Homemade Tooth Powder {Ultimate Blog Swap Guest Post}

Today I’m participating in the Ultimate Blog Swap. You’ll find me posting over at Green...Your Way about ways new moms can go green, and I’m excited to welcome Tan from TanGreen to The Humbled Homemaker:

Guest Post by Tan of TanGreen

Being one to jump fully and wholly into new projects, once I decided to try a homemade tooth powder I wanted one I could make immediately, with ingredients on hand. So this recipe was perfect as the ingredients were all in the pantry – and I suspect that they are in nearly everyone’s pantry – and required nothing more than finding the right container.  

We have been using this with personal satisfaction and approval of our dentists for over a year. Here are four simple steps:

1. Gather your ingredients: baking soda, table salt, ground cinnamon and ground clove. The baking soda and salt are for the cleaning and abrasive needed. The cinnamon sweetens the mix and the clove both adds to the taste and aids in the relief of mouth pain.

2. Find a container that meets the needs of the household – by beauty (an antique tea cup), function (Ball jar) or planned abuse (2 oz. Nalgene polypropylene bottle).

3. Mix the following – so easy it is really an un-recipe!

4  teaspoons baking soda; 1 teaspoon salt; 1 teaspoon cinnamon; pinch clove (a little less than ¼ teaspoon...and of course the spices can be adjusted to taste)

4. Display prominently for use.  Wet your tooth brush, dip into the mix, and brush away!

Special note...if you experience adverse effects from the use of this powder, cut out the cinnamon.  Some people develop sensitivity in the gums and throughout the mouth which is easily reversed.

I’m Tan, and I am trying to be a granola mom in a fast food world. I do that through concentrating on three things - Simplify.  Detoxify.  Learn. I live in Las Vegas (I know...not the most granola city!) where I work for an AV company serving the convention industry.   I have celebrated a handful of 29th birthdays, been with my husband for ten years and have two amazing sons ages 1 and 3.

Visit Life Your Way to see all of the Ultimate Blog Swap participants!

I'm linking up with: Make Your Own Monday, Homestead Barn Hop, Traditional Tuesday, Frugal Tuesday Tip,Domestically Divine Tuesday, Growing Home, Works for Me Wednesday, Women Living Well, Healthy 2Day Wednesdays, Simple Lives Thursday, Live Renewed, Frugal Friday, Frugally Sustainable, The Nourishing Gourmet

Easy Homemade Liquid Dish Soap {Homemade Homemaking}

Have you entered the Spring Blessings Blowout Giveaway for $360 yet?! Giveaway ends 4/25!

This month's homemade homemaking recipe is for an easy homemade liquid dish soap!


I'll be the first to confess that in this season of life I mostly use my dishwasher. With a toddler and a preschooler, my dishes dirty fast, and neither of my girls are quite old enough to help me hand wash--yet. :) 


But there are times I simply need liquid dish soap--whether it be for soaking a grimy pot or pan or for quickly washing a kitchen tool I may need to re-use within the same recipe. 

And this homemade liquid soap recipe couldn't be get any easier! I will admit that you may need to use slightly more than a conventional dish soap, and, although it does create suds, once you've soaked your dishes for a while, the suds will slowly disappear. 


But it still gets your dishes clean--with NO toxins found in many conventional dish soaps (like  endocrine-disrupting phthalates, which can potentially lower sperm count or even contribute to liver cancer!).


Without further ado, here's my recipe for an easy-peasy homemade liquid dish soap!

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup liquid castile soap (unscented or whatever your favorite scent is...I like using tea tree for the added antibacterial properties.)
• 1/8 cup water
• 4 drops essential oil scent of choice (I use orange, as I make this into a citrus soap.)
• 1 tsp. homemade all-purpose citrus cleaner (1tsp. of vinegar can be an alternate here--but I simply LOVE my homemade citrus cleaner, and I always have it on hand. It also makes for a nice addition to this citrus soap.)

Directions:

Simply mix everything together and store it in an old liquid dish soap bottle! Use as you would store-bought liquid dish soap. 

Do you make your own liquid dish soap? What is your favorite liquid dish soap recipe?

