Bucket Liquid Laundry Soap

Bucket Liquid laundry Soap
Janelle McCoy
2018

1 cup washing soda
1 cup baked soda
1 cup Bora
10 oz shaved bar soap
8 liters of hot water
60 drops Essential oils

Add dry ingredients to 5 gallon bucket, pour 4 liters of boiling water and stir. Once soap and soda’s are dissolved add other 4 liters of water, once cooled to 180° or less add essential oils. Store in bucket.

Use ½ to 3/4 cup of gel for a load.

Sore Muscles Bath Salts

Sore Muscles Bath Salts #1
3 DR frankincense oil
2 dr Eucalyptus oil
7 dr Rosewood
4 dr patchouli oil
3 Dr vanilla oil
5 ml Hemp seed oil
1 ½ c sea salts
1 ½ c Epson salt
1 c baking soda
1/3 magnesium flakes
__ Castile soap

I found my handwriten recipes for this line.

White Lasagna

About a year ago my husband and I decided to start a journey towards a healthier lifestyle by going vegetarian. To break ourselves into full vegetarians we decided to make the baby step to pescatarian, which means we still eat dairy, eggs and seafood; the children still eat school breakfast and lunch. You can beat FREE! We have been trying to find clean meals the entire family enjoys. Which has been lot easier than I imagined.
I have been requested by a lot of people to share our favorite recipes. Every time I think to myself “But I don’t have recipes”. I rarely measure anything. Following a recipes’ directions is like torture for some reason and I seem to never write down my changes. Unless its bread. I must follow those recipes step by step. I haven’t mastered the art of bread…yet.
I decided maybe it was about time to share our yummy family friendly vegetarian dishes. I mean who am I to suggest a Meatless Monday to someone, when I am not sharing my delicious meal ideas. Going meatless is a lot less scary than most may think, you should try it, you might like it!
Okay, okay….here is my very own White Lasagna.

White Lasagna
What you will need:

• Large baking dish
• Box of lasagna noodles
• 16 oz small curd cottage cheese
• 2 eggs
• 3 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese (1 cup for topping)
• 2 cups of chopped spinach (Or less)
• 1 cup of finely chopped broccoli
• 1 cup of finely chopped cauliflower
• 28-32 oz of alfredo sauce
• Garlic to season

Start by boiling the lasagna noodle just before they are fully cooked, drain and let cool. Preheat your oven to 350F. While the noodles are boiling, mix together the cottage cheese, 2 cups of mozzarella, eggs, and veggies, season with the garlic to your taste. Make sure you stir the stuffing mixture well.

Lightly spread a small amount of sauce on the bottom of the baking dish. Layer in this order; lasagna noodles, stuffing mixture, noodles and last the Alfredo sauce. Repeat until the pan is full or you run out of something. Make sure you save some sauce for the top of the lasagna.

Cover with foil and bake for 20-30 minutes. The lasagna should look like it is starting to boil. Sprinkle the last cup of mozzarella cheese over the entire lasagna. Place your lasagna back into the oven for about 10 minutes or until the cheese has melted.Let the lasagna cool and serve.
Happy cooking!

JEM’s Cinnamon Crunchy Granola

Cinnamin Granola

Janelle McCoy

2015

1 stick of butter
½ cup honey
2/3 cup brown sugar
5 ½ cup old fashion oats
½ cup hemp seeds
splash of vanilla
1 TBS cinnamin powder
1 cup sliced or chopped almonds
1 cup dried fruit
½ cup coconut chips

Melt butter, honey and brown sugar in sauce pan over low heat. Once butter is melted add vanilla and cinnamin, bring to a simmer. Add all other ingredants into a big bowl and mix well. After the butter sugar mixture has simmered for about 5 minutes pour over oats and stir until evenly coated. Spead out over a cookie greesed cookie sheet. Bake 20 mintues at 290.

Light Brown Leave in Hair Conditioner Spray

Leave in hair conditioner spray

Decoction/infusion
3c water
2 tbs marshmallow root
pinch of ceder wood
1 green tea bag
1 tbs hibiscus
1 tbs chamomile
1 tbs nettle

simmer marshmallow root and ceder wood for 20 mins turn off heat and infuse all other herbs strain once water is cooled.

