DIY All-Natural Oatmeal and Honey Scrub Great for Face, Body, Hands, & Lips with Free Printable Labels

Here in the high desert, Winter can be very harsh on the skin. As the winter months roll on, your skin starts to really show the damage and regular lotions alone just don't cut it. As counter intuitive as it may seem, exfoliating is a huge part of keeping skin fresh and hydrated. It sloughs of dry, dead skin cells, and allows for new, renewed cells to form. Although there are tons of commercial products on the market, we prefer our DIY all-natural oatmeal and honey scrub to aid in dealing with dry skin.

Easily made from items most people will find in their cupboards, our oatmeal and honey scrub is great for the face, body, hands and lips, and is even edible! As a fan of lipstick, I noticed that as the winter progressed, my lipstick started to look cracked and uneven. My lips had dried out too and began forming a layer of dry, dead skin on the top. Simply using a small amount of this all-natural oatmeal and honey scrub on my lips worked wonders at creating a fresh pallet to put lipstick on.

Using Plastic Chocolate Candy Molds For Hard Candy, A Precautionary Tale

I am not an amateur in the kitchen, not even an amateur at working with candy molds. I am however, quite the amateur hard candy maker! Melting and pouring chocolates into molds is more my candy making style. Which would explain why I had way more chocolate molds than I had silicone candy molds. It didn't even occur to me that what I was about to do would result in melted plastic and inedible "candy", or in our case, homemade herbal cough drops.

When I set out to make the homemade herbal cough drop recipe, I rummaged through my bins of candy making supplies, and keeping the desired size in mind, grabbed a plastic mold that fit the bill. Although it was Christmas themed, I thought the size would work well. I must have thought at least four times before I began pouring the syrup that I should use the silicone molds instead, but I wasn't a huge fan of how deep they were.

Homemade Herbal Cough Drops For The Cold Or Flu, Long-Term Food Storage Friendly

A few weeks ago the kids came down with a cold that plagued them with sore throats and a nasty cough. After running out of our store-bought cough drops, and not wanting to take two sick kids to the grocery store, I decided to make some at home. The homemade herbal cough drops for the cold or flu are easy to make, and more likely than not, you already have the ingredients you need.

We started with my cold and flu busting homemade herbal tea and even made a homemade herbal cough syrup .  You can us the herbal tea recipe I used, or just some herbal tea you have around the house. I have read that simply honey is better than any other cough medicine for alleviating a sore throat or cough, so using another liquid should be fine too as long as honey is the base ingredient.

Homemade Hot Cocoa Mix Recipe, Long-Term Food Storage Friendly

Hot cocoa mix is a staple in our house. It's like coffee for the children, and they like having it when the mood strikes. The past few weeks though, we've been out. I had the best intentions to make more, but simply kept forgetting. This morning though the kids were ready for more hot cocoa mix, and we happened to have the time to make some. Although we've made this recipe several times, I change it a bit each time and never write it down, so it was good to have taste testers there to guide the way.

This recipe uses items you may already have in your pantry or long-term food storage, and is great for those cold, gray days where you're stuck inside. Plus, it comes together quickly.

Homemade Herbal Cough Syrup Recipe, Long-Term Food Storage Friendly

Since school started in September, it has become the "Year of Colds" at our house. Every time there's been a virus going around at school, at least one of my kids have brought it home.

After stocking up on store-bought cough syrups and drops and thinking about all of the "stuff" that's going into them, I decided to make some at home using what we had on hand. I started with a cold and flu busting homemade herbal tea. You can use the recipe provided in that post, or use an herbal tea of your choice for this herbal cough syrup.

Cooking From Long-Term Food Storage With Powdered Milk

Today we're going to talk about cooking from your long-term food storage with powdered milk. Although, it may seem counterintuitive to use your food storage, there are many benefits to utilizing your long-term food storage in everyday life, such as;

• learning to how to reconstitute, or cook items you may not be familiar with, so you know how to use them when you need to use them
• rotating and cycling through your long-term food storage
• you will learn what your family eats and what they don't eat so you can buy more of the stuff you know you'll use

Cold and Flu Busting Homemade Herbal Tea Recipe

Cold and flue season is upon us and it has hit our house hard this year. We do all of the normal things to stay healthy and we eat well. But, for whatever reason, we just haven't been able to escape all of those pesky germs! Luckily, we have some beneficial herbs and spices on hand to make our own cold and flu busting homemade herbal tea that is both good to drink, and packed full of healthy properties that are good for you too. This herbal tea is a great way to fight the cold or flu naturally.

Kid Friendly Kool-Aid Jello Recipe, Long-Term Food Storage Friendly

As a mom of two finicky kids, I am constantly looking for new things for snacks and lunches that the kids will like. Around here, they will like something a lot for awhile, get bored with it, then want to try something new. This not only keeps me on my toes, it keeps my kitchen busy!

Chewy Granola Bars Recipe Long-Term Food Storage Friendly

Looking for a great snack that everyone in your family will love? Maybe something you can toss in your bag and munch on when you're on the go? Then, this is the perfect recipe for you! We love this for lunches, snacks, and when we're really busy. These chewy granola bars are filling enough to be a meal replacement in a pinch.

These chewy granola bars are packed with good for you yummy goodness and are long-term food storage friendly. Meaning that all of the ingredients are things that you may already have in your long-term food storage or pantry. If you don't already have some of these items, these bars are a great excuse to stock up (think sale or coupons), but the recipe is flexible enough you can use what you do have on hand too.

Black Bean and Rice Burgers Recipe, Long-Term Food Storage Friendly

As part of our January meatless challenge, I have been trying new recipes and modifying old ones. Going into this, I thought we could just make the same old meals sans meat, and it just hasn't worked out that way. Most recipes that have meat use it for the main dish so creating the same dish without meat leaves you hungry and wanting more. I've had fun experimenting with new dishes and even created a few new household staples along the way.

One thing I have missed desperately however is a big, juicy, delicious... HAMBURGER! I have visions of a bacon hamburger smothered in condiments with a homemade hoagie bun. Yum!  But, that, for whatever reason is one thing I haven't allowed myself to cheat with. So, last night in an effort to curb my hamburger craving, I decided to make black bean burgers. I've always heard great stuff and have seen tons of great looking foodie photos which made me want to try them. But, I never thought the family would go for it.

Easy Honey Apple Chicken Recipe

Fresh out of the oven, and ready to serve

I have a lot of hobbies, and, although I enjoy cooking, I wouldn't call myself a chef.  Especially when it comes to chicken.  It seems I grab a package of chicken thinking it will be an easy meal, and I always end up thinking I could have done something better, more exciting with it in the end.  Plus, with two kids and swim lessons, baseball, work, a husband, and well, a life in general, time gets limited.  A few years ago, I remember vaguely seeing a clip on a reality show where the girl put apples and honey on her chicken before baking it, so I gave it a shot.  And... I have never looked back! 

Sewing A Quiltsmart Mondo Bag

I finished my Quiltsmart Modo Bag last week, and let me tell you... It is indeed Mondo!

The Mondo Bag from Quiltsmart is made using fusible interfacing and 2.5" squares of fabric. Making it perfect for jelly rolls or layer cakes. It does take a few hours from start to finish, but is an easy enough project even a beginner can do it!

it is called the Mondo Bag for its Mondo size measures approx. 17" tall with a 10" square bottom. Very roomy! Measurements will vary slightly due to inseams and the amount of seams in the bag.