Tip of the Day

It's that time of year again! When select parts of my body are about 10 shades darker than the rest of me, and my foundation no longer matches my face. Sure, I may look less than picture perfect with my tan lines but this is the best time of year! The BEST! It is currently 90­ degrees outside and I've thrown my front door open (complete with a baby gate to keep the dogs inside) to let all that glorious warmth permeate every nook and cranny of my normally cold basement apartment. Ah yes. The time of year when it gets so hot that I can only manage to weed about one row in the garden at a time before I need to come in for a few minutes.

The garden is now almost complete, though I've been extremely lazy about my last two rows. I mean to plant squash/zucchini and cucumber there, but I keep procrastinating. Because I'm made of awesome like that.

With the front door open I can hear one of my chickens singing the egg song. Maybe I need to go get that egg soon. It has been about 15 minutes, after all, since I've been outside! We wouldn't want to spend too much time indoors now, would we?

I'm actually here to share a Tip of the Day (is this the first in a new series? No. But it sounds stupid to simply say I'm here to share A Tip, whereas Tip of the Day somehow sounds...less stupid).

If you've read much of my blog at all you know that I am an active person. I have a vegetable garden to tend, various other flowerbeds around the yard (often full of herbs and vegetables; I find it hard to plant things with the sole purpose of looking nice; I want it to look nice and provide food for my family, or my animals, or something), 12 chickens, 10 rabbits, 2 dogs, plus housework. I hand wash our dishes probably 95% of the time. So between the animal and yard care, I wash my hands at least a dozen times each day. Add in washing dishes for two throughout the day and...well, you get the picture. I'm not a paint-my-nails type girl, when I know that doing so means my hands will look pretty for a couple hours, and then bit by bit, before the first full day is out, I'll look like a lazy teenager with flaky, chipping nail polish that looks like I applied it a week ago! But regardless of whether or not you garden gloveless like I do, we all know that one of the biggest frustrations with painting our fingernails is how quickly the nail polish begins to peel off! Enter Tip of the Day!



I painted my fingernails on Saturday night. This photo was taken yesterday, but the polish looks just the same now as it did then! At this rate my nails will grow out before the polish chips. So what did I do, you ask? I ran across the idea on Pinterest. I've been fairly disappointed with Pinterest ideas in the past, but this one really worked. All you do is wipe your nails with vinegar prior to painting! And tada! I am rather pleased with this. :)

Egg On My Face

I have egg on my face. Well. No. I had egg on my face. Literally I did. A friend of mine started using the cracked eggs from her backyard chickens for personal beautification. Hair masks. Face masks. Maybe other things, too. I thought she was smart not to let them go to waste, but told her we "pretty much never have cracked eggs anymore, since the last chicken figured out how to use the nestbox." This of course is a good thing, in general, as I would rather have food than beauty products given the choice (who wouldn't?). But I am human, and female at that, so I do care about my appearance! So the very next day after I told my friend that we don't get cracked eggs now, I found -- you guessed it -- a cracked egg. I was excited to get to try this out! The egg had been laid outside of the box, and froze (I nearly typed "to death" but considering it wasn't alive to begin with, this would be difficult), thus creating a nice little split down nearly one entire side of the egg. On this bitterly cold, snowy day, I decided to pamper myself with a face and hair mask and a nice long shower. I admit, one egg was not enough to fully do both. My hair is long and I had to mostly just do the ends and then stick to the outer layer for the rest of my hair. My hair is still wet so I don't know what to tell you about that yet, but my face feels wonderful! I think it looks pretty good, too. I was going to share a photo with you all, but for whatever reason my phone is refusing to cooperate and I cannot send it to myself at the moment. Maybe later!

Some benefits of egg masks are:

• Skin tightening; it reduces the appearance of fine lines and some compare it to a temporary face-lift.
• Reduces oiliness; supposedly the egg whites in particular are good for drawing oil out of the skin so if you are prone to oiliness, this could provide some relief for you! 
• Whitehead reduction; according to Acnetalks.com, regular egg white masks with a dash of lemon will help remove those annoying whiteheads, the result of pores getting clogged with oil residue and other debris.   

To make an egg mask you can choose one of several methods. Either separate the yolk from the white and beat the white until frothy and then apply (optionally adding some lemon juice for additional cleansing and tightening/brightening of the face). Allow to dry completely, 15-20 minutes approximately. You can follow the egg white mask with a yolk mask, or discard the yolk and just use the white. Personally, I can't waste something that's perfectly good, so I chose to mix up the entire egg at once and use both the egg white and yolk on my face, and what was left on my hair. 

Enjoy!

