All Natural Flea Spray

Ingredients:
2 lemons sliced as thinly as possible
6 sprigs of fresh rosemary
One quart of water
Geranium Essential Oil

Place lemons and fresh rosemary sprigs in a bowl and pour very hot (near boiling) water over them. Let the mixture steep overnight. Add a few drops of geranium essential oil. Wrap lemons in a cloth (cheese cloth maybe) and squeeze the oil out of them into the water. Strain and pour into a spray bottle. Keep refrigerated.

Spray this on your dog, but be sure to avoid their eyes! You can smooth it on the face by hand.

Homemade Insecticide

inspired by Homemade: How-to Make Hundreds of Everyday Products Fast, Fresh, and More Naturally
This works well for flying insects like aphids and white flies. Apply it every few days for a week to control hatching insect eggs. It's great for houseplants because you don't have to worry about toxic fumes! Still, you don't want the kids to drink it so make sure its up high and out of reach.

10 garlic cloves (unpeeled)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 teaspoon dish washing soap (not dishwasher detergent)
3 cups of hot water

Puree garlic cloves skin and all with oil in a Blender. Strain mixture into something you can shake (like a one quart jar). Add water and dish soap. Shake gently to mix.

Pour into a spray bottle (I've been re-using old cleaning supply spray bottles that I rinse thoroughly) and spray on the infested plants.

Babyfood Peas

Babyfood is really very easy to make. Basically, you just take the food you want to serve the baby (make sure it's baby safe - no honey, maple syrup, nuts, shell fish, etc.) cook it really well and then put it in the blender with the right amount of water to make it smooth. The big benefit is in the taste - fresh veggies are way more tasty than the ones you get in the jar so babies will actually eat them!

One Package of Frozen Organic Peas (not petite)
Two Covered Ice Cube Trays
Blender


1. Cook the peas in water. You can microwave them in a glass bowl with a little water for a few minutes, or put them on the stove in a pan and cook them in water - either way works fine.

2. Put all of the peas in a blender - reserve the water to add as needed to get the right consistency.

3. Add a little of the water you used to cook the peas with - maybe a third of a cup.

4. Blend on high and add water as necessary to get the right consistency. If you add too much water and feel that the peas are too watery, add some rice cereal or some oatmeal. Its good with the peas too.

5. Once the peas are really really smooth (you don't want lumps), spoon them into the ice cube trays. Place the trays in the freezer overnight.

Voila! You have preserved babyfood peas. Store the babyfood cubes in a freezer bag and be sure to lable them! They look a lot like the greenbeans you'll be making next.

To serve, just drop three or so in a bowl and heat them in the microwave for 40 seconds or in a pan on the stove over low heat.

Oatmeal Mix (not instant, but quick enough)

6 cups quick-cooking oats
1 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup light brown sugar (not packed)
1 teaspoon salt

Mix all of the ingredients together well. You can either divide the mixture into 12 servings of 1/2 cup each and store them in small zip lock baggies, or you can store the whole mixture in a big container and scoop out 1/2 cup per serving of oatmeal that you want to make.

To Make the oateal (for one serving):

1. Heat 1/2 cup water or milk to boiling (use 1/2 cup water for each serving you are making)
2. Add 1/2 cup oatmeal mix to boiling water and reduce heat to simmer
3. Stir mixture well
4. Let simmer, stirring occasionally until the oatmeal is thickened to the desired consistency.

Put it in a bowl, pour cold milk over it and serve!

Note: you can add more water or milk if you want your oatmeal to be more gooey. I generally start with the water, and add a little milk at the end to cook it for a few more minutes to soften things up a little more. I also like to add a couple drops of vanilla.

Quick Drying Herbs

Microwave ovens really DO dry herbs quickly! Be careful not to overcook them however because they can catch on fire. Here are the steps:

1. Wash and dry herbs well. Be sure they are dry otherwise you will end up with steamed herbs, not dried herbs.

2. Place about 5 herb branches on a paper towel and cover with a second paper towel (or fold the paper towel over).

3. Microwave on high for 2 minutes (this was the perfect amount of time for a Sharp 1200 Watt Microwave Oven). Check the herbs, if they are brittle, you're done! If not, microwave 30 seconds at a time until they are.

4. Crumble the leaves and store in an airtight container. Now I have something to do with those baby food jars I've been saving!

Poultry Seasoning - without the expensive label

From Chow

2 tablespoons rubbed sage
1 tablespoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon dried marjoram
1 tablespoon dried savory
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
Pinch of cloves

Combine 2 tablespoons rubbed sage, 1 tablespoon dried thyme, 1 tablespoon dried marjoram, 1 tablespoon dried savory, 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper, and a pinch of cloves.

You can of course adjust this to your taste. I didn't put any cloves in for example (I just forgot) and it turned out great.

All Natural Homemade Fabric Softener

inspired by Homemade: How-to Make Hundreds of Everyday Products Fast, Fresh, and More Naturally
I was really worried that this recipe would make my laundry smell like vinegar and it didn't AT ALL. Everything comes out smelling fresh and its all REALLY soft and static free. Go figure!

1/4 cup baking soda
1/2 cup white vinegar

1. If you are using a top loading washer, fill the washing machine with water and add baking soda then clothing. If you are using a front loading washer sprinkle the baking soda in the washer drum and then add clothing.

2. Use detergent as you normally would

3. Add white vinegar to the fabric softener dispenser (you might need less vinegar if you have a front loading washer - I just fill the dispenser to the "max" line in my dispenser). Or you can add the vinegar to the final rinse cycle if you don't have a fabric softener dispenser.