Homemade Granola Bars

Last year I made granola bars as Christmas gifts for most of my family and friends. Everyone loved them so I'm doing it again this year. Like most foods, making granola bars from scratch creates a healthier version than popular pre-made brands. This year I've slightly altered my recipe and created nutrient fact panels.

Here's the basic recipe I've been using:
Recipe:
8x8 pan
1½ cup Oats
½ cup Brown Rice Syrup
1 cup Crunchy (nuts, graham crackers etc.)
½ cup Sweet (chocolate, marshmallows, dried fruit etc.)
½ cup Other (pumpkin seeds, sesame sticks, cereal flakes, etc.)
Optional tablespoon of peanut butter, coconut oil, etc
Optional teaspoon vanilla extract, cinnamon, cocoa powder etc

Makes 8-10 bars

Bars stay fresh for two weeks.

1. Preheat oven to 325F
2. Mix ingredients in a bowl
3. Lightly grease pan before pouring in the granola mix. Distribute evenly
4. Bake for 20-30 minutes
5. Let cool for at least 15 minutes before cutting

For Christmas 2014, I made flavors like Cranberry-Walnut-Pumpkin Seed, Dark Chocolate-Walnut-Cranberry, Peanut butter-Chocolate chip, Smores (chocolate chips, marshmallows and graham crackers), and Dark Chocolate-Coconut-Cashew. In my original post, I explained the health benefits of some of the ingredients I chose. 

For Christmas 2015, I mixed up the ingredients creating flavors like teddy-graham smores, cranberry-almond-pumpkin seed, double nut-chocolate chip, and dark chocolate-walnut-cranberry. This year I used the USDA super-tracker site to get nutrient information and a free label generator from onlinelabels.com to create nutrient fact panels for my bars.

Almond-Cranberry-Pumpkin Seed Bars:


















Double Nut-Chocolate Chip Bars:

Teddy Graham Smores Bars:

When comparing my bars to popular brands like Quakers, Nature Valley and Special K bars, I noticed that these brands seem to determine the bar size based on the amount that will equal 100 calories. My bars are much larger (about 1 inch by 4 inches) than Quaker or special k bars. They are closest to the size of a nature valley bar but a bit thicker.

While my bars contain more calories than these brands, they also contain more protein, dietary fiber, and minerals like calcium and iron. Except for my smores bars, I used all organic ingredients containing no soy or corn syrup. (I used teddy grahams and marshmallows in the smores that did contain these ingredients and were not organic.) 

My fruit, nut and seed bars are a healthy alternative to more processed products available today. Pumpkin seeds, cranberries, walnuts, almonds, cashews and peanut butter are healthy snack options that provide a variety of nutritional benefits. 

Grapefruit Lotion from Scratch

My first lotion experiment went well, but I wanted to make a slightly thicker product. I modified the original recipe by adding shea butter to thicken and replacing half of the almond oil with apricot oil just to mix it up.

My second lotion recipe:
5 cups of Water1/4 cup Sweet Almond Oil1/4 cup Apricot Oil
1/2 cup Emulsifying Wax1/4 cup Stearic Acid
1 Tbsp Raw Shea Butter1 Tbsp Citric Acid1 Tbsp Potassium Sorbate1/2 teaspoon Vitamin E Oil1 teaspoon Grapefruit Essential OilRed Cosmetic Grade Colorant(yields 48 oz of lotion)

Pot one: emulsifying wax, almond oil, apricot oil, stearic acid and shea butter

Pot two: water and potassium sorbate

Both pots are heated. Pot one removed from heat as soon as wax has melted completely. Pot two is removed from heat right before boiling and citric acid is added. Pot two is slowly added to pot one while stirring. 

I stirred for 5 minutes and then let my lotion cool, stirring again every 20 minutes. After an hour had passed, I added vitamin E oil, grapefruit essential oil and red colorant to achieve the color and scent I desired. The lotion had to cool for another 2-3 hours before I could bottle it. 

While I waited for my lotion to cool, I created an ingredient label and a picture label for my lotion bottles:

Grapefruit Lotion
Handmade with Love by Audrey
Use within a year

Ingredients:

Water, Emulsifying Wax, Almond Oil, Apricot Oil, Stearic Acid, Citric Acid, Potassium Sorbate, Vitamin E Oil, Grapefruit Essential Oil and Cosmetic Grade Red Colorant

Homemade Lavender Lotion

I became interested in making my own lotion from scratch after making it in a lab for the organic chemistry course I was taking. We used lanolin (sheep fat) which is pretty common in commercial lotions. In the lab, we experimented with different ingredients to see how they impacted the final lotion product.

