Oat Milk Recipe

What you need:  1 cup oats (any kind), 3 pitted dates, 4 cups cold water, blender, nut-milk bag, well sealed bottle

Step 1:  cut up the dates and boil them in about 2 cups of water for 5 min.

Step 2:  once cool, put the boiled dates in the fridge for an hour to cool down the water.   (using cold water makes your oat milk less slimy)

Step 3:  Add 1 cup of oats, 4 cups of cold water (including the date water, but do not include the dates in the volume when measuring the water), and boiled dates to the blender.  Blend for 30 sec.  

Step 4:  Pour into nut-milk bag, and squeeze out all the liquid  (your oat milk) into a bowl.  Pour oat milk into a container THAT SEALS WELL.  This part is important because there is a lot of sedimentation in oat milk and if you can't MIX IT VIGOROUSLY BEFORE SERVING, you will mostly just be drinking water!  Put your container into the fridge and enjoy.  Lasts about 5 days.

Step 5:  Use the oat mush left over in the bag to either make yourself a bowl of oatmeal, or to put into your favorite cookie recipe!  (see below)

Katie Burd's Vegan Cookies (to use your oat mush in!)

 Dry Ingredients:  2 cups flour, 2 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 tbsp cinnamon

Wet Ingredients: 3/4 cup sugar, 1/2 cup coconut oil, 1/4 cup water, 1 tbsp vanilla

Mix all the Dry Ingredients in a bowl.

Mix all the Wet Ingredients in a second bowl.

Add the Wet to the Dry Ingredients.  Mix well.

Mix in your oat mush, as well as any other fun things - we put in chocolate chips and dried cranberries and sometimes pecans.  Go crazy.

Spoon onto a cookie baking sheet

Bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 min

Deodorant

I have started making my own from a recipe I got from: @labelle_eco_life    I enjoy this recipe and I use a small mason jar so when it gets too soft it is still contained, and it smells so very good.

Mix:   3 tablespoons coconut oil, 1 tbsp arrowroot powder, 1 tbsp cornstarch, 1 tbsp baking soda, and a few drops of essential oils.

Bathroom Cleaner

I found a recipe for an amazing DIY cleaner and wanted to share it.  You can also use this in your kitchen.  It was categorized as Tub and Tile, but I used it to clean my oven!!!  The website I found this on is:  https://www.spendwithpennies.com/homemade-bathroom-cleaner-recipes/

Recipe:  1.5 cups baking soda, 1/2 cup warm water, 1/2 cup Dawn liquid soap, 2 tbsp of white, distilled vinegar.  

Though the recipe calls for mixing the ingredients well and putting them in a spay bottle, after a while the soda settles out and the spray bottle did not work.  So I just mix things up and pour it onto a sponge or scrubber.  It really worked great and I very much recommend.

Shampoo Soap

I made this shampoo soap with my students.  This recipe is a mix of a lot of other recipes I found online from sites such as DIY Natural (https://www.diynatural.com/homemade-shampoo-bar-diy/), and The Spruce Crafts (https://www.thesprucecrafts.com/diy-shampoo-bars-4690098).

Note:  this recipe calls for sodium hydroxide.  If you don't have access to sodium hydroxide, you can substitute lye.  I have not personally tried this recipe with lye.

Materials:

 Gloves and Safety Goggles, Graduated cylinder, Thermometer, Rubber spatula, Wax paper, a Towel, Bar mold (silicone)

2 Stainless Steel bowls (one small and one large)

164 mL Olive oil

152 mL Coconut oil

112 mL other oil (Almond, Avocado, Grapeseed)

1 tablespoon Essential oil (various scents)

 sprinkle of colorant if desired (clay)

56.8 g NaOH

 133 ml distilled H2O

Procedure:

 Measure everything as accurately as possible.  Put on gloves and goggles.

 Step 1.  In the small bowl, add the distilled water (measure with graduated cylinder).

Take the bowl to the fume hood or outside.  Carefully measure out the NaOH and slowly add it to the water.  There will be a strong exothermic reaction (the solution will be VERY hot - this is why a stainless steel bowl is recommended).  Mix the solution until all the sodium hydroxide has dissolved.  Leave to cool (about an hour).

Step 2.  Measure out the oils using your graduated cylinder, and put them into the large bowl.  Carefully mix the oils together with the rubber spatula.

Add your cooled NaOH mixture to the oil mixture.

 Carefully mix your oils and NaOH with your spatula for 5 minutes.  Use the electric mixer IN SHORT BURSTS for only a few minutes until the mixture reaches “trace”. (Trace means when you drizzle a small bit of the soap mixture over the surface of itself, it will leave a faint pattern or trace before sinking back into the mixture). Do not over-mix!

Add any essential oil and or colorant you want – mix with the rubber spatula.

Place your soap form on a tray (you won't be able to move it once it is full!). Use the spatula to place your semi solid soap into your chosen form.  Cover with wax paper and a towel.  The soap stays covered for one day. 

After 24 hours it can be taken out of the mold and then put on wax paper to cure for 4 weeks.