Packing a cut apple in a child's lunch

My son loves either apples or grapes in his lunch every day.  He usually has them cut up and sprinkled with some Stevia drops and cinnamon.  You just mush the apple pieces, cinnamon and Stevia around in a baggie and it keeps your apples from turning brown by lunch!  Not to mention, it is soooo tasty!  Feels like you're eating a healthy version of apple pie.  I eat this a lot when dieting because it makes me feel like I'm cheating, hee hee!

But the other day, he said he wanted a WHOLE apple.  Well, I didn't have a problem with that, but I know he hates biting into a whole apple.  He always eats the peels when I cut the apple up, but has an aversion to eating a whole one by itself.  I never said he was a normal child, lol!  So, remembering an email I received about clever little ways to do things, this came to mind!  I'm sure showing step by step instructions may make it look more difficult than it seems, but it really does take only a few seconds to do.

Take your whole apple and wash it.  Cut a slice down one side, about 1/4 way through the apple.  Excuse my disposable cutting board paper plate.  I've been trying to use less of them, but darn, they can be so handy!

Turn your apple a quarter of a turn and cut the next 1/4 off.  You're trying to avoid the core while doing this.

Turn your apple another quarter of a turn and cut another 1/4 off.

 

Before we turn another quarter of a turn and cut off the last 1/4, I'm going to put my puzzle pieces back together first.  If you don't care if your pieces are small, don't do this.  It's actually a little dangerous because the apple can become slippery.  Don't want to cut yourself.

 Now, if you're extra anal sweet like me, you can  figure out how to make all your pieces nice and easy for your child to eat by making each side look like this.

The next step is to match your puzzle pieces together.  Hopefully your apple-cutting skills are a little better than mine.

Wrap a rubber band around the whole thing.  Pack in a baggie.

So, why would you want to go through all of this trouble so you can essentially create an edible puzzle?  Well, number one, it's cool.  Number two, when the apple is opened up at lunch time, even the next day, the apple will still be nice and white inside because the slices were only exposed to air while you were cutting it.  Neato, huh?

Since my son requested the whole apple, I told him that I want to make sure he eats the whole thing.  I told him to please do not end up throwing half away.  Not so much because I'm a hardass who insists you eat what you take, but because wasting is just silly.  When he came home, I asked him if he ate his whole apple.  He said, "YES! Wellllllll, I didn't eat the core, if that's okay!"   LOL!  What a stinker!

Now, a  few notes about apples that may bore you to tears.  If you don't like mildly interesting facts, feel free to skip this part. Most people agree that an apple a day is essentially good for you.  It's high in fiber and rich in vitamins A, B, C, E and K.  An apple can also help those with acid troubles.  Most people who have acid problems actually have too little acid in their stomach, they just don't know it because they have what feels like an acidy stomach.  Next time you're having an acidy tummy, try an apple or some apple cider vinegar (2T) mixed with water and see how you feel.  I've tried it!  It works!  

A larger apple like this has a glycemic index of around 44.  Shoot, a Snickers candy bar is only 68!  So, you see, even though an apple can be a good choice, it can also raise your blood sugar quite a bit. And if you knew how spazzy and inattentive my child can be, you would watch it, too!  So, while I'm definitely not perfect at it, I try hard to give him as healthy a diet as I can, but still have some of the perks of being a kid.  We're a work in progress.   :)  

Oven Cleaning...the most dreaded chore in the universe!

I hate hate hate cleaning the oven!  I have lived in this house for almost 8 years and have never done it until now.  Mostly what I hate is that the cleaners designed to take off all the gunk are so noxious and dangerous.  I can't even stand to be in the same house as an oven spray.  I seem to be sensitive to things that create a fine mist.  They really bother my lungs.  

So, one night as I was scouring the internet (pun intended ha ha ha), I found the least chemical-laden oven cleaner as far as oven cleaners go and can still be effective!  I was gonna try it!  On my high-tech note that is written down on a paper napkin, I have that this recipe is from Donna at A Daily Cup of Faith.  While I always like to give credit where credit is due, I could not get her blog to load for me at all.  It keeps telling me it's unavailable.  Sorry, Donna, I tried. 