  

        I enjoyed the lab but wanted to make a vegan lotion, using plant based fats. I wanted to add scent and possibly color. I started googling recipes for diy lotion and quickly became frustrated. Many diy recipes for products like lotion and soap are just wrong. Lotions are emulsions, meaning there is a liquid portion blending with a fat/oil/wax portion. In order for this to occur, an emulsifying agent must be used. Far too many of the diy recipes I found were just blending fats together (won't moisturize skin and dosent really qualify as lotion) or missing the emulsifying agent (meaning the final product will separate when left standing)! I lost some faith in the internet diy community that day.
        I started by looking at ingredient labels of lotions from my favorite natural body care brands, including Lush, Honest Co and the Body Shop. I looked at what ingredients overlapped, what was found in all the lotions. I researched the ingredients that stood out and started developing a recipe with them, following the model we used in the chemistry lab. While the chemicals in lotion making are fairly harmless, I strongly believe that a background knowledge of some chemistry basics is necessary to make a proper lotion from scratch.

        The first recipe I concocted was:
5 cups of Water
1/2 cup Sweet Almond Oil
1/2 cup Emulsifying Wax
1/4 cup Stearic Acid
1 Tbsp Citric Acid
1 Tbsp Potassium Sorbate
1/2 teaspoon Vitamin E Oil
1 teaspoon Lavender Essential Oil
Blue & Red Cosmetic Grade Colorant
(yields 48 oz of lotion)

Pot one: emulsifying wax, almond oil and stearic acid

Pot two: water, potassium sorbate

Both pots are heated. Pot one is removed from heat as soon as wax has melted.

Pot two is removed from heat right before boiling and citric acid is added. At this point, I took the temperature of both pots to make sure they were close to each other.

Pot two is slowly added to pot one while stirring.

Stirring really helps the emulsifying agent do its job and keeps the oils and liquids from separating. I stirred for a solid 5 minutes and then let it sit, stirring every 20-30 minutes for the next 3 hours.

After the lotion had cooled for one hour, I added the lavender essential oil, vitamin E oil and cosmetic grade colorants. I didn't really measure these, just slowly added and stirred until I got the color and smell I was looking for. (I went for a light purple which was hard to capture in pictures)

Once the lotion had almost cooled completely (about 3 hours) I used a funnel to bottle my lotions. I'm really happy with the way the lotion turned out. I had fun labeling the containers too.

I used 8oz and 4oz containers for my lotion. This recipe yielded 48 oz of lotion. The consistency was somewhat liquidy making it ideal for a pump style container. It has a nice lavender scent and moisturizes the skin without leaving any greasy residue.

Homemade Apple Sauce

It's easier than you think to make delicious home-made apple sauce!

Ingredients:
4 Apples*
3/4 cup Water
1/4 cup Brown Sugar
1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon

Directions: Peel & chop apples. Combine all ingredients in a saucepan. Cover with a lid and cook at low/medium heat for 20-30 minutes until apples become soft. Allow the sauce to cool before mashing the apples. Serve warm or cool in the fridge.

Ingredients in the pot:                         After cooking for 10 minutes:

 

 
^After cooking for 20 minutes          ^ After cooking for 25 minutes &
                                                            cooling. I started mashing
                                                                          with a fork                                                        

**Note on Apples: the type of apple you use makes a huge difference! I recommend McIntosh apples for applesauce because they really break up on their own, you wont really have to mash them. This time I tried Gala apples so that's what you're seeing in these pictures. It turned out great but I had to put more effort into mashing than with McIntosh apples.
Best Apples for Sauce:
-McIntosh (my favorite for apple sauce so far)
-Golden Delicious
-Fuji
-Cortland
-Honey Crisp is okay
-Gala is okay
-Red Delicious
-Pink Lady is okay

Nutrient Facts:
Homemade Apple Sauce Portions: 4
Food Groups	Amount Per Portion
Whole Fruit	1¼ cup(s)
Limits	Amount Per Portion
Total Calories	125 Calories
Empty Calories*	50 Calories
Added Sugars	50 Calories
Nutrients	Amount Per Portion
Protein	0 g
Carbohydrate	33 g
Dietary Fiber	3 g
Total Sugars	28 g
Added Sugars	13 g
Total Fat	0 g
Minerals	Amount Per Portion
Calcium	25 mg
Potassium	167 mg
Sodium	8 mg
Vitamin A	4 µg RAE
Vitamin C	6 mg
Vitamin K	3 µg

Remember you can go to supertracker.usda.gov to get nutrient information for your own recipes.

4 Ingredient Home Made Deodorant (Coconut Scent)

I originally tried natural deodorant when I got one in a monthly subscription box from VeganCuts. I had not put much thought into my deodorant choices in the past, I'd been using men's Old Spice for years. I was hesitant to try this new five-ingredient deodorant. I wasn't sure if it would actually work and the consistency was different than traditional deodorant. I have been using the natural deodorant for about six months now. It last longer than old spice ever did for me. The scent is more subtle but it truly does the job. My first natural deodorant was from North Coast Organics. I have since discovered a similar 6 ingredient deodorant from The Fanciful Fox.

