How to Make Elderberry Extract (or How to Make Elderberry Tincture)

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Last year when we lived on the farm we found a large elderberry tree that had LOTS of fruit on it. We harvested a bunch (learn how you can, too!) and have since been enjoying finding new ways to use the berries. One thing I did right after harvesting the fresh berries last year was make elderberry extract (or elderberry tincture).

It's incredibly easy, and super delicious. I use it to help make my elderberry syrup last longer (see my recipe). It's also wonderful to add to cider in the fall and winter. Mmmmm. Delicious.

Here is the very simple recipe:

How to Make Elderberry Extract

Ingredients:

• Elderberries (how to harvest, or where to buy)
• 100-proof Vodka (or other alcohol of choice)

Equipment: 

• glass bottle (what I used) 

Directions: fill glass bottle half way (or more) full with fresh elderberries (or 1/3 for dried). Slightly mash berries (optional). Fill bottle rest of the way with alcohol. Allow to sit in a dark place for at least 6 weeks, shaking occasionally. Make sure that berries are fully covered by alcohol. When ready to use, strain out berries. Enjoy. Stays good 1-2 years (though it never lasts that long at our house...).

Step-by-step directions: 

Pour berries in your glass jar, either to half or more (this is not an exact science, obviously...)

Slightly mash berries (if fresh). (This is an optional step.)

Leave in a dark place for 6 weeks, stirring occasionally. Here is the freshly steeping tincture pictured with my homemade vanilla extract which is also super easy to make. 

Resources

Wanting to learn more about foraging in this area? I cannot recommend this book highly enough. Northwest Foraging: The Classic Guide to Edible Plants of the Pacific Northwest is a great beginning/intermediate guide to edible plants in our area. It has lots of pictures which make identification easy, and it has a lot of great ideas for what to do once you've found your delicious wild edibles, too! Check it out!

Too busy to make your own tincture? Nature's Answer Alcohol-Free Sambucus Black Elder Berry Extract, 8-Fluid Ounces is a great alternative, especially if you are wanting an alcohol free version for the kiddos. 

Looking for a good source of elderberries? While harvesting your own elderberries is absolutely wonderful, it's not an option for everybody. These Organic Elder Berries from Starwest Botanicals are a great source of these delicious and medicinal berries. 

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Easy Homemade Laundry Detergent (without Borax)

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This is a post I have been waiting about three months to put up. Why? Because I wanted to test out my homemade product for a good long while to make sure it really worked before I shared it with you. And guess what? Can I just say, this easy homemade laundry detergent is awesome. It is incredibly easy to make and costs mere pennies.

Being the crunchy momma that I am whenever I used to purchase laundry soap from the grocery store I would always get the most natural, non-toxic, good-for-the-environment. (Read: the VERY, most expensive bottle). It would just kill me every time I had to fork over money to buy a new jug, which when you factor in that my husband works manual labor and my daughter uses cloth diapers, was pretty often. And on top of that, when you turn over any bottle of laundry soap and you read the list of ingredients the list always goes 1) water 2) a bunch of chemistry terms I don't recognize. 

So I decided to embark on a journey to make my own. This is my recipe. It may not work for everyone but it works for us. We even use it on diaper loads without any problems.

Easy Homemade Laundry Detergent

Makes 1 quart

1 quart-sized container
1 tablespoon washing soda (Where to buy. Or make your own)
1 tablespoon baking soda 
1.5 tablespoons liquid Castile soap.)
1 quart very warm water

In a small cup mix washing soda and baking soda together. Turn on tap water as hot as it gets. Add water to almost fill cup and quickly stir the powder mixture and dissolve thoroughly. Pour into quart-sized container. Add more water to almost fill. Shake well. Pour in Castile soap. Shake vigorously. Add more water to fill the container. Use 1/3-1/2 cup for regular load. More for a heavily soiled one. (Note: to learn how I wash cloth diapers go here.)

It's that easy.

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How to Make Washing Soda

Several months ago I was desperately searching for a source of washing soda to attempt a recipe for homemade laundry detergent. To no avail. Grocery stores, craft stores, bulk retailers, none of them had washing soda. Most of the people I talked to didn't even know what I was referring to. (Frankly, I didn't either...) So, in a desperate attempt I went online and did some research. Low and behold, washing soda is incredibly easy to make. 

I found this recipe for making my own. All you need is baking soda and an oven. It's that simple because,

Baked Baking Soda=Washing Soda 

The difference, chemically speaking, between baking soda (NaHCO3) and washing soda (Na2CO3) is water and carbon dioxide. When you heat baking soda at a high temperature the water and carbon dioxide evaporate.

