Author: Vicky Lusby ([email protected])
Photo credit: Fox-Stock

Hi Everyone,

I hope that everyone is ready with their favorite homemade recipes. These recipes aren’t limited to cooking. It can include anything from your favorite homemade household product to ammo reloading mix.

What I like about homemade mixes, besides saving money, they give me the opportunity to personalize the products to fit my specific needs. I have become very sensitive chemicals and many odors. I can limit my exposure to these things by making my own.

I believe that chemically sensitive people like me are the human version of the canary in the cage. I get sick immediately when exposed to these things while others never notice symptoms but overtime develop serious, even life threatening, illnesses such as cancer due to their long term exposure to chemicals we are bombarded with these days. A good example is the average woman uses and consumes 7 pounds of petroleum jelly, a byproduct of oil drilling and a main ingredient in lip gloss, per decade. When you have a few minutes read over this article from Dr. Oz , http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/beautys-most-controversial-chemicals. I can dramatically limit my exposure to these chemicals by making as many products as I can by using safer ingredients. Looking at this from a purely financial standpoint I have an immediate cash savings by making my own products plus a huge long term saving from avoiding expensive serious illnesses.

I originally hesitated to make my own products, I believed that making my own products would be difficult and time consuming. I was wrong on both counts. A good example would be laundry soap. The one that I use takes me 20 minutes to make and is enough to last me a month. I could cut the time down to 10 minutes if I used a food processor. My automatic dish soap takes 5 minutes to make and my moisturizer for my face 5 seconds. The recipes are so simple even a public school student, LOL, could make them.

Since most homemade recipes are made from a few common ingredients, I dramatically cut down on the amount of time spent shopping. I used to literally spend hours couponing. Don’t get me wrong, I still coupon for some items but overall I have dramatically shortened my shopping list.

My list of things I need for my home now consists of

• washing soda
• borax
• citric acid
• and white vinegar.

Shampoo and body wash requires

• liquid castile soap
• and vegetable oil.

I admit that I don’t bake a lot but when I do I prefer to bake from scratch. Instead of buying numerous baking mixes, I’m learning all that I really need are few staples. Buying staples in bulk offers dramatic savings. The time that save in my grocery shopping allows me plenty of time to make my own mixes. If I want to really be lazy then I can use dried eggs, milk & buttermilk in my recipes.

Now for my personal favorite, my 5 Second Facial Moisturizer. I discovered this out of desperation. I was running late for an appointment and I was completely out of moisturizer and even hand lotions. My skin was so dry that I knew that makeup base would stick and not spread evenly. My completion was really acting up and I didn’t want to go anywhere without makeup. So I wet my face and I added a drop or two of olive oil on my face and smoothed it around. My base went on like a charm.

I fully expected to have to pay later with a breakout as a result. Instead my face just loved it. My skin took on a depth and clarity that I hadn’t seen in years. This has improved the condition of my skin to the point that they are days when I don’t bother with base at all.

Olive oil is also great for brittle nails, too. Put a few drops on cotton ball and rub it on your nails at bedtime. They will not only become stronger but they will look like they have clear polish on them.

If you don’t currently make your own homemade products I hope that I’ve encouraged you to give it a try. I recommend that you start with one category at a time. I started with making my own household products and now I’m hooked. If you already make you own please take this opportunity to share a few of your favorites. You are also welcome to put them in our files.

Vickie Lusby
POHF Coordinator