Thursday, February 28, 2013

Homemade Powder Laundry Soap

Making homemade laundry soap has to be one of the easiest things you can do, literally. I make both powder and liquid but today I am going to show you powder.

I want to make sure I say this up front this laundry soap IS SAFE FOR HE MACHINES, HE Machines mean low suds and this laundry soap is low suds, like I said before suds do not clean!

Ingredients

1 cup Borax--found in laundry aisle at grocery
1 cup Washing Soda--found in laundry or cleaning aisle at the grocery--this is not the same as Baking Soda--
1 Bar of Soap

Take your bar of soap, any kind will work, I use a bar of my homemade soap. Grate the soap as small as you can.

In a large Ziploc bag put the grated soap inside with 1 cup each of Borax and Washing Soda.

For about 3-5 minutes mix this mixture in the ziploc bag, you are going to need to mush the soap with the Borax and Washing Soda to incorporate it properly.

Once you are done mixing, its done! Use 1 tbsp per load, 2 tbsp if really soiled. This amount of laundry soap should wash 32-64 loads, now that's pretty awesome! My pictures are not too good tonight, not sure why just not:( In about 1 week I am going to be selling my DIY kits at my EBay store Natural Homestead. I will make sure to let you know when its ready:)

Borax

Looks different than the small baking soda box.

1 bar of my soap, its around 3-4 oz.

All the ingredients.

Grate the sopa hard to take a picture of the light colored soap.

Put the grated soap in the ziploc bag.

1 cup each of borax and washing soda.

Look safe for HE Machines.

Mixing time, mix well.

1 tbsp per load, 2 tbsp if really soiled.

Vinegar and Blood Sugar

It has been known in my previous blogs how much I dislike vinegar(the smell mostly) but it has also been known all of the great things vinegar can do for your body. There is an ever rising number of people and children in this country who have Type 2 Diabetes, I know at least ten people personally, probably more, both young and old. I have been doing quite a bit of research on the benefits of vinegar and found numerous facts about vinegar and Diabetes that would be helpful to know about how to self manage the disease.

My husband has been a fan of taking apple cider vinegar before meals, I used to think he was out of his mind, however there is some fact behind what he does. I have found that by taking 2-4 tbsps. of vinegar(any kind works) in 1 glass of water, you can add honey or stevia to sweeten this, can greatly slow the rise of your blood sugar levels. You may wonder why, I did. Many studies have found that vinegar, the acetic acid, inhibits enzymes that allow for absorption of carbohydrate molecules and you will release them when you use the restroom. This mixture is also great to take before bed to help control blood sugar levels in the morning.

This sounds great so why does my doctor not tell me to do this? I guess I have to jump on the bandwagon now that says they do not want to, where is the profit in vinegar? You likely would not see a rep going to the doctors office trying to sell vinegar. All in all I am not against doctors they are wonderful and can greatly help us, but we need to be aware of what we do and take any extra thing we can do in a natural way to help ourselves, have it be taking a little vinegar each day!

Are you afraid you can't stomach drinking the vinegar? I am right there with you, I just can not deal with it! I try to incorporate vinegar into my foods whenever possible, when making soups or sauces mix in a few tbsp, no one will ever know. I have a great recipe for a dressing made with vinegar and olive oil, you do not notice the vinegar and its a nice alternative to the processed, corn syrup dressings at the grocery. Here is that recipe, give this a try, it can't hurt.

Homemade Vinegrette
2 tbsp finely chopped onion or shallots(optional)
1 tbsp mustard(regular or dijon)
2 tbsp of vinegar(I like apple cider or raspberry--but any will work)
6 tbsp of olive oil

Mix the first three ingredients together. Blend in the Olive Oil slowly, stir with a whisk to blend in. This mixture should get a nice fluff look to it. When it is done it will be blended and the ingredients will be mixed throughout, if it doesn't mix properly the dressing will separate, no worries just give it a stir or a shake. It will last for 3-4 weeks in the fridge.

Sunday, February 24, 2013

Vinegar and Warts

I never liked vinegar from an early age, my mom used it on her french fries and ate salt and vinegar chips, the smell was enough to gross me out! Much to my dismay I could never get away from it, one of my best friends loved vinegar then next my husband, I can deal with it though. About four years ago my husband began to take vinegar in the morning and night. He would mix 1 tbsp of vinegar in 1 glass of water and drink it. He tried to get me to do it but my stomach would not allow:( He likes Braggs Apple Cider Vinegar, it is great, kinda costly but worth it. However, any kind of vinegar you have works.

Recently, I have been using vinegar as my main cleaning product! I am loving the results but vinegar is useful for so much more. I am creating another blog series you might say about what to do with vinegar. Today I want to talk about how to get rid of warts with vinegar.