 

I really liked this deodorant. As it started to near the end of the tube, I read the ingredient list and realized I could easily make this. I went online to compare recipes and ended up with this based on what I had in my apartment. Other recipes use different types of waxes or oils. I like coconut oil for the tropical smell. Coconut oil has a pretty low melting point (76F) which makes it easy to work with and it wont be hard to apply because it wont get too solid. I live in New York. If you live in a warmer climate I would definitely suggest using a more solid base for your deodorant. My first batch with just 4 basic ingredients came out looking like this:

Recipe for DIY Coconut Deodorant:

4 Tablespoons Virgin Coconut Oil

1 Tablespoon Shea Butter

3 Tablespoons Baking Soda

2 Tablespoons Cornstarch

*optional 5-10 drops oil for scent

- Makes 100mL

- Store at above 77F to keep it solid

DIY Lip Scrub

I first saw this at LUSH. They had testers so I tried it. Its a little messy but you can literally eat it after and from what I hear, most people do just lick it off. The scrub exfoliates your lips which is something I know my lips don't normally get. It leaves them really soft. Usually these lip scrubs are sugar based but there's a wide range of recipes out there now. I saw recipes that used coffee beans, salt, or brown sugar instead of sugar.
With the cold weather we've been having in New York this year, my lips have gotten really chapped. I thought a lip scrub would probably help. I found recipes that used honey, olive oil, pumpkin, peppermint, vanilla or ginger. I used what I already had in my apartment, some regular white sugar, some blue sugar candy I ground up, a tiny bit of coconut oil and a few drops of grapefruit oil. I'm really happy with how it turned out.

For more recipe ideas:
Checkout this article with step-by-step pictures

DIY Body Scrubs

I like to use a mix of fine and coarse ground sea salt in my body scrubs. Finer salt is more gentle so better for people with sensitive skin. Coarser salt is able to exfoliate more and help your skin get clean.You can find these at any grocery store,should only cost a few dollars. Then I add oil. Different oils have different benefits and treat different skin issues. For example, grape seed oil strengthens and tightens skin while moisturizing to fight aging. Grape seed oil has anti-inflammatory properties that make it good for people with sensitive skin. Coconut oil has a nice smell and contains vitamin E to help repair damaged skin. In my own experience, coconut oil really makes my skin smooth. I got my oils at the Queens Health Emporium my local health food store. I'm sure they could also be ordered online.

The essential oils and extracts are mainly used for scent since salt and oils don’t have much of a smell. Fresh fruit juices or shavings of peel can also be used. Citrus fruits are great because the smell really comes through, especially if it’s fresh. I have used fresh lime and grapefruit in the past and I highly suggest it, I loved the smell. I found these other essential oils at the health food store and on amazon. (just regular lime juice from the grocery store)

One example of a scrub I made contained sea salt, apricot oil, coconut oil, orange extract, and lime juice. 

The ratio and ingredients are up to you depending how you want the finished product to be. I like mine the constancy of wet send. I usually start out by filling a container halfway with salt. I add oils until it is saturated, mix it and then add more salt and fragrances. It’s so easy and inexpensive compared to similar products on the market now. One 200 mL jar sized batch usually lasts me 2-3 weeks. My skin feels great and I feel good about what I'm using to clean my body. Many commercial body care products contain a long ingredient list of chemicals. I prefer something with a few simple ingredients that I know and understand. There are some of natural products on the market now, but I find many of them are cost prohibitive. The oils and extracts will last a while. I haven't run out of any of mine and I've made seven or eight batches. I've had to buy more salt but it's pretty inexpensive.

DIY Acne Spot Treatment/Toner

Audreys DIY Acne Spot Treatment/Toner

Compare to “Grease Lightning” spot treatment from LUSH

These simple ingredients are all you need for a spot treatment that cleans dirt and destroys bacteria while softening and moisturizing the skin. I have been using the LUSH version for the last five months and loving it. I made my own version that I have been using for about four weeks now. It’s a little more liquidy than the version LUSH sells but it still seems to work. In the future I might try incorporating some other ingredients like thyme or grapeoils but I think this basic mix is pretty effective. I use it after I wash my face and whenever I get a bad breakout I cover it in this stuff. You just apply it to skin and let it dry. I like it because it helps with acne as well as making my skin smooth and soft, neverdried out. To make just mix these ingredients useing only a few drops of the oils:

Ingredients:

Witch Hazel Hamamelis-comes from small bushes native to North America, used by Native Americans as medicine, astringent (closes pores) & antioxidant, great for your skin, anti-aging effects, treats acne, blisters,and eczema. Can be used on bug bites

AloeVera gel-has been used for thousands of years in herbal medicine, strengthens and hydrates skin

Tea Tree Oil Melaleucaalternifolia-comes from the leaves of a tree native to southern Australia, antiseptic, helps with acne without drying out skin, also used as dandruff cure

Grapefruit Essential Oil Citrus paradisi- I have added this for the smell because the tea tree is a strong odor. Grapefruit contains antioxidants like d-limonene that nourish the skin