Category: Recipes

Making delicious, wholesome food

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Homemade Skincare: Natural, Simple, and Completly Affordable

The day my mother introduced me to make-up, she invited a professional beauty consultant into our home to give me a facial. It was a special event. We had tea and cookies. We laughed and had fun. My mother purchased a set of skincare and quality make-up for me. She continued to provide me with skincare products until I was on my own and purchased skincare myself.

My mother was probably more brilliant than she realized. Beginning my skin-care routine at a young age was valuable guidance.

As my babies were born, I began searching for inexpensive and natural methods of skincare. I tried various drugstore brands and online companies. But good skincare, whether it is natural or not, is not cheap. So, I found myself at a loss.

One evening, my mentoring friend came over for a visit. I will never forget the moment she pulled out her big binder full of various recipes. I went from sitting on the sofa across from her, to sitting next to her with that notebook in my lap. She had not only made and used the recipes in her book, but passed on to me her rich of knowledge of each of the ingredients she used in the recipes.

I still use her recipes for cold cream, healing salve, and bee balm, and have also springboarded from those basic recipies and built a skincare routine that I love.

I am absolutely amazed how my skin looks and feels now that I make my own skincare. I honestly have never have had such amazing results from bottled products. I also like knowing each of the ingredients that I am putting on my skin are wholesome. And of course, making skincare at home comes with a very reasonable price tag.

I have passed the home-made lotions onto family and friends and they rave about them. I make my own mother a quart of cold-cream every year. It is what she uses on her skin now too.

The only skincare product I purchase is a SPF CC cream. I do not use foundation, but love a tinted SPF protection. I currently am happy with a product called Supergoop. I use it daily for SPF coverage and tinted moisture. I know people do make their own sun-screens and foundaitions. But have decided I am not going to tamper with that. It is a little too much chemistry for me to feel at peace doing from my home. So I will leave the sunscreen making to lab profesionals.

I have immensely enjoyed the skincare products I make from my kitchen and love knowing that the ingredients in each bottle are so safe I could spread it on toast and eat!

I am going to post this week specifically how to make and use each skincare product. The following list is a quick snapshot of the products, ingredients, and uses.

Cold Cream

Ingredients: Grapeseed oil, coconut oil, rosewater, Aloe Vera, lanolin, beeswax, primrose oil

Uses: Oil Face wash – gently rub on face, get as washcloth as hot as you can stand, place hot washcloth over face for about 30 seconds, then wash face-this one step will remove make-up, cleanse, and moisturize. Face and body lotion-best after a hot bath or shower to help moisture absorb into skin.

Vinegar Rose Toner

Ingredients: Rosewater, apple-cider vinegar, Vitamin C Crystals

Use: antioxidant facial toner, lightens sun-spots and tightens pores

Honey Sugar Scrub

Ingredients: Coconut oil, grapeseed or almond oil, raw creamed honey, granulated white sugar, vanilla essential oil

Uses: Face scrub-gently rub on face and wash off with a hot washcloth, Face mask-gently rub on skin and wash off after 10 minutes (this can be done in the bath or shower), Body scrub in the shower

Bee Balm

Ingredients: Grapeseed Oil, Coconut Oil, Beeswax, Cocoa butter, Shea butter, vanilla essential oil

Uses: Lip balm, chapped skin balm, diaper rash cream, under eye balm before bed, or foot balm (after bath or shower, or before bed, rub over feet, put on socks and let the balm soften dry feet)

