The Paleo Mama

Homegrown and Handmade

Jackie Ritz

Wool Dryer Balls with Essential Oils

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Wool Dryer Balls

Since I have made the switch to using wool dryer balls, instead of dryer sheets, my pocket-book is much happier, and so is my energy bill! I love my wool dryer balls with essential oils and I know you will making the switch too!

What Are Dryer Balls?

They are a 100% natural replacement for dryer sheets made from wool. You can purchase them already felted and ready to go, or you can make them yourself.

Why Use Wool Dryer Balls?

  • They can cut your drying time in half
  • They help reduce static
  • They save you money on your energy bill
  • They are chemical-free, unlike dryer sheets
  • They can be re-used over-and-over again
  • They increase the fluffiness of your clothes
  • They are safe to use with cloth diapers

Adding in Essential Oils

I love to lightly scent my clothes, so I add 3-4 drops of my favorite essential oils to each dryer ball. This usually lasts 2-4 loads before I have to add more! Here’s a few essential oil recommendations; it’s fun creating combinations that make your clothes smell so wonderful:

CLICK HERE to see where I get my essential oils at a discount

  • Lemongrass 
  • Lavender + Lemon
  • Wild Orange 
  • Peppermint + Wild Orange
  • Tangerine

Where to Buy Wool Dryer Balls:

I love Woolzies (click here to see them) in XL. I use all 4 in my laundry and right now they are 62% off on Amazon!!

Dryer Balls are Easy to Make:

ITEMS NEEDED: 

  • Recycled wool sweaters
  • Wool Yarn
  • Knee High Nylon

Step 1) Save the money and go buy a few wool sweaters from Goodwill. Then go to your nearby craft store and get a big roll of wool yarn.

Step 2) Cut the wool sweaters up in scrap pieces and ball them up in your hand. Then take the wool yarn and start wrapping it around the scrap wool until you have a large softball-size bundle of yarn. Some people make them the size of tennis balls but I say go BIG! I also think you need 4-8 of them to really notice a difference. So, make a bunch!

Step 3) Then when you’re done rolling them into balls, tie a knot, then throw the ball in a knee-high nylon, or in a sock. Tie off the end with a rubber band (a hair rubber band) and run them through a hot wash cycle and then a hot dry cycle. This makes the wool felt together.

Step 4) Then take them out and you’re done!

How to Use Your Dryer Balls:

  1. Add a few drops your favorite essential oils to each ball.
  2. Toss in the dryer with your wet clothes
  3. Re-use over and over and over again!!!!

Wool Dryer Balls from The Paleo Mama

Coconut Oil Bites for Oil Pulling

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Oil Pulling is an ancient detoxification practice that involves swishing oil around in your mouth for 15-20 minutes. The benefit of doing this is to reduce the amount of harmful bacteria, reduce dental plaque, remineralize your teeth, help with gum issues, and strengthen your gums. You can give your teeth an extra boost by oil pulling with essential oils.

When you swish oil around in your mouth, plaque get stuck to the oil and dissolve in the liquid oil. So you are removing a lot of bacteria, which is found in plague and leads to all kinds of oral health problems, every time you oil pull.

What Oil to Use:

Traditionally, sesame seed or sunflower oil was used among the early oil-pullers, however, my personal favorite is coconut oil because it has so many health benefits. You can use any oil that you like, just stay away from canola or vegetable oil.

Adding Essential Oils to Your Oil Pulling Regime:

Adding in therapeutic-grade, 100% pure, essential oils into your oil pulling regime is a great way to give your health a supercharge! Only use therapeutic-grade essential oils. These oils are safe to use as a dietary supplement (internally) and since you are swishing them around in your mouth, you need to use the safest. I buy my essential oils at wholesale price and I encourage you to do the same! You can CLICK HERE and learn how to get your essential oils from me at wholesale cost!

What Essential Oils to Use:

  1. Peppermint essential oil.
  2. Clove essential oil.
  3. Basil essential oil.
  4. Melaleuca essential oil.
  5. Myrrh essential oil.
  6. “Protective” blend essential oil.

Coconut Oil Bites for Oil Pulling:

INGREDIENTS: 

DIRECTIONS: 

  1. Melt the coconut oil.
  2. Pour into silicone mold (I like this one. It is .3 ounce which is nearly a tablespoon…perfect amount to swish around) .
  3. Add 1-2 drops of essential oil to each individual mold.
  4. Stick in the fridge to harden.
  5. Once hard, pop out of the silicone mold and store on the counter or fridge. If you live in a warmer climate, you will want to keep it in the fridge.
  6. Happy oil pulling!