Lists Make Me Happy

I love lists. I love organization. I love having tidy little places for every little thing. I'm a neat freak, okay? My heart skips a beat when I see a well organized drawer, pantry, closet, or whatever else. If I see a well-organized garage... be still my beating heart! There is little as beautiful as a well organized garage! I love the phrase, "A place for everything, and everything in its place". Yes, I am that person. I'd apologize, except that I'm so happy to be that person that I don't feel any sorrow at all. What I do feel sorry for is all of the people out there who aren't yet list-makers. Why? Because it makes life so much simpler. And simple is good, right?

Of course simple is good. You bet your sweet bippy it's good! We all have too much. Too much of everything. Too much stuff. Too much to do. Too much to remember! Just too, too much. So with all of those too muches in mind, why don't you start today? What is something you struggle to get done the way you'd like for it to be done? Is it your health? Make a list of the supplements you want to take, the exercise you want to do, even the things you want to avoid, or only allow yourself on special occasions. Make a list and then consult the list often. Is it your home? That's a biggie for most of us. It is difficult to keep a house clean. I don't have children yet, so it's just me and my husband at home and our little non-shedding doggy, Miso. "How much work can that be?" The frazzled mother of 4 may scoff. Let me tell you now, it's still a lot! Granted, you, mother of 4, have much more to work at and clean than I do. But I still have my fair share! My husband works from home so I get him pretty much 24/7. This has been a huge source of joy for me, especially being someone who does not like to be alone for extended periods and hasn't been blessed with children. But it also means dishes for two all day long, tracking in dirt for two all day long, and all the other things that accompany daily life.

So in order to keep up with things that sometimes fall through the cracks (such as wiping down baseboards and light switches), I found a simple chore chart and tailored it to my specific needs. This way nothing gets missed. All the basics are covered, leaving me not only feeling more relaxed about cleaning (because I know that even if there is a clump of dust bunnies in the corner on Monday morning, come Tuesday they'll be spinning down the vortex of dust bunny death), but more relaxed in general! I don't have to worry about remembering to make time to wipe my dogs nose art off the windows, because it's in my schedule every week and will get done. And because it's done weekly, it never gets to the point where I am embarrassed to have someone in my home. Nothing has time to smell bad, look yucky, or anything else. Surprise visitors are no longer feared or stressed over, but instead are easily welcomed without worry about the appearance of your home. Just take this basic idea and modify it to your needs. Do you do a lot of cooking in your oven that leaves greasy splatters behind? Schedule it to be cleaned more than monthly and never let it get to the point where cleaning it becomes a big ordeal. If you struggle to keep up with your home, schedule in every little thing from cleaning floors, to laundry, to kitty litter boxes. If you only need a little help, leave out whatever you feel you can. I didn't include laundry on my list because with only two people in the house I only have to do it about once a week and to be as energy efficient as possible, do it only when I have enough for a full load, so no set days for laundry for me (though it does typically fall on Monday/Tuesday)! But again, tailor to your personal needs!

My list here has me washing dishes after breakfast, and then after dinner washing up whatever is left-over at that point; I tend to wash dishes between 2 and 3 times per day, depending on how we eat that day, just to keep up with them. I hand wash everything, too, which does take me more time than it would if I just loaded into the dishwasher all day and then washed at night. But I try to use that time of hand washing to pray for friends and family (yes, try, which means I often fail and stand there washing dishes mindlessly), so it is definitely not wasted time! I do occasionally use the dishwasher though, if I get overwhelmed with the number of dishes to wash, feel unwell, or the like.

The pick-up basket is someone else's brain-child, and one I actually haven't implemented yet, at least not officially. Because it just the two of us, there are usually only a couple things out of place at the end of the day, thus the lack of official basket. But I still use the idea, even if I don't need a whole basket to perform the task, and I would highly recommend it! It's a very quick, easy way to keep your home free of that oppressive clutter!

The Chore of the Day can usually be done in around 15 minutes or so depending on the size of your home. We live in a small apartment with very few knick-knacks; one bedroom, one bathroom, an office, kitchen, and the living room. So I can do a lot of those chores in less than 15 minutes. Not to say I am done with housework in 15 minutes. Far from it! That's just for the Chore of the Day. There is still plenty to do after that. But this definitely makes it easier to be sure you've hit all the major points you want to clean regularly.

So what are you waiting for? Make up your own list, and see how much easier it can be to keep your house in shape!

Keep in mind, this schedule is for maintaining a clean home; not starting from scratch. If your home is very messy or highly cluttered, see my posts (part one and part two) on de-cluttering to get started! 

Squatty Potty

Remember this post where I talked about how we're not really intended to sit on a toilet like chair, but to squat?

