Hot, Fresh Bread!!!

Ok, so I just finished making my first loaves of bread in my life, and I am never going back. The recipe I found was really simple and even had a step-by-step video. At first I was really nervous because (like I said) this was my first time, but I'm really proud of how they turned out. I just pulled them out of the over maybe 15-20 minutes ago, and me and my sister alone have eaten almost an entire loaf. 

One of the loaves was shorter than the rest because I didn't have enough dough for a full loaf -- hence the rectangle-shaped slice. Here's the recipe if anyone wants to try: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/20066/traditional-white-bread/?src=VD_Summary . It's really easy for beginners like me. 

What made me want to do this was because most of the time, I have no idea what's actually in my bread. I eat toast with my breakfast every morning but I don't even know what I'm putting in my body. Now I know because I was the one who put it in there. And now, I don't want to ever go back. The smell of fresh baked bread alone is enough to make you want to bake every day. But there's also the satisfaction of knowing you accomplished something that most people can't do, the awareness of what exactly you're eating, and the fun of experimenting with the recipe. 

My sister told me that next time, she wants me to make her cheesy bread, and my mom wants cinnamon raisin bread. These things would be so easy to do. Just kneed in the extra ingredients while you're mixing the dough. And this recipe makes enough dough to make 2-3 loaves depending on how big your loaf pans are, so whenever you seperate the dough for each of the pans, you can quickly kneed in different ingredients. This way you can make several different kinds of bread in one batch. You could even make enough dough for everyone in the family to make their own kind of bread. Make this a new family tradition where everyone helps out. I know I will.

Hair Care

Hey, y'all. Nate here. For about a week, I've been working on my first step to an all-natural lifestyle: my hair. Early last week, I was thinking about starting my journey, and I decided to take a shower to think it over (I always have my best ideas in the shower). So I was in the shower and looked down at my bottle of shampoo and thought, "What the heck is even in this?" I looked at the ingredients list and didn't know what a majority of the things on it were. It drove me crazy; how have I been using this my entire life and don't even know what I'm using? Then it got me thinking. What about my conditioner? My body wash? My deodorant? I checked them all out and most of the ingredients were virtually unpronounceable. I decided this is my first step. 

So I (like the nerd I am) began researching. What are some all-natural recipes people are using? I found a couple that seemed interesting and started there. On December 26, I made my first batch of shampoo, conditioner and body wash (I'll add the recipes at the end of this post). Everything seemed to work pretty well... except the conditioner. That worked a little too well.

The only ingredients for the conditioner were olive oil and honey, which made sense to me since they're both extremely moisturizing. The only problem is that I would rinse my hair for several minutes, and my hair would still be covered in oil. Maybe I was using too much, but I quickly got annoyed with it. 

The body wash, on the other hand, works perfectly. During my research, I found a recipe for a coconut milk based body wash. I didn't have any coconut milk, but I did have buttermilk... That got me thinking about the children's book Charlotte's Web. For those of y'all that don't remember it, the farmer's wife decided to wash Wilber, the pig, using buttermilk to clean him for the local fair. I know the book is fiction, but I figured there has to be some amount of truth to it. Lo and behold, I was right. By swapping out buttermilk for coconut milk and olive oil for coconut oil, I found the best body wash I have ever used. At first, it was a little difficult to use because my skin would dry out before I could fully scrub an area. The next day, though, I figured out a trick. First of all, it's best to scrub everywhere on your body then rinse; don't try rinsing while you're scrubbing. What I do is use a little bit of the wash and draw a line on the area I'm about to scrub. Then when I'm finished with that area, I move into the next and add a little to that spot. This way I can clean my body little by little without wasting the wash. If my skin starts feeling a little dry while I'm scrubbing, I just squeeze my bath sponge to release water as a lubricant. This works so well. Even after just my first shower with this, I removed more dirt and grime from my body than in any shower I ever had before. 

The shampoo worked okay. You know, it did the job but it wasn't the best. A couple days later though, I heard that in the early 1900's (before chemical shampoos), people would use eggs to wash their hair. I thought this was crazy, so again, I researched it (I'm the kind of person that has to know a lot about something before I do it). It turns out it's true, at least partially. Before shampoos, people would use the yolk of an egg mixed with water to clean their hair. I figured I'd try it. It worked wonders! The instant I got out of the bathroom from my shower, my mom looks at me and says, "Wow! Your hair looks really healthy!" I went to her bathroom to check it out; my bathroom mirror was still fogged up from my shower. She was right. Not only did it look healthy, it felt healthy too. It was smooth and soft and much better than anything I could've gotten from a bottle. Who knew something so simple could be so great? You just mix the ingredients and lather it into your hair like any shampoo. (Note: none of these recipes will actually make suds because they don't have any foaming against. I suppose you could add some if you want, but that kinda defeats the purpose of an all-natural product.) The best part: you only have to wash your hair once a week! Most people think the yolk of the egg is what grows into the chick, but it's actually the white that does. The yolk it just a sack of nutrients there for when the embryo is growing. When used to wash your hair, these nutrients stay in your hair for a while. You can go about 7-10 days without washing your hair, and your hair will still stay clean and smooth. So what I'm gonna do is just wash my hair with the yolk every Monday, then just rinse it the rest of the time. A rinse should be enough to remove any dirt and excess oils in my hair. 

So that's basically it. I really hope this inspires at least one of you to make a change for the better. Hair care seems like such a small thing, and maybe it is, but that might be best. I know that if I tried to do everything I want all at once, I'd be overwhelmed and would very quickly give up. Sometimes we have to take baby steps to make giant leaps. This is my first baby step. 

Here are the recipes in case anyone wants to try these out. (Again, I don't really recommend the conditioner because it left my hair really greasy and oily, but if you want to try it, maybe you'll have better luck.)

Shampoo:

6 oz aloe vera

3 tbsp olive oil

10 tbsp baking soda

Conditioner:

1 part olive oil

1 part honey

Body Wash:

1/2 cup buttermilk (or any whole fat milk)

1/2 cup sugar

1 tbsp oil (I used olive oil)

1 tbsp baking soda

Egg Yolk Shampoo:

1 egg yolk

About 1/4 - 1/2 cup water (you can guesstimate this and use warm water from your shower so it's not so cold)

You can also add essential oils to any of these recipes (except the yolk shampoo). I'm a huge essential oil nut and will definitely be adding some to my next batch. However, I recommend not adding them until your second time making it. You will want to see if the base will work for you before you waste your oils (which can be a little pricey). 

Also, a couple tips: make sure to mix everything really well before using. The egg should be easy because you can make it in the shower but everything else will seperate while you're not using it. Make sure to also open the bottle facing away from you. After I shake my bottles of body wash and the original shampoo, it always squirts a little, and you don't want to get it in your eyes; trust me! Lastly and most importantly, make sure to refrigerate your mixtures when you're not using them. Technically, they are food products, so they will go bad if just left out, especially if you take warm/hot showers. 

Anyway, good luck, and if you're even half as excited as I am about this, I know we will have an incredible journey together.