all natural DIY antiperspirant and deodorant.

my arm pits sweat. a lot. it aint pretty. and was mortifying when I was younger.

this has led me to try literally every brand of deodorant/antiperspirant on the market. without dry success. I was never able to try natural deodorants because they don't have any antiperspirant aspect to them. My wanting to be less wet in my pits has led me to use aluminum based antiperspirants for many years. I know, its HORRIBLE for you, and I even tested high for aluminum in 2006 but wasn't able to let that go, even in the name of health.

on a whim I went to a DIY essential oils deodorant class earlier this year and thought, what the heck, ill try it, and low and behold it worked!!! so then I decided to try and make it myself, and make it even better. so after a few attempts at perfection.... here it is! my all natural amazingly effective recipe. my armpits have NEVER been healthier and drier.
bonus all the ingredients are food grade so its technically edible. lol

this recipe makes abt 2.5 deodorant sticks. so I often double it to get 5 sticks.

I buy my supplies online from amazon, mountain rose herbs, aromatools.com and from the grocery store. just depends on who has what on sale.
I use doTERRA essential oils.

side note: you can use any oils you like, its your deodorant! my favorite combo is grapefruit, cypress, rosemary and lavender. the grapefruit is a well known lymph mover, and your arm pit is basically a mother ship of lymph nodes. the cypress and rosemary are for circulation enhancement which plays a big role in sweating (or not sweating). the lavender has healing qualities with an affinity for skin and is very soothing, esp after shaving. together they are the perfect mix of citrus, savory and floral scents.

other good oils to try depending on your medicinal needs and nose preference, are: frankincense, peppermint, tea tree/melaluca, wild orange, lemon, patchouli, ylangylang, geranium, basil, cedarwood

adjustments:

if you want an even stiffer deodorant, add more beeswax.

thinner, add more coconut oil. 

if you want it to be white, don't use bentonite clay and use more baking soda/arrowroot powder instead.

use mango butter along with the shea and cocoa, or instead of.

happy dry smelly good pits to ya ;)

1 oz beeswax (pellets are easier to melt, but anything cut up small is fine)

2 oz shea butter (either natural or deodorized)

1 oz cocoa butter

2 oz coconut oil

3 T baking soda

1 T bentonite clay

3 T arrow root powder
suggested eo's: may start with less drops and add more as you feel necessary. feel free to add more, too!

