Healing Salve

First off, let me say that I am no doctor.  Please do your own research as to what you feel you can and cannot do for your family.

As some of you know, a few years ago, I began playing around with homemade non-petroleum jelly. (http://jilloalltrades.blogspot.com/2012/08/all-natural-cosmetics.html)  It is simple.

Recently, I investigated a healing salve.  Calendula is always good for soothing and healing skin for example.  Plantain (the plant, not the relative of the banana) is one that is excellent for blocking the reactions of bug bites, and Jewel weed is excellent for poison ivy.

 Jewel Weed is a very tender plant with yellow to orange flowers, with a bit of a spottiness to it. It prefers the damp, shady (or at least partially shady) places.

           

Plantain. Note the purple stem, and when you pick it you will find that it is very stringy,like very tough celery. It loves full sun and sandy places.    

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

I am one of those unfortunate people who even when surrounded by others will get eaten alive by the hordes of insects, while those next to me will say what a pleasant, insectless night it is.  I itch, I swell, and my daughter is the same, so this sounded like a good plan.

I first harvested the plantain and jewelweed.  Both are considered weeds, and were relatively easy to find.  I took them home and cleaned them and dried them (This step is important!), and then ran them through my food processor.

In a pint mason jar, I put the chopped up plants, along with the dried calendula I already had.  Next, cover the whole batch with olive oil until it is completely covered (preferably with about a half inch of just oil on top.)  Remember I said the drying stage was important? Well, does water and oil mix?  water in your product will not help your final salve, and water or plant material above the oil line will just encourage mold.

Keep this in a jar, shaking occasionally, for 4 weeks. When ready, strain it well and your oil is ready to use.

From this point, just follow the non-petroleum jelly recipe.  I have added a few drops of tea tree and a few drops of vitamin E oil.  The vitamin E extends the shelf life, while the tea tree adds a bit of anti bacterial properties, which makes it a bit more of an all purpose, excellent healing salve.  I have used it on cuts, bug bites and poison ivy, all with very good results.

 This is what it looks like just poured.

 you can see i have it in both small travel size balm 'tins', and both half cup and full cup mason jars.  A little goes a long way!

Drier balls

So, I had read about using drier balls instead of drier sheets. I don't really do a lot with fiber, but a quick trade got me some wool.


My first batch I admittedly wrapped a little too loose. They work, but will likely fall apart sooner. My next batch had them much tighter and therefore harder. Roll it just like you would a regular ball of yarn, only tight. Tuck in the end. The ball should be about the size of a tangerine. (I wouldn't make it bigger than a baseball).


When you have a number of balls, you will want to put them in an old nylon stocking, knotting it tightly between balls.



If you have ever had a favorite wool sweater go through the wash, you know you need 2 things to make wool shrink--water and heat.  Take your balls and soak them in water before you put them in the drier.

Because no matter how tightly you roll them, your balls are still going to be full of air.  This means, yup--they are going to float.  I used one of my bowls that fit into the pitcher to hold them under the water.



Next, pop your balls in the drier.  Now, I usually hang dry, unless it is raining for an extended time.   However, something to consider is it will likely take more than one cycle to dry. (this most recent batch took 3 times through, but I over soaked them.)

When they come out (and feel dry) you will need to cut them out of the nylon.

This is what they look like when they emerge. -->







The final product.  Now, I made several.  I made them different colors both because that is the yarn I had, but also to differentiate scents--put a few drops of essential oil on the ball prior to tossing in the drier. (This is not enough oil to cause an issue in your drier). I usually use cedarwood oil, but have also used lavender. I also make several because the kids tend to take them with their loads to their rooms, not to be returned for a decade or so.



Now for the amazing news.  On an average clothing load, these balls have managed to cut off about 20 minutes of drying time.  Think about that. 3 loads would be an HOUR saved--and we all know that the drier is one of the highest users of our electricity (right up there with electric water heater and stove!)

Totally worth the time!

 

Playing Catchup

I'm afraid I have been a horrible blogger.  started a new job, and it was more important that I actually DO the stuff, than blog about it.  I hope you will all forgive me!

