Homemade: Deodorant

I've been thinking about trying homemade deodorant for a while.

Apparently, my armpits are incredibly sensitive. When I apply the store-bought stuff, it burns like the dickens and breaks me out in a rash. I have a large bump that hasn't gone down for months. I've tried every kind: women's, men's, antiperspirant, non-antiperspirant, sensitive skin, all natural...Nothing has helped. 

In addition to the problems I've had with manufactured deodorants, there are all the rumors. While we are told there is no real scientific evidence that aluminum or other ingredients in deodorants pose threat to human health, I always hear "yet" at the end of that sentence. 

Keeping those two things in mind, when I ran across recipes for homemade deodorants, I was intrigued. I've never seen arrowroot powder anywhere before, so I stuck it on the "someday" list, and moved on looking for other products I could make that were easier or more accessible. I recently discovered arrowroot powder at one of the local health stores we go to, and it reminded me of what I had seen before. I had to get it!. When I got home, I went through a bunch of recipes, read a lot about the different ingredients and their purposes, and finally came up with a recipe I thought I could manage to put together.

I figured it would be terribly complicated, and I figured it wouldn't work that well. I have never been so happy to be wrong! 

Homemade Deodorant:

Empty deodorant container
3 Tbsp coconut oil
3 Tbsp arrowroot powder
3 Tbsp baking soda
3-6 drops tea tree oil

First I dug out 3 Tbsp of coconut oil and put it into a microwavable dish. That stuff is much harder that it looks; I actually bent my measuring spoon!

I put the oil in the microwave for 45 seconds, stirred it, and then put it in for another 45 seconds. While that was going, I measured out the arrowroot powder and baking soda and whisked them together.

Once the coconut oil was totally liquid, I whisked it in to the dry ingredients.

Here's where I messed up. When I added in the tea tree oil, I just kind of...poured it. I will definitely use a dropper next time! I added in a little too much, but I still liked it. It's very invigorating, and it has a lot of great properties, so I didn't mind.

I whisked a little more, and then grabbed my container. I just used an old (aluminum-free) deodorant container I had cleaned out. 

The mixture poured in really easily! The temperature in my house is cool enough that coconut oil will solidify (especially during this Indiana winter...), but I was super excited and very impatient, so I popped it in the refrigerator for a while. And voila!

This stuff is AWESOME! I can put it on at night, and it will last through the next day, even going to the gym! I have had zero smell, and even better...ZERO irritation! I'm never going back!

Recipe: Low Country Boil with Potato Sauce and Cocktail Sauce

Nothing makes my girl happier than Low Country Boil. We serve ours with potato sauce and cocktail sauce.

Low Country Boil:

Old Bay seasoning

3 large potatoes

1 piece kielbasa

4 corn-on-the-cob halves

1 bag shrimp

First we brought a (very large) pot of water to a boil and poured in about half of a container of Old Bay seasoning.

We cut the kielbasa and potatoes into 1inch cubes. (Leave the skin on! Get your fiber!) Then we threw it all in the pot and set the timer for 15min.

While that cooks, it's time to make the potato sauce!

Potato Sauce:

1 small yellow onion (diced)

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup mayonnaise or Miracle Whip

Sarah diced the onion, because I can't see through the tears when I try to. I added in the sour cream and mayo. We are a house divided --Sarah prefers mayo; I prefer the tangy zip of Miracle Whip. I've made this using each individually, but we both like combining the two, so I use 1/4 cup mayo & 1/4 cup Miracle Whip. Once everything was mixed, I put it back in the refrigerator. The longer this sits; the better it tastes. 

Now back to the boil! Our timer went off, so we added in the corn and reset the timer for 15min again. This is so much better with fresh, but we used frozen because, well, it's January.

While this cooked, we made the cocktail sauce!

Cocktail Sauce:

1 cup ketchup

1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

2 tsp horseradish

Juice from 1/2 lemon

This is never exact. We fiddled and tasted and added in a little more Worcestershire (Confession: I call this Woo Woo sauce. It's easier to say and it makes my girl laugh, and she has a GREAT laugh), until it tasted just right.

The last step to the boil is to add in the shrimp, and set the timer for a final 3-5min. 

It only took about 3 for ours to pink up. We dumped it all into a pan, and plated up! 

As usual, Sarah definitely approved!

The Plan

I love to plan. With the assistance and encouragement of my amazing girlfriend, Sarah, I hope to start turning some of those plans into reality. The plans that I have tend to fall into the following categories:

Health & Beauty: I've been doing lots of research into making some of our own products, and I'm really excited to start some of these. I have been pinning recipes for homemade magnesium oil, body butter, deodorant, and laundry detergent. Since these don't require waiting until spring, this is where I expect to start! 

Landscaping: For the past two years, we've been trying to put a pretty face on our rental home. We put in flowerbeds. We ripped out ugly, overgrown shrubbery (and some poison ivy). We tore out and rebuilt the teeny, tiny, rotting deck off of the side yard. We experimented with different sizes, colors, and types of flowers. This year, we're planning on growing from seed! We will be growing flowers for both our front flower beds and the...

Vegetable Gardening: I'm so excited for this one! I've done lots of researching on everything from raised beds to permaculture, and I've got the start of what I hope will be a pretty good plan. I have seed catalogs on the way! We are following all of the advice I've read to start small -- tomatoes, peppers, and herbs. 

Canning: I've been putting up veggies and jam with my family for years, but I've never put them up for myself. Since we won't have too many plants for ourselves, this will probably mean some trips to the farmers' markets, auctions, and relatives' houses. We purchased a water bath canner at the end of the season last year, so that's what we will be using. That means we'll be sticking to tomatoes and fruits. 

Cooking/Baking: Sarah is the chef; I am the baker. It's a system that works well for us! We both love trying new things, which makes for some adventurous eating at times! We are both interested in eating a little healthier, so hopefully we'll find some recipes that have great results.

Projects: Being the amazing girlfriend that I am, I got Sarah a lovely new drill/driver for Christmas. I'm sure she knows there's a "honey-do" list as the second portion of the project. She's already made me some pretty amazing pieces, including a lofted bed for our son that he absolutely loves. While she's in charge of anything that requires power tools, I'll also be tackling some craft projects that don't look too daunting.

Trips: We haven't really gone on a "family vacation" yet. This year, I hope we can change that. I'm also hoping to make lots of day trips. We live within easy driving distance of some pretty spectacular state parks, caves, zoos, museums, and amusement parks. 

Shew! Lots to do! I know all of my plans won't turn out the way I expect. But every failure just creates an opportunity for a new plan!