Eczema-Friendly Soap

August 1, 2013September 1, 2015 / makingofahome / 16 Comments

A member of our family has been struggling with eczema for a very long time, so I began researching natural remedies for this ailment. In my research, I found that coconut-based products help to moisturize the dry skin of eczema, and many essential oils are found to relief many of eczema’s symptoms. Now please remember, I am by no means a medical professional, but this soap (which has only been in use a few days now), seems to be helping to give some relief.

Eczema-Friendly Soap

2 pounds Melt and Pour Soap Base (I use this Goat’s Milk Soap Base.)

1/4 cup organic coconut oil

2 teaspoons fresh chopped lavender

2 teaspoons fresh chopped rosemary

5 drops cedarwood essential oil

10 drops patchouli essential oil

5 drops clary sage essential oil

5 drops tea tree essential oil

10 drops lavender essential oil

5 drops rosemary essential oil

a shallow pot or saucepan

a glass bowl

wooden spoon

soap molds (You can purchase these at your local craft store or here.)

Fill the pot or saucepan half full with water. Bring to a simmer. Place the glass bowl in the pot of water to create a double boiler of sorts. Place the melt and pour soap base in the glass bowl, along with the coconut oil. Stir the base and coconut oil with a wooden spoon until it melts. Remove the bowl from the heat and mix in the fresh herbs. Then add the essential oils and stir. Allow the mixture to cool just slightly (enough to thicken the mixture just a bit). Pour into your molds. Allow to rest until completely cool. Remove the soap from the molds. Enjoy!

From Scratch

July 31, 2013September 1, 2015 / makingofahome / 1 Comment

In our family’s attempt to make as much as we possibly can here in our home, there are those weeks that go by when we are in the midst of a creating whirlwind, and suddenly I look at the calendar and it’s Wednesday. This is one of those weeks. Oh boy.

There have been baskets and baskets of beans harvested from the garden, more than we could ever eat at this time. So, this weekend we rinsed, cut and froze most of our harvested beans to set aside for the winter months.

We are to that point in the growing season where some of our plants have gone to seed. So this weekend, entrenched in vines and leaves of green, we pulled out arugula and collected the seed pods for late fall planting. Then replanted carrots and beets for fall harvest.

I opened my linen closet last Friday to a cavernous black hole, completely void of any form of soap, lotion or shave oil. The girls and I got to work and rounded out the weekend with a fresh batch of lotion (I use the recipe from this book.) and shave oil (my recipe can be found here), and a new eczema-friendly soap concoction. (The recipe for this soap to come soon.)

And last but not least, there is the fermentation frenzy that has taken over our house the last two weeks. I don’t often become overly obsessed with much, but oh my, I think I may just be in love with Sandor Katz, his book The Art of Fermentation, and all of the nutritional benefits fermenting has to offer. I gave this book to my husband last summer for his birthday, to aid him in his beer-making endeavors. But I now find myself huddled with my morning coffee, spilling over the pages of this book, completely enraptured by the content.

Amidst the fermenting madness is fresh made yogurt, milk kefir, water kefir, and kombucha. The constant growing process of it all is just amazing, and the wonderful probiotics offered naturally in these foods is simply mind boggling. I have so much more to learn, but I am sure enjoying the entire process along the way.

I hope all of you are enjoying a wonderful start to your week!

Just Peachy

July 24, 2013July 22, 2013 / makingofahome / 6 Comments

The time has arrived again. My favorite food time of the year. Peach season. There is nothing that ignites more excitement in my taste buds than those handheld orbs of deliciousness. We are extremely fortunate that my in-laws have a beautiful peach tree on their property that has produced a record number of peaches this year.

So, it has been all things peaches in these parts, my favorite of all being peach pie. If you are interested in my Grandma Dit’s peach pie recipe, you can find it here. Enjoy!

Beans, Beans Everywhere

July 17, 2013July 15, 2013 / makingofahome / Leave a comment

One thing is for sure, we have a LOT of beans coming through our kitchen door these days. So many beans in fact that there is no feasible way to eat them all. Enter “Operation Dilly Bean.” If you have never eaten a pickled bean, a.k.a. dilly bean, you must make it your duty to eat one this year. A dilly bean earns a solid ranking in the top 3 list of pickled veg in my book. Yum.

This past Sunday found me hovering over the kitchen island chopping beans and breathing in vinegar fumes, with visions of dilly beans dancing in my head. The past few years I used a dilly bean recipe from this book, but this year I decided to mix things up a bit and try something new. I used the basic pickling recipe from this cookbook, and based on how great Miss English’s other recipes are, I’m sure this one will not disappoint.

