May 2019 - Simply Me DIY

May 21, 2019September 16, 2019

Creamy Homemade Lotion

I have to say up-front….You’re really going to love this creamy homemade lotion.

I found my favorite recipe for this creamy homemade lotion in a book written by Rosemary Gladstar. She’s an awesome herbalist with more knowledge than I could ever hope to obtain. If you haven’t heard of her, check out her website here.

She has several YouTube videos too. Search her name and you’ll come across a ton of videos. Check that out here.

She’s also got several books out, but I love this one. It has a ton of recipes in it, but this is my favorite.

This creamy homemade lotion feels magnificent on your hands and your body.

I make a couple of different versions of this lotion, one for my body and one for my face. I hope you’ll love it as much as I do.

Basically it has 2 parts, oil and water. Then you combine them.

The Oil Part

Start with 1/3 cup of a more solid-type butter like coco butter, which, by the way, smells amazing, coconut butter or shea butter.

This is the liquid oil I made several months earlier by infusing coconut oil with dried calendula flowers. Calendula is awesome for the skin.

Then add 3/4 cups of a liquid oil. This can be liquid coconut oil, grape seed oil, or any other oil that you prefer, even olive oil, if you like. There are a ton to choose from. Check the ones I buy out here and here or many other sites. Do your own research for what you prefer.

Then add about a 1/4 teaspoon of lanolin and 1 oz of bees wax.

I suggest the little wax pellets. It’s so hard to cut up the bricks, I’ve found it’s worth buying the smaller pellets.

You’ll want to use a double boiler to melt all your oils and bees wax. I don’t have a double boiler so I use a make-shift one. It’s pretty cheesy, but it works. One day I’ll buy one.

This is my double boiler. It’s a sauce pan and a 4 cup glass measuring cup sitting on a canning ring, so it’s not sitting directly on the bottom of the sauce pan.

Boil enough water in the sauce pan to cover the bottom of the measuring cup to slowly melt the oils and wax.

Once all of your oils and wax have melted, let it sit and cool off to room temperature.

The Water Part

The water part starts with 2/3 cup of water. We don’t have city water, we use well water. This recipe actually calls for distilled water. I have to tell you, I’ve always just used our well water and had no problems.

I have made rose water and use that in the mix for my face lotion. There are so many options to try and figure out what you like best.

Add to that 1/3 cup of aloa vera gel. I’ve used vegetable glycerine too. Be sure to try it different ways to see what you like best.

To this you’ll add Vitamin A or E oil whichever you prefer.

I generally use about 1/8 teaspoon or just a touch more of Vitamin E oil. It’s great for your skin.

At this point the recipe actually calls that you add any essential oil that you want. But personally, I wait until after I’ve mixed the oil and water to add the essential oil.

Mixing Oil and Water

We all know that oil and water doesn’t mix, right? Well, there is a way.

Blending the oil for a few minutes before adding the water made this mixture work much better for me.

I start the oil part in this large measuring cup for a reason.

Using a stick blender I’ll blend the oil portion for a few minutes (about 3-5 minutes) before I start adding the water.

I want to see the mixture lighten up a bit before I start adding the water.

The secret in mixing oil and water is to add the water very slowly while you continue to mix the oil.

If you use a blender, you can pour the melted oil into the blender before it cools. Then all you would do is turn on the blender for a short while before you begin to add the water.

Continue to mix as you continue to add the water mixture very slowly. As you add water, it will become creamier and creamier.

Be sure to go slow. My handheld stick blender begins to get hot as I’m finishing up.

I watched a video of Rosemary making this lotion in a blender and you could hear the difference in the blender when it got close to getting done.

Look how creamy that is!! At about at this point, I add 30-35 drops of whatever essential oil I’m using.

One thing I’ll caution you about is that the coco butter I use will almost cover the smell of any essential oil I use. But that doesn’t always stop me from trying.

This recipe made four 4 oz jars of creamy lotion. I use this everyday after I get out of the shower.

I don’t waste any of this creamy homemade lotion.

When you get done, you’ll have this cream on your stick blender and in whatever bowl you’ve mixed it in. And since water and oil doesn’t mix, this doesn’t wash well.

So, the perfect fix, is to go lotion up, scraping it all out of all your bowls and whatever mixer you used. You certainly don’t want to waste this beautiful creamy lotion.

