Clean smarter, not harder, live longer

            To me it is only logical that if you are cleaning up the way you eat and getting healthier that you should also strive to limit the amount of chemicals you come into contact with each day. The best place to start is your house. Go through your house and look in every room and see how many chemicals you have in your house, seriously from the toilet bowl cleaner, glass cleaner, multi-purpose cleaner, air freshener, disinfectant spray, bleach, dusting spray, the list goes on.   
            My journey to using chemical free cleaners was not based on the environmental concerns I hold now.  I was only concerned in finding cleaners that would work without making my kids and I wheeze and giving me headache. I was at a homeschooling picnic when another mother introduced me to a mail order company that sold all natural cleaning products that she said had worked wonders in her house and stopped her family from getting sick after cleaning. This gave me pause I hadn't really thought about it before but every time I cleaned I got a headache if I did alot of cleaning all my kids needed breathing treatments, maybe she was on to something. So I started using those products and they worked great. She was right the headaches didn't occur after cleaning and no wheezing. My daughter's with eczema were even able to do dishes. As time went I found that I could use other products that were less costly and that I could simply make my own cleaners. So here are my favorite alternative money saving eco-friendly cleaners-
       
1) Dr. Bronners Liquid Castile Soap- this soap has soooooo many uses it doesn't even make sense but you can use it as a bodywash, shampoo, and in keeping with the purpose of this post you can use it to clean cabinets, counters, floors, walls, tables, toilets, tubs, just about anything even dishes (although IMHO Dr. Bronner's Sal Suds formula is a better dish liquid but it does contain sodium lauryl sulfate which is why it is so good at cutting grease). You can use it diluted half soap half water and it will still work effectively. You can make your own homemade soft scrub with water, baking soda, and Dr. B's and all purpose cleaning spray, as well as just adding a bit to a bowl or bucket of water and using it to do your cleaning of cabinets and whatever else.
           Castile Soap scrub recipe 
            1/4 cup soap
            1/8 cup water
            1/8-1/4 cup baking soda add until desired consistency
        
          All Purpose Spray
          32 oz bottle
           2oz Dr. B's
           30 oz water
           if you want you can add either a tsp of vinegar or baking soda to increase cleaning power
        
        
2) Vinegar- plain old white distilled vinegar is your friend! Not only can you make glass cleaner out of it but you can use it as a natural disinfectant. Yes some things may smell like pickles but at least it won't make you choke or sick like bleach.  Vinegar and water works good on sealed wood floors too. I use it in my laundry in place of fabric softener (I know its a bit much for some of you but if your chemical sensitive ya'll like it) it help get all the soap out of your clothes leaving them soft. I have a front load machine so I add a few drops of essential oil to the tray holding the vinegar if I want a scent (no I don't smell like pickles!)
           Window Cleaner
            32 oz spray bottle
            4-6 oz vineger
            fill with water
            *if you want a fragrance add 10-15 drops of lemon or orange essential oil*

3) If you are feeling truly advanturous you can make your own laundry soap I do! I started not only to save money but because y children have sensitive skin and eczema. Finding a good affordable fragrance free detergent was next to imposible. I started by using this woman's recipe http://www.thefamilyhomestead.com/laundrysoap.htm  which now I have modified to my liking and to make it more concentrated. I use Kirk's Coco Castile Soap to make mine and it works great. We have been using it for over a year and love it!!!!

Adventures in container gardening part 4

So its basically spring time in Mississippi so it is time to start planting and that is exactly what we did. We planted our lettuce in litterbox pans, some carrots in a box I got from work, strawberries in a topsy turvy planter, started some seeds in a seed starter greenhouse, and potted mint and other herbs. Today maybe I will get my raised bed made with the help of my new drill (girl +power tools=awesome) so I can plant my broccoli, onions, more carrots, more lettuce, . I am looking forward to planting my potatoes in the tires at the beginning of the month. :-)

