Homemade Baby Wipes

I don't think I have blogged about this before so I thought I would let you in on a secret.  Store bought baby wipes are for the birds!  :)  There is a cheaper and HEALTHIER way.

Here goes:
Use a quality paper towel like Brawny (I have also found that Walmart's Great Value brand is fantastic).  Cut the roll in half so you have 2 short rolls.
You will need a container with a lid that one of the rolls will fit into.
Simply put 2 cups of water and 2 tablespoons of rubbing alcohol in the bottom of the container.  Now, place one of the cut rolls in the container.  Let it soak for 30 mins then pull the cardboard out of the center.  Remove the wipes starting from the center of the roll. 

Why so much trouble?  Why not just buy baby wipes?

Here are the ingredients of a certain name brand wipes:
water
Paraffinum Liquidum
Propylene Glycol
Oleyl Erucata
Phenoxyethanol
Glyceryl Oleate
PEG-40
Hydrogenated Castor Oil
Cetearth-20
Methylparaben
PEG-75 Lanolin
Cetylpyridinium Chloride
Butylparaben
Perfume

Do you know what all that is?  I didn't think so.  I'll break it down for you according to my research.
Paraffinum Liquidum- mineral oil
Propylene Glycol- Classified as expected to be toxic or harmful
http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/ingredient.php?ingred06=705315#
Oleyl Erucata
Phenoxyethanol- According to a warning by the FDA of 2008 "Phenoxyethanol is a preservative that is primarily used in cosmetics and medications. It also can depress the central nervous system and may cause vomiting and diarrhea, which can lead to dehydration in infants". 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phenoxyethanol
Glyceryl Oleate
PEG-40- http://www.thesmartmama.com/understanding-labels-peg-40-hydrogenated-castor-oil-greenwashing/
Hydrogenated Castor Oil
Cetearth-20- Ceteareth-20 is the polyethylene glycol ether of cetearyl alcohol; may contain potentially toxic impurities such as 1,4-dioxane. Violation of industry recommendations - Restricted in cosmetics; use, concentration, or manufacturing restrictions - Not safe for use on injured or damaged skin
http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/ingredient.php?ingred06=701225
Methylparaben- Methylparaben is in the paraben family of preservatives used by the food, pharmaceutical, and personal care product industries. Parabens mimic estrogen and can act as potential hormone (endocrine) system disruptors
http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/ingredient.php?ingred06=703937#
PEG-75 Lanolin- This ingredient is a chemically-modified form of lanolin, a fat-like sebaceous secretion of sheep. (Limited information available)
http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/ingredient/721898/PEG-75_LANOLIN/
Cetylpyridinium Chloride- It is an antiseptic that kills bacteria and other microorganisms.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cetylpyridinium_chloride
Butylparaben- Butylparaben is in the paraben family of preservatives used by the food, pharmaceutical, and personal care product industries. Parabens mimic estrogen and can act as potential hormone (endocrine) system disruptors.

Human endocrine disruptor - strong evidence

Human skin toxicant - strong evidence

One or more animal studies show effects at very low doses

http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/ingredient.php?ingred06=700868#
Perfume


Long story short....homemade baby wipes are cheaper AND healthier!  It's not hard.  So, get a roll of paper towels and a knife and get started!

Homemade "Clif" Bars

Mr. Right and I bought some Clif Bars the other day.  We were away from home and needed an emergency snack.  Well, those things aren't cheap!  So, I decided to come up with a homemade version.  Here it is:
1/2 cup dates
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/4 cup rolled oats
3 tablespoons cocoa
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup raisins
1 cup peanuts
3/4 cup peanut butter
4 tablespoons coconut oil
1/4 cup honey
2 tablespoons blackstrap molasses
1/4 cup flax seeds

Process in food processor then press firmly into baking dish.  Refrigerate then cut into squares.

Yummy!

These are super good!  As you can tell, we started eating them before I could even get them cut into squares!

Collecting Rain Water

We went for our usual walk and happened upon this barrel on the side of the road.  It's a 55 gallon barrel that has been cut in half.  We asked the lady whose house it was in front of if we could have it and she said yes.  So, Mr. Right carried the thing about half a mile back to our house. 