How To Make Washing Soda

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Sprinkle a layer of baking soda on a baking sheet. Place in the oven. Stir occasionally for about an hour (or longer if need be). Remove from the oven and let cool. You can tell it is done based on texture. Baking soda is wet and clumps. Washing soda is dry, grainy and flakes  (In the picture, the baking soda is on the left and the washing soda is on the right). See the difference?

Now, if  you ever come across recipes for  homemade detergent that calls for washing soda, you don't need to drive anywhere to get it!

What do you I use it for?

To make my homemade laundry detergent!

Are we STRETCHING the truth? (aka An Attempt to Offend Every Woman)

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There seem to be two approaches in the Western alternative-medicine world right now regarding stretch marks - preventing them or embracing them. The one side claims to have figured out how to prevent them through eating whole foods, fat, restricting vegetable oils, etc. The other side wants you to embrace your "mommy tattoos" and redefine beauty as a women who is stretch-marked. 

I take issue with both. 

To those who claim you can prevent stretch-marks during pregnancy...

I was very strict with myself during pregnancy. I ate extremely healthy (Note: What I define as healthy is a diet that imitates our traditional societies--one high in animal fat and protein, with copious amounts of vegetables, fermented, probiotic-full foods, minimal grains and minimal sugar. Essentially  the nutrient-rich diet of traditional cultures as identified by Dr. Weston Price in his book Nutrition and Physical Degeneration)

 I followed the "real-foodies" advice. I was not doing this specifically to avoid stretch marks (though I was thinking that would be a plus) but in order to give my baby the best start I could on life. 

I got stretch marks. 

Not a lot, but some. I know women who ate all the "wrong" things during their pregnancies and didn't. 

So what's going on here? 

Here are my thoughts on it. I didn't grow up eating "traditional food" - my mother was part of the generation who were lied to about "low fat diets" and believed that fast food restaurants weren't that bad for you. I am not claiming that I ate terribly as a child. I didn't. I just didn't eat a nutrient-dense diet like I strive for now. (Mom, if you are reading this know that I don't blame you for this. No way. Oh, and I love you. A lot.) 

It wasn't until I was in high-school that I began to look into nutrition. I had HORRIBLE periods. I would literally be bed-ridden for an entire day - only getting up to puke in the bathroom while having diarrhea at the same time. Yes. Lovely image, I know. My doctor recommended I go on birth control (I think I was around 13...) to solve all these problems. Even as a young teenager I thought my doctor was nuts. So, rather than take her advice I began to change the way I ate. 

And it made a HUGE difference. 

Not every month, mind you, but most of the time. Sometimes the horrible periods would come back--but typically I could tie that to stress and extra sugar-consumption (which comes first, ladies? the chicken or the egg? the sugar binge or the stress?).

Since high-school my awareness of how important food is for our bodies has been slowly, but steadily growing. I have been far from perfect in my eating habits, and eating healthy, like all good things in life (marriage, being a parent, etc.) takes a serious commitment. 

It's not over until it's over

I went over eight months without getting any stretch marks. I thought for sure I was 'in the clear'. Then, a few weeks before Little Owl was born, I got what are known as "dropping stretch marks". I feel like that is pretty self-explanatory, but essentially when Athena dropped, my skin had to stretch and stretch fast. I got some stretch marks below my belly button. 

I'm not ashamed of my body. 

Far from it. I am very proud and impressed with what it could do to grow and nourish a whole new being. 

I am not 'proud' of my stretch marks. 

I do not think they are beautiful. I do not think they prove my womanhood. I do not flaunt them. But I also do not hide them. I do not think they are what make me a "real woman" or what prove I am a "tiger" who has earned her stripes. 

You would almost think they want women who don't get stretch marks to feel bad--like they are less of a real mother, less or a real woman.

Perhaps if I had never eaten a single potato chip in my life, if my mother had eaten traditional foods, and her mother before her, I would not have gotten stretch marks. I don't know. Maybe.

Am I a failure?

I feel like putting the pressure on women to do a list of things during their pregnancies to prevent stretch marks is too much. I could easily have viewed myself as a failure. (Was it that side of tortilla chips I ate that gave them to me? Was it that week I ran out of cod liver oil? Was it that one day I ate a Carl's Jr. hamburger because I was starving at the airport and couldn't afford to buy a chicken salad for thirty dollars??) 

No, no, no. 

I believe I went into my pregnancy with skin that was going to stretch, no matter what I did. Perhaps, with my diet I limited the"damage". Perhaps, perhaps. Perhaps. 

