A Yummy Mayo - DIY

I had earlier made some sardine out of the barracuda that my dad brought from Palawan. One of the many ways I enjoy it is making gourmet sandwiches out of the fresh sardine dish. However, I realized I had run out of mayonnaise because I made some dip for my duaghter to bring to her boarding house. So, because I still wanted to have my sandwich, I got out some fresh organic eggs and made mayo myself. It turned out that the one I made is close to the taste of the commercial brand I normally buy. You may want to try it too. Here's my recipe:

1 organic egg
half a calamansi (I usually use lemon but ran out of it too)
1/4 teaspoon salt
some freshly ground pepper
1/4 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1 cup virgin coconut oil


Procedure:
In a blender, put in the egg, calamansi, salt, pepper and sugar. Switch on the blender to the fastest setting. Add in half of all the oils a drop per minute starting with the sesame oil. Then add in the rest of the canola oil in a thin steady stream.

Note that some oil maybe left because the amount of oil depends on how large the egg is. Also, once you have started to put in the oils, do not stop until you feel the solution can no longer take in any more oil.

Eggs can be sources of salmonella so I use organic eggs. Not that it is a sure way to avoid the bacteria but there's a lesser chance of those eggs being contaminated. If you can get hold of pasteurized eggs, those will be better. We don't have them in the Philippines. Too bad.

Everyday Items Cause Cancer - Going Green

I'm back with a vengeance! LOL
Been busy with my daughter's transfer to the university and her moving out of the house too. But that will be for another blog. I have so much to write about.

Anyway, on days when I was rather lonely at home, I do some research on cancer and guess what I found - even baby shampoos contain chemicals that cause the ailment. Shampoos, soaps, hair dye, baby wash, processed food, etc. all contribute to the risk of having the disease. Here are some things you can use instead of these items:

No poo instead of shampoo - Baking Soda and Lemon


Dissolve about half teaspoon of Baking Soda in half cup of water. Apply to wet hair and scalp as you would your shampoo. Rinse and condition with freshly squeezed Lemon (or orange for dry hair). Your hair will be rid of smell from chemical build up and will be smooth too.

Henna and Chamomile For Hair Dye

Henna is the most natural way to dye your hair. My daughter lightened her black hair with chamomile tea before she used red henna.

To use chamomile tea, simply take about 3 to 4 bags of chamomile and steep in 1 cup of boiling water. Do this at least 3 times then dye your hair with henna.

To prepare henna, simply make a thick paste with your henna powder and add some lemon to it. Then apply to hair. Leave on till it dries. That should take about half a day. Leaving henna on your hair makes it soft and manageable anyway.


Apple cider vinegar for Female Vaginal Wash
add about half tsp of apple cider vinegar about a liter of water and use it to wash vaginal area.

Fruits to lighten the skin
Use fresh papaya, lemon, or calamansi, directly onto skin. Leave for about 5 minutes and rinse. Using these twice a day is good but once will be enough too.

Parsley for Mouthwash
Make a tea by steeping parsley in hot water to make mouth wash. Simply boil some water. When in a rolling boil, turn off heat and quickly add to a glass with a handful of parsley and cover for 5 minutes.

Vinegar for Underarm deodorant
Just dab some vinegar directly to underarm and dry it first before wearing any clothes. The smell of vinegar will go away when it dries.


So there your are. All of the above tips have been tried and tested (by me and my family of course) to be safe for us. However, if you are allergic to any of the components, do not try to use it. It's better safe than sorry.

Let's be green and healthy.

The Wonders of Coconut Oil

I have always been amazed at how the coconut oil has emerged from being a not-so-popular vegetable oil (as it has been aliased to hide its being derived from coconut) to a wonder oil at par with that of olive oil that can be used for the body both externally and internally. As a young girl I had used this oil for my hot oil treatments which my mom said could actually help in reducing the chance of falling hair. We had our maids extract the milk from mature coconuts by cold press but had them cook it till the oil and the curd separated. Heat, I recently found out from reading, attending seminars and internet research, destroys the coconut's medicinal properties and is no longer beneficial as it is claimed to be reducing it to an oil that can only be used for cooking.

Virgin coconut oil has recently been found to be good for arthritis, heart ailments, skin diseases, cancer, AIDS, dandruff. It can make your skin become smooth and supple and can be used as treatment for dry hair. (There are more claims but there wouldn't be enough space in this blog and I won't have the time to list them down.)Personally, I have experienced that my skin which has been forever dry has drastically improved after only 4 applications. So did my hair - it used to be dry, lifeless and kinky. Now it is softer and manageable with the right amount of shine that does not make the strands look like they had been glued together. I even used it when I was going down with a cold and the cold just went away after a few hours. It has so far helped me with my arthritis and gout as well. My whole family now uses it for different purposes but mostly for the skin and hair.

After some experiment, I found out that virgin coconut oil can actually be extracted by just mere squeezing the milk out of freshly grated coconuts and leaving it to curdle for about 48 hours. The curd is scooped out and the oil which is found underneath the curd is very gently and slowly scooped out using a plastic spoon just until I can scoop it without the liquid below it being mixed with the oil. My second try was not as good as the first. I had not been able to get as much oil as the first trial because I had refrigerated the grated coconut first before I extracted the milk. but this time I noticed that its smell was not as strong as the first one I had made. It has been said that the real virgin coconut oil is colorless, tasteless and odorless. So far I have passed two of the 3 tests although the odor is really not that strong and is actually tolerable.

But of course for people who don't have the time nor the patience to do the extracting, there is always the virgin coconut oil (VCO) sold in the market. One that we have bought lately is that of Theraherb which is being endorsed by Dr. Gary Sy. This particular VCO is langka (jackfruit) flavored. It costs around 150 pesos for a bottle of 250 ml. Not bad. After all it had cost me about 45 pesos for 350 ml oil that I had extracted. If I had to sell it, the 105 difference is actually the cost of the bottle and payment for my labor (although of course I wouldn't have to pay my self for it). But since I didn't sell it, this is actually my savings.

Being a student nurse, we are scheduled to go on our immersion in one of the provinces in Luzon next week. One of the activities is to actually be able to encourage people to be able to boost their family's income. Since there are many coconut trees in the area, I'm thinking of teaching the community about this experiment. It could be worth the shot.