A container this big would normally cost a lot of money so we were happy to get it for free! 

We decided to use it to collect rain water.  We collected a whole barrel full in one day!  We look forward to learning more about collecting rain water and hopefully watering our garden this way as much as possible.

We haven't watered anything with it yet because the ground is still so wet from the rain.  However, Ranger loves it and thinks it's so much better than the tap water we fill his bowl with.  Smart dog!

Hanging Clothes out to Dry

I have decided that one of my favorite things to do is hang clothes out to dry.  Since the weather has been so nice, I decided it was time to string up the clothesline again. 

This is a great, natural, money saver.  Maybe my dryer has something wrong with it but when I timed it the other day, it took an hour for a load to dry.  An hour?!  What does that cost? 

I haven't used my dryer in days.  I wash clothes as soon as I get up then go hang them outside.  Usually by lunch, they are dry.  Of course, the more wind the better because it basically beats the wrinkles out of everything.  On calm days, the clothes just hang there and become stiff.  We don't mind though.  I just do a quick iron over our clothes and everything else stays stiff.  We call towels that were hung dry "exfoliating."  It sounds nicer than "stiff."  :)

I would encourage you to do this too.  Save money...save the planet.  Plus, it's extremely fulfilling to hang your clothes out!

Did You Know?

Did you know that organic plain yogurt can be used in the place of sour cream?  We put organic plain yogurt on tacos, baked potatoes, you name it!

I like this idea because there is less to buy at the store...I don't need to buy sour cream.  Anything that makes shopping faster makes me happy!  PLUS, I know we're getting something good because the yogurt is organic.  You don't get all those live, active cultures in sour cream!

If you haven't noticed, organic plain yogurt is pretty versatile.  For example, you can also make dip with it instead of sour cream.  Like this taco dip  or this ranch dip.

So, get with it!  Toss out that sour cream and buy yourself something good.
 

from here

Life Beyond Canned Soups

Several years ago, I removed all canned soups from our diet.  I'm talking about cream of chicken, celery, mushroom, tomato, etc.  Don't gasp.  You don't have to include a can of soup in EVERYTHING.  There is a whole, big world out there that doesn't involve these pesky, unhealthy cans.  Go explore it!

One thing I started doing is making my own cream of chicken.  Save the broth from the chicken you boiled, thicken it with flour then add some salt and onion powder to taste.

*Boiling a whole chicken is where the broth comes from.  Click here to learn how to de-bone one.*

It's as easy as....well...boiling a chicken!

Bulk Food from Country Life

Eating natural is something I enjoy.  Something I don't enjoy, however, is grocery shopping (plus, some of these things can't be purchased at the super market).  So, in case you are interested, here is a list of things we order in bulk from Country Life Natural Foods.

Sucanat 

Garlic, Powder, Domestic  17oz

Peanut Butter, Smooth, NS  35#

Whole Wheat Flour, Prairie Gold, CCF (white) 10#

Tortilla Chips (non GMO) Yellow OG, Whole Grain  16oz

Real Salt 

Cornmeal (non GMO) yellow, OG (whole grain w/ germ) 25#

Navy Beans, OG 25#... will last you a long time

Peas, green split 25#

Sunflower seeds (raw) 5#

Peanuts, Spanish, RNS 25#

Raisins, black flame, large 30#

Rumford Baking Powder (Aluminum free) 5#

Coconut oil 50#... lasts us one year

Yeast, SAF- Instant Red (Baking) 1#

Oats, Regular Rolled 25#...lasts us a year and a half

Pineapple dices, low sugar, IMP 5#

I think that’s it.  The things in bold are what I would consider “must haves” and would suggest getting them to start with. 

We mix peanuts, raisins, (dried pineapple when we order it), and sunflower seeds and eat as a healthy snack.  This is something we always have a jar of in the car for road trips.

Why We Use Coconut Oil

We gave up vegetable oil years ago then started using olive oil.  I learned that olive oil isn't good for frying (a person has to have some fried potatoes every now and then!), the oils we were using came from GM sources, most oils are not natural and also contain trans-fat (unlike naturally occurring coconut oil).  So, we switched.

