

Mix well and put in a jar.  

I gave one of these to my daughter's teacher and am giving them out to some friends and I am searching for more jars because it was just so fun to make!  

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The Most AMAZING Pumpkin Bar Recipe. . .

This is the most delicious recipe for pumpkin bars.  I can't stop making them.  But, then I have to give them away so I don't eat them all. :)  I used real pumpkin from my garden (take a look at my previous post, although you may use canned pumpkin).   

Pumpkin Bars

Heat oven to 325 degrees and grease a 15 x 10 pan.

2 cups sugar                                    2 cups flour

2 cups pumpkin                           2 tsp. baking powder

4 beaten eggs                                   1 tsp. soda

¾ cup melted butter                      ½ tsp. cinnamon

Pour combined ingredients in pan and bake for 25-35 minutes, cool completely and frost.

Frosting:

3 cups powdered sugar                             1 Tbsp. milk

3 oz. cream cheese                                    1 tsp. vanilla

6 Tbsp. soft butter

And here is a piece of the finished product.  I made these yesterday, and yes, they are gone. . .BUT, I did give most of them away. . . :)

I am apologizing in advance for your waistline...

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What to do with that pumpkin...

Many of you might have leftover pumpkins from Halloween, or your garden.  Well, this is what I did with mine...

I had a few smaller pumpkins, so I found it easiest to cut them in smaller pieces and then clean them out with a knife and spoon.  If anyone knows an easier way to clean out a pumpkin...please share! :)

And, here's my pan full of pumpkin...I put a little bit of water in the pan to prevent the pumpkin from sticking and burning.

We have chickens, so I took all of the seeds out to soak in salt water and then fed the rest to the chickens.  They love it. 

I baked the pumpkin for about 40 minutes on 350.  If your pumpkin is larger, you will need to cook it longer.  You can check it with a fork to make sure it is soft.

Next, I scraped out the inside of the pumpkin and put it in my blender:  I added just enough water to help it blend.

And here's the nice smooth pumpkin...

Now, I have an amazing recipe for pumpkin bars (that will be my next post) that uses 2 cups of pumpkin, so I measured out 2 cups of pumpkin and put it in a Ziploc bag to put in the freezer.  This way when I want to make them, I can just take the bag out, thaw the pumpkin and use it in my recipe.  

I haven't baked my seeds yet, they are still soaking on my counter.  When I do, I will put them on a baking sheet sprayed with oil and bake at 350 for about 15-20 minutes--just until they are slightly browned. Then turn my oven off and let them sit in there while it cools.  They are absolutely delicious!!

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Potato Latkes

Each month I put together a dry pack canning project for my ward at church.  We usually can items like wheat, beans, flour, oats, etc. that the LDS Cannery offers. This month, I decided to try something different and we canned potato shreds and potato slices (dehydrated) from Winco.  It was a huge success.  We canned almost 300 cans (the big #10 ones).

Since lots of people have them now, I decided to post a yummy recipe using the potato shreds.  I made these tonight for dinner and even my SUPER picky eater thought they were pretty good.  

Here's my can (I had bought this awhile ago, it's not one we just canned)

Here's the recipe:

POTATO LATKES

 (I always forget how to pronounce them. . . )

Boil 4 cups of water (it doesn't have to be exact)

Add 1 1/2 cups dehydrated potato shreds (turn stove off0

1/4 c dehydrated onions (or you can use fresh and add in with other ingredients)

Let sit for 10-15 minutes

Drain water out 

Pour potatoes/onion into a medium sized bowl and add the following:

2 eggs (I used real, but I might try powdered next time to make it a great food storage meal)

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

Mix ingredients together

Scoop 1/4 cup of mixture into a frying pan with hot oil and flatten a little

Brown for a few minutes on each side

Top with sour cream and applesauce-- or I just like ketchup

Here are my re-hydrated and drained potatoes:

Here's my mixture (my daughter loves to help):

Here they are frying on the first side:

And after I flipped them:  

Place them on a paper towel to drain the excess oil.

I used an electric skillet to cook mine and I had the temperature set to 300 degrees.

And there you go!  Enjoy!

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Apple Cinnamon Fruit Leather

After canning 124 quarts of applesauce, I still had some apples leftover.   I got a GREAT deal on them at $.13/lb at my local orchard.  So, I decided to make apple cinnamon fruit leather.  My blender was having issues, so I used my food processor to chop the apples up.  It was a little chunkier than when blended, but it still turned out fine.  All I did was wash, quarter and cut the seeds out of the apples and then put them in the food processor.  I added in some cinnamon (sorry, I don't measure a lot) and kept mixing. Then I spread it out on my trays and stuck in my dehydrator. 

Here it is out of the dryer. 

And the final product all rolled up in plastic wrap.  It is delicious!

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