Last summer, I moved my vegetable garden (all 20'x16' of it) to my parent's property, where I could spread out, grow some things I didn't have room for, and really get to growing. My mom wanted a garden again, but wanted so share.

My side of the garden? 100'x24'. There were some tricks to this garden however.  First, it used to be the 'family' garden--like my great grandparents.  It went fallow gosh, about 20 years ago. No water. No electric. Lots of varmints.





Some lessons learned?

• We live in New England--it doesn't matter how many rocks you pick, you will always grow more.
• Wild Turkeys like to take dustbaths in your dirt.
• Organic gardening on THIS size takes a lot more work--8 tomato plants compared to 30 to squish bugs on a regular basis is hard, and it doesn't matter how much neem oil or dishsoap water you spray, you need to always keep on top of it.
• Mexican bean beetles like squash and cucumber plants, but didn't eat the beans.  Who named these anyway?
• feast or famine--like when all dozen of my canteloupe ripened with 2 days.
• guarantee, it will be absolute hottest heat wave when it comes time to can your tomatoes.
• mulch is your friend.
• again MULCH IS YOUR FRIEND. No one actually ENJOYS weeding.
• when the garden isn't home, make sure you bring plenty of baskets, bags, buckets for your harvest (and in one instance, I used a printer box for a whole load of swiss chard!)
• little white butterflies are not your friend. They are not pretty on a hot lazy afternoon, they are out to get your perfectly lovely cabbage, broccoli and collard greens. Devils in disguise!

You get my point. I was very proud of the absolutely lovely spinach that seemed to last forever last year.  30 tomato plants kept me in canned tomatoes until March.  I had lovely pickles, and amazing broccoli.

So I tried to take my lessons into this year. Broccoli and spinach? Must have more of.  the 3 rows of broccoli seem to be behind where they were last year; the jury isn't in yet.  Spinach seeds were planted too deeply and too late to replant; will be aiming for a fall crop.  Been keeping a better lid on the insect infestations.

 Things that changed this year--

• have a better idea of what I planted too much of (still in freezer)
• better idea what my family will eat (wax beans did not go over well:( )
• My mother moved her garden, so I know have the full 100'x50'--so we're doing lots of experimenting this year. (more on this in later posts)
• The deer gave me a free pass last year--not so this year.  Had to break down and get an electric fence. Remember, I'm in the middle of a field; no electric--so the fence is solar powered.
• No water. Not so bad last year, but it's been stop and go this season. My dad helped me out with a home made gravity fed rainwater bucket (yes, another post)

Which leads me to further plans.  I will be building a high dome to extend my season, and a cold frame at the house.

Other notes of interest that I hope to blog on soon--I recieved my national food handler's license, so will be starting to offer canning and cheesemaking classes on a more formal basis soon.

Currently working on:

• Braided rug out of old T-shirts.
• Liquid soap
• Oatmeal Honey soap
• healing salve
• natural bug spray

Will be blogging more soon!

How do I love thee, Blood Orange, Let me count the ways

In a previous blog post, I talked about 'foraging' at the local grocery store.  Some will simply give you questionable produce, with the idea that you will feed it to livestock. Others, such in my area, will package it up, and sell it at a much (much!) reduced cost.

So I've taken to watching the reduced shelves whenever I head to the store.  Scores included limes (which were made into limeade concentrate...yum.) Lemons--the same, and this last trip had me getting 2 3lb bags of blood oranges.

Blood Oranges  are famous for their deep ruby hue.  This color can only mature when there are cool nights.   The particular variety I had, if you're the curious sort was Moro; the newest of the varieties, and also the one that has the most pigment.  Wiki says it has a taste like raspberry, but I don't think I'd go that far.  They are available from late December to March, if they're Texan fruits, and a bit earlier if they're Californian.



So here I am with my two bags. My husband ate one, said it was a bit more sour than he liked, and didn't have any use for them.  So now it was time to find some new things to do with them.