There are many benefits to using coconut oil.  For example, coconut oil is naturally occurring unlike some of the oils sold that have been factory created into a nasty, oily, rancid substance.  Not to mention, most of them are manufactured from genetically modified plants (corn, soy, canola) which gives them a terrible start anyway.  You should know now that anything naturally created is better for you than a manufactured food product.

 Not all fat is bad.  Actually, natural saturated fat is good for you!  I've read before about all the "low fat" fad diets that went around in the 90s and how obesity actually rose during this time.  Aside from the fact that natural fat is good for you, "low fat" frozen dinners contain all kinds of unnatural nastiness.  But that's a rant for another day.

Back in the 1930s, Dr. Weston Price found South Pacific Islanders whose diets were high in coconut to be healthy and trim, despite high dietary fat, and heart disease was virtually non-existent. Similarly, in 1981, researchers studying two Polynesian communities for whom coconut was the primary caloric energy source found them to have excellent cardiovascular health and fitness.  (emphasis mine)

 *If you have never researched Dr. Weston Price's studies, you should.  He did a mass amount of research in people groups and basically discovered that Americans have it all wrong.  Here is his Wise Traditions website.

There are many health benefits to coconut oil.  For example:

• Improving your heart health.(3)
• Boosting your thyroid. (4)
• Increasing your metabolism.
• Promoting a lean body and weight loss if needed.
• Supporting your immune system. (5)

...Coconut oil is incredibly good for your heart. The truth is this: it is unsaturated fats that are primarily involved in heart disease and too much sugar and processed foods, not the naturally occurring saturated fats, as you have been led to believe. 

Coconut oil also has a high smoke point which means you can use it to fry those potatoes without smoking up the house and saturating your food in an oil that has been heated to an unhealthy, unnatural degree.

We have also found another use for coconut oil....lotion!  We don't use any store bought lotions because of the ingredients and coconut oil is sooo much better anyway.  In fact, I have read that some studies show coconut oil to have some anti-aging qualities and that's never a bad thing...

We pay roughly $82 for 50 pounds of pure coconut oil.  We buy it in a big, metal bucket.  It lasts us a full year and takes care of all our cooking and lotion needs.  It is solid at room temperature so it's easy to scoop some out of the bucket and melt it in your skillet for cooking.  I've also found that it substitutes nicely for Crisco in pie crusts!

You don't have to buy 50 pounds but we have found it to be most economical this way.  It also comes in varying qualities.  We don't buy the super expensive stuff because ours is still pure coconut oil.  As a result, it does not have a coconut flavor so you don't have to worry about everything tasting like coconut.

When you consider everything discussed here, coconut oil is the best option.  No other oil is ever worth considering.  Most other oils are unnatural and unhealthy.  They also contribute to bad health and weight gain.


All quotes referenced from here. (great article)

Sore Throat Remedy

A Hawaiian trail guide once gave me the recipe for his grandmother's sore throat remedy.  seriously.

If you're like us, you got a head cold for Christmas which can sometimes lead to a sore, scratchy throat.  So, here's the advice from the wise, Hawaiian grandmother...
Make a tea using honey, lemon, and ginger root.

You can get fresh ginger root at the grocery store.  It's in the produce aisle near the lettuce and other greens.

 Peel and slice some of the ginger root and simmer in water for about 10 minutes.  Then add honey and fresh squeezed lemon juice.  (Buy fresh lemons because...well...they're just lemons.  no added ingredients)
This recipe has no exact measurements so you'll just have to think like a Hawaiian.  Tweek it to your tastes.
The trail guide told me to gargle some and drink some.  Boy, it works wonders on a sore throat!
Enjoy!

Meat Washed in Acid

I recently read about a new company coming to our state.  It will create many new jobs (which is always great) but I was very interested in this particular company.  The article states that the facility will produce peroxyacetic acid that will be used to sanitize meat and poultry to reduce or eliminate pathogenic organisms such as E. coli and salmonella. 

