Quick and Easy Homemade Vapor Rub

I have been wanting to make my own homemade version of vicks vapor rub.  I don't know if you remember the stuff from childhood, but I certainly do!  If I had a cold or cough my would always put this on my chest or under my nose.  I loved the smell of it.  Very relaxing and I would always manage to fall asleep after my mom would give me some.  

Nowadays I am looking for more natural, do it yourself home remedies, and ones that I can use on my kids.  This is what brought me to research this recipe.  I found one that is great and very simple to do.  If you can bake cookies, this is a no brainer.  

The recipe is taken from Crunchy Betty! Love the blog name.  Very few ingredients are required and you should be able to find them all at a local health food store or vitamin shop.  I went to our local one "The Garage" (The Community Farms Store) here in Duncan.

• Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)
• Beeswax beads or grated beeswax
• peppermint essential oil
• eucalyptus essential oil
• rosemary essential oil

No exceptions, eucalyptus and peppermint mixed together will quickly relieve a stuffy nose or irritating cough.  Rosemary is a natural antibacterial and antiviral and know to be a great essential oil for respiratory and sinus health. 

So now that you have your ingredients list, just get a glass measure cup to make it in, have a small jar or container to pour it into.  I used an baby jar and a mini jam jar.  Sterilize your container by pouring boiling water into the container and the lid.

Take your glass measuring cup and add 1/4 cup EVOO and 2 tsps beeswax.  Melt it either on the stove with the glass measuring cup in a pot of hot/boiling water or 2 mins in the microwave.  Heat it up just to melt the beeswax into the EVOO.  Once melted add your essential oils.  I used 35 drops of Peppermint, 15 drops eucalyptus and 10 drops of rosemary.  You can experiment with other oils, but I like this combination best. 

Mix the oils in by stirring for a few minutes, then pour into your containers.  To speed up the solidification of the mixture, put it in the fridge.  Once fully cooled put the lid on and you are good to go!  This will last at least 6 months or more!

Lip Balm!

I love lip balm and I am always on the look out for this stuff.  I find that I am quite particular, I don't like it too firm, too soft or too much scent.  I love citrus, I like peppermint sometimes and of course I love to find new flavors.


I decided the other day when I saw a lip making kit for $30 at Michaels (only makes 5 small pots of lip balm - so really expensive) to try making it myself.  I did some research and found this great post!! http://www.notmartha.org/tomake/lipbalm/


This one pretty much did it for me, so I went to Mountain Sage and bought some of their Lip solutions, some of the containers and started to make the lip balm!  I had read that it was pretty easy and guess what? It is!  I have found a new hobby, not quite an addiction yet, I only have 3 flavors now...with 5 on their way..ok I am getting a bit addicted to this.

Did I mention that my dds love to make it with me and we did up some fun labels and these pics are the results!!

My Lime Lip Balm

My Grapefruit Lip Balm

So if you love to make things, I would definitely suggest you give lip balm making a try. The Lip solutions are great to use, no fussy measuring, just melt some, add some flavour, coloring and pour.

Great to give as gifts too and if you need a card when giving this, you know where to find me :)

Chickpea Fries...so yummy!

This past summer, we tried some Chickpea Fries, I had never heard of them and was very curious to try them.  After my first bite, part of me was hoping the kids wouldn't like them so I could eat the rest...that never happened.  They loved them too.  I searched to find a recipe and came across Sara's Kitchen Blog.  Simple to make, less than 5 mins to prepare and then it needs to be refrigerated for a few hours before you fry them up.  


The main ingredient is chickpea flour, which more and more grocers are carrying these days, sometimes it is called garbanzo bean flour.  Basically you boil some water, add the chickpea flour and whisk constantly for 1-2min. Add the remaining ingredients (i.e spices/herbs), stir a bit more, take off the heat and pour into an 8 x 8 pan, let cool for a few minutes, cover and refrigerate for a few hours or up to 24hours.  


So easy, so good and gluten free!  Great change from the boring regular french fries and better for you.  I am going to try and bake the next batch as the frying part isn't the healthiest, but boy are they a good treat!  Check out Sara's blog for the full recipe and enjoy!
http://saraskitchen.blogspot.com/2009/02/chickpea-fries.html 


Update:  I baked a batch and they turned out great!  Brush each one with a bit of olive oil first, place them on a baking sheet and bake at 400 degrees for 10min each side.  Easy to make! Kids and DH loved them! 

