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12/22/12 8:52 A

nice

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12/20/12 10:19 A

I buy Dr. Bronner's in the store of the school where I work (discount -- woohoo, lol!), but you can find it at Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, and Target, that I am sure of, and probably a regular drugstore like Walgreens, too. If all else fails, try drugstore.com. I order most of my EOs online, since I go through a lot and buy in larger quantities than most people require for home use, but I've seen the "usual suspects," like lavender, tea tree, and peppermint at the places mentioned above.

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12/19/12 10:21 P

All this good info! Where do you get castile soap & essential oils? I can't have any perfumes or chemicals in the products I use, though.

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12/19/12 9:51 P

Yes, coconut oil is great! I only use it and castile soap in the bathroom, and my skin is better than it ever was when I was spending too much time and money with department-, drug-, and beauty store stuff. Since aromatherapy is part of my massage practice, I love essential oils, too.

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12/19/12 8:24 P

Welcome Loretta!

Thanks for the recipe.

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12/19/12 5:39 P

Welcome Loretta. I get coconut oil from Fred Meyer (Kroger Stores) and Safeway (Von's or Carr's in other places.

You can also mix a drop or 2 of essential oil to coconut oil and not have to buy expensive perfumed lotion. A 1/2 oz bottle of essential oil goes a long way. I use some in my bathwater, 6 or 8 drops per bath and soak away the cares of the day.

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12/19/12 5:05 P

I get my organic coconut oil from the super market. They have it at Schunks stores here and most ofter supermarkets. It comes in a jar and looks like shortning when it is solid but it isn't hydronized, it is all natural with no other ingredients.

BTW, coconut oil is a wonderful moisterizer for your skin. Try rubbing it all over after a shower or bath for smooth as silk skin. I put some in a cute jar in the bathroom, and put a little of my expensive good smelling perfumed lotion in the jar and mixed it well with the coconut oil and it smells just as good as the expensive stuff.

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12/19/12 4:33 P

Welcome, Loretta! Where can one find coconut oil?

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12/19/12 4:12 P

Hi everyone,

I got this recipe from Food 52 and wanted to share it with you all.

VEGAN GINGERBREAD COOKIES


Makes 25-30 small cookies or one small gingerbread house. for a larger house, double the recipe.

2 2/3cups all purpose flour (plus extra for rolling)
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2teaspoon baking powder
1teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2teaspoon ground cloves
1/2teaspoon salt
1/2cup molasses
1/2cup melted coconut oil
1/2cup demerara sugar, coconut sugar, or evaporated cane juice
1/4cup almond milk, soy milk, or rice milk
1teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees farenheit.
2. Sift dry ingredients together into a large mixing bowl.
3. Whisk together the oil, molasses, sugar, milk, and vanilla extract.
4. Mix wet ingredients into dry, using a whisk, an electric hand mixer, or your hands, till uniform. Flatten the dough into a disk and refrigerate, wrapped in saran, for 30 minutes (or overnight).
5. Dust a clean surface with flour. Roll the dough out till it's a scant 1/4 inch thick. Cut into desired shapes.
6. Bake cookies for 8 minutes, or until the edges are just browning. Let cool before serving


Edited by: LORETTAMO at: 12/19/2012 (17:09)