Natural deodorant

In my recent quest for all things natural, I came across this recipe for natural deodorant from 'Smashed Peas and Carrots'. I gave it a try recently and I love it! It is simple to make and lovely to wear. Best of all, it keeps odours away completely - amazing :)

To make it, mix together:

2-3 tablespoons coconut oil (warm up to a liquid if necessary by standing in hot water or out in the sun)

1/8 cup baking soda (bicarbonate of soda)

1/8 cup arrowroot powder or cornflour (cornstarch)

Allow to set in a container that allows you to press the solid bar out. A travel soap canister, like mine above, or shallow plastic dish would work well. When set, rub on as required.

At the moment we are having temperatures in the low to mid 20Cs and the deodorant stays in a solid bar, like soap, that is easy to apply. It kind of melts on to your skin from your body heat. I imagine that in the summer it will be more liquid so I'll have to see how it goes then. There is no residue left on clothes, although it's probably a good idea to be careful of the oil on some fabrics.

Carrot surprise

We have a loquat tree in our tiny garden. It's a lovely looking tree and at this time of year it is laden with beautiful golden orange loquats. They are nice to eat, although not everyone likes them, but you need to be quick as they turn brown after two or three weeks.

These trees seem to be quite rare as we always get lots of interest in the loquats from passers by. We encourage people to pick them as we couldn't possibly eat them all ourselves.

Last Friday there was a knock on the door at dinner time. There was a lovely girl with a bunch of spectacular home-grown carrots to swap for some loquats. I was thrilled! I've never seen such amazing carrots. Apparently they are an heirloom variety.

After we sampled them raw, I made the rest into a delicious stir fry. Just look at the beautiful colours in these.

They made my day. Thank you lovely neighbour ☺

How to make Greek-style set yogurt with the Easi-yo

I make this delicious yogurt all the time. It is cheap, delicious and incredibly easy. Hubby and I have it every day on our cereal and even my 5 year old loves it. My 8 year old has yet to be convinced, but you can't have everything.

I use an Easy-Yo for this, but you could easily use a Thermos flask, or even a container placed in a well insulated cool-bag or similar.

Start by taking 1.25 cups milk powder (I use full cream) and a couple of tablespoons or so of plain yogurt (I use some left over from the last batch, but you can use shop-bought yogurt - you might need to experiment with one or two brands to find the one that sets best). Put these into the 1 litre Easy-yo container, which is partially filled with cold water. Fill the container to the top with water, put on the lid and give it a good shake to mix.

Fill your kettle and boil approximately 1.5 litres of water to place into the Easy-yo insulator to the top of the red line.

Leave for approximately four hours or overnight.

And voila, perfect set yogurt. By the way, set yogurt contains more beneficial bacteria than other kinds of yogurt. You can add fruit or other flavouring at this stage, but I prefer it plain. Enjoy.