Anyhow, here's what you'll need:

 Ammonia: For soaking your oven racks.  This will not actually be used in the oven cleaner recipe.

Oven cleaner paste:
1C Baking Soda
1/2C Washing Soda
3T Dish Soap
1/4C White Vinegar
Hot Water

Now, first, I am going to show you my totally disgusting oven and racks! Try not to judge, which will be hard when you see the state they're in!  I had no idea it was so bad until the moment I got done oven-frying FIVE POUNDS of bacon in one day!  You can see that recipe right here, if you're brave enough to make it after you see my oven!  (My advice...use foil on TOP of the bacon as well!)  Anyway, the skanky disgusting mess you see below mostly happened after I made 5# of bacon in one day, but when you make one pound here or there, you don't seem to notice the little dots of grease that accumulate.  THIS was just too much to handle!  The bottom of my oven stays pretty decent because I always put foil in the bottom to catch drips/spills.

Let's start with the racks, shall we?  Fill your tub about half way with screaming hot water.  Add about 1C of ammonia.  I also squirted in some dish soap for good measure.  This is great if you do this while your tub needs to be cleaned because you'll have to clean it when you're done anyway.  Even though I'm a self-proclaimed germaphobe, I don't care if soap scum and dead skin cells might be getting on my oven racks.  I don't make a practice of licking them anyway.  Besides, I'll be scrubbing them and rinsing them later.  Not to mention, the first time I use the oven, the heat should kill any ickies.  Gently drop your racks in.  If you're worried about your racks scratching the tub, put an old towel in the bottom.  Or, if you leave them there for two or three days because you're lazy, you might run into a rust issue, but I wouldn't know anything about that, ah-hem.

Let them soak over night.  Remember when I said you'll have to clean your tub anyway? 
Yeah!  Here's what it looks like!

 Easily scrub them off in the morning. Dry and set aside.

Purty, huh?  If you wanted to get every teeny tiny speck off, you could always use a Brillo Pad on them.  I wasn't that worried.  Maybe on another day when I'm bored to tears.  Yeah, right.

 Okay, onto the skanky box of death oven.  I decided that my oven was far too skanky to just smear one some paste and have it actually work.  So, I did something I've never done before.  I actually used my Self-Cleaning Oven button!  I've always been afraid of it ever since a friend told me he put a pie in the oven and accidentally pushed Self-Clean and the thing wouldn't unlock for 3 hours!  It started a fire in there, the smoke filled his whole house and he wondered if his house would burn down, LOL!  Of course, this was 20+ years ago and oven have evolved for sure!  I'm happy to say they have!  I pushed the Self Clean button and heard the lock click.  Out of curiosity, I decided to push OFF to see if it would actually cancel this action.  Yes, it did!  This made me feel better!

I was VERY happy to see that after 3 1/2 hours, the large majority of skanky stuff in my oven was burned into little white pieces of ash that I could wipe right out!  I couldn't believe how well it worked!  Had I known this, I would have done this much sooner!

However, I noticed that around the door and around the very edge of the oven, there was still some brown, burned on gunk that did not make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

So, I decided to make up the paste!  All you do is mix up all the ingredients into a paste.  Remember!  The Ammonia is NOT part of the paste recipe!!  Lord knows what kind of toxic gas you could create by doing that.  If the paste seems too thick, add a tablespoon or two of hot water.

 Using a pair of rubber gloves, smear the concoction on the skanky parts of your oven.  Be forewarned, this will be a very messy event before it's all over.  If you have carpet in your kitchen, you might want to spread an old sheet or some freezer paper on the floor beneath your oven.

Since the door was skanky around the edges still, I smeared it on there, too.

Shut the door and let it sit overnight.  In the morning, it will be as hard as a rock.  The original instructions said to wipe off with a warm cloth, but I could quickly tell that it was going to be a little more difficult than I'd like.  So, I opted to use a cleaning brush that has a plastic end with a scraper.  Note: this is where it gets messy!  Scrape it all off into a container as best you can. I used an old Cool Whip container, but a lot ended up on the floor, too.

