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November 28th, 2009
Last time I shared the Bath Salts Recipe and hopefully you’ll have tried it (and liked it). So I thought I’d share another favourite bath time recipe for Oat and Milk bath. After all, if it was good enough for Cleopatra, then it must be good enough for us!
Seriously though, because this recipe contains oats, it’s fabulous for sensitive skin and those with eczema. The addition of cornflour and bicarbonate of soda soften your water (and therefore your skin) without leaving your bath slippery.
All you need to add is a little essential oil of your choise to make it smell great. Lavender is a favourite of mine for this, but mandarin is lovely too.
Ingredients
1 cup corn flour
2 cups milk powder
1/2 cup bicarbonate of soda (increase if your water is hard)
1/2 cup finely ground porridge oats
1/2 cup dried orange peel or rose petals (can be quickly dried in the microwave on a paper towel for 1 minute)
a few drops of essential oil of your choice
Method
- Blitz Porridge Oats in a food processor or blender until finely ground. Add milk powder and process again until mixed.
- Pour into a bowl, add corn flour and bicarbonate of soda, mix well.
- Add rose petals or orange peel if you’ve got any. If desired, add a few drops of essential oil and mix well.
- Package in old, clean jamjars, kilner jars etc. Label and tie with ribbon. Fabulous presents!
Tags: eczema, Green Living, Home-made Gifts
Posted in Green Living, Home-made Gifts | No Comments »
November 26th, 2009
 I’ve had eczema myself since age 5 and although it’s one of those childhood things that people often grow out of, I never did. In fact, my eczema was one of the reasons that I started Cheeky Wipes. At the time, my eczema was particularly bad on my chest and hands and I found that disposable baby wipes made my hands sore and irritated. Not a good state of affairs, when you’re having to change your baby’s bottom 5 times a day.
 So I started using a cut up old towel and water instead…and then I added lavender to the water to keep them fresh and make them smell nice. And then I started keeping them in boxes. And finally I decided I wanted to use them out and about and what do you know, but I had a washable baby wipes kit on my hands!
  Anyway, I’m digressing. I often receive emails from Mums who find that using disposable baby wipes makes their childs’ eczema worse. Whilst switching to washable wipes won’t cure your little one’s eczema, washable wipes won’t irritate their sore and sensitive skin any further. Used in conjunction with a good moisturiser and whatever your doctor prescribes, you’ll soon have them feeling better. Which is better for all concerned isn’t it?
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Tags: cloth baby wipes, eczema, washable baby wipes
Posted in Washable Wipes FAQ | 1 Comment »
November 24th, 2009
The current run of windy weather (which makes me feel as if I’m back living in Northern Ireland where it’s windy like this practically all the time!) makes me feel like my Mum sometimes. How so? Well, weather like this always prompts my Mum to remark ‘great weather for drying’, i.e. should you choose to hang your washing on the line, it is likely to be dry rather sooner than later. And nowadays, with my washing machine on at least once, if not twice a day, I often find myself saying the same thing. I know, I’m SO exciting.
So why should you hang your washing out to dry, rather than just stick it in the tumble-drier? Here’s a little reminder:
- You’ll save money – tumble-drying all your washing (5 loads a week) costs around £50 per year
- You’ll be doing your bit for the environment by saving on electricity
- Your house won’t resemble a laundromat with clothes hanging over every available radiator space
- Your clothes will smell LOVELY. No need for Febreze in this household
- You’ll work off some calories by standing in the freezing cold attempting to peg out your smalls
- Sunlight will bleach away organic food stains (carrot etc). Yes, really!
And here’s how to avoid those pitfalls of washing on a line:
- To avoid wrinkles, shake each item thoroughly before pegging
To avoid crispy jeans and towels, tumble dry for 5 mins to fluff then line dry
- How to hang trousers -Â Pin the hems of the legs to the line with the waist hanging down
- Hanging shirts and tops – Pin the shirts by the bottom hem at the side seams, or (my favourite) hang on the line on a clothes hanger
- Hanging Socks – Put the socks together in pairs and peg the toes to the line, letting the socks dangle open for quicker drying
Now – all you need is a washing line and some wind. Plenty of that around at the mo. Stay safe everyone.
Tags: Green Living
Posted in Green Living | 1 Comment »
November 22nd, 2009
Another one of my (bah, humbug) irritants about Christmas is the fact that we’re all feel obliged to stock up on loads of ‘luxury’ treats. For me though, luxury doesn’t necessarily mean cost, but in the case of this gravadlax recipe, it’s time.
Home-made gravadlax is a fantastic, tasty alternative to smoked salmon. It’s scandanavian in origin, hence the use of dill and mustard to give it a lovely flavour. It’s really simple to make, but you need to allow 5 – 8 days for the salmon to cure.