Check out the Squatty Potty Toilet Stool! It's a brilliant product, and their video is rather hilarious:



Squatty Potty Toilet Stool Helps Prevent Colon Cancer from Judy Edwards on Vimeo.

They sell on Amazon.com for $29.95 to $69.99.

An Inexpensive Christmas

There are tons of blogs out there giving tips on how to have an inexpensive, but still merry holiday season. I won't try to out-do any of them, because I know that I can't. I have limited ideas and at the moment limited time, so I'll just give a couple quick tips that I've employed myself to help keep the holidays as budget friendly as possible!

Make your own gifts.
This isn't possible for everyone on your list most likely, but for those you can? Do! This year I made Socktopuses for my younger nieces (which they all seemed to like!), homemade liquid hand or dish soap for a variety of friends, and I also plan on making some body scrub (probably like the scrub I made here) for others. For my sisters and their husbands I made Andes Mint Fudge and No-Bake Oreo Truffles (which I can say here because we already "did Christmas" with my side of the family!).

Shop at dollar stores!
For much younger children, a dollar store can be a great source of fun but inexpensive toys and personal care items (toothbrushes, fun wash cloths, hair clips, brushes, etc). They can also be helpful when attempting to fill stockings for older kids or even adults (again, toothbrushes, combs, small candles, clip-on booklights etc).

Don't go overboard with the food.
I know the holidays are considered by most to be a time for constant feasting but trust me; you'll enjoy those cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning a lot more if you haven't been living on junk for for the entire month already! Pick a few special items to have through the season and make them last! Sure, 10 cookies in one setting taste yummy, but your budget and waistline will thank you for stopping at 2 or 3 instead.

Reuse and recycle!
There's no need to spend a TON of money to make your home look cheery this holiday season. All the latest lights and decorations simply aren't necessary. Instead consider decorating with things like paper snowflakes (a great project to do with your kids; everyone will have a great time and there's something even more special about hanging decorations you made with your own hands!), or turn an old tomato cage upside down, wrap it in lights, and viola! You have a perfect lighted tree for your home or yard for the cost of a string (or two) of lights instead of $20+ for the "real deal". Also consider making your own ornaments, using old T-shirts in holiday colors, cutting into whatever shape you desire and stuffing them with cotton balls and gluing together with fabric glue, or making cut-out ornaments with applesauce and cinnamon (which happen to pull triple duty; great holiday project with the kids, fun gift to give, or beautiful on your own Christmas tree!). Also consider bundling up and taking a nature walk with the kids. Gather up sticks, pine cones, etc., paint with a thin coat of watered down Elmer's glue and dust lightly with some white glitter. Once dry, place together in a pretty bowl for a simple holiday centerpiece!

Here's a photo of our tree and mantle area -- all these items (including most of the ornaments!) were either bought after Christmas at seriously reduced prices (think 75+% off!), were hand-me-downs, or gifts. Even the tree was purchased several years before I married David for something like 80% off the original price!

Here's an ornament I made with my MIL a week or two ago, using little ornament forms (99 cents Hobby Lobby), torn up Pier 1 catalog pages, and high gloss glue: 

Life on a Budget II

In my last post I wrote about how I manage to feed my husband and myself for $30 or less per week. "Great," you may think. "I can do that too, if I want to live on cheap TV dinners, right?" Wrong! In this second installment of Life on a Budget, I'll tell you about what we actually eat.

You've probably heard it said many times before that when you're trying to eat healthily you should shop the outside aisles of the store. This is a good general rule of thumb you could follow as most grocery stores include fresh produce, dairy, and meat on those outside aisles. The center aisles are where you usually find things like Hamburger Helper, crackers, potato chips, cereal, bread, and all the other highly processed foods that do not offer health benefits and in fact are almost always detrimental to your health.

There are certain foods that we always avoid which eliminates a huge portion of our options, the biggest being grains. Neither David nor I have celiac disease, nor are we "gluten intolerant" according to average standards. In fact, I can eat a bunch of crackers or a bowl of cereal and feel nothing (except happy)! But there are many silent problems with grains, which you've probably already read a little bit about elsewhere on the internet. The gist is that gluten is only one of many problems with grains so it's best avoided entirely (if you'd like to read a little more about the problems with wheat check out Dr. William Davis's article "Name That Food"). That means no cereal, crackers, cookies, pasta, bread, donuts... nothing. Gluten-free replacements for these foods are made with ingredients like soy flour, potato starch, and rice flour, which all have their own problems as well, including spiking insulin higher and faster than regular wheat based products (which itself is worse than table sugar). This may be why you so often see someone decide to go "gluten free" and then blow up like a balloon. The replacement foods are often just as problematic as the foods you're trying to replace, so again, it is better for your health and your checkbook to just eliminate those foods entirely and learn to eat a more natural, whole foods diet, which is what we were designed by God to thrive on.

