Mechanic's Hands

My hands have taken a beating the past 2 weeks with all the car troubles we have been having.  No matter how hard I try to keep clean, I always seem to walk away covered in grease and dirt. Automotive grease is one of the hardest things to remove.  It gets embedded in the skin and does not wash off easily.

I have found that this DIY hand degreaser works wonders on mechanic hands.  Lemon oil cuts through the grease while the salt acts as a scrub. 

However, this degreaser works so well I find my hands in need of a moisturizer to rebalance them after I use it.  For baby soft skin, I have selected some of my favorite skin oils to add to my moisturizer.

Though I am not fond of work on my car, I do what I have to do.  I am thankful to have products that clean my hands up well so I am not reminded of my days troubles every time I eat, write or pay for something.

Digestive Candies

I have been looking for ways to support my family's digestive system lately.  While discussing it with a friend, she reminded me about some herbs and spices that would do the trick.  The problem I have with this is how do I get my family to eat them.  I spoke to her again and this time she suggested candies.  I"m not excited by this idea but eventually I realized I could make my own.

I'm not sure what my family will like, so I have decided to make 3 different types of candies. One is a gum, one a chew and the last a hard candy.  I will share one recipe today and the other two in future posts.

After looking over all the herbs and spices, I have decided to start with mint. To soften the flavor for my preschooler, I am going to add lime to it.  Here is the gum recipe I used:

Ingredients:

6 oz beeswax
mint essential oil
lime essential oil

Directions:

Place beeswax in a small glass bowl.  Place the bowl into a pot of water to create a double boiler. Over medium heat mix the wax as it melts into a liquid.  Once melted let cool a minute then add essential oils. Mix well before pouring wax into candy molds.  Place in the refrigerator to harden.

The Many Uses Of Essential Oil Toothpaste

I have been working on decluttering my home.  In doing so, I have been working on cutting down on the number of products I use and buy.  I am trying to find products with multiple uses.  Recently I discovered that toothpaste can be used for a number of things.

It all started with a tub of Thieves Aromabright Toothpaste.  Here are a few of the ingredients.

Calcium carbonate                                 Coconut oil                        Sodium bicarbonate
Peppermint oil                                    Spearmint leaf oil                          Clove oil
Ocotea oil                                         Cinnamon Bark oil                         Lemon oil
Eucalyptus Radiata oil                           Rosemary oil

This started me thinking about what else I could use these ingredients for.  I began by using this toothpaste in a few areas of my home.  To my surprise it worked wonderfully. Over time, I started  adding additional oils to the toothpaste and eventually began to make my own multi-purpose paste.

Here are a few things I use my paste for:

1. Brush my teeth of course.

2.  Deodorant! 

3.  Splinter Remover

4.  Bathtub scrub

5.  Bites & Poison Ivy

6.  Stain remover on clothing

7.  Immune booster 
    (I apply to the feet and neck.)

Keep an eye out for post on how to make your own multi-purpose past and a discussion on what oils should be on your list to consider for this paste.

No More Tears

Does Chopping Onions Get You Teary-Eyed?

Tearing while cutting onions is a natural occurrence.  When cut, onions eliminate a gas that mixes with the enzymes already in the onion.  These two together create a sulfuric gas that is released into the air.  It is this gas that irritates our eyes.

When your eyes come in contact with the sulfuric gas, the body responds trying to clean the eye.  Tears are produced in an effort to wash away the gas.

One way to assist your body through this process is to add Thieves essential oils to a small glass bowl of water, 2 or 3 drops is all you need.  Place the bowl beside you when shop onions No More Tears!

Kefir

JJ is a pretty good eater when he is hungry.  He will eat anything in sight double fisted.  When he isn't so hungry or is over hungry life is a different story.  It is times like this that I sill rely on liquid foods. This is either in the form of pouches or drinks.  JJ loves yogurt drinks.  Generally I buy the 2 oz ones. Once in a while he will even drink two in a row.  Aside from being expensive they are full of sugar.

I started looking into making yogurt so I can regulate what goes into JJ's favorite drinks. There are a number of steps to making yogurt and some require precise temperatures.  I have even looked into buying a yogurt machine.  Though the reviews still scare me as people talk about burning the yogurt.


Since JJ loves Kefir (more on kefir below) milk and it is more of a drinkable consistency, I looked into how that is made. To my it is nothing like making yogurt.  Actually it is much easier and sounds fool proof.  All you need is Kefir grains.  I found some on Amazon.

My Kefir grains arrived and I am ready to start making Kefir.

 I followed these simple directions. Seriously this is fool proof.

1.  Placed the grains in a mason jar. (About a spoonful.)

2.  Add a cup of whole milk.  

3. Cover with a coffee filter.

4.  Let sit for 24 hours.

5. Strain the grains.

Technically you are done and can now start the process over again.  Though I like to add fruit to mine.  Be creative and make it how you like.  I started with a flavor everyone loves...strawberry.

1.  Slice a hand full of strawberries.

2.  Place in pot and cover with water.

3.  Boil until the berries dissolve.

4.  Add a spoonful of honey (optional)

You can them mix the fruit right in with your yogurt.  JJ doesn't like the chunks so I let mine cool and puree it in the food processor before adding it.

What is Kefir?

Kefir is a fermented milk drink.  It is similar in taste to yogurt but thinner and drinkable.  Kefir has more probiotics than yogurt and has numerous medical benefits.  Kefir also contains beneficial yeast. One of the things that I love about this yeast is that it metabolizes lactose.  Thus those that are lactose intolerant like JJ can drink it without all the bloating and gassy feelings.  Kefir is full of vitamin (B12 & K2) as well as minerals like calcium and magnesium.  I started drinking kefir years ago.  Since then it has helped me greatly.  It keeps my candida in check and aided in my leaky gut.  Kefir is amazing when you are taking antibiotics or have a stomach ache.  It really does work miracles.