Encapsulate Your Own Fermented Cod Liver Oil

If you are following any of the health blogs these days, you'll see a lot of talk about the many benefits of Fermented Cod Liver Oil.  It's some really awesome stuff!  But gross!  Especially to anyone who is not incredibly fond of fish to begin with.  Let alone swallowing a mouthful of oil.  Ick!  My kids, take it no problems!  We mix 1/2 serving of orange fermented cod liver oil, and 1/2 butter oil.  We've done both plain, and butter pecan flavor and chase it with raw milk.  No problems.  Me though....  No way I'm even gonna try it!  I know myself well enough to know, it ain't happening!  So....the capsules are probably a much better option for me, right?

Well, yeah.  Probably.  Except I'm not made of money.  According to this article by holisticsquid,  I would need to take between 10-20 capsules a day.  I'll make it easy and say 12 because a bottle of capsules have 120.  That would be a 10 day supply for around $47.  So, you're talking almost $150 a month in fclo/bo capsules!!!!! WOW!  I don't know about you, but I just don't have that kind of money.  Plus, the capsules don't have the correct proportions of the oils.  They are 2/3 fclo and 1/3 butter oil.  The actual servings are much closer to 50/50.  Not exact, but closer.

Instead, I bought an encapsulation tool (The Capsule Machine "00" Capsule Machine 1 Kit) from our Frontier wholesale buying group (so the price I paid was cheaper than shown), plus the gelatin capsules.  That cost me $20 and then I fill my own with fclo and bo.   You can get those at this link Green Pasture's Products! Mix and match flavors, do just the fermented cod liver oil, or just butter oil separately, there are lots of options.

I had previously gotten an awesome deal on the Caramel Infused Coconut Oil.  1 serving (1/2 Tablespoon) has a serving of Fermented Cod Liver Oil, Butter Oil, Coconut Oil, and Skate Liver Oil.  1 container has 56 servings.  I paid $15 for it from a friend that bought a bunch of them and didn't like it so sold them off again.  That's what I used to encapsulate in the pictures.  However, you can encapsulate whatever you have.  Just mix in a bowl your Fermented Cod Liver Oil with equal servings of Butter Oil, mix, and use that.

I used the syringe that came with the oil to fill the capsules.  It can get messy if you aren't careful with the oil and squirt out too much at a time.  Or if the tops of the capsules don't go on well.  It took me a few times to not have a mess all over my counter, but today, I did three batches of 24 each and only had 1 botched capsule.  So much less mess than times before when I'd have 1 or 2 oops in each batch.

Following are the pictures I took along the way to show the process.

Put the empty capsules into the machine.  They actually get pushed down flush, but I wanted you to be able to see them in the machine.

Fill the capsules.

Put the tops on.

Here they are together.  I go through each one and push on it gently to make sure they are together well.

The final product!

Doing it this way, even if you paid FULL price for the fermented cod liver oil and butter oil ($44 + $60 = $104), and couldn't get into a bulk group order or any other discounts, you would come out paying just over $1 a day for your supplement.  Rather than the $5 a day previously mentioned if you bought the already blended capsules by Green Pasture.  Same great product, only a little cheaper with just a tad bit of work on your part.  That encapsulation tool, will end up paying for itself!  Think of all the other things you can use it for too!  In my world of growing and using herbs for health, it opens up all kinds of possibilities.  :)

* This post may have affiliate links.  If you click on them and order a product, it will not change the price you pay, but will help me out a tiny bit.  I thank you for helping out another momma to get the good stuff for our family!

How to Boil an Egg So That It Peels Easily

Eggs from our chickens

I'm actually quite surprised by the number of times I've seen people ask HOW to boil an egg.  Mostly because the peel doesn't always come off nicely and so what they're really asking is how to boil an egg and make it easy to peel and pretty.

I've seen lots of suggestions.  Vinegar, baking soda, salt, and on and on.  But you don't really need to do any of that.