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Endurance Cookies

We have lunch at 12 and dinner at 6. In between lunch and dinner, my children need a boost of nutrients to get them through the long afternoon. I keep cheese-sticks, yogurt, apples, cut veggies, and peanut butter available for that occasion. But I like to make something to pop in our cookie jar once in a while. For some time I have tweaked various oatmeal cookie recipes until I landed upon these ingredients for a healthy and hearty afternoon snack for my children. In fact, these cookies could be breakfast cookies. They are far more wholesome than anything that could be bought in a box!Ingredients:1 cup softened butter
¾ c. coconut sugar
1-2 t. ground cinnamon
2 t. vanilla extract
½ t. baking soda
½ t. salt
2 large eggs
¼ c. applesauce
2-3 T. Blackstrap Molasses (Molasses is full of minerals, vitamins, and antioxidants and it is low in sugars.
In fact, it significantly outshine any sweetener on the market including raw honey! It has a strong flavor profile, so unfortunately, I do not use it in most of my baking, but I add a bit of it when using coconut sugar. It brings a rich dark brown sugar depth to the baked goods)
1 ½ c. white wheat whole wheat flour (I use Montana Mills Prairie Gold)
1 ½ c. old fashioned rolled oats
½ cup golden flax seed meal (I grind flax seeds in a coffee grinder)
¼ cup whole golden flax seeds
1 cup salted, roasted peanuts (make sure there is no sugar added-a lot of salted, roasted peanuts
contain more than just salt and nuts)
½ cup unsweetened coconut flakes (or a bit more)
1 cup chopped pecans
1-2 T Chia seeds (Optional for sprinkling)1) Mix ingredients together (I use a mixer, but it can be done by hand)
2) Roll dough into 1” balls
3) Sprinkle dough balls with Chia seeds if desired
4) Bake at 350 for 10 minutes
5) While still warm, gently flatten cookies to about 1/2”Option A: Dip half the cookie in dark chocolate-it is a bit more sugary, but a nice combo
Option B: Sub the applesauce for peanut butter for a richer peanut cookie
Option C: Add dried fruit bits like raisins, cranberries, etc. But like chocolate, dried fruit ups the sugar content of the cookie.

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Cherished Old Recipes

Most people have a few keepsakes. A piece of jewelry passed on through generations, a box of old love-letters, something meaningful that reminds us of our heritage or a special person. I have a few such items myself, but readily admit, my most cherished keepsakes are old recipes.

I was able to get my Grandmother’s old recipe box after she passed, and I have poured over it again and again. What I love about old recipes is their ability to live on through generations. Whenever I make Grandma’s corn pudding for Thanksgiving, it reminds me of her. It is a way of passing on a heritage of food to my family, as well as remembering people who cooked that same recipe years and years ago.

My husband’s family has traditional foods as well passed on from generations. A cranberry Jello salad is popular at holiday meals in his mother’s home. I have made it on occasion and always look forward to sharing that tradition with his family as well. It is fun to combine foods from both our pasts into the traditions of our own family.

My Mom’s folks lived up the road from us as we grew up. I have many memories surrounding food with them. Grandpa had a huge electric cooker. I remember him cooking it full of creamy corn chowder and inviting us all over for dinner. I have his recipe…clipped from a newspaper with his scratchings on it. My Grandma would invite me and my sisters over on occasion to bake. We made incredible old-fashioned molasses cookies with her, bread shaped into bunnies for Easter, and she taught me how to make pie crust for Dutch apple pie. Several times, all of my siblings and I got to make a batch of root beer with my grandparents. It was the real stuff with yeast, tons of sugar, and root beer extract. I have not had any Root Beer that good since my childhood.

As my blog post on the Food: One of the Most Unifying Tools in the Hands of Homemaker states, food has a way of creating memories and can be used as a tool to bring people together. Perhaps that is one of the reasons I find myself drawn to old family recipes. It is also a way of learning about history and culture. My Dad makes his own venison jerky. It is unlike anything one can buy at the store. The jerky Daddy makes is like a piece of edible history. It can take me back to the pioneer days when drying meat was the best way to preserve it for a long trip.

Old cookbooks and recipes are incredible finds. I recently read through a vintage Fannie Farmer cookbook. It was not only fun to read, but educational to see the perspective on food a hundred years ago. Quality food was very important, now a box of hamburger helper is considered food. In the time of Fannie Farmer, ground meat like hamburger did not even exist! There is a recipe about how to make Hamburg meat. It involved hand chopping chuck. Food preparation and eating has certainly changed through the generations.