I have previously written about the problems with big industry meat.  Here is an excerpt from my article:

"The [supermarket] beef contains traces of hormones, antibiotics and other chemicals that were never produced by any cow. That hamburger looks fresh, but it may be two weeks old and injected with gases to keep it cherry red. Take a closer look at that “guaranteed tender and juicy” filet of beef. The juiciness may have been “enhanced” with a concoction of water, salt, preservatives and other additives.
More ominous, the beef also may be infected with food-borne bacteria, including E. coli 0157:H7. Some experts believe this toxic E. coli evolved in cattle that were fed high-grain diets. Every year, hundreds of thousands of pounds of beef products are recalled. One of the largest recalls to date took place in October 2007 when Topps Meat company recalled 21.7 million pounds of hamburger because of potential E. coli contamination. The massive recall actually put the company out of business." MotherEarthNews

 So, why do we need a company to manufacture peroxyacetic acid to wash our meat?  Because those who produce the supermarket meat do not raise the animals the way they were intended.  They feed them diets they wouldn't normally eat in nature and that creates "pathogenic organisms" which then need to be killed by washing the meat in peroxyacetic acid. 

In conclusion, if you can find grass fed beef at a farmer's market, buy it. 

Is All Cocoa Powder Created Equal?

I like to make hot chocolate and many other chocolate things.  That got me to wondering...how natural is the cocoa I buy?

 Cocoa powder is made when chocolate liquor is pressed to remove three quarters of its cocoa butter.  The remaining cocoa solids are processed to make fine unsweetened cocoa powder.   There are two types of unsweetened cocoa powder: natural and Dutch-processed.

Dutch-Processed or Alkalized Unsweetened Cocoa Powder is treated with an alkali to neutralize its acids. It has a reddish-brown color, mild flavor, and is easy to dissolve in liquids.   Droste, Lindt, Valrhona, Poulain and Pernigotti are some popular brands.

Natural Unsweetened Cocoa Powder tastes very bitter and gives a deep chocolate flavor to baked goods.  Its intense flavor makes it well suited for use in brownies, cookies and some chocolate cakes.  Popular brands are Hershey's, Ghirardelli, and Scharffen Berger. from here

Now...

How is cocoa powder made?
Cocoa beans are roasted, then ground to a paste. Afterward, the thick paste is pressed between hydraulic plates, which squeezes out about half of the excess cocoa butter. (Cocoa beans are about 50% fat.) What’s left is a hard disk of cocoa powder, which is then grated into a fine powder. Most cocoa powders are between 20-22% fat, which is why most low-fat chocolate desserts call for cocoa powder. found here

So, in a sense, all cocoa powders are created equal.  It doesn't seem like one is made more naturally than the other which is good....because....I like my hot chocolate!  :)

My Secret Hot Chocolate

My secret hot chocolate recipe comes from the back of the Hershey's cocoa container.  Not very secret, huh?  Actually, I modified it because I think Hershey's is trying to give you a sugar high.

Here's how it goes:
2 tsp sucanat (or whatever sugar you use)
2 tsp cocoa
1 cup milk (We use almond milk.  Oh, how I wish I had a milk cow....or a goat...)

Warm all ingredients in a pot on the stove. (Give up the microwave.  You know you should.)  Make sure your sucanat dissovles.

Then....viola...hot chocolate.  Skip the marshmallows.  You know those aren't natural.

You can't get goodness like this out of a package.

Cheater French Toast

I know there is a proper way to make French toast but I like to cheat.

After you make those ooohhh sooo yummy homemade hamburger buns, cut one open, butter it, add some cinnamon and sucanat then toast it.  Ah.  Now, that's beautiful in the morning.

Making Sour Dough Bread

The original recipe came from Above Rubies but I've modified it for a smaller army. (This recipe makes one loaf.)
You'll need:
2c home grown starter
3 1/4c whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tsp sea salt
1 1/2c filtered water

Add all ingredients to a big bowl.  "Knead" with a wooden spoon.  This dough is much wetter than any dough you're accustomed to so it can't be kneaded on the counter top.  Knead for 5-10 minutes.  It will look gooey.  It's supposed to have an oatmeal, goo consistency. 

Put the dough in a buttered pan to rise.  I let mine rise for seven hours.  If yours gets big before that, then bake it sooner.  However, seven hours is a good rise.  Keep in mind when you're mixing it that you'll be baking in seven hours so make sure it's not ready to bake in the middle of the night!  I usually mix mine in the morning and bake in the afternoon. 