"So what do you eat?" You may be asking impatiently by now (sorry I get so wordy sometimes!). The truth is I feel like we have so many options I barely know where to start! You might think that eliminating the largest food group from the average American diet would mean there's nothing left, but that is so far from the truth. We eat 2-3 meals per day and each meal is different (usually) and thoroughly enjoyed. We eat:

Meat: Chicken, pork, beef, seafood, turkey, buffalo, venison. You name it, we'll eat it! We tend to eat beef and seafood the least often because it is always more expensive (though it happens to be my two favorite sources of protein!). We mostly eat chicken, turkey, and venison. The venison my husband and father have hunted in Texas and is fantastic. We're nearly out now though, and I really hope we can stock up again this November! Also in November when we go home to visit my family for the holidays, their local grocery store sells whole turkeys for $0.25 per pound. We stock up and get as many turkeys as we have space for, as one turkey will last us around a week and a half, depending on how we use it. We also try to eat beef liver now and then as it is super packed with nutrients -- a little goes a long way!

Vegetables: I won't bore you with a list of every single vegetable we eat because we pretty much eat any of them, if the price is right! Regulars are things like frozen green beans, frozen "California blend" (broccoli, cauliflower, carrots), carrots, potatoes, frozen stir-fry blends (sugar snap peas, carrots, peppers, onion, broccoli, etc), squash, and zucchini. Most of those frozen veggies can be got for just over $1 per pound, especially if you're careful to shop sales. Occasionally I get "lucky" and find them for even less than that though. Remember, frozen vegetables are picked ripe, which means more nutrient-bang for your buck, too!

Fruits: We don't eat much fruit. It's expensive. I try to pick out one type of fruit per week, or if there are good sales, I'll choose two or even three and in the summer we eat more fruit than during the rest of the year. More often than not though, you may find just a couple peaches in my fridge, or a bag of frozen blueberries from Sam's club ($9.78 for 64oz). Apples used to be my "go-to" fruit because they could usually be got inexpensively, but they made the very top of the "dirty dozen" list this year, so I've chosen to avoid them for the most part, unless I find organic apples on sale at a price I can afford (I realize my inconsistency here though; I avoid apples, but not several other items on the dirty dozen list).

We also allow ourselves dairy, but only keep a little cheese on hand (in the freezer to be sure it won't mold!) and fresh raw milk for making kefir with. Eggs are a staple that I'm (almost) never without! We can easily go through 2 dozen in one week if we eat breakfast each morning that week.

In our constant efforts to maintain our budget and still eat healthily in a world where food prices are skyrocketing, we've also recently been looking into traditional methods of preparation for foods like brown rice and beans. Brown rice has some similar problems to the cereal grains, but if you soak and ferment it first, those problems are eliminated. Metabolically, David and I are both able to handle rice (that is the higher carbohydrate content), so we've begun to incorporate a little rice into our diets, as well as traditionally prepared beans, and peeled potatoes (the anti-nutrients in potatoes are in the skins). We soak, grind, and ferment the rice and beans and have been baking them into little "pancakes" that work well to replace things like tortillas and flatbread.

The only items I buy organic for now are carrots ($1 per pound at Walmart or $1.56 or so for 1 pound of baby carrots), potatoes ($0.96 per pound at Walmart) and onions ($2.99 for 3lbs at Price Chopper).

Partially because we don't buy all organic foods, and also because we know that food isn't the only source of toxins, we try to always maintain at least a mild detoxification protocol, whether that means taking chlorella 3 times per day, or using the infrared sauna several times per week.

Life on a Budget

Two posts in three days? I know. If I don't stop the insanity the world may well stop turning, and that would be a terrible thing indeed. Don't worry. I'm almost positive there won't be another this weekend, as it looks to be a busy one!

I thought I would sit down and share very frankly with you all about what our budget looks like. Specifically our grocery budget. I know this is a tough and stressful subject for many of you out there. I know that personally I often come home from trips to the grocery store feeling defeated. We have so many options but what do we choose, and how can we possibly manage to feed our families healthily while maintaining a budget that doesn't break the bank? The good news is that you can do it. I cannot promise you that it will be easy. That you won't occasionally leave the store with a mostly empty cart. But it can be done if you're willing to make some sacrifices!