Working towards the future

What I want to focus on is giving my daughter the healthiest experience I can--both in and out. Mentally, physically, spiritually, emotionally. For her sake, I am not going to view myself as ugly or bemoan my "pre-baby" skin. For her sake, I am going to continue to strive to eat healthy. 

Perhaps when she is ready to have kids, her nourishing childhood will prevent her from getting stretch marks. Then again, perhaps not. As a culture we have been eating unhealthy for years now.

It's quite likely that it will take a few generations to redo what has been undone. But, that doesn't mean I am not going to try. And it also doesn't mean I am going to pretend that something that isn't inherently beautiful, is. 

What is beauty?

It's beautiful that I carried my baby for nine months. It's beautiful that she grew inside me and was born surrounded by love and sunshine. It's beautiful that I am accepting the changes that her presence has given me and will give me. It's beautiful that my baby loves and adores my despite my imperfections. 

But, the stretch marks themselves are not beautiful. 

What book changed my entire perspective on nutrition? See it here.

Do you have stretch marks? How do you feel about them? Share your thoughts with me. 

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15 Ways I Use Coconut Oil Every Day

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If I were a poet I would compose a love poem to coconut oil. It might start something like this: "Oh, Coconut Oil, how I love thee. Let me count the ways." 

I know, right? Terrible. Thankfully for you I am not a poet. So I won't bore you. But I will tell you how I use coconut oil every day. Maybe some of these ideas you already know about. Maybe some will be new. Maybe I've left out some. But regardless, here are

15 Ways I Use Coconut Oil Every Day

• Put it on my legs before shaving in the shower rather than using scary Shaving Cream.
• Slather it on after a shower instead of spending time making or buying expensive Body Lotion.
• Use it in place of rancid vegetable oils in Baking.
• Use it for Popping Popcorn instead of vegetable oil. 
• Use it for Sauteing delicious veggies.
• Use it as an all-natural Lubricant for the lady region. (Don't worry.... it's in a different bottle than the one for kitchen use...) 
• Take it by the spoonful as Appetite Regulator
• Mix it with a little bit of baking soda to make a super easy, cheap, effective, natural Deodorant
• Use it as the base for making homemade Chocolate. 
• Use it as a natural Gel if my hair gets fly-aways.
• Place a bit on the ends of my hair for a natural Conditioner.
• As a replacement for Nipple Cream for us lactating mothers.
• Sometimes as Baby Lotion instead of my beloved olive oil.
• As Face Lotion.
• As a quick Lip Balm.

There you go. That's 15 ways I use coconut oil every day. 

My favorite COCONUT OIL? See it here.

What are some ways you use coconut oil?

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Haven't Washed My Hair For Three Years

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No, really. I'm serious. I haven't washed my hair for three years. Almost four now. 

Why? Take a look at this ingredient list:

Would you drink that? 

Hopefully not. Most likely if you found this blog you don't use that kind of shampoo though anyways.  (Because, of course, you know it contains paraben, phthalates, petroleum byproducts, and other dangerous toxic chemicals.) You probably go for something more natural. But even "natural" shampoos don't look appetizing to drink, do they?

But you'll put it on your body?

Hopefully not. (At this point you should hear Gob Bluth saying this in your head....) 

Whatever you put on your body goes into your body, right? (I hope you know that.) If you wouldn't be comfortable drinking it, why would you be comfortable slathering it all over your head and then rinsing it down your body?

I first started to think about this when I got into more "natural" food and body products about seven years ago. Rather than spend two dollars on a seriously cheap (in all senses of the word) bottle of shampoo I opted for the more expensive, more "organic", more "natural" shampoos for ten to fifteen dollars. 

It seemed like a lot to spend on shampoo but it was worth it because it was better for me. Right? At least it wasn't Suave. But really, folks? Turn over that bottle of 'natural' shampoo. The ingredient list is at least close to as long the generic shampoos. Can you pronounce half of those ingredients? (If you can, props to you. You are probably a chemistry major.) Do you even know what a third of those ingredients are? (If you do, that's also awesome. You must be a science geek).

I'm not a chemistry major. Or a science geek. And I'm also lazy. And cheap. So rather than either A) looking up all those ingredients to find out what they are or B) spending a ton of money continuing to buy expensive, organic, unpronounceable-ingredient-filled "natural" shampoo, I wanted to find a less complicated, less expensive, more truly natural way of cleansing my hair. What did I land on?

Baking soda and apple cider vinegar. 

Surprise. Or not. I'm guessing you have probably heard of this. Most likely you even know someone who does this. (At least you would if it were common among your community to talk about personal hygiene choices....) It has become more popular to use a bit of baking soda as 'shampoo' and then apple cider vinegar as 'conditioner'. (If you want more info on how exactly to do this check out this fabulous mommy-blogger.) 