I love to see my grandma’s notes and yellowed, soiled recipe cards. One card alone tells a story of meals cooked and served. I can see grandma cooking on the stove with her recipe on the counter and grease from her pan spits on the card. Now grandma is gone, but I have that card and grease spits on it from my stove.

My sentiment toward recipes may seem silly to some, but old recipes are keepsakes that have incredible value to me. They are very personal to an individual and family, as well as a beautiful way to incorporate heritage and build memories into one’s own family. I look forward to continuing my cooking journey through some of grandma’s old recipes!

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Graham Flour Banana Bread

The nutty, warm flavor of graham flour has made this one of my favorite banana bread recipes. I make this recipe into muffins as well. And for those with egg allergies…this recipe doesn’t have them.

1/3 Cup Oil (I use grape seed or coconut)

½ Cup Applesauce

2/3 Cup Honey (Coconut Sugar may be substituted for honey. It will lower the glycemic index)

3 Small Mashed Bananas (2 cups)

1 ½ Cup Graham Flour (Whole Wheat Flour may serve as a substitute, but it will not taste quite as good as graham flour, and it will have a higher glycemic index than the graham.)

1 ¼ teaspoons Baking Powder

½ teaspoon Baking Soda

¾ teaspoon Salt

1) Mix ingredients together
2) Pour into muffin tins or lined loaf pan
3) Bake bread for 1 hour or muffins for 25 minutes at 350.

Mashed sweet potatoes can be substituted for the bananas, add a dash of cinnamon for a great autumn flavor.

I often make muffins or quick bread for breakfast. It is an easy way for me to use fruit and vegetables and simple to keep on hand for the children to have for a snack later in the day as well.

I keep a variety of flours on hand in my freezer. I enjoy using various grains instead of just wheat. Graham flour is a wheat based, whole grain flour it is ground differently than whole wheat flour producing  a higher fiber and courser grain than traditional whole wheat flour. Graham flour gives bread, crusts, and even some cookies an amazing rich flavor. It is like adding graham cracker crust to baked items…simply delicious.

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Peanut Butter and Chocolate Ganache Sandwiches

Ingredients:
Peanut butter
8-10 oz. Chocolate
Whipping cream
Bread

1) Put the chocolate in a glass cup. (I usually use a glass Pyrex measuring cup.)
2) Cover the chocolate with cream.
3) Melt the chocolate in the microwave a couple minutes until the chocolate has melted and is smooth.
4) The ganache should have a pudding like texture, a little more cream can be added to get the desired texture.
5) Spread on bread and make a sandwich!
(Toasting the bread can turn this sandwich from a kids lunch to a grown-up sandwich)

My children have yet to like jam or jelly, but peanut butter has always been a great lunch item in our home.

One day, I decided to make chocolate sandwiches as a lunchtime treat for my children. I combined the chocolate with peanut butter to increase nutrients.

Chocolate ganache peanut butter sandwiches have been a popular lunchtime meal ever since.

I know it may seem crazy to give a child chocolate for lunch, but the sugar content is actually far lower than traditional jelly or honey. If I use dark chocolate I can bring the sugar content to 6-7 grams of sugar per tablespoon.

One tablespoon of Polaner’s all fruit strawberry jam with no added sugar contains 7 grams of sugar.

One tablespoon of raw honey contains 17 grams of sugar.

One tablespoon of a traditional generic brand of grape jelly contains 12 grams of sugar.

One tablespoon of chocolate ganache made with semi-sweet chocolate chips contains 11 grams of sugar. If the ganache is made with dark chocolate, 6-7 grams of sugar per tablespoon is possible.

Chocolate is also a very healthy food. It contains a lot of minerals and the cocoa butter is a very healthy fat. So this is a very healthy, yet delightfully fun lunch!