 All you really need to do is bring your water to a boil

then lower your eggs into the water one at a time with a slotted spoon, and boil your eggs  

I like to boil mine between 12 - 15 minutes depending on the the size.  That's it.  It's really that simple.  You can either then let them cool in the hot water after you've removed them from the heat, you can dump out the water, you can fill it back up with cold water.  It really doesn't matter.  The outcome is the same.  Beautiful, perfectly boiled eggs.  This works for fresh eggs, it works for grocery store eggs, it works for them all!

How about that.  No need to add anything else to the water!

So, since that was so simple, I'll throw in a bonus on how to make deviled eggs. :)

Take your beautifully peeled eggs

Cut them in half and put the yolks in a bowl.

Mash up the yolks

(Notice how dark the yolks are!  That's because they're from our backyard chickens.)

Add in mayo (my son is allergic to soy, so that's why I have safflower mayo), a dab of mustard, and about a teaspoon or so of sweet pickle juice.  

No, I don't have exact proportions.  It will depend on the size of your yolks, the number of eggs, your personal taste preferences.  *I* don't like much mustard, but some people love that being the dominate flavor, just mix in a small amount til you find your personal yum spot.

Mix it all up.

Fill up a sandwich baggie with your yolk mix, cut a hole in the corner and use it as a pastry bag and squeeze it into the egg halves.  Or, use a spoon and spoon it in, but the baggie way is more fun.  :)

Then I sprinkle the top with paprika just to be pretty.  I've even used chipotle pepper powder before for a bit of a smoky pepper flavor.  You can get fancy and sprinkle some cut up bacon, chives, green onions, just about anything you'd like!  

And there ya go.  Easy Peasy.  :)

Homemade Apple Cider Vinegar

Apple cider vinegar has many health benefits.  It's been touted as a breath freshener, a rinse for your hair, a remedy for acid reflux, brightening skin, balancing glucose levels, lowering cholesterol, and much much much more.  The research is ongoing for all the uses this can be for.

Me personally, I don't like vinegar.  Not apple cider vinegar.  Not even the common fall drink of apple cider!  So what am I doing making apple cider vinegar?  Well, because I can.  :)  Truly, that's about the only reason why.  When I started learning how to make tinctures and herbal remedies, I learned that you can use vinegar to make them.  So I thought maybe I should learn how to make vinegar in case I ever need to make a home made remedy out of it and not have it available. (Yes!  I TOTALLY intend on learning to make vodka too!  Shhhhhhh) Hey, if the world falls apart and I can't get to a store, I need to know how to do this stuff!  So that was why I learned how to make apple cider vinegar.  Now that I have it, I'll use it.  I'll put some in the water bowl of our chickens for their gut health, I'll use it in place of other vinegars in cooking, and I'm sure I'll find other uses for it.  Maybe even cleaning.

The process is simple enough.  It really just mostly requires time.

Tools you'll need:

Apples
Apple peeler or knife to cut off your peels and cores
Distilled Water (cause it's free of metals, minerals, bacteria, etc)
Glass Container
Plastic lid that will fit inside of the containers neck
Coffee filter or cheesecloth
Rubber band
Colander (eventually)

I'll start by saying that many of the directions I read online said to add sugar.  I did not.  That kind of defeated the whole purpose in my mind of making something from nature that turns out awesomely useful and untouched by chemicals and toxic ingredients.  Why couldn't the natural sugars in the apples themselves do the job?  Well, it did just fine.

First off, find your apple source.  As I've mentioned before in an apple related post, go for organic apples.  Even better is a old country person with apple trees willing to let you have them for free.  Cause they certainly aren't spraying anything and don't want to have to pick them all up when they fall to mow the lawns! They are usually more than happy for you to take them off their hands.

So, that's step one.  Find your good clean apple source.

Next, you can use those apples for making some homemade crockpot apple sauce, apple butter, or whatever you want to do with them.  But save your peels and cores.  Let them lay out for a couple of hours to turn brown.  Why?  I don't know.  I just read directions from several places that said to do that, so I did.