I went to my canning groups on Facebook, asking for ideas-and boy was I given some ideas!  Marmalade was a common one, and I like marmalade; but I have 6 boxes of jellies, jams and marmalades right now.  Sure I can use them for barter, but, well, I wanted to try something new.  Then, someone mentioned curd.

Curd is a spread, a bit like a custard.  It is used with citrus fruits and includes butter, sugar and eggs.  YES! It is safe to can curd, because the high acid of the citrus keeps everything else safe.  It makes a very smooth texture, and can be eaten in all sorts of ways. The most common curd is lemon.

The recipe wouldn't take the whole bunch of oranges, but it was something new to try!

Flipped through some online recipes, and my canning books.  This one came out of a new book a girlfriend gave me, wittily titled, ' Put 'em Up' (It's a new listing to the right in my 'bookshelf' column.)  It's the lemon curd recipe, just changed out to the blood orange. (Which the author says you can.)

To make you'll need:

a non-reactive double boiler (no aluminum here, folks.)
non-reactive whisk
4 1 c. jelly jars with lids
pot for hot water bath
lifter

The Recipe:
1 tbsp. blood orange zest (with a microplane, this was basically one orange's worth of zest.)
1 c. blood orange juice (I strained the pulp out, THEN measured it. It took 4 oranges.)
 1 1/2 c. sugar
3/4's c. (1 1/2 sticks) butter, cubed.
4 eggs
1/2 tsp salt

Now, I DID play with this a bit. I left out the salt, because I didn't have unsalted butter.

Directions state to dump everything at once into the double boiler, I put everything in, and added the eggs (lightly whisked) once the butter was all melted.

Then you whisk.
And whisk.
And whisk.


This picture is about halfway through the process.  You can tell it is not thickened yet.

Whisk for about 10 minutes, until it has thickened. (you can tell this because as you whisk,it will start to stick and coat the edge of the double boiler.  This will take about 10 minutes, maybe a bit longer. This is another part that I skipped in the regular recipe. It tells you to strain at this point.   Maybe I would've had more flavor, but I felt I'd lose more curd this way. I stand by my decision to strain the juice and be done with it.

Can in your jelly jars, wipe the tops, screw them down tight....you all know this part right?

Anyway, boiling hot water bath, for 10 minutes....but here's the change.  Turn off the burner, or pull your canner off the burner. Let the jars sit for an additional 5 minutes.  No, I don't know the WHY of it, but those were the direction, so that's what I did.

Recipe states that it will be good for one year.

However, I still have 3lbs of oranges left. Got a little sidetracked with more than 20 lbs of rendering, and decided against the marmalade....But I've been making a lot of concentrates, so why not?  I still had raspberries in the freezer, so I took 2 c. of these, defrosted them and juiced them.  Juiced the remaining oranges, and added to it.  This gave me just over 2 cups of juice, to which I added 2 cups of sugar.  Brought it to boil, then ladled into pint jars.  It only made 2; but in my finding the ratio is something like 6:1, so that's still plenty to drink!  These are a BIT shy of the top, (usually up to the lip) but they still sealed well.












BUUUTTT you know me.  Waste not, want not....So I have a big pile of squished out oranges.  I did use the peel from the one my husband ate to add to the citrus cleaner vinegar, but, they're blood oranges...shouldn't they have a better life than that?  So, I decided to make candied citrus peels.








Now most recipes will tell you to soak, boil, rinse, boil again, to take the bitterness out of the pith. Even then, I don't like the texture. and who wants to eat pith anyway?
I take the halves and cut them into 4 pieces.









This is where your fish skinning talents come into play.  Slip your knife under a corner, just edging between the skin and the pith.once you get a finger hold on JUST the skin, start moving it away from yourself, holding your knife at about a 25-30* angle.  You can feel the bumps of the skin when you are close enough, though if you are unsure, it is better to take a few passes.  when the backside of your skin looks the the skin of a basketball, you're good to go.  I've done this with my good kitchen knife, but the second batch, I *ahem* 'borrowed' one of my husband's filet knives. OH so much better.



