Homemade Hippie Orange Cleaner

May 5, 2012 at 1:01 AM (Almost Free, Fast, Homemade Hippie cleaning products, Make It Yourself, Non Toxic, Simple)
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

This is almost too easy to post about. I feel like I should have been doing this my entire life, and somehow I got tricked into paying $4 for a spray bottle of orange cleaner. Craziness.

I have a juicer now, and I am really enjoying fresh vegetable & fruit juices. However, I now have citrus peels coming out my ears. This is just one of the many uses for them. I’ll keeping posting more ideas to get rid of them, as I find them. Unfortunately chickens don’t like citrus peels, which is what I do with the rest of the veggie pulp, and I can’t bear to throw them away! (no I’m not a hoarder, just a crazy hippie)

Homemade Orange Cleaner

  • Vinegar (just plain organic, white vinegar will do)
  • lots of citrus peels (orange, lemon, lime or a combination)

Place peels in vinegar. I cut mine small and put them right in the original vinegar bottle, because I’m crazy like that. Let this sit around for 6 weeks or so. When you remember to shake it, shake it. This releases oil from the peels and makes it more a more potent grease cutter. I shook mine a lot and vigorously and let it sit around for about 2 months. You’re going to love this and use it like crazy, so I would recommend that you start a new gallon every month or so, so you never run out. Also, writing the date on the jug/jar really helps 🙂

Strain out the citrus when you think it’s “done”. Refill an old spray bottle (because I know you’re saving those right?) I honestly don’t think I will need to make any other cleaners now. This one just takes the cake. I have cleaned my oven, stove top, kitchen counters, sink, added 1/2 cup to the mop water, and sprayed the whole bathroom. It is very excellent for dusting! The only thing it won’t work for is windows/glass or to polish faucets and such. It is also excellent added to your sink full of dishes. If you are soaking some kind of baked on nasty lasagna or something, this does the trick. We all know that vinegar is great for cleaning and is a natural disinfectant, who knew that adding a bit of citrus oil would improve it so much?

Related Posts:

Homemade Hippie All Purpose Cleanser and Disinfectant

Homemade Hippie Windex for 0.12 a bottle!

Homemade Hippie Scouring Powder

Homemade Hippie Dishwasher Detergent

Homemade Hippie Lip Balm

Homemade Hippie Wrinkle Cream

Homemade Hippie Mouthwash, Face Wash, Body Wash

A COMPLETE LIST HOMEMADE HIPPIE RECIPES

29 Comments

Homemade Hippie Scouring Powder

May 4, 2012 at 1:01 AM (Buying in Bulk, Homemade Hippie cleaning products, Make It Yourself, Non Toxic, Recipes, Simple, Under $1.00)
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

I have been experimenting with making homemade cleaning and beauty products as I run out of them. So far I have made my own dishwasher detergent, window/glass cleaner, all purpose cleanser and disinfectant, lotion, wrinkle cream, hair spray, toothpaste, mouthwash, and lip balm and now it’s time to tackle scouring powder.

I happen to be in love with a handsome mechanic. He comes home with much grease and leaves the shower and sink with nice dark rings and smudges.  I need a serious scouring powder to tackle this stuff 🙂 I have used this powder 3 times now, and I find that it works just as well as comet, and rinses off much better. I don’t feel like I’m wasting zillions of gallons of water trying to wash the comet residue down the drain….I have tried plain baking soda before, and a baking soda/vinegar mix and in my opinion this is much better.

Homemade Hippie Scouring Powder

1 cup Baking soda

1 cup Salt (I used kosher for extra grit)

1 cup Borax

Mix all ingredients in a container. I usually just refill the bottle/container of whatever I ran out of. Do you guys have a whole bunch of bottles and tubes that are full of homemade concoctions too? However, you can’t refill a comet container very easily, so I took a small coffee can (see saving those coffee cans isn’t weird! You really will find a use for them. You will!) and poked holes in the plastic lid. You can use a canning jar, or any old container you have been waiting to repurpose. Fill with powder, top with lid. Sprinkle and scrub to your hearts content.

I think next time I will dry some orange or lemon peels and make them into a powder. I think that would smell great and add some extra scrubbing power. Plus I have a juicer now, and I’m dying to come up with a use for all of these citrus peels.  I already made orange oil, and I love it! I’ll post that recipe for you tomorrow.

