Easy Homemade Hand Soap Foam

Sickness still prevails in my household...I heard the ominous croup cough this morning (Help me!!!...makes me think of an Italian movie I watched in class where a little boy sets the local movie theatre on fire accidentally and runs home shouting Aiuto Mama...Help mom!...bittersweet moments interest me...yep I am a little weird).  So, handwashing is a primary concern right now.  I have tried so many soap ideas in my green and clean quest.  Long, long ago I succombed to the anti-bacterial craze. I now am enlightened (note sarcasm here, enlightened does not describe this tired mama).  I tried bar soap for awhile as it is greener taking less energy to make and package since no plastic bottle is needed.  Bar soap is apparently finicky, so I became frustrated...you see, my family either seems to wash our hands too much some days resulting in a wet and slimy bar or too little and it dries out and is not thorough in the handwashing job.  Then, I remembered a blogger talking about making her own foaming hand soap using castille soap.  Of course, I did not remember which blog.  Castille is not made from pretoleum...yipee...and I own it already to make cleaning products.  So, it fits many of my aspirations found on my home page including green, homemade, healthy, frugal, and my favorite easy to do. 

Recipes on the internet focus on using liquid soap...which has ingredients I want to minimize in my family's life.  So, I began experimenting...and the little scientist in me smiled (and screamed to get out ;).  I have a leftover foaming pump that once held baby soap...even more frugal and green. It is not made in America so the size is smaller. It is a 5 fluid ounce container and it appears with some internet research that 7.5 ounces is normal.  For my container I found that 1 Tablespoon works but is less soapy. My preference is 1.5 Tablespoons as 1 pump is enough unless your hands are really dirty.  This means that the castille soap should be 10-15% of the total volume of the dispenser.  This means that I recommend for a 7.5 ounce container 1.5 - 2 Tablespoons of Castille soap and then fill almost to the top with tap water.  The leftover space allows you to shake to mix. 

If you have a dispenser of another size, take its size in fluid ounces and double that number.  Then multiply by .10 and .15 which gives you the range of castille soap in Tablespoons that tends to work...for me and my pump at least.

Castille soap comes in scents so this last time I purchased Lavendar, which is a relaxing and mild smell perfect for cleaning products and hand soap. 

Next goal is to figure out dishwashing liquid using castille soap. For now we use Seventh Generation which is a decent and easy to find option.

The compromise:  30 seconds to make hand soap and missed opportunity to kill all the bacteria that threatens to enter my home.....ooooooo

The Sweet Reward:   It's cheap, easy, foamy soap is fun, green, smells good, and you aren't contributing to the Superbugs, who may just become our next Overlord.  

How do you bow down to a bacteria?
T

A Yummy way to stay warm while camping

A while back, I learned an interesting social service provided in Canada.  To help the homeless, warm baked potatoes are given away inside a new tube sock in the evening. It serves many purposes including warmth for the night, food the next day, and a new sock.  What an awesome idea!!! Cost efficient, humanitarian...what's not to love. Thus, I quickly adopted this idea for my own use.  Several years ago, I started with two white potatoes baked in a camp fire.  One for my feet and one for my trunk to stay warm in my sleeping bag and the next morning for yummy, warming campfire hashbrowns.  This weekend during a family camping trip, we tried it, but with a new twist.  We didn't actually need the warmth (ironic, given the weather shift that has me huddled under a blanket right now).  This time I used sweet potatoes with the intent of soup.  Although I must confess I have never made this type of soup, I love a challenge and tend to prefer cooking without recipes.  Because measuring spoons do not get packed for camping, I am estimating the amounts based on sight, so feel free to season to taste. 

By the way, one compliment I received is "I just want to bathe in it."  It was yummy and soothing and as I savored its warmth it blanketed my mouth and stomach in every important way.  I am adding this to my winter repertoire...black bean, chili, minestrone, squash, Provincial White Bean Soup, Kidney Bean and Kale Soup, Black Eyed Pea and Greens, etc.  I make a very large batch of each and deep freeze, typically only making each 1-2 times per year. 

So without further ado, here is my new Sweet Potato Soup, which serves 10 adults a good sized serving. Cut in half if this is too much for you.  I will probably double this the next time I make it.

Bake in either your oven (great way to decrease potentially wasted energy when preheating for baking bread) or a campfire or your fire pit out back when you have friends over, 6 pounds of sweet potatoes. 
Peel potatoes, waiting until a little cooled if you  like your fingertips to remain in place.

Chop 1 lb of onions and cook in oil in a large soup pot
When beginning to brown add 2 prunes (next time I will likely try 8 prunes)...this adds depth of flavor and natural sweetness, much like my homemade BBQ sauce.
Then add 1 Tablespoon of each of the following sweet curry powder, Chinese 5 spice powder, garlic powder, and ground ginger (the kind in the jar). Also add 1/2 Tablespoon black pepper. Stir and cook for one minute. Then deglaze pan with 1/2 cup of orange juice.
Add all the potatoes and 1 quart of vegetarian stock.
When warm, puree with an immersion blender (small and easy to take camping if you have electricity at your cite)
Then add, one more quart of vegetarian stock and 1 cup of cream or half and half (we used the latter since we had it already for camp coffee.
Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Enjoy either alone as we did or with a dollop of creme fraiche or candied orange peel.

Sorry there are no pictures, it was a busy weekend...3 families, 2 dogs, 1 playground, 1 festival, 2 loaves of homemade bread...yum, loud neighbors, 2 hours drive each way, 1 stroller strapped to the roof of a car, 1 pack n play (seriously recommended when camping with a little one), and 1 visit to medical professionals ;) yep, that's how we roll.

The Real Gooey Butter Cake

The title alone tells of my first compromise.

Compromise:  Making possibly the least healthy cake.

The Sweet Reward:  Do I really need to tell you?

This happens to be so quintessentially St. Louis that it is an absolute must on a visit or celebration of the Gateway City.

I do not like cake mixes...they are overly processed and likely contain the cheapest ingredients (ironic given the real ingredients are not expensive).  Yet, I needed to make this for a St. Louis themed night, so the best option was to at least make it homemade and maintain enough self-control to not eat most of the pan. I did lovingly lick the beaters.  Don't give me that hairy eye ball, you would too.

This is not my own recipe, but here is the link I used 

Homemade Gooey Butter Cake 
on a side note, this is a fun site.

It was rich, buttery, sweet, evenly moist texture, a nice but not too thick crumbly crust, appropriate amount of goo, thin top layer of crisp, and a beautiful golden color.

Eat me!!! Eat me!!!

If you don't mind ignoring what you know about nutrition, please do try this.  

By the way, this one lacks cream cheese which seems to allow the buttery flavor to fully shine.

Oh and without a cake mix it still only took about 15 minutes to mix up.

It met with rave reviews from man, woman, and child (aka Mr. B...at least he shared with his best bud the dog)