Warts are a virus that basically feeds off a blood vessel and grows until you stop it. If you have ever had a wart you might know that it might have dark spots, that is the wart clogging the blood vessels. Another fact I learned about warts several years ago came from my sister in law, they are contagious! Who would have known they were contagious. My sister in law had warts pretty bad and so did her kids, she found a herb at the health food store to take care of it. Well when they were getting rid of their warts my kids began to get them. Grrrr, I really did not want warts. I think it might run in my husbands family 2 out of 3 of his brothers have them as well.

I let the warts go for a while, there were only a couple and not too bad. However, last summer they grew, my oldest son had six and my middle son had at least 12, mostly small. I tried everything, the herb did not work, the Compound W was a waste of money and stressful because of the ingredients, and just not doing anything did not work. I had read something about using vinegar on warts to kill the virus. The idea made sense to me vinegar is acidy and would in theory kill a virus, worth a try.

I tried this a few days ago on my oldest son. He has two warts on his thumb, pretty large, I would call them pea size. I took a cotton ball, tore it into 4-5 pieces. I soaked the cotton balls in white vinegar(it is all I had) but will work just as well. Next I took the cotton balls and put a small piece on each wart, they were soaked to the point that vinegar was running off, and put a couple band aids on to hold it in place. I did this during the day so I left it on for about 4 hours. I took it off and was shocked, they were almost gone. The vinegar had ate the wart to almost nothing. My son was so excited, he wanted to do it again so they were all gone. Well today is two full days later, his thumb is almost normal, we put some more on tonight, hoping for more results in the morning. I wish I had taken before and after pictures to show you but I really did not expect these results.

If you or your children have warts try this, they might complain about the smell but it does not last long. The results are awesome and 100% safe!

Homemade Dish Soap

I never gave dish soap much thought until recently when I looked at the label on my dish soap and there were no ingredients, just the chemicals they did not put in it. That kinda humored me because we should know what we wash our dishes that we cook and eat with, right? The more I thought the more I wanted to know. You wash your dishes with dish soap or even dishwasher detergent, whichever you use, there is no way the chemicals come completely off. For example, lets think about when your cooking in your sauce pan and you scrap the bottom, are you putting chemicals in your food then because they did not wash away? How abut when your scrapping food on your plate or your kids are eating off the plate with their fingers,are the chemicals really gone? That was some good food for thought for me.

I took out to my homesteading books and one book we have that's literally falling apart called The Encyclopedia of Country Living, a great book, check this one out. I needed a safe alternative to dish soap. I was pleased to find out it was just as easy to make dish soap as everything else I make.

Simple Dish Soap-I mix thisin a mason jar and have it already in a storage container
1 3/4 cup boiling water
1 tbsp borax
1 tbsp grated bar soap(use homemade soap)
1 vitamin E capsule(optional)
10-20 drops of essential oil(optional)
1 tbsp vinegar or lemon juice optional

Boil Water. Mix grated soap and borax in a medium bowl, add boiling water. Whisk this all together until mixed well and all soap is melted. Cool on the counter for 6-8 hours, will gel some, stir occasionally. Transfer into an old dish soap bottle or any kind of disposable container or use a mason jar. At this point mix in the optional items if desired. The vitamin E will add extra softness for hands and the vinegar or lemon juice will cut grease.

Dishwasher Detergent

1 cup borax
1 cup washing soda
1/2 cup citric acid(get this at pharmacy or canning aisle)
1/2 cup kosher salt(scrubbing power)

Mix well, use 1 tbsp per load.

Need a great rinse agent in the dishwasher, add vinegar!

I want to make sure you do understand the dish soap will not suds like the store brands. Suds do not clean, the large companies had created suds and people like them, I won't lie I like suds too but they do not clean or have any advantage, keep that in mind.

Detox the Bathroom 5

I have been absent from here almost a week, you see spring is close and we have the fever. We moved in the fall so we have to build our new farm from nothing. On our home place here in Middle Tennessee we have forty acres, 35 of it is wooded. So we have been trying to clear more pasture ground for our pigs and hopefully, some cows this spring and not to mention the bee hives we are going to try to start so we can have our own raw honey. We have been cutting sugar out of our diet and replacing it with nice alternatives like honey and stevia. Well that is where I have been hiding in a nut shell, I have still been hard at work on do it yourself ideas.

I have been working to rid my bathroom of chemicals, but have struggled with shampoo. There are alot of recipes out there but some of the ingredients can be hard to find or difficult to make. My husband had an idea months ago when we started to make the glycerin soap, why not use it to shampoo our hair? I was like are you crazy? He says no really why not its glycerin which they put in shampoo and conditioner and other good ingredients with no chemicals, ya know maybe, just maybe he had something.

