Tomato Paste Saver (cool idea)
Feb 22nd
FREEZE TOMATO PASTE: This is a brilliant idea! How many times I have felt guilty throwing away a half a can of paste or try to save it in the fridg only to throw it away later.
Tomato Paste Saver: Most recipes call for only a small portion of tomato paste — you use a tablespoon or two, and the rest invariably goes to waste. To save the remainder: Carefully open both ends of the can with a can opener. Remove one metal end, and discard it. Leave the other in place. Wrap the entire can in plastic wrap, and freeze overnight. The next day, use the metal end to push the frozen paste out the open end. Discard can, tightly rewrap unused portion, and store in freezer up to 3 months, slicing off just as much as you need each time you cook.
Enjoy this little tip!
Sudsily yours, Kim (your friendly soap goddess) 
Cranberry Mojitos recipe!
Feb 13th
Cranberry Mojitos (makes 2):
8 oz. fresh cranberries
1 C sugar
1 C water
20 mint leaves
2 T lime juice
Ice
4 oz. rum
4-6 oz. soda water
5 tips to brew a perfect cup of tea
Feb 10th
1. Water temperature
“The temperature of your water is hugely important. Using boiling water on green tea will burn the leaves, ruining the taste of your cup. I use slightly cooler water for Japanese steamed green teas than I do with Chinese pan-fired green teas. But using boiling water on Black Tea is a must! Black tea is best steeped with boiling water and the pot should be pre-warmed!
A quick way to determine the proper water temperature for your tea (without using a thermometer), is to bring the kettle of water to a full boil and let it sit for a few minutes before using. Also, standard tea practice stipulates that hot water must be poured over the tea, never tea into water.”
2. Steep time
“Over steeping your teas can leave them bitter, and you lose the delicate flavor of the leaves. You could use a tea timer, but proper steeping time is approximately four to seven minutes depending on the type of tea.”
3. Re-infuse
“Looking to get as much out of your tea as possible? Try re-infusing your tea leaves! Some teas, like green teas and oolongs, can be re-steeped several times and produce a different flavor profile after each infusion.”
4. Always be sure to give your tea enough room to infuse
“As water seeps into the tea leaves, they expand into the cup. For maximum flavor, you’ll want an infuser that gives them enough room to grow.”
5. Break the rules More >
DRY BRUSHING SKIN (get rid of toxins, improves health and tighten skin)
Jan 16th
What is the largest organ in the body?
ANSWER: THE SKIN!
What organ is responsible for ¼ of the body’s detoxification each day?
ANSWER: THE SKIN!
What organ eliminates two pounds of waste acids daily?
ANSWER: THE SKIN!
What is one of the most important elimination organs in the body?
ANSWER: THE SKIN!
What organ receives one third of all the blood that is circulated in the body?
ANSWER: THE SKIN!
When the blood is full of toxic materials, what organ will reflect this with problems?
ANSWER: THE SKIN!
What organ is the last to receive nutrients in the body, yet the first to shows signs of imbalance or deficiency
ANSWER: THE SKIN!
A Simplistic Approach to Healthier Skin
The practice of dry skin brushing may be old news to those who practice the daily routine, but with all the skin care products and hypes out there, I thought it important to re-introduce a process that is not only a great way to maintain healthy skin, but also helps you to maintain a healthy body. The ability of the skin to excrete toxins is of paramount importance to you.
Dry skin brushing is one of the healthier self-help methods available to us today. Stimulation of the skin sets in motion natural healing pathways within your body. Additionally, it encourages nerve beds within its structure that in turn increases normal healing processes throughout the body.
There are several automatic systems contained by the body including healing processes. Your heart beats by design—you breathe automatically—and your body’s “automatic healing process”, is another. It is set in motion when your body generates an itching response to the required areas. You will obviously scratch that area, and in turn, the area turns red with a fresh blood supply and the natural healing process has now been set in motion. This is the same healing process that will follow a skin brushing session.
Your skin is the primary sign of an internally toxic body. As soon as your internal body becomes toxic, it will spread out into your skin causing your skin to become irritated and itchy. There are numerous ports of elimination of the skin including your mouth, face, and arm pits, the inside of your upper thigh region, feet, and toe nails. Did you know that body odor is also an additional indicator of toxic build-up and is eradicated through the same channels. Let’s not forget your tongue, which builds up a plaque and is yet another gauge of toxins in the body.
Our skin is permeable or porous, and can absorb toxins directly from the environment. According to Jacqueline Krohn, MD, “Caustic chemicals, such as alkaline solutions, can also penetrate the skin. Once a chemical has penetrated the stratum corneum (the most superficial layer of the skin), it moves through the epidermis and into the dermis. Skin brushing will enhance your health significantly. You may wonder how this is accomplished using, “skin brushing”. It is a fact that the skin is one of the optimal ways to getting to the endocrine system and all the glands it reaches very quickly. In addition, at the same time, it triggers them to react successfully. The instantaneous result from a brushing session is a feeling of increased physical well being.