Fun with playdough

How many times do I try to come up with something fun to do, that is quick, easy and won't make a huge mess!  This happens on a daily basis.  I am always thinking of what the next "art" project should be to keep my 3 monkeys entertained.  I recently came across this great playdough recipe that I thought I would share, it is from my dd teacher and it meets the criteria noted above.  


Kool-Aid Playdough
1 1/4 cup   Flour
1/4 cup     Salt
1pkg         Unsweetened Kool-Aid (just the powder, don't mix it into juice :))
1 cup        Boiling water
1 1/2 tsp   Vegetable Oil


In a bowl, mix flour, salt and Kool-Aid, then stir in the boiling water and oil.  Knead with hands for a out 5 mins (or put in your mixer using the dough handle).  Voila! Kool-aid in a fun color that smells great! Store in a Ziploc bag for up to 2 months.  


Successful recipe, happy mom and kids!  Give it a try!

Online shopping!

With 3 kids, shopping is a bit of an exercise in frustration. So I have become quite the savvy online shopper and usually manage to find some really great deals.  I especially love it when you I find a Canadian online store, get free shipping or coupons for free stuff or 75%.  


Well.ca is one I discovered recently and has much of the same products you would find in your London Drugs, but I can shop online 24/7, so the stress of shopping with kids is gone and shipping is free, it saves me the cost of gas and it is delivered relatively quickly.  Last order came within 3 days of ordering it and it comes to my door, not to the post office!! YIPPEE!!


They have a great all natural section so there is a large variety of products to choose from in this area which I love!  Did I mention I found an all natural fantastic deodorant...more about that in another post. 


Where are your favorite online shops to find great deals??
Until then, I humbly suggest you check out Well.ca too!

Summer Fun With Your Toes

Summer fun is all around right now.  One of my favorite things is getting to paint my toe nails.  Lucky for me I have 3 girls who love to try out new colors too. I have always been a bit of a nail polish freak and collected many colors through my teen years.  My friends fondly remember me as the one with all the different fun nail polish colors.  Purple is my favorite, but in the summer time I like to wear them all and have fun with the different colors.


I recently embarked on some research about nail polish as I find that when I spend an hour in the bathroom doing our nails, I get a pretty good headache by the end of it.  Of course I have been aware of the harsh chemicals that are contained in many of the familiar brands, so I was on a mission to find odorless, environmentally friendly nail polish....is there such a thing?  


YES! I was pleasantly surprised to find many options, although most are sold only online or limited retailers in Canada.  Some are very thin, take several coats to get the color right and some come off with hot water...peel off, not so good if you paint them and then have a bath later that day...or do the dishes.  I have definitely found a favorite!  PIGGY PAINT! It is water based and is environmentally friendly, it doesn't have any odor, comes in really cool colors and paints on much the same as regular nail polish and lasts comparable to my regular OPI or SH polishes. Yes this product was designed by a mom!!  AND...if any of my dd or I or the cat spill a bottle, I can wipe it up with water, no damage to any counter or flooring.  (I do recall spilling a bottle in my room when I was 10, cleaned it up, but the damage was done...only recently did my sister refinish the wood cabinet that I had nicely destroyed with nail polish and remover way back when..).  


I  highly recommend this product, it does cost a bit more, but definitely worth it when you think about the damage that other brands can do to your nails, the environment, a small price to pay to keep the fun of summer toes colorful and happy! Check them out! So many cool colors and some great new "mom" colors too!

Ecofriendly Reusable Snack Bags

I love to find new things and I am always on the look out for something different with a fun twist.  So when I discovered reusable snack bags, I had to investigate further. 


As I usually do, I find something I like and I study it, research it and then figure out how I can make it, hopefully cheaper than it would have cost to buy it.  So that is what I did with these great little snack and sandwich bags.  The one I was first looking at was made of cotton, not as easy to clean/reuse immediately as the plastic bags, but they could definitely go into the washing machine.  I found some using laminated cotton that I really liked as they are easy to clean and wipe down quickly!! Better yet, they had a food safe fabric on the inside. 


After researching them all, and the various ways to close them (that was a challenge), with some very helpful feedback from friends and family testers, this is what I have designed and I am excited to share with everyone. I plan to put them up on my website and my etsy site very soon so stay tuned!  As always, feedback is welcome and please spread the word to all your friends about these great little snack bags!  I have expect Lunch bags will be coming next...stay tuned!

fold-over closure

3 sizes to choose from

velcro closure