Homemade Hippie Hot Hair Oil

April 11, 2013 at 12:01 AM (Under $1.00, Almost Free, Non Toxic, Simple, Homemade Hippie Beauty Products, Make It Yourself)
Tags: Simple, Non Toxic, homemade, easy, herbal medicine, beauty, frugal, homemade beauty products, Essential oil, Coconut oil, DIY, hippie, hair products, hair oil, hair mask, hot oil treatment

Many of my Homemade Hippie fans know that I am the ultimate cheap skate. I was standing in the grocery store aisle reading labels (yes I am a Label Nazi, and you should be too!) and after much searching, finally found a deep conditioning hair mask that didn’t list the first two ingredients as water and alcohol. It has such yummy ingredients as coconut oil, olive oil, keratin, aloe vera gel and carrot seed oil. I then turned the bottle over and saw the price tag. $12.59! This bottle claims to treat your hair 2 times and contained 2 ounces of hair oil. I don’t know about you, but smoothing my split ends isn’t worth $6.29 per shower. So of course I decided to make it myself.

First of all, to be very cheap you’re going to want to use what you have on hand. Just about any type of oil will nourish and moisturize your hair. If you want to be very specific:

OILS

Avocado Oil- good for very dry or very frizzy hair
Coconut Oil- Good for all hair types, and works well for dandruff
Castor Oil- Good for those with oily hair or scalp
Sesame Oil- Good for thinning hair
Jojoba Oil- Good for oily hair or scalp, a very light oil and easy to wash out
Neem Oil-Excellent for dandruff
Argan, Almond, Apricot- Good for all hair, but expensive to be washing down your shower drain

Other Ingredients:

Essential Oils

Herbs

Aloe Vera Gel- Clarifies and strengthens

Eggs- A source of serious protein and keratin, things that hair is made of

With all of this in mind, make up your own personal oil blend. In a pinch grab whatever natural oils you have at home already and mix with a couple of raw eggs.

Homemade Hippie Hot Hair Oil

This was compiled with ingredients that I already had, and for my specific type of hair. I have red hair that is very fine and thin and does tend to dry out easily.

2 Tbsp Avocado Oil
2 Tbsp Coconut Oil
2 Tbsp Aloe Vera Gel
2 raw eggs

In a small double boiler or saucepan gently heat oils and aloe, stirring to mix and melt. Remove from heat and whip in the eggs with a fork.
Wet your hair in the sink and apply warm oil to wet hair. (you can apply to dry hair if you like. I just feel like it absorbs better when my hair is wet)
Run a bath towel or large kitchen towel under very hot tap water. Wring out towel and wrap it around your head.
Sit around with your oily head and watch the Lifetime Movie Network or check out old Homemade Hippie Posts (below) and plan your next concoction.
I don’t time this, but it’s best to leave the oil on your hair as long as you can. 30 minutes minimum.
You can rewarm the towel under hot water if you wish.
Wash your hair as you normally would. You will probably need to wash it twice to remove all of the oil.

MY COST:

2 TBSP Avocado Oil $1.33

2 Tablespoons Coconut Oil $0.81 cents

2 Tablespoons Coconut Oil $.047 cents

2 Eggs $0.00 The beauty of dating a chicken farmer If you aren’t so lucky, you can add approximately $0.25 to your total

For 1 hair treatment this cost me $2.61 and used 3 ounces of oil. That is $0.87 cents per ounce!

Calling all Cheap Skates

Homemade Hippie Lip Balm

Homemade Hippie Hair Spray

Homemade Hippie Body Wash

Homemade Hippie Bug Spray

Homemade Hippie Tooth Paste

Homemade Hippie Orange Cleaner

Homemade Hippie Scouring Powder

Homemade Hippie Dishwashing Powder

Homemade Hippie Wrinkle Cream & Eye Cream

Homemade Hippie All Purpose Cleaning Spray

Homemade Hippie Windex for $0.12

Homemade Hippie Mouthwash

Homemade Hippie Face Wash

Homemade Hippie Simple Hand Lotion

A COMPLETE LIST OF HOMEMADE HIPPIE RECIPES

1 Comment

Magnesium Oil and Restless Legs Update

April 7, 2013 at 12:01 AM (Health, Herbal Medicine, Homemade Hippie Beauty Products, How To, Make It Yourself, Non Toxic, Under $1.00, Your Journey to Health)
Tags: alternative medicine, DIY, Essential oil, frugal, Health, herbal medicine, homemade, Magnesium, Non Toxic, restless leg syndrome, Simple

Many of you have inquired about Rob’s restless leg syndrome. For those of you who missed it, the original post is HERE and how to make the Magnesium Oil for cheap is HERE.

