Homemade Vegemite

Vegemite is an Australian staple, but the downside of this spread is that it is packed full of salt, and made with added colour 150c from the manufacturing process of fructose, malt syrup and other sweeteners. It also contains unspecified  'flavours' - which can be anything from from a naturally-derived food (animal or plant source) or synthetic flavours made in food chemical laboratories.  

At Westside Renee and I prefer to make our own 'Vegemite' - it's easy to make, stores well in the fridge and the kids love it!

Ingredients

• 120g Black Tahini

• 100mL tamari (or coconut aminos)

• 3 x tbs nutritional yeast flakes

• 1 x tbs apple cider vinegar

Method

1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl.

2. Store in jar in the fridge.

Makes 1 x jar. Keeps for 2 months refrigerated.

Homemade Face Cleanser

MAKING YOUR OWN CHEMICAL-FREE FACE CLEANSER IS EASY

Have you ever checked the ingredients of you favourite skin cleanser? Most of us would struggle to pronounce some of the ingredients, let alone know what they are or where they come from. 

Many substances used in skincare manufacturing (such as EDTA, sodium lauryl sulfate and formaldehyde) are harmful to our bodies. In many instances they are known carcinogens (substances known to cause cancer). 

You can avoid these harmful substances simply by making your own skincare products at home. It’s fast, cheap and so simple to do. 

I whip some a batch of this skin cleanser every month or so. It's gentle and effective, you can apply the product to the skin every day - it's both nourishing and deep cleansing to clear out clogged up pores. 

If you find the skin is too oily, simply cleanse you skin at night and by morning the oil will have absorbed into your skin, leaving it soft a smooth. 

ABOUT BENTONITE CLAY

Bentonite clay is formed by volcanic ash and contains many minerals including silica and magnesium. It acts to detoxify the pores of the skin due to it's difference in electrical charge. This assists it's drawing action to pull excessive oil and gunk from the pores to give you softer, smoother and clearer skin. To learn more about Calcium Bentonite (green clay) - we recommend reading more here. 

USING NON-METALLIC EQUIPMENT

Bentonite clay strips heavy metals from the body and from any minerals it comes into contact with….including your aluminium or stainless steel cookware.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 tbs coconut oil Ÿ 
• 2 tsp raw honey Ÿ-  I love this brand 
• 1 tsp baking soda - this brand is great
• 1 tsp bentonite clay Ÿ - I recommend this brand
• 3 drops essential oil of your choice Ÿ- I love ylang ylang or geranium oil
• Dried flower petals
   

METHOD

1. Mix all ingredients in a non-metallic bowl and store in a glass jar.
2. Leave ample room in the jar as the mixture will swell as the clay expands.

APPLICATION

1. To use simply wash your face with warm water.
2. Apply a small amount to the skin (about the size of a 20 cent coin).
3. Massage into the skin and wash off with a warm wet face cloth. 

Keeps for up to 3 months in a sealed container. I prefer to use a glass jar for a container but you could also use a food grade plastic one. In the warmer months the oils will separate, simply stir to recombine.

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Orange Coconut Body Scrub

We make a lot of coconut milk at Westside Wellness! ....And that means lots of leftover coconut pulp. You can blitz the leftover pulp in a food processor or thermomix and then dehydrate it to make coconut flour, but because baking requires so little of it we often have more than we can handle. 

I like to use the leftover pulp to make body scrub - it really helps exfoliate dead skin from your pores but at the same time adds a fine coating of moisture to the skin to keep it nice a smooth. The orange rind adds a nice scent and provides a natural anti-microbial element to to the scrub to prevent unwanted skin infections.

Simply grab a handful and scrub onto to the skin (pay special attention to the knees, ankles, feet and elbows) while your in the shower. Wait a minute or two and then rinse off - enjoy!

INGREDIENTS

• 1.5 cups of coconut pulp (from making homemade coconut milk)

• 1 cup of salt

• Grated rind of 1 orange

• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

METHOD

1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl.

2. Store in 3 x 200mL jars. Keep 2 of the jars in the freezer for up to 2 months. The other jar can be kept in you shower to be used daily until finished, about 2 weeks.

The BEST Homemade Multipurpose Cleaner

Here at Westside Wellness, we think it's important to know exactly what goes into our cleaning products. Why? Because our skin and lungs are one of our major organs of detoxification/elimination and absorption. So whatever we come in contact with via our skin and lungs (through inhalation) is going to be processed by our body, which can lead to detrimental effects. 

Some cleaning products contain nasty abrasives, fragrances and whiteners to help give the appearance that they are 'doing a good job', but really what they are doing is providing an onslaught of nasties that we really don't want to be breathing in and touching. We also don't want these products entering our water ways where they cause massive detriment to the environment.

