Yarrow Herbal Bug Spray-Herb Mentor News 53

Here is the newest newsletter from Herb Mentor-HerbMentor News 53: Yarrow Herbal Bug Spray. They use alcohol for the recipe, but I'm sure that vinegar would work just fine. Let me know how this works if you make some.

 I was also going to start my bulk baking series yesterday, but I was up to my neck in pickles:) I canned quite a few and it was my first time doing pickles, so it took most of the day. I am planning on doing a separate post on the whole process for those of you that would like to know How to can pickles in the next few days.

So back to the bulk baking thing... I've been thinking this over and I thought that doing a series on Homemade Convenience foods and mixes would be better instead of a series just on baking, what do you think? I figured that I could do some on baking, some on soups, some on pre-made things like Homemade Riceroni etc, and some on spice and dressing mixes. I am gathering some recipes for this and hope to get them all selected for the post soon. If you make some mixes yourself, what are they, and how has that helped you in your kitchen?

Meal Plan for July 26-August 1

Okay, so I haven't really kept to last weeks meal plan, so some of it will be on this week's l plan.  I'm still a little new with this whole meal planning dealy, so I hope that the different meals that I do put on this week's plan won't bore anyone, and yes, I'm really bad with run-on sentences ( my husband gets a daily laugh since this is the way I talk too :)

Meal Plan July 26-August 1 ( Last week of July)

Monday- Pork and Broccoli Stir Fry with brown rice
Tuesday-Cream Cheese Chicken with Pasta and Salad
Wed- Egg Sandwiches with Zucchini Soup
Thursday-Mexican Fiesta Casserole (Mom's recipe with a little twist)
Friday- L/O
Saturday- Philly Cheese Steak with Baked Fries
Sunday- Crockpot?

Well, at least I got a good start on my week:)  Tomorrow, I will be starting a post series on bulk cooking, mainly baked goods.  I hope that you will join me and if you have anything to contribute, please leave a comment.  In the meantime, check out this ex-cel-lent site called Good(Cheap)Eats for some inspiration.

Make your own body products-Homemade Homemaking part 2

I recently got my order from Azure, and made my own shampoo using this recipe-Make your own herbal shampoo.  I had stop using commercial shampoo for about 3 weeks when I made this, so my hair had been clean of all that extra gunk for a while.  I did a few things differently than the recipe; which is probably why I got the results that I did.  Instead of using rose buds, I used packaged tea that had some rose blossoms along with chamomile, lemon grass and mint.  I also used a handful of fresh mint and made the "tea" to add to the shampoo.  I  left out the jojoba oil, since I was using Dr.Bronner's tea tree soap which has jojoba in it, and I left out the essential oil too.  When I washed with it the first time, I was pretty disappointed.  It felt dry and brittle and also like there was a big glob of hair gel on some of my hair.  When it dried it was really yucky feeling and greasy, like I hadn't washed my hair in a few weeks.  I know that it is supposed to be different that using commercial shampoo, but it didn't do much of anything except put more stuff on my hair.  I will try it again sometime when I can make the recipe the way that it was supposed to be made. 

In the meantime though I will use what I was using before I made this shampoo.  This combination might sound a little strange to some of you, but I had been using this for three weeks , and it works really well.  My fellow sister and churchmate Joanne shared this with me after she received it from a friend.  It is a bar of unscented homemade soap that you scrub into your hair, then you rinse it with powdered ascorbic acid.  I know, sounds crazy huh!  But it really works!  We are almost out of the bar, so we will make some ourselves using this recipe-Homemade Borax Soap.

I've gathered a list of some sites that have more homemade recipes for body products such as;

• Soap-  Homemade bath recipes,  Great soap and scrub recipes, Borax Soap (This is what I use for my hair with the ascorbic acid rinse)

• Homemade shampoo and conditioners-  Pioneer Thinking, Long Locks

• Homemade Deodorant-  How to make your own deodorant

• Toothpaste, Mouthwash- Make your own toothpaste and mouthwash,  Tammy's Recipes( all kinds of homemaking stuff here from homemade laundry detergent to whole wheat tortillas

• Where to get supplies for these recipes-  Mountain Rose Herbs, Bulk Herb Store, Glory Bee Foods, Azure Standard, Places to purchase lye for soap

If any of you are making and using your own homemade body products,  how are they working for you?  Please share in the comments.