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Make it yourself Monday: Non-toxic Toothpaste

By on June 6, 2011 in Do it yourself, Handmade, Make it yourself Monday, Natural mothering, Recipes

Sorry for being M.I.A. the past few days.  After I bought a new battery for my laptop, the cord went too and I had to order it which only took 2 days by the way.  I had taken my laptop to the guys at the Geek Squad and they helped me figure out what was the problem but the cord they sold was $90!!!  I got one on Amazon for $8 plus shipping…oh yeah!!

So back to blogging.  Today is Monday which means another make it yourself project.
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We have been using homemade toothpaste for 5 years now and let me tell you, once you get used to it, it is hard to go back to the super strong and chemical laden stuff they call toothpaste at the store.  NOTE: PLEASE, I did say please, IF YOU POST MY RECIPE TO YOUR BLOG PLEASE,  DO NOT TAKE CREDIT FOR IT.  IT HAS TAKEN ME YEARS TO PERFECT AND I AM SHARING IT WITH YOU out of love!

Most of these ingredients you should have in your pantry already, if you don’t, go out and buy them!  Baking soda and coconut oil have sooo many uses and who doesn’t have peppermint essential oil in their cupboard, lots of stuff you can use that for too.  If you are using them for lots of other things around the house then the only thing you have to invest in is the Zylitol which will last you about a year or two and costs about $8.00 making this tooth paste good for your mouth and your pocket.

What you need:
-8 tbsp non-aluminum baking soda (I use Bob’s Red Mill)
-4 tbsp organic coconut oil (warm it to make it liquid)
-10 tsp Zylitol powder (a natural and good for your teeth sweetner) we put it through the Vitamix to make it a powdered sugar before adding it but we used it straight out ot the package for many years without anyone complaining.
-6 to 8 drops Peppermint Essential Oil unless you don’t need mintyness in which case you could use another oil or just leave it out all together)  This girls needs some minty in the mornin’.  Just saying!  You could also put orange essential oil in your toothpaste.  Orange helps to brighten your smile.  You could also make a Theives version for keeping gums and teeth as healthy as possible.  (NOTE***  If you use essential oils in your body and care products please use one that you have done your homework on.)
-Something to keep your tooth paste in like a mason jar or bottle.

*Edit* Many of you have emailed me about the saltiness of this toothpaste.  You can add as much zylitol as you feel it takes to make this sweeter.  The zylitol does not dissolve right away so you will feel it in there.  As I noted above, you can put it through your food processor or grinder to make it a fine powder.   We spent years brushing baking soda, salt and peroxide so the saltiness does not bother us.  I have received emails saying they added up to 10 tablespoons of zylitol to make it sweet enough, again…up to you*

In a bowl mix together your baking soda and zylitol and make sure there are no lumps
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Zylitol looks just like sugar doesn’t it.  It is also very sweet and has a cooling action in your mouth

Add the coconut oil and peppermint essential oils.  Mixa mixa until it is all incorporated. Put your toothpaste in whatever container you are going to use.  If you didn’t put the xylitol through the blender, let it sit for a few hours before you use it the first time so the zylitol can dissolve some. Happy brushing!
 I have never had this go rancid or bad on me, if you are worried about that you could keep it in the fridge but like I said… it has never gone bad.
Disclaimer:  I am not a dentist and this recipe is my own creation which you use at your own discretion.  Education is our strongest weapon.  In my opinion (and everybody has one) medical professionals are taught to follow the book and that book has too many bad chapters for me.  If you keep reading there will be some preachy stuff about toothpaste : )

Whanna know what is in your toothpaste? Most probably toxic fluoride, glycerin, petroleum dyes, sweeteners, sodium lauryl sulfate, unsafe preservatives and lots of other harmful ingredients that actually damage your teeth and health!  Most tooth products use glycerin as its base (glycerin causes the solution to be thick instead of runny.) Glycerin dries out the pulp of your teeth and causes sensitivity in the teeth. Glycerine is in all tooth pastes and so sticky that it takes 27-30 washes to get it off. Teeth brushed with any toothpaste are coated with a film and CANNOT PROPERLY REENAMELIZE. Our teeth were they healthy were designed to re-enamalize while we sleep  but since they are coated with stuff we put there at bedtime to keep our teeth clean and healthy they cannot.

Test it for yourself, go to your local organic store and take 10 or 20 minutes to pick up every natural, organic, or regular toothpaste.  Everyone will have glyrcerin in it.  The owner of our local store was sure that could not be correct but she was surprised. These companies use fluoride to re-mineralize the teeth caused by the glycerin, and potassium nitrate to soothe the nerves.  Flouride is also a very toxic substance, it is a known nerve poison,  and most amazing causes cavities.  Hard to believe,  just do some research and you will quickly find it to be true. (phew, I am glad I got that off my chest! I wrote this 4 years ago and see my notes all the time reminding me that I have not shared this with anyone) Procrastinators are the most well intentioned people I know.

OK so I am now stepping off my soap box and returning you to your regularly scheduled program.

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Nutrional yeast popcorn..magically delicious

By on May 19, 2011 in Recipes

and very good for you actually!

I was making the kids afternoon snack and realized that many of you may never have heard of or tried making your popcorn like this.  Let me tell you that it IS good for you and your kids and it DOES taste sooo good.


Lets start with what nutritional yeast is.  It is not the yeast that is used to make bread. It is a nutritional powerhouse and one of the few non-animal sources of B-12, is rich in folic acid and many other nutrients and amino acids. The great part is that is has a cheesy, nutty flavor which goes so great on lots of foods but to me most importantly popcorn. 

I love popcorn for my kids, it is a cheap whole grain and they love it.  Now my kids know what I put in their popcorn and they love it but you don’t have to tell yours.  Just let them enjoy it and sit back and smile.
You need:
Olive oil, melted butter or some other kind of oil you want to drizzle on your popcorn (it helps the seasonings to stick onto the popcorn)
Salt and Nutritional Yeast.
You could also sprinkle garlic or cumin or even something spicy on your popcorn.

Edit 1/28/2014:  I had revisited this recipe for such a long time since I know it and don’t need to see it but I wanted to add that we love to add dried dill.  It is my absolute favorite addition to this recipe but really you can add any spice, experiment and have fun with it.
Here’s how to make it:
Pop your popcorn, however you pop it.  I buy organic popcorn (which I also grind for cornmeal, yeah you can do that and I only end up having to buy one kind of corn) from the health food store in bulk and it is cheaper than the bad stuff with all kinds of junk in it.
Put your popcorn in a big bowl and drizzle olive oil or butter if you want. We use the olive oil.  Next sprinkle your salt on it and the nutritional yeast.  If you put it in a bag and shake it the powder can disburse itself into all the little nooks and crannies better.  Done!  Take it to the park, beach, sneak it into the movie theater (what! you have never done that?) or just eat it at home but don’t let the neighborhood kids try it or you will go broke.  Try it, it just might become your new favorite snack.

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