Ingredients
1 side of salmon (fillet, skin removed) about 1-2kg
2-3 large bunches fresh dill
125g/4oz rough sea salt crystals
250g/8oz caster sugar
30g/1oz freshly ground black pepper
For the sauce:
1 tbsp chopped fresh dill
1 tbsp English mustard
1 tsp caster sugar
1 tbsp sunflower oil
2 tbsp crème fraîche
1 tbsp wine vinegar
Method
1. Ask your fishmonger to skin and pinbone your salmon fillets – I’ve used salmon with the skin on in the past, but prefer it without
2. Roughly chop the dill and mix thoroughly in a bowl with the salt, sugar and pepper. Lay out a sheet of cling film about four times the width of a salmon fillet. Spread a quarter of the cure mix over a fillet-size area on one side of the clingfilm with a good 15cm/6in margin for folding over.
3. Place one fillet, on top of the pickle mixture and cover with slightly more than half of what is left. Place the second fillet on top, to make a sandwich. Scatter the remaining cure mixture over the skin.
4. Wrap up the parcel tightly, tucking the ends and edges in underneath the fish.
5. Put the package on the tray and place a similar size tray, or a plank of wood on the top. Weigh it down, with something heavy – I use 6L of milk.Turn the package daily for between 5 & 8 days. Do not discard the liquid that oozes from the package unless it threatens to spill over the side of the tray.
6. At least one hour before serving, combine all the ingredients for the dressing in a jar and shake well together. Leave to stand and shake again before serving.
7. To serve, unwrap the gravadlax and wipe off any excess pickling liquid. There is no need to scrape off the dill pieces. Slice fairly thinly then serve with the sauce and buttered wheaten bread. (Unused gravadlax can be re-wrapped in clean cling film and kept in the fridge for up to five days. It also freezes very successfully.)
I’ve got 2 kg of this in my fridge at the moment which has cost me about £10 in total. There’s enough to do me for my ‘Come Dine with Me’ Extravaganza during the week, plus as a starter for our Christmas dinner. And it’s all done well in advance – so no stressing!
Tags: home-made christmas
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November 19th, 2009
I don’t like Christmas much.  There I’ve said it.Â
But I should clarify. What I don’t like about Christmas is the fact that supermarkets start getting ready for it in September (I’m sure you all saw the tabloid reports about mince pies on the shelves which were out of date by Christmas!). I hate the pressure we put on ourselves for what is, after all, just one day. I detest Christmas shopping in packed malls. And I loathe gifts which show the giver knows nothing about us….
So for a few years now (bar last year when we had a new baby arrive at the start of November) I’ve done home-made Christmas gifts. In the past these have been mostly food related:
- Vanilla Sugar
- Rosemary and Lemon Salt
- Chilli Oil
- Rosemary & Garlic Oil
- Spiced Orange & Apricot Chutney
- Christmas Chutney
- Chilli Jam
And I might well do one or two of those next week… But this year I’m focusing on bath-time smellies. I’ve made quite a bit of soap this year so it seems a logical progression. I made some bath salts last night which I’m recommending as a great pressie for Mums & Grandmas – after all everyone loves a soak in a warm bath. It’s also a good craft idea for your kids, as it’s VERY simple.
The Sea Salt and Epsom salts are great for relieving muscle tension and bicarb of soda is a good water softener. Both Epsom salts and Bicarb of Soda are available from local chemists, or try online for stockists. I use http://www.bathbomb.biz/ and got a massive 5kg of bicarb as I use it for washing too.
Bath Salts Recipe
- 2 cups Sea Salt
- 2 cups Epsom Salt
- 2 cups Bicarbonate of soda
- Food Colouring (optional)
- Essential Oil (mandarin or lavender are great)
- Clean Jars for storage
- Put salts and bicarb of soda into a large clean mixing bowl and mix well
- Add essential oil as appropriate. Start with 10 drops and take it from there
- Add food colouring is using. Mix well
- Put your bath salts into jars, label and decorate
And that’s it. If your kids are like mine and are eating lots of little mandarin oranges at the moment, you can save up the peel and dry it out, either on a sunny windowsill, or by nuking for a minute or so in the microwave. This makes a great addition along with mandarin essential oil.
Tags: cheap gift ideas, green gift ideas, Home-made Gifts, homemade gifts
Posted in Home-made Gifts | 1 Comment »
November 17th, 2009
Don’t worry if your washable wipes smell musty. Don’t get me wrong, they shouldn’t do, but simply by tweaking your washing / soaking routine we can fix it.
Tip no1: Check your oil / water quantities soaking ratio
For every 25 Cheeky Wipes, you’ll need approx 400 – 500 ml of cold water (depending on whether you’ve just taken them from the machine, or if they’ve been dried) and about 4 – 5 drops of fresh wipes oil. Not adding enough oil is the most common cause of mustiness because the essential oils are mildly anti-bacterial and help preserve your wipes.
Tip no2: Check your washing frequency
Although we’ve taken our Cheeky Wipes (soaked in the mucky wipes oil solution!) to Glastonbury where they were fine in the box for 4 days, this isn’t really recommended. You’ll usually have a wash going on every couple of days at least, so just chuck your wipes in every time you have a wash going on – every other day is ideal Even if you have some ‘fresh’ wipes unused you can still wash them to freshen them up before starting over.
Tip no3: If all else fails….
If you’ve left your wipes in your fresh (or mucky wipes) bags and forgotten about them what then? Well, try washing the wipes on their own with a cup of white vinegar. That should do the trick but you might need 2 washes….
Posted in Washable Wipes FAQ | No Comments »
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