Bagels. And deodorant.

My Dad is in town this weekend, and when I was trying to think of something to bake for him, I remembered how much he loves cinnamon raisin bagels each and every morning and I found a recipe for them on the Passionate Homemaking website.

I should've taken pictures during the process, but I wasn't sure they would turn out. They did, in fact, turn out. And I can now highly recommend this recipe. It is so much easier than I thought bagel making would be! The bagels are delicious and have all the bagel flavor and texture you'd imagine.

Here is the recipe (adapted just a bit):

Ingredients: (makes 8 bagels)

1 1/2 cups warm water (112-115° F)

2 tablespoons dry yeast

1/4 cup honey

1 tablespoon salt

4 1/4 cups all-purpose unbleached flour

8 cups of water, for boiling

1 egg white, lightly beaten

1 tablespoon water

Instructions:

1. In a small bowl, mix yeast, 1 tablespoon honey and warm water together and let stand 3 minutes.

2. Mix 2 cups of flour with the salt in a large bowl; then add the yeast mixture. Add honey. Stir until combined and slowly mix in the rest of the flour. (I put it all in a stand mixer and used the bread hook to combine and knead.)

3. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface for 5 minutes (or use stand mixer instead). Dough should be fairly smooth and somewhat firm. Place the dough in a greased bowl, cover and let rise until doubled.

4. After about an hour (or until doubled), punch down dough. If you're making cinnamon raisin bagels, add the cinnamon and raisins now - kneed just enough to swirl the cinnamon through the dough. Divide and shape into 12 balls. Allow to rest for 5 minutes.

5. Make a hole in each ball of dough and pull open about 2 inches, making a bagel shape. Place the shaped dough onto a cookie sheet and cover for 10 minutes.

6. Bring 2 quarts of water to boil. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Drop 2 or 3 bagels at a time into the boiling water for about 45 seconds, turning each once.

7. Drain cooked bagels on a wire rack. Mix egg white and water; brush tops with egg white mixture and top with optional toppings, if using. Place bagels on greased baking sheets.

8. Bake at 350° F for 35 minutes, rotating once half-way through baking. Bagels will be lightly browned and shiny.

There you go! Fresh, homemade bagels that everyone in your house will love you for (the smell alone is amazing).

Speaking of the Passionate Homemaking website, I highly recommend it for just about everything when it comes to natural living. Lindsay from Passionate Homemaking has an abundance of ideas for natural cleaning recipes that have all worked really well so far. It can be a little overwhelming at first, but hopefully fun, too (and it really will save you money).

I even tried her homemade deodorant recipe yesterday and had great success! After hearing how store-bought deodorants that contain aluminum (which is about 99% of them) have been linked to breast cancer, it just doesn't seem worth the risk. But at the same time, store-bought all-natural deodorants are pretty expensive and don't always work. So why not make your own, right?

Surprisingly, you probably have most of the ingredients in your home already. Here's what you need:

5-6 tablespoons coconut oil*

1/4 cup baking soda

1/4 cup cornstarch

A few drops essential oil (optional)

Whisk the baking soda and cornstarch together. Then slowly add the coconut oil and work it in with a spoon until it maintains a deodorant-like consistancy. I also added a few drops of essential oil, but then decided I liked the coconut smell better, so I stopped after only a few drops and you can't smell the grapefruit scent. You can either scoop it into your old dispenser (which I did) or place it in a small container with a lid and apply with fingers with each use. (I had a lot left over, so I did both.)

I am stunned by how well this works. Definitely keeps you smelling fresh, goes on clear, and even smells a little exotic (like coconut!) but not strong at all. I put it into my old container with a knife and it works just like my old deodorant did, just a lot safer!

If you try these, please let me know if they worked as well for you!

*Coconut oil can be found at Whole Foods or other health food stores (or online) and is somewhat expensive, but so very useful in many, many things. Not only has it been proven extremely beneficial to your health when eaten alone, but it can be used by itself as moisturizer, in baking or sauteeing, in combination with other ingredients as toothpaste (my next adventure), or as aftershave or conditioner. You'll definitely get your money's worth!