COMPLETE LIST OF HOMEMADE HIPPIE RECIPES

15 Comments

Homemade Hippie Body Wash

May 2, 2012 at 1:01 AM (Almost Free, Homemade Hippie Beauty Products, Make It Yourself, Non Toxic, Simple, Under $1.00)
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

I may have previously mentioned that Rob is a mechanic and one of his favorite activities it to stand in my shower and drip grease and grime and various oils all over the bathroom. In the course of this activity the man goes through a lot of soap. A LOT of soap! I was buying either Dove plain, unscented or Kirk’s Castile soap. Neither of which is cheap. I’m sure you know by now that I am a big, fat cheapskate right? So, this recipe was invented purely to save money, and is not some girly froo-froo bodywash. It does lather very well, and it does make 1 bar of soap last about as long as 4 bars of soap normally would….so I am now paying 1/4 what I was for soap. Mission accomplished!

Homemade Hippie Bodywash

1 bar of Kirks Castile Soap (I do not recommend any other soap, because I haven’t tried them)

1 quart (4 cups) of water

  1. Grate the soap. I personally fed the whole bar through the food processor, then put the food processor directly in the dishwasher. It came out sparkling clean 🙂
  2. Place water and soap in a sauce pan and heat until soap is thoroughly melted. I let it simmer for 2-3 minutes to make sure the soap was really mixed well.
  3. Refill an old pump style hand soap dispenser. This soap is very runny, and should be squeezed directly onto a sponge/loofa/bodywash thingy.
  4. Ok, thats it. You’re done. Go take a shower.

P.S This may seperate as it sits in the jar. Just shake it up before you refill your dispenser.

P.P.S My local dollar store actually sells Kirks Castile Soap in a 3-pack for $1. Every store I have ever seen it in sells the 3 pack for $2.99, so this is an excellent deal. Go check your dollar store! I bought $40 bucks worth last time. We won’t run out of soap for a very long time 🙂

Related Posts:

Homemade Hippie Wrinkle Cream

Homemade Hippie Mouthwash

Homemade Hippie Toothpaste

Homemade Hippie Hand Lotion

Homemade Hippie Body Lotion

Homemade Hippie Facewash

Homemade Hippie Hair Spray

Homemade Hippie Bug Spray

A COMPLETE LIST OF HOMEMADE HIPPIE RECIPES

21 Comments

Homemade Wheat Thin Crackers (soaked)

April 30, 2012 at 1:12 AM (Almost Free, Baking, Fast, Health, How To, Make It Yourself, Real Food Snacks, Recipes, Simple, Under $1.00)
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

I am still playing around with cracker recipes! I have never eaten so many crackers in my life. But we all know that I am an absolute cheese-oholic. And what better to place under my cheese, then a nice crispy cracker. Why bother making them yourself you ask? This is the ingredient list from a regular box of plain Wheat Thins:

  • Enriched Whole Wheat Flour- enriched because they strip and extrude the grain at extremely high temperature and pressure, killing every vitamin and mineral naturally found in wheat. So synthetic  vitamins are added back in to try and fool you. I personally doubt that we absorb much, if any, of these synthetic vitamins.
  • Soybean Oil- from GMO soybeans. Don’t even get me started
  • Cornstarch-from GMO corn
  • Malt Syrup-sweetener made from GMO corn
  • Sugar- made from GMO sugar beets
  • BHT- added to the packaging to “preserve freshness” This is a fancy way of saying, “you are eating a rancid food and we added a deodorizer to the box so it doesn’t stink when you open it.

Sound appetizing? These crackers are really very easy to make. And the soaking step is ridiculously simple. I hate to shop, so for me this is actually a much easier option than going to a store and buying a box of premade crackers. Ha!

Homemade Wheat Thin Crackers (soaked)

1 1/4 cup organic wheat flour (freshly ground if you can)

1/4 cup water + 2Tbsp

4 Tbsp butter (unsalted)

1 1/2 Tbsp sugar

1/4 tsp paprika

1/4 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp salt (plus more for salting before baking)

  • Combine flour, sugar, salt, and paprika.
  • Cut in the butter. I used a food processor, but you don’t have to.
  • Add water and stir to combine.