Then, put your peels and cores in a jar and cover them with distilled water.  Use something in the jar that will keep the apples submerged under the water so that they don't mold.  I used a plastic lid from a cottage cheese container because I could bend it to get it in, then it would open back up to fit under the neck and keep everything underwater.

Then, use a coffee filter, cheese cloth, whatever you want, but it needs to be breathable, to put on top and secure.  I used a hair rubber band.  Remember, we're making vinegar here, so it will off gas as it ferments so you have to allow it to breath.  Otherwise it will likely explode and leave a big stinky mess.

This next picture (under this) is what it looks like after a couple of weeks.  I did need to stir it a couple of times as the apples all floated to the top leaving several inches of liquid at the bottom.  I stirred it just to loosen it back up.  Also, you'll need to add more water as it evaporates so that your apples stay submerged.

This is the beginning makings of the mother on top.

After 5 months of it sitting in my kitchen cabinet, occasionally adding more water and stirring, I took it out, used a cloth in the bottom of a colander and strained out all the apple pieces.  This is what I have left.  Apple cider vinegar.  You can do the draining anywhere between 3-6 months based on how it's looking, the type of apples you use.  (Sweeter apples have more sugar and ferment better than sour apples.)  The temp in your house, etc.  So just check it every now and then, taste it if you like the taste and strain it whenever you want.  It's YOUR creation, so do what you want with it!  Once it was strained, I put the apple remains in the compost box.  Nothing went to waste!

See.  Easy peasy.  And wow was that so much cheaper than buying Braggs!  My 2 gallons of apple peels and less than a gallon of distilled water came out to be a gallon plus a quart of apple cider vinegar.  I only spent a couple of bucks total to make that!  So.....go get your savings on!

An Update on our Tooth Decay Journey

It's been awhile since I've updated and there have been many questions I often see repeated on the Natural Alternatives board in regards to curing tooth decay.  I'll share our journey so that you can learn what we do, but it's not a one size fits all plan that will work for everyone.

First of all, get your hands on a copy of the book Cure Tooth Decay by Ramiel Nagel.  Start implementing the things he talks about in how to properly prepare foods to boost nutrient density and prevent foods from blocking mineral absorption.  This allows the body to maximize remineralizing and healing teeth.  For a quick overview of the diet recommendations, you can also see my previous post where I laid out a brief description of what I'd learned from the book.  See - Curing Tooth Decay ~ Things I've learned that may have contributed to our plight

Our supplements

Fermented Cod Liver Oil and Butter Oil
Supplements that my 5 year old takes (the one with cavities) are Fermented Cod Liver Oil and Butter Oil by Green Pasture's Products.

There has been lots and lots of questions as to what flavor is the best or easiest to take.  This is going to be different for everyone, however, here is our personal experience.  The first time we ordered, we got the emulsified, "kid friendly" peppermint flavor fermented cod liver oil and unflavored butter oil.  We ordered separately, not premixed.  My kids DID NOT like this!!!  The emulsified version would separate into an oil on the top part of the jar, and a thick goopy mess at the bottom of the jar.  It was incredibly gross looking and even grosser for the kids to actually have to try to choke it down.  We were grateful when it was gone and we could try something new.

The next time we ordered, I decided to try regular liquid.  The reason I decided to do this was for cost purposes.  With the regular liquid fermented cod liver oil, there are 118 servings for $43.99, in comparison to the emulsified which had only 64 servings for $38.99.  BIG difference in price!  We opted to try the orange flavor, and then we added butter pecan flavor butter oil.  It was a success!

Rather than needing to get into the jars repeatedly, I just pull out equal servings of each fermented cod liver oil and butter oil and store it in a small 1/2 cup container with a lid.  Like these.  The regular liquid fclo came with a syringe, so I pull up 1/2 tsp of the mixed oils and shoot it in her mouth and she chases it with raw milk.  Twice a day is ideal, but sometimes I only remember once a day.