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My Recipe Book

Shortly after I got married, I began collecting recipes. I had two recipe files for a long time. One was full of recipes with pictures that I had cut from magazines. The other file was family recipes from both my family and my husband’s family. It did not take long for me to realize the card system was ineffective for me. 1) I would pull a recipe out to use and it. But the recipes never seemed to get back in their alphabetical order. So I wasted my time organizing and putting recipes back in order. Or spent unnecessary time looking for specific recipes that were not in order. 2) I found a recipe card file uninspiring. When I planned meals, I had to go through various files and categories to figure out what meals to plan. It was an ordeal. 3) I was not constantly aware of the recipes I had. I forgot good recipes, made bad ones again, and simply spent a lot of time feeling lost in my recipe box. I found books to be a favorite source of recipes. I used Good Housekeeping and the red checkered cookbook for my staple recipes. I also depended on the internet for recipes. The problem with the internet was that I often lost or forgot about good recipes. And I spent a lot of time simply looking. Although I still have a couple of online resources I refer to on occasion: The Pioneer Woman and Smitten Kitchen. I don’t use the internet as heavily as I once did. As I set up house my first year of marriage, there was a lot of experimentation as I learned to cook regularly for two. As I cooked, I began developing my own cookbook for home use. I typed out my favorite recipes, added a picture, a space for notes, and sent it to an office store for printing. Since I created my first personal cookbook, I have created a half-dozen more for friends and family. It is an invaluable method to store recipes. I love my own cookbook because: 1) It is never out-of-order. I don’t have to straighten up my recipe box or find list recipes. It saves a lot of time sorting. 2) Everything is categorized in easy sections with a picture, so I can easily look up the recipe on my mind or flip through the notebook for an idea. 3) I can easily update the book by printing off recipes and slipping them into a plastic sheet protector in the book. I can also remove unused recipes and trash them as needed. So I am never inundated with recipes I don’t use. 4) I can read the typing easier than handwritten recipes. So there are no mistakes due to mis-reading Grandma’s shaky scribbles. Typing is also fast compared to writing out a recipe. 5) I have a place to add notes about changes I might have made to the recipe. Unlike recipe cards that have little room for notes. (I can insert my children’s artwork as well). 6) I cover the pages in plastic sheet protectors so if there is any spill or splatter, my recipe isn’t ruined. I just wipe and move on. 7) I don’t have to worry about sizes. Sometimes recipe boxes can be full of 3×5 cards, 4×8 cards, folded cards, papers, newspaper clippings, and recipes cut from magazines. Those boxes are not without their charm, but they are not efficient and practical for my life. 8) I have all the recipes I use in one place. I now rarely use cookbooks or internet for my everyday basic cooking. If there is a recipe in a certain cookbook that I use frequently, I simply put that recipe in my own book. 9) Recipes people give me, or I discover throughout the year can go directly into my book or I slip them in a pocket in the front cover and update the book at one time. I have used this notebook method to store my recipes going on ten years now. I have no desire to go back to the cards, although I hang onto Grandma’s torn, yellowed, scribbling about of how to make tamales, but strictly for sentimental reasons. 20180824_150848.jpg Continue reading “My Recipe Book”

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Tomato Marmalade

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Marmalade is a citrus spread with orange and lemon peels and spices. It can be mixed into oatmeal, grits, or hot cereals. Marmalade makes a good spread on toast and croissants. It can also be used in baking as a filling for breads and cookies. I am not opposed to eating it alone on a spoon.

3 Quarts Tomatoes
2 oranges
2 lemons
10 cups sugar
2 T whole cloves
6 T broken cinnamon sticks

  1. Core and cut up tomatoes into cubes, they do not have to be peeled
  2. Add tomatoes and sugar to a pot-I have tried to use less sugar-it doesn’t work
  3. Put the spices in a bag or tea leaf strainer and hang on the inside of the pan
  4. Boil rapidly on high-stirring constantly
  5. Cook until thick and clear-about 1 hour
  6. Pour into sterilized jars to 1/8″ from top and screw on caps
  7. Boil jars in hot water bath for 10 minutes to seal the jars

Making jams, jellies, and marmalade is a vintage craft. Few people today go through the effort of making jam. It can be purchased at the store so easily. In America, I would venture to say that strawberry jam and grape jelly are the majority of jam and jelly sales. I would also say, that in the U.S. the most common use of jam and jelly is on bread with peanut butter. People in Europe seem to still use jams, marmalade, and jellies in variety. However, I personally know very few people in my generation who still eat jam and jelly. All that sugar…. And what do you do with it? Other than spread it on toast? Which we don’t eat anymore because of the sugar, gluten, and carbs.

