Fall Favorites: Squash Rolls Recipe

Homemade Sugar Body Scrub

We made these super easy sugar body scrubs at our MOPS meeting.
It is 100% edible, and it smells so good, but don't do it, hahaha!

Best Natural Moisturizing (Shea butter & other goodies) lotion

Make sure to click here to look at my post with a beautiful way to package this lotion for a gift. Pictures at the bottom of this post.

Homemade chocolate "bars"! My own recipe

As you may know, I've been doing a sugar detox (day 12 out of 21, but I'm sure I'll adopt this lifestyle permanently) and have been craving sweets regularly. Hopefully, these symptoms will subside when I starve the candida (bad yeast) that feeds off of processed sugar by not consuming it. For more, look at my post on the at-home candida overgrowth test.
I am not giving up all sugars/sweeteners, only processed/refined/white sugar. I am using natural sweeteners like fruit, raw organic honey, pure maple syrup, coconut sugar, and organic liquid stevia. Having said that, I know that since I am not giving up all sweeteners, it will probably take a little longer for the candida to starve, but it's ok. I prefer that over an extreme right now.
Note: I waited until my daughter self-weaned to begin this detox. It is not safe to detox while pregnant or breastfeeding.
Anyway, I had yet another craving for sweets last night. So, I thought: "How can I make something yummy, healthy, and that will satisfy my craving?" Aha! This hit the spot.

I used:
- 1 cup coconut oil
- 3 tbsp unsweetened raw organic cacao
- about 6 tbsp unsweetened shredded coconut
- sliced almonds
- OPTIONAL: sweetener like coconut sugar, maple syrup, liquid stevia, or honey
- cookie sheet
- parchment paper
- freezer

How to:
- Put parchment paper on top of cookie sheet to cover surface.
- Melt the coconut oil in a bowl.
- Mix in cacao and coconut.
- At this point, add sweetener of choice (just a little at a time, try it to make sure it's not too sweet). I skipped this point, but recognize that it could've used a little something sweet. The raw cacao isn't sweet.
- Pour the mix over parchment paper Swish it around slowly until it's a thin layer.
- Sprinkle sliced almonds all over top.
- Put cookie sheet in freezer for 30 minutes.
- Get it out and it should be solid by now.
- Crack the chocolate into smaller, bite-size pieces.
- Keep in an air-tight container in the freezer.
- Enjoy. :D

Homemade Sugar Detox Safe Brownies

                                   
These brownies are great! I was experimenting with different measurements and voilá! Delicious! Guilt-free! It can't get better than that!
These are ok to eat during the sugar detox or anytime! :D
You can substitute one simple ingredient to make it gluten-free and one simple ingredient to make it vegan, if you'd like.
Plus, they're really fast to prepare!
Raw organic cacao (unsweetened) is considered a superfood because of all of its benefits. I love it! To read more, try this article.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Dry Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup flour (I used unbromated flour)
  Tip: You can substitute this for a gluten-free version of all-purpose flour mix to make it gluten-free.
- 1 cup coconut sugar
- 1/4 tsp sea or kosher salt
- 1/4 cup organic raw cacao powder (unsweetened)
- 1/2 tsp baking powder (aluminum free)
Mix all dry ingredients well. Add wet ingredients.

Wet Ingredients:
1/2 cup of melted organic coconut oil
1 tsp organic vanilla extract
2 eggs (I used organic, cage free)
   Tip: You can use 2 tbsp of ground flaxseeds soaked in 6 tbsp of lukewarm water for 3-5 min to    
   replace eggs and make it vegan.

Grease a small (6x6 or so) pan if you want thicker brownies or a 9x9 if you want a very thin batch (about 1/2 inch thick).
Put mixture in pan and bake for about 20 minutes. Keep an eye on them when they're close to 20 minutes. They're ready when toothpick comes out clean. Mine took 25, but the oven wasn't completely preheated when I put them in.
Enjoy!
The last about a week in the refrigerator.
I have made the gluten free version and they are really good, too. They don't last as long, so make sure you eat them all within 2-3 days.

Homemade natural deodorant recipe

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I have since switched to a glass container.

My concoction:
-Baking soda (aluminum free)
-Celtic sea salt or Himalayan Salt
-Organic cornstarch or organic arrowroot powder
-Essential oils that you like (therapeutic grade, 100% pure)
Tip: I am a Young Living essential oils distributor. You can order from www.youngliving.com (click here to go to the link) and use my distributor number to order if you'd like (1498096).
-Makeup puff (like you'd use for pressed powder make-up)
-Glass container

Optional:
-Organic coconut oil
-Organic jojoba oil
-Organic vitamin E oil

Mix equal parts of baking soda, salt, and cornstarch. 
Add 10-20 drops of the essential oils. 
Mix in well. 

This will make it powdery. If you prefer it to be a bit “wet”, then add some coconut oil and/or Vitamin E oil to make it a bit pastier. These supposedly help make the mixture more effective. 

Use the poof to put on armpits or any other areas in the body that need to stay dry. It might take a couple of weeks for your body to adjust to not using antiperspirant, so you might need to wipe with an organic baby wipe with witch hazel and apply twice a day until the adjustment happens.

Personal note: I used 1 tablespoon of each powder. Mixed well. Then I added 10 drops of tea tree oil and 10 drops of lemongrass essential oil. Mixed well. I like mine powdery, but not too dry because then it doesn't "stay" very long. So I added coconut oil (you can add any of the above-mentioned oils) until it reached a mildly clumpy, but still dry consistency. I have Vit E oil, but didn't use it in this batch. I'll try it in the next one, I guess.  

Another thing, the sea salt in the mixture doesn't itch my skin, even right after shaving. I don't have sensitive skin, though, so if you do, maybe make a tiny batch and try no salt or half the amount and try it.

This amount usually lasts me a couple of month (sometimes I used it twice a day).

Other recipes I've found:
- One of the best deodorants is plain old baking soda. You can pat it right onto your skin or mix it with a little cornstarch for extra staying power and moisture control. Try 1/2 cornstarch and 1/2 baking soda. Some readers say that mixing in anti-bacterial tea tree oil makes it even more effective.
- Use Milk of Magnesium dabbed on with a cotton ball

Homemade Makeup Remover Recipes

To see my post on Homemade Natural Face Wash Recipes, click here.