Cell Salts

Next, are cell salts.  They are a homepathic remedy that can provide beneficial minerals to help support bones and tissues in the body.  To learn more about cell salts and what each one specifically is good for, this is a great place to start. ~ Cell Salts PDF  We have chosen to give #1 (Calc Fluor), #2 (Calc Phos), #8 (Mag Phos), #10 (Nat Phos), and #12 (Silica).  We use Hylands brand and I order from Vitacost or Amazon (if you would like to receive a $10 refer a friend from Vitacost, please click on that link and we each get a coupon!)  I give these 2-3 times a day as I can remember.  And I go by the suggested dosage on the side of the bottle per age.

Vitamin D

Vitamin D is one of those things that just about everyone is deficient in.  Kind of like just about everyone is low on magnesium as well.  I also get the Vitamin D from Vitacost.  Now, I'm not really sure that the brand I got (this one)  is any better than the vitacost brand or not, but it was recommended by a friend as the best, so I got it.  In spite of it being twice as expensive.  It only takes 1 drop per day to get 2,000 iu, which is a sufficient amount for a daily dose for my 5 year old.  You could also try this one and only give 1 drop instead of the recommended 2 drops for the same dosage and a cheaper price at Amazon.

Swishing and Toothpastes

I encourage xylitol swish 5-6 times a day (purchased from Vitacost or from the local health food store, this one is gmo corn free).  I do not encourage her to ingest it, but I do encourage her to swish and spit as soon as she wakes up, after breakfast/lunch/dinner, before bed, and any other time I think it fits in there.  Xylitol stops the S. Mutants known to cause tooth decay.  It kills it and prevents it from doing damage.  Fore more information, simply google Xylitol for tooth decay, but here's a link to get ya started.  There are tons of articles out there.   So, we dissolve 2 tablespoons into a full cup of hot water and wait til it cools.  Set it in the bathroom next to the sink and have her rinse and spit.  Even the 2 year old will do this.

I also encourage oil pulling with coconut oil, and alternating with colloidal silver swishing.  I let her choose which she wants to do.

For toothpastes we alternate between using Branam's xylitol toothpaste and homemade toothpaste.  I use Black Walnut tincture, xylitol, coconut oil, bentonite clay, and a small amount of essential oils in the toothpaste.

And of course flossing.  This is essential to get the food off those bad spots so it doesn't sit there and decay up against the teeth.  So I do encourage flossing after every meal.

All in all, our routine is:

Wake up and brush and swish
Eat breakfast
floss, and swish
If I remember, remind her 20 minutes later to brush and/or swish again (because bacteria from food peaks 20 minutes after eating)
somewhere between breakfast and lunch do supplements
Eat lunch
floss and swish
try to remember to have her at LEAST swish again 20 minutes later
supplements again between lunch and dinner
dinner
floss and swish
try to remember to tell her again after 20 minutes
maybe one more snack before bed if we had an early dinner
floss, brush, and swish before bed.

Other additions through diet

Other things that we do are to get as much grass fed gelatin and bone broths into our diet as possible.  I make homemade yogurt and add some gelatin to it when the milk is warm before adding the starter so that it's slightly thicker.  I only add 1/4 cup of Great Lakes grass fed gelatin to a gallon of milk.  So it's not a huge amount, but it does change the thickness to be more like store bought yogurt.  If you get too much, you will have yogurt jello squares rather than anything that resembles actual yogurt.  :)  Added to the yogurt is a couple drops of liquid stevia extract and a bit of vanilla extract to taste.

Bone broths are used for soups, gravies, cooking vegetables, potatoes, the not very often (soaked and sprouted) beans or rice, and just about anywhere that water would normally be added in cooking I try to use bone broths instead.

