It's Not About Perfection, It's About Effort

As I am writing this blog and posting new posts, I am hoping that those who are reading are not getting overwhelmed.  I know when I first started learning about all the harmful stuff in our household I just wanted to do a complete and total overhaul.  But unless you have unlimited resources that would be an impossible endeavor.  We have been making our changes over the last five years.  If something runs out or wears out and we know it contained unhealthy chemicals, we replace it with or make a healthier version. 

In an effort to save money in this healthy transformation I have tried to make several beauty and cleaning products myself.  And you know what? Some of them worked.  But some of them didn't.  The homemade shampoo and conditioner made my hair look like a bad Halloween wig.  No matter how much I modified it, my hair was still scary.  My husband refuses to use my homemade deodorant and doesn't like homemade bread for his sandwiches (gasp).  And I confess, I still use plain white sugar when I bake...I am working on finding a healthier substitute that won't completely change the recipes, but I haven't yet (and I still have a big bag of sugar to use up).

So, being healthier isn't about perfection, it's a process and it's about the effort.  If you are trying to make little changes here and there to create a healthier environment and life, you are doing great!  If you have you have tips or suggestions of things that have worked for you, feel free to leave them in the comments, I would love to hear from you...

Natural Vapor Rub

Cold season has arrived early at house this year.  Anytime  I get a cold it goes straight to my chest.  In the past Vick's Vapor Rub has helped, but this morning I couldn't find any.  I did however have on hand coconut oil, eucalyptus essential oil and peppermint essential oil.  I had purchased the essential oils in hopes of diffusing them during one of my chest colds.  I did diffuse them in a essential oil warmer in my room today, but I also whipped up my own batch of ointment for my chest, back and the bottom of my feet.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons unrefined coconut oil
5 drops eucalyptus essential oil
5 drops peppermint oil

**Make sure your oil is 100% pure essential oil**

Please note**Eucalyptus and Peppermint can be dangerous to young children.  Please do some research about these oil before using them on or with your children.**

Directions:
Place coconut oil in a small container and the place it in a warm water bath to melt it.  Once it has completely melted I add my essential oil.  I stir well and then place in the freezer to solidify.

It is solid once it is completely white again.  This is a wonderful rub for chest, back and the bottoms of feet.  It seemed to really help in calming my breathing and coughing.  It worked every bit as well as traditional drug store vapor rubs, cost less, and is chemical free.  I think this rub has found a permanent home in our natural medicine cabinet. 

If you try making this vapor rub, I hope it will help you breathe easier too!

Soothing Lip Balm

We live in a harsh dry climate, especially in the winter.  I am constantly finding myself and my children with dry, chapped lips.  With our cold, windy months coming up quickly I decided to whip up a batch of my homemade lip balm.  It is so easy and the balm is silky smooth and even a little glossy.  It keeps my lips soft and moisturized and is completely chemical free. 

 

Ingredients: 

3 teaspoons coconut oil

2 teaspoons shea butter

1 teaspoon bee's wax

Directions: 
First I cut off a small chunk of bee's wax.  I melt that, by placing it into a glass bowl and then boiling that bowl in a shallow pan of water.  Once it is melted it is much easier to measure.  While my bee's wax is melting, I place the shea butter and coconut oil into a small pot on the stove and set it on the lowest setting possible.  Shea butter can become very grainy if it is not melted at low temperatures.  As soon as my bee's wax is melted and measured, I add that to the pot of melted shea butter and coconut oil. 

After all ingredients are combined, I pour them into the containers that I want to keep them in.  You can use small glass containers, plastic chap stick tubes or stainless tubes.  Normally you can find empty containers at your local health food store (which is also where I found my bee's wax).  This time I put mine in stainless tubes.  You are going to want to work very fast as the bee's wax hardens fairly quickly.  After I have poured the lip balm into the containers, I place them in the refrigerator to harden completely.  They will stay solid at room temperature and should go on smoothly. 

Soothing Lip Balm - Natural, Healthy, Beautiful!