Wrap dough tightly in plastic wrap and place in a very warm location. Mine took a nice long nap over night on top of the fridge. The ideal temperature would be between 110 and 130 degrees. Maybe the oven with the pilot light? And ideas? Between baking and letting it sit out for 8-24 hours you are breaking down a very large portion of the phytic acid and pre-digesting the gluten. I also like soaking because it breaks your recipes up into two seperate days, which to me feels like less work for some reason….If you don’t care about soaking, then carry on with the baking right now!

Flour your counter top and roll out the dough. You want the crackers to be very thin, so they will be crispy. Transfer the dough to a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Score the crackers deeply with a sharp knife. I make mine exactly the size of my mouth 🙂 Sprinkle with a small amount of extra salt. I over did it the first time and they were too salty, so beware.

Bake in a 400 degree oven for 5-10 minutes. Check them after 5 and remove the crackers that are smaller or thinner and are browning too fast. You’ll know the ones….cool. break. eat.

For the sake of the experiment I actually “borrowed” some wheat thins from a co-worker and brang them home. I ate a real wheat thin and a homemade wheat thin and they tasted EXACTLY THE SAME. I made Rob test them both with his eyes closed and he couldn’t tell the difference. Success!

For the absolute best nutritional value, grind your flour fresh. I have not squeezed the grain mill into my budget yet, but I am almost there. I can’t wait!

P.S If you have a Kitchen Aid Mixer, you can buy a very inexpensive attachment for it that will grind fresh grain! I wish I had one…..but I am still using a good old fashioned wooden spoon 🙂

12 Comments

10 Minute Dinner: Shrimp and Garlic Pasta

April 28, 2012 at 1:11 AM (Fast, Recipes, Simple, Whats for Dinner?)
Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Rob is a big fan of shrimp. He once ate an entire bag of cocktail shrimp by himself (and groaned for the rest of the night about it). I love them too, and shrimp are a fast easy way to pack in the nutrition. 4 ounces of shrimp contain 23.7 grams of protein. They are also high in selenium, magnesium, Vitamins B12 and B3, choline, iron, phosphorus, omega 3 fatty acids, zinc and copper. So eat as many as you like 🙂 We like this dish heavy on the shrimp, and light on the pasta, but you can adjust according to your tastes.

Shrimp & Garlic Pasta

1/2 pkg fettucine style brown rice noodles (or other pasta of choice)

3-4 Tbsp raw grass-fed butter

2-4 cloves of garlic, crushed (I’m a freak and put 5 in)

1 bag (16 oz) frozen cocktail shrimp (with tails removed)

1 tsp homemade Italian Seasoning (sometimes I’m too lazy and just throw in some parsley for color)

Pour shrimp into a large bowl and fill with cold water, to thaw. Boil water and cook pasta. Drain pasta and stir in garlic and butter and spices. Drain shrimp thoroughly and mix into pasta. Eat and enjoy.

Great with a green salad with homemade salad dressing or just in a pretty bowl with a large side of raw milk 🙂

Sometimes you need dinner in 10 minutes. Lately I have been trying to work out more often, so I need quick meals a few times a week. It’s either the trusty crock pot, a grilled hunk of meat and a salad, or this yummy pasta dish. If you are eliminating grains, I have made this with spaghetti squash and it is very good. This is the simple, basic version of this recipe to save time. You could add any vegetable or spice combination that you wish to change it up.

8 Comments

Homemade Cheese Cloth Bags

April 24, 2012 at 1:44 AM (Fast, Make It Yourself, Recipes, Simple)
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

I make a lot of yogurt. With a lot of yogurt comes a lot of whey, yogurt cheese, sourcream, and cream cheese. In the past I had a small local fabric store, that sold the sturdy cheesecloth by the bolt. I would buy a few yards for a few dollars and I was set for the year. That store went out of business and now I’m lost! All I can find is the flimsy cheesecloth with holes that are way too big, and is so cheap that you can’t reuse it. That can end up being expensive. And we all know how cheap I am….

But alas I found the answer! And a permanent answer, that you won’t have to buy again and again and again.