Before I get into how we manage to eat healthily on a small budget, keep in mind a few points and make adjustments for your household accordingly:

1. We have no children yet. So when I say we spent "X dollars" one week, or a certain item lasts "so" long, remember that I am talking about feeding two average height, trim, but mostly inactive (I know, tsk, tsk!) adults.
2. We live in an area of the country where food prices are low, compared to areas like the east and west coasts. Of course, average income is also higher in those areas, but you get my point! Take this into consideration and adjust accordingly.
3. We usually eat a relatively low-carbohydrate diet, which due to it's higher protein, higher fat composition improves satiety and somewhat reduces food cravings. For this reason and others, we rarely snack during the day, but may occasionally grab a couple slices of home-dehydrated banana, or a few nuts to "hold us" if we do get hungry between meals.

So now that we've gotten that out of the way I'm going to tell you right now, when I say we eat on a tight budget, I mean tight. I've found that in the past when I tried Googling tips on grocery shopping on a small budget, most of the blog posts, message boards, and other websites I find which claim to be all about eating well on a small budget felt like a joke to me. Their idea of a "tight" budget is usually $100 a week or more. Let me tell you right now, if I had $100 a week we would be dining like kings every night! We do our best to spend just over $100 per month on our groceries (my ideal maximum weekly amount is $30 but I try very hard to come in under that). It varies a little from week to week and some weeks it is impossible to stay under $30. So what do we eat then, on such a tight budget? The answer is really too varied to type out! Here is a list of tips I've found to be indispensable in my effort to spend less while still eating well.

1. Buy sales. Don't go to the grocery store with a pre-written list of all your "must haves" (aside from true essentials, such as toilet paper -- though I would protest that even toilet paper doesn't have to be an essential), or with a "We'll see what sounds good" attitude. Go with a completely open mind and buy the meats, veggies, and fruits that are on the best sale that week. In recent history American's have had it so easy that it has become natural for us to go to the grocery store thinking, "What am I in the mood for?" instead of, "What can I afford for my health and pocketbook?" In order to keep your budget where you want it, you must break this habit and learn to enjoy whatever that weeks shopping trip brings. We've been surprised to discover some really delicious "new" vegetables this way!
2. Make the most of what you have. Most of us buy a whole chicken, bake it in the oven, eat the breast, thighs, legs, and wings (and maybe those tender little "oysters" on the back), and dump the rest into the garbage. What a waste! Instead we should be consuming the majority of the meat and then making bone broths with what remains. You'll be pleasantly surprised to find several more days worth of delicious meals in a chicken carcass! Whenever possible, buy whole poultry with giblets. The most nutrient dense meats are organ means -- use this to your advantage! If you can't stomach the thought of biting into a chicken liver try grinding it raw with a good blender and adding a small amount to ground beef dishes, soups, and stews. Back to the bone broths, you should always save any meat bones you have (in the freezer until you have enough to make broth with) to make bone broths. Whether you use the broth for soups, to cook a little rice in, or just as a filling, nutrient dense hot beverage between meals, take advantage of this powerhouse food for your health! It's free medicine!
3. Don't be afraid to buy frozen. I've noticed that a lot of people seem to have some (and sometimes great!) disdain for frozen vegetables. Why is this? Frozen vegetables are not only almost always cheaper than fresh produce, but because they're frozen right after picking, they're actually picked ripe, unlike a lot of fresh produce that is picked before it is ripe in expectation of long transit times to various destinations across the country. Frozen veggies also won't rot when you forget about them for two weeks, so there's never any waste, and most vegetables need to be at least lightly cooked for the nutrients in them to become most readily available for your bodies use, anyway, so you're not losing anything by having to cook your frozen veggies a little. Much of the same applies to frozen meats. You can't accidentally push it to the back of the fridge and forget about it until it is hairy -- the worst that can happen to frozen foods is that they toughen up a little, or if poorly packaged get a little freezer burn. A little freezer burn doesn't usually affect the flavor of food too much (though a lot can be very unappetizing), either. Additionally, freezing can kill certain bacteria, making frozen meats and vegetables somewhat safer to consume than non-frozen meats and vegetables.
4. Buy local. It is true that you have to be careful when buying local. It is not always cheaper (a "local" produce stand we stopped at recently was downright exorbitant!), but careful research should help you to find some less expensive seasonal sources. A friend of mine gets eggs from a local small farm for $1.00 per dozen! So local can be better. But another problem is that not only do a lot of roadside produce stands try to deceive us into thinking their produce is locally grown when it isn't, but the truth is often times local organically grown produce is just puny. We visited our local farmer's market back in May and while I know that was early in the season, the produce was far less than impressive. The point? Buying local can be healthy and budget friendly, but shop wisely.
5. Barter! If you are blessed like we are to live in or near a farming community (and I realize not everyone is), consider bartering for fresh food. Not only can you feel more confident about the quality of food you're getting from a friend whose home, barn, and yard you probably spend time in, but you get the added benefit of blessing your friends in the process of personally benefiting. It's a win-win situation! Have chickens, but no time or desire for a garden? Consider trading your pastured eggs for organic, vine-ripened tomatoes during the summer months. Have property where men in your community could hunt for deer or foul? Find something you want from them and offer the exchange!
6. Grow something. Even if you have a small yard, or no yard at all, pretty much all of us have the space for at least one potted plant on a front porch or back patio! Planting and tending just one small tomato plant during the summer can be rewarding and help -- at least a little -- with your budget (store bought tomatoes are expensive). After you try a tomato or two, consider expanding if you have the space! It is inexpressibly satisfying to sit down and eat a salad you grew yourself, or to make a pot of tomato basil soup with only your homegrown produce. Even the stresses of trying to deal with pests, lack of rain, and other garden problems is far outweighed by the joy of harvesting a dozen gorgeous tomatoes, zucchini, or leeks (especially if you garden organically and know that your food is 100% natural and free of all pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides!). If you're a big potato fan, for example, but have limited space consider building a simple potato tower. We've started our first, hoping for a fall harvest, though we started about a month late, so we'll see what happens! But once people become familiar with the best potatoes to grow in their area, etc., many people claim to harvest around 100 lbs of potatoes from one of these small boxes!