Coconut Oil Bites for Oil Pulling

Matcha Mate Almond Latte

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Matcha Mate
By Angela, contributing writer
As someone with a sensitive digestive system, coffee has always been a nutritional gray area for me. It also exacerbates my teeth grinding and stresses my adrenals, so I’m trying to stop. In an attempt to wean myself off black tea and coffee, I’ve been playing with some fun alternatives. It’s hard to give up something you love without replacing it with something else. I look forward to my morning ritual of sipping something warm and creamy to ease myself awake. So I created this energizing and yummy drink Matcha Mate Almond Latte to distract myself from my coffee cravings.
Let me break down the ingredients…

Mate

Mate, like coffee, is well known for it’s energy enhancing properties, but for different reasons.
Yerba Mate is very high in anti oxidants. It also boasts 24 vitamins and minerals and 15 amino acids, and theobromine, an active ingredient in chocolate.
Mate is as popular in South America (particularly Argentina) as coffee is in North America. It has a milder taste than green tea and needs to be brewed for 10 minutes for maximum effectiveness.

Matcha

Match green tea powder is a super food of its own right. It’s touted to boost detoxification, immunity, energy levels, weight loss, memory, concentration and calm. You only need a tiny bit to get the benefits and it gives this almond milk latte such an amazing flavor.

Unsweetened almond milk

You can buy unsweetened, organic almond milk in most stores or learn how to make your own almond milk here. It’s pretty easy.

Sweetener

You can drink this latte without sweetener, but adding a touch of honey and maple syrup balances the mild bitterness of the matcha.
You can even add a banana for more sweetness and a thicker texture.

Flavoring

I sprinkled a bit of cardamom in my latte, but you can flavor yours with pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, vanilla or almond extract. Or leave out the spices all together. It doesn’t need it.

Ingredients

How to

  1. Steep 2 tea bags of mate tea in 2 cups of boiled water for 10 minutes.
  2. Mix with 2 cups of almond milk, sweetener and matcha powder in a blender for a minute.
  3. If you would like the latte to be hotter, heat the almond milk on the stove until it just starts to bubble.
  4. Enjoy your satisfying and health promoting coffee and black tea substitute.

Matcha Mate Almond Latte

About the Author:

Angela Privin stumbled on the Paleo diet while trying to cure her symptoms from irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). After a year on a strict Paleo diet she was completely healed and her food allergies were reversed. She’ll always be grateful to her health challenges for making her learn to cook years ago. These days she’s Paleo because she loves the creative challenge of cooking delicious grain-free, real food. She spends much of her spare time experimenting in her Paleo Kitchen Lab and eating the experiments. You can check out her recipes here. 

Whipped Magnesium Body Butter

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We are always trying to get more magnesium into our bodies. Recently, I’ve started using more magnesium oil to spray on my skin, but I wanted to create a recipe that was a body butter but included magnesium oil.

Unlike many other body butter recipes out there, mixing a “water-based” substance, like magnesium oil, into a body butter recipe can be tricky. However, as an avid-soapmaker, I understand how to accurately emulsify a liquid, fat, and solid together and it’s super easy…just requires one extra step (trust me, it’s worth it!).

Whipped Magnesium Body Butter

Makes one luscious cup

INGREDIENTS: 

SUPPLIES NEEDED: 

DIRECTIONS: 

  1. Melt the coconut oil and shea butter together on LOW heat, then remove. Don’t let it get hotter than 110 degrees. If it does, stick it in the fridge to cool down.
  2. Mix in the almond oil and allow it to cool to a warm temperature.
  3. Here’s the extra step: you want your oil/butter mixture to be room temp. Take your immersion blender and turn it on low while slowly adding in your magnesium oil. You will need to mix until you see it completely emulsify together and there is no separation of water and fat. Takes about 1-2 minutes.
  4. Now, stick the mixture in the fridge for about 10 minutes or leave it on your counter for 20 minutes. You want it to begin to harden and become opaque.
  5. Scoop it into your mixer with the whisk attachment. Add your essential oils and whip it on medium speed until you see it become light and fluffy!
  6. Scoop it into your glass jar!
  7. Use at night before bed to help promote a restful sleep!

Note: One teaspoon of this body butter contains around 250mg of magnesium! Check out my Magnesium Deodorant recipe HERE.

Whipped Magnesium Body Butter The Paleo Mama

ONE GALLON of Ancient Organics Ghee GIVEAWAY!!!

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Gallon of Ghee Giveaway

I’ve never been more excited about a giveaway THAN THIS! This is my ALL time favorite Ghee! I purchase a gallon a ghee a few times a year from Ancient Organics and it has, easily, become a staple in our real food, Paleo house!

What is Ghee?

Ghee is, essentially, clarified butter that is cooked down, which gives it a deep, nutty flavor. It is pure butter fat that, after cooking, has nearly zero casein or lactose  (milk proteins) left in it. So many who are dairy-free, find that they can eat this superfood with no problem! This incredible fat is also Whole30 approved, which means it’s VERY accepted in the Paleo world….and for good reason!