I don’t normally shop at Walmart. Not for any ethical reason really, it’s just a total zoo. In our area there are only 3 Walmarts for 5.7 million people. Crowds are not my favorite thing. However I am the ultimate cheapskate, and so I ventured in to Walmart, bought 4 packages for these flour sack towels (for $2.79 per package) and ran for my life. (to be honest it took me two trips. The first time I was so depressed with the lack of healthy choices, and disgusted with the families in there with shopping carts full of garbage that I had to leave. But that’s a whole other topic…)

At home I washed and dried the towels and got to work straining yogurt. I loved the durability and texture of the towel, it was perfect. But I had a problem with yogurt going around the edges of the towel and into the whey. So I folded one towel in half, and sewed up the edges (by hand, because I don’t have a sewing machine) and ran a ribbon through the top for a drawstring.

Now I can pour a whole gallon of yogurt into this bag and hang it over a bowl and leave it to strain. I don’t have to babysit it, I can just come back the next day and it’s cheese…

Your other option, and I am going to do this next time, is to skip the drawstring part. These towels are the perfect shape, if you just sew up the long sides. They fit right down into a 1 gallon pitcher. Just fold the towel edges around the rim of the pitcher, and secure in place with a rubberband. Pour in your yogurt and leave it to drain.

They rinse out really easily under warm water, and can be thrown right into the wash. God, I love being cheap. 1 towel makes 2 large, gallon-sized bags. So you can make at least 10 bags for $0.27 cents per bag! That was worth the trip!

Add some herbs and homemade crackers and this is the perfect snack!

14 Comments

Soap Nuts Liquid Around the House (and on your head)

April 23, 2012 at 1:55 AM (Almost Free, Fast, Homemade Hippie Beauty Products, Homemade Hippie cleaning products, Non Toxic, Recipes, Simple)
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

In case you have no idea what on earth a Soap Nut is….read this first. I have been doing laundry with soap nuts for years, and I love them. You can also make liquid soap with these versatile little buggers and use it all around the house. Soap nuts liquid is also the best shampoo I have ever used!

Soap Nut Liquid

6 cups water

12-15 soap nuts (or pieces)

Bring water to a boil. Add soap nuts and turn down to low. Simmer for 30-45 minutes. You will end up with about 4 cups of concentrated soap. You have extracted every bit of soap when the soap nut shells turn very light tan or gray. (If you are super frugal you can take the used up soap nuts and puree them. The paste is an excellent, high-powered cleanser)

Because Soap Nut Liquid is a botanical tree fruit and free of all preservatives, PABA, sulfates, lanolin, parabens,  phthlates, phosphates, formaldehyde, petro-chemicals, fragrance, dyes, alcohols, chlorine, and talc, it can be stored at room temperature for 4-5 days. Soap Nut Liquid will keep in the fridge for 2-3 weeks. I keep mine in a small jar in the door of the fridge, and I pour the rest into an ice-cube tray and pop it in the freezer. One cube is perfect for one load of laundry, one load of dishes, or one mop of the whole floor. I also fill my small plastic shampoo bottle (an old ketchup dispenser with a tiny nozzle that I got at Walmart for .98 cents works perfect!) and keep it in the shower.

I buy my soap nuts from Naturoli, and I highly recommend them. Check out these suggestions from www.naturoli.com:

For Jewelry: Soak jewelry in soap nuts liquid for a few minutes. Use an old soft toothbrush to remove debris. Rinse with clean water and polish with a soft cloth. Soap nuts have been used as a fantastic jewelry cleaner for eons. There’s no need for harsh, toxic chemicals!

For Pets: Superb for pets! Your little loved ones will never feel and smell this fresh again! They’ll appreciate it, too! (note from Heather: this soap does not strip the natural oil from your pets fur/skin, thus reducing dander)

For Shampoo: Use soap nuts liquid to shampoo hair. Leave in for about 5 minutes.  Rinse as usual with warm water. If you prefer more suds, add a little of your favorite shampoo. We know it’s hard not to want more suds, but trust us it really is cleaning your hair. You will be amazed at the results. AND you don’t need hair conditioner, because soap nuts are a natural conditioner and anti-static.