He started to use it immediately! My husband is bald to say it nicely, he has been since he got out of high school, all three of his brothers are too, must be good genes I guess! Anyway he is shiny on top and took to using the soap right away. This was in November when he started, in January he needed a haircut. He had been telling me I think my hair is growing back and I did not believe him one bit. However, when I cut his hair the clippers actually made the snipping sound when I cut his hair on the top of his head. I could not believe it, his hair was really growing back. How? Why? It did not take us long at all to figure out why the glycerin soap had helped his hair, it was simple no chemicals. If you stop and think about your shampoos are full of chemicals and you put it on your hair, what is it gonna do kill your hair!

After this event in January I decided I was going to try to use the bar soap. If you know me my hair is far from beautiful, it is a massive naturally curly mess that looks dry and brittle. When you wash your hair with shampoo full of chemicals it strips your hair of everything so your glands will create oils to make up for this, keep this in mind. When I started to use the bar soap, I use my oatmeal honey glycerin soap, it lathers great, just wet your hair and rub the bar in your hair and it will suds like you would not believe. It worked great but for two weeks my hair was so oily, the oil glands were still producing but my hair was not being stripped by the chemicals. It was at the two week point that my hair began to be wonderful, it was soooo soft and easy to manage. I have what I call stagnant hair, it never grows, not even when I am pregnant, but it has grown at least an inch since last month.

I am so excited about using the bar soap to wash my hair, its easy to make and perfectly safe for me and my family. If you have not made the homemade glycerin soap check out my recipe in my blog:) If you try to use the bar soap please do not give up if your hair gets really oily, it will pass when your body regulates itself.

Sunday, February 17, 2013

Great Article on Portion Sizes

How Americans supersize themselves

By Cass R. Sunstein
Bloomberg View

Posted: Sunday, Feb. 17, 2013

Almost 70 percent of Americans have been overweight or obese in recent years, and more than 78 million people in the country have been counted as obese.

The problem has many sources, but one of them is obvious: increased portion sizes. We have a lot of evidence that people will eat whatever is put in front of them, even if they aren’t hungry. As portion sizes expand, waistlines expand as well.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the average U.S. restaurant meal is more than five times larger than it was in the 1950s. The average hamburger, once less than 4 ounces, is now more than 12 ounces. The average order of French fries, once less than 3 ounces, is now more than 6 ounces. There is a clear correlation between increases in portion sizes and increases in obesity.

That correlation helps explain why obesity has been more prevalent in the United States than in France. The French eat high-calorie food, but their portion sizes are smaller. In supermarkets and restaurants, Americans are given significantly bigger servings. Even at McDonald’s, where we might expect identical sizes, servings of soda and French fries have been found to be larger in Philadelphia than in Paris.

Brian Wansink, a Cornell University professor of consumer behavior, helps to explain why portion sizes have such a large effect. He finds that much of our eating is mindless or automatic in that we tend to eat whatever is in front of us. If you are given a half-pound bag of M&M’s, chances are that you will eat about half as much as you will if you are given a one-pound bag. People who receive large bowls of ice cream eat a lot more than those who get small bowls.

In one of Wansink’s fiendish experiments, people were provided with a large bowl of Campbell’s tomato soup and told to eat as much as they liked. Unbeknownst to them, the soup bowls were engineered to refill themselves (with empty bottoms connected to machinery beneath the table). No matter how much soup the subjects ate, the bowl never emptied. The result? Soup consumption skyrocketed. Many people just kept eating until the experiment was ended.

The good news is that once we isolate the sources of excessive eating, we will be able to identify potential solutions. Google found that its New York cafeteria, which offered a lot of high-calorie items, was producing a lot of unwanted pounds. In response to employee complaints, it initiated changes to nudge people toward healthier choices. Large plates and takeout containers were exchanged for smaller sizes, and employees were encouraged to eat less with a sign stating, “People who take big plates tend to eat more.”

The redesigned cafeteria took a number of smart steps to make healthy choices simpler and more convenient. As a result, it helped to produce big reductions in both calories and fat consumed from candy.

A striking feature of the Google initiative was that employees were grateful. There is reason to think that many consumers would respond the same way. In a series of studies, researchers told fast-food servers to ask customers whether they wanted to “downsize” their high-calorie side dishes. A substantial number (from 14 percent to 33 percent of those served) consistently agreed to do so. Strikingly, they accepted the offer whether or not they were offered a nominal 25-cent discount. Their total calorie consumption was reduced, on average, by more than 200.

Evidence is increasing that lower-calorie servings can be good for business. One reason is consumer demand. Many customers like, and reward, restaurants that provide light options; an easy way to provide such options is to cut portion sizes. Another reason is the increasing practice, often undertaken voluntarily and eventually to be required by the Affordable Care Act, of posting calorie counts on menus. Customers can be surprised to see just how many calories come from the standard portions of their favorite meals. They may not want to switch to a meal they enjoy less, but a smaller portion may suit them just fine.

The broader lesson is that obesity levels, in the U.S. and elsewhere, are hardly inevitable. They are a product of the social context in which people’s choices are made. With careful attention to the subtle social cues that lead to excessive eating, we should be able to make a real dent in a serious public health problem.