The Benefits Of Dry Skin Brushing
- • Dry skin brushing helps to shed dead skin cells, which can help improve skin texture and cell renewal.
- • Dry skin brushing increases circulation to skin, encouraging your body’s discharge of metabolic wastes, which greatly aids the lymphatic drainage of the entire body. When the body rids itself of toxins, it is able to run more efficiently in all areas.
- • Dry skin brushing also helps to tighten the skin because it increases the flow of blood. Increasing the circulation to the skin can also help lessen the appearance of cellulite.
- • Dry skin brushing stimulates the lymph canals to drain toxic mucoid matter into the colon, thereby purifying the entire system. This enables the lymph to perform its house-cleaning duties by keeping the blood and other vital tissues detoxified. After several days of dry brushing, you may notice the gelatinous mucoid material in your stools.
- • Dry skin brushing helps with muscle tone and more even distribution of fat deposits.
- • Dry skin brushing also rejuvenates the nervous system by stimulating nerve endings in the skin.
- • Dry skin brushing helps your skin to absorb nutrients by eliminating clogged pores. Healthy, breathing skin contributes to overall body health.
- • Individuals who sit at a computer screen all day long will particularly take pleasure in the benefits of skin brushing. People who have inactive lifestyles or jobs usually experience stiff and sore necks and shoulders that reach even into their arms and down their spines and into their lower backs. Increased blood flow begins entering the areas brushed and you will experience an increase in electromagnetic energy that permits you to feel energized and invigorated.
- • LADIES—Cellulite is toxic. Cellulite is toxic materials that are accumulated in your body’s fat cells as they are unable to be eliminated. So, rather than liposuction surgery, how about utilizing the “dry skin brushing” techniques coupled with an alkaline diet program and a great exercising routine. It will break down the unwelcome toxic body deposits and send them scurrying out of your body through the elimination channels we discussed above.
How to Get Started With Your Skin Brushing Regimen
| 1.Purchase a natural, NOT a synthetic, bristle brush. (vegetable bristle)2. Purchase a brush with a long handle, so that you are able to reach all areas of your body. Best-case scenario would be one that had a removable head with a strap for your hand.
3. Skin brushing should be performed once a day, preferably first thing in the morning. If you are feeling ill, please do it twice a day until you feel better. 4. Skin brushing should be performed prior to your bath or shower and your body dry and naked. 5. Begin brushing your skin in long sweeping strokes starting from the bottom of your feet upwards, and from the hands towards the shoulders, and on the torso in an upward direction. Always brush towards the heart. Try and brush several times in each area, over-lapping as you go. 6. Avoid sensitive areas and anywhere the skin is broken. |
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7. After brushing your skin, rinse off in the shower. Paavo Airola, author of Swedish Beauty Secrets, recommends alternating temperatures in the shower from hot to cold. This will further invigorate the skin and stimulate blood circulation, bring more blood to the outer layers of the skin.
8. After getting out of the shower, dry off vigorously and massage your skin with Midnight Oil Massage Oil, Body Butter, salve or Lotions
9. Don’t forget to clean your skin brush using Midnight Oil soap and water once a week. After rinsing, dry your skin brush in an open, sunny spot to prevent mildew.
10. For a thorough lymphatic cleansing, perform skin brushing daily for a minimum of three months.
Caution: Do not brush on or over skin rashes, wounds, cuts, infections, poison oak or poison ivy.
Note: Any well designed program will take about 30 days to see and experience the changes. Please be patient and keep up the program!
I love the way I feel after dry brushing and you will too!
Sudsily yours, Kim (your friendly soap goddess)
Simple Steps to Protect Your Skin this Winter
Jan 4th
- MIDNIGHT OIL SOAP (M.O.): add moisture back to your skin as you bath. DO NOT USE COMMERCIAL PRODUCTS, they contain
detergents that can remove protective, essential oils. - M.O. Soaps are olive oil based with the added benefit of Goat Milk making the soaps the same pH as your skin. This allows your skin to not be striped of it’s natural pH.
- Don’t take extra-hot showers. As much as you want the comfort of that heat when it’s chilly, there’s less moisture in the air during winter and hot showers can further dehydrate your skin. Make showers as tepid as you can tolerate.
- Don’t assume that drinking water or replacing fluids internally is enough to keep your skin healthy during cold weather.
- BODY BUTTER from M. O.: Replenish skins moisture with these easily absorbed, skin loving butters that are high in fatty acids, vitamins and nourishment for all types of skin, perfect for extra dry skin. Apply to every part of your body and enjoy soft, silky smooth skin! I love this lotion and highly recommend it.