I stacked them up and cut them in half once more. (So one orange would give you 16 pieces.)

In a wide pot (a saucier, or even a fry pan) heat 3 c. water with 4 c. sugar to boiling.

Once it's boiling, add in the peels.  Being sugar, this will boil much lower on your stove; I had this boiling at medium.  You know your stove best.  Just remember, burnt sugar (and having to clean up burnt sugar) sucks.

You don't have to mess with it much. Stir it every 3-4 minutes.  I cleaned up and loaded the dishwasher while they were boiling. As you get close to 15 minutes, start watching the peels. When they start to have that 'stained glass glow' you know they are done.

I'm hoping you can see the difference! These are just right.  Nice and translucent, shiny, and just looking like little jewels.

Take them out with a spider if you have it; if not, a slotted spoon, but take more time to shimmy as much liquid out as you can.  Put on a tray lined with paper towel to cool.

Once cool, but still wet, you want to coat with more sugar.  I did this in small batches, shaking in a container.  As they cool, they will curl a bit, so you need to watch for this.  You want to get the sugar in every nook and cranny, because this helps their shelf life (not to mention, make them taste better!)




Once they are dry (and they won't ever be completely DRY, but when they are as dry as they're going to get) put them in a sealed container. They can stay out on the counter, no need to refrigerate.

Thought I was done?  well, I had a goodly amount of flavored simple syrup after boiling, and besides adding this to seltzer and making a killer soda, you can also use it to make cordials.

Cordials are lovely, and there are two ways to make them. First, you could macerate the fruit in question in straight vodka.  The second way is to flavor the simple syrup.  A cordial, is very easy to make and modify.  Make the densest simple syrup possible.  Flavor one or the other (or go crazy, and flavor both). For each cup of liquor, add one cup of the simple syrup.  See? I told you it was easy.  Since it is liquor, it does not need to be canned or refrigerated.  In this, I added 3 of the candied peels, BEFORE they'd been covered with the final coating of sugar.  You don't want to introduce crystals into it, as it will start crystallizing the whole thing on you. (be fun to watch; not so good to drink. ) Did this for a few reasons, one, purely ascetic, it just looks nice. Second, to continue to add more color to the cordial. If you'd rather not, you certainly don't have to do this step.



Since I had enough simple syrup, I did both; made cordial, and set aside the rest of the simple syrup for soda later. (The sugar syrup I put in the fridge.) (Simple syrup is at the left, the cordial on the right.)





So that is 5 completely useful, completely separate items (6 if you include the peels I put in to make the all purpose cleaner) and not one is a marmalade!

Soaping Up

If you've been a reader for a while, you know I'm a regular little cheerleader, 'Try it, You can do it!'

But occasionally, like advice, we don't always live it ourselves.  Soap, for a long time has been my road block.  I read voraciously about how to make it.  The math and calculations jumbled in my brain, the ingredients seemed exotic and expensive and lye! Don't get me started on that!

I admit it, soap scared me silly.  I usually have no problems taking directions from a reading source, but this was one I just didn't feel comfortable about doing without some physical tutoring.  Fortunately, I had a few friends or friends of friends who made their own soap, and it was just a matter of who was making theirs first.

Now, this was over a year ago, and it was a complete success.  But the point of the story is, we all feel out of our depth sometime, but don't let that stop you learning something you want to know. Find a friend who knows how, take an adult class, ask around; but don't tell yourself you can't do it.

So now it's my turn to make soap by myself. That first batch of soap did have an ungodly number of different fats and oils in it, and yes, most of them had to be ordered online. Luckily, my friend had them all. I liked the soap, don't get me wrong, and will probably (okay, definitely) make more, but the frugal, prepper wannabe in me scratched her head and thought, 'hmm. shipping? cost? These things just might not be available.'  Not only that, but like I said...I usually use the word frugal, but really, it's just a euphemism for cheap.

