Homemade Liquid Castile Soap

I love Dr. Bronner’s liquid castile soap, the only problem is that when you use as much castile soap as I do the price can add up. I heard of Kirk’s castle bar soap so I bought it to use in the shower. I really loved it and it is super cheap compared to other soaps. It’s all natural and made with coconut oil, but it does not smell like coconut.  I found it in the regular soap aisle at Wal-Mart, you can also order it here: Kirk’s Castile Soap. 

I have made liquid hand soap out of other bars of soap before, so I figured I could make this into liquid castile soap like Dr. Bronner’s. 

I ended up with a nice liquid soap, but very thin. I was actually a little disappointed and thought that I had watered it down too much, until I used it. It was still very sudsy and effective! You could use less water if you wanted it thicker but for me this works just fine. Here are some of the ways that we use it around our house:

Face/body wash in the shower (add baking soda for a great exfoliating wash)

Hand soap (in a regular pump bottle or about 1/4 soap to 3/4 water in a foaming dispenser)

In place of Dr. Bronner’s in my homemade shampoo (I double the amount for this)

To clean fruits and veggies from the store (to remove germs and pesticide residue if you buy conventionally grown produce)

In place of Dr. Bronner’s for cleaning (Diluted with hot water for mopping the floor, cleaning the walls, cabinets, etc.)

Bathing pets

Pest control in the garden (Drop bugs into a bucket of hot soapy water)

Homemade Liquid Castile Soap:

1. Grate 1 bar of Kirk’s castile bar soap into large pot or container.

2. Add 10 cups hot water, stir until soap dissolves.

3. Store covered. (I use empty gallon-size water jugs and shake gently before use)

Update – This liquid soap seems to thicken or gel up when cold, store in a warm area of your house and it should remain liquid. 

I really love this stuff and you can’t beat the price. Little changes like this can make a big difference in your budget and eliminating toxic chemicals from your life. It takes hardly any time at all to make, it is cheap, all natural and works wonderfully. If you can think of any other uses for this please feel free to share in the comments. Enjoy!

❤ Ashley

 

 

Texas Here We Come!

I apologize for not posting anything lately, my daughter and I have a vacation coming up and I have been preparing for that. We will be in Texas for a couple of weeks visiting family. Of course I will post some pictures when we get back 🙂

I just wanted to share something with you all before we go. I keep finding more reasons to love coconut oil. I have heard that a lot of people use it on their hair like a homemade hot oil treatment, so today I decided to give it a try. I am really surprised at how soft it made my hair after one treatment, my ends are so smooth and shiny too 🙂 All I did was melt it in the microwave, ran it through my hair, covered with a shower cap and left it on for about an hour. I had to wash my hair 3 times to get it all out, but I used  A LOT. Then I just used my conditioner like normal. This is the result: (All I did was dry my hair with a round brush, there is no product at all in my hair)

I wish I would have taken a before picture, but honestly I didn’t think I would be so pleased with the results. Sorry about the quality, my cameras are charging so this is from my phone. I would definitely recommend trying this if your hair is dry or frizzy from coloring it.

Hopefully I will have some of my Gramma’s homemade recipes to share when I get back! I hope everyone enjoys their spring break!

❤ Ashley

 

Homemade Chocolates

These are so simple to make, with only 3 ingredients. They are absolutely amazing and addicting…. and even…. healthy?! They are like a cross between a chocolate bar and fudge. Made with organic extra virgin coconut oil (which can be found in the vitamin section in Walmart), honey (local/raw is best) and unsweetened cocoa powder (raw organic is best but regular is fine too). I made these today to try the recipe and I didn’t even plan on blogging about it, but now I must!!! I really want to give credit to the creator of this recipe, but I cannot remember what site I found these on, so sorry! I had the recipe written down on a piece of paper. If I ever find it again I will post a link immediately! I doubled this recipe and ended up with about a sandwich bag full of chocolate. So this is what you need:

• 4 tablespoons organic extra virgin coconut oil
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder

First, melt your coconut oil. I used a glass measuring cup set inside of a pan with some water. I heated it low and slow, but I am sure you could melt it faster if you are in a hurry or have no patience, lol. Pour your melted coconut oil into a medium sized bowl, then add in the honey. Whisk together until combined. Whisk in cocoa powder, a little at a time. Keep stirring until your mixture has thickened up and no lumps remain. Pour into a flat container and stick it in the fridge or freezer until solid. You may want to spray your container with non stick spray first, I did have a bit of difficulty getting mine out. Then you just cut into small squares. So easy right?! This would also be perfect for silicone molds!

I sprinkled kosher salt and shredded coconut on top of my chocolate before sticking it in the freezer, and I have to say the little bit of salt makes these even more amazing! I really love sweet and salty combos. You could also stir in nuts, dried fruit, extracts, etc. There is a coconut taste to them, but even my husband who hates coconuts LOVED these chocolates. He ate several after dinner tonight lol. Don’t tell him I told you 🙂 As I said in my deodorant post, coconut oil starts to melt at 76 degrees. So you may want to store these goodies in the fridge or freezer… in the back… where no one can see them but you! Seriously…. they will go quick!

Now you can have a treat and not feel so bad about it 🙂 Sure coconut oil does have fat in it, but its the good kind! If you google “benefits of coconut oil” you will find lots of great info. Its also really good for your skin and can be a great treatment for damaged hair. If you get the raw organic cocoa you get the amazing benefits of that as well, bonus!

I really hope you will try these, they far exceeded my expectations and I had to share! Let me know if you plan on trying them, or if you do try them please let me know what you think!

❤ Ashley