Grains, sugars (even honey and fruits), cereal, oatmeal, etc are not a part of our normal diet any longer and we've learned to live without them.  Now I personally, do not follow the diet recommendations as closely for myself because I don't have cavities, and I'm pregnant as well as nursing and have different dietary needs.  One of my best hold over snacks in the middle of the night when I wake up starving to death is a handful of a few grapes and small square of cheese.  Which brings me to again recommend the Cure Tooth Decay book.  It helps you understand how to properly prepare foods like the beans, rice, etc, but also how to pair foods together to maximize nutrient absorption.  Like adding healthy protein and fat to fruit.  Serving cooked fruits like baked apples is better than raw.  Topping beans with cheese and sour cream for instance.

Our progress

So how is it going and is there actually any progress?  Well, now that the initial brutal diet changes are normal for us, it's going a whole lot better.  Her decay has progressed slightly since first diagnosed 7 months ago, but after the first couple of months, it has not gotten any worse.  I can't say that it has halted, because there are a couple of places that are still small brown spots, BUT, it hasn't gotten any worse!  Which means we are holding steady and hopefully heading in the right direction.  There are 3 spots that I am keeping an eye on regularly and checking to make sure it's not worse.  All of the other places that were original concerns are now white and hardened and no longer active decay at all.  So we've had SOME success, but not complete success....yet.  :)  She is not in any pain, there is no infection, no red gums, or abscesses or anything like that at all so we are comfortable to just watch and see what happens.

*Update as of 2/10/14 - - - Only *1* tooth remains to halt decay completely.  You can SEE that it is on it's way.  The other teeth have completely stopped decaying and hardened!  So close!

HOWEVER!!!  I do have an amazing story to share in regards to my 2 year old!  I have been keeping a VERY close eye on all 4 of my kids teeth since the cavity diagnosis for the (now) 5 year old.  One day, I noticed a spot on an upper molar of my 2 year old.  I nearly cried.  Though we were on the dietary stuff, she was not taking the supplements, and my husband and I were more lenient with her and would often share our own foods with her that our other kids didn't typically eat.  For instance, sometimes I'd wake up on the morning and my husband was eating toast with peanut butter and sharing with her.  He had been warned to not give this to our kids, ESPECIALLY the child with tooth issues.  But when you have a cute 2 year old begging for your food who has no tooth problems, sometimes you give in.

I was so upset seeing this spot on the 2 year old's tooth.  I looked at it several times throughout the day and was just feeling very defeated and devastated.  I immediately started giving her the supplements and had to trick her to get her to take the fermented cod liver oil and butter oil.  I don't give honey to my other kid because of it's affect on blood glucose and us working SO hard to try to get her teeth healed.  We are very strict with the dietary stuff with her.  But with the 2 year old, I really felt it was worth it to at least get the fclo/bo into her.  So, I did half fclo/bo mixture, and an equal amount of honey.  I shook it up on the syringe and then gave her her "honey" which she chased with raw milk.  She loved it!  Begged for more!  So I gave this to her twice a day.

Three days later I took another peek into her mouth to look at her tooth again and was SHOCKED!  I mean, I was absolutely floored by what I saw.  Nothing.  The spot was GONE!

Before starting supplements pic vs. 3 days later after doing supplements.

Of course there is skepticism.  *I* was skeptical!  How could that be?  I KNOW I saw that there!  I took a picture of it so I could monitor it and make sure it didn't get too bad!  Someone else suggested maybe it was food or something, but no it was not!  I brushed her teeth, I looked at it several times that day in near tears.  Yet 3 days later it was GONE!

This is not typical as you can see from my story of my other child.  But really, is there such a thing as a typical result?  I'm not so sure.

The body is constantly working to heal and remineralize bones and teeth and when it's missing something, if that something is then given, it can repair!  This will make total sense to anyone who has ever had a cut or scrape and cared for it, bandaged it up, and then removed the bandage a couple of days later to be amazed at how much it's healed!  Particularly if any herbs like comfrey or plantain or other healing herbs are applied to help accelerate healing.  It makes total sense when you look at it from that perspective.