So what's the problem with those things? Nothing in particular. It mostly worked fine. My hair is auburn so the baking soda did turn it a little more red than normal. My hair (used) to be greasy - the baking soda would dry it up a little more and crack it a little more than I would have liked. The vinegar? Just made my hair greasy. 

So, really, I guess it didn't work. 

I tried different ratios of baking soda to water or vinegar to water, tried doing the vinegar rinse just once a week, or month, tried only 'washing' my hair once a week. Blah, blah, blah. And so on. It was better than shampoo, but I still wasn't really happy. 

Drum roll please. 

I'm here to reveal to you something wonderful. You can skip it altogether. I haven't used baking soda or vinegar regularly on my hair for close to a year now. (I got really freaked out of the "organic" ingredient list when I was pregnant... I didn't want that getting to my baby). So what do I do now instead? Nothing. That's right. 

I do nothing with my hair. 

Well, not nothing. I probably rinse it around twice a week in the shower. And occasionally if I am feeling very fancy, I revert to using the baking soda or vinegar rinse. Oh, and I comb my hair every once in awhile. And about once a year I go to an Aveda salon to have my hair trimmed. (Note: my stylist always comments on how healthy my hair looks!) 

But that's pretty close to doing nothing, right? 

But that's it. And my hair is fine. It took a few months for it to adjust to not being 'washed', but now it's great. In fact, it's super healthy. It's the healthiest it's been in a long time. It doesn't vacillate any more from super greasy to cracked and dry. (Granted, with a four-month old who is wanting to grab and put everything in her mouth you probably wouldn't know this if you saw me because my hair has adopted the elegant 'hey-everyone-I'm-a-mom-I-wear-a-per-ma-bun'-style.)

Give it a try. Allow your hair a few months to adjust (Note: if that seems long... think about how long you've forced your hair to "adjust" to all those chemicals in your shampoo. Think about it.) If you give it a try, let me know what you think. It doesn't get much easier than this. 

(p.s. Oh, and just in case you ever stay over at my house I have to warn you... There is no shampoo in the shower. My husband doesn't use it either.)

1/15 UPDATE #1: A Few Photos. 

I have had people ask to show more photos of my hair. This is in response to that request. Keep in mind these are completely candid photos, no airbrushing, no touch ups, nothing. Just point and shoot with digital or phone cameras, etc. :)

The "Before": when I was using conventional shampoo. I think I also might have been dying my hair at this time... can't remember for sure. 

The "in between" when I was using apple cider vinegar and baking soda. Notice how it changed the color of my hair and dried it out. This is also a particularly unflattering photo taken on a hike... ;)

A few "after photos" to give you an idea of what my hair is like now. Again, keep in mind these are very candid shots taken while hanging out with family and friends, not professional photos that have been touched-up or edited. In the last one, I hadn't even brushed my hair... we were camping with friends. 

Photo by my friend Diana of The Kitchen Rag

1/20 UPDATE #2: Do I smell?

For reasons that are still unclear to me, this article has been picked up by numerous news sources. Since then various people who have never met me have made numerous assumptions regarding my hygiene, parenting skills, and even my mental-health. (Ah, the lovely internet...) One common assumption by these anonymous commenters is that my hair must smell awful. You can read my response to that accusation in this post: "WHAT's that SMELL?!"

1/21 UPDATE #3: What else don't you wash?!

Apparently when you come out and say you don't use shampoo on your hair, people assume you don't wash anything else.... Just to clarify, I do. 

I wash my body.

Yes, I use soap to wash my body. Granted, I think that we use soap too much, but that doesn't mean I don't wash my hands or cleanse the areas of my body that naturally tend to exude odors.... So, yes, I use soap. This is the soap I have by my sink and in my shower. It has three ingredients.  I have made my own soap in the past, and plan to again, but this is a nice convenience to have right now. 

I brush my teeth. 

I have friends who make their own toothpaste, which I think is awesome. However, I have never found a recipe that works perfectly for me so I use this toothpaste instead. And I love it. It leaves my teeth feeling incredibly clean and my mouth feeling refreshed. 

I wash my clothes. 

See my recipe. 

Yes, I wash my clothes. Again, just like our bodies, I think we wash our clothes too much. But, I do wash my clothes. I make my own laundry soap using very minimal ingredients. It cleans the clothes very well, doesn't gunk up my washing machine, and saves me a LOT of money. 

What are your thoughts? Do you use shampoo, a natural alternative, or nothing at all?

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