We love our mans and we want to show them we love them. Ladies we know there are a few ways to a man’s heart, cooking my husband’s favorite recipes his mother handed down to me, in fantastic detail when we were engaged, are at the top of his list. When it comes time to give our man a really great gift, we want it to be something rare and memorable. It can be SO hard to find those sometimes, I raise my hand in admittance!
So in case you are on that struggle bus, here are a handful of gifts that can earn you points from your man, if you’re not into baking his fav foods at the moment, or you just want to surprise him with something special!
Who loves a good DIY project that’s healthy AND easy to do! ME that’s who! I LOVE creating my own extracts, this summer I really dove into the world of making my own, and it’s so enjoyable and well worth the time it takes! One of my favs to make so far is VANILLA EXTRACT.
All you need is a handful of vanilla beans, vodka, and a dark air tight bottle. Add 5-10 vanilla beans in your bottle and pour vodka enough to cover the beans completely. Shake every day or so for at least 8 weeks. You can just keep the same bottle and add more vodka as needed, make sure to keep the vanilla beans covered or they will go bad.
I like to purchase my vanilla beans from a fantastic company that cuts out the middle man, I usually order in bulk from Azure Standard. If you’ve never heard of AS before, I emplore you to do a little research on their way of delivery and bulk methods. If you have a local drop in your area, this will be an easy option for you. If not, you can set up a drop if you have others who you may know would benefit from Azure Standard’s bulk services!
I love a good dark bottle to store my extracts! The darker glass, more light is filtered out, as sunlight can damage your extracts. You can find these amber glass 8oz bottles at Azure. If you like a larger bottle with the swing top closures, you can get 12oz bottles, and 16oz Amber glass on Amazon.
Good luck and have FUN making your extracts! Spice it up and use Rum instead of Vodka for a more unique flavoring!
I didn’t even know I needed to pay attention to what ingredients were used to make the soap I was used to using on my skin, until I used some older handmade soap my mother had made and given me over 3 years ago! She had fallen in love with making soap years ago, and had even watched her mother and grandmother make their families’ soap from ashes and fat generations ago. While I appreciated her love of all things handmade, that I have always felt a pull toward, I had no idea the sudsy rabbit hole I was about to slip down!
For many years I have dealt with itchy little bumps that would pop up on my hands and wrists, especially during stressful times. As a jeweler and multi-passionate maker, I almost always have my hands in something dirty and need to do constant washing throughout the day. After having our littlest babe born with many medical issues, needing to keep clean hands was a must, and my hands just got worse and worse and turned into sandpaper. It was SO horrible!
The first handmade soap I found online, TRIED and LOVED:
The Charcoal and Tea Tree Aloe Vera Soap is just heavenly! It has a natural clean scent and even better does wonders for my hands, ,holds back face neck and chest acne. It’s a great nurturing soap for all of my skin as well.
When you’re ready to begin your fermenting journey for better gut health and healthier living, you need to use a good salt, one filled with natural minerals that our bodies crave.
Redmond Real Salt doesn’t have to travel thousands of miles from overseas. It comes from the mountains of Utah, closer to home is most of the time the healthier choice.
I’ve used Himalayan Pink Salt when I first began fermenting veggies, which works still better than the typical stripped table salt, but it does have to travel quite a distance to reach us here in America. My top choice is Redmond Real Salt.
Fermenting your produce, either from your own garden or your local farmers market, is a fantastic way to promote healthy gut for you and your family. Not to mention, a wonderful way to set back some food for your future, typically 6-12 months shelf stable if prepared and stored properly.
Mason Tops has a wonderful system for fermenting your veggies an easy way. Chop in cabbage, carrots, celery, onions, garlic, whatever your heart desires. Cut your veggies in edible sized chunks, mash in a non-reactive bowl with their masher until juices start to run. When mashing, you’re breaking the cell wall and allowing your veggie’s natural waters to be released.
Fill quart or half gallon glass Mason or Ball canning jars with your veggies and their juices, leaving about and inch and a half head space at the top…