I am happy to report that my darling bed-mate is no longer turning the sheets into a tiny ball in the middle of the bed, kicking me in the knee caps, running up and down the stairs in the middle of the night, sitting up in bed and loudly sighing, constantly twitching or flipping around the bed like a fish. My legs are back to being the normal pasty white color, instead of various shades of black, blue and purple. We are both resting well and I am not lying in bed awake dreaming up ways to smother someone more than twice my weight with a pillow. In short, IT WORKED!

Rob has found over the months of trial and error that he does much better if he sprays with magnesium oil twice a day. In the morning before work, he sprays his legs and rubs it in until its dry, then gets dressed and goes about his day, leaving the magnesium oil on his skin. At night about 1/2 an hour before showering he sprays his legs, arms, and torso and rubs it in. He pays special attention and sprays an extra amount along his spine, as he feels that it absorbs better there. Zero scientific proof of that, but he ‘feels’ that it works better so that’s what he does Sometimes you just have to listen to your body right? He lays around and lets it soak into his skin for at least 30 minutes, then gets into the shower and gets ready for bed.

I can attest that twice a day is much better than once. He is completely still at night! It’s amazing the difference between Crazy Twitchy Rob and Non-Heebie-Jeebie Rob. I don’t want to strangle the new guy. He’s so nice and peaceful to sleep with that I’ve decided he can stick around

This program has also turned out to be very affordable. You all haven’t forgotten that I’m a cheapskate have you? We are still using the original 2.2 lb bag of Magnesium Chloride Flakes that I purchased for $14.99. I am happy to report that I have since found an even cheaper source for you HERE at Iherb. This is 2.75 lbs of very pure Magnesium Chloride for only $13.85! IF YOU USE THE COUPON CODE HIF798 YOU WILL RECIEVE A $10 DISCOUNT. PLUS THEY OFFER FREE SHIPPING! YAY!

1 Comment

Candida Diet Taco Salad

April 6, 2013 at 12:01 AM (Ferments, Homemade Seasoning Mixes, Recipes, Whats for Dinner?)
Tags: Cook, cooking, easy, Easy Recipes, Frugal Recipes, homemade, kitchen, Nutrition, real food, recipe, Salad, Venison

Taco Salad for the Candida Free Kitchen

2/3 Cup Quinoa

1 Cup homemade Bone Broth

1 lb ground turkey/chicken/beef/venison etc

2-4 Tbsp homemade Taco Seasoning

Romaine or iceberg Lettuce

Olives

Diced Onions

Green Chilies

Grape or Cherry Tomatoes

Sliced avocado

homemade Salsa Verde or ‘green sauce” as Rob likes to call it.

Bring bone broth to a boil, add quinoa and simmer until tender
Brown ground meat
Add cooked quinoa, and homemade taco seasoning. Adding more broth if mixture is too dry
Allow mixture to cool slightly
Toss mixture with all remaining ingredients to make salad.
Top with homemade yogurt if desired.

We love this meal. Something about the still slightly warm meat mixture and the crunchy cold lettuce. Yum! Plus it is “Phase One” safe, if you are following a Candida free way of life, or just plain trying to eat more vegetables!

Homemade Hippie Bug Spray

May 31, 2012 at 1:01 AM (Health, Herbal Medicine, Homemade Hippie Beauty Products, Make It Yourself, Non Toxic, Under $1.00)
Tags: alternative medicine, aromatherapy, beauty, bug spray, DIY, Essential oil, frugal, Frugal Recipes, Health, herbal medicine, Home, homemade, insect repellant, Non Toxic, Simple

In Michigan we are surrounded by water, which causes lots of humidity, which causes mosquitos the size of pterodactyls. For some reason mosquitos love me. Maybe because I am an extremely white, white girl and you can see every vein in my body, which to a mosquito must look like the best all you can eat lunch buffet in town. I also get welts the size of a quarter every time I get bit, so I spend most of the summer looking like a victim of scabies. They have hatched really early this year, because of the crazy warm weather, so it’s time to get out the arsenal and try to fend them off before they start carrying away small children.

The best natural bug repellant I’ve ever used is Bite Blocker by Homs LLC. I have tried several different kinds, but they all seem to wear off after a few minutes. Bite Blocker really works for hours, and doesn’t smell nasty at all. I decided to make my own version of Bite Blocker at home, because the ingredients list is pretty simple.

If you don’t want to make your own it can be purcased HERE. If you use the coupon code HIF798 you will receive a $10 discount and free shipping.