From Scratch - Salsa

 

Who doesn't love the taste of fresh salsa?  With all the tacos we eat at our house, salsa is almost a staple.  My favorite is restaurant style salsa, but it is hard to find in stores and never tastes quite right.  We had some recently that tasted like spaghetti sauce.  I actually double checked the jar to make sure it was indeed salsa.  Homemade with garden fresh ingredients is definitely the best.

 

My amazingly generous neighbor has been giving me tomatoes and peppers from her garden all summer.  I had one sad tomato this year and my darling daughter picked it and took it right over to her to share.  A great demonstration of generosity on my daughter's part, but I was a little sad to see that tomato go.  But my sweet neighbor has repaid me a 100 fold or more.  

 

 

I canned and froze tomatoes, made pasta sauce, and salsa.  I canned salsa for the winter and I have made it to eat immediately.  And it does get eaten immediately.  My family finds a fresh jar in the fridge and it is gone before I even know that they found it.  I guess that means they like it :)

 

 



 

 

Salsa Recipe

 

Ingredients:

 

10 Roma tomatoes (or any tomato will work)

1 jalapeño pepper (seeds removed for mild, a few for medium and all for hot)

1/4 cup finely chopped onions

1/4 cup fresh cilantro

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1/4 teaspoon of homemade taco seasoning (see the following post for recipe)

 http://naturalhealthybeautiful.blogspot.com/2013/09/from-scratch-taco-seasoning.html

 

Directions:

 

Roughly chop tomatoes, pepper and cilantro.  Throw everything into the food processor and process until it is as chunky or smooth as you like.  I use the pulse so I can control the texture a little easier.

**a word of caution, be very careful handling the pepper and do not touch your eyes, mouth etc if you touch any of the seeds** 

 

Serve with tortilla chips and enjoy!  We also eat ours on salad with avocado, with tacos, on mac and cheese, and more!  Natural, Healthy, Salsa!

 



From Scratch - Taco Seasoning

At our house we love tacos, crunchy tacos, soft tacos, taco salad...you get the point, and now I am hungry!  But were having a problem with our meat.  I never have been able to eat taco seasoning, because it gave me terrible stomach issues.  (Most likely due to the added chemicals so common in season mixes.)  So, we always just sprinkled our meat with salt and pepper.  That was way too bland so I started throwing in some cumin and cilantro, then a little chili powder and some garlic powder.  Suddenly the meat wasn't so bland anymore.

Rather than pulling out all the spices each time I make tacos, I now premix my seasoning and store it in a mason jar.  I found a recipe on pinterest, but it only made enough seasoning for one pan of meat and I didn't like how it tasted at all.  I eliminated some of the ingredients, added some others, adjusted all of the measurements and then multiplied the whole thing times eight.  The mixture makes enough seasoning to fill a pint sized canning jar half way.  This amount normally lasts us about 4-6 months, but we eat a lot of tacos!  I will share my recipe and encourage you to do some experimenting of your own to end up with the perfect seasoning for your tacos.

Taco Seasoning Mix

Ingredients:

1/2 cup chili powder (I like Hatch mild or medium chili powder)
3 tablespoons ground cumin
2 tablespoons sea salt
2 tablespoons black pepper
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons onion powder
1 teaspoon oregano


Place all ingredients into a small mixing bowl and stir until well combined.  Store in an airtight container.  OR you can put all of the ingredients into a pint sized mason jar, filling it halfway, put on the lid and then shake until it is mixed.



When I make tacos I just sprinkle a tablespoon or so over the meat and we are ready to go.  I also use it on grilled corn on the cob, in my salsa, in my chicken enchilada mixture, in chili, and sometimes sprinkled on top of cornbread before I bake it.  It's a great little mix, whenever you want to add a little kick.  What's even better is that there are no added chemicals.  No tummy aches and yummy, zesty tacos.  Natural, Healthy, Delicious!

Simple Homemade Eye Makeup Remover

I love to save money.  Anyone who knows me well, knows that I love to sale shop and use coupons and usually at the same time.  75% off minus an additional 20% and a $5 off coupon -- Yep that's me!  Sometimes I go "free" shopping.  No, I'm not shoplifting.   "Free" shopping is when I have so many coupons that I get the item for free, or pretty darn close!  I once came home from Kohl's with a beautiful skirt originally priced at $39.  I paid $0.25 for that skirt. That was a happy night.

