Honey on my Face

Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I love honey: raw, local, all natural honey.  I'm not talking about the cheap, fake stuff either. Local, raw honey tastes amazing and is full of the good stuff. I add it to my tea, use it on my face & put it in my hair. Honey contains some of the most incredible antibacterial power nature has to offer. It will replace much needed moisture in your skin, while at the same time pulling out the oil and bad stuff. 

I started using honey as part of my morning facial routine at the suggestion of Crunchy Betty's ebook Food on Your Face. I pour some honey on my fingers and spread it all over my face. If I'm in a hurry I'll wash it off right away. If I've got some time I'll leave the honey on for 5 or 10 minutes while I do other things and then wash it off. It has been a great acne fighter for me along with my thyme toner I use before bed.

Beware buying your honey from a big-box store or pharmacy. Often times, it's not even honey.

Pasteurized honey is no good for your face. All the beneficial enzymes have been killed in the heating process. This is the honey you typically find in mainstream grocery stores. Often it's"laundered" from Asian countries to hide it's inferior Chinese origin.  

Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Raw, unfiltered honey is honey that has been heated less than 115 degrees Fahrenheit, the official “raw heat” designation. It's been minimally filtered to remove some of the pollen, propolis, and wax. Where can you get the good stuff? I get mine at local orchards and farmer markets. 

To learn more about honey, I highly recommend these articles:

Tests Show Most Store Honey Isn't Honey

Honey Laundering: The Sour Side of Nature's Golden Sweetener

Crunchy Betty's Honey Guide

Tell me: how do you use honey?

This post is part of: Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways, Mama Moments Monday, Living Green Tuesdays, Works-for-Me-Wednesday, The Morris Tribe, Homestead Barn Hop, Make Your Own Mondays, Your Green Resource

Weekly Menu 9/17-9/23

I've been riding my bike a lot this week with my oldest son. He leads and I follow him all around town exploring the neighborhoods. He loves adventures and finding new bike paths, especially hidden sidewalks. This boy that used to cause me such heartache has matured into a friend and expedition leader.

This week I'm hoping the beautiful fall weather continues and we can fit in more bike rides. I'm also putting my crockpot to more use as it's my favorite cooking appliance in autumn.

Weekly Menu 9/17-9/23

Monday: Pasta with homemade marinara & tossed salad
Tuesday: Baked Tilapia, rice, steamed green beans
Wednesday: Crockpot Chicken with carrots and potatoes
Thursday: Chinese Beef & Broccoli, brown rice

Friday: Tacos

Saturday dinner: Pizza
Sunday:  Chicken Noodle Soup & Leftovers

Snacks: Skin Clearing Green Smoothies, Honey Muffins, English Muffin Bread

You can find more menus at Menu Plan Monday at I'm An Organizing Junkie.

What's on your menu plan this week?

Blueberry Zucchini Bread

I've got a lot of summer zucchini to use up these days. I finally had to freeze a bunch because I'm about zucchini-ed out. Now I've got a freezer full of ziploc bags with 2 cup portions of grated zucchini so I can make this bread year round. 

This recipe was a hit in my house. We all gobbled it up. The lemon zest adds a delicious compliment to the blueberries and cinnamon. I reduced the sugar from the orginal recipe as the blueberries add their own sweetness and it turned out plenty sweet.

Blueberry Zucchini Bread
adapted from The Complete Kitchen Garden by Ellen Ecker Ogden
Makes 2 loaves

3 cups white whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup plain yogurt
2 cups grated zucchini (about 3 medium zucchini)
1 Tablespoon lemon zest
1 pint fresh blueberries

Preheat oven to 350F. Position rack in the center of the oven. Lightly butter and flour two 8x4 loaf pans, shaking out the excess flour.
In a large bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
In another bowl, beat the sugar and butter on high speed until smooth. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Reduce speed to low and beat in the vanilla and yogurt. Gradually add the flour mixture until combined.
With a wooden spoon, fold in the zucchini, lemon zest and blueberries and stir gently until ingredients are just blended. Pour into the floured pan and tap on the counter to even the batter. Bake until toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean, about 1 hour. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes.

You can slice and freeze this bread in a freezer bag too.
Enjoy your zucchini treat!

This recipe is featured on: Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways, Your Green Resource, Tasty Tuesday, Melt In Your Mouth Monday

DIY Homemade Deodorant

I've been very reluctant to make my own deodorant. I found it much easier to give up shampoo and put honey in my hair. Switching to an all natural deodorant has been the last frontier of crunchiness for me. It took a while for the ickyness of traditional deodorant to out weigh my fear of being sweaty.

Well, thankfully my sweatyness level is pretty much the same with my homemade stuff. I'm still sweating a bit but it's similar to how I did with typical deodorant. Making my own deodorant is now a way of life & I'm not going back to the store bought stuff. (And no, I don't stink.)

So my main reason for making deodorant for myself? Traditional deodorant is BAD. The main ingredient in store bought deodorant is aluminum which is linked to breast cancer and Alzheimer's. Aluminum mimics estrogen which can mess up your hormone levels. I have a family history of Alzheimer's so I've been aware of the link to aluminum for many years but only as I've gotten older have I started looking for ways to cut down my own aluminum exposure.

I've made a couple of different homemade recipes. This one from the Purposed Heart worked pretty well but had complicated ingredients & irritated one of my pits. The other was fine so I guess I have weird pits.

I've researched a lot of recipes and ingredients and today I'm sharing the most simple & frugal I've found. I use arrowroot powder instead of cornstarch as it's much less irritating to my pits. If you don't have it on hand you can go ahead and try the recipe with cornstarch but just be warned.

Simple Deodorant

1/4 c. baking soda

1/4 c. arrowroot powder or cornstarch 

5 Tbsp. coconut oil

Essential oils (optional – I used 2 drops tea tree as it's antibacterial and 3 drops lavender for a nice scent)  *Don't use citrus oils as they can promote hair growth which you probably don't want to encourage in your pits.

Mix it all together in a small container. You may need to warm the coconut oil if it's not soft at room temperature. Pour the mix into a small plastic bowl and place it in the refrigerator to harden. After it hardens it will pop out of the bowl for easy use. I leave it in my fridge all the time since I prefer to keep it cool. I just pop it out to rub on my pits in the morning. The coolness feels refreshingly good during the summer. If you leave it at room temperature it will be soft and you can scoop it onto your fingers and sensually rub it into your pits.
In the winter I may experiment with pouring the deodorant mix into a cleaned out deodorant container. The weather has to remain cooler for the coconut oil to remain solid like a traditional deodorant.

Have you tried to make your own deodorant? Are you willing to try?

This post has been linked to: Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways, Mama Moments Monday, Living Green Tuesdays, Works-for-Me-Wednesday, The Morris Tribe, Homestead Barn Hop, Make Your Own Mondays, Women Living Well, Your Green Resource