Creating your own beauty products at home isn’t as hard as you may think. Many people are now using household products to create amazing homemade body scrubs, they are easy to make and have amazing results for your skin. By making products at home you are not only saving money but you will know exactly what is going on your skin.

Making a homemade body scrub has several advantages over shop buying it. You will be surprised how many chemicals go into the shop ones, and these chemicals go into your bloodstream and in certain cases can be bad for you. The fewer chemicals we expose our bodies to the healthy we are, also making your own is great for the environment. You will be using totally natural ingredients, and using very simple techniques, to make your homemade body scrub. Homemade body scrubs will save you so much money; we all spend too much money at the stores on beauty products. By making them at home you can save up to 80% of the normal cost, meaning you can treat yourself to something else instead.

To make the homemade body scrub, all you will need is a bowl, some measuring equipment, the right ingredients and the perfect recipe. Finding the right ingredients often comes down to personal taste, salt, sugar and porridge oats can all be used. You simply need to choose what exfoliate works best for you and then add a moisturizer such as olive or vegetable oil and you will have your homemade body scrub. When you are more confident then you can begin adding essential oils to your mixture, to make the scrub smell amazing.

There are many different ingredients that exfoliate your skin well, Salt are excellent at relaxing your muscles, and you can use any course variety of salt. Remember though if you have any cuts on your skin the salt based homemade body scrub will sting. Sugar scrubs are gentler than salt ones; they do not have the same properties but smell great and are cheaper. If you have dry itchy skin then porridge oats are fantastic, they are gentle on your skin but exfoliate really well.

It is only recommended using a scrub twice a week, especially if your ingredients are very good at exfoliating. If you have sensitive skin then you will need to choose ingredients that are gentler to your skin. If your begin to notice that your skin is red and sore, then change the ingredients or use less often. Some people have very sensitive skin and the combination in the homemade body scrub doesn’t suit them. This is the fantastic thing about you making it; you can change the ingredients, and amount until you find one that is ideal for you. Experimenting is part of the fun, trying different items in your kitchen to see which ones work best for your homemade body scrub. Some will be a disaster, but others will leave you feeling clean, refreshed and ready to start the day. By gently exfoliating your skin not only are you getting rid of all of the dirt and grime from the world, but you are improving your circulation. Meaning you will be healthier and have smooth skin that you will want to touch over and over again.

By: Jennifer Hawkins

About the Author:
Jennifer from http://www.beauty-soap-and-bubbles.com/exfoliating-body-brush.html

Every year we plant a large garden which always includes a few rows of tomatoes. We enjoy canning our own homemade tomato sauce to use throughout the winter and spring season when tomatoes are no longer in-season here in Pennsylvania.

Canning your own sauce is not difficult and you will need your basic home canning supplies such as: a water bath canner, quart-sized canning jars with rings and seals, funnel, ladle and a jar lifter. If you don’t own these supplies, you can purchase them in a complete kit at your local kitchen shop or via a reputable online kitchen store that carries home canning supplies.

In the following recipe, I used fresh basil and parsley that I grew in my garden, however…you can certainly use dried herbs if that is what you have on hand. You will want to start out with ripe to very ripe (but not blemished) red tomatoes.

To Blanch Tomatoes: Bring a large stock pot with water to a full boil. Place a few tomatoes into the water for 60 seconds. Using a pair of tongs or your ladle, remove tomatoes and place in cold water for 5 minutes. You should now be able to easily peel off the skins.

Basil Tomato Sauce Recipe

3 tablespoons olive oil

3 onions, minced

3 garlic cloves, minced

3 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped

2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped

25 large fresh tomatoes

2 teaspoons table salt

2 teaspoons black pepper

2 teaspoons granulated sugar

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon beef bouillon

Measure out and add your olive oil to a large nonstick stock pot. Over medium heat, stir in the minced onions and garlic and saute them in the oil for 1 minute. Stir in the chopped basil and chopped parsley. Turn heat down to low.

Blanch and remove the skins from your tomatoes and process them in a juicer or food processor to make tomato juice. Add this juice to your stock pot and then add in the rest of the ingredients, stirring after each addition with a nonstick silicone spatula.

Turn the heat up to medium and cover your pot. Simmer the mixture for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, stirring every 10 to 15 minutes.

Once sauce is done cooking, ladle it into clean and hot jars, being careful to leave a 1/2″ head space from the top of the jar. Using a clean cotton towel, wipe the rim clean and add your seal and ring to the jar. Process your jars all at one time in your water bath canner for 45 minutes. Remove jars from the canner and let cool to room temperature. This sauce will keep for up to 1 year if your jars sealed properly.

By: Shelly Hill

About the Author:
Shelly Hill has been working from home since 1989 and is a Manager with Tupperware. Shelly enjoys cooking and baking for her family and friends and trying out new recipes. You can visit Shelly online at http://www.workathomebusinessoptions.com or at http://wahmshelly.blogspot.com for additional free recipes and cooking tips.

With three growing boys, the battle to keep healthy, easy and relatively inexpensive snacks in the house always seems to be one I feel I’m losing. Combine that with the fact that the time it takes to keep up with the baking and cooking leaves me feeling like that’s all I do: bake, bake and bake some more! So when I found this soft pretzel recipe, I knew I had a win/ win recipe! It was fun and easy for the boys to make for me and provided them with an inexpensive and healthy snack!

Soft Pretzel Recipe

½ cup of warm water

1 cup of warm milk

4 cups of all purpose flour

1 TBS of sugar

1 ¼ tsp of salt

2 ¾ tsp of yeast

Topping:

1 egg white mixed with 1 TBS of water-you’ll brush this on top of the pretzels so that the toppings will stick

OPTIONAL:

Water bath: The water bath gives these pretzels that dark brown slightly crunchier outer layer. My guys don’t like this so I skip this part and go straight to brushing with the egg wash but I’ll include this part for you.

-2 qts of water

-2 TBS of baking soda

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Mix the ingredients for the pretzels in your stand mixer or bread machine like you were making bread. Allow dough to rise for about an hour or about doubled. Divide the dough into equal portions (at least 12). The kids can roll the portions into long ropes and them fashion them into pretzels (whatever shape makes them happy).

Allow the pretzels to rise another 20 minutes or so and if you want that brown, caramelized outer pretzel, start heating your water with the baking soda. You don’t want it boiling but you do want hot. If you have a slotted spoon or other supportive kitchen utensil, it’s perfect because you can place the pretzel on the spoon and ‘cook’ it in the water for 30 seconds before removing it and placing on the greased baking sheet. Repeat with all the pretzels.

**You can easily skip the boiling water bath and allow the pretzels to rise and then go to the egg wash and toppings step. The pretzels will bake to a light ‘bread’ color. **

Then brush the egg wash over the pretzels and sprinkle them with kosher salt, or cinnamon/sugar, maybe a mix of Parmesan cheese and Italian seasonings. Bake the pretzels for about 18 minutes until golden brown. Remove them to a cooling rack when they’re done and hope they’ll last longer than 2 hours in the house!

By: Tammy Paquin

About the Author:
Tammy Paquin is a work-from-home mom of 3 boys and the owner and publisher of Frugal-Families, an online resource for frugality, finances, budgeting and everything else related to stretching the dollar and living well while spending less. For more great recipes and money saving ideas visit, Frugal-Families.com/recipes