Homemade Pedialyte

 

Pedialyte is expensive. I only buy it when I have coupons for it, which isn't to often. I like to give it to Skylar to make sure he's hydrated, especially when he's sick. When I found out that I could make my own I was thrilled! There are several different reciepes you can use but here are two of them.

 (I made a double batch here of Recipe #2)

 
Pedialyte Recipe #1:

• 1/2 cup hot water
• 3 1/2 cups water
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 1/2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon Jello gelatin powder mix, any flavor

Mix salt, sugar and Jello with hot water until dissolved. Stir into 3 1/2 cups of water and serve. Refrigerate up to 3 days.

Pedialyte Recipe #2

• 4 cups water
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 3 Tbsp sugar or honey (remember that infants under 1 CAN NOT have honey)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• optional: 1/2 packet unsweetened Kool-Aid

Mix all ingredients together and serve. Refrigerate up to 3 days.

Natural Orange All-Purpose Cleaner

My family and I are on a mission to live more naturally. One way we do that is by making our own non-toxic cleaning products. That way our 2 & 1/2 year old can help us clean and we don't have to worry about nasty chemicals getting on him. So here's the recipe we use for our Natural Orange All-Purpose Cleaner.

You will need:

Quart Size Mason Jar or Pasta Jar
Left over orange peels (You can also use mandarin or tangerine peels)
White Vinegar
Water

Fill the jar up with the peels. Then pour the vinegar into the jar and fill 3/4th full. Leave the jar in a sunny window for about 2-3 weeks. Shake occasionally. Strain the orange vinegar into a spray bottle and fill the rest of the bottle with water. Then clean like you normally would! It smells like yummy oranges and not like chemicals.

TIP:

• The longer you let the vinegar brew in the peels the stronger the cleaner will be.
• DO NOT use on granite and marble. Vinegar is acidic and can mar the finish of porous stone countertops.
• This cleaner can be used for almost everything else, though, including wood floors.

Homemade Cough Drops & Cough Drop Lollipops

Skylar's has a little cough, so I decided to make some cough drop lollipops to give him in addition to the cough syrup. I found out how to make these and cough drops on The Pistachio Project blog. They are soooo easy to make! The only ingredient you need is Honey! I don't know about you but cough drop lollipop sounds a lot better to give a preschooler then the actually small cough drops that they can choke on. Plus you know exactly what your giving your child and family. For this I did buy 4" lollipop sticks, lollipop molds and candy molds from Joann's. But you don't have to. I wanted some fun mold for Skylar and wanted cough drops for my husband and myself.

Remember DO NOT give Infants under 1 year of age Honey!!!

Okay so here's how to make them:

Cough Drop Lollipops

1/2 - 1 Cups Organic Honey (Any amount would be good, Regular Honey works too)
Candy Thermometer (Optional)
Lollipop Sticks
Lollipop Molds (You don't need a mold, you can make free form lollipops by pouring the honey over the stick on a non-stick surface)

(Forgot to take a picture before I put it in the pot)

How To Cook
Pour honey into small saucepan & cook over low heat. Stir constantly & bring honey to a boil. If using candy thermometer, insert in & continue to stir the honey until it has reached a temperature of 300 degrees. Remove from heat & move to test phase. If not using the candy thermometer then continue cooking & occasionally test. Just don’t wait too late to test; testing too early is better then testing too late.

How To Test
To make sure your honey has reached the right consistency, place a drop or two of honey into a cup of ice water. If the honey turns & stays hard (like a hard candy) then you are good to go. If it is still soft then you need to keep cooking a bit longer.

Making the Lollipops

With Molds- Grease lollipop molds and insert sticks so that they are ready in the mold. Pour honey into mold & let cool at room temperature. (No cheating and putting them into the fridge. It won’t work)

Cough Drops

You can purchase cough drop molds or any small mold will work. You could also create free form cough drops just like the free form lollipops. Same instructions apply; pour honey into mold or onto a greased non-stick surface and let cool at room temperature. (No cheating and putting them into the fridge. It won’t work)

Add Ins

Now just plain honey is great but you can get really creative with these! You can add cinnamon or ginger or even use some essential oils such as lemon or menthol.

Homemade Cough Syrup

This year my resolution is trying to be even more frugal! As well as trying to live a more natural and healthy lifestyle. As a result I'm making my own cough syrup. There are several recipes online that uses all sorts of ingredients. I want something that would be good for my son as well as for my husband and myself. So the Whiskey cough syrup is out of the question! I found one that on YouTube that has a great tutorial: Grandma Barb's Homemade Cough Syrup

But here's my little tutorial and it just uses 3 simple ingredients!


Here's what you need:

1 1/2 Cups Organic Raw Honey (Raw Honey works well too)
1/2 Cup Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil (Extra Virgin Olive Oil works well too)
1-5 Organic Lemons, Juiced (Regular FRESH Lemons work great too!)(I use the lemons from my lemon tree)


Step 1:
Add honey, olive oil and lemon juice to a small pot. Stir.

Step 2:
Heat over medium heat just until steaming, stirring. (DO NOT BOIL)

Step 3:
Remove from heat and let cool.

Step 4:
Place into a jar with a lid and store in the refrigerator. Take 1tbsp warmed as needed.

Tips:
Do not give to children under 1 and who are allergic to honey. Use as soon as you feel a cold coming on. Stir and warm before using. It's also great for allergies!

Homemade Dog Toothpaste

So let's face it... dog toothpaste is very expensive. It can be up to $4.99 and sometimes more! I don't even pay that much for my toothpaste! So I found a recipe that used ingredients that I had on hand. So if  you have any puppies or dogs you should try this!

First off you will need:

 Any type of cooking oil, water, baking soda and an airtight container


Step 1:
Add 1/2 cup of baking soda to your container or mixing bowl (I used my container...less to wash after)

Step 2:
Add 3Tbsp of water and 1 tsp of oil to baking soda and mix with spoon

 (It should look like this)

Step 3: (optional)
Add 1 cube or 1 tsp of  chicken or beef bouillon for taste


And that's it! Your all done! Soooo easy to make and takes less then 5 minutes. Last thing to do would be brushing your dogs teeth.