by Maat van Uitert | Sep 10, 2018 | DIY, Homestead Hacks, Sustainable Living
Yes, it’s that time of year – pumpkin spice time.
You knew it was coming! Soon, everything will be coming up pumpkin spice, and you won’t be able to get away from it.
Pumpkin spice lip balm combines two of my favorite things – healthy, all natural lip balm made with beeswax and essential oils!
When making lip balm with essential oils, though, do me a favor – don’t buy oils off Amazon or oils that might have synthetic ingredients in it.
You’re putting this stuff on your lips and into your body, and you work hard to live a healthy life – don’t blow it on the easy stuff like essential oils.
I personally use Young Living essential oils – they’re high quality, pure, and smell great. I get the oils I need sent to my home every month – super convenient, and makes living a green, organic life super simple.
I love this lip balm because it contains a hint of fall while also keeping your lips moisturized (we all know how the chill air can be – it loves to dry our skin!)
You’ll love the scent also – it definitely will remind you and help you celebrate all the wonderful smells and freshness of fall!
Making Pumpkin Spice Lip Balm
The oils you’ll need for your lip balm are:
- 2 drops Clove
- 4 drops Nutmeg
- 2 drops Ginger
You can get these essential oils here: https://thefrugalchicken.com/YL
Other ingredients you’ll need:
2 tablespoons olive, avocado, or grapeseed oil (THIS is the oil I use)
1 teaspoon beeswax pastilles (I like this brand)
Lip balm tubes like these or lip balm pots like these
Funnel like this one to make filling the tubes or pots easier.
I use both pots & tubes when I make lip balm. The pots are a bit easier to fill when the mixture is melted, but the tubes are easier for application. Both work well, so choose the best one for you.
Directions
In a mason jar, combine the oil and beeswax.
Make a double boiler by placing the mason jar in a pot of water. Heat until the beeswax is melted, stirring occasionally so the ingredients mix well.
Once melted, remove from heat & add the essential oils. Stir a couple times to evenly distribute the oils.
Next, use a funnel to pour the mixture into tubes or other lip balm container. Allow to cool undisturbed. When cool, cap the containers & use as needed.
Maat van Uitert is a backyard chicken and sustainable living expert. She is also the author of Chickens: Naturally Raising A Sustainable Flock, which was a best seller in it’s Amazon category. Maat has been featured on NBC, CBS, AOL Finance, Community Chickens, the Huffington Post, Chickens magazine, Backyard Poultry, and Countryside Magazine. She lives on her farm in Southeast Missouri with her husband, two children, and about a million chickens and ducks. You can follow Maat on Facebook here and Instagram here.
by Maat van Uitert | Oct 26, 2015 | Farm To Table, Organic Living
Now is the time of year that I get superpsyched – time to make pumpkin puree!
I get excited for the post-Halloween time not just because I can make pumpkin puree, but because those round orange squash become super cheap at the store – which means I can feed pumpkin to my chickens and pigs for a very low price.
But back to pumpkin puree (which you can feed to chickens too, by the way).
Pumpkin puree is really easy to make, and you won’t believe how much better it tastes than the stuff in the cans.
And of course, as homesteaders, we like buying items we can use in multiple ways, and pumpkin is no different.
In addition to pumpkin puree, you’ll also have seeds for toasting and the remaining guts to feed your chickens.
This method for making pumpkin puree works also for other squashes, like Hubbard, you name it, so feel free to become a puree making fool this fall!
So, let’s look at how to make pumpkin puree for pies, soups, or whatever your imagination can think of!
How to make pumpkin puree
For this recipe, we’ll just use sugar pumpkins (also called a pie pumpkins) – they’re the most commonly used for homemade pumpkin puree, and easily found at any market in the fall.
They’re called sugar pumpkins for a reason: They’re the best for baking and making pumpkin puree.
Typically, they’re 6-8 inches in diameter, which is an easy size to lift and cut up without getting too overwhelmed, and you can expect about 16 oz of pumpkin puree.
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees (as you know, food should not ever be put in a cold oven or on a cold pan if you plan to roast, so pre-heating is a very important step.)
Remove the guts of the pumpkin, set aside to remove the seeds for roasting later.
Slice up your pumpkin into 1 inch size pieces.
Place in a roasting pan that already has 1/2″ of water in it. The water is necessary to keep the pumpkin from burning.
Cook until done, which should be about 45 minutes. Pierce the pumpkin with a fork or knife to check if it’s done – if it slides right off, it’s ready!
Remove the pumpkin from the oven, and allow to cool.
Once the pumpkin is cool, scoop the flesh away from the peel. (The pumpkin peel should be relatively soft, so feel free to give it to your animals, or compost).
Blend the remaining flesh in your blender until a puree is formed.
You can use the puree right away in your favorite recipe, or store in the fridge for 2 days.
If you’re not going to use your puree right away, store it in the freezer.
You can also freeze enough pumpkin puree to last the year – just make sure to hit the sales after Halloween to grab pumpkin at a cheap price.
Now that we’ve made pumpkin puree…
Let’s talk about spices.
Making your own pumpkin pie spice is as simple as…well…making pumpkin puree.
Grab the following (if you’re not sure where to buy fresh spices, we’ll talk about that in a minute):
Homemade Pumpkin Pie Spice
1 tbsp + 1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp all spice
1 star anise pod, ground
1/2 tsp nutmeg
Combine in a mason jar to store, or just immediately with any recipe using your pumpkin puree.
Now that wasn’t hard, was it?
Okay, as promised, here’s where to buy your fresh spices:
I’d like to hear from you!
How do you think you’ll use pumpkin puree this season? How about the spice? Contact me at [email protected] or comment below!
Maat van Uitert is a backyard chicken and sustainable living expert. She is also the author of Chickens: Naturally Raising A Sustainable Flock, which was a best seller in it’s Amazon category. Maat has been featured on NBC, CBS, AOL Finance, Community Chickens, the Huffington Post, Chickens magazine, Backyard Poultry, and Countryside Magazine. She lives on her farm in Southeast Missouri with her husband, two children, and about a million chickens and ducks. You can follow Maat on Facebook here and Instagram here.
