Happy Friday! I am very excited to share news that I have opened an all-natural and organic shop on Etsy http://www.etsy.com/shop/crunchygranolamamas This shop features a variety of handmade products for your body, your children, and your home. All products use 100% natural ingredients such as essential oil, coconut oil, jojoba oil, shea butter and others. I love using all of these products (and many of I have used for years) because they are safe to breathe in, safe for children, and safe if accidentally ingested (which is always a worry for this mama of a young and wild toddler!). I am very excited to share these products with you, and for the DIY people out there, I have shared similar recipes for some of these products right here on my blog!
Products you can expect to find in my shop range from natural deodorant, dry shampoo, muscle rub, baby rash balm, kitchen cleaner, sunscreen and many more. Check it out to see if there is anything you may benefit from using! I will be adding new products each week as I get things up and running. I welcome all questions and comments and hope you will join me on Etsy. If you have never shopped on Etsy, I highly recommend you check it out. It is a beautiful network of artists that are keeping the business of handmade and quality products alive. For those of you looking for a healthy and fun treat for your kitty cat, check out my long standing shop http://www.etsy.com/shop/animaltales for handmade catnip toys!
I will continue to post about DIY and healthy living but for those of you that do not want to make your own products, or don’t want to source all the ingredients, you now have the option to get healthy ready-made products right from the Crunchy Granola Mama store!
That is all the self-promotion for today Have a great weekend! Thanks for reading, and for being a part of the natural living community!
coconut oil
Healthy Breakfast Option- Baked Oatmeal-Blueberry Muffins
If you are like most people, you need a little extra oomph with getting the week started on Monday morning. A delicious and healthy breakfast is a great way to start your week off right! I have a few go-to items that I like for a quick and healthy breakfast, and muffins have always been a favorite. A traditional muffin is usually no better than a cookie or piece of cake for breakfast as they are loaded with lots of sugar and flour, and lacking any real nutrition. Although I love cake for breakfast, I try to avoid that as a regular menu item! I’ve tried lots of healthy oatmeal concoctions from baked oatmeal to various muffins and finally came up with a recipe that works and tastes great every time! Below is my recipe for delicious blueberry muffins with all the healthy fixin’s like oatmeal, wheat germ, yogurt, coconut oil, and chia seeds! It was adapted from a regular muffin recipe, slowing subbing one ingredient for another until I found the perfect mix. These feel like a treat for breakfast, but are actually a great and healthy option!
Blueberry Breakfast Muffins
1 cup of uncooked whole oatmeal- pulverize in blender until smaller crumbs
½ cup wheat germ
½ cup whole wheat flower
¼ cup sugar (or other preferred sweetener)
½ tsp baking soda
1 ½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
2/3 cup butter milk
½ cup plain yogurt
2 eggs
5 tbsp. coconut oil- melted
2 tbsp chia seeds
1 cup dried blueberries (can also use frozen or fresh)
Preheat oven to 400 degrees and grease a cupcake pan, or use cupcake liners. In a large bowl, mix all dry ingredients. Drizzle in melted coconut oil and stir well. Make a small well in the middle of the dry mixture.
In a separate bowl combine all remaining wet ingredients. Pour into dry ingredients and mix to combine. Add in fruit and spoon mixture into muffin pan. Bake 15 minutes or until tops are slightly golden. Makes 12 muffins.
What’s your favorite breakfast? Do you have any healthy and fast options that you eat regularly?
Pure coconut oil for cuts, scrapes, and skin rashes
As a mom to a very active boy and a self- proclaimed klutz myself, we get our fair share of cuts, scrapes, and bruises in my house. My typical regimen used to be to wash the cut, apply some Neosporin, and cover it with a bandage. In my quest to eliminate unnecessary antibiotic use (its everywhere- Neosporin/triple antibiotic cream, in hand soap and sanitizer, and of course in our food supply) I have since been reaching for my trusty jar of Coconut Oil to battle our wounds!
Coconut oil has so many great uses around the home. I especially love it as a body care product because it is a pure and organic substance, and has natural antibacterial and antiviral properties. I cut my finger while chopping vegetables last week and immediately washed and dried my hand. I applied some coconut oil right away, and a little more before bed and the cut healed up within a few days. I have used it on other small cuts and scrapes over the year and have always healed up perfectly!
Coconut oil is also great for mild skin rashes. My son LOVES strawberries. We recently took a trip to an organic you-pick strawberry farm so we have a lot of them around the house. We try to limit how many strawberries he eats because he is slightly sensitive to them. He must have snuck a few extras over the days because he developed a light rash around his mouth. It doesn’t seem to bother him at all, but we had to cut him off from the berries! I applied coconut oil to his rash and it cleared up within 2 days. Since this rash is so close to his mouth, I especially like using a product on him that would be safe if ingested.
After my son was born last year, he developed a small case of cradle cap. Though this is harmless, I wanted to try a gentle method to remove this excess dry skin on his head. During his bath time I would rub a small amount of coconut oil on his head and let it sit while I finished his bath. At the end I took a small baby comb, and combed the dry skin right out! The coconut oil help gently remove the dead skin without having to use any type of chemical dandruff shampoo.
Next time you get a small cut or scrape, skip the antibiotic cream and rub a little coconut oil on it! I think you will be amazed at how effective it is in sealing your cut and healing you up!
Coconut oil Chocolates! Get your fats in a daily homemade “Vitamin”!
Coconut Oil has been all the craze for the last few years as people are learning the fat burning properties, skin moisturizing abilities, and anti-bacterial/anti-viral properties of this wonderful super oil. I personally have many uses for coconut oil including a skin moisturizer (I used this exclusively during my pregnancy- no stretch marks!), a great cooking oil for vegetables, fried eggs, stir fry, and an ingredient in my homemade deodorant!
For those looking to consume the oil you can try it a few different ways: you can eat a spoon-ful, melt it into water or tea, or add it to your cooking regimen. A fun and delicious way that I’ve found to consume it is in a homemade chocolates. I am a chocolate fanatic and love to eat a square of dark chocolate or a handful of chocolate chips after dinner. I decided to make my own dark chocolates, adding coconut oil, so I could get extra health benefits (on top of those provided by dark chocolate). To make these delicious morsels I follow these easy steps:
Melt 1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips either in a glass bowl in the microwave, or in a double boiler on the stove
Stir in ¾ cup of coconut oil (the heat from the chocolate will melt the oil, stir well to combine)
Pour into a candy mold, freeze, and enjoy!
These chocolates are sooo good and contain a faint coconut flavor. They do not taste oily, and have a very silky texture. You want to make sure you store these in either the refrigerator or the freezer since coconut oil has a very low melting point and will often melt at room temperature. I keep mine in the freezer so I can savor them a little longer. For me, they have been a great way to enjoy a piece of chocolate, while also benefitting from the wonderful properties of coconut oil.
Crunchy Granola Mama 