My homemade Christmas

This Christmas has been a challenge. Our budget is always tight but this year a little more than usual. Anyone who has ever tried to live a healthier live knows that it tends to cost a little bit more to live a healthier life. It is a price I am willing to pay. However, I have been blessed with awesome friends who stepped in and gave us a hand to help and make sure my children had a Happy Holiday.
     My dear cousin sent me a $50 gift card to WalMart right after we were given a tree we had NO decorations for. I figured I would pick up some decorations with the gift card, and still have money to get a few games or a craft for the kids, they couldn't cost that much right? As I looked at the items I thought about the fate of our decorations from last year. Our bulbs were broken and the garland had shed so all of it went in the trash. I think the lights I had a short in them and our angel is the only thing left she is actually broke.  So I made a decision I didn't feel the need to give the electric company extra money, just so I can worry that my tree will catch fire, and I am not buying tacky decorations that will get broke and I will buy again next year. So I took my gift card and I purchased some construction paper, glitter glue, ribbon, and used the rest  to purchase things for another craft project and went home. Off I went wondering if my kids would think I had lost my mind asking them to make a paper chain to use as garland and cut out and draw ornaments. Yet, as we sit in the living room making the paper chain my ten year old looked up at me and said "mom this is waaay better than buying stuff this is fun!" That is when I knew I made the right choice.
    We only get so many years when they are young and to create memories that they will carry with them forever. They won't necessarily remember that's the Christmas that we were broke but they will probably remember the time they spent with mom and their siblings making decorations on the living room floor listening to Christmas music thinking it was cool. Much how I thought my mom and I ate pancakes for dinner for fun when I was little not because that's all we had. One thing I have always tried to instill in my children is the ideal that what you own doesn't make you a better person we have been scaling back Christmas for a few years. Weird things happen when you focus on having less you get more, you get more love from one another, you get more time with one another, and the best for me was getting make memories with one another!

Recycling my secret nemesis and secret shame

So here is my confession we are lazy recyclers. I am ashamed I have a recycling drop off at MY JOB! Why does the recycling not get done you ask, because my family refuses to get in the habit of sorting our trash. I know, I know that's crazy it is one of the reason I wanted to start composting, thinking that once you take out most of the food scraps and compost-able items recycling would be easy. Um, no my children like to but trash in the plastics bin, get the paper greasy, mixing everything up to the point that as trash day approaches I just throw up my hands and say forget it just take it to the curb. I don't believe I am the only one is this not the reason many of us do not recycle? It seems like too much work, the sorting, rinsing, and if you live in a city like mine that does not have curbside recycling the transporting.  (Note: when we lived in our former location that had curbside recycling we did a better job I think that's why its important for cities to offer it) Then I start to think is it really to much work to deal with my OWN mess.? That's what I teach my children. Clean up behind yourself  take care of your messes. Yet somehow when it comes to my trash and our household trash its too much work and we just want it to go away without realizing there really is no place called away. That our trash doesn't go away it stays, it stays for a very, very long time.  My family and I have to do better and so does our community before we are literally wallowing in our own garbage. We can lessen our impact therefore we should, it is our duty.

Adventures in container gardening! Part 3

So we are making small gains we planted some lettuce and we haven't killed it! After we managed to grow some basil, thyme and a few other kitchen herbs this summer we figured for fall/winter we would try to grow a few heads of lettuce and that is what we have done. I am proud of us so far we are doing well. I purchased ours already seeded in six packs from a local organic nursery and then because leaf lettuce do not have deep roots I planted them in litter boxes I had purchased at the grocery store on clearance for $1.50 poked holes in the bottom with a screwdriver and ta da its a planter.  They make great containers because once full they are not heavy which makes them easy to move as needed for sunlight or because of space limitations. I brought about 10 so I can use them in the summer they will be great for starting seeds and growing certain veggies.  The lettuce should be ready to pick in a few weeks and I am sure it will be one of the best salads we ever ate. Pics to come!!!!!!

Adventures in container gardening! Part 2

Today I found out I can get a bunch of old tires from this guy on Freecycle which works out awesome since I want to stack them 4 tall and use them to plant potatoes. I'm so excited they won't take up a ton of room and I will be able to do at least 4 of them in my back yard, yay!!!!!!! Even if can't use until next year we are on our way.  http://www.kiddiegardens.com/growing_potatoes_in_tires.html

Adventures in container gardening!!!!

So in keeping with my theme of healthy living and eating on a budget this year my family and I are trying to do some organic container gardening along with planting in some raised beds in the backyard. I know, I know it sounds crazy, but I take it as an adventure and also I am counting it as part of our science curriculum for homeschooling purposes. We are far behind schedule because I had wanted to do a summer garden and that didn't happen however we did grow some herbs and flowers in flower boxes out front. Now we are working on finishing our raised beds in the backyard (that I have had the materials for ALL summer long), so we can finish planting our fall garden since our lettuce is in flower boxes for the time being. I did learn a tip from one of my co-workers that you can grow lettuce in those black plastic trays that they put the plastic flower pots in at the store as long as you space them out because they do not need much soil or deep soil. So we really are learning as we go! This week we are also starting our compost one major necessity for gardening is healthy soil and compost is a cheap easy and eco friendly way to do that. I was going to make a compost bin from grocery store pallets but instead I have decided to use a large trash can for two reasons 1) I don't have to put it together I already have the raised beds to make I don't need another construction project :-) 2) It won't look like a compost pile it will just look like a trash can in my back yard by my garage which is a good thing when dealing with nosy urban neighbors.   I will be doing a separate blog on compost later.
Anyways, we are going to try to keep it simple and just plant a few things lettuce, spinach, potatoes, and onions. We will see how this goes wish us luck!!