But it is summertime, and my kind neighbor keeps bringing me sacks of tomatoes from his garden. I have canned and frozen more spaghetti sauce than we need, and feel craving for my favorite fruit condiment. So a few quarts of tomatoes will become marmalade.

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Honey Sugar Scrub

I give my skin a gentle, moisturizing mask and scrub about once a week. I love the deep cleansing and moisture this mask provides.

I use five basic ingredients to make honey sugar scrub.

Coconut Oil: Although coconut oil has large fatty chains, it works well as a facial mask and body scrub because it is washed off with hot water. I find the hot water breaks down the oil and opens my pores, allowing the nutrient rich oil to soak into my skin. Coconut oil fights microbes and helps prevent skin damage from pollution and bacteria. It also is rich in anti-oxidants and vitamin E which is ant-aging and nourishing for skin. It also helps reduce inflammation so dry skin, eczema, and damaged skin are helped by the components found in coconut oil.

Raw Honey: Not enough can be said about the benefits of raw honey. I have used honey as a face wash and found it firmed and healed my skin. It is antioxidant rich and a scientifically renowned healer. It smooths out complexion and slows down aging due to its moisturizing and antioxidant rich properties.

I loved how my face felt when I used plain honey as a face wash, but it was simply too sticky and messy to keep up, so I started mixing it with coconut oil in the coconut honey facial scrub. I use the thick unfiltered version. It makes a better paste than the liquid raw honey.

Sugar: I experimented with raw sugar, coconut sugar and granulated sugar. The granulated sugar is fine and works the best in this scrub. It is included solely as a gentle exfoliant.

Vitamin E: I include E in this mask simply to boost the nutrients of the mask on my skin. Coconut oil already contains vitamin E which is similar in its effects because it is has antioxidants and helps skin combat enemies like eczema, dryness, healing, psoriasis, and sun damage. I like to add a little more to give this scrub a little more oomph.

Vanilla Essential Oil: This is a rich vanilla oil, regular vanilla could be used, but the smell from the oil vanilla is far more incredible than cooking vanilla. I use it completely for its wonderful scent, but vanilla is anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant rich as well.

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Measure:

1/2 cup coconut oil (not melted-room temp)

1/2 cup Raw honey (thick-not liquid)

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2-3 squeezed capsules of vitamin E oil (cut and squeeze in oil/liquid vitamin E can also be used)

10 drops vanilla essential oil

Whip:

Whip ingredients with a hand mixer at full speed until fluffy. If the mixture whips too long, it will melt. If that happens, chill, and re-whip once cold.

Use:

Honey sugar scrub can be used as a body scrub, foot and hand treatment, or as a facial mask and scrub. I usually rub it on my face and neck ten minutes before my morning shower and wash it off with hot water in the shower. I often follow up with vinegar rose toner and a little cold cream as part of my natural skin-care routine.

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Vanilla Coconut Sugar Ice Cream

2 cups heavy cream
2 cups half and half
2 tablespoon vanilla
1 cup coconut sugar

1) Whisk ingredients together in a small mixing bowl until sugar dissolves
2) Pour into ice cream freezer and churn according to manufactures directions
3) Freeze the ice cream in a deep freezer until solid about 5 hours
(So make a day ahead if you need it on a certain day)

This ice cream is absolutely delicious. It taste like brown sugar and butter. The texture is perfect. This has the added benefit of coconut sugar which is easy on the blood sugar. Healthy and scrumptious. A certain favorite in our home.

Makes about 2 pints.