On Thursday, March 22nd, I came back from our homeschool campus with the kids and started to make dinner. I had a lovely hunk of grass fed chuck roast in the fridge, a half-bottle of old red wine, and a jar of tomato sauce from 2016. I had braised beef on my mind. As everyone…
Natural Body Care
DIY Talc-Free Baby Powder
My book publisher forwarded some interview questions to me from a British magazine a while back. One of the questions was, “Why would people want to make their own body care products instead of buying them in the shop?” Three days after I returned my answer, Johnson & Johnson, the company behind some of the most recognizable…
How To Make DIY Liquid Castile Soap
I made 6 gallons of liquid soap so you don’t have to. You know about Dr. Bronner’s Liquid Castile Soap. It’s been an all-in-one, all-natural cleaning solution for generations of hippies, greenies and all manner of natural living advocates. Dr. Bronner’s is great, but it’s not the cheapest cleaner out there. So, these were my…
Muscle-Soothing Eucalyptus Bath Soak
On Monday a super nice lady from Seattle Magazine came over to photograph me in my garden. This is all part of La Grande Promotion for my new book. So, I did what any gardener faced with the prospect of a professional photographer in their yard would do – I spent all weekend trying to hide…
How To Make All Natural Beeswax Lip Balm
Give me 90 seconds and I’ll teach you how to make your own all-natural lip balm. This recipe comes from my new book, The Hands-On Home. and is great for chapped lips, holiday gifts and more. If you need a cost-effective stocking stuffer or appreciation gift for the upcoming holiday season, I highly recommend getting a bunch of empty…
DIY Sunburn Soothing Comfrey Cubes
When I was nine, my parents took my younger sister and me to Disneyland. It was the kind of vacation every little girl dreams of – Main Street Parade, Sleeping Beauty’s Castle, pictures with Minnie Mouse, and a teeth-rotting amount of cotton candy. I know, because there is visual proof of all these activities, carefully…
Can You Make Liquid Castile Soap from Bar Soap?
When I was recipe testing for the book I ended up making nine or ten batches of cold process bar soap. That is a lot of soap for a family of four. Normally, I use Dr. Bronner’s liquid Castile soap in many of my personal and home care products, but faced with a glut of all natural, homemade bar soap, I thought perhaps…
How To Beat Stress Naturally (When You’re Ready To Scream!)
As my regular readers know, last week was kinda icky around here. My son was sick and super cranky (but without losing any of his trademark energy of course), there was a backlog of laundry, a sick kid crawling into bed every night meant sleep was a rare luxury, and nearly every surface of the…
Relaxing Bed Time Bath Soak
Periodically, I have trouble sleeping. The reason for this is a certain three-year-old boy. I’ve vented about the challenges of having a hard sleeper before. My son’s sleep is better than it used to be, but on a typical day, he still wakes and gets out of bed two or three times between his bedtime…
Dirt-Busting Sugar Hand Scrub For Gardeners
I am the queen of perma-dirt. You know those lines of dirt on the edges of your index fingers and thumbs? With all the time I spend playing in the garden, that area on me looked like I’d gotten a dirt tattoo for about a decade. I once asked folks on my Facebook page how…
Oil Pulling: Never Again
Have you heard of oil pulling? It’s one of those things that’s all the rage in natural-living circles right now. If you read up on oil pulling, you’ll hear that this traditional Ayurvedic oral care technique naturally detoxifies, whitens teeth without chemicals, strips teeth of plaque, kills harmful bacteria that have taken up residence in…
How To Make DIY Really Cool Bath Bombs
Bath bombs are so cool. Basically, you’re doing a chemistry experiment in the name of Spa Day. How could anyone not like that combo? They also make great gifts (hint! hint!) and kids love them. Since I started this Bath Bomb making experiment, my son has refused to take a bath without one. Bath Bombs…