So what does that have to do with eye makeup remover?  Well, in my effort to remove chemicals from even my beauty products, I started purchasing my cleansers and moisturizers at our local Natural Grocers.  (I LOVE this store!)  One drawback to chemical free living is that it can be pricey especially in the area of beauty and hygiene.  Chemical products are much cheaper to make and mass produce than natural ones are and therefore, you end up spending a little bit more for the natural products.  I found that my eye makeup remover kept running out very quickly.  Too quickly when it was almost $8.00 per bottle. (This is where my thriftiness ties in.) 

I decided that it couldn't be that complicated to make and found that I was correct.  I came across a recipe online and tried it out.  It called for distilled water, castile soap and olive oil.  This combination was a little too greasy.  So I tried leaving the oil out and that created to much drag and pulling.  I had a little bottle of jajoba oil that I had purchased for something else and tried that in place of the olive oil.  And viola!  It was perfect.

Here is my recipe:

1/2 cup distilled water
1/4 teaspoon liquid castile soap. (I like Doctor Bonner's Baby Mild Liquid Soap)
1/2 teaspoon jajoba oil

Use a funnel to put the ingredients into a small container. Remember to shake before each use.  Put a little remover on a cotton ball, eye makeup should come off easily with no scrubbing. 

I love this stuff and it costs pennies to make.  Here's to being natural, healthy, beautiful and thrifty!

From Scratch - Hot Cocoa and Homemade Whipped Cream

The last week has been chilly and rainy and I found myself drinking lots of hot tea.  Tonight though, I wanted a treat.  I decided it was time for homemade hot cocoa and whipped cream.  I learned how to make this last year after I read the ingredient list on a packet of premade cocoa and it definitely broke one of my food rules (if I cannot pronounce an ingredient I probably shouldn't be consuming it!)  I was shocked by how amazingly simple both hot cocoa and whipped cream are too make and felt like I had been deprived of this deliciousness and settling for a very poor substitute for my entire life.  I tweaked the recipes until I felt like they were perfect and now, I must share both recipes with you so you can enjoy them throughout the long cold winter.

Hot Cocoa for Four

Ingredients

1/4 cup baking cocoa

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup water

4 cups milk (Although most recipes say skim, I prefer whole milk, it makes the drink a little thicker and richer)

A couple of splashes of vanilla extract  

Directions

In a saucepan, combine sugar, cocoa and water, heat thoroughly but do not boil.  Stir for 2 minutes. Add in milk and vanilla; heat to serving temperature. Again, do NOT boil.  Remove from the heat. Whisk until frothy.  

 

 

Now for the whipped cream.  Let me just say that this stuff is so good that I will NEVER buy whipped cream in a tub or can again.

 

 

Ingredients

 

2 cups of heavy whipping cream

 

1/4 cup sugar (most recipes will say confectioners sugar, I prefer regular)

 

1-2 teaspoons Vanilla

 

 

 

Directions

 

Dump everything into your mixing bowl and using the wisk beater, beat on high until you see stiff peaks form.

 



 



I usually make a lot and then freeze it in dollops so that they are ready to just plop into a cup of cocoa.  Place a piece of parchment in the bottom of cake pan or onto a cookie sheet.  Scoop serving size portions of whipped cream onto sheet and freeze.  When they are frozen I put them into a freezer bag for storage.  With the above recipe I got around two dozen servings.  Another added benefit of frozen serving sizes is that they melt slowly and last for the entire cup of cocoa.  Yummy!

There you have it, homemade hot cocoa and whipped cream.  Simple and delicious ~ Enjoy!

Little Changes - Food Storage

Our second small change in ridding our lives of unnecessary chemicals was to replace all of our plastic food storage containers with glass ones.  We bought a wonderful set of Pyrex glass storage containers with lids and then decided that one wasn't enough and bought a second.  These bowls come in a variety of sizes and even shapes.  They have held up so well through tons of use and washings.  I think we have broken one, and that was dropped out of the freezer onto a concrete floor.  You can get a great set for about $25 or less if you shop around.  And Pyrex is made in the USA.

