Knowledge Weighs Nothing

Homemade Natural Bug Spray Recipe

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If you purchase bug spray it will likely contain a chemical called DEET. Simply put – DEET is nasty stuff, so unless you are plagued by mosquitoes and have no other option, I would steer clear of the stuff. I accidently sprayed some DEET on a tent when camping once… It melted the material! Below is a natural, safer homemade bug spray recipe for you to try. It is very cheap and easy to make and it works well for us.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup of boiled water (left to cool)
  • 1 cup of apple cider vinegar
  • 50-60 drops or peppermint essential oil (you can also try lemongrass or lavender oil too)

You will also need a spray bottle or two.

Instructions

Add all the ingredients to the spray bottle. Give it a really good shake and it’s ready to use. Simply spray on exposed skin and you are ready to go outdoors.

Notes

  • As it is a natural recipe it does wear off after a while, so be sure to reapply every hour or two.
  • Be sure to give the bottle a good shake before spraying to ensure the mixture is well mixed.
  • If you find the spray still smells a bit vinegary, add a few more drops of peppermint oil. You could also experiment by adding different essential oils too.
(Image from: Wikipedia)

How To Make Natural Homemade Ginger Ale

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Do you know, I picked up some ginger ale the other day and when I read the ingredients, there wasn’t actually any ginger in it… Just artificial flavors.

I love traditional ginger ale, but in addition to tasting great, ginger ale also has many medicinal properties, with the most popular use being to sooth stomach ache and alleviate nausea.  Many people swear by ginger for travel and sea sickness. If you’d like have a go at making your own natural and healthy ginger ale, head over to ‘Wellness Mama’ and get the recipe.

How To Natural Homemade Ginger Ale

(Photo from: Wellness Mama)

Easy Strawberry Honey Jam Recipe – Just 4 Natural Ingredients With No Sugar Or Pectin

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We make and eat a lot of jam – there are only so many strawberries you can eat before you start thinking about canning them to enjoy over a longer period. One of our favorite ways to make jam is to make: Quick & Easy Freezer Jam, but we will definitely be trying this sugar and pectin free, strawberry and honey jam, as it is simple to make and sounds delicious!

This easy strawberry and honey jam only has four ingredients – strawberry, honey, apple and lemon juice! Give it a go! Honey in jam seems so obvious now, I don’t know why we didn’t think of it before…

Easy Strawberry Honey Jam Recipe

(Photo from: Old World Garden Farm)

How To Make Probiotic Lemonade

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Pretty much everyone loves lemonade.  The problem is that store brought lemonade doesn’t actually contain that much lemon (if any!). Instead it is full of artificial flavors/colors, and corn syrup or artificial sweeteners, depending on whether you choose the sugar free version.

The recipe below from ‘A Flock In The City’ contains all natural ingredients, including 12 lemons! This homemade lemonade is also full of healthy probiotics. Have a go at making this delicious, healthy probiotic lemonade. Lemonade has never been so healthy!

How To Make Probiotic Lemonade

(Photo from: A Flock In The City)

How To Make Homemade Ricotta (Just 4 Ingredients!)

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Another dairy post! I don’t know what is wrong with me at the moment… Oh yeah, that’s right, I LOVE dairy! Check out some of our other recent posts: Make Mozzarella From Milk In Just 30 Minutes and How To Make Butter From Milk (Couldn’t Be Easier!).

Today we are making ricotta, and if anything, it is actually easier to make than homemade mozzarella. You need just four ingredients to make ricotta – whole milk, cream, salt, lemon juice. Depending on how firm you like your ricotta, it can be ready to eat in 1-2 hours. If you like it soft and spreadable, it’s an hour, if you like it firmer, leave it longer.

How To Make Homemade Ricotta (Just 4 Ingredients!)

(Photo from:  grongar)

4 All Natural, All Purpose Healing Salve Recipes

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Sometimes it is just nice to use what nature provides to help us heal, at least when we are talking about minor cuts, scratches and burns etc. Below is a tutorial from ‘One Good Thing By Jillee’, which hows how to make not one, but four natural healing salves.

There is an all purpose healing salve, an anti-allergy (with natural anti-histamine properties), an aches & pains salve and finally an natural anti-ageing salve.

4 All Natural, All Purpose Healing Salve Recipes

(Photo from: One Good Thing By Jillee)

How To Make The ‘Master Tonic’ Natural Remedy (Recipe)

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The Master Tonic is a natural remedy for all manner of illnesses and infections. It is most commonly used to treat colds and flu, but as it is anti-viral, anti-fungal and anti-bacterial it is useful in the treatment of many common illnesses and viruses. It can also be taken daily to ward off illness and maintain health.

Even though it is a natural remedy, the Master Tonic will knock your socks off! It is powerful, potent stuff, with garlic, horseradish, ginger and pepper amongst the fresh active ingredients. You can make and bottle a batch in one go, as it also stores well, apparently indefinitely.  Check out the recipe and tutorial below. A powerful and natural alternative to what you can get at the pharmacy.

How To Make The ‘Master Tonic’ Natural Remedy (Recipe)

(Photo from: Happy Mothering)

10 Healthy Organic Homemade Dog (& Cat) Food Recipes & Treats

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There are two reasons to think about making your own dog and cat food; firstly cheap dog/cat food is full of fillers and additives and good quality dog/cat food is very expensive.  The second reason is that being able to make your own high quality dog/cat food will be vital if the SHTF or dog/cat food is not available for whatever reason.  These recipes are all made with quality organic ingredients; I guess they could be made with non-organic meats to cut down the costs, but this is up to you…

These recipes state they are for dogs, but having looked through the recipes, I can see no reason why most aren’t also suitable for cats. If anyone knows differently, do let me know!

10 Healthy Organic Homemade Dog (& Cat) Food Recipes & Treats

(Photo from:  Yukari*)

How To Make Quick & Easy Freezer Jam

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There are two main reasons you should be making jam; it’s absolutely delicious and it’s a great way to preserve fruit. There is one main reason why you probably don’t make jam; it’s a pain in the ass, time consuming process…

This jam couldn’t be easier to make, you just need a freezer! There’s no cooking involved, just a bit of manual mashing up the strawberries, adding some pectin and sugar, and then it’s all about taking advantage of the natural process strawberries go through when they are frozen.  You can make a large amount of jam in no time at all making it this way. Also I challenge you to taste the difference!

How To Make Quick & Easy Freezer Jam

(Photo from: The Frugal Girls)

How To Can Pretty Much All Fresh Beans

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If you grow your own beans, once they have been cropping for a while, it doesn’t take too long before you feel you have had enough of a good thing, and your mind switches to thinking about preserving the beans for future use. Some beans dehydrate well, others freeze well, but all are suitable for canning.  If you want know more about canning Green & Yellow beans and also Lima beans, Broadbeans, Snap beans, Pole beans, Runner beans, etc, today is your lucky day!

If you check out the link below, ‘Pick Your Own’ have created an awesome, detailed photo tutorial on how to can fresh beans. If you are growing beans, I highly recommend you check it out!

How To Can Pretty Much All Fresh Beans

(Photo from: Pick Your Own)