Sunday, July 22, 2012

Pinteresting Toothpaste

For quite some time now, I have been itching to make household cleaning and hygienic supplies. I have seen so many blogs and posts on Pinterest about making everything from deodorant to cleansing wipes. And even toothpaste. 


We have been buing toothpaste at Cost-Co, it was more affordable than buying the regular stuff at HEB, or our favorite local health food store. And I avoid WallyWorld like the plague....don't get me started....but I was sad when Cost-co stopped carrying fluoride-free toothpaste. I gave in to the economy of the price tag, and we were brushing with the fluoride laden stuff for a while when I noticed my teeth were getting spots on them. Eww! I won't post a picture of my teeth, but this is the idea: 


This stage isn't supposed to be "dangerous"
After over 20 years cavity free, and always being given compliments on my pearly whites, I was in shock! I decided to do some research and found out that it was probably from dental fluorosis. Which is basically, from what I understand too much fluoride in your body. Some of the stuff I read was just plain scary, and some was just plain ridiculous. But from what I saw, and from what I know of my life changes...my darling husband and I decided to quit the fluoride.

I went to price the natural toothpaste at our health food store, and at 4-5 dollars a bottle, I thought "surely there is something better out there."

There is, and I found it! This Blog had the recipe I based mine off of. But I used a few others that seemed similar, and came up with the New Stone Zahne Potion Version 1.0. I mean, our first batch of Toothpaste. I say the first batch, because I will be tweaking and trying different flavors until we can find something each of us like. I already know I would like to make an herbal toothpaste, and our lil guy would probably appreciate something with a sweeter undertone.

Easy recipe. I made it at 1am, after a dinner and a movie with the hubs and we are loving it! My teeth are so happy, and fresh feeling, and I know it is better for us, and more affordable so that makes the 10 minutes spent mixing well worth it. Of course the hours I spent researching a good recipe, well...those are hours well spent on our health, and hopefully hours saved for you, wonderful reader!

So without further adieu, I present to you, my recipe. Sorry, for the lack of pictures, it was super late, and last minute...
  • 2/3 cup baking soda (I used to just rinse with hydrogen peroxide, and brush with baking soda, but this will freshen your breath much better)
  • 1/3 cup coconut oil (or more depending on consistency you desire)
  • 2 Tablespoons raw honey
  • 1-2 teaspoons peppermint essential oil for flavor (more or less to taste)
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt (I use Pink Himalayan)
  • water (added for a more desirable consistency)

    Step 1: If you prefer, warm the honey and Coconut oil so it is easier to work with, I did not, since they were both liquids at room temperature
    Step 2: Whisk all ingredients minus the water together until thoroughly combined
    Step 3: Add more flavor, honey, or coconut oil to your preferred texture, using water if you so desire. I like a more crumbly texture/paste, so just a tablespoon of water was enough, but for our lil guy's I made it with about 3 tablespoons of water, so it's more like the stuff he is used to.
    Step 4: Put in a container, give it a go, and never spend too much on Toothpaste again!
  • Oh and don't forget step 5: Send me your pictures of those pearly whites, and those cute little ones helping make this super easy recipe, as well as any comments or questions you may have. 
If you let your kids help, you can measure out the "magical fairy's" ingredients
 and let them have fun with creating a healthy alternative to what's for sale 

Our finished product, I like it more powdery,
 but you can make it more like a paste
It looks crumbly, but once you wet your toothbrush...

...just dip it in, and voila!  
Such a brilliant idea...can't believe we have been spending so much on toothpaste all these years! All of the ingredients ended up costing less than a tube of the all natural stuff, and we have about two tubes worth of toothpaste!

If you'd like to see the health benefits, or the cost breakdown just let me know. I'm happy to share!

As always, thanks for reading! Happy Brushing!




Friday, July 13, 2012

Bratwurst? Yes, please.

Oh Thursday...you come before most of the world's favorite day, and therefore are a forgotten favorite, aren't you? Well, I love Thursdays.

While most of the working world celebrates Friday, I adore you Thursday. So tonight I made my favorite meal in your honor. Bratwurst mit Brotchen, Spargel, und Kartoffelsalat. 
For those who need visual aids...
but just hearing the word Bratwurst gets my taste buds excited

I made a new version of German Potato Salad, it was incredible. I am usually a bit worried when I make something new for the boys, but even my Darling Picky Husband thought it was definitely something to add to our rotation...if you can call it that. Next time I make it, I will have to post my recipe. I looked at a few online, but kind of took a spin off of the three that sounded the best.

In further celebration of things I love...a few shots of our silly new family member, Oreo. I heard Shi laughing like a Hyena while making lunch today, and he shouted "Quick! You gotta come see this" Well...this is what was tickling his cute little funny bone:
"(giggle)Oreo (snort) is chewing (giggle) that grass
(chortle chortle)...like...(giggle) AnOLDFarmerMan!"
I think we laughed and chased him with the camera for 10 minutes before Oreo had enough. Then he turned into our normal TweenKitty

This is the usual flash of movement I get as he pounces me,
unless he's sleeping

Yeah, that is just creepy.
But he's cute...


and those are just plain good. 
So while I figure out what I did that made that Kartoffelsalt so good, take a look at some of my other recipes! What is your favorite thing to make?
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