10 Uses for Coconut Oil

Tropical Traditions saw my DIY Deodorant Cream post and was kind enough to send me an quart of their fantasticly fancypants unrefined, handmade organic Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil to play with. Oh, the fun I am having!

A quart of coconut oil is a lot; the good news is there are hundreds of culinary and personal care uses for coconut oil. In just 2 days I've used it in the following ways:

I used it as substitute for margarine when baking vegan peanut butter cookies. Delicious! Normally I use Earth Balance when baking, but I much preferred the slightly sweeter, more natural flavor of the coconut oil. Lots of folks on the internet say they don't notice the taste of coconut when it's cooked or baked, but the four friends who tried my cookies said they could taste the difference a little. It wasn't overwhelmingly coconut-ty, but definitely noticeable. 

I added a tablespoon of it to a cup of brown rice while it was cooking. OMG! Flavor City! I think I will always make rice this way! Again, it tasted of coconuts.

I sauteed tofu and broccoli in the coconut oil instead of my regular olive oil. It was mildly coconut-ty and superyummy, but broccoli is my favorite food so it's not fair to judge. (I once saw a bunch of raw broccoli in the middle of the street, slightly damaged from being run over by passing cars, and felt hunger pangs.)

I popped popcorn in it. Eh. I was underwhelmed. Canola oil remains my favorite popcorn popping oil.

I used it on my hair. I deep conditioned my supercoils (#team4A, yay!) with about a tablespoon of it overnight. The next day I washed and conditioned my hair, and spritzed it with a mix of aloe, water, and essential oils, then sealed in the moisture with another half tablespoon of coconut oil. This has been part of my hair ritual for a while. I've tried coconut oil, olive oil, and various conditioners/ moisturizers marketed for curly hair, but this was my first time using this brand and grade of coconut oil. Tropical Traditions did not disappoint. My hair feels supersoft and is very shiny!

I used it to moisturize my skin when I got out of the shower, after washing my hands, and as a lip balm after brushing my teeth. This has long been my favorite use for coconut oil. Tropical Traditions was excellent. It feels supercreamy- perhaps creamier and richer than other kinds I've tried, maybe because it is unrefined- and it smells divine.

I even tried oil pulling, an Ayurvedic practice where you swish oil around in your mouth for twenty minutes first thing in the morning. Holding the oil plus twenty minutes worth of saliva (eek!) in my mouth was harder than I thought it would be, but I did it- twice- and I think I'll keep on doing it. My teeth feel so clean afterwards, I feel a little guilty about drinking my morning coffee.

I totally want to make hot cocoa with it too. I've been overdosing on the aforementioned cookies so in the interest of muffin-top prevention, I'm waiting until next week to try it.

I've totally been dying to try some of Renee at MadeOn:'s hard lotion recipes. Perhaps Santa will give me a kit. (I hope Santa reads this blog!)

And because I'll try anything twice so long as it's tweaked a little, I'm considering trying the oil cleansing method again. This time with coconut oil and a fat stack of washcloths. I'll be sure to keep you tuned in!

Check out these links for other uses for coconut oil:
FreeCoconutRecipes.com
No More Dirty Looks: 10 Amazing Things You Can Do with Coconut Oil
Hybrid Rasta Mama: 333 Uses for Coconut Oil

Do you use coconut oil? How? If you've never used coconut oil before, be extra sure to stay tuned and enter the Tropical Traditions coconut oil giveaway I'll be hosting soon!

Wanna know what's so special about Tropical Traditions Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil? It's handmade the traditional way on small family USDA certified organic farms in the rural Philippines. Check out the video:


Disclaimer: Tropical Traditions provided me with a free sample of this product to review, and I was under no obligation to review it if I so chose. Nor was I under any obligation to write a positive review or sponsor a product giveaway in return for the free product.

Olivia Lane is a Blogger, Green Living Educator, and Health Coach trained at The Institute for Integrative Nutrition. She's also author of Baking Soda & Bliss: The Healthy & Happy Guide to Green Cleaning.   

