Soap On The Road

Cut bars in front of the MeToo

 My first batch of soap on the road did not go entirely smoothly. I opted for castille soap, made with distilled water, as I had left my stores of goat and jersey cow milk back at home base, in the freezer. Soap is traditionally made in the fall, when the weather is cooler, but not yet freezing. This being January in Colorado, even with the sun out at mid-day, the highs were only in the 30's. At least there wasn't any wind.

Yak inspecting the soap

I set up my table outside and laid out my supplies. After melting my oils on the RV stove, I brought them outside while I mixed the lye and water. Lots of fumes in that process - don't want that in the RV! Next I poured the lye-water solution into the oils to saponify - or neutralize - the lye, while changing the composition of the oils into the familiar creaminess of soap. I stirred and stirred and stirred some more. When the soap started to trace, or thicken, I poured it into my prepared soap mold. All was well, until...dinner was ready. The grandparents eat early. This is where the trouble began. I didn't want to move the soap before it set, but I didn't want to move it in the dark, even more. So I quickly set up a place for it in the trailer. The tricky part was to move the 4 ft. long soap mold while the soap was still liquidy. It spilled...I thought it was lost. I scooped up what I could off the clean vinyl tablecloth and gave up on the rest. 

You can see some of the crumbles here

   Upon inspecting the mess the next day, I discovered that I hadn't lost as much soap as I thought and I did get a good 15 bars out of this batch. A few more were lost due to the crumbly texture when I unmolded and cut it. That was thanks to Jack Frost. The soap set, or hardened, too quickly in the cold temperatures, resulting in a more crumbly texture. 

These bars cracked when I cut them

Now this is NOT great-great-grandma's lye soap! It does need to cure for 3-5 weeks to finish neutralizing the lye and hardening the oils, but after fully curing it will NOT take the paint off the barn! This pure, unscented castille soap will gently cleanse a baby's bottom, better than that big-name brand named after an elephant's tusk. After curing, my 15 good  bars seemed to shape up quite nicely and my testing with the ones that didn't cut properly went perfectly well. 

Curing on racks in the MeToo

Mrs. D's Pure, Unscented Castillle Soap is available in the Homestead Store or on Etsy. Right now I'm repouring lip butters. I added too much coconut oil to my last batch and they're too soft. Looking forward to a nice day to make some Jasmine Rose Goat Milk Soap. Can't wait!

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Keeping The Water Flowing

Dry Skin Relief - Coconut Oil, Shea Butter and Goat's Milk

It's well into winter and relief from the dry air seems far away. Heaters, fireplaces and air cleaners don't help with the dry skin issue. Even normal, everyday activities like washing clothes, dishes and produce, even just handwashing seems to leave my skin ready to dissolve into powder. That might actually be less painful that the cracking, splitting and peeling that is taking place. 

Wait, I'm a soap maker! I should have soft, smooth, healthy skin, right? Regular use of my goat and cow's milk soaps certainly helps. They are gentle and nourishing. My reformulated lotion bars, with extra coconut oil and shea butter, are easier to spread in winter's colder temps. The thing is, in the drier climates, I find I need to reapply frequently. My homemade lip butters are handy for this. The coconut oil and shea butter are soothing, and heal up our chapped lips quickly. If we would remember to keep using it, the chapping would also be prevented.

My favorite lotion bar in the winter is the Jasmine Rose. Rose oil is reputed to be soothing for dry skin. I like to recycle a 2 ounce size tin or snack container with a tight-fitting lid, smoosh a lotion bar inside, and carry it in my purse for easy application after handwashing on the go, or any time. I also keep a lotion bar next to the soap on each sink in my house, RV, trailer and in my travel bag. Okay, that seems obsessive, but I really am the biggest fan of my homemade soaps and lotions. Of course, that's why I make them. They're all natural and if I'm not happy with them, I know you won't be, so I make sure they're just right.

Want some help with your dry skin? Check out my Etsy shop, or my website, Mrs. D's Homestead.

Thanks for stopping by.

We Made It!

I love all the rich, savory holiday foods.  Gravies, real mashed potatoes, ham, turkey, eggnog, pies and baked brie all make my mouth water and my tummy rumble.  I am addicted to most combinations of butter, sugar and flour, especially if they contain chocolate as well.  But enough is enough.  My level of moderation has been exceeded and sluggishness is threatening to set in.

