A Simple and Soothing Homemade Facial Cleanser

Finally, and after way too much to do, I have found a way to cleanse my face without irritating it or drying it out. What I love about this stuff is that it is soooo cheap to make and it is even easy to use. Also, since in is just ground up dried ingredients, it is easy to store and has a long shelf life. I started by just grinding up rolled oats into a fine powder. (Anything coarse would be too rough for daily use.) Then, the next day I read in The Herbal Body Book by Stephanie Tourles that adding water to this and leaving it on for about 15 minutes is a good idea. Well, I must have misread, since I can't find it anywhere now, but I added hot water while I was making tea. I guess I just always make oatmeal with hot water. So I let it cool, and then applied it all over my face and upper neck for 15 minutes (scared my husband a wee bit, the first time I did this). And get this! I don't have to sit with my head under a towel and over a hot bowl of water. I can fold towels, clean the kitchen, or even something funner. It was like a walking steam facial because when I rinsed it off with cool filtered water (chlorine is drying) my pores were tiny! The oatmeal was so soothing and my skin was left clean, blackhead free and moisturized. (I am no spring chick and so my mature skin appreciates this.) The next day I got fancy and added calendula flowers, rose petals and lavender flowers (all dried, of course) before I ground it. I am in love! AND it did not cost me beaucoup. Next time I use it, I am going to use some of my jasmine green tea instead of plain water. (I am actually excited about washing my face. Now if I can just make brushing and flossing exciting.)

P.S. I used a small electric coffee bean grinder. The kind that has a button on the lid, and the lid converts into a little dish. Enjoy!

Gluten-Free Baking Day

Yay! A truly malleable AND all natural gluten-free dough. This dough was so lovely that I was able to do this:

Now this was just a test, so it's nothing fancy, but bubbling with a smidgen of rice syrup and just a touch of butter, it tasted so, SO good! I felt like an old farm girl in her kitchen, again. With my apron on and wooden spoon in hand, I mixed and molded, and ate the whole thing right up. Yumm!

I adore whole grain moist breads. It is what I miss most being gluten-free. But here I have it once again. This trial run with the remaining dough from the tarte and cheese cake crust (which I will make today) will next be turned into cinnamon rolls. I can't wait to serve a batch of those to my family. I also believe that I will be able to turn this dough into pizza dough with a few minor changes and into sugar cookies, too.

I have been working for about 3 years now on developing just such a dough without all of the super-processed starches and xanthan gum. I base my recipes on gluten-free, whole grain flours, and other old fashioned ingredients like milk, butter, and honey or rice syrup. I have made these with sugar and soy or rice milk, also and they work equally as well. My goal is to be gluten-free without being so processed and starchy which many celiacs eventually develop sensitivities to. I myself became so over burdened by corn starch in my diet that I can no longer eat corn of any sort or even use facial products with vegetable glycerine, since that is often if not usually made of corn. I have also noticed a nasty chemical aftertaste to all non-organic starches, which completely ruins any wholesome or organic ambiance in food.

Yay! Here's to good, old-fashioned comfort food.

P.S. That huge pile of egg shells are just being kept for our hens. No, I did not use all of those today.

Frivolities That Fit Our Frugality

"To be without some of the things you want is an indispensable part of happiness." -Bertrand Russell

Being creative with what we have. Creating beauty out of the everyday. Being without creates a spark which when fueled by need or desire turns into inspiration and creativity.

Some of my best meals have been found in a seemingly empty kitchen. That's when I look at that odd jar of say sauerkraut, purchases out of curiosity and then ignored until one week before its expiration date, and created one of our top one- pot meals. (I do not count the pot of staple brown rice as a pot, since I can practically make it blindfolded.) Hot dogs (the og, grass fed, only muscle tissue kind--the kind that tastes like the most tender steak ever) slow-cooked with sauerkraut , served over that plain rice. I more or less killed the kraut, however since to protect my young 'uns, I simmered the heck out of it. Still we have since fallen in love with the stuff, and even make our own.

My blog will thus be where I share my frugal creativity. I know that I appreciate connecting with others who share in my love of creating with cloth, yarn and food. I adore being able to make my home my career, but sometimes, it can seem a wee bit isolating. So here I go, offering my voice, and lending an ear.

P.S. The quote is from some of my favorite bedside reading, At Knit's End by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee. Also, the above picture is of me quilting my new purse. (More on that later.)