Simple "Non-Petroleum Jelly"

You are about to see what I mean by the "simple" things in life.

 I'm not sure what to officially call this recipe because "Vaseline" is just a brand name of  "petroleum jelly". This is neither Vaseline nor petroleum so I like to call it "Non-Petroleum Jelly".... Genius, right?!


Okay, you better go get your pen and paper, just in case you can't remember this all.

Here goes:

Put about 1/2 cup of organic olive oil in a small pot
Add about a teaspoon of beeswax

Warm on low until beeswax is melted. Pour into a small glass jar. (A baby food jar works well)

Let it cool and there you have it...Healthy non petroleum jelly!

*Note -If you'd like it to be more solid add more beeswax. If you want it to be more oily add more olive oil.

Did you catch all of that? I know, I know. It's really tricky but don't worry you'll figure it out eventually!

Seriously, you cannot mess this up. It's perfectly simple and you can use it for everything. I put it on myself, my kids and my animals as a moisturizer.  Also, to all you new moms out there, don't forget the sometimes necessary rectal thermometer. This non-petroleum jelly could really come in handy since I'm sure you don't want to be putting anything related to gasoline into their....you know. I'm much happier to use this more natural product.

Moving on....

Go ahead and give this a try and let me know what you think. Also if you figure out an exact measurement of how you like it best, please do share!

Organic Homemade Degongesting Vapor Rub

 

It's that time of year again.

 

When every kid you see has a snotty nose and every mom is carrying around tissues in their pockets. Nothing quite soothes a cold the way that Vick's Vapor Rub does and since we have ventured into our "homesteading" lifestyle I have sworn off running to the store to buy everything we need (or that we think we need) I have been instead running to the kitchen  to try to make something similar. This recipe is absolutely amazing to me, even though I've only smelled it yet with my congested nose, I believe that it smells the same or better than the name brand stuff. I made it a few days ago and have been using it 3x daily since then. The other great thing is that you can customize the strength of it by simply using less oils. I think that makes it a little more appropriate for my kids. You could even play with the oils you are adding to the Eucalyptus. I chose to add Lavender and chamomile. It's soothing and relaxing..Just the comfort I'm looking for when I'm feeling under the weather!

 

Here's how I made it: (as you can tell I don't really measure when I make stuff so I'm giving estimates...you can figure out how thick, thin or strongly scented you'd like it to be and go from there. You can't mess it up, if you want to change the consistency after it cools just put it back in a warm pan and add more beeswax or oil!)

 

 

You'll need:

 

1 cup- organic Evoo

1 tbls. -Beeswax shavings (Try to find a local source for your beeswax, if you can't hen you can order it online)

30ish- drops Eucalyptus essential oil

20ish- drops Lavender essential oil

15ish- drops of chamomile essential oil (or any other essential oil you think compliments the Eucalyptus)

 

To make:

 

Put Evoo and beeswax in a small saucepan over low heat until beeswax is melted, stirring often. Remove from heat and add essential oils. Pour in pretty jars ( I used 4oz. Jelly jars)  And..

THAT'S IT!!  Easy, huh?!

 

 

   

The oils in it help it to have a decent shelf life, but you should try to use it within one year.

 

Isn't it amazing how simple these things really are to make at home?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A little taste of Heaven- homemade vanilla coffee creamer

 

Two of my favorite things in life are making things at home and vanilla coffee creamer. So, it only makes sense that I would eventually figure out how to make the worlds best coffee creamer, right? Well I did..and it is heavenly! I couldn't start my day off right without a hot cup of coffee and a morning phone call from my big sister. Okay, so maybe I should have said my 3 favorite things in life because my big sister is pretty high up on the favorites list. Now you know what makes my heart happy- Making things, drinking coffee and my big sister!  In this recipe you can play with the amounts of each ingredient in the recipe and adapt it to your own personal taste but here is what I do:

 

 

2 to 3 cups - Heavy cream -I ladle mine off the top of our raw milk but you could use any cream such as half and half

 

1/4 cup -organic brown sugar -or any alternative sugar you prefer

 

about 1 Tbls-Pure Vanilla Extract -I use my own homemade vanilla extract. I got the recipe from my all time favorite blogger here-

 http://theelliotthomestead.com/

 

 



 

Put the brown sugar in the bottom of a saucepan along with the vanilla. Heat on low until sugar is warm and moist looking. Remove from heat and whisk in heavy cream. Pour it in a pretty jar and keep it in the refrigerator. 

 

Use within 7-10 days. Unless you're like me...then you can invite over a girlfriend or two and drink coffee all day long, in which case it only last about two days. Good thing it's so easy to whip up another batch! 

 



 

 

 

What is your favorite coffee creamer flavor? Maybe I can come up with a recipe for it!