Whatever is left after that, which usually isn’t much, can easily be wiped out with paper towels. Now, it’s much easier to wash.

I’ve came up with a different versions of this recipe, just from experimenting, using rose water and rose infused almond oil, for what I use on my face.

So be sure you experiment. This is a base recipe that can be changed to suite your own needs. I hope you’ll give it a try.

If you have any questions, please let me know. If you have any suggestions, let me know those too. I’d love to hear what you have to say.

Until later – Health, Wealth & Blessings ~ Tracey

May 14, 2019May 13, 2019

Why Do I DIY

I know people ask why should I DIY? It’s so much easier to just go to the store. There are more and more organic choices all the time and there’s so many more farms these days where you can buy fresh garden vegetables and even meats, milk and eggs.

So, why do I DIY?

In my opinion, there are a ton of reasons to DIY, but here are my top 10 reasons to DIY.

1. Taste!! Nothing taste better than homemade. You can use fresher ingredients and it’s not set on a truck for days or weeks on end going from factory to the store shelf.

2. Knowing what’s in my food, lotions and cleaners makes me feel better about eating or using them. Have you ever read some of those labels? You can’t even pronounce most of it. When I make these things myself, I know every ingredient that’s in it and I never have to wonder what those unpronounceables are.

3. I can adjust a DIY recipe to suit me and my family perfectly. Sometimes it takes a bit of trial and error, but I can adjust foods, body products and cleaners to suit my own tastes, smells and needs. I can personalize anything.

4. There’s no unnecessary chemicals, preservatives, or coloring in your DIY stuff. I hate all the extra stuff they put in the stuff you buy.

5. When I attempt a new DIY, I’m learning something new. I love learning new things, it just feels good.

6. Some DIY skills I’m learning are becoming lost or forgotten skills in our new modern world. I like the idea of keeping these skills alive to teach to my grandkids. You never know, someday some of these may come in handy again.

Dandelions from my yard for dandelion jelly.

7. You get to choose where your ingredients come from. While they don’t always have to be organic, you still want to know where they come from. You can research the companies you buy from or maybe you can source them locally, near where you live.

In any case, whatever you are making, you have the choice from where you would like to purchase the ingredients to make whatever it is you are making.

8. When I make a new food item like butter or sauerkraut or breads, I always have such a sense of accomplishment. I figured it out, I was able to do it and it tasted good. I like that feeling.

9. When I make something, whatever that might be, I tend to appreciate it a bit more. I know the work and thought that’s gone into it.

Likewise, if I know someone else has put that same kind of work and thought into a product that I buy locally, I will appreciate that product just a little more than something I would pick off the shelf at a grocery store.

10. Last but not least, every time I make something new, I build a bit more confidence in what I can do. Even if a project doesn’t work exactly as I wanted it to, I learned from it and will try again. The next time I’m one step closer to where I want to be.

It was Thomas Edison that said something like, “I didn’t fail, I just found 10,000 ways it didn’t work.” I don’t know if I have that kind of patience, but I agree with his sentiment. You got to try or you’ll not get anywhere.

My granddaughter’s beautiful corn dolly.

When I DIY, Making Mistakes Means Learning Lessons

I told my grand daughter when she was very young and just learning to color and draw pictures, that I didn’t like perfect. The imperfections of what we do is what makes them unique to us. That’s what makes them special. She remembers that, and to this day will remind me of that if a project we make doesn’t come out just right. Because her imperfections are perfect for some, especially me.

I know sometimes it’s easier to go to the store and just buy the things I like to make and post about here. And sometimes I do that, but when I have the chance and the supplies to make what I need, I will try every time to make it. But if I can’t then that’s okay too.

In my opinion, if you can do it yourself, know what’s in it or how it’s built and potentially make it to your particular liking, then why not?

Why do you DIY? I’d love to hear what makes you want to make it yourself instead of buying at the store. Let me know in the comments below, what you’re working on.

Thanks for dropping by.

Until next time – Health, Wealth & Blessings ~ Tracey

May 7, 2019May 7, 2019

Making Homemade Yogurt

Homemade yogurt really is pretty easy to make. It take a bit of time, but it’s really not hard.

The hardest part of making homemade yogurt is waiting for the milk to heat up and then to cool back down again. And because you are looking for specific temperatures, it’s not something you can just walk away from.

