Thyme Tincture for Blemishes

I don't have clear, beautiful skin. I'm natural in most areas of my life & health but still my skin has blemishes. In the past I've gone the traditional dermatologist route of antibiotics and prescription cremes but I'm done with that now. I've been searching for more natural solutions* and so far thyme is one of my favorites.

A recent study found thyme is more effective on acne bacterium than prescription cremes containing benzoyl peroxide. I've tried those prescription cremes and they are expensive, very drying to to my skin and not very effective. When I read about making your own thyme treatments on Crunchy Betty I was ready to experiment.

I had organic thyme in my pantry that I recently got from my CSA and dried myself. I followed these simple steps using just witch hazel and dried thyme to make my own thyme tincture.

Thyme Tincture

Sterilize a small bottle by boiling it in water for 10 minutes. Dry well.

Add 1 Tbsp dried thyme to the bottle.

Pour 4 Tbsp witch hazel over the top. Shake well.

Within 20 minutes, the witch hazel will start to look like a light brown tea. I used it right away but continued to let the thyme steep in the witch hazel for a few days before straining the thyme out.

Pour your tincture onto a cotton ball or pad and rub over blemishes. I use it daily before bed.

Store it in a cool, dark place for up to a month.

My thyme tincture before I strained out the thyme leaves

Here's an interesting article explaining that it's still early days for thyme as an acne treatment. While it's too soon to know how effective it is for everyone I'm finding for myself that it's just as effective as the prescription stuff on me. I love the smell when I rub it on my face. It reminds me of Italy and fresh from the oven pizza. Yum!

I recommend making your own thyme treatment to try on yourself!

*For more natural acne treatments I highly recommend the e-book Crunchy Betty's Food on Your Face for Acne and Oily Skin.

Menu Plan 7/2- 7/8

Usually I post my menu on Sunday night but I've been feeling so tired from the oppressive heat and busy from the holiday festivities, ok and maybe a little lazy.


I nearly didn't get around to making a meal plan this week as the 4th of July holiday is messing with my brain and making me feel like I can take a vacation from feeding my family. HELLO! There's never a vacation from that!


This week I'm trying out some new crockpot recipes and using up more of the beef from my deep freeze.

Mongolian Beef

Weekly Menu Plan 7/2- 7/8

Monday: Grilled Chicken, honey glazed turnips
Tuesday:  Panko Breaded Tilapia, rice, veggie
Wednesday: Mongolian Beef in the Crockpot
Thursday: Pasta with Chicken & Broccoli 

Friday: Crockpot Beef Ribs

Saturday lunch: Tacos
Saturday dinner: Pizza
Sunday: Pasta with homemade marinara sauce

Snacks: Honey Walnut Granola, Simple Vanilla Homemade ice cream

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

What's on your menu plan this week?

Simple Vanilla Homemade Ice Cream

I've been making & enjoying homemade ice cream for 14 years now. I usually just make it during the hot months of summer when it seems to magically make the heat & humidity bearable. I recently shared a new recipe for raspberry ice cream but this time I'm sharing my first, tried & true, simple vanilla ice cream.

all the ingredients you need

This was the first ice cream recipe I ever made and it's the one I keep coming back to. The best part to a lazy cook like me- no cooking at all. Just mix up the ingredients until the sugar dissolves and pour it into your maker. It's so simple that you can't mess it up. Most of the time I just use my homemade vanilla extract but sometimes I'll get a little fancy and scrape the seeds from a vanilla bean which takes this ice cream from delicious to AMAZING.

my much loved ice cream maker

Simple Vanilla Ice Cream
makes about 1 quart

1 cup heavy cream
2 cups half & half
seeds from 1 vanilla bean OR 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 to 2/3 cup sugar
dash salt

Combine the ingredients in a blender or food processor until the sugar dissoves. Chill in the refrigerator until ready to freeze. Pour into your ice cream maker and follow the manufacturers instructions for freezing. It takes about 20 minutes on the slower setting for my machine. Place in a plastic container and allow to freeze 2-4 hours for a good, solid consistency.

my maker doing it's work

  Enjoy!

Menu Plan 6/25- 7/1

Cedar Plank Salmon

I've got a busy week ahead with THREE kids. Yup, all my kids have returned home and while they've been out of school for 3 weeks this will be my first full week parenting them all day/week without the help of ANYONE. I'm not worried...yes, that was sarcastic. 


So anyhow, I still have to cook on top of the whole swim lessons, dentist appointments, breaking up sibling disagreements and general mom taxi busy-ness. I'm not trying any new entrees and instead I'm sticking to tried & true familiar recipes for the week. The only new things I want to try are Dutch Babies and English Muffin Bread.

Weekly Menu Plan 6/25- 7/1

Monday: Orange chicken, steamed green beans, quinoa

Tuesday:  Cedar plank salmon, brown rice, steamed broccoli

Wednesday: Pasta with homemade marinara, salad

Thursday: Crockpot roast w/ carrots & potatoes

Friday: Tacos with 1/2 cup pureed lentils mixed in

Saturday: Homemade Pizza

Sunday: Burgers & leftovers

Snacks: Dutch Babies, English Muffin Bread, green smoothies

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

What recipes are you trying this week?