It’s rich in the healthy fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K and fatty acids! Ghee is shelf-stable, so this gallon could last you a very long time (mine never does!). Ghee, also, has a super high smoke point, which makes it a suitable fat to cook  with and not worry about toxic fumes and free radicals.

Why Eat Ghee from Ancient Organics?

Ancient Organics Ghee is the best fat one can eat! This superfood will nourish your mind, body and soul. It is 100% organic from the milk of grass-fed and pastured cows of Northern California.
  • Handcrafted in small batches to maintain quality
  • Delicious caramelized flavor
  • High smokepoint makes this an extremely versatile cooking oil
  • Concentrated MCFA’s for sustained energy levels

My friends at Ancient Organics would like to give ONE GALLON….umm, I just said ONE FREAKIN GALLON, of this stuff away to one lucky winner! This would be an amazing Christmas gift, wouldn’t it?!

How to Enter to Win:

Giveaway ends December 25, 2014 at 11:59pm. The winner will be announced on my blog and Facebook page on December 26, 2014. US RESIDENTS ONLY! 

  1. Fill out the Rafflecopter below!
  2. That’s it!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

gallon-giveaway

Baking Soda Free Deodorant

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Baking Soda Free Deodorant

A few years ago I made the switch to a natural deodorant. The switch was going great until I started to develop red marks and a light rash on my arm pits. I had no idea what was causing it until someone mention that I probably have an underarm sensitivity.

Apparently, many people have the same sensitivity to baking-soda so I tried to find a recipe online that didn’t use a lot of baking soda. And I found a GREAT one and I loved it for months and months.  I still love it…however, the underarm sensitivity returned even though this recipe uses a very small amount.

So, my quest continued and I found this recipe that uses magnesium oil and essential oils. I never knew magnesium oil could help with underarm stink! We had some magnesium oil laying around the house so I tried it and SURE ENOUGH it’s been working great! However, I love a “stick-based” deodorant and decided to formulate a recipe that is baking-soda free, yet uses magnesium oil.

Note: Magnesium oil isn’t technically an oil so it won’t leave your pits oily…yuck! It has a SUPER low PH which is very helpful at keeping stink at bay…plus you get a nice boost of magnesium which we all need!  Some people experience a tingling when they apply magnesium on their skin. No worries — many feel this during the first few applications, especially if you are a little low in magnesium.

A few more things:

  • I use raw shea butter which is yellow. You can use a lighter shea butter or cacao butter.
  • I find that giving my underarms a spray with magnesium oil while getting out of the shower helps a ton with odor! I then apply this Baking Soda Free Deodorant recipe. You can also make a apple cider vinegar spray to use before you apply your homemade deodorant! If you workout and sweat alot, I would highly recommend a pre-squirt of magnesium oil or apple cider vinegar.
  • TEXTURE – this is not like store-bought deodorant. The texture is more “wet” but will absorb quickly into your skin. Also, if you are using this deodorant recipe in a area with hot climate or in the summer, then you will want to put it in a small jar and scoop it out with your fingers.

Baking Soda Free Deodorant:

Makes one full bar if using a recycled deodorant stick! 

INGREDIENTS: 

  • 1 Tablespoons of Magnesium Oil (where to buy)
  • 2 Tablespoons of Coconut Oil (where to buy)
  • 2 Tablespoons of Raw Shea Butter (where to buy) or Cacao Butter
  • 2 Tablespoons of Arrowroot Powder (where to buy)
  • 2 Tablespoons of Bentonite Clay (where to buy)
  • 5-8 Drops of Melaleuca Essential Oil (where to buy) 
  • 5-8 Drops of Geranium, Lavender, Lemon, Ylang Ylang, or Thyme (where to buy) – these essential oils pair well with Melaleuca and offer a nice fragrance

SUPPLIES NEEDED: 

  • Wide Mouth Mason Jar
  • Immersion Blender (where to buy)
  • Small Glass storage container or Recycled Deodorant Tube

DIRECTIONS: 

  1. Melt the coconut oil and shea butter in a double boiler. I stick the coconut oil and shea butter in a wide-mouth mason jar and put the mason jar in a pot of simmering water. Remove from heat when melted.
  2. Mix in the arrowroot and clay into the wet mixture with an immersion blender. I find the immersion blender necessary in properly mixing the oils and solids together and creating “emulsification”.
  3. Let cool for about 15 minutes. You may see some liquid rise to the top….that’s ok. We have one more mix!
  4. Ever so slowly pour in the magnesium oil while mixing with the immersion blender and mix until the mixture becomes creamy. This means you have properly emulsified the mixture.
  5. Add in your essential oils and mix and then blend again.
  6. Immediately pour into a small glass jar or a recycled deodorant tube.
  7. Allow to cool for a few hours before capping. If you are eager to use it, toss it in the fridge for 20-30 minutes!
  8. Slap on a pretty label and you got yourself a nourishing bar of deodorant that works great!

Baking Soda Free Deodorant The Paleo Mama