In making homemade yogurt all you need is some milk and some active live yogurt cultures. This sound intimidating but it’s really not. Go to the store and read the label of the plain yogurt. If you’re getting the right one, it will say that it contains active live cultures.

You need active yogurt cultures for making homemade yogurt.

You’ll need about a cup of your live cultures. I generally buy one of those little serving size cups and that works fine.

I have found that different brands produce different tastes. So try different ones. You may find one tastes better to you.

In making homemade yogurt, you’ll heat your milk up to 180 degrees making sure you stir a lot to ensure you don’t scald your milk. You want it to heat up, but you don’t want to burn it.

Once you’ve heated your milk, remove it from the heat and let it cool. Some have suggested you can set your pan in a sink with some cool water in it to help move this step along. I’ve not done that, but I can see where it would work.

This is just a bit too hot yet. Give it another 20 degrees or so.

When your milk cools to about 90 degrees, you add your yogurt with the live cultures. Stir your yogurt until that is all dissolved.

Bits of undissolved yogurt. Almost done.

Now, I have a yogurt maker. I bought it 4-5 years ago and found it to be really easy to use. But, there are a lot of recipes out there showing how to set your yogurt in your oven with just the light on and let it set over night. I’ve never done this, but I really need to try it.

If you’d like to try that, I suggest you do your own research to ensure everything is just right, so you don’t waist a half gallon of milk.

I used raw milk, so I removed the cream first. There was about a cup of cream, so this is a bit shy of a half gallon. Usually a half gallon will fill this container.

I pour my dissolved yogurt with live cultures and milk into my yogurt maker and plug it in. It keeps it at a very low temperature and I set the time on it for 8 hours. You’ll note on my machine, there’s not actually a timer, it’s just numbers. You move the pointer to the number corresponding to the time you’re to take it out. This is just a reminder, so you still can’t just forget it.

My yogurt was due to be finished at 8:30 pm.

After 8 hours, you have yogurt. You’ll find that there is a LOT of whey in your container as well. I like my yogurt really stiff, almost like a soft cheese.

Look at all that golden yellow whey!!! Just hang it and let it drain to whatever consistency you like best.

You can make your yogurt any consistency you like. I add all the yogurt into a clean white dishtowel, and tie it up to let it drain. The longer it drains, the thicker it will become. So this is completely up to whatever you like.

As a general rule, I will tie mine up and let it hang overnight.

2 Cups of whey from that just less than a half gallon of raw milk.

After you have removed as much of the whey as you would like, it’s done. Put it in a container and put it in the fridge.

Now you can use a cup of this yogurt to make your next batch. I’ve read that you can’t do that forever, but I can’t say from experience how long you can use your last batch to start the next. I have a bad habit of forgetting to save some for my next batch. But I have done that up to 3 different batches.

Homemade Yogurt

Ingredients

Half gallon of milk
About a cup of plain yogurt (Be sure it contains active cultures. It will say on the label).

Directions

Heat your milk to 180 degrees slowly. Make sure you stir regularly so ensure it doesn’t scorch or stick to the bottom.

Once your milk reaches 180 degrees, remove it from the heat and let it cool. You can set your pan in a bit of cool water in the sink to hurry this along if you’d like.

Once your milk has cooled to almost 90 degrees, add your live cultured yogurt and stir to dissolve. This works better if your live cultured yogurt is at room temperature.

Add your mixture to your yogurt machine and plug it in. Let it set for 8 hours.

Then drain the whey to your liking.

I haven’t written anything on the uses of whey yet, but I’ll have to do that in the future. There are a ton of things it can be used for and it’s really healthy.

So many ways to eat your yogurt

There are so many ways to eat your homemade yogurt. You can eat it with fruit or sometimes I will pour honey over it or I add granola to it. Sometimes all three. I’m sure there are plenty of other ways to flavor it.

The way I make it, it could actually be used as a cheese too if you wanted. You could add some herbs to it and spread it on crackers or a bagel.

Or you could just mash some fruit into it and flavor it that way. I’ve not tried that yet, but it sounds good, so I may have to give that a try. I usually just add my fruit on top.

I’d love to hear your experiences with making yogurt. Let me know how you’ve flavored your yogurt.

If you’ve used the oven method, I’d love to hear how it turned out. I’ll be giving that a try soon too, just to see.

Don’t forget to subscribe. I have some good stuff coming up that you won’t want to miss.

Until next time – Health, Wealth & Blessing ~ Tracey