Homemade Hippie Buy Spray

1/4 cup olive oil (or any cheap liquid oil you have laying around)

2 Tbsp vegetable glycerin

1 Tbsp Citric Acid

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

2 Tbsp homemade vanilla extract

6 drops Lavender essential oil

6 drops Tea Tree essential oil

6 drops Clove Bud essential oil

6 drops Peppermint essential oil

6 drops Rosemary essential oil

6 drops Eucalyptus essential oil

10 drops Geranium essential oil

Mix all ingredients and pour into a spray bottle. Shake before each use. Reapply after 2-3 hours. You can use any strong mixture of essential oils that you prefer, this is just what I had a lot of in the house. I would make sure to use the Geranium oil, because that is the main active ingredient in Bite Blocker. The others I’m sure you could play with and have good results. Let me know what you use!

I have used this a few times so far and it does work very well. Rob and I went to a terribly overgrown area to chop down some dead trees for fire wood. It was way back in the shade, and next to a small creek. Every step we took sent up swarms of mosquitos and I thought for sure we’d be covered in welts. I got one nasty bite on my ankle, through my sock and Rob got zero bites. Considering that we were outside for 2 1/2 hours hauling firewood and sweating profusely I think that is pretty darn good don’t you?

This also smells good, and isn’t offensive to Rob’s manly nostrils, as he doesn’t like to “smell like a flower”.

Homemade Hippie Wrinkle Cream

Homemade Hippie Mouthwash

Homemade Hippie Face Wash

Homemade Hippie Hand Lotion

Homemade Hippie Lip Balm

Homemade Hippie Hair Spray

Homemade Hippie Body Wash

Homemade Hippie Tooth Paste

Homemade Hippie Body Lotion

A COMPLETE LIST OF HOMEMADE HIPPIE RECIPES

19 Comments

Brussels Sprouts with Bacon

May 30, 2012 at 1:01 AM (Recipes, Whats for Dinner?)
Tags: bacon, brussels sprouts, Cook, cooking, Easy Recipes, food, Frugal Recipes, Health, Home, homemade, kitchen, Nutrition, real food, Recipes, Salad, Simple

This recipe is very simple, but full of flavor. I love the saltiness of the bacon, the sweetness of the raisins and the bitter brussels sprouts all mixed together. A fabulous side dish!

Brussels Sprouts with Bacon

3 slices thick bacon

4 cups brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved

1/4 cup golden raisins

1 medium shallot, minced

1 Tbsp butter

1/2 cup homemade chicken stock

2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

sea salt and fresh pepper to taste

In a heavy skillet, cook bacon until crispy. Remove from pan and set aside to crisp up.
Add Brussels sprouts to the pan and season with salt and pepper. Cook until well browned and almost soft. About 7 minutes.
Reduce heat to low and add raisins, shallot and butter. Cook 3 minutes
Add broth and bring to a boil, being sure to scrape up all the browned bits from the bottom of the pan.
Reduce heat and simmer broth 1-2 minutes.
Mix in vinegar and crumbled bacon. Taste and season as needed. Serve warm.

I only had a tiny amount of golden raisins on hand, so I added 1/4 cup of dried cranberries also. It turned out delicious!

I mix mine with lettuce or spinach and eat it like a salad. Yum!

5 Comments

Lake Trout with Morels

May 28, 2012 at 1:01 AM (Recipes, Simple, Whats for Dinner?)
Tags: Bake, baking, casserole, Cook, cooking, Easy Recipes, fish, food, Frugal Recipes, Health, Home, homemade, kitchen, morel, Nutrition, real food, sea food, trout

Any fish will work for this recipe. Just pick your favorite fillet and go with it. We just happened to have a huge lake trout in the freezer, so this is what I used. It is finally mushroom season, and morels are my favorite. Time to stock up!

Lake Trout with Morels

1 lb fish fillets 1/2 to 3/4 thick

2 Tbsp butter

1 1/2 cups fresh mushrooms, sliced

1/3 cup green onion, sliced

Sea salt

1 tsp fresh thyme, or 1/4 tsp dry thyme

Thaw fish if frozen. Pat dry and place in baking dish. Sprinkle with sea salt.
In a saucepan melt butter and add mushrooms, onions and thyme. Cook until tender.
Pour over fish and bake in 450 degree oven for 12-18 minutes. Fish should flake easily with a fork when done.

If you are lucky enough to have a surplus of morels this year there are many ways to preserve them. I have tried just about everything, and several methods work.

1. I thoroughly rinse the mushrooms in cold water. Then sauté in butter for no longer than 3 minutes. Let cool and place in a zip lock baggie with juices from pan. When you are ready to eat, cut off the plastic bag and place the whole frozen block in a skillet. Cover and cook on low. Tastes just like fresh, with a slight difference in firmness and texture.

