Easy Homemade Toothpaste

Commercial toothpastes are commonly full of all kinds of ingredients and harmful chemicals like fluoride and foaming agents that may be harmful to your health.  For this reason, I prefer to make toothpaste for my family.  It's not only healthier, but more economical.  

My results: My teeth are whiter, the sensitivity to hot and cold has disappeared, no tartar build up, and my gums no longer bleed!  I'm sold.

Ingredients:

Organic Coconut Oil- research shows that coconut oil is effective against cavity causing bacteria and maintains a natural lipid enzyme balance on the tongue. I prefer to purchase expeller-pressed organic coconut oil.  

Bob’s Red Mill Baking Soda- acts as an abrasive and helps whiten teeth.  It works! I like Bob's Red Mill because of it's finer texture.  Most baking soda's, without added ingredients, will work just fine.

Organic Peppermint Extract to flavor.  Some people prefer to use essential oils and that is a personal choice.  I 100% agree in the benefits of aromatherapy and use EO's daily, but I do not believe in ingesting them in any amount so I prefer to us organic extracts to flavor foods and homemade toothpaste.

Magnesium Chloride Oil- this is a newly added ingredient to our homemade toothpaste. Since magnesium is responsible for so many processes/systems in our body I decided to add easily absorbable magnesium chloride spray to our dental hygiene regime.  You can even make this toothpaste without the Mag Chloride and spray your toothbrush 1 or 2x per week and brush with mag as an added benefit. You can make your own with Magnesium Chloride Flakes and Distilled Water, or order online.  Here is my favorite: Magnesium Mist Oil

Instructions:

Mix all ingredients together and place in glass storage container. You can play around with the measurements to suit your taste and texture. 

Coconut Oil- about 1/2 cup (feel free to double the recipe, if need be)

Baking Soda- 1/2 cup

Organic Flavor extract- 1/8 tsp. or less

Magnesium Chloride Oil- 2 teaspoons.  

Brush teeth daily with generous amount.  My preferred method is a combination of oil pull/brush technique.  I wash my tooth brush in hot water and then scoop out a generous amount of homemade toothpaste and swish around in my mouth for as long as I can- about 10 minutes.  I then spit it out, rinse and scoop another generous amount onto my toothbrush and brush my teeth, gums, tongue and rinse.

Here's to a healthy mouth.

Khorasan Flour Scuffins

Our family loves scones and we love muffins so we I decided to make a "scuffin" using this wonderful organic sprouted ancient grain.  Khorasan commonly called Kamut is an ancient grain that I believe is healthier than conventional grains. Kamut has about 30% more protein than modern wheat and is higher in essential minerals like magnesium, potassium, zinc & selenium and has more lipids and amino acids. Many people who are allergic to wheat can tolerate this ancient grain.  Kamut is chewy and has a wonderful nutty flavor. I prefer to purchase our ancient grains organic & sprouted.

Ingredients:

2 Cups of Khorasan "Kamut" Flour

2 Tablespoons of Baking Powder

2 Tablespoons of Coconut Sugar

1/4 Cup of Organic Maple Syrup or Local Raw Honey (this is optional, if you like it sweet then add some maple syrup or honey)

1/2 Cup of Pasture Grass-fed Butter

2 Pasture Raised Eggs

2 Cups of Raw Milk (or your favorite raw nut milk or organic cows milk)

Other: 1/4 Cup of Organic Carob Nibs (or you can add blueberries, raw nuts, etc.)

Instructions:

Mix all ingredients together and spoon in to muffin cups and bake at 350 for approximately 25 minutes.

Serve warm with pasture butter and rose hip jam or your favorite raw honey or maple syrup.

So delicious and healthy!

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Rose Hip Spread

Rose Hip spread is not only delicious, but nutritious! A great way to get your Vitamin C needs for the day.

