Body Butter and Ginger Bread

Body Butter 

I moved from a semi-tropical climate to a very dry climate early this year. I never wear any moisturizer on my lips, but I considered it when I first moved and my lips were chapped for a whole month... Then I remembered I had snatched the following recipe from KIWI magazine. I've now tried it, and I use it daily in this harsh winter dryness! I use it all over my face, elbows, and it's heavenly everywhere else. The recipe was created by Todra Payne, and many thanks to her!

Ingredients:

1/4 cup gently melted cocoa butter (I used a double boiler method)
1 tablespoon coconut oil
1tablespoon sweet almond oil
1 tablespoon wheatgerm oil

Stir above ingredients together, allow to harden before using.

Helpful hints:

Sweet almond oil, and wheatgerm oil are highly susceptible to oxidation, (free radicals = not something you want on your skin). I would recommend melting the cocoa butter slowly enough that it doesn't really get hot. That way when you add the other oils, you won't be damaging them on a molecular level.

Store in a cool place where it won't be exposed to a lot of light, not necessarily in the fridge, though. It will be hard so you'll want to use your fingernails, or anything else that will scrape some up so it can melt in your hand for application. It can be considered a nuisance, but it will save you from those free radicals -- remember, anything that is on you skin will enter your body.

Ginger Bread

This is the best ginger bread I've ever eaten. While not good for cookie cutting projects, it makes marvelous muffins, and ginger bread loafs. If you like a nice slightly crunchy, slightly chewy cookie that is nearly flat, by all means, makes some drop cookies :)

Pardon the cereal... remnants of my husband's slowly changing breakfast habits.

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups sprouted grain flour (I used half wheat, half kamut)
1/3-1/2 cup rapadura
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. powdered ginger
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1 egg
1/2 cup buttermilk (I used cultured sour cream, because I didn't have buttermilk handy. Sour cream offered AMAZING results!)
3/4 cup butter, or butter/coconut mixture
1/2 cup black strap molasses

Mix all ingredients until batter forms. Bake at 350, check at 20 minutes for muffins, 10-15 for cookies, and 30-45 for loafs. Tastes great by itself -- tastes heavenly with cultured butter!