First Harvest

July 10, 2013 / makingofahome / 1 Comment

Yesterday was a big day for our school garden project. The garden was bursting with vegetation, so we decided it would make the perfect day for our first official harvest of the season! We were able to glean lettuce, Swiss chard, kale, collards, snap peas, beans, beets and carrots from our seven-bed school garden.

Once the produce was picked, rinsed and sorted, we drove to our local food pantry to drop off our donation. Along the way, we spoke of the importance of helping those in need for God tells us “to be openhanded toward [our] brothers and toward the poor and needy in [our] land” (Deuteronomy 15:11).

If you are interested in donating to the Rock River Valley Food Pantry, visit their web site here.

In Gratitude

July 8, 2013July 7, 2013 / makingofahome / 2 Comments

This Monday morning I am grateful for…

~a wonderful vacation to the Northwoods of Wisconsin. (Lots more to come in tomorrow’s post.)

~those family members and close friends who pitched in to help keep the Fagan suburban homestead running in our absence 🙂

~Downton Abbey. Oh my. I have recently discovered this show, and have been devouring the DVDs ever since. It’s like a great British novel brought to life. What could be better?

~the leader of our book club for choosing The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society for our next read. I am thoroughly enjoying being transported to the isle of Guernsey in the 1940’s each and every time I unfurl the pages of this novel.

~peas and beans just bursting in our home garden.

~a first hand learning experience for my girls. We plan to head to the local food pantry this week with our first donation from our school garden.

~the Mason jars strewn across my countertop, just waiting to be filled with all kinds of canned deliciousness.

~the fermentation frenzy that is about to begin this week…woohoo! Kombucha, yogurt and kraut oh my!

~all of you gathered here today! Wishing you all much happiness and health this week!

School Garden Update: First Week of July

July 3, 2013June 30, 2013 / makingofahome / 3 Comments

It dawned on me the other day that I haven’t given you a proper update on the school garden at my daughters’ school, The Cathedral of St. Peter School, since May. What a travesty I tell you! So, slip into your spiffiest garden shoes, and come along with us on a tour through the school garden…

July First in the Garden

July 1, 2013June 30, 2013 / makingofahome / Leave a comment

I don’t know about all of you, but I am having a difficult time swallowing the fact that today is July 1st. Where did June go? Perhaps it was washed away by all of that crazy rain we have been having here in northern Illinois. But as I sit here, looking out my kitchen window on this first Monday of July, I am shocked by how different this view looks from that of last year. Peering at me from the other side of my window is a sea of green: green grass, green vegetables, and lots of green weeds. This landscape stands in sharp contrast to the garden of last year where everything had a tinge of brown to it. What a truly striking difference a year makes.

Last July:

This July:

Just plain crazy isn’t it? Well, I have all kinds of garden goodness coming your way this week, and this is just the beginning. Join me for a walk through the very lush, very green garden…

And just one last little treat for you…Here is what the garden looked like before I took all of the above pictures…and spent six lovely hours weeding. Ah. Gotta love gardening and all of the hills and valleys it brings to our daily lives.

Happy Monday all!

Late June Garden Update

June 18, 2013 / makingofahome / Leave a comment

Sorry for the late post this morning folks, but it is just the most beautiful day here in good ole’ Rockford, Illinois and we have been making the most of this greatness. But for the moment my four year old is busy playing with some paper dolls here on the deck (my oldest is at nature camp this week), so I have a spare minute to share a bit of our garden progress for this week.

Now, you may notice that all of the garden pictures for this week are close ups. Well, that is because it is not just the fruits and veggies growing fabulously this week, but also the weeds. Oh boy. Words can’t quite describe the weed-growing action we’ve got here. So, only pretty close ups of the veg, and we will just avoid those unsightly photos of the weeds. Sound good? We will just pretend for the moment those weeds just don’t exist 🙂

I hope you are all enjoying this day, no matter where you are. Happy Tuesday everyone!

The Wonders a Week Can Do

June 11, 2013 / makingofahome / 2 Comments

Good morning, friends. Although it has been less than a week since we took a walk through the gardens together, so much has changed. I hesitate to say it because I fear I may jinx it…But we have been getting some fabulous rain, and beautiful temperatures of late. In fact, much of the rain has fallen in the late afternoon and evenings, blessing us with partial or full sun during the daylight hours. Our garden seems to be loving this, because I must say I don’t think I have ever seen it this healthy looking in the five years we have lived in this house.

And so today, I ask that you join me once again for a tour of the gardens…