What's the solution? Enter our enzymatic, citrus cleaner. It is easy peasy to make, and a great way to reduce waste by reusing citrus peels (before they make their way to the compost). We use citrus peels and vinegar and let the combo ferment for 6-8 weeks. During this fermentation period, enzymes from the citrus peel is released and the mother from the apple cider vinegar and natural sugars from the citrus peel increases the fermentation resulting in a potent cleaning product! Now there are other recipes on the internet, using sugar and yeast, but for us this is way easier as we pretty much always have white and apple cider vinegar hand.

Once you get into the swing of things, you can have several jars on the go, staggered so you always have spray on hand.

INGREDIENTS

• a wide mouthed, large glass* jar with lid

• left over citrus peels- lemon, grapefruit, lime, orange etc **. Enough to fill said jar

• 500-1000 ml white vinegar (enough to fill jar)

• 2 tbs apple cider vinegar w/ mother

METHOD

1. Thoroughly wash your jar in hot, soapy water. Rinse soap off well. 

2. Cut your citrus peels into quarters.

3. Place citrus peels in jar and pour in the white and apple cider vinegar. Push down the peels and make sure they are covered with liquid.

4. Place lid on, write the date and put the jar in a dark, cool place. Leave for 6-8 weeks.

5. Once fermented, pour your multipurpose spray into a spray bottle using a nut bag or muslin cloth to strain out any citrus flesh.

*Due to the enzymes release, it's best to use glass for both fermenting and to use as a spray. A little hack we discovered is that spray bottle guns fit most glass drink bottles that had a plastic lid!

**We keep our citrus peel in a container in the freezer until there is enough to fill a large jar.

DIY Zero Waste Toothpaste

Here at Westside Wellness, we love making our own skin, body and household products, mainly because we know EXACTLY what is going into those products AND because they work so well and are so cheap to make!

If you haven't used homemade toothpaste before, it is a *bit* of an adjustment, they are no where near as sweet and minty as the kind of toothpaste you can get at the supermarket, but once you've used it you'll never go back as homemade toothpaste leaves your teeth feeling so clean and helps to remove staining too.

Lets talk about the ingredients:

• coconut oil: antimicrobial/bacterial, draws toxins out of mouth and is effective against tooth decay, gum disease and whitens teeth
• baking soda: neutralises acids in our mouth and helps to prevent tooth decay; is also mildly abrasive so helps with removal of stains
• bentonite clay: aids with remineralisation and draws toxins out of your mouth
• calcium powder: aids with reminderalisation
• peppermint, tea tree and eucalyptus essential oils: all 3 are antimicrobial/bacterial and help to reduce odour

One small jar lasts approx 2 months, for extra teeth whitening we add a sprinkling of activated charcoal to our toothbrush a couple of times per week.

INGREDIENTS

• 1/4 cup coconut oil (liquid or solid is fine, but we prefer to use liquid as it's easier to get on your toothbrush

• 2 tbs baking soda

• 2 tsp bentonite clay (you can get it at The Source)

• 1 tsp calcium powder (we like Lifestream products)

• 20-30 drops peppermint essential oil (we love The Oil Garden oils)

• 8 drops each of eucalyptus and tea tree essential oils (we think Thursday Plantation oils are fab!)

METHOD

Place all of the ingredients in a bowl and using a wooden or plastic spoon, mix until well combined. Scoop/pour into a small airtight jar.

To use, dip your toothbrush in and cover with the toothpaste. If you use solid coconut oil you may need to use a small spoon to scoop it out. Due to the oil content, we recommend avoiding spitting down the drain, instead you can spit into your compost bin, garden or have a spit jar on hand (a bit gross, but practical).

DIY Coconut Milk

Making your own coconut milk is super easy! At first I was daunted by the idea of making coconut milk - it seemed like I was taking the whole "making food from scratch" thing a bit to far. But now I can't imagine buying coconut milk in a store because it's honestly super simple to make, inexpensive and doesn't involve lots of preparation time. I often whip up a batch before making  coconut-based curry. 

All you need is two ingredients (desiccated coconut and water) and a couple of household kitchen items. Best of all you can make some coconut body scrub with the leftover coconut pulp - this stuff leaves your skin exfoliated, moisturised and silky smooth!

Ingredients

• 1.5 cups desiccated coconut
• 4 cups of filtered water

Utensils

• Food processor, blender or thermomix
• Fine mesh sieve, cheesecloth, nut milk bag or clean tea towel
• Large bowl

Method

1. Heat water until almost boiling.
2. Place coconut in the bowl and pour in hot water.
3. Leave the coconut to absorb the water (about 3 minutes)
4. Blend the coconut and water for 5 minutes or so until the liquid appears creamy. You may need to do this in two batches  depending on the volume capacity of your blender. 
5. Strain through fine mesh sieve or cheesecloth.
6. Keeps refrigerated for 3-4 days. Simply stir to recombine if the water and fat separate. 

Makes 1L.