More Homemade Homemaking:

• Homemade Hamburger Helper
• 10 Ingredients to Make from Scratch
• Amazingly Easy Homemade Garlic Salt
• Homemade Bread Crumbs
• Homemade Cream of Chicken Soup
• Homemade Allergen-Free Graham Crackers
• Homemade Foaming Hand Soap

Want to learn how to make more than 30 homemade household cleaners? Check out: Simply Clean.


I have included affiliate links in this post. Thank you for supporting The Humbled Homemaker!


I'm linking up to:  Works for Me Wednesday, Make Your Own Monday,Frugal Friday, Fight Back Friday, Friday Food,Frugally Sustainable

Cheeseburger Tortilla Skillet {Homemade Hamburger Helper}

I'm so excited to have contributing writer, Elsie, of Back to the Source, posting today! Elsie is not only an excellent writer--but she's also a fabulous cook! Be sure to stop by her blog--Back to the Source!

By Elsie, Contributing Writer

Hamburger Helper may be the ultimate boxed dinner.  It only takes twenty or thirty minutes to make, and the results are tasty and comforting.  

But the ingredient list just doesn't match up with what I want in a meal these days.  MSG?  Partially hydrogenated soybean oil?  “Colors”?  

I don't think so.  

I love the ease and quickness of a skillet meal, though, and I miss that cheesy, meaty heartiness. But people who like real food know that practically everything can be made from scratch.  Hamburger Helper?  Of course!  

Here's my version, and I believe it's even quicker than the boxed kind, since I use tortillas instead of pasta which needs time to cook.

Cheeseburger Tortilla Skillet

½ to 1lb ground beef

2 heaping spoonfuls flour

¼ t salt

½ t California chili pepper, or another mild chili

½ t garlic powder

½ t mustard powder

¼ c whole milk

1 14-oz can diced tomatoes

6 tortillas

1 c grated cheddar cheese

In a large skillet, brown the hamburger oven medium heat.  Drain most of the fat, and return the pan to medium-low.  Stir in the flour and spices until the meat is well coated.  Add the milk, stirring while you pour.  Add the diced tomatoes, along with their juice, and let the mixture simmer until it thickens.  Tear up the tortillas and add them to the skillet.  Stir in the cheese until it melts, and serve!  

I'm linking up to:  Works for Me Wednesday, Make Your Own Monday, Tuesdays at the Table,Real Food Wednesday, Pennywise Platter, Full Plate Thursday, Frugal Friday, Fight Back Friday, Friday Food,Frugally Sustainable

Elsie loves to express herself through words and through culinary creations. The food she makes is a reflection of her experiences--whether the homemade comfort food of a happy childhood, the flair of Latin American cuisine borrowed from her family's time on the mission field, or the rich and hearty fare of restaurants and pubs she visited during her ramblings in Switzerland and Oxford. Elsie and her new husband Eric live in Michigan.The couple enjoys pursuing a simple, natural life.

Someday Elsie hopes to write books that reflect her experiences, but in the meantime she's discovered that her blog, Back to the Source, is the perfect venue for combining her love of words and of food. 

Amazingly Easy Homemade Garlic Salt

This month's Homemade Homemaking recipe for garlic salt is SO easy that I'm almost embarrassed to post it.


But here goes...


You know how I love to figure out ways to make my own spice mixes--like homemade taco seasoning and homemade pumpkin pie spice?


Well...this is even more simple than those!


Without further ado, here's the recipe:


Ingredients

• garlic powder
• salt

Method

Mix three parts salt to one part garlic powder. 

THAT'S IT! See, I told you it was EASY! Now, if you ever have a recipe that calls for garlic salt but you don't have it, you don't have to run out to the store! (Actually, mark it off your grocery list forever and save yourself some money!)

Check out this post for 10 more ingredients you can make at home!

Have you ever made your own spice mixes?

I'm linking up to:  Works for Me Wednesday, Make Your Own Monday, Real Food Wednesday, Pennywise Platter, Frugal Friday, Fight Back Friday, Frugally Sustainable

10 Ingredients to Make from Scratch {at Keeper of the Home}

Last week, I posted on 10 Ingredients to Make from Scratch over at Keeper of the Home. Here's an excerpt:

When I first started cooking from scratch, it didn't seem too hard. I gathered my ingredients and followed the recipes. But then one day it hit me: I wasn't buying processed, pre-packaged meals anymore, but I was using processed, pre-packed ingredients to make my "from-scratch" meals. And these ingredients were just as additive-laden as any other store-bought meal. Yikes!

