I can eat that!

I haven't focused on my diet lately and it is slowly creeping up on me with weight gain, low vitamin D level, low iron level... So blogging hopefully will make me focus on this area of my life again.  I will post recipes that offer options for those with food sensitivity, but everyone should enjoy them. Also, I will list my menu plan for the week and some challenges.  I can't wait. It has been a busy week. Hope you have enjoyed the post so far.

I enjoy nuts but they do not return the love.  I enjoy pecans, but pistachios and cashew are a few that I limit from my diet. This recipe has been on my main website.  Thought I would add it to the blog this week.

SUNFLOWER BUTTER COOKIES

(an alternative to peanut butter cookies)

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup salted butter

1/2 cup sunflower butter

1egg

1-1/4 cup flour

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 cup white chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

(Make sunflower butter by placing sunflower kernels in food processor and adding a few teaspoons of sunflower oil until the mixture is the texture of crunchy peanut butter)

1.  Cut butter into small pieces and place in food processor.  Add the 2 types of sugars, sunflower butter, and egg.  Mix until smooth.

2.  Mix in the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt) until the batter starts forming into dough.

3. Remove dough from the food processors and add the white chocolate chips.

4. Chill dough if desired.  Roll dough into balls, flatten, and then add the crisscross pattern using a fork.

5.  Cook for 10 minutes.

These taste really good!

Declutter

WHY WE CLUTTER? Before we discuss decluttering, let's step back and ask ourselves why we are cluttering?  There is usually something that has you stressed or depressed.  The loss of a job or a loved one can really change how you feel about everything.  The first step in decluttering is to deal with those emotions.  Talk with a friend, family, and/or counselor, and work through those feelings.

MOTIVATION!  The next step in decluttering is to find something that motivates you to dig through that pile of junk. Sorry, your wonderful things!  For me, I have a picture of what the area will look like after I remove the items and get a chance to decorate.  Decorating is my motivation.  I can shop and make the area pretty!  Maybe you have lost something and know it is in the pile. Or maybe set a deadline and throw a party to motivate yourself.  If this step is hard, then spend some more time working on your feelings.

DIG IN!  Okay, you can do it.  We will begin with baby steps.  Today spend 5 minutes on the pile. As you pick up an item it should go into one of these categories:  HOME (where in the home should it be? Hang the coat in the closet!), GIVE AWAY (start a donation bag to Goodwill or some site-put in your vehicle before your change your mind or forget), or TRASH (you can do it, think of your motivation).  Do the 5 minutes each day, and hopefully we will see some progress by next Thursday.

 I remember years ago, my grandmother and her sister getting the family together to clean my great-grandmother's house one Saturday.  It was pretty horrible.  I look back and realize that she was a mother and wife, and the loss of her husband must have caused her great pain.  I am sure aging was a factor too, and the issue possibly was an early stage of Alzheimer that we didn't know about yet.

We will spend a few weeks talking about decluttering, then we will get to the fun part which is decorating!  Keep the faith, my brother, my sister...hold on.

(I am looking forward to offering an all-purpose house cleaning soap bar soon!  You can find our products here.)

A simple tip for skin irritations

One of the joys of being sensitive to food is skin irritations.  I get bumps on my arms, back, legs, and worst of all on my face.  If the irritation does not go away, then I visit the dermatologist and usually get a prescription of steroid ointment. However, if it is a simple irritation then I treat it at home.  First wash your face. Next take a face towel, and wet with hot tap water.  Fold and squeeze the towel, then place the towel on the irritated area to steam the spot for about 2 minutes. That is it!  It is amazing how well steaming works.  I like to do this right before bed. This helps with acne and other skin irritations as well.

Looking for a facial soap?  My two favorites are Lavender Sea Salt and Oatmeal.

Quick Overview on Making Soap

Making soap is actually really easy with practice.  It is very similar to baking a cake because you add ingredients and stir. Some challenges include measuring ingredients exactly, following rules for safety, developing good oil combinations, and waiting 3-6 weeks for the soap to harden and cure.  I have been making soap for about 7 years, and really enjoy it.  It is rewarding to select natural ingredients and know what is touching your skin.

One challenge with soaping is that the ratios have to be exact.  When baking a cake, we remember grandma adding a dash of this and pinch of that.  Even measuring cups are not a good option with soaping.  It is important to invest in a digital scale to weigh the ingredients.

Another challenge with soaping are all the safety rules.  This is probably the number one reason most people don't make their own soap.  Soap has three basic parts which include liquid(s), oil(s), and sodium hydroxide. These ingredients must be combined in a specific order or you will create a volcano.  First, combine the liquid (which is normally distilled water) with the sodium hydroxide (wear gloves and masks during this step). Place the sodium hydroxide on top of the water, a little at a time, and stir.  Next, put this to the side to cool (this combination creates its own heat). Next rule is to always add the sodium hydroxide mixture to oils, and not the oils to the sodium hydroxide mixture.  Otherwise, you get the volcano.