Whether you can put all of these ideas into use, or only one of them, I'm sure you'll find that if you pay attention you'll see that your grocery bills will drop! How much depends on what you're already doing, and your determination to stick with whatever you decide to try. I hope this proves helpful to some of you. As always, I love discussion, so if you have any tips or tricks of your own, feel free to share them!

VitaCost.com Deal

Hey all!

Just wanted to let you know about this great deal from VitaCost.com, where you can spend $10 to get $20 worth of supplements, home, or personal care products, groceries, etc! Just use my link and I might get mine for free -- then pass it on and get YOURS for free, too!

Plastic & BPA

If you've been reading my blog for very long, you are probably aware that I don't like plastic. I think it's dangerous for our health, and bad for the environment (and just plain ugly, to boot!). One of my goals towards more natural living is to eventually live mostly plastic free -- I've recently been doing some research on how to deal with garbage without those nifty can liners, one of the few places I've yet to give up the plastic. I think next time I run out of them, I won't be buying any more. I can wash my kitchen receptacle a couple times a week, right? Sure. We only empty the can about once a week anyhow, since we don't produce much trash. And since I am now putting all of my leftover produce bits and pieces into my garden, there will be very little "messy" garbage in the bin anyhow. So there's that. We'll never be completely plastic free though, since there are certain food items I have no intention of giving up, but that can only be purchased in plastic containers. But still. We can all reduce our output, even if we're not willing to live quite like Bea (though she is constantly offering great ideas for reducing your waste output; be sure to check out her blog!). Now onto the subject of this post!

BPA is a term most of us are very familiar with now days. We know it's bad and that we don't want it in our bodies. But what is it, what does it do to us, how can we prevent ourselves and our loved ones from exposure to it, and is BPA-free plastic really safe?

To answer the first question in brief terms, BPA (or Bisphenol-A) is a chemical used to harden plastic (think water bottles, baby bottles, food storage containers). It is also used in epoxy resins, which are used to coat the inside of tin cans, baby formula containers, and water bottle tops. The problem with BPA (or at least the one we're most aware of) is that it acts in our bodies like estrogen, which can result in serious hormonal imbalances and reproductive problems.

The FDA, however, refuses to classify BPA as a toxin and stated in 2010 that "Studies employing standardized toxicity tests have thus far supported the safety of current  low levels of  human exposure to BPA." but then went on to say that they do have "concerns" about its subtle toxic effect on the brain, behavior, and prostate gland in fetuses, infants, and young children.

I think that only time will tell us just how dangerous BPA really is, but I think it is clear that there is some level of danger posed by regular exposure to it. Plastics are believed by many to be at least partially responsible for things like girls hitting puberty at an average age of 9 years old (and as much as 10% of 7 year old girls are beginning to develop breasts). The fact of the matter is, there is a lot we still don't know about plastics and how dangerous they are for us, but when you consider how new they are in the history of the world and how prevalent fertility problems (among other things) are becoming, for example, you can't help but wonder how much chemicals from plastics are contributing to that problem (I think there are a whole host of contributing factors and that yes, plastic is absolutely one of them!). And it's not just a problem for young girls. Older females, and males of all ages are being adversely affected by these estrogen-like chemicals. The infertility rate in women aged 20-24 has tripled in this country since 1965. Male infertility is at an all-time high in industrialized countries. A whopping 30-40% of males are estimated to have fertility problems today, and are responsible for around half of the instances of infertility (1/3 exclusive to the male, 1/3 to the female, and 1/3 to a combination of partners). In British couples seeking help from ART (assisted reproductive technology), the majority of cases are due to problems with the male's fertility.