Stay connected: Free Gift // Facebook // Twitter // Instagram // Pinterest // YouTube

Kris Carr Chats Toxic Chemicals and Body Burden with EWG

Head over to KrisCarr.com to see her chat with Heather White, Environmental Working Group's Executive Director about body burden and toxic chemicals in personal care, cosmetic, and cleaning products. I'm not embedding the video because I really want to encourage you check out Kris Carr's site and perhaps fall down a rabbit hole of awesome lifestyle shifts.

Kris Carr (image via The Chalkboard)

Kris Carr is one of the most contagiously enthusiastic women of wellness. In case you're not familiar with her, I'll brief you: Kris is a cancer survivor who healed herself with plant-based foods, herbs, and yoga. She shared her story in the documentary Crazy Sexy Cancer. She then wrote the New York Times bestseller Crazy Sexy Diet which launched her even further into popular culture. Now Kris Carr is an unstoppable brand with a new cookbook and a new website. She is amazing and I love her!

The Environmental Working Group is pretty fantastic too. EWG works to inform and educate consumers about the chemical ingredients lurk in everyday products. They also mobilize citizens to take action. This includes to lobby for the replacement the ancient and weak Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976 (the only federal regulation of chemicals in industrial consumer products) with the Safe Chemicals Act of 2011.

Heather White shared some pretty scary stats and facts. Two points she raised that I find most compelling:

• Toxic substances like PCPs and DDT that were banned 30 years ago have been discovered in newborn babies. Yikes! (And check this out: 232 chemicals found in the minority infants. #environmentalinjustice)
• We can't shop our way out of this. Making personal consumer choices aren't enough to make these scary chemicals not our problem. We must demand federal regulations to get these chemicals out of the marketplace in order to protect the environment, ourselves, and future generations.

The video reminded me how important it is that I continue to advocate for the support of the Safe Chemicals Act, especially now that I live in a new state. What did you take away from the video or Kris' blog post?

Olivia Lane is a Blogger, Green Living Educator, and Health Coach trained at The Institute for Integrative Nutrition. She's also author of Baking Soda & Bliss: The Healthy & Happy Guide to Green Cleaning.   

Stay connected: Free Gift // Facebook // Twitter // Instagram // Pinterest // YouTube

How to Make Your Own Washing Soda

Lots of DIY green cleaning solutions call for washing soda, but it can be hard to find. It's typically in the laundry and cleaning supplies aisle of supermarkets, drugstores, and hardware stores, but it's not in every shop. I was surprised and disappointed when I couldn't find it at my neighborhood Whole Foods.

I turned to the internet for help and discovered instructions for turning baking soda into washing soda at Nature's Nurture blog! I enthusiastically decided to give it a go. Here's what I did:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Spread out desired amount of baking soda on a baking dish. Sarah suggests using a shallow baking pan. I don't have one, so I made do with my casserole dish.

Heat for 30 minutes or longer. Stir often.

Keep checking on it until it transforms from baking soda, which is a powdery, crystallized, and clumpy substance, to washing soda, which is grainy, dull, and opaque. (Paraphrasing Penny, who also blogged about this.)

I had to heat my one cup of baking soda forever (about 75 minutes) because I didn't have a shallow pan or really bother to stir much. Two lessons learned: Borrow a cookie sheet from a neighbor. Don't be lazy.

This is what I ended up with:

Homemade Washing Soda

Honestly, it's kind of hard to look at it and tell the difference. It does feel a little grainer when I poke at it with a rubber spatula.

It's easier to see the difference when I look at baking soda and washing soda side by side.

Guess I'll really know once I use it. Heaven knows there are so many uses for it. And yes, it's caustic, so I'll be wearing gloves when I do!

While it's fun to know another MacGyver-ish baking soda move, I don't think this will become my preferred method of procuring washing soda. At 6 cents per ounce Whole Foods brand baking soda is cheaper than the 9 cents per ounce Ace Hardware website lists for Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda, but I'm not sure the savings warrant the effort and gas I put into it. Maybe if I were making lots of it at once...