Then wipe the rest off with your sponge dipped in warm water.  Lookin' good!

There were only a few spots that the paste didn't work on, but I think that's mostly because it was really thick in those spots.  I used the dried up paste to scrub those spots off quickly. 

When you are sure you have the paste removed, you can give the oven a once-over with some Schwindex: recipe HERE.  Look how nice and shiny that is!  That's an incredible improvement!  A note of caution...look at the oven windo.  See those little white looking clumps in there?  I accidentally got some of my homemade cleaner down in those vents toward the front of the oven door...yikes!  Avoid those vents!

I had to take my oven door apart in order to clean them out.  I was really surprised how gross the glass in there was!  I actually had to use a Brillo pad on one of the panes!  Word to the wise: take pictures or jot down notes as to what order things go in!! I had NO CLUE there were 4 panes of glass in my oven! And lots of screws!  Anyway, I finally figured it out and got it all cleaned up and my oven looks even more fabulous now! I popped in my now-clean racks and voila!  Almost as good as new!  Note: There is a set of drawers beneath my oven, in case you're wondering what you're looking at through the window!

Remember when I said this was a messy process?  Well, here's what my floor looked like afterward!  There are even some drips down the drawers from when it sat overnight.  You might want to be careful with that.  While it did nothing to the wood, your cabinet finish is probably different than mine, so just be forewarned.  You could always drape a towel over them.  It was only a few drips, but just fyi.

I'm super happy with the end result, but darn, it was a process! Not a ton of manual work, I suppose, so I shouldn't complain.  I didn't spend more than 5 minutes total in actual elbow grease!  I don't think it would have seemed so daunting if I hadn't taken the whole door off and apart, lol!  Now I'm on a mission to make sure my oven stays CLEAN so I don't have to worry about this for another 8 years!  :)

Kettle Corn!

Every fall, we go to a local pumpkin patch called Vala's and pick out a pumpkin.  We also ride the train and the horses.  There are all sorts of things to do and lots of food to eat.  In the past, we have just forgone the food because really, who wants to spend $6 on a smoked turkey leg?!  I could buy a whole turkey for that!

This last fall, my husband talked me into buying a bag of Kettle Corn.  I'd never had it before (I know, I KNOW!) and was grumbling about the exorbitant price the whole time.  Until I tasted it!  The heavens opened up and God himself seemed to whisper in my ear, "I made kettle corn. And I saw that it was good.  Taste and see..."  Or maybe I was hallucinating from my soon-to-be-sugar-induced psychosis.  Either way, dannnnnng!  It was GOOD!  It's salty, it's sweet, it's crunchy, it's buttery, it's heaven in a big long bag and a twistie!  It's even BETTER when you make it at home! Here's how:

Okay, so our cast of characters is as follows:

• 1/4C of White Sugar or Organic Maple Syrup (I've tried both...review below)
• 1/4C Coconut Oil (or other 'vegetable' oil of your choice if you like being poisoned with rancid and cancer-causing chemicals!  Oops, sorry!  Did I say that out loud?  Hmmm....by the looks of where this post is going, I do believe my pms may actually be showing!  And I don't seem to care, ha ha ha ha!)
• 1/2C Pop Corn Kernels
• Real Sea Salt
• Dutch oven or pan with lid
• Wooden Spoon
• Parchment or foil-line baking sheet

Okay, so we are going to start out by putting our pan over high heat and adding our Maple Syrup and Coconut Oil.  I would say stir to 'combine', but they never really do combine.  So, stir until melted.
If using sugar, stir until the sugar dissolves.

 Pour in your pop corn and stir to coat with oil and syrup.

After making a couple of batches of this, I decided it's best to wait until ONE kernel pops before putting on the lid?  Why?  Cuz I said so!  No, really.  If you put the lid on now, you'll get a bunch of condensation on the lid that will drip into your popcorn, making it sticky rather than caramelized and crunchy.  Avoid any flying kernels that have hot, sticky syrup on them and may poke your eye out.  Just kidding.  They start out really little like this.  Sheesh....the DANGER I put myself in to entertain and educate you people!