Once cool add:
2 c Decoction
½ c aloe Vera gel
10 drops VG
4 drops argon essential oil
40 drops lavender essential oil
4 drops Vitamin E oil

Cooking With Herbs

An Herbalist’s Point of View

Everyone cooks with herbs and spices. Sometimes we use fresh herbs and sometimes dried, it doesn’t matter which stage you use the herbs and spices. Either fresh or dried will make your food taste delicious. The thing not everyone knows is that herbs, either fresh or dry, have healing properties. Yes, even in your food. You can use herbs in your food to help an ailment and you’ll have a delicious tasting meal at the same time.

In the 5^th century Hippocrates said “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.” I firmly believe he was talking about eating clean whole foods. In the 5^th century they also used many herbs to help their food taste delectable.  They knew then that many plants had properties to heal or prevent illnesses and diseases. We wouldn’t have our current knowledge of herbal healing without our ancestors learning it first. Even ingredients of ancient witch’s healing brews translate into everyday herbs we use today. This is because witches were healers, herbalists and gardeners that understood that plants and herbs could prevent and help ailments. You can use herbs in tinctures, salves, capsules and oils to help your body. Why wouldn’t cooking with them be the same? The great thing is that they are the same; you just use them as you cook instead of as a strict supplement. This might take more time then ingesting a tincture or capsule filled with the herb but if you are cooking with the herb everyday it will build up into your system just like the tincture or capsule does.          I am going to use soup as an example. How many times have you heard someone suggest eating some soup to kick a colds butt? I can’t even count the number of times I have been told to do this or used soup to help my family members feel better. Every time my husband is sick or the weather is a fright I make a big o’ pot of homemade healing soup. The kids make fun of me saying it’s my witches brew. (I have been known to yell at someone for stirring the pot the wrong direction.) I think certain soups are suggested because the ingredients used to make soup help many symptoms associated with the common cold. The ingredients can do things like soothing coughs, throats, congestion and even belly aches. Soup will also warm you to the bone and help remove any germ that might have gotten in during cold weather.

“The warmth of the soup helps all that” or “helps sooths your throat,” you might be thinking.

This is true but if you are like me your soup has helpful ingredients in it like salt, onion, garlic, rosemary, thyme, and basil; just to name a few. All of these ingredients are plants that have cold fighting abilities. When you are cooking and eating the warm soup the steam enters your sinuses and the plants that are used work as a form of aromatherapy and decongestant, opening up your airways. Eating the herb enriched soup give your body the energy to fight the germs. Garlic, onion, thyme and rosemary all have germ fighting abilities and basil breaks down the shell of the bacteria so any antibiotics will work better. Some of these herbs even have bacteria fighting abilities. Add a little cracked pepper (red, black, white or well any pepper will do) to your bowl will help give it all an extra kick.

It doesn’t matter if you use fresh herbs or dry herbs during cooking. What does matter is the amount of herbs you use. It is suggested to use 1/3 the amount for dried herbs as you would if you are using fresh herbs. This is because the dried herbs have a higher concentration of flavor. Some professional cooks say it is better to add your fresh herbs towards the end of the cooking process. I am not sure that I would agree with this, I believe that when you add the fresh herb you should add them throughout the cooking process. Some in the beginning, some in the middle and some at the end depending on what you are cooking, how you are cooking it and which herbs you are using. You can chop or leave fresh herbs whole. Before using dry herbs I always give them a good crush. Crush the dry herbs by placing them into the palm of your hand, then press or rub the herb gently with your fingers to release the aromatic oils. Always add the dry herbs to your dish at the beginning or middle of your cooking process. This gives the herb time to rehydrate. I always suggest tasting your food as you are cooking. This way you will know if it needs more flavor or not.

Remember I just used soup as an example there is many ways you can cook with herbs to help your ailments. You can control your blood sugar, blood pressure and cholesterol all by cooking with or eliminating the right herbs, spices and foods. You want to make sure you do some research before ingesting herbs, to make sure they are edible. Some plants are meant for aromatherapy and topical use only, others are strictly ornamental. Some are even harmful for pregnant women and nursing mothers. You wouldn’t want to have a reaction because you didn’t make sure the herb was safe for your body. Most herbs you find in the produce or spice isle are safe and healthy for daily consumption. We should all take our ancestor’s advice and let food be our medicine.

Happy Cooking!

JEM

I Hacked Vicks Vapor Rub…

Please read this disclaimer.

I have been surprised with all the feedback I have been getting about my vapor rub lately. I never thought it would be so popular. I had whipped up a quick batch last year and immediately gave it away to friends and family members. I never received feed back until now and boy is it nice to hear how well it has helped other families. I decided while filling yet another order I would share how I made it with the world!