For Dishwashers: Fill the dishwasher soap dispenser with soap nuts liquid. Wash as usual. Tip: For extra sparkle, add a half-ounce of vinegar to the rinse dispenser or during the rinse cycle.

For Hand Wash: Add about 2 tbsp of soap nuts liquid to wash water and stir, or make a tea with your soap nuts muslin bag. Simply hand wash as usual.

For Steam Cleaning Carpets: Soap nuts work exceptionally well in carpet cleaners because they are so low sudsing and odor reducing. Add about a quarter cup of soap nut liquid to hot water in the portable cleaner. Great for urine stains!

For Household Cleaning: Pour soap nuts liquid into a spray bottle. Use full strength or dilute as desired. Use for sinks, counters, floors, etc.

For Windows and Glass: Fill a spray bottle with about 8 oz of water. Add a half-ounce of soap nuts liquid and a half-ounce of vinegar. Spray and then wipe clean with dry cloth.

So what do you think? Worth a try? I had a really hard time at first, because of the lack of suds. I found it really difficult when I was hand washing dishes! We are so used to suds, that it just doesn’t feel clean enough when there aren’t bubbles!

My shampoo bottles. Because soap nuts shampoo is runny, these dispense just the right amount of soap. I keep one in the fridge and one in the shower.

 I was really sold when I started washing my hair with this liquid. My hair has never been softer. The cool part is you can wash your hair, body, face and the shower, all with the same soap. Talk about frugal. I also think this would be a great alternative to the no-poo method, because it does not strip the natural oils from your hair, and leaves it very soft and moist. Zero hair conditioner is needed! I will never have to buy shampoo again.

I pay $46.00 for a 5 lb bag of soap nuts from Naturoli. (keep in mind that ONE pound does 160 loads of laundry. That’s 0.5 cents per load of clothes) so this soap nuts shampoo costs me just under .02 cents per head wash. Not too shabby….considering I don’t have to buy conditioner anymore either.

P.S If you don’t want to hassle with boiling the soap nuts, and the fact that the liquid spoils quickly, you can grind the dry soap nuts into a powder in a coffee grinder and put the powder directly on your head, or directly into the washing machine, or use as a scouring powder etc.

26 Comments

Homemade Seasoning Salt

April 22, 2012 at 1:01 AM (Homemade Seasoning Mixes, Non Toxic, Recipes, Simple, Under $1.00)
Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

When I’m in a hurry in the kitchen I like a fast all-purpose spice I can grab and sprinkle on a hunk of meat, and throw it in the oven. It took me a while to develop something that is truly all-purpose, but I think this is it! So far I have used it on chicken, fish, beef, bison, salad, hard-boiled eggs and pasta. I think that fits the bill of all-purpose don’t you?

All-Purpose Seasoned Salt

6 Tbsp Sea Salt

1/2 tsp Thyme

1/2 tsp Marjoram

1/2 tsp Garlic powder

2 1/2 tsp Paprika

1 tsp Mustard powder

1/2 tsp Onion powder

1/4 tsp Dill

1 tsp Celery salt

Mix all in a bowl and funnel into a shaker. I used this pretty ceramic shaker I found at a yard sale.

10 Comments

My Favorite Pizza Sauce

April 22, 2012 at 1:01 AM (Canning, Fast, Recipes, Sauces, Stocks and Gravies, Simple)
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

I make homemade deep dish pizza once in a while, and it is always a big hit. This pizza sauce is our favorite. You can use home-canned, plain, unflavored tomato sauce or whatever organic tomato sauce you can find at the store. I think this fall I am going to try my hand at fire-roasted tomato sauce during canning season. I think it adds amazing flavor.

Fast Easy Pizza Sauce

1 8 oz can of tomato sauce

1 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp marjoram

1/2 tsp basil

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp sea salt

Combine and let sit for at least 1 hour.

5 Comments

How to Peel a Whole Head of Garlic in 10 seconds!

April 21, 2012 at 1:06 AM (How To, Recipes, Simple, Video)
Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

I just had to share this video. I have been peeling garlic the slow, methodical, apparently wrong way for 15 years!

This tip featured on Somewhat Simple, Not Your Ordinary Recipes, Living Life Intentionally and Lunchbox Love

7 Comments

« Older entries Newer entries »