Using your skankiest hot pads, gently shake the pan back and forth or in a circular motion.  You just want to keep everything moving.  Heat and shake just until you don't hear any more popping. Immediately remove from heat. It burns very quickly as you might be able see on a few kernels in the next picture or two.

At first, I stirred the corn to make sure I got up any remaining caramelization from the bottom of the pan, but it was actually dry.  Apparently, the corn picks up all the melted sugar on it's way up in the air!  I found this to be true when I made it with sugar and with maple syrup.  So, skip the stirring and pour directly onto your parch-lined tray.  My (skanky) potholder is only laying on it because the parch wouldn't stay flat.  It was the end of the roll and kept curling up on me.  :)

Working quickly (it hardens FAST!), gently flatten the corn with your wooden spoon.  This is just so we have a greater surface area on which to sprinkle our Sea Salt!

Now, I am not usually a big salt fan, mostly because I've always heard it is bad for you.  An interesting side note:  When I was about 12, I recall my dad telling me that salt is not good for you.  Being a strong-willed child, I NEVER put salt on anything again until I was about 35!!!  I cooked with the necessary salt as called for in recipes, but I never salted my food, no matter how bland, LOL!  How weird is that?!  But now that I have this awesome Redmond's Real Salt, I find that I'm actually CRAVING it on things!  Must be all the trace minerals in it.  I (now) firmly believe that our bodies tell us what we need.  You crave things for a reason.  The key is knowing how to listen to what it's saying.  However, as a disclaimer, if your body is telling you that you need salt and you eat a bag of Cheetos, you might have a problem, LOL!  Anyway, I liberally salt this with Sea Salt because it makes such a great contrast to the sweet of the syrup/sugar.

I had a feeling that I'd have to break apart these hard clumps, but actually, it tends to fall apart in your hand.

If you can resist eating the whole batch in one sitting, I commend you.  My son and I dove in face first!  Through large muffled mouthfuls of kettle corn, he'd repeat, "This is SOOOOOO GOOOOOOOD!"  We scarfed down about half of it, then thought....let's take the rest to our neighbor, Jay!  It's a good thing, too, because I firmly believe we would have eaten it all within a matter of minutes!  It's so yummy!  Let it cool completely, then store in a zip top baggie.

I didn't measure this, but if I had to guess, I'd say this makes about 8 cups of popped corn.  I'm not sure if it can be doubled without the worry of burning the bottom.  Update: I looked up online how much popped corn a 1/2 cup of kernels would make and it said 16 cups!  I refuse to believe my son and I ate 8 cups of this within two minutes, but ya never know, lol!  It was that good.

I like that it's super duper cheap and tastes great!  MUCH cheaper than the kettle corn we bought at the pumpkin patch, and even tastier!  It also doesn't have the nasty fake oils and fake butter flavor the one at the pumpkin patch uses.  The coconut oil helps to make it a little healthier as far as a sweetened snack goes.  I bet this would be REALLY good with Extra Virgin Coconut Oil, which would give it a little bit of a coconutty flavor.

Now, my review of using maple syrup as opposed to the sugar.  While both of them were very good and disappeared quite quickly,  I have to say that I really enjoyed the one made with sugar better.  Maybe it's because I didn't burn any of it.  If you decide to try it yourself, let me know what you think!

Cheap drain/disposal deodorizer

I don't drink a lot of coffee.  Unless it has a buttload of cream in it.  And is flavored like Chocolate. And has Stevia.  And Ice.  See why I don't drink it often?  I'm a high-maintenance coffee drinker!  I have been partaking of the beverage as of late.  I have a tiny little machine that is enough to make just a few cups at a time.  The other day, as I was going to throw out the grounds, I thought....I hate to just throw these away!  Certainly there is some other way I can use them!  I know...who thinks like that?!  ME!  Hey, I never claimed to be normal and you keep coming back for more, so don't blame me.  Just sayin'.

So, I took the filter out and dumped it down the garbage disposal side of  my kitchen sink.  

The coffee grounds, not the filter.  Even I'M not that stupid!  Ah-hem.