15 drops grapefruit essential oil

10 drops cypress essential oil

10 drops lavender essential oil

8 drops rosemary essential oil

~~~ tropical variation~~~ When living in Haiti, the air was HOT 24/7 in the house and my skin was sweaty constantly from every single skin pore, I found that changing the oil butter ratio from 2:2:1 (shea:coconut:cocoa) to 1:1:3 made for a much stiffer stick of deodorant (recall that coconut oil will melt at about 75/76 degrees.) so if you live in a warmer climate, I strongly recommend the 'tropical variation'. 

fyi. 1 oz = 2 Tblspns

I like to measure out my ingredients into bowls.

baking soda, arrow root powder, and bentonite clay

cocoa butter, shea butter and coconut oil

beautiful beeswax

melt together in double broiler the oil and butters. I like to use a glass measuring cup with a pour spout for easiest last step, in a medium pot. stir till completely liquid.



melt the beeswax into the melted oils. stir well.

melt the powders into the liquid and stir evenly.

yours prob wont be quite this dark, this is from a pre perfected recipe.

remove from heat and let cool a bit, stirring helps keep it all evenly mixed.

add essential oils.

stir well.

 

pour into empty deodorant stix.

when pouring, make sure your liquid cocktail left in the pouring cup isn't settling to the bottom or separating. we want all the stix to have equal proportions!

the finished product. go ahead and fill to brimming. they will recede slightly as they cool and solidify.

best to leave cap off for 24 hrs to make sure they have 'dried' properly all the way through. but they will be solid enough to cap and transport in 30 mins or less.

I have not had any problems with my clothes being stained. my arm pits got a bit tinged (tan) from the bentonite clay when I was using higher amts of it in my recipe. I have not had any problems with it melting or traveling.

blueberry gummies - a healthy treat!

i tried out this recipe. it was ok, but i wasnt satisfied, i tried again with some tweaks, it was better, and people i shared the gummies with raved, but i still wasnt completely satisfied.
i didnt like the flavor to gelatin ratio.
so i changed it a bit more. below is my 'ok now im satisfied' recipe.
and i had 10 lbs of blueberries to do something with, so... 

note: feel free to split the recipe in half, or quarters even, depending on how much yield you want. they dont last for too long since they are preservative free. this recipe will need to stay in the fridge. (the finished product freezes beautifully)

i do everything in one pot, cuz im lazy and dont want tons of dishes to clean.

you can use any type of berry, but i didnt like the idea of seeds in my gummies and i really didnt like the idea of straining out seeds from my liquid concoction. that lazy thing again. 

Blueberry gummies:

5 C blueberries- fresh or frozen. 

1/2 C fresh squeezed lemon juice about 2 large lemons

3 1/4 C organic apple juice

3/4 cup + 1 tblspn raw local honey aka 13 tablespoons

7 drops of bergamot essential oil

5 drops of wild orange essential oil

6 drops of lemon essential oil

6 tblspns grassfed beef gelatin

the ingredient stash

tastes like fresh squeezed apple juice

local and raw = legit health benefits

bought mine on amazon

1. pour juice and berries into large sauce pan. with the lid on bring to med-high heat, and reduce heat to keep it at a simmer, to break down the berries. stir occasionally. 
leave lid on when not stirring so all your liquid doesnt evaporate.

antioxidant much?! ;)  

very first batch, at the very beginning of the heating process

disintegrating into liquid, and smelling divine

so gloriously nutritious

the steam makes the pics unfocusy

2. use an immersion hand blender (or blender apparatus of choice) to turn berries into liquid smithereens. 

3. add honey and stir until completely dissolved. 
rub a thin layer of olive oil around the inside of your measuring cup/spoon with your finger and all the honey will slide right out into the pot

blend again if needed until completely liquid. 

4. make flavor adjustments. 
a quick lick of the liquid will tell you if you prefer more honey, more juice, etc. 
(keep in mind you havent added the citrus oils yet) 

5. add the essential oils. i use doTERRA essential oils. 
stir.
note: if you dont have any essential oils you can change your lemon:apple juice ratio --> more lemon, less apple. you can also do lemon + orange juice, and less apple... just as long as the total amt of liquid juice remains the same.

6. blossom the gelatin in enough apple juice to blossom all the powder, in a small bowl. 
keep on your desired level of heat and add the blossomed gelatin to the pot. blend.
immersion blender does a good job of turning it all into liquid smithereens. 

7. when completely liquid, pour into a 9x13 glass pan. 
put in refrigerator until solid. 
if making a smaller batch you can use an 8x8 glass pan.
it has to be glass or you will never get the stuff out of the pan. 

my very first batch in an 8x8

8. once solid, use a sharp knife to cut in to squares, size of your liking. use a metal blade cake/pie slicer/spatula to remove the gummies. 
they should come out easy peasy with minor sticking to the perimeter edge.

9. eat. 
share if youd like. 

10. store in fridge. 
the longer they sit out on the counter top, the warmer they will get and the gelatin will not be as firm. they wont melt into liquid, they just get 'less solid'. they freeze nicely too.

Corny Ham and Potato Scallop Recipe

I made this the other night and it was Delicious.

Ingredients

• 5 potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 1 1/2 cups cubed cooked ham
• 1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
• 1/4 cup chopped green bell pepper
• 2 teaspoons instant minced onion
• 1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed Cheddar cheese soup
• 1/2 cup milk
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Directions

1. In a slow cooker, combine potatoes, ham, corn, green pepper, and onion. In a small bowl, stir together soup, milk, and flour until smooth. Pour soup mixture over ham and vegetables, and stir gently to coat.
2. Cover, and cook on Low for about 8 hours, or until potatoes are tender.

Funeral Potatoes!! YUM!

• 32 oz bag of frozen shredded hash browns shopping list
• 2 (10 3/4 oz) cans cream of chicken soup shopping list
• 2 cups sour cream shopping list
• 1 1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese (I like to use sharp cheddar cheese) shopping list
• 1/2 cup melted butter or margarine shopping list
• 1/2 c. chopped onion shopping list
• 2 cups finely crushed corn flakes shopping list
• 2 Tbs butter or margarine melted

• Grease 9x13 baking dish and preheat oven to 350
• In large bowl combine soups, sour cream, cheese, onions, and the 1/2 cup of melted butter.
• Gently fold hash browns into mixture.
• Pour mixture into pan.
• Combine crushed corn flakes and the 2 Tbs. of melted butter and sprinkle on top of potato mixture.
• Bake for 30 minutes.
• *If wanting to, you can use cubed potatoes instead of hash browns but you will need to increase baking time to 55 minutes.

I made this a couple days ago and it was DELICIOUS!! I love these so much!!

If you take a recipe--Leave one too

I have had several people ask for some recipes lately and so I decided to create this blog. It will be an open author blog. This way we can all leave recipes for eachother. At the end of 6 months if we've gotten enough I will make a book from all these recipes. There will be tags/labels for each different cattegory:

Main Dish
-chicken
-pork
-beef
-vegetarian
-seafood

Side Dish

Dessert

Drinks

Miscellaneous

So please label them when you are posting so that it will be easier to navigate later on down the road. If you want to get on the author list just let me know!

Hope this works out as well as I hope :)

you can email me birthmothers4adoption@gmail.com with questions or if you want an invite!

BON APETIT!!