Bake at 350 degrees for one hour.  That seems like a long time for one loaf of bread so I kept checking it.  Sure enough, it took one hour.  However, I did cover it with foil after 30 minutes so the top wouldn't get too brown.

After 7 hours of rising

All done!  I made that hole as I was checking it during baking.

Cooling as Mr. Right waits impatiently...

Ready to eat.  It was sooo delicious.

Our Family "Pet" (Part III) -It Worked!

I'm impressed.  Who would have thought you could catch wild yeast from the air to make bread?  Not me!  But you can.  I did it and it made beautiful, sour dough bread.  Here's what you do- sterilize a non metal bowl by pouring boiling water over it.  Then mix a 1/4 cup flour (I use whole wheat) and a 1/4 cup water (filtered if possible).  Cover with a breathable cloth and leave it sitting on your counter.  Each day for seven days, switch it to a new, sterilized, non metal bowl and add a 1/4 cup flour and a 1/4 cup water.  After seven days, you should have caught your yeast and your starter will be done.

Note: NEVER use metal bowls or utensils with your starter.  Also, wild yeast is more prolific in some areas than others.  So, you'll just have to give it a try to see if you can catch some.

My starter now lives in this home.  Now that it's started, feed it each day and give it a new, sterilized home once a month.  I wrote a date on mine so I wouldn't forget to give it a new home.

You can also check out Part I & Part II.

Start yours today!

Note:  You're ready to bake when you have 2 1/4 total cups of starter.  You'll need 2 cups for the recipe and 1/4 left over to continue growing.

Canning Apple Pie Filling

So, we bought a ton of apples and I needed to do something with them.  I decided to can apple pie filling.
Here's what you do.  Start by rinsing your apples...

Then make them magically turn into this:

Now, make the syrup:
10c water
2 tsp guar gum
3c sucanat
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1 Tb vinegar
cook until it looks syrupy.
Like this:

That's before I stirred in the guar gum...

 Then add, 35c apples and 3 Tb vinegar. Cook 10-15 minutes.

 Fill your jars to just below the rings.

 Put the lids and rings on.

Put all the jars in the hot water bath for 10 minutes.

And viola!  You've got canned apple pie filling!  I had some leftover syrup so I went ahead and canned that too.  I didn't want to waste it!  (I didn't start off with exactly 35c apples.)

Now, we can have some yummy apple pies during the winter.  That makes Mr. Right happy. :)

Our Favorite Things

I added a special section in the sidebar called "Our Favorite Things."  Here you will find links to some of the products we regularly use in our home.  These are natural products, of course.

It has taken us two years of research to come to where we are (and we're still learning) so hopefully this section will give you a headstart.

We order these products from Lucky Vitamin.  There is something magical about having them shipped to your house!  I don't like to shop and these things aren't offered in any store I've been in so Lucky Vitamin makes it easy.  We order in bulk to get the free shipping and it also cuts down on the number of times we have to order.  Love it!

Check it out and enjoy!

Love, the homesteaders :)

Guess What's for Supper!

We picked up 185lbs of beef this week.  (You can read more about how that began here.)  So, I've been stretching my cooking legs and coming up with some good beef recipes.  It's so nice to have meat again!  The cooking possibilities are endless when you have a freezer full of beef!

So, I started thawing and marinating this yesterday...

Whoo!  Round steak!  I've been searching my cookbooks for a good round steak recipe.  I want to find a way to cook it in the oven...because it's too cold to go outside.  I know, I'm a weenie.

I'll let you know how it goes.

High Fructose Corn Syrup

"High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) comprises any of a group of corn syrups that has undergone enzymatic processing to convert some of its glucose into fructose to produce a desired sweetness.  Critics of the extensive use of HFCS in food sweetening argue that the highly processed substance is more harmful to humans than regular sugar, contributing to weight gain by affecting normal appetite functions, and that in some foods HFCS may be a source of mercury, a known neurotoxin."  Wikipedia

Photo from Princeton University

In case you haven't noticed, HFCS is in LOTS of things you buy in the store.  Check the ingredients on your cereal, salad dressing, tomato products, soda, yogurt, soup, cookies, etc.  It is important to limit your intake of any kind of sugar but HFCS is something that really raises some eyebrows.  Anything that is created in a lab and approved by the FDA as "safe to consume" raises my eyebrows.