The best part of JEM’s Vapor Rub is that it doubles as a Neosporin or Mel-a-gel. Not only will it sooth your congestion you can also use it on cuts, scraps and other booboo’s as well. We have even used it to help bug bites stop itching. Okay I lied the BESTEST part about this vapor rub is that it is petroleum and other harmful chemical FREE!

Now normally I would say the Essential oils are optional but for this recipe they are NOT optional. The essential oils are what makes the vapor rub, vapor rub. I have researched what goes into Vick’s and which oils have healing properties that helps with congestion. Of course you could always add to this list, but I would seriously recommend not taking any of these out.

What you need to make an all natural vapor rub:

• 2 ½ TBSP Coconut oil
• 2 TBSP Bee’s Wax
• ½ TBSP Caster Oil
• 1 ½ TBSP Aloe Jelly
• 20-30 Drops of Camphor Oil
• 40-50 Drops of eucalyptus Oil
• 30-40 Drops of Tea Tree Oil
• 20-30 Drops of Peppermint Oil

Steps:

1. In a double boiler melt coconut oil, bee’s wax and castor oil together.
2. As soon as the bee’s wax and coconut oil is melted turn off heat.
3. Let cool for a few minutes and then add the Aloe Jelly. Mix well. REALLY WELL to get the jelly to mix with the wax and oils.
4. Once Aloe is incorporated into the wax and oil mixture; add your essential oils. You want to let it cool some before adding the essential oils because they could lose their potency in high heats.
5. Pour mixture into clean dry air-tight containers. Leave open until the vapor rub cools and hardens.

** When doubled, the recipe will make three small 4 oz mason jars worth of vapor rub. **

Once hardened you can use it just like vapor rub. Apply to chest, back, neck, feet and even under your nose (no, not IN your nose silly). This vapor rub is safe for the whole family. When using it on babies I would suggest keeping it off of their face. (Just in case, you wouldn’t want anything getting into babies eye, nose or mouth) When my kids were babies I applied it to their feet and put socks on them. I still do this for Things 3 and 4 and even Mr. JEM when he’s feeling yucky.

If you don’t have time or the ingredients to make your own, check out JEM’s Eclectic Home Etsy store for a chance to have your very own container of JEM’s Vapor Rub land right in your mail box right in time for cold and flu season.

I hope you enjoy this chemical free version of Vapor Rub. I know that my family does.

Check out my post…I Hacked Burt’s Bees Hand Salve for another DIY recipe.

Please read this disclaimer.

Namaste ❤

JEM

Fast and Easy, Homemade Play Dough

Playing with play dough is a great sensory activity for people of all ages. Play dough helps kids learn how to use their fingers in new ways, also strengthens hand and wrist muscles. Physical therapists assign patients the activity of …

Traditional Pennsylvania Crockpot Ham and Green Beans Recipe

Often times traditional Pennsylvania ham and green beans is made after the Easter ham dinner. Using the left over ham bone and/or scrap meat. Some may use a small ham to create this time honored dish to warm the hearts and belly’s of their loved ones. This dish can be made in the oven or a stew pot but utilizing a crock pot allows even the busiest family cooks to set it and forget it, but still have a hearty meal for a cool spring day.

Traditional Ingredients:
1 sm Ham cubed or ham bone
3-4 medium potatoes largely cubed
1 small onion diced
1-2 cups or cans of green beans (JEM enjoys using french cut best in this dish)
1 cup of water
Salt and pepper to taste

Cook on high heat for 1-3 hours or low for 4-6 hours. Let cool and serve in bowls.


Put JEM’s Herbal spin on it and try adding:
Veggies like; Carrots, corn, and peas
Herbs like; Basil, thyme, and tearagon
Replace white potatoes with yams, sweet potatoes, or even wild rice.

Leftovers are always better or can be canned or frozen for later in the season.


Happy Spring!

JEM’s Herbal Homemade: Baby Wipes

JEMs Herbal Homemade Baby Wipes 2018

½ c boiled and cooled water

1c aloe liquid 

1 tbs lavender Dr. Brooners soap

1 tbs calendula and marshmallow infused oil

1 tbs witch hazel

Essential oils

10 drops lavender

5 drops chamomile

1 tsp VG

Mix together well and pour the solution over soft fabric squares or paper towels. Once wipes are damply saturated, store them in an airtight container. These wipes have a limited shelf life.

See Disclaimer Page

Grounded Gardener: Calendula