- BODY BUTTER FOR HAIR???? Yes, take a handful of M.O. Body Butter and massage it into your hair, and cover hair with plastic wrap and let it sit for 15 to 60 minutes. A great natural conditioner for the hair in winter.
- HEALING HERBAL SALVE: If you’ve got the driest of dry skin, the best defense for that is a couple of days this salve. Use sparingly, a little goes a long way! Perfect for dry, cracking skin when lotion just isn’t doing the job.
- Wearing slightly loose cotton gloves to bed after applying a sealant will speed the healing process for hurting hands and nails.
- Drinking fluid is important but moisture from the extra fluids can evaporate if not trapped by the epidermis, the skin’s outer layer. Moisturizing is so important this time of year because it protects the outer layer from winter’s wrath while retaining natural moisture from within. Try M.O. Body Butter it will keep your skin supple and healthy!
- Remember that certain beverages are dehydrating, such as those containing alcohol or caffeine, so consume them in moderation.
- M.O. REJUVENATION SCRUB: is perfect for winter use it is a gentle exfoilent in a light, rich lotion base.
- Humidify the air in your home, especially in your bedroom so that healing and repair can take place while you sleep.
- CUTICLE REPAIR: Don’t ignore nails. They’re made of the same basic compounds as the skin and crack and split in similar fashion, I don’t think people realize that when nails split it’s 90 percent from lack of proper moisture. CUTICLE REPAIR IS FULL OF vitamins and oils that strengthen and moisturize the nails and cuticles.
- Take a vitamin B supplement can improve skin, hair and nails, especially during winter.
By using Midnight Oil Products your skin will be healthier, softer and happier! Enjoy!!
Sudisly yours, Kim
HERBAL KISSING BALL (instructions and folklore)
Nov 12th
Do you remember sneaking a kiss under the mistletoe? How Pagan of you…LOL
Mistletoe has a long history of being a very magical, mysterious and sacred plant in European folklore. It was used in pagan weddings for fertility and blessings. Mistletoe in the language of herbs, signifies overcoming difficulties—and so perhaps explains the tradition of stealing kisses from anyone caught standing beneath it. It is also know for fertility and good fortune.
Many of our traditions stem from humanities colorful spiritual past. I find this intriguing and so very fascinating, how we continue to do the same traditions only rename them to go along with the current popular religion. A new name but the meaning is the same .
Did you know that bringing greenery inside was originally a druid tradition? Druids would bring greenery such as mistletoe, holly, and ivy into the home at this time of year, to welcome wandering nature spirits seeking shelter from the cold and dark.
As Christianity became the more popular religion, the people renamed their traditions and called the greenery “holy boughs” and decorated their entryways with boughs interlocked with figures of Jesus and the holy family during the holiday season. The “holy boughs” hung were a symbol of goodwill and welcome toward visitors.
After a period of unpopularity, thanks to the Puritans, Victorians brought the holy bough back from obscurity with a new look, and a new name “THE KISSING BALL”. A symbol of welcome, good fortune and happy home.
WHAT YOU WILL NEED: More >
COLD AND FLU SEASON using GINGER (PART 2)
Oct 24th
Are herbs strong enough to counter or stop flu & colds? Yes, yes they are. As consumers we spend hundreds of dollars a year on over the counter cold remedies. So why not create your own medicine from what you can find at the grocery store or what is in your spice drawer?
Did you know that we are surrounded by the cold virus all year around? People think that they will “catch a cold” if they are exposed to someone who has a cold. But the truth is if you have a healthy immune system then you will not get sick, even if you are exposed to the virus. When your immune system is low the chances of you “catching a cold” increase.
Cold and flu are viruses not bacteria and that makes them more difficult to treat. Viruses are more active and harder to kill then bacteria. I have found that making your own herbal remedies will work better then buying a bottle of capsules from the pharmacy. Most herbalist will tell you that capsules are ineffective and will encourage you to to make teas, tinctures, honeys!
The symptoms of a cold, coughing, aching and sneezing are signs that your immune system is working hard to fight off the virus. These systems help your body get rid of the virus. This article will help you naturally ease cold systems, prevent illness or stop it in it’s tracks. But remember it is very important to keep your immune system in tip top shape. . SO READY? LET HAVE SOME FUN! More >
SKUNK SMELL Be Gone: a recipe that works
Oct 21st
Living in the country we are blessed with a plethora of animals. We have Raccoons, possums, squirrels, coyote, deer,and SKUNKS. The skunk is the most interesting to me because they don’t slink around bushes or hide in trees. In the 8 years we have lived in this house skunk has brazenly walked through my garden, walked by me as I was weeding and eaten chickens at will. Of course, when a skunk walks by me I freeze and don’t move praying “please don’t spray me”. It takes a skunk 24 hours to refill their stink sack so they only spray when they feel threaten. All animals leave skunk alone and give them a respected wide birth. Skunk teaches us to walk in our own power and not worry about what others think. A good teacher.