We also use canning jars to store food.  They are handy, fairly inexpensive and they look pretty in a vintage sort of way.  I also lucked out when my mom gave me some beautiful Italian glass jars that measure about 1 gallon.  I store my oats and coffee in them and keep them right on my counter because they are so lovely.

 

 

So why did we decide to toss all that plastic?  Mainly because of BPA content.  In it's report on BPA the FDA states:

 

"Studies employing standardized toxicity tests have thus far supported the safety of current low levels of human exposure to BPA. However, on the basis of results from recent studies using novel approaches to test for subtle effects, both the National Toxicology Program at the National Institutes of Health and FDA have some concern about the potential effects of BPA on the brain, behavior, and prostate gland in fetuses, infants, and young children. In cooperation with the National Toxicology Program, FDA’s National Center for Toxicological Research is carrying out in-depth studies to answer key questions and clarify uncertainties about the risks of BPA."

http://www.fda.gov/newsevents/publichealthfocus/ucm064437.htm

There have been many reports of plastics releasing higher levels of the BPA chemical into food when used in the microwave.  Who wants chemicals leaching into their food as it is cooked?  I think of all the hundreds of times microwaved my food in those little plastic containers and I cringe.  (Now that we no longer have a microwave, this wouldn't really be an issue). See my post on Goodbye Microwave - http://naturalhealthybeautiful.blogspot.com/2013/09/goodbye-microwave-i-dont-miss-you-at-all.html

Many plastics now say BPA free on the packaging, but what other chemicals have they used to replace it and how safe are they?  We probably won't know the answer to that until further studies come out several years from now.

So, for our family this little change from plastic to glass was a great one and not terribly expensive. 
We are taking simple steps to a more natural, healthier life.

Vinegar, Lemon and Baking Soda...Ahhhh clean with no synthetic chemicals

Look where you keep your cleaning supplies and count how many different chemical cleaners you currently have.  You probably have Windex for your mirrors and windows, Pledge for your furniture, an all purpose for your horizontal surfaces, a bathroom cleaner and probably bleach.  What are these cleaners made from?  Most likely the ingredient lists contains ten or more chemicals that you cannot even pronounce.

I hated cleaning products because for one thing they are expensive.  Secondly, they often gave me headaches when I would use them.  While on my "get chemicals out of my house and life" kick, I started looking for alternatives to all those bottles of chemical cleaners.  My research led me to three simple ingredients:  vinegar, lemons, and baking soda.

I currently have three bottles under my sink for cleaning.  A bottle with half vinegar and half water, for windows, mirrors and my hardwood floors.  A second bottle of vinegar infused with lemon peels that I use as an all purpose cleaner.  I will often mix this all purpose with baking soda to clean sinks, toilets and tubs.  Finally, I have a bottle of vinegar, lemon juice and a tiny bit of olive oil for furniture polish. 

I love these cleaners and will include recipes for them down below.  They work so wonderfully well and my house just smells clean and fresh not like chemicals.  My husband would argue that the house smells like vinegar when I am cleaning, but I cannot smell it and it dissipates quickly :)

Another wonderful benefit is the cost.  A gallon of vinegar goes a long way and costs a little over $2.00.  We use the lemon peels from our fresh squeezed lemons that we use for homemade lemonade (I will post another blog on this soon!)  A large bag of baking soda is less than $7 and lasts for nearly a year.  So with a few simple, inexpensive ingredients you can rid your home of unnecessary, expensive chemical cleaners.

Maybe this all sounds too simple but I really have been cleaning this way for the last five years and I love it!

Recipes:
Windows, Mirros and Floors
1 cup distilled white vinegar
1 cup water
Pour into spray bottle and shake.  That's it and that's all!

All Purpose
Take squeezed lemons and place peels in a large glass containers.  Fill container with distilled white vinegar and cover.  Allow the mixture to set for at least 24 hours.  Finally, strain the lemon infused vinegar into a spray bottle and it is ready to go.

Furniture Polish
1 cup distilled white vinegar
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 Tablespoon EVO
Combine ingredients into a spray bottle and shake well before each use.  Also be sure to test this one in an inconspicuous area to make sure it is compatible with your furniture finish before spraying in a visible area. I have never had any problems, but wouldn't want to be the source of ruined furniture!

