Trial & Error: jojoba Oil

I recently purchased a bottle of jojoba oil because I wanted to make my own facial moisturizer. I'm going through this phase of making and using more natural products. The benefits hopefully being a moisturizer made with pure ingredients and fewer unnecessary additives as well as the savings and satisfaction of making something on my own.

Jojoba oil is purported to be great for your hair and skin. It can be added to your moisturizer and shampoo, applied to your lips, or rubbed directly onto your skin after a shower. I started out adding a few drops to my shampoo during my morning shower, and it definitely made my hair softer. The next day I decided to try more thinking things could only get better. It didn't - it actually made my hair look greasy and flat. Anyone have any other uses for jojoba oil?

Sweet Potato Chips

Here's a recipe I make quite often. It does require a little prep work and few special gadgets, but it makes enough to last a few days (or a day if you eat like I do). I've seen several sweet potato chip variations, but this recipe incorporates sweet, salty and spicy wonderfully. You can certainly add or subtract ingredients depending on your own taste preferences. 

Make sure you have a mandoline (mandolin is optional). I don't know how I ever lived without one of these in my own kitchen. Use it anytime you need uniformly thin slices of any vegetable or fruit. You'll definitely need one for this recipe. Cutting the sweet potatoes by hand would be a nightmare and waste of time. I have a very inexpensive hand held model that has 3 different thickness settings. 

The other important piece of equipment is a food dehydrator. I've seen recipes that bake the sweet potatoes in the oven at a low temperature but I prefer using a dehydrator. I can make more chips faster in my 10 tray TSM Harvest Food Dehydrator than I can in the oven. There are relatively inexpensive models that might not have features such as temperature setting or timer, but otherwise work just as good as a more expensive one.

Ingredients:

4 large sweet potatoes
Agave nectar

Liquid aminos

Cayenne pepper or chili powder

Extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt

Directions:

Peel the sweet potatoes. Cut each potato into rounds using the mandolin's thinnest setting. This is important because a thinner cut will make a crunchier finished product. I usually divide this recipe into 2 batches so that I can ensure the rounds are adequately coated with all ingredients. Using a large container, mix 1-2 tablespoons olive oil with 2 sliced sweet potatoes so that they are evenly coated. The goal is to coat them lightly. Then add 1-2 tablespoons agave and liquid aminos, a few shakes of cayenne and sea salt, and continue to mix. Add more or less of each ingredient depending on your preferences. Once everything is adequently combined, place each round on a dehydrator tray. It's okay for the edges to touch, but make sure they aren't overlapping. You can set your dehydrator to the appropriate setting if it has a temperature control; otherwise, plug it in and dehydrate for 12-18 hours. I usually taste test along the way. As the chips cool they will become crunchier. Enjoy!