2. I have dried them on a string in the attic for a month, I have laid them on the oven rack and dried them at 160 degrees for about an hour. I have laid them on window screens out in the back yard until dry. I have never owned a dehydrator, so that’s the only method I haven’t used. Of everything I’ve tried, threading them onto a string (like a little mini-clothes line) was by far the best. When rehydrated the taste and texture was exactly the same as fresh out of the ground. Maybe because no heat is used?

3. I have washed and drained the mushrooms so they are almost dry. Then laid them on a cookie sheet and placed them in the freezer until solid. Pack into bags and vacuüm seal. This method changed the texture a bit, but the flavor was the same.

4. My least favorite method was packing a mason jar (or other freezer container) with mushrooms, covering that with cold water and freezing. They would be ok for soup, but the texture was too mushy for my tastes. And a lot of the flavor gets dumped out with the water after thawing.

Happy mushroom hunting!

2 Comments

Ham and Asparagus Strata

May 27, 2012 at 1:01 AM (Baking, Recipes, Whats for Breakfast?, Whats for Dinner?)
Tags: Asparagus, Bake, baking, casserole, Cook, Easy Recipes, food, Frugal Recipes, Health, Home, homemade, kitchen, Nutrition, real food, Recipes

This is an easy make-ahead breakfast. You can mix it up the night before and then bake it the next morning. It also makes a fast and easy dinner.

Ham & Asparagus Strata

4 English muffins, torn into pieces

2 cups cooked ham

2 cups fresh asparagus, cut up

4-6 oz Gruyère cheese, cubed

5 eggs, beaten

1/3 cup sour cream

1 1/2 cups milk

2 Tbsp onion, finely chopped

1 Tbsp Dijon mustard

1/2 tsp fresh black pepper

Grease a 2 quart casserole dish. Spread half of the english muffin pieces on the bottom.
Top with ham, asparagus and cheese cubes
Top with remaining english muffin pieces
In a bowl, whisk together eggs, sour cream, milk, onion, mustard and pepper
Pour this mixture over casserole dish, coating everything evenly
Cover and chill for 2 to 24 hours
Bake, uncovered at 325 degrees for 60-65 minutes

There are a zillion variations on this recipe. I have replaced the ham with chicken before. I have used broccoli instead of asparagus. I have used swiss instead of Gruyère. Let your imagination go wild!

2 Comments

The Worlds Best Barbeque Sauce (sugar free)

May 16, 2012 at 1:01 AM (Homemade Condiments, Make It Yourself, Recipes, Sugar Free, Whats for Dinner?)
Tags: Bake, baking, Barbecue sauce, casserole, chicken, Coconut oil, Cook, cooking, DIY, easy, Easy Recipes, food, frugal, Frugal Recipes, Health, Home, homemade, homemade condiments, kitchen, low carb, no carb, Nutrition, paleo, Pork, real food, recipe, Recipes, Simple, sugar free

It is grilling season, so it’s time to whip up my secret weapon. I have been adapting and changing this recipe for so many years that I don’t remember what I originally started with. All I remember is that I had a half used can of tomato paste in the fridge I was trying to get rid of, and this recipe was somehow born. I love that it has no sugar, but still tastes sweet and has this great spicy kick that goes well with just about any meat. I also really love the base of nourishing bone broth, which you can never have too much of. Tonight we’re grilling bone-in pork ribs from our local farmer with some cornbread. Mmmm, I’m getting hungry just thinking about it!

The Worlds Best Barbeque Sauce

makes 2 cups

1 Tbsp grass-fed butter or coconut oil

1 cup sweet onion, diced small

1 Tbsp soy sauce

3-4 cloves of garlic, minced

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp dry mustard powder

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp basil

1 tsp chipotle chili powder

1 Tbsp chili powder

1 can (6 oz) tomato paste

1 1/2 cups homemade chicken stock (or beef or vegetable)

2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

1/2-1 tsp stevia powder (or sweetener of choice)

Heat butter/oil in sauce pan and sauté onion for 3-4 minutes until translucent. Add all remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. You can serve it just like this, but I like to boil it down to thicken it a while. I turn down the heat, cover the pan and let it simmer for 20 minutes or so. I also find the longer cooking time melds the flavors, and it turns out even more delicious.

I have used this sauce on every cut of pork, beef and chicken that I can think of. It is a great marinade, basting sauce, oven baking glaze and dipping sauce. If you are feeding young kids or someone who doesn’t like spicy food you may want to add the chili powder a little bit at a time and taste as you go.