Happy Cleaning!

Goodbye Microwave - I don't miss you at all!

The microwave is an essential appliance in every American kitchen.  Right?  Right.  We received a great little Samsung microwave for our wedding and it lasted 9 years.  When it failed to heat any longer we purchased a new Kenmore microwave.  We have a toddler whom I will call "Little Dude" throughout the blog.  Little Dude tends to be really rough on things.  For example, he will break toys that have been handed down for ages and held up to years of play.  He is just a rough little boy!  He thoroughly loved to open and close the microwave door and it turns out all of those slams weren't so good for it.  Who knew?  So the new microwave (less than 9 months old) failed to work unless we slammed the door as hard as possible and then held it closed. 

Instead of replacing the microwave again we just decided to see if we could live without it.  My husband was skeptical, but we gave it a try.  And you know what?  We don't even miss it!  We discovered that we only used it for three things:  defrosting meat, making popcorn and heating up left overs and my son's milk (I know, it's terrible and we shouldn't have been doing it anyways). 

I have an air pop popcorn maker and so our favorite evening snack became even more delicious with melted butter and salt.  It really takes no extra time to make it this way and it tastes so much better! 
The biggest challenge has been defrosting meat.  I have to plan dinner first thing in the morning just to have the meat out and thawing.  A minor inconvenience, but now that I am used to it, it isn't so bad.  If I forget, we get to have breakfast for dinner. Who doesn't love waffles and eggs for dinner?

A few added bonuses are that food cooked and reheated on the stove or in the oven just taste better, may be better for you and I have lots of extra counter space for my cookbooks :)

So, there you have it, we have been microwave free for almost three months now and don't miss it at all! 

What do you think: could you live without your microwave? 

**Check out this article on why Microwaves may be bad for our health **
http://www.realfarmacy.com/why-did-the-russians-ban-an-appliance-found-in-90-of-american-homes/

Little Changes - Cookware

Our journey to healthier, more natural living started with some small changes in our home when an acquaintance casually mentioned all the chemicals we were poisoning ourselves with daily.  Wait... What?  I knew that everything (from household cleaning products, to shampoo, to our food storage containers) were comprised of synthetic chemicals along with natural elements.  However, I had never taken the time to learn about these chemicals or the effects they were having on my body.

I will admit I am an obsessive researcher.  If I hear something that disturbs, interests, or challenges me I will research it until I know every detail inside and out about the subject.  This acquaintance had mentioned Teflon, BPA and Parabens and that is where my research began.  For several days I studied Teflon noting all harmful effects it can have on a person.  I studied until I was convinced that it would be best to get rid of the old scratched up Teflon pots and pans and replace them with the safer, harder to clean stainless steel option.

So why is Teflon or polytetrafluoroethylene(PTFE) so harmful? Actually the man made chemical  polytetrafluoroethylene isn't the problem, it is the chemical perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) that is used in the process of making PTFE that is dangerous.  This chemical is unknowingly consumed when the Teflon pan is scratched and tiny particles break away into the food being cooked.  Fumes can also be released into the air when food is cooked at a very high temperature. 

The EPA and American Cancer Society websites have some good information about PFOA.  While there is not conclusive evidence that it is detrimental to human health there is enough evidence of harmful effects that  "EPA and the eight major companies in the industry launched the 2010/15 PFOA Stewardship Program, in which companies committed to reduce global facility emissions and product content of PFOA and related chemicals by 95 percent by 2010, and to work toward eliminating emissions and product content by 2015."  -- http://www.epa.gov/oppt/pfoa/

After hours of research, I decided it would be best to toss those old pots and pans and search for a healthier option.  After looking at all the cookware options available, from aluminum to cast iron to stainless steel, I decided stainless steel was the best option for our family.  Stainless steel is considered one of the safest materials for cooking.  The drawback is that it they are definitely not non-stick and take greater effort to clean.  Cast iron is also a very good option and I do use a cast iron griddle.

I would encourage you not to just take my word for it, but to do your own research and see what you discover!