A Rose Hip is the fruit  or seed pod of the rose plant.  Some reports claim that wild varieties have the highest concentration of Vitamin C, with some estimates reporting 30-50 times the Vitamin C of oranges.  Rose Hip, also known as Rose Hep is so packed with nutrients that I consider it a SUPER FOOD!  Known for it's Vitamin C content, Rose Hip also contain vitamins A, B-3, D and E as well as bioflavonoids, citric acid, flavonoids, fructose, malic acid, tannins and zinc.  Because Rose Hips contain a variety of antioxidant; carotenoids, flavonoids, polphenols, leucanthocyanins and catechins, Rose Hips are considered to be a good cancer preventative and the natural pectin found in Rose Hips is beneficial for gut health.

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Rose Hip Spread Recipe:

1/2 C of dried organic Rose Hips ground to a fine powder (I use my coffee bean grinder). You can also place 1/2 C of dried organic Rose Hips in boiling water and reduce to simmer for several minutes until hips are soft and remove seeds.

1 Tbsp. of apple cider vinegar or organic fruit juice of choice (I love the benefits of ACV and the tart taste)

1 tsp. of organic sweetener of choice to taste (raw honey, molasses, maple syrup) 

Mix all ingredients together and serve on organic sprouted bread, organic crackers, raw cheese or organic fruit!

It's deliciously tart and sweet.  Feel free to experiment with organic fruit juices and sweeteners of your choice.

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Garbanzo Bean Smooth Spicy Spread

Garbanzo Bean Spicy Spread

Ingredients

2 cups of soaked and cooked garbanzo beans.  I prefer to soak mine for 24 hours and then pressure cook them in my InstantPot for only 10 minutes with garlic and natural salt.  Soaking, Sprouting and Fermenting Legumes aids in digestion and assimilation of other valuable nutrients. 

1 Tablespoon of Organic Olive Oil

Juice of 1 Large Organic Lemon

1/4 Cup of Chopped Serrano Peppers (or peppers of your choice)

1/8 teaspoon of cayenne pepper

(Note: add any spices that you love to this spread)

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Process:

Place all ingredients into blender/Vita-mix and blend until desired consistency. I prefer my bean dip to be very smooth without the gritty texture.  Pressure cooking also helps reach this desired consistency.

Spoon into bowl and enjoy with your favorite chips.  My favorites are Jackson's Honest Chips made with organic heirloom potatoes, coconut oil and sea salt. 

Enjoy!

Ginger Culture for Ginger Soda

Ginger Culture or commonly called "Ginger Bug" is your starter for making Ginger Ale or Ginger Soda.  

Ingredients for Ginger Culture

3 Tablespoons of grated organic ginger

3 Tablespoons of organic unrefined sugar

2 Cups of Filtered Water

Process

Place ingredients in quart size jar and stir with wooden spoon

Cover with coffee filter as shown here

Store in warm place away from other cultures

Daily add 1 tablespoon of sugar and 1 tablespoon of ginger- approximately 5-8 days

The Ginger Culture will appear bubbly and cloudy and will fizz when you stir it

Now we are ready to make Ginger Ale.

Place remaining culture in refrigerator and feed 1X per week

How to make Ginger Ale coming soon!!!! Stay Tuned!

Homemade Bone Broth- Traditional and Instant Pot

Bone broths are extraordinarily rich in nutrients containing minerals (magnesium, calcium, phosphorus, silicon, sulphur and many trace minerals) and amino acids (arginine, glycine and proline) in a form that our bodies can easily assimilate.  These amino acids help support the bodies detoxification and digestion systems.  Bone broths are also rich in gelatin which improves collagen and digestive health- some call it the "Botox soup".

In a nutshell, bone broths can nourish just about every part of our bodies and can support healing of gastrointestinal issues, can fight infections from colds & flu's, can reduce joint pain and inflammation, and can promote strong bones, healthy hair and nails.  What a healthy and nourishing way to take care of your health.

Suggested reading on the health benefits of bone broths: 

BONE BROTH RECIPE

You can find a plethora of bone broth recipes on various websites and find a recipe that suits your budget, time and taste.  There are crock pot recipes, stock pot recipes and even pressure cooker recipes.

My Bone Broth Recipe

A traditional approach is to make  bone broth in a stainless steel stock pot.  I find a trusted resource for grass-fed beef bones and/or pasture raised chicken bones & chicken feet.  Wild game and fish stock also make great broths with nourishing benefits.