Three years ago enters Abby a darling little lab-mix puppy. As she grew into a HUGE BEAST, we fondly started calling her “Beasty”. Many of you have heard me talk about my walks with Beasty, that is our Abby dog. For the last 2 years she has kept all those critters out of the yard and has saved a many a chicken live. She guards the house from stranger danger as well as any four legged danger. We love her for that!
Last night Abby met with a skunk. We came home from a concert, dressed nicely and were greeted by the smell of skunk spray dripping off Abby. She was crying and of course we all were gagging. What to do?? Then I remembered that I had saved an article from the Mother Earth News about an excellent remedy for removing skunk smell. My brother had tried the fabled tomato juice and he said it did not work. So I gave this recipe a try and IT WORKS!! The smell is gone instantly!
THE RECIPE THAT WORKS!!
1 quart 3% hydrogen peroxide. (I just used the bottle on the shelf)
1/4 pd baking soda ( I just dumped some in and made a thick paste and then added a little water)
large squirt of Pamolive dish soap (just because)
Use an old wash clothe and swirl around in mixer and then wash fur and face. Abby stood there and was glad to get clean. I had two very large tubs of warm water that I rinced her with and then dried her with a towel. The smell was gone instently! Make sure to rinse the fur well. A good final rinse would be in a light vinegar water. Vinegar cuts removes any soap residue left.
Blessings, Kim (your friendly soap goddess)
COLD AND FLU SEASON using GARLIC (Part 1)
Oct 10th
Here Comes the Flu Season Protect Yourself with Garlic
This time of year I see FLU SHOT signs everywhere. Did you know that this years flu vaccines are made from last years flu virus? Flu viruses adapt very quickly, and one can never be sure that a flu shot is really going to help. If you’ve gotten one you realize that they are not that affective due to the serum is only a guess of which flu is going to strike. You can still get a strain of flu that the shot didn’t cover. So why not try some herbal remedies? They are safe and you don’t need to be rich or have health care to get the benefits! Anyone can make them and it is empowering to heal yourself and family as the sick season is upon us.
EAT MORE GARLIC
One of the best immune-system helpers is garlic. Garlic has been used for thousands of years. It was used to fight the plague in the middle ages. Recently they are finding it is very affective fighting MRSA (staph infection). Garlic is antibacterial, antiviral, antiseptic, antiparasitic, antifungal and immune-stimulating. Garlic itself is an amazing cold remedy. Garlic also helps normalize cholesterol, thins blood and is great for the heart. Dr. James Duke says it contains at least 17 different factors that nourish and support powerful immune system functioning.
When the cloves are bruised or crushed, garlic produces a byproduct compound called allicin. This compound is mainly responsible for its antibiotic activity.
It is best to use raw if you have an infection but if you don’t like fresh raw garlic, powdered garlic is just as good. The dose is 1 or more cloves of raw garlic per day, or up to a teaspoon of garlic powder.
Here are a few of my favorite ways to eat raw garlic: More >
PASS THE BISCUITS
Sep 30th
When I was a kid, my mom liked to make breakfast food for dinner every now & then & I remember one night in particular when she had made breakfast after a long, hard day at work. On that evening so long ago, my mom placed a plate of eggs, sausage, and extremely burned biscuits in front of my dad. I remember waiting to see if anyone noticed! Yet all my dad did was reach for his biscuit, smile at my mom and ask me how my day was at school. I don’t remember what I told him that night, but I do remember hearing my mom apologize to my dad for burning the biscuits. And I’ll never forget what he said: “Honey, I love burned biscuits.” Later that night, I went to kiss Daddy good night and I asked him if he really liked his biscuits burned. He wrapped me in his arms and said, “Your momma put in a long hard day at work today and she’s real tired. And besides… A burnt biscuit never hurt anyone!” You know, life is full of imperfect things… And imperfect people. I’m not the best at hardly anything, and I forget birthdays and anniversaries just like everyone else. What I’ve learned over the years is that learning to accept each others faults and choosing to celebrate each other�s differences, is one of the most important keys to creating a healthy, growing, and lasting relationship. So…please pass me a biscuit. And yes, the burned one will do just fine! And please pass this along to someone who has enriched your life…I just did! Life is too short to wake up with regrets. Love the people who treat you right and forget about the ones who don’t. ENJOY LIFE NOW – IT HAS AN EXPIRATION DATE!
This was sent to me in an email and I was so moved I wanted to pass it along to all MO friends. Sudisly yours, Kim