My take away with this is that I believe we are on the right path for my 5 year old, but her diet deficiencies will take much longer to repair, as she had a much longer amount of time to get to the point she was before we started the healing procedures.  As long as there is progress or stabilization, we will keep on this path.  In fact I've since learned that some countries don't drill and fill baby teeth at all!  See here.  Which is fascinating to me how much different other countries do things.

We are still learning.  We don't have it all figured out, but I do feel as though we are headed in the right direction.  I hope this post is helpful to some of you as you either consider this different approach, are beginning your own journey, or even if you've been on the journey and looking for a cohort in the battle for your child's teeth.  Cause I get it.  I truly understand the feeling of FIGHTING for your child's teeth and health apart from the normal dental recommendations.  I get the anxiety you feel as you wonder....am I doing the right thing?  As other people think you're crazy for not just going to the dentist and doing the normal thing.  The feeling of frustration when trying to figure out what to feed your children that is healthy and good for them that they will actually WANT to eat!  I get it.  I really do.  So I hope this post is helpful to others.

* This post has affiliate links.  If you click on them and order a product, it will not change the price you pay, but will help me out a tiny bit.  I thank you for helping out another momma to get the good stuff for our family!

Grain Free-Sugar Free Pumpkin/Sweet Potato Pancakes

It's been a while since I've posted.  Life has been pretty busy with getting things ready for winter around here.  Lots of harvest to bring in, wood to stack, you know, all those things city folk don't have to worry about.  :)

Anyway, I'm sharing a recipe with you that I made for the kids today.  We haven't had pancakes since May when we started this Cure Tooth Decay diet.  I had seen someone say they made some sweet potato pancakes with basically nothing but sweet potatoes and eggs, but I wanted a little more than that.  So, I searched the web for some other recipes.  Most all of them had things in them that we couldn't have.  Flour, sugar, nuts, nut butters, or something like that.  So I took a few bits and pieces of different recipes and pulled them all together to make this one.

My kids absolutely LOVED it!  My personal opinion is that.....it was ok.  It was not like pancakes to me cause it wasn't sweet.  It was definitely edible to my starving pregnant self and I ate 3 of them!  But my kids loved them in a way that they want a pancake day every week with them.

So here's the recipe.  Obviously you can tweak it to what you like best.  Use all pumpkin, or all sweet potato or mix the amounts differently.  Add a bit of honey if you want, or maybe even a couple drops of stevia or a spoon of xylitol as sweetener.  Use syrup!  Or top it with peanut butter!  The ideas are really endless!  But with our limited availability, we ate them like this.

3 eggs
1 cup of pumpkin puree
3/4 cups of steamed, mashed sweet potato
1/2 cup of milk, or milk substitute of your choice
1 Tablespoon of coconut flour
2 teaspoons of cinnamon
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon of salt

Feel free to add a bit more spices to it too if you want!  Cardamom, ground cloves, etc.

Beat all the ingredients in a bowl and let them set while you grease your pan or griddle well with coconut oil.  Be sure to grease again between each batch as well.  Heat your griddle to warm.  Water should sizzle when you flick a couple of drops onto the pan.  Then you  know it's ready.

I used about a 1/2 of a 1/4 cup measuring cup worth of "batter" for each pancake.  Let them cook until they look almost dry through, then flip them.

We then topped ours with some cream cheese.

I'm sure that tomorrow my kids will be begging for these again.  As an adult that loves real pancakes with maple syrup and lots of butter......I may have to sneak some real ones after they go to bed.

Cavity Fighting, Remineralizing Toothpaste

And, it's squeezable!  How about that?  :)  I took a recipe from Wellness Mama and mixed it up a bit with some info that I've learned along the way on our Cure Tooth Decay journey.

The first ingredient in the original recipe is Calcium Carbonate Powder.  Or Calcium Magnesium Powder.  These can be purchased at Vitacost for relatively cheap!  (If you've never purchased from them before, may I introduce you to a friendly referral code so we could both get $10 off?  Just click here - Vitacost referral.)

