This is a follow-up to the post, Soap Making 101. Today, I’d like to show you how I took one simple, plain recipe and doctored it up to create a variety of custom soaps. The point I’d like for you to take away from this, is not that you have to follow my recipes exactly (though…
My foray into homemade herbal shampoo began last summer. Up until that time, I just used whatever cheap shampoo I could get my hands on. Times were tight and my beloved salon shampoos were most certainly not in the budget. However, I was pretty uncomfortable with the thought of us being exposed to all of…
I created this DIY natural rose face and body cream as a gift for my mom. She absolutely adores all things roses and the color pink, so I think she’ll love this! (Update: I never can wait to give gifts to people & already gave my mom some of this. She LOVES it. Success!) :)…
This is my family’s go-to healing salve recipe for soothing pretty much any scratch, cut, scrape, bug bite, dry skin patch, bee sting, hives, and so forth. I have a relative who even likes to use it instead of an eye cream! Think of this as an herbal alternative to something like your typical store-bought,…
The idea for these tasty little honey-based treats originally came from the wonderful cookbook: Grain-Free Gourmet by Jodi Bager and Jenny Lass. They are suitable for anyone on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet or those looking to reduce their intake of refined sugars. Nutty Caramels 1 cup honey 1 cup peanut, almond, cashew or allowed nut…
This lip balm is ideal for active people who spend a lot of time outdoors. Mango butter offers a small amount of protection from UV radiation while the jojoba and coconut oils moisturize dry, chapped lips. Calendula is famous for its skin-soothing properties and castor oil tops everything off, lending a soft glossy shine and…
I knew when I posted about making Herbal Jello as a great way to get therapeutic levels of herbs into a picky kid or too-sick-to-eat-much individual, that there would be some unable to use the recipe because of the sugar and artificial ingredients contained in regular Jello. While you can find Jello without artificial dyes…
You know when you’re a kid (or grownup) and you’re sick and you just don’t feel like eating, much less swallowing some horrid tasting mixture your mom gives you to help you feel better? Well, this is where herbal jellos come into play. They’re ideal vehicles to administer therapeutic doses of herbs to less than…
Medicinal vinegars (Vinegar Extracts) have been around since ancient times and were an excellent way to preserve and dispense herbs before distilled spirits were known about. While alcohol-based tinctures tend to be stronger and have a longer shelf life, vinegar extracts (also known as “aceta”) are ideal for those who want to avoid the use of…
When I was in junior high school, I took a candy making class with my mom and sisters. It was a lot of fun and I learned so much from that day! This week, I was browsing through some loose piles of various recipes I had printed off over the years, looking for new ideas,…
Everyone has their favorite way to prevent and treat colds and the flu; today, I’ll share mine with you! It’s a simple little cold and flu tincture that I grab whenever someone says they are feeling icky. I also dose it out when we’ve been around crowds or people that are coughing or showing other…
If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you know how very much I LOVE using violets. Not only are the flowers so pretty to look at each spring, the entire plant is edible and is helpful in a variety of ways. In my last post that referenced violets: Violet Leaf Balm, I mentioned…
We’ve really been enjoying Papa B’s honey from next door lately! Today, I made three kinds of honey nut brittle to tuck away in the freezer for when the urge for a sweet treat hits. The idea for this recipe came from “Macadamia Nut Brittle” in the cookbook: Eat Well Feel Well by Kendall Conrad….
For a few years, my son could only have honey as a sweetener, which meant store-bought candy was out of the question. (This was on the advice of his pediatrician who placed him on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet because he had non-responsive celiac disease and was a very sick little boy. The diet worked wonders…
This rich face cream contains an assortment of flowers and herbs, along with precious blue chamomile essential oil – which contains a powerful anti-inflammatory agent, chamazulene. It’s most suited for dry and/or mature skin types. Before starting, make sure to sterilize all utensils, bowls, beaters, and jars – I use the sanitize cycle on my…
Although violet blossoms are long gone from our area, the leaves have persisted in spite of the dry, hot weather and can still be found flourishing in shady spots around my house. I’ve touched on it before, but wanted to highlight today just how beneficial those violet leaves can be. Violet leaf is a wonderful…
When I first found out my son had to go gluten-free and had a pile of food sensitivies to boot, a friend-of-a-friend who had been down that road before, loaned me a great allergy cookbook that focused on using a rotation diet to keep from developing further food allergies. The name of both book and…
We are in the midst of a power outage, here where we live; and it will likely be a week before electricity is restored. (Update: we were without power for 11 days!) For us, no power means no water. Couple that with 100 degree weather and you can see where that could quickly become a…
For the past few weeks, I’ve been experimenting with lavender vinegar and must say, I love it as much as rose petal vinegar! Directions to Make Gather lavender, rub the buds off into a jar, then cover with vinegar. Immediately cap to keep the vapors in. Store in a dark cabinet for a few weeks,…
DIY Herbal Basting Brushes are so easy to make and add such a subtle flavor that you’ll never want to buy a basting brush again! I do not currently own a basting brush. I have owned them, plenty of them, but they get all oily and are hard to clean and I end up tossing…