Developing a good oil combination for your formula/recipe is challenging too.  Each oil is different and has different properties that causes it to react differently in the recipe with the sodium hydroxide.  Coconut and palm oils are often used because they add hardness and lather to soap. There are various soap calculators on the internet to help with selecting the oil combinations and providing the sodium hydroxide amount for that combination.  The calculator helps you to create a virtual batch, so you can test for hardness, lather, and other properties of the soap.  The calculators are good estimates, but other factors like the weather (humidity, temperature...), or other ingredients that you add can change the recipe results.

Once you make a batch of soap, another challenge is curing time.  Most recipes require that you wait at least 3-6 weeks.  Some traditional olive oil soap recipes can take up to 6 months to cure.  It is easier to run to the store and get soap instead of waiting.  Soaping requires planning ahead to meet deadlines.  Imagine making a batch that is not great, and not knowing until a month later!  Soaping can be really frustrating because of this factor.

The key is practice, practice, and more practice.  Also keeping good notes because you want to learn from these challenges.  I hope this overview was helpful, and makes you appreciate your next bar of soap even more.  (Note:  There are tons of tutorials on soaping on the internet - good and bad. If interested in learning more,  I suggest joining a group on Facebook or LinkedIn and asking questions instead of just following videos on YouTube.)
  
Looking for handcrafted soap, click here.
 

New Hair Blog is Born

Why a new natural hair blog??!!! If you haven't notice many women are loving their natural hair.  The sale of relaxers are down almost 30%, and the natural hair community has its own language.  There are many great natural hair blogs out there, so what do I plan to add?  I want to focus on the challenge of being a natural and being sensitive to tree nut oils, coconut oil, aloe vera, and many other ingredients.  I want to tell my transition story, my routine, and why I transitioned.  Lastly, I want to share products that have worked for me and my sensitive body.

Most products are not made for people with tree nut and coconut oil sensitivity.  I honestly never notice that before the transition. However when I started using more gels and creams for my natural hair styles my head hurt, scalp itched, eyes burned, and yes hair loss. When I had a relaxer, I usually just shampoo, blow dry, and style with little to no product.  So the transition meant adding more products and more irritation.  So with more product on my scalp daily, my body started rejecting this change.  I would always get a headache and eye irritation from getting a relaxer, but it was always worth it every few month.  However, I could not take this daily!

Transitioning for me has not been easy.  I have very thick hair, so I actually tried two other times.  The first two times I would go without a relaxer for a few months then reach a point where I could not comb my hair! Then I would call and make an appointment for a relaxer.  After two years of doing this, the natural hair movement became even more popular and I really wanted it more than ever.  So I knew I had to find a way to manage my new hair. I also had to learn how to be natural in cold and hot weather.  There was so much to learn.  The good thing now was that others around me were natural too.  So we could share ideas and tips to help each others.  You quickly learn that each person's hair is different, so you have to find what works for you.  So the more you learn the better.

Another amazing thing about the natural hair movement are all the new products available for natural hair. However, what products can I use?  I already made my own body soap, so I quickly found out I had to make my own hair products.  Making a shampoo bar was easy, but how on earth do I detangle my hair.  I also wanted to condition and do protein treatment.  Is there anything that works like argan oil (tree nut) that will not irritate?

I think this blog is needed.  Someone who is passionate about natural hair and finding products options for those with tree nut, coconut oil, and other irritating ingredients. I look forward to expanding upon on the topics each week.  (You can find my hair products on Etsy.)

  

I am so excited to start a blog.  I love to write and journal my thoughts.  It is something that I have done all my life.  I like creating things and sharing my creations, so this is just one more way to do it.  I could create 50 blogs with all the topics in my head, but I have narrowed down the topics to the following. My main focus is offering tips and sharing ideas.  Some of the tips will benefit people with food and skin sensitivity, but helpful to others as well.

1. Monday, NATURAL HAIR:  The journey when sensitive to tree nut oils, coconut oil...
2. Tuesday, SOAPING:  Talk about my soap business and feature different soaps 
3. Wednesday, CLEAN SKIN:  Face, bumps, cleaners, PMS, hormones, allergies...
4. Thursday, CLEAN & BEAUTIFUL:  Focus on decluttering, decorating, and cleaning tip
5. Friday, THIS OR THAT FOOD OPTIONS: Enjoying food when sensitive to everything

Hope you enjoy and share with your friends.  I truly believe that words have power, and I hope that my words help me and others.

Thank you,

Pam

"Give me five minutes."