I am fully ready to return to modest meals of soup and bread, rice and beans, stir fries, salads and sandwiches.  It is good that we feast occasionally, our bodies crave the extra fats and proteins, especially in the cold weather.  As a daily indulgence, though, it is bad not only for our bodies - extra fat, cholesterol and unstable blood sugar - but also our budget.

homemade whole wheat bread

Eating primarily fresh vegetables, fruits and whole grains may seem expensive on the surface, but when you experience the higher energy levels, better health, and increased "regularity" this type of diet provides, you begin to see that the less expensive packaged foods aren't really that great of a deal after all.  I had an episode of very painful symptoms a couple of months ago, I won't list them here, but suffice it to say, that when I completely eliminated all additives, preservatives, umm...big macs and processed foods (other than those I processed myself) my health returned.  I am hearing more and more stories like this lately, so there must be something to it.

You don't need a lot of fancy footwork to make a satisfying meal of natural foods.  Raw, juiced or lightly cooked is good for most veggies and fruits.  Whole grains and beans can be done in large batches and frozen in portions.  Here are a couple of my favorite quickie meals:

homemade cheese curds

Lunch: salad greens, chopped onion and homemade cheese curds with a drop of balsamic vinegar and a splash of olive oil, accompanied by a thick slice of homemade bread with real butter.

Dinner: stir fried brown rice or noodles with onions, carrots and brocolli, seasoned with fresh ginger and garlic.

If you need inspiration for transitioning to a fresher, simpler diet try some of my favorite websites:  www.savingdinner.com, www.hillbillyhousewife.com, www.chefantonia.com and www.thefresh20.com.

Here's to a healthier New Year for all of us!!

Cleaning With Grapefruit

My parents have a grapefruit tree and a lemon tree.  I get lots of lemons and grapefruit.  Over the years I have investigated innumerable ways of using and preserving this bounty.  I can lemon juice for year-round use.  I eat and give away as much grapefruit as possible, then can the rest.  This leaves me with a mountain of grapefruit peels.  It seems a waste to throw them out, and they don't compost well.  So one year I started experimenting with using them to make a cleaner.  It didn't take long to hit on a simple formula that is also very simple to prepare.

I get out my biggest stockpot, fill it with grapefruit peels, and cover them with water.  I bring the whole shootin' match to a vigorous boil, then turn it down and let it simmer for a day, topping up the water level as needed.  After several hours, or all day, I turn off the heat and let the mixture cool off overnight.  The next morning, I get up and start straining the mixture into gallon size glass jugs.  Do not use plastic, as this concentrate, though not really rough on the skin, will eat through plastic jugs within a few days and leave you with a leaky mess.  It is also a good idea to vacuum seal or water bath can (in quart-size jars) any concentrate you will not be using right away, as it will ferment and grow yeast.  This fermentation does not make the cleaner lose any effectiveness, it just replaces the pleasant, citrusy scent with an unpleasant odor.

Be sure to label the concentrate so no one drinks it.  I don't know how harmful it would be, but I certainly don't recommend it.

A note on straining.  I put a funnel on top of the glass jug I am straining into and line it with a piece of old t-shirt, sheet or dishtowel to filter out the solids.  The liquid is too thick for coffee filters, it takes forever, and does not need to be strained as much as that.  I then ladle the liquid into the filter, scraping solids off as they build up.  When I get down to where it's mostly peels and other solids, I squeeze them real good, filter the remaining liquid, and put the now softened peels into the compost bin, where they compost much more readily.

How to use your fantastical new cleaner.  For general cleaning, I dilute 1 part cleaner to 4 parts water in a plastic spray bottle.  At this dilution it has not eaten through any of my bottles yet.  This works well for light cleaning of counters, glass, mirrors, sinks, toilets, floors and all such general light jobs.  For laundry, I use 1/2 to 1 cup undiluted, pour in with the soap instead of bleach, and enjoy softer, whiter, more pleasant smelling clothes.  For tough, greasy jobs, like my stovetop, I pour the undiluted concentrate right on the greasy spots, let soak at least 20 minutes, then use a hard plastic scraper to loosen most of the cooked on grease.  This does sometimes leave a few small areas to scrub with steel wool or a copper scrubber, but takes most of the work out of it.

I have used this same formula with orange peels, lemon peels and combinations of different citrus peels, in smaller and larger batches.  The basic idea is just cover with water, cook several hours, strain and enjoy using your own homemade, all natural citrus cleaner.