However, what I did was that I used cell salts.  Cell salts are a part of the recommended protocol for healing tooth decay by supplying important minerals that help heal and harden bones.  Is it cost effective for this?  No.  Not really.  But I had then on hand already and I thought they would make a great substitute.  So, using the powder above is a more cost effective route.  I used 1 teaspoon of each of the following cell salts, #1 - Calc Fluor, #2 - Calc Phos, #8 - Mag Phos, #10 Nat. Phos, and #12 Silicea.  To learn more about the importance of cell salts to a healing regimen, check out this link.

Next is xylitol powder.  I use crystals and just ground them up in my food processor along with the cell salt tabs.  While most xylitol is a GMO product because it's made from corn, you'll want to look for a pure birch xylitol. Particularly if you are using it in something that will be ingested.  Vitacost carries both types of products.  The birch xylitol is quite expensive.  So for ME, as long as it's not being ingested, I use the GMO product.  It's usefullness at preventing the bacteria that causes decay is noteworthy.  And as I mentioned, we aren't swallowing or ingesting the toothpaste.  Therefore in this recipe I just used the regular ol' Vitacost brand of xylitol.  For more information on how xylitol is helpful in oral care, this link might help a bit.

Coconut oil is used in this recipe.  I used Vitacost brand of this as well.  Coconut oil helps bring everything together, plus it's just SO good for you!  It has anti bacterial and healing properties all of it's own.

Baking Soda.  Any kind will do.  This is helpful for balancing the pH of the mouth and even to gently polish and whiten the teeth.

Bentonite Clay.  I purchased a 1 pound bag of it from Frontier.  You can also get it at Vitacost as well if you don't have access to a wholesale group to get it a bit cheaper.  This particular ingredient is supposed to help with the remineralization due to the calcium that is in it.  As well as draw out any toxins that may be in the mouth or on the teeth contributing to the loss of minerals.

Distilled Water.  I did not use water.  Instead I opted to use vodka.  As soon as water is introduced to a recipe, you run the risk of growing bacteria, fungus, or molds.  Vodka, is an alcohol (Duh!) and therefore will act as a preservative and prevent bacteria or molds from growing.

Essential oils and trace minerals.  I LOVE (and am an affiliate for) Mountain Rose Herbs certified organic essential oils.  I opted to use a bit of Cinnamon Bark, Clove Oil, and some homemade Black Walnut Hull tincture.  Black Walnut Hull has some amazing healing benefits and is even being researched for use in some cancer treatments!  For this recipe, I'm using it for the purpose of strengthening and restoring tooth enamel.  It also helps destroy germs and bacteria!  Which is a major bonus for any of us doing this journey to heal tooth decay.  Clove oil helps improve blood circulation and also is a powerful pain reliever, as well as being anti bacterial and anti septic and is known to freshen bad breath.  Thankfully, my kids aren't having any tooth aches or pains, but if they were, this would be a great help for that.  And finally Cinnamon Bark.  It is a very strong anti bacterial essential oil.  I would NEVER advise using it 'neat' or undiluted.  In this recipe, I used it very sparingly.  I actually only added it for a hint of cinnamon flavor since it would be used for kids and peppermint is not advised for children's use.

Ok, so here's how the recipe looked in the end after I made a much a smaller amount and switched up some stuff.

5 teaspoons of cell salts (or you can use your calcium powder, etc)
3 teaspoons of xylitol
4 teaspoons of coconut oil
1 teaspoon of baking soda
2 teaspoons of bentonite clay
3 teaspoons of vodka
8 drops each of clove oil and cinnamon bark (*optional!  I don't recommend if using for kids!!!)
20 drops of black walnut hull tincture

First, I took all the dry items and crushed them up in my food processor.  The cell salts (or your calcium powder), the baking soda, bentonite clay, and xylitol.

Alternatively, you could use the Birch Xylitol.

This is what it all looks like as a powder before you add in the liquids.