Why was High Fructose Corn Syrup created?  Well, it was created in the 1960s.  Then, in the 1970s, sugar prices rose so the food industry started replacing table sugar with HFCS in processed food.  Humans have been consuming regular table sugar for many, many years and have only been consuming HFCS for about 40 years so the effects of it aren't clear.  Are we the test pilots for this sweetener?  I think so.

One website noted, "In 1983, a beverage analyst estimated that by switching to high-fructose corn syrup, Coca-Cola gained a cost advantage of USD 70 million a year over Pepsi and its bottlers. A year later, Pepsi followed in Coke’s footsteps and also began using the artificial sweetener. "  So, we see that just like the arsenic chicken, it was created for profit....and it doesn't profit your health.  That same website also stated, "Because there are no enzymes to digest high fructose corn syrup, it is metabolized by the liver. ... An overworked liver produces significantly more uric acid, multiplying the risk for heart disease."

High Fructose Corn Syrup was once marketed as "natural."  According to MSNBC, "Natural is relative, so think of it this way: HFCS would not exist without the aid of humans. (Of course, neither would table sugar.) "You don't just squeeze it out of a kernel of corn," explains Jacobson. The sweetener is made from cornstarch via a process that alters corn's naturally occurring starch molecules. For that reason, Jacobson and CSPI protested an early version of the Corn Refiners Association ads that used the term natural in reference to HFCS. Eventually, he says, they took out the word "because it's not natural — it's highly processed."

Aside from the chemical concerns I have with HFCS, I found an interesting article from Princeton University.  According to them, HFCS leds to obesity faster than regular table sugar.  The scientists conducted several studies giving rats sugar water or HFCS mixed with water along with their regular rat chow.  The rats given High Fructose Corn Syrup in their water gained a considerable amount of weight. 

""These rats aren't just getting fat; they're demonstrating characteristics of obesity, including substantial increases in abdominal fat and circulating triglycerides," said Princeton graduate student Miriam Bocarsly. "In humans, these same characteristics are known risk factors for high blood pressure, coronary artery disease, cancer and diabetes." ...The Princeton researchers note that they do not know yet why high-fructose corn syrup fed to rats in their study generated more triglycerides, and more body fat that resulted in obesity."  Princeton

Keep in mind...

"It's prudent to consume any added sugar only in moderation. Consider these tips to cut back:

• Avoid sugary ... sodas. Drink water or other unsweetened beverages instead.
• Choose breakfast cereals carefully. Although healthy breakfast cereals can contain added sugar to make them more appealing to children, skip the non-nutritious, sugary and frosted cereals.
• Eat fewer processed and packaged foods, such as sweetened grains like cookies and cakes and ... microwaveable meals.
• Snack on vegetables, fruit, low-fat cheese, whole-grain crackers, and [plain] yogurt instead of candy, pastries and cookies." edited by me   Mayo Clinic

 There is sooo much information to read about High Fructose Corn Syrup that it can be overwhelming.  The one thing I learned from all my research is cut it out.   Your body does not need to try to digest HFCS.  Don't be a test pilot.  Be informed.

Sweet Potatoes in the Front Yard

A perk to "farming" a suburban lot is you get to be really creative!  As we were planning our garden several months back we decided to use the flower bed in the front yard wisely.  Tomatoes would look silly growing there but sweet potatoes would look almost ornamental!  So, that's what we did.  We planted sweet potatoes in the front yard.

Yesterday was harvest day so Mr. Right started digging.

A big one!

Lots of sweet potatoes!

Hubs found this snake in the flower bed too! 

After a bunch of scrubbing, I finally ended up with these pretty things.

All the sweet potatoes together weighed in at 4 1/2 pounds.  (The pan weighed half a pound so it reads 5 lbs on the scale.)

We didn't fertilize or water much, there were two other bushes growing in the flower bed too and it still had some lava rocks from sometime before.  So don't think you can't do it!  Plant a few sweet potato vines next year and enjoy the fall harvest!