According to the Arm & Hammer product locator, their products are also sold at Walmart, Costco, Home Depot or Lowe’s. Another blogger says you can find it at Amazon, Kmart, Ace Hardware, Dollar General, and other big box stores.

You can also buy Nellie's All Natural Laundry Soda on Amazon. It's a superpricey 32 cents per ounce but it's nice to buy from a company like Nellie's that is certified cruelty-free and is committed to not testing any of it's products or ingredients on animals. Arm & Hammer can't say the same.

Olivia Lane is a Blogger, Green Living Educator, and Health Coach trained at The Institute for Integrative Nutrition. She's also author of Baking Soda & Bliss: The Healthy & Happy Guide to Green Cleaning.   

Stay connected: Free Gift // Facebook // Twitter // Instagram // Pinterest // YouTube

How to Remove Lint Balls from a Sweater

Fuzz and lint balls can take your cozy winter look from chic to cheap. Good news is there's a supereasy way to remove them with just a pumice stone. I'll show you how with pics and video. Woo hoo!

Before: Pumice stone waits to woo natty sweater dress.

Starting at one end, pull the pumice stone across your sweater (or any other knit or crocheted garment). Be sure to move in the direction that the knit is going.

Once you reach the other end, remove any fuzz that's collected on the pumice stone or loosely bunched up on the side of the garment.

Fuzz stuck to pumice stone and not your sweater. Yippee!

Repeat until you have pulled the pumice stone across the entire sweater. Oh yeah, I should've mentioned you need pumice stone and patience because this isn't really as fast as it is effective.

After: Same spot, now fuzz free!

If you're fancy, touch up the sweater with a lint roller afterwards.

Victory!

In case that wasn't clear, watch my first Olivia Cleans Green youtube channel video, which explains how to do it.

Olivia Lane is a Blogger, Green Living Educator, and Health Coach trained at The Institute for Integrative Nutrition. She's also author of Baking Soda & Bliss: The Healthy & Happy Guide to Green Cleaning.   

Stay connected: Free Gift // Facebook // Twitter // Instagram // Pinterest // YouTube

How to Clean a Can Opener

If can openers could talk, they would have a voice like Rodney Dangerfield and say "No respect." This little gadget gets yanked out of the drawer regularly, but rarely gets more than a quick rinse or a scrub with soapy water. Neither of these actions do much to keep it's special parts gunk-free, which makes it harder for them to work well.

"Help!"

 A clean can opener is a happy can opener! Here's how to get a can opener really clean with just baking soda and tap water, and the help of an old toothbrush.

I used club soda, but water will do.

• Mix together 1 tablespoon baking soda and 1 teaspoon of water to create a very runny paste. (Think melting ice cream.) 
• Apply paste to can opener with an old toothbrush. Be sure to open, close, and turn the can opener that way you can brush part of it. 
• Scrub, scrub, scrub!
• Rinse and dry.
• Self high-five! You're awesome, even if no one else in the house notices that you cleaned the can opener!

Ready to go!

The first time I tried this solution, which I found on Real Simple, I cleaned the can opener in my boyfriend's bachelor pad. It was very gnarly, but I managed to get it superclean in about 20 minutes.

This time around, I let the paste rest on the gadget for about 15 minutes and I used club soda (Go Team Minerals!) instead of tap water, in hopes of spending less time scrubbing. I was able to get the can opener clean in 3 minutes, but it might have been because the can opener wasn't as dirty. #BadScience I guess the only thing this proves is both techniques work. Well, hooray for that at least!

Olivia Lane is a Blogger, Green Living Educator, and Health Coach trained at The Institute for Integrative Nutrition. She's also author of Baking Soda & Bliss: The Healthy & Happy Guide to Green Cleaning.   

Stay connected: Free Gift // Facebook // Twitter // Instagram // Pinterest // YouTube

Tips for Saving Money and Energy on Appliances

My nerd love of the Live Well Network was strengthen this weekend when Deals program showed viewers how to save money and energy by performing simple cleaning maintenance on appliances.