I then turned on the disposal and ran some hot water down the drain.
Yes, the step by step pictures were entirely necessary!

 

Not that my drain really STUNK before, but now it smelled extra freshy-cleany! 

*Ping*  That's the sound of a little sparkle like in the commercials.

When I was trying to think of other ways to use the grounds, all I could come up with was to use them in the garden (that I don't have yet because my husband thinks it will cause him more work and that I'll give up on it) or in my house plants.  All two of them.  So, I looked online and came up with this list from DIYlife.  It was the first post available when I googled.  Too lazy to look for more, so here it is.  The snarky comments in bold are mine.  :)

1. Soften and add shine to hair. When washing your hair, rub coffee grounds through wet hair and rinse. For brown hair, coffee grounds add highlights.

2. Use coffee grounds as an exfoliant for skin. Pat on skin, massage over skin, rinse.
3. Add coffee grounds to your skin mask beauty routine.
4. Make homemade tattoos (temporary) with henna and coffee grounds.
5. Fertilize plants. Old coffee grounds are nutrient-rich for plants that thrive in an acidic soil.
6. Add used coffee grounds to the pots of indoor plants.
7. Work used coffee grounds into your garden soil before seed planting. After your plants start to emerge, work in coffee grounds near the plants. Used coffee grounds are said to repel snails and slugs as well as adding nutrients to the soil.
8. Increase your carrot and radish harvest by mixing seeds with dry coffee grounds before planting the seeds.
9. Use coffee grounds to repel ants.
10. Keep cats from using your garden as a kitty box by spreading used coffee grounds and orange peels throughout flower beds. I like squirting them in the butt with a water gun better, lol!  Just kidding!  Don't send me hate mail and PETA applications!
11. Deodorize a freezer. Place a bowl with used coffee grounds in the freezer to remove unwanted odors. Add a few drops of vanilla to coffee grounds. I bet this would work in the fridge, too.
12. Rub coffee grounds on hands to get rid of smells from chopping or cutting up pungent foods. This is actually one of the better suggestions.  I may try it!  Knowing me, I'll have to start hoarding coffee grounds under the sink now!
13. Make a used coffee grounds sachet. Fill old nylons or cheesecloth with dry used coffee grounds. Hang in closets to absorb odors. Because, YES, everyone loves a coffee-scented cardigan!!!
14. When you need an abrasive cleaner, coffee grounds can be used. Be careful of any surfaces that might stain.
15. Remove furniture scratches with wet coffee grounds.
16. Got a fireplace? Sprinkle wet coffee grounds over the ashes to keep from becoming engulfed in the plume of dust ashes create when you need to remove them.
17. Dye fabric, paper or Easter eggs. Simply add used coffee grounds to warm water and let sit a bit to create a dye.
18. After you give your dog a bath, rub coffee grounds through the coat of your pet. Coffee grounds are said to repel fleas.
19. Keep bait worms alive by mixing coffee grounds into the soil before you add worms.
20. Grow mushrooms on old coffee grounds.

What do you do with your old coffee grounds?

Homemade Aluminum-Free Deodorant

Let's talk deodorant, people!  Are you one of those people who smells like a water buffalo at the end of the day?  Nope?  Me either, thank God!  However, I do sweat at times, like everyone does.  Like when I go for my three mile run every morning.  Wait a minute....I don't do that!  But I'm sure some insane healthy person does.  Like millions of people, I wear deodorant/anti-perspirant every day.  I like my Suave deodorant.  It smells good and it works well.  But it has one teeny tiny itsy bitsy wee lil' flaw.  It's filled with aluminum that leads to something....what was it?  I can't recall.  Oh, gosh. It's on the tip of my tongue....oh, yes...Alzheimers!!!!  Now, my husband's grandma died with Alzheimers, as did my grandma.  Not wanting to suffer the same horrendous fate, I'm going to start being proactive about it, and hopefully I'm not too late.  So I made myself up a batch of homemade deodorant that contains all natural ingredients and best of all, no aluminum!  Here's what you'll need:

 

3T Arrowroot Powder

3T Baking Soda

3T Coconut Oil (any kind is fine)