Ok, then dump all of that out into a bowl and add you coconut oil and vodka.

Then add in your essential oils of choice.

Mix it all up together really well.

I picked up a 3 oz squeeze tube at Walmart in the travel container section for 97 cents.  It is NOT BPA free however.  For some, you may want to invest in something other than the walmart one.  That's totally cool!  I get it!  But since BPA is most often the concern for when the plastic is heated and this toothpaste is not warmed for any reason, I am not too overly concerned about chemicals leaching, and I'm trying to work on a tiny budget.  So, this worked for me.

And the final product.

It's a nice consistency and squeezes out really easily.  This recipe only filled the tube about half way so realistically it could probably be doubled for a full container.  It doesn't bubble like store bought toothpaste, but it does a good job of cleaning our teeth.

So there ya go!  A homemade toothpaste recipe.  :)

Making Beef Tallow

Beef tallow is one of those things that unless you're a whole foodie like me, that you'd probably never even THINK of using!  I mean, a few years ago the very thought of cooking in animal fat was a huge no no in my mind!  The very idea that people cooked in or consumed any amount of fat was just appalling to me!  Didn't they know that's how you got fat!?

Ha ha ha!  Oh how I've learned differently!  Of course!  I mean, I make my own butter now too and you couldn't pay me to buy margarine.  So, why not find animal fats useful for cooking as well?  Not only is it good for cooking, it's also useful for making soap!  Beautiful, wonderful, lovely soap!

So today, I'm going to show you how incredibly easy it is to take a humongous slab of cow fat and turn it into something useful.

I'll start by saying that if you choose to use your tallow for food consumption, PLEASE be sure that it is from 100% pure grass fed pastured beef.  Know your farmer, know your food.  ;)  However, if you only plan to use your tallow for soap, then you can utilize any beef suet (fat) that you can get a hold of.

I called around to see what I could come up with.  My local farmer that we buy our bulk beef from was willing to sell me some grass fed suet for $1.50 a pound.  When we buy our 1/4 cow, he always throws in the suet as part of the package deal anyway, but if I were to buy it separately, then that was has asking price.  Not a bad deal for high quality suet that I'd feel good about frying up some potatoes in!

A nearby meat locker was willing to sell me their grain fed beef suet for $1.20 a pound.  And better still, the little butcher shop right down the road from me was willing to GIVE it away!  So free, of course, is always better.  :)  I was able to pick up 15 pounds of beef fat for nothing.  Most places simply throw away the fat anyway, so they truly aren't out anything by giving it away.  However, because it is not grass fed, this will only be used for soap. I'm not a big bird person, but of course this could also be used for suet bird feeders as well.

So of course your first step is to obtain some beef fat. AKA suet.

Cut it in some chunks or cubes.  The smaller it is, the faster and more efficiently it will melt down.  Leaving it in large chunks makes for a much longer process.   I did get lazy towards the end and make bigger pieces cause my arm was about to break and I physically could not cut any more.  But smaller is better.

Throw it in a large pot and turn it on Medium - Medium High and just let it melt.  

Let it melt, simmer, cook down until the remaining pieces of fat turn brown and crispy and all of the oil that is usable is out of it.  Then you'll strain it.

I forgot to take a picture of this step.  Sorry!  I used my large mesh over-the-sink strainer with a large piece of an old clean t shirt cut to line it, then sat it over the largest stainless steel bowl I had and just let it strain.

Once that was done, I put it in some baking dishes I'd lined with wax paper.  Previously when I did this I just poured it straight into some glass mason jars, but it was incredibly difficult to get it out once it was hardened. This time around,  I put it in the baking dishes, and let it set on the counter until it had slightly hardened and then put it in the freezer to continue hardening.

When it was fully hardened, I turned it over dumping it out, breaking it into pieces, and then froze it in Ziploc baggies in 1 pound portions.

Now, whenever I'm ready to make some soap, I've got my beef tallow ready too!  :)