Now if you scroll back, you'll remember I wrote a blog about making your own beef stock, and how I saved the tallow for later?  I remelted it, and screened it, and let it solidify again. Made 5 cups (along with the tallow from my second batch.) I really wanted to make tallow soap, because well, I had it and it was free, and I didn't want to waste it. I did some researching,and this was one recipe/set of directions I found that I really liked. (though, their recipe used lard.)

Tallow (or lard) are the easiest (and gentlest!) soaps you can make.  The ingredients are readily available.  While I used the tallow I had (marrow tallow) the best really is kidney fat, or suet.  Tallow is also one of the hardest fats there is, so it gives you a good firm bar.

You can make it with just tallow, water and lye. It's really that simple. But the same friend who taught me said the cleaning power wasn't as good as some.  This is  a fantastic chart that I really have been using.  It seems very complicated as you read below it, but if you're a math or science type, it might help you get your head around it. (I admit, it only made sense to me AFTER I'd  made it.) However, it was able to tell me what other fat I could add to boost its cleansing power.

Before I start, let me say that I will not be sharing the recipe I used today. I basically made it up using a soap calculator, a wonderful tool that allows you to plug in the amounts of fats/oils you will be using and number crunches the amount of lye and liquid necessary. As such, its not a tried and true recipe, and as its not cured, I don't know how well it will work.  There are thousands of soap recipes out there, find one you think you like, and try it.

Second, soap-making is pretty darn easy, but yes, it CAN be dangerous.  Use all pyrex type glass or stainless steel materials.  Wear eye protection, no matter how silly it makes you feel, and rubber gloves whenever you are dealing with lye. (Trust me, you do NOT want a lye burn!)  You want to be in a well ventilated area. (I thought I was in a well ventilated place; I'm prone to migraines, and it triggered one, so take this one seriously...If you can, do it outdoors.)

Lye sadly, is used in the making of meth amphetamines, so many places that used to carry it, no longer do. Check your hardware store, it is used as a drain clearer.  Some areas (especially those prone to trouble with drugs) may ask for ID, etc.  Don't worry, it's not you.

Okay. Enough of the 'scary' stuff.

There are only 3 real steps to making soap. 

1.You need to melt the fat.  You can do this in the oven, on the stove top or in the microwave.  When I made this batch, I did it in the microwave. I put it in a minute at a time, and stirred it.when you see a few cloudy clumps left, you can be done, as it will 'coast' the rest of the way to fully liquid.  You will want to use a temp gauge on it. You will eventually want your oil between 100*-125*.





2.You need to make your lye solution.  When you do this, follow your recipe closely as to amounts.  IF you do this inside (which I really don't recommend) make sure its on a pot holder, or something that heat won't affect. When you add lye to liquid, there's a chemical reaction that gets it really hot. Also note, it changes color (yellow to dark brown, depending on your type of liquid).  And, NEVER add liquid to lye, always add the lye to the liquid.  Spilled lye can ruin countertops as well, so keep that in mind.  This also needs a temp gauge in it.  It will first get really hot, and this too, needs to be between 100*-120*
(Yes, this is outside on my patio.  It looks a bit lumpy because I used cream as my liquid, and because frankly, it was cold outside, so the temperature was dropping quickly.) 




3. When the temperatures are right (the closer they are to each other, the better) Pour the lye solution into the fat. You will need to blend this with an immersion blender.  For quite a while, actually.  Since my Kitchenaid has a stainless steel whisk and bowl, I felt comfortable enough to put my soap mixture in there (only after my immersion blender got so hot, I was afraid of burning it out.)  You don't have to blend it continuously after the first 15 minutes.  5 minutes after a 10 minute wait until you reach trace should be fine. If you have ever whipped homemade whipped cream, its about to serve you in good stead.  Your soap mixture texturally is like your fresh heavy cream. It has some substance to it, but is essentially liquid.  As it blends, you will feel it get thicker, and thicker, until the liquid can hold the shape along the surface of your machine of choice.  And just like cream, if you blend it much more after that, it will get hard.  At the point of trace, add your essential oils for scent if you'd like them. (Be aware that citrus, unless mixed with an anchor oil-something I'm not completely straight on yet--will 'vanish'  by the time its finished curing. This is how my cardamom lime soap turned into just cardamom soap.

