Refrigerator Pickles

As summer gardens start to ripen and you find yourself with an overabundance of cucumbers, this is one of my absolute favorite and easiest summer recipes.  You will need:

1. Pickling cucumbers, farm fresh preferably
2. Fresh dill
3. Green onions
4. Onions
5. Salt, real sea salt 
6. Apple cider vinegar
7. Jalapeños if desired 

Simply chop the white onions, green onions, and dill.  Cut the cucumbers into slices or spears, as desired.

Layer cucumbers with dill and onion mixture in large container that has a lid. Coat top with layer of sea salt. Pour a mixture of apple cider vinegar and water over top.  I use about 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar and 3/4 cup of water for 3 cups of sliced cucumbers.  

Cover and place in refrigerator for several hours.  They taste great the next day (but I still ate a few after a few hours).

Enjoy!

Erin Egan of Pure Naked Soap is a mom to three girls and social worker by day, but at night she is a creator of body nourishing foods and skincare products. Diagnosed with multiple allergies, Erin makes most of her foods and all of her soaps and skincare products from scratch. Using whole ingredients that meet the needs of her body, she found that many other people were interested in simpler, truly natural soaps. Check out her selection of body friendly products! 

Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Wanelo | purenakedsoap@gmail.com

DIY Whipped Soap

This has been an ongoing experiment, which started when I began making my own dog soap. Puppies need a pH of 7 and most cold process soap falls above that range. I began by mushing up soap and adding vinegar to shreds to lower the pH. I would wash the dog by rubbing my soap shred vinegar mush to her. A few weeks ago, I had a brilliant idea, now I am using this to wash my hair, wash my dog and I will be posting some whipped soap scrubs shortly on PureNaKeDSoap.com.


This is a very simple DIY recipe:

• Shredded cold process soap of your choice - must be made with lye (sodium hydroxide) 
• Apple cider vinegar ( I used Bragg's Organic) 
• Water (I used distilled)

1. Measure about 2 small handfuls of soap shreds in a microwave safe container

2. Add a large spoonful of apple cider vinegar to the shreds

3. Microwave shreds and vinegar about 30 seconds - does not smell good the ACV is strong. 

Be careful -- it gets hot.

4. This is about what my shreds looked like when I added about 1/3 cup of water. 

 Microwave again 30-45 seconds. 

 Watch while microwaving, it bubbles & needs to be stopped before it bubbles over.

5. Remove from microwave & whip with fork, be careful it will be hot.

6. Mix until shreds dissolve more.

7. This is how it looked shortly after. I shook it a few times in a mason jar.

8. After sitting overnight in the mason jar, I whipped it a little with a fork. 

 I added a few drops of tea tree to this batch, because it is my own shampoo now. 

 Dog doesn't get tea tree, she gets rosemary!

I love it! I will be continuing to play with the recipe to get a thinner more liquid mixture. This will be on PureNaKeDSoap.com within a month with a Honey Bunny Whipped Sugar Scrub mixture!!

Erin Egan of Pure Naked Soap is a mom to three girls and social worker by day, but at night she is a creator of body nourishing foods and skincare products. Diagnosed with multiple allergies, Erin makes most of her foods and all of her soaps and skincare products from scratch. Using whole ingredients that meet the needs of her body, she found that many other people were interested in simpler, truly natural soaps. Check out her selection of body friendly products!
Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Wanelo | purenakedsoap@gmail.com

Shop Spotlight: Pure Naked Soap.

 
Meet Erin of Pure Naked Soap. Her products are made with as few ingredients as possible to keep them as natural as possible. She uses ingredients that she has personally tested, along with family and friends. Her ingredient list is "naked" to her customers and will always be posted on her items.

"I am a mom, social worker, and creator of products that I can use based on my odd range food allergies and sensitivities (corn, gluten, almonds, other odd things). I began cooking from scratch to heal my insides, and now I make everything I put on my body!

"Many years ago I was diagnosed with several allergies. I noticed that I was also having some skin problems like dermatitis, eczema, and breakouts. I started learning about all the hidden food additives that were causing internal and external reactions. Slowly I started trying new ways to cleanse and nourish my body. Eventually I realized that not only the food items I was eating were causing skin reactions, but several of my organic skin cleansers, shampoos, and so on had many of the ingredients that I was avoiding consuming. Over time I found I had some wonderful skills at crafting allergen-friendly skin and personal care products and wanted to share."

To learn more about Erin and her products, find her at Pure Naked Soap,

as well as on Twitter, Instagram, Wanelo, and Facebook.

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