I decided right then and there that, little by little, I'd start learning how to make each ingredient at home. And although it is more time consuming than buying everything at the store, making your own food leaves a huge impact on both your health AND your pocketbook!

Hop on over to Keeper of the Home to read the rest of this post!

Homemade Bread Crumbs {Homemade Homemaking}

This month's Homemade Homemaking recipe is for bread crumbs. It's SO incredibly easy that, after you try it, you'll wonder why in the world you never thought of this before! 


(Or, maybe you have...maybe I was the only one buying bread crumbs from the store!)


When we first married, I used bread crumbs--a lot. I used them to top the cream-of-chicken soup casseroles I baked almost every night. I used them on my hubby's favorite "almost"-fried chicken tenders. And I even used them on veggie dishes like my mom's cheesy green bean casserole. 


Then, one day...oh, about a year ago or so, I looked at the ingredients label. And I shuddered. 


MSG. Soybean oil. And the list could go on. 


I tossed those bread crumbs out, looked at a loaf of bread and wondered: "How hard could this be?"


It's not! Really, it's so easy!


Without further ado, here's this month's recipe for homemade bread crumbs!


Ingredients

• 1 loaf of bread
• 1 stick butter
• salt and pepper, to taste
• parsley or other seasonings, to taste (if you want seasoned bread crumbs)

Method

1. Chop loaf of bread very finely in chopper or food processor. (You can leave the crumbs chunkier if you like bigger, chunkier bread crumbs. I like them like this. My hubby does not. Hence, I chop mine finely.)

2. Melt butter in a stock pot. Add bread crumbs. 

3. Quickly stir to coat bread crumbs in butter. Keep stirring until the sound of the coated bread crumbs starts to sound like sand on the beach. (I know this sounds strange, but, trust me, you will get it once you try this.)

4. Sprinkle desired amount of salt, pepper and other seasonings on bread crumbs. Store in an airtight container. 

These crumbs will keep in your pantry for months--and you know exactly what's in them! No additives here--especially if you use Stacy's homemade honey oat bread to make them!

Have you ever made homemade bread crumbs? What's your favorite recipe?

Congrats to Bobby N Kierra for winning Smart Sweets! 

I'm linking up with: The Prairie Homestead, Growing Home, Far Above Rubies, Time-Warp Wife and Raising Homemakers,  Works for Me Wednesday, Frugally Sustainable,  Deep Roots at Home, Homemakers Challenge, The Better Mom, Raising Mighty Arrows,  Live Renewed,  Simple Lives Thursday, Frugal Friday, Women Living Well,  Monday Mania, Real Food 101, Traditional Tuesday ,Fat Tuesday, Make Your Own Monday, Real Food Wednesday, Full Plate Thursday, Homemaker's Cottage, Fight Back Friday, Fresh Bites Friday, Friday Food, Living Well Blog Hop

Homemade Homemaking: Cream of Chicken Soup

Have you entered this week's giveaways? Enter to win Sprout Baby Food or a beautiful Lilla Rose Flexi-Clip! 


Welcome to this month's edition of Homemade Homemaking! Today, we're making cream of chicken soup!

When I was a newlywed 6 1/2 years ago, I barely knew how to cook. One of the first staples in my pantry became canned cream of chicken (or mushroom) soup. 


I used these creamed soups for EVERYTHING. We were living in the Deep, Deep South--where fried foods and creamy casseroles reign. I never learned to fry without burning, but we probably ate a creamed soup casserole at least every other night. 

Ingredients

When I started eating real food, I realized how bad these canned soups were for us. Not only did the cans contain BPA, but the soup was preserved with MSG and also contained soy. 


As much as we loved our creamed casseroles, I just couldn't keep buying canned creamed soups in good conscious. 

But we started missing our old comfort foods. So about a year or so ago, I set to making my own version of creamed soup. 


I use this recipe to replace canned soups in any recipes that call for them. I hope you enjoy it!