3b. Stir in the scents well, then put into a mold. At this point, the saponification has already started, and you won't get burned by the soap. Now, you can buy fancy silicone molds, or if you have them for cakes, or whatnot, you can certainly use them. At this point, its only soap, nothing harmful. But they don't' have to be.  You don't want a shallow pour, and you want something you can easily remove from. 1/2 gallon milk or juice containers work well, but I don't buy much of either these days.  So I took a box, cut it down, and lined it with wax paper. The smaller one in the picture was just in case I had too much.

Soap needs to dry slowly.  If it cools to quickly, you can end up with cracks.  So you will want to wrap your mold in a towel overnight to let it cool slowly.  Check your recipe for how long you should let it stay in the mold.  I took mine out earlier, because with mostly hard fats, I wanted to make sure I could still cut it. 







Put them on a drying rack (a cooling rack is fine--this is the picture at the top of the page.)

Depending once again on your recipe, curing times are usually 4-6 weeks. This is not time for it to chemically change, that's done in the first 48 hours, but its time for more moisture to leave the bar.  The longer you wait, the firmer your bar will be and the slower you'll go through it.

My plan for this soap is to use it to make my laundry soap.  I'll make sure to comment or blog how that goes when it finishes curing!

Making the Most--Rendering Lard

Before you start to holler, meat is murder...
Yes. It is. I readily admit I am an omnivore. But if something is going to give its life so that I can eat, I want to make sure I don't waste any of it.  You've seen my postings on making bone stock.  Well, the same can go for fat.

That being said, if you have ever had REAL pie crust made with good lard, or in bread instead of shortening, I won't need to cajole you.  Many store bought lards are partially hydrogenated, which is the BAD fat, or else they include other oils, such as canola.  Shortening and margarine are just one step away from being petroleum...do you really want that in your body?  If you've been reading my blog for a while, you know my feeling on real food.  And lard (as well as tallow--beef's version of lard), my friends, is real food. Yes, its still a fat, but its actually a  healthy fat.

You want pork fat, with little to no meat as possible--seriously, it can affect the flavor. Dice it up as much as you can (I like 1 cm cubes as close as possible) the smaller and more uniform your pieces, the more evenly the oil will be expressed and the more oil you'll get. I've actually read of people putting it through a meat grinder first, but have never tried it.

In a very clean pan, (I use a saucier) you want to cook these at a medium heat, stirring regularly.

**NOTE** Bacon fat is NOT lard!  I know, you're likely scratching your head saying 'wait, bacon is pork!'

Yes friends, but it is also smoked pork. If you're lucky and it's artisan, you only have smoke to deal with, but if it's bought, there are all sorts of nitrates, etc in it to 'cure' it.   This would not work as baking lard.  Keep bacon fat separate if you keep it at all!

Once you start cooking it, you will see a nice clear looking oil appear. You will want to keep cooking until the fat pieces all look like nicely brown crispy critters. These are called pork cracklins.  You can salt them and eat them like chicharrones, (pork rinds--at right) or use them to flavor things like collard greens. If you are the nervous sort, or the sort that doesn't pay as close attention as you know you should, please keep a tight fitting cover nearby, just in case of a grease fire.  However, I have to say, I've never had a problem, nor known anyone who has, but it is always better to be safe than sorry.


 In a sieve lined with 4-6 layers of cheesecloth, pour the hot grease into a mason jar.  Another helpful hint.  You really want to use wide mouthed jars for this. Yes, you can pour it into a regular jar, but once it solidifies, are you going to want to fuss with the shoulder of the jar to dig out the lard when measuring?

Me either.

Once cool, cover and put in the fridge. You don't have to keep it there, any cool, dry, dark place will do, I just find it more convenient there.  I'd say it'd last forever, but you'll use it up before then. You DO want to make sure there is no water in it, as it can cause it to turn rancid.