Update: Due to the volume of bone broth that I am making for my family and my clients, I have recently purchased an Instant Pot Pressure Cooker and I am enjoying the new process of making broth!  http://instantpot.com/

My Favorite Beef Bone Broth Recipe:

What you will need:

Large Stock Pot, CrockPot or Instant Pot

Stainless Steel Fine Mesh Strainer

Glass Storage Jars

2 LBS of Healthy Bones or more (just adjust your recipe for how much you aim to make)

1 Onion, 2-3 Carrots, 1 stalk of celery, 2 cloves of garlic

Organic Apple Cider Vinegar (I use Braggs)

Salt, Pepper (other spices for taste)

Filtered Water (about 1 gallon for every 2 LBS of bones)

Other herbs (optional for the last 30 minutes of cooking-some herbs may make your broth bitter if cooked the entire time)

Preparing bones:  If bones are raw, I think it improves the flavor of the broth if you roast the bones at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.  I simply place them on a roasting pan covered with parchment paper for easy clean up and place in the oven.  I have recently started roasting the veggies along with the bones and the broth... it is more pleasing to my palate.  If you are using bones that have already been cooked such as a chicken carcass or bones that you have saved from prior meals then there is no need to roast them.

Upon completion of roasting, let the bones cool, place in stainless steel stock pot and cover with about 1 gallon of cool filtered water or just enough filtered water to cover the bones.  Add 1-2 tablespoons of Apple Cider Vinegar and let stand for 30-45 minutes.  The acid in the apple cider vinegar will help make the nutrients in the bones more available.  Bring water and bones to boil for approximately 5 minutes, lower heat to simmer and cook for approximately 48 hours.

Instant Pot or Pressure Cooker: I have recently purchased an Instant Pot pressure cooker and I can make my bones in 2-4 hours. I provide broth for many of my clients and using the traditional stock pot on my stove was becoming overwhelming and I didn't like leaving my stove unattended while it was one. I simply follow the recipe above and fill the pot with my raw or roasted bones and cover the bones with filtered water, apple cider vinegar.   Pressure cook on high for approximately 3 hours.  There is also an app that will program your Instant Pot for you to make broth and other wonderful recipes.  

Storage: Let broth cool, strain broth through a stainless steel mesh strainer and pour into glass jars.  I prefer 1/2 gallon mason jars or quart jars.  If you are going to freeze the broth make sure you leave about 1/3 of the jar available to avoid cracking/explosion due to expansion.

Tip #1: You don't need to use fresh bones every time.  You can reuse the bones that you just made a batch with, if they are still in tact. There is still plenty of great minerals to be leached from those bones.  Once they turn to "mush" then you can discard them.  Remember to save bones from meat dishes that you have prepared.  Simply throw in a freezer safe bag for future broth making. 

Tip #2: Bone Broth is an acquired taste for some.  For a more gentle bone broth choose less cooking time and gently work up to the recommended times for ultimate health benefits.

Tip #3: Once you are ready to consume your bone broth you can add whatever seasonings/spices that you love.  I love to smash a clove of garlic and place garlic, cayenne, cumin, natural salt and pepper in the bottom of my mug and cover with hot broth!  Yum!

Almond Butter Banana Bread

Ingredients:

2 cups raw (preferably sprouted) almond butter

4 medium bananas, mashed

4 pastured eggs

4 Tbsp vanilla honey or 4 Tbsp honey + 1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tsp apple cider vinegar

2 T butter coconut oil, melted

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp baking soda

½ tsp sea salt 

4 Tbsp coconut flour

Process:

Mix ingredients and place in parchment paper lined baking pan and bake at 350 degrees for about 10-15 minutes. Top with pastured butter.  DELICIOUS

Coconut Flour Pancakes

Ingredients:

1/4 tsp Baking Soda

1/4 cup Coconut Flour

4 Eggs, Pastured

1/4 tsp Salt, a pinch

1 Tbsp Pure Vanilla Extract

1 Tbsp Water

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Process:

Heat ghee (clarified butter) in cast iron skillet on medium heat.  Drop pancake batter onto pan with a spoon or ice cream scooper.  Fry until golden brown on both sides.  Serve with pasture butter and local raw honey or maple syrup.