2-3 Drops Essential Oil(s)

An empty jar or deodorant container that has been thoroughly cleaned

Okay, first an explanation as to why I have two different kinds of Coconut Oil shown.  The taller one (SWAD brand....what an appetizing name...I mean, really people!) is one I got at the regular grocery store in the Indian Foods section.  It is 16oz and costs about $6.99. That's a pretty good deal.  This is what is called Expeller Pressed Coconut Oil and has been heat treated to remove the coconutty smell and taste.  While it doesn't quite retain the same nutritional value as the other, it's still one of the best oils you can consume on a daily basis.  Of course, we're not eating it today, so that doesn't matter.

The shorter, white container is what is called Extra Virgin Coconut Oil.  This smells and tastes like coconut.  If you don't like coconut, surely you will not care for this if you are eating it.  If you like the smell of coconut, use it only for applications like this deodorant, or for body lotion.  Coconut oil makes your skin sooooo smooth.  NO lotion on the market can compete, really.    As for consumption, this is the absolute best oil you can use because it retains all of its nutritional value.  When you eat coconut oil, that fat goes to your ENERGY to be burned.  Crisco goes to your ass.  Avoid Crisco.  Anyway, I'm getting off subject here, especially since we're not eating it.  The white container also contains 16 ounces, but cost me $13!!!!  Yikes!!!  I got it at GNC before I knew anything about coconut oil.  While it's a good quality oil, I will NOT be buying from there again.  For this deodorant, you can use whatever kind you like.  Just know that if you use Extra Virgin, it will have a coconut smell to it.

 

I'm going to opt for using the non-coconutty-smelling Swad brand.  What you want to do is scoop 3T into a heat-proof dish.  

 Zap it in the microwave on 20% power for about 30 seconds.  Keep an eye on it as microwaves vary.  Coconut oil only remains solid until it reaches 76 degrees, so it won't take long.  

Next, you will add your 3T Arrowroot Powder and 3T Baking Soda. You may hear some people talk about making sure your baking soda is aluminum-free.  Don't worry about that.  All baking soda is aluminum-free. It's baking POWDER that you need to watch out for.  Now that we have that out of the way, just add it already!  :)  If you didn't have any arrowroot powder, you could always use corn starch.  The only thing about corn starch is that it is sometimes bothersome to some peoples' underarms.  I've never used it, so I cannot say.

Mix well until all lumps are gone.  This will just take a minute.

Then add in your essential oil(s).  I am using two drops of Lavender because I like the smell and because it's not only calming, but antibacterial.  And what makes us smell when we sweat?  Is it the sweat?  Nope!  It's when the sweat dries and bacteria starts forming.  Now, that's what smells.  On other people.  Not me. Ha ha.

I got this old, empty deodorant container clean by wiping out as much as I could with a paper towel, then ran it through the dishwasher.  See that little piece that is all the way to the top?  That is what deodorant professionals call the thingy dingy.  I poked the deodorant out of those holes with a toothpick if memory serves.  Anyway, turn the little dial at the bottom so that little piece goes all the way to the bottom again, unlike what the picture shows.

Set your container down and fill it with the frosting, uh deodorant.  That's what it reminds me of anyway!

 

When I did the one below, I only used 2T of everything and it didn't quite fill it up.  I have adjusted the recipe above so it should fill it up most deodorant containers.  If you live in a warm climate, opt for a small jar or tin as it may get very soft if your home is over 76 degrees.

 Because I am impatient, I put mine in the fridge to 'set'. About 2 hrs later, here's what it looked like:

In my excitement, I promptly turned the dial to make it rise up.  Big mistake.  I heard a big cuh-lick and the deodorant wouldn't budge!  Dang!  I broke the thingy dingy inside!  Now, I'm not entirely sure it would have worked if I had taken it out of the fridge and let it come to room temp first, but it seems logical.  That's the whole reason I went through the trouble of cleaning the darn thing out in the first place, grumble grumble!  Undaunted, I put the container in the microwave and zapped it for a few seconds.  Then I poured it into my NEW deodorant container that is cute and sweet, but not as handy.