This method is sometimes called the 'dry' method.  As I previously mentioned, you don't want water in your final product.  As long as you watch it closely, it shouldn't be a problem.


The other method is called the, you guessed it, 'wet' method.  This requires using water.  With pork, you would process it the same, but start the pan with water in it.  I find a form of this method easier to use when I make tallow.  Saving the fat as it cools on top of the liquid, then reheating and filtering the same as in the hot method.

 The wet method does give you more control over the heat, and thus, more leeway in your attention, but you cannot have any water at all left when you strain. Theoretically, it all boils off before then.  I know some people swear by it, but if I know even a little water can cause problems, well, I'd rather just skip it.

Lotion Bars

So here's the story.  I'm a swapper.

Mind out of the gutter folks.

Popping up across the country, in various farmer's markets and private groups, it's the idea of trading home goods ...could be eggs for pickles, or brandied cherries for homemade soap. I read about the idea on the Hip  Girl's Guide To Homemaking, by Kate Payne.  I thought the idea was a keeper, and did some hunting around, and found a local one. A great place to look is The Food Swapper Network.

In either case, I'd made a swap this fall, (the canned pears? or maybe rosehip lemongrass jelly...but I digress) for a lotion bar.  It was a last minute swap, and I thought what the heck.

One of the best swaps I made all summer. It was tangerine patchouli, which while I know its popular, is not one of my favorite scents.  It worked amazingly well on those really hard callussed and constantly cracking places, like heels.  But sadly, i'ts nearly gone.

Since I couldn't get an answer from the group as to who made it, or the recipe, I did some hunting around and researching.

I already knew that the scent I wanted was cedar lemongrass. (It's one I use in massage oils, very nice.)  The recipe is as follows:

1/2. c (2 oz.) coconut oil (I could find this at Walmart)
1/2 c. (2 oz.) shea butter (this is the raw stuff, not shea butter lotion-had to order online)
2.5 oz (by wieght on this one) of shredded beeswax OR
2/3 c. beeswax pastelles
1 tsp. vitamin E oil (This is to increase shelf life.)
essential oils for fragran.

 I added the frangrance oils by smell, but it was a BAD idea.  When it is in liquid form, some smells just hide, and come back out when they are cool.  Like soapmaking, some smells don't translate as well in the lotion bars. Because I did it by smell, I ended up having to remelt them, and adding more cedar oil.  In addition, remember that some oils are more harsh for senstive skin. I also found that citrus oils (lemon, lime, orange, etc) should not be added if you plan on wearing in the sun.

You will need to put your ingredients (except the essential oils--heat can ruin some) in a pan.  This is where I disagree with other recipes.  Most say you want to melt these over a double boiler, or in a water bath.  However, the same recipes state that introduction of water can ruin your bars! so I don't want water near it.  Hence, I take the very low, very slow, and watch like a hawk approach.on low it took about 10 minutes to melt entirely.

While it was melting, (The picture is about halfway through the process) I took out my 6 cup cupcake pan and put in paper cupcake liners. 

When it is ready, the oil will be completely clear, and look as though you just poured canola oil in the pot. After it is all melted,  add the essential oils.






This recipe will make 6 cupcake sized lotion bars, but if you have silicone molds, go for it, they'd work just as well.
After filling, I made sure to use all I couldn't scrape out of the pot on myself.  It doesn't need to cure or anything, and I hate waste.

 Ten minutes into the cooling process.  My house stays rather cool, and they won't truly harden well for about 24 hours.  But after about a half hour, they are solid enough to move around.  Your body heat will cause them to soften, so they need to be stored in a relatively cool place. I also package these, for that exact reason.

Price Breakdown, main ingredients cost me about $25.  But with that, I have enough to make at LEAST 4 batches (I suspect 6.)which breaks down to somewhere between $1.04 and .69.  This price would vary wildly, depending on the essential oils I choose to use.That being said, the beeswax and shea are both very pleasing, and you might choose not to add any frangrance at all!

(Main recipe came from Everyday Paleo which you can see here. They have some other great ideas!)