So now you are aware of some of the dangers of BPA and other chemicals found in plastics. Here are some easy steps you can take to avoid exposure to BPAs for yourself and your family:

1. Throw out your plastic food storage containers and switch to glass, especially for leftovers that are placed into storage containers hot, which can increase the leaching of BPA into foods.
2. Breastfeed your babies. Unless you have a medical condition that prevents it breastfeeding is almost always possible, with the right coaching and persistence. This saves you money and your baby exposure to BPAs at a young age when they are most susceptible to damage. If breastfeeding is truly impossible for you, purchase glass bottles instead of plastic, and look for a friend willing to donate breastmilk for your baby, or contact a milk bank for help.
3. Avoid canned foods, since many liners contain BPA. Foods of pH 5 leach more BPA than those that are more acid or alkaline, according to a study on BPA (though it is my understanding that most fruits and vegetables are more acid or alkaline than a pH 5). 
4. If you do use plastic food storage containers, never put them in the microwave! This can increase the levels of BPA leaching into your foods. Also, avoid washing them with harsh detergents which can also increase leaching.
5. Buy glass or ceramic bottles for your water.  Many of them come with silicone sleeves for protection so you don't have to worry quite so much about easy breakage. The market for these has exploded since I first started looking into buying some and there are a host of options available now.
6. Stop drinking soda (the aluminum cans are lined with plastic and sodas have a pH 5, making them one of the worst offenders for leaching chemicals into your beverage).

So now, is BPA-free plastic safe? In a word, no. But it is a slight improvement over plastics with BPA. The problem in general with plastic (as far as your physical wellbeing is concerned) is that there are far more chemicals in it than just BPA, and many of them have the very same effect on your health as BPA (some of the effects of these chemicals were discussed above).

Also, don't forget to consider the environment. Plastic grocery bags, as an example, were first introduced in 1977 to replace the good old bio-degradable paper sacks. By the 80's and 90's they were becoming more popular than the paper sacks. Imagine this for a moment. This means that for the past 34 years we've all been lugging home our purchases in these plastic bags and then sending them off to landfills. The very first plastic shopping bag to make it to the landfill is still there. Some say that plastic bags take 100 years to degrade. Others say 500 years. Some even 1000. The fact is the bags have only been around for about 50 years, so we don't know from real world experience. Scientists have tried to figure it out, but even using a method called respirometry (which tells us banana peels degrade in days and newspapers a few months), nothing happens to the plastic bag. So whether it takes 100 years or 1000, the point is simply that it takes a very long time.

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1. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17366824
2. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15689538
3. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21123812
4. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21038926

Waste-Free Living

Waste-free living has been an intriguing topic to me of late. I am always looking for ways to reduce our waste, improve our health, and spend less money. Did you know, for instance, that the average American produces 7lbs of trash daily? Somewhere in Nevada people are producing a whopping 13lbs of waste per person per day. That is an incredible number! In our effort to avoid being a part of those abysmal statistics, for years we have been avoiding the use of disposable plates, napkins, and utensils on a regular basis. I don't keep paper towels in the house and haven't since I got married 3 years ago. Regular kitchen towels are perfectly capable of cleaning up spills, you know? Not only do these things cost you a lot of money over time and unnecessarily create the need for more landfills, but many of them are actually detrimental to your health. A recent study proved what many of us having been saying for years: plastics are dangerous to our health, and BPA isn't the only toxin in plastics we should be worried about.

 I am trying to get into the habit of bringing my reusable grocery bags on shopping trips, which are not only eco-friendly, but fun, too! Did you know those horrid plastic sacks they give out everywhere take well over 100 years to decompose? Sit in the Walmart parking lot for 30 minutes and watch the amount of bags that come out of there in a mere half hour. Remember that that is happening in millions of locations across the country as you sit and watch. And it happens all day, every day, without exception. It's horrific. And we each need to do our part to change that. We should be treating the world God created better than that. As an alternative to these horrible plastic bags, you can get plain bags like those to the left and have some fun decorating them yourself, leave them plain, or check out the many shops on Etsy.com, where you can find things like cute little birdy totes for smaller shopping trips and support small business owners in the process. Etsy.com even offers a search method where you can find nearby sellers, if you're particularly interested in supporting local small businesses, as well. You can also get Reusable Produce Bags to completely eliminate plastic from your shopping excursions, but don't forget to check out Etsy again, for reusable produce bags in fun colors!

Also consider reusable sandwich bags, if you do a lot of lunches on the go, or if you just don't want to deal with reusing, at least switch to the the good old  Brown Paper Bags, which you can recycle or compost.

