Chemical-Free Hand Sanitizer

Mix together

1/4 cup witch hazel extract
1/4 cup aloe vera gel
1 tsp. vegetable glycerin
1 tbsp. lemon juice or organic apple cider vinegar
10 drops tea tree oil

Store in an airtight container. Simply squeeze a little onto your hands and rub in.

Snicker Snacks Recipe

Snicker Snacks

½ cup sunflower seeds

½ cup sesame seeds

¼ cup agave (or honey)

½ cup nut butter (I use almond butter)

½ cup carob powder (cocoa powder can be used)

Coconut (optional) -- roll in coconut for a variation

In a food processor add 1 ingredient at a time and pulse until the mixture forms a large ball. Pinch off and roll into balls.

Oh my goodness – they are delicious! They really taste as good as Snickers Bars(:

Economical, Chemical-Free Laundry Soap

In my recent research over the past year or so for a laundry detergent I have been amazed at how economical these products are and how little you use. Just because it is 'green' and chemical-free (and dye free and fragrance free) doesn't mean you'll pay more. Added benefits?

bb= safe for baby clothes and cloth diapers
- = you use MUCH less than commercial brands
* = WAY better for your clothes, the environment, your skin
$ = cheaper than brands you buy at the store
scent = unscented (scents are usually chemically derived and actually build up on your clothes and combine to the chemical residue)

Here is the best I've found in a powdered form...
Wonder Wash (www.wonderwash.net) gets 80 loads per container and costs about $0.14 / load if you buy in bulk direct. You literally use 1 Tablespoon per load. There are no phosphates, dyes, perfumes, bleach, color, brighteners, whiteners, sulfates, chemicals, etc. Best on the market!
--> since my original post of this I have been to Superstore pricing out these other brands (including NO NAME) which are ALL more expensive than ordering Wonder Wash directly from their company. The only thing is that you had to buy a large quantity box... what I'm doing is ordering a bulk order and splitting it with 3 friends so we'll all pay $50 and have enough to last us about a year!!! Check the website for ordering info or you can order it locally in smaller quantities but it is much more expensive(:

For price point comparison...
Watkins Laundry Soap gets 80 loads per box and costs about $0.22 / load (great ingredients)
Malaleuca ($0.23 / load) -- looks pretty good for ingredients too
No Name Superstore $18+tax 150 loads ($0.14 / load) it's full of scents, fillers and other junk
Tide $24.40 90 loads ($0.31/ load)

Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe (no sugar, no butter/marg)

Mish’s Cookies...

Okay so you might think they'd not taste good without the abundance of butter, margerine and sugar but they are amazing and filling too! When my husband loves them too I know they're good. And as for the chocolate chips... you've gotta live so those are a 'must' in my opinion.

In a blender place

1+ cup dates

2/3-1 cup boiling hot water

1 cup cashew pieces (much cheaper than whole ones)

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1 Tbsp lemon juice

¾ tsp salt

Allow to sit for 10-15 minutes. Puree until smooth.

In a large bowl combine

½ cup spelt / whole wheat flour

½ cup rolled oats

2 tsp baking powder

Pour pureed ingredients into the dry and stir to mix. Add desired ‘add ins’ (I use 1/2 bag of mini chocolate chocolate chips).

Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes. YUMMY!

Economical, Chemical-Free HAND SOAP

Purchase Dr. Bronner's Castile Soap (unscented or peppermint is nice) from any healthy food store (I pay $9.99 for 472 mL). Use 1 part liquid soap with 3 parts water in a sudsing soap pump. The pictures shown here are (LEFT) a glass one purchased from Winners / Home Sense for about $10 and a plastic one (kids bathroom) purchased from Whole Foods.

$ = minimal... I guesstimate about $1 per fill in your soap dispenser
scent = 'choose your own adventure' scent... add any essential oil
ingredients = water, organic coconut & organic olive oil, organic hemp oil, organic jojoba oil, citric acid, vitamin E.

* This is great soap for the entire family... from babies to adults. We use it as hand soap, body wash and baby soap/shampoo. A little goes a long way!

Groovy Granola Recipe

Groovy Granola

My friend Tracy shared this wonderful recipe with me some time ago. We adapted the recipe slightly and have been hooked on this granola ever since!

Dry Ingredients:

3 cups rolled oats

2 cups rolled spelt

2 cups rolled kamut

6 Tbsp ground flax seed

1 cup pumpkin seeds

1 cup coconut

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp salt

Wet Ingredients:

1 ¼ cups hot water

¾ honey

1/2 cup grape seed oil

2 tsp vanilla

Preparation:

In a large bowl combine the dry ingredients.

In a glass measuring cup combine the wet ingredients.

Pour wet ingredients over the dry and stir to combine.

Bake in a large baking dish for 1 hour at 250 F stirring every 15 minutes or so.

Watch out – this disappears almost as quickly as you make it!