Paola Made Her Own Soap - Get the Kids Involved
My daughter enjoys making healthy things. Paola has become quite talented in making her own skin care products. A while back she made soap for the whole family. She also loves making snacks for the whole family.
Handmade beauty products are also perfect gifts for the family.
The melt and pour method is something Paola can handle with only a tiny bit assistance from an adult. The glycerin and the herbal tea will be hot ,so this should not be made without adult supervision.
Melt- and pour soaps are quick and easy to make which makes it a perfect activity for older children. These soaps can be made very simple by melting the glycerin soap base and added essential oils. Or they can be made with added herbal teas, rolled oats, dried herbs, rose petals, lavender flowers and more.
Here is how Paola made it:
First she made an herbal infusion of lavender, chamomile, and calendula. Three tablespoons of dried or fresh herbs to every cup of water is the standard recipe. We don't always measure and roughly estimate instead.
First she cut the glycerin soap base into chunks and put them in a bowl. She slowly melted the glycerin by putting the bowl over boiling water.
Lavender essential oil is a favorite oil, and it is very useful around the house. Paola decided she wanted to add some lavender to the soap. She added several drops to the cooled off herbal tea.
Paola removed the glycerin from the stove and added the herbal tea. She didn't measure the amount of tea that she added, but it was about 1/4 cup.
Glycerin soaps can be added to single or individual molds. Paola wanted to have several different shapes instead of slices of soap.
Voila!
Wonderful soothing soap that the whole family can enjoy.
Part of Paola's Healthy Girls
You might also like to read other posts about Paola and Alex:
Part of Paola's Healthy Girls
You might also like to read other posts about Paola and Alex:
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9:06 AM |
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Getting the Children Involved - Make Your Own Herbal Shampoo
Here is a post my daughter wrote on our homeschool blog a while back:
Posted by Paola
Today, my mom decided that we should make shampoo. We followed a herbal recipe.
The first step is to put put four tablespoons of flowers into a big cup. We used dried chamomile, calendula, and lavender.
Alex and I took turns pouring in the ingredients. Alex poured in the chamomile, and I poured in the lavender and calendula.
After we dropped the flowers into a cup, we boiled one cup of water. After we boiled it, we let it sit for a while and then we poured it in with the flowers.
I mixed the flowers well so that were under water.
After letting it sit for 20 minutes, we used a coffee filter to strain the flowers. But the best thing to use to strain the flowers is a cheese cloth. Handy Tip: Make sure you don't pour any of the flower material into the herbal tea, otherwise it will get bad quicker.
After that we poured a cup of soap into the infusion from the flowers.
Another thing we had to do was pour glycerine and essential oils into the herbal tea. But first, you have to mix them separately. We used lemon oil, manuka oil, and lavender.
Then, we poured the glycerine mixture into the herbal tea, and stirred it slowly.
Lastly, use a funnel to pour the herbal tea into a container. It is best to use a dark container since essential oils go bad if they are exposed to sunlight too long.
I named my shampoo the Essential Oil Shampoo. If you are interested in making a shampoo with essential oils like this, then you will have to be careful while putting it in your hair. You do not want to get it in your eyes.
Check out the other things Paola and Alex helped with:
Juicing - Get the kids involved
A new twist to a protein shake
Check out the other things Paola and Alex helped with:
Juicing - Get the kids involved
A new twist to a protein shake
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11:20 AM |
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Al's New Twist to the Whey Protein Isolate Shake
First Alex added a bunch of frozen berries.
We like to add freshly squeezed juice, mixed berries, and fresh fruit to our shakes. For extra nutrition we add things like various super foods such as spirulina, kelp or other mixed green powders, omega 3 oils, ascorbic acid, glutamine, D-Ribose, creatine, and other things that we might find useful at the moment. It depends on what we do and what the need is for that moment. A pre- workout shake is different compared to an after workout shake. A bedtime or late evening shake consists of fruits that have a low glycemic index, which will modify the blood sugar and insulin response better. Green apples, pears, peaches and cherries have a lower glycemic index.
Hm, he sure is taking advantage of mom's generosity today. Sugar is not something he is allowed to add other days. At least it is unrefined and unbleached with many nutrients intact. Never the less, it is still sugar. He added the total amount of three teaspoons.
Alex left the carob powder untouched in the pantry and went for the cocoa powder. It was unsweetened but it was not even the dark version. He thought the leftover cocoa from making frosting looked more delicious.
One scoop of whey protein isolate was added to the berries, sugar, cocoa and hot water.
We prefer to use whey protein isolate since it has the highest biological, value and it also has many healing properties. We use the unflavored protein, and we add all kinds of things to enhance flavor and healing properties. Whey protein is rich in minerals and vitamins, especially B2. It acts on the intestines, kidney's and the liver, and encourage detoxification.
It is not just for athletes, even though whey encourage elimination of acid through the kidneys, allows athletes to work out longer, and it reduces the time it takes to recuperate afterward. Cooking destroys vital nutrients in meat and eggs, therefore it is not possible to absorb the protein the body needs from cooked protein. The body needs vitalized protein, and not cooked denatured.
If you don't have one of these small and useful blenders I recommend you to buy one. We have several in the house but we only display one. I can make several different shakes in a very short time since I have several cups I can use. In our house no one drinks the same shake. My husband and oldest son needs different shakes than the smaller kids after hours of working out.
Doesn't that look yummy?
1:56 PM |
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Juicing - Get the Kids Involved and Explore the Healing Powers of Raw Vegetables and Fruits
Inviting your children to take part in making healthy food or drinks, increases the chance that they will eat or drink it. The benefits of fresh juices made of vegetables are enormous. They provide vitamins, minerals and enzymes missing in pasturized store bought juices. We made a very simple but nutritious juice yesterday, but you can add many things to enhance the flavor and the taste of your juice.
Paola and Alex love to go outside first thing in the morning to play before it gets hot. After getting all dirty and hot, they were all eager to help making a nutritious juice. (They washed their hands first but, you can tell they were out digging.)
We used carrots, celery and Swiss chard for the juice. It has a great ratio of potassium and sodium, and it is a high fiber drink.
Swiss chard is high in B12 and Vitamins A, C, E and K, riboflavin and B6, as well as minerals such as copper, iron, magnesium and zinc.
Celery is a great source of the vitamins B1, B2, B6 and C, and potassium, folic acid, calcium, magnesium, iron, phosphorus, and sodium. (Health benefits of celery.)
Celery is a great source of the vitamins B1, B2, B6 and C, and potassium, folic acid, calcium, magnesium, iron, phosphorus, and sodium. (Health benefits of celery.)
Carrots are high in beta-carotenes, it is also a source of vitamine B3 and C, potassium, calcium, iron, zinc, sodium, sulphur, chlorine and traces of iodine. (Health benefits of carrots)
You can of course add things like algae, whey protein isolate, coconut, omega 3 essential fatty acids or other things to your juices.
We used about 4 stalks of celery.
About 7 carrots.
Paola and Alex really enjoyed stuffing the juicer.
We got quite a lot of juice out of 7 carrots, 4 stalks of celery and 2 leaves of Swiss chard. When my husband makes it for himself he adds more Swiss chard.
Enough so that our picky eater could try, and since he made it himself, he actually liked it.
Paola is our health nut, and even though she would drink anything that is good for her, she is extremely proud of things she makes herself. She loves to learn about health and healthy stuff.
This post is linked to:
The Mommy Club, Make your own - Monday Link-Up, Real Food 101 , Monday Mania , Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways, Eco-Kids Tuesday
10:57 AM |
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