If you want to make this even healthier, you could let it cool and add 2 tbsp of whey and leave it on the counter over night. Then you would have a sugar-free probiotic condiment.

This keeps for 3 weeks in the fridge, and also freezes very well. If you eat as much meat as we do, it won’t last you that long

Coconut Oil Popcorn on the Stove Top

May 15, 2012 at 1:01 AM (Fast, Make It Yourself, Recipes, Simple)
Tags: Butter, Coconut oil, Cook, easy, Easy Recipes, food, frugal, Frugal Recipes, Home, homemade, how to, kitchen, Nutrition, Popcorn, real food, recipe, Simple, tutorials

This is almost too easy to post about, but it’s one of our favorite snacks, so I thought I’d share. You can use coconut oil, or butter or a mixture of the two. I like a mixture, but that is totally up to your taste buds! This is a large recipe, because for some reason this doesn’t go stale like other recipes I’ve tried. I pack a bag in my lunch and eat it cold the next day. If you want just a small, easy snack 2 Tbsp of dry popcorn kernels make 1 Quart of popcorn.

Coconut Oil Popcorn

makes about 2 1/2 quarts (10 cups)

1/3 cup organic popcorn kernels

3 Tbsp coconut oil

2 Tbsp grass-fed butter

salt to taste

I use a very heavy bottomed, stainless steel stock pot with a lid for this recipe. I think just about any heavy pot will do (including heave frying pans).

Place coconut oil, popcorn kernels and butter in pot. Turn heat to medium-high and place lid on pot. Every 10 seconds or so shake the pot to avoid burnt popcorn. Once the popcorn starts to pop, you can stop shaking. There will be a fast burst of popping, after that turn off the heat and let it finish popping. Remove lid and add salt to taste.

butter, coconut oil and organic popcorn in pot. Medium high heat.

I have made this many times and have never had burnt popcorn or un-popped kernels in the bottom of the pot. We eat a lot right away, and then store the left overs in sandwich bags for lunch or snacks.

Empty pot, no burned or un-popped kernels.

Other popcorn flavor ideas that I plan to try:

Grated Parmesan cheese

Italian seasonings (basic, oregano, parsley)

Salt & Vinegar

Lemon pepper

Tabasco sauce

Celery salt & Dill

Garlic Butter

Homemade taco seasoning

What are your ideas?

17 Comments

Coconut Banana Custard (with or without sugar)

May 14, 2012 at 1:01 AM (Real Food Dessert, Recipes, Sugar Free)
Tags: Bake, baking, Banana, Coconut, Coconut milk, Coconut oil, Cook, cooking, dessert, DIY, easy, Easy Recipes, food, frugal, Frugal Recipes, Health, Home, homemade, housekeeping, kitchen, Nutrition, real food, Recipes, Simple, Vanilla extract

I have made this as a dessert and omitted the sweetener and served it for breakfast. It is delicious either way. It tastes great warm or cold and is full of healthy fats, omega-3′s and protein.

Coconut Banana Custard

1 1/2 cups coconut milk powder (I buy mine from Wilderness Family Naturals)

4 cups very hot water

4 over-ripe bananas, mashed

8 free-range soy-free eggs (why soy free?)

2 Tbsp homemade vanilla extract

1/2 cup maple syrup (or sweetener of choice)

3 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp sea salt

Mix coconut milk powder and hot water. Whisk until smooth. Add all remaining ingredients and blend. Pour into a 11×13 casserole dish. Set the casserole dish into a larger pan filled with water. Bake in 350 degree oven for 55-65 minutes. Do not over-bake! Custard sets as it cools, and even more in the fridge. If cooked too long, the liquid will separate from the eggs, and it will turn out like a sweetened scrambled egg, with a bunch of excess liquid. You are looking for the edges to set, but the middle to slightly jiggle when you bump the pan. For the perfect custard, let it cool in the water bath for at least 30 minutes, then cover the dish with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for 4 or more hours.

This can also be baked in individual ramekins or glass Pyrex dishes (for 35 minutes each). Pyrex dishes are very convenient if you’re planning to pack this in your lunch. You can just let it cool completely and snap on the lid and you’re all set.

I have made this with no sweetener before and it is delicious that way as well. It comes out slightly sweet and more eggy tasting and makes a great breakfast hot or cold.

You can use canned coconut milk (or make your own fresh), but I find it cheaper to use the powder.

For a more beautiful presentation, after the custard is finished baking place a layer of banana slices (or coconut flakes) on top and place under a hot broiler for 3-4 minutes. The bananas will carmelize and blacken and look beautiful on the plate.

5 Comments

« Older entries

A Real Food Lover