I labeled it so my husband doesn't throw it out.  I have it upstairs in my bathroom drawer.  So far, it's stayed nice and solid, about the texture of 'real' deodorant, actually.  If it's summer or you live in a warm climate, it may be soupy, but that's okay, it'll still work the same.

To use, I just dip my fingers in and swirl them around.  It doesn't take much.  It usually stays in a solid form on my fingers, but by the time I took the picture, it kept melting!  I use just about the amount you see here on my fingertips under each arm.

                           

NOTES:

I have used it for about a week now and I can confidently say that there is NO stinky B.O. coming from these pits! But in all reality, I've never been a huge sweater and really never had an odor problem...or maybe no one has told me and I'm just used to my stench, lol!  I was kinda surprised because I thought since this isn't technically an anti-perspirant that I'd experience some sweating.  If nothing else, at least initially, until my body acclimated.  I'm happy to say that my underarms smell as fresh the next morning as they did the moment I put it on!  Note: I haven't had a good day of sweating either, so I can't vouch for that yet.

UPDATE:

Well, it has been about 3 weeks since I've been using this deodorant and something unusual has happened.  At about week two, I noticed an unusual smell emitting from the ole pits.  It wasn't exactly B.O., but it wasn't exactly a smell I was enamored with either.  I'm not sure how to describe it except for maybe acidic????  I'm starting to wonder if the body takes a couple of weeks to detox off the old stuff.  A few days later, it started smelling a little closer to B.O., but I only really noticed it if I was sticking my nose in my pit, lol!  I (probably unethically) asked my son if my underarm smelled gross, or smelled like deodorant.  Sorry, the hubs was out of town and I knew my son would be honest, lol.  He said, "It stinks, Mom!"  I said, "Really?  Like what?"  and he said, "A smelly skunk".  LOL!  While I can attest it wasn't THAT bad, it does have me a little depressed about my deodorant making skills.  Since I had to be close to people the last couple of days (church, etc...) I have worn commercial deodorant.  I'm not sure if I should switch back to my all natural stuff because I don't want to stink either!!  Maybe I should pick a time I know I won't be around others and detox in exile, LOL!  I'll let you know how it goes!  Now that I think about it, I'm starting to wonder if the cheap SWAD brand makes a difference.  I know it makes a difference when I made lotion with it.  The cheap stuff doesn't seem to sink in as well, but rather sit on top of my skin.  Maybe I'll make myself up a batch using the good stuff and report back.

I haven't calculated up how much this deodorant costs, but I bet it's way less than half of the $2.75 I was paying for the Alzheimer-inducing stuff!  

Will this work for a man?  I dunno.  I'm assuming a man would fare better with an actual 'stick' deodorant, like my initial attempt, since they have hair to work around and will require more than a woman will.

You can use whatever essential oils you like, but use them sparingly as they are really strong. I only used two drops of Lavender to the whole batch and it's plenty strong.  You could also use Tea Tree oil (stinky, but one of the best anti-bacterial oils) or Lemon or Orange Oil (which sounds good and fresh to me) and still receive the anti-bacterial properties.  Use whatever smell appeals to you.  I'd also recommend oil of Oregano, but who wants to go around smelling like a sub sandwich? LOL! 

I haven't experienced any discomfort or irritation from this deodorant so far. The only 'odd' thing I noticed the first day I used it was a tiny little sting in the left underarm for a few minutes. Only the left side.  BUT, as a disclaimer, I think that was because I got over-zealous with my razor, thinking I was actually going to take a picture of my underarm to show you.  #1) No one wants to see that  #2) Since I've been using the same razor for 3 months, I'm not getting a clean shave, but rather scraping off extra layers of skin!  However, I'm anticipating having some lovely soft underarms pretty soon from that fabulous coconut oil.  Well, maybe if I ever change my razor out.

Overall, I'm very happy with this stuff. I'd be interested in knowing how this would work for someone who cannot typically use the deodorant sold in stores due to irritation or allergies, etc.... If you decide to make this simple deodorant, let me know how you like it.  Especially if you normally stink like a yak in a Calcutta outhouse in July.  Have a fresh and clean day!