Fizzy Bath Bombs

We made this as a group project not long ago. While researching the different recipes, I found that the fizz was caused by citric acid. The first thing that put me off of this ingredient was a comment "...don't worry if it if it strips off your nail polish, that's normal..." Ugh....now I don't even wear nail polish, but did I want to put my kid's bottom in water with something that was strong enough to do that??? And then I came across a post explaining that citric acid actually came from GMO black mold. That was it. More research needed.

I finally settled upon cream of tartar, crystals formed during grape fermentation -wine making.

The recipe I finally settled upon, (and tweaked to my needs), may not be as fizzy as commercial bombs, but it fizzes for quite a while and smells great.

I didn't have any fancy molds, and I was doing this with more than 20 kids, aging from 4-12 years of age, so I decided to use Dixie cups to put them in. It worked out really well, and it was easy to pop them out once they were done.




Bath Bombs

1 C baking soda
1/2 C cream of tartar
3 Tbsp corn starch (optional)
1 C Epsom salts
8 tsp of oil (olive, coconut, almond or avocado)
8-12 drops of essential oil
water

Mix all dry ingredients in a glass bowl until well blended. (The cornstarch is supposed to make the bomb dissolve slower than without it. I haven't tried it so I can't tell you if it makes much of a difference).
Add the wet ingredients on top of the dry ingredients and either drizzle a bit of water at a time or use a spray bottle to spritz the mixture.
Knead the mixture by hand so you can see if it starts to stick together or not.
Stop adding water when you can press some of the mixture together in the palm of your hand and it keeps its shape. If you add too much water, it will start foaming in the bowl.
Press it into the bottom of your dixie cups or molds. You can fill the cups up as much as you want, but if you are making bombs, you will need to fill each half of the mold tightly, and then press the two halves together. You can immediately unmold the dixie cups and use a bomb in the bath...if you can't wait for them to harden, but I suggest you wait a few hours if you are making round bombs so that they don't come apart when trying to unmold them.

As for the essential oils, we only use Young Living, because I know where they come from, that they are chemical and pesticide free, and that they are pure, undiluted oil. Lavender or lemon oil are great choices. (If you use a citrus oil, do so before bed, because you want to avoid having citrus oils on your skin if you plan on going out into the sun.)
You might want to avoid peppermint if these are going to be for your kids.

Don't forget Stress-away if you need to unwind. 

The great thing about essential oils is that you can find a scent that not only pleases you but is beneficial as well. 

If  you get yourself a re-usable mold from Amazon, you can make the pretty round bombs. Like this one. I don't use food coloring in my cooking or crafts, but I will use natural vegetable juices to dye things. Beets give a pretty pink color, just saying. You can also add some dried flower petals if you want to be fancy. They make awesome gifts, and the kids can help.

If you do try, let me know how it goes. Share a pic!

Creamy Potato Soup

This is one of our favorite winter soups. Years ago, we'd go out to Tim Hortons and have a hearty bowl of  potato, bacon, cheddar soup. but since going vegan, there's a whole lot about that soup that just didn't work anymore. So, I set out to create a vegan version, and oh, my....what an awesome recipe.

This was a small bowl for my three-year-old

5 lb bag of potatoes, peeled and cubed (save 2 medium potatoes)

2 finely grated potatoes

2 carrots, finely grated

1 onion, chopped 

3 Tbsp veggie broth powder and 5-6 cups of water (or use 5-6 cups of veggie broth)

3 Tbsp nutritional yeast

1-2 Tbsp liquid smoke

½ C soaked cashews (you want to soak them between 20 min to 2 hours, but not more)

Salt and Pepper to taste

Sauté onions until golden brown.

Add water and/or broth, potatoes, carrots, liquid smoke, and yeast

When potatoes are tender, blend the cashews with ¾-1 cup water to make a light cream. 

Add to the soup and stir to blend in.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

Hmmm, you're going to love it!

Foaming Hand Soap

You can't get any easier than this quick and easy project. No heating, melting, blending, setting...so come on, check it out!
It makes an awesome foaming hand soap you can either use as a waterless hand cleaner, as a soap if you have water on hand, or even on a baby's bottom for a diaper change. My girls bring their to the gym. After their gymnastics class, they insint on having a snack...and this does the trick.

I put Thieves oil in the recipe, an awesome oil well worth looking into! (Filled with a mix of clove, eucalyptus, lemon and rosemary oils that Health Canada regards to be 'naturally occurring substances that are used to restore or maintain good health). You might want to check out the legend behind the oil as well, some good stuff there.

The products on the left will be covered in upcoming posts, lip balm, soothing after-workout balm, chest rub, deodorant, roller-ball mixtures, and MORE! We may even touch on make-up...if you feel up to it.

DIY Foaming Hand Soap

Ingredients:

Foaming Pump Bottle
Castile soap (Dr. Bronner's or Green Beaver)
Vit E oil
Water
Pink Himalayan Salt
Essential Oils (Lemon and Thieves)

Now bear with me for the quantities...
If you only want a bottle like the one pictured above, then visually, divide up your bottle into fourths.
Put 1/8th of a tsp salt in the bottle, and add 4 drops of thieves and 2 drops of lemon oil to the salt and shake. (This prevents the oil from floating on the water and allows it to blend into the mixture).
Fill 1/4th of the bottle with Castile soap. (Normally, I'd use unscented, but I had citrus on hand.) Add 2-3 drops of vit E oil, and fill with water to the 3/4 fill line. Do not fill your bottle, because once you add the pump, it will likely overflow.

If you want to make more, you can do this:
Pink Salt
1/3 C unscented castile soap
2/3 C distilled water
3-5 drops vit E oil
10 drops of Thieves oil (or a Lemon-Thieves combo)

If you would like more information on Young Living Essential Oils, don't hesitate to contact me:
Debbie Brown, YL Independent Distributor, Member No. 11073874
yukifuri001@aol.com

Vegan "Mac 'n Cheese"

I am going to keep it simple for the first post, well, simple for you because this recipe came after a long list of rejected attempts. (...either Savannah or Zoey had not approved of previous recipes). You, get the one with all THUMBS UP!

Ingredients:

GF pasta (I use Rizopia or Go Go Quinoa)

2 medium-large yellow potatoes
1 large carrot
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1/3 C nutritional yeast
1/2 C raw cashews (soaked 30-90 min)
1 tsp smoked paprika


Peel and cut the potatoes into chunks.
Cover with salted water and boil until soft. (You will need to keep the water for the sauce recipe).
Add veggies, water, cashews, and all other ingredients to a high-speed blender.
Blend until you get a creamy sauce.

Add to cooked pasta and mix well. Now, feel free to tweak the spices to taste.

*The GoGo Quinoa pasta has more of a neutral flavor that the girls prefer.
**The sauce does not harden in the fridge like some other pre-packaged form of Mac n Ch...
it stays yummy and creamy.