Ingredients

• 1/3 cup butter
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/3 cup white whole wheat flour
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 1/2 Tbsp. minced celery tops OR 1/4 tsp. celery seed
• 1 3/4 cups chicken broth
• 2/3 cup milk 

Method

In a saucepan over medium heat, cook garlic and celery (if using) in butter until soft. Stir in flour, salt and pepper (and celery seed if using). Slowly stir in chicken broth and mlk. Simmer over medium-low heat until thickened. 

Variations:

Cream of Mushroom--toss in a handful of minced mushrooms

Cream of Broccoli--toss in a handful of minced broccoli

Cream of Celery--toss in a handful of minced celery

Stacy Makes Cents also makes a great creamed soup!

The winner for the Plum Organics giveaway is Brandi B.! I have sent Brandi an e-mail to notify her. Congrats, Brandi, and thank you to everyone who entered! 

I'm linking up to:  Works for Me Wednesday, Make Your Own Monday, Tuesdays at the Table,Real Food Wednesday, Pennywise Platter, Full Plate Thursday, Frugal Friday, Fight Back Friday, Friday Food,Frugally Sustainable, Made at Home Monday, Kitchen Tip Tuesday @Good Cheap Eats, Deep Roots at Home, Homemakers Challenge

Homemade Homemaking: Allergen-Free Graham Crackers

Welcome to this month's edition of Homemade Homemaking! Today, we are making allergen-free (NO gluten, eggs or dairy!) graham crackers!


My girls have honestly never really eaten graham crackers, although Little Girl absolutely loves crackers in general. But gluten free crackers are expensive, so I am having to learn how to make my own (which is better for us anyway!).


I first started thinking about making homemade graham crackers because I thought they would make great material for an edible, allergen-free "gingerbread" house (be on the lookout for that recipe next week!). 


I found this recipe, which I used as my base, but I didn't have all the ingredients it called for, and I wanted to make the recipe dairy free. 


And the results were delicious! These "crackers" are almost more like a cookie. Every single person in the Odom household (including my hubby!) absolutely loved these!


I hope you enjoy them as much as we do!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups + 1/3 cup + 1/4 cup all-purpose GF flour (I use Bob's Red Mill, but you can make your own.)
• 1 cup sucanat
• 7 Tbsp. chilled palm shortening
• 1/2 tsp. Xanthan gum 
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 3/4 tsp. salt
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/4 cup cold water
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• extra cinnamon/sucanat for sprinkling

Method
1. Mix together flour, xanthan gum, cinnamon, sucanat, baking soda and salt.
2. Add mixed ingredients to food processor and add in chilled shortening.

3. Pulse until well blended and crumbly.
4. Add honey, water and vanilla. Continue processing until dough forms. 

5. Place dough in a greased ball and knead until you can form a ball. Then, separate dough into two balls. 
6. Press dough onto greased parchment paper lined on a large baking sheet. 
7. Roll until about 1/8 in. in thickness. 
8. Cut into rectangles with a pizza cutter (I had to also re-cut when they came out). 
9. Prick little holes in each cracker with a fork or toothpick.

10. Let sit in the fridge for about 30 minutes. 
11. Bake in a preheated oven at 320 degrees for 25 minutes. 
12. Sprinkle with sucanat and cinnamon!


Enjoy!!

After making these, I read this recipe for homemade graham crackers at Heavenly Homemakers. They aren't allergen-free, but I know many of you don't need allergen-free crackers! They look very yummy, and I think the next time I make these we will totally be cutting them into Christmas shapes, like she did in this post!


Have you ever made homemade graham crackers? 

Find more healthier sweet treats in the following books:

• Healthy Holidays: Slightly-Indulgent Sweet Treats (a FREE eBook for my subscribers!)
• Smart Sweets (enter to WIN a copy NOW at The Simple Homemaker!)
• Treat Yourself: Real Food Desserts

I'm linking up with:   Works for Me Wednesday, Make Your Own Monday, Tuesdays at the Table, Frugal Tuesday Tip, Tasty Tuesday, Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays, Real Food Wednesday, Gluten Free Wednesday, Turning The Table Thursday, Pennywise Platter, Full Plate Thursday, Frugal Friday, Fight Back Friday, Friday Food, Allergy-Friendly Lunch Box Ideas, Frugally Sustainable