Image via 123rtf.com

Repairman Gary Mayfield of Mr. Appliance suggests folks:

• clean refrigerator coils and door seals annually
• clean dishwasher strainer after every few loads
• keep stove top burners clean
• clean detergent tray of washer occasionally. (He also suggests using high speed spin and cold water when doing laundry.)

Watch the video segment on their website for more tips. 

While I want extra housework as much as I want another hole in my head, I'm so grateful for these tips! I don't think I've ever cleaned the detergent tray of my washer. (I don't actually use it, but the previous tenants might have.) Also my dishwasher could use some TLC. I can't even begin to imagine the build-up situation in there. In fact, I've been actively resisting imagining it. I think tackling that task will require a motivational shot of whiskey!

Do you have any appliance wisdom to share?

Olivia Lane is a Blogger, Green Living Educator, and Health Coach trained at The Institute for Integrative Nutrition. She's also author of Baking Soda & Bliss: The Healthy & Happy Guide to Green Cleaning.   

Stay connected: Free Gift // Facebook // Twitter // Instagram // Pinterest // YouTube

DIY Natural Deodorant Cream

Homemade Coconut Oil-Based Deodorant Cream

This Thanksgiving, in addition to making a little feast, I made my own deodorant with just four totally natural ingredients. I followed the recipe from a photo posted by Food Heaven Made Easy with Wendy & Jess on Facebook (via ALifeBalanced.com). So far, the only natural deodorant that has ever consistently worked for me has been 80 proof vodka (which I use faithfully). Still, I couldn't resist trying this, given how simple it is to make.

 ingredients

To make this deodorant cream, I used: corn starch, baking soda, coconut oil, and essential oils. I made a very small quantity; it's a strategy I highly recommend for the maiden voyage of most DIY products. This way you can avoid the possibility of getting stuck with a ton of something you completely hate.

Note: I didn't use vitamin E because I don't have any on hand. I figure I'll be OK without a (natural) preservative since I'm only making about a month's supply. (Update: This batch was enough to last over 3 months!)

Shout out to tuesday bassen, who made the girl face magnet. I still love it!

I quartered the recipe. Math generally makes my brain hurt but creating charts helps.

Am I the only person drooling?

I sifted the baking soda and corn starch into a cup. I added coconut oil and essential oils: an aromatherapy blend of lavender, bergamot, patchouli, and geranium called Stress Less and tea tree oil. I got a little carried away and actually added a lot more EOs than the recipe called for- about 1/8t tea tree oil and 5 drops Stress Less. This stuff is going to be super mighty, which is perfect since my pits can get really funky!

I blended everything together with a fork until it was the consistency of cupcake icing. I resisted the (very strong) urge to eat it by constantly reminding myself it wasn't cupcake icing. This was the hardest part!

Always label DIY products with ingredients and date. (Date label is on the side of this tin.)

I scooped it into a clean, dry empty tin savaged from another natural product. I made handwritten labels and was sure to include: what the product is, ingredients, and the date made. This is so important for three reasons: I'll have the info hand if I wanna make adjustments to future batches; I won't accidentally use this as hair or body balm; and I won't accidentally keep this into the next presidential election year.

The original recipe suggests storing the cream in the fridge, but since I don't get dressed in the kitchen that's not my first choice as a storage area. So far, it's staying pretty solid in my woman-cave/closet. It's not that hot in there.

After three days of field research, including working retail on Black Friday and Small Business Saturday, I can attest that this deodorant works well. It didn't keep me as dry as powder-based natural deodorants. (I was almost instantly sweaty on Friday.) However, body odor never became an issue, even thought I totally skipped my shower on Sunday in favor of getting to brunch early! Also, it absorbs into the skin pretty well, so armpit coke lines aren't an issue. LOL!

Olivia Lane is a Blogger, Green Living Educator, and Health Coach trained at The Institute for Integrative Nutrition. She's also author of Baking Soda & Bliss: The Healthy & Happy Guide to Green Cleaning.   

Stay connected: Free Gift // Facebook // Twitter // Instagram // Pinterest // YouTube