Feminine protection is another area to consider switching to reusable items in. I keep a supply of reusable feminine protection (cloth pads/liners and a menstrual cup), which are of course, waste-free, eco-friendly, highly cost-effective, and safer for your health (no risk of TSS, etc). It's another area you can have some fun with, while doing something better for yourself and the environment -- these make your period just a teensy bit of fun. You can also make your own, if you're willing and able.

If you are blessed to have small children, a great way to reduce waste is by using cloth diapers instead of disposables. There are all kinds of places that sell them online, or you may be fortunate enough to live in a place that has a cloth diaper store, like Happybottomus, one of which I noticed recently in Overland Park, KS.

You can also reduce waste by giving up disposable food storage. Yes, I am suggesting doing away those handy plastic storage containers. Instead opt for reusable and safe (for your own health and the environment) glass storage. An easy to find and fairly inexpensive option for this is wide mouthed canning jars. You can get a whole case of them fairly inexpensively. If, however, you have the money and prefer a more "traditional" look, you can get things like Pyrex 6021224 Storage 10-Piece Set, Clear with Blue Lids. The lids are plastic, but that's still a big step in the right direction. If you really have the money, consider the really nice Kinetic Go Green GlassLock 1332 17-Ounce Square Glass Food-Storage Containers with Locking Lids, Set of 3 which has a glass lid as well as bottom.

Do you brew your own coffee? Consider purchasing one of these reusable cloth coffee filters, which will save you money, protect your health, and further reduce waste. Look for one made with unbleached and/or organic cotton. And on the topic of coffee, if you visit coffee shops, consider bringing your own mug from home to reduce your waste. Many coffee shops even offer small discounts on their coffee when you bring your own cup.

And if you're a regular tea drinker, consider buying your tea in bulk and reusable tea bags, too. The paper tea bags often contain the chemical epichlorohydrin, which is a dangerous chemical used as an insecticide and to manufacture plastics. When combined with hot water in steeping it forms a new chemical called 3-MCPD which is even more toxic and has been linked to cancer. This chemical is also found in most coffee filters, as it strengthens the paper when wet. Some tea bag manufacturers do claim that they don't use epichlorohydrin though, so if you're curious about your favorite brand, call the company up and ask.

What about all those great tools for cleaning, like the Swiffer mop and ReadyMop? Good news! You don't have to give them up. Just change the way you use them. Keep your wonderful Swiffer (I know I love mine!) and simply refill the bottle of cleaning liquid with a mixture of water and vinegar (adding some essential oils is nice, too, and one of my favorites is lemon for that fresh clean scent we all know and love!). This will protect your families health, and also reduce your waste because you're reusing the bottle constantly instead of buying a replacement each time it's emptied and tossing the old one. Also instead of those nifty disposable pads that you buy for them, stick a microfiber cloth on it, instead! They work even better than the disposable pads. Keep a few on hand that are designated mop clothes and simply toss them in the wash instead of the garbage when you're done.

We've talked in the past about making safe, economical, eco-friendly personal and home care products, and I've mentioned my homemade dryer balls. This is yet another way to improve your health and reduce your waste (by eliminating the use of the toxic sheets, and reducing dry time for your laundry which reduces energy consumption!). There is something very satisfying about tossing in a handful of wool balls with a load of wet laundry instead of a stinky dryer sheet. If you're not inclined to make your own (a project I enjoyed!), you can always buy some.

Another area to consider is having "extras". But that's not waste,  you say! Or is it? Can you go out to your garage and find only the items you need and utilize often, in quantities you actually need? Or do you have 15 hammers and 8 rakes for a family of 4? Do you have box after box of clothes you don't wear, and kitchen appliances you haven't used since you bought them sitting out there collecting dust? Do you have a pile of broken items you promise you'll fix someday, but haven't touched since the 1990s? This, too, is a form of waste, and we ought to consider giving away those excess items to people who truly need them, and bless them in the process of making your own life easier (and it does make your life easier than you might think; how many times have you been frustrated searching through a mess of a garage for that one truly important item buried under a horrific stack of "junk"?).

In an effort to reduce our "extras" I have a box in my hall closet that contains all sorts of small kitchen items I don't need. Extra salt & pepper grinders, an olive dish, some cooking utensils we haven't used since we got married, glassware we never use. After moving home almost 4 months ago and getting reacquainted with my own kitchen, I'm slowly discovering extras I don't need. I'm saving them up in a box and will try to sell a few of the larger items in a garage sale (I hope), and give the others to Goodwill, or give them away on FreeCycle.

small changes for a healthier home

We've all been there. It's that moment when you've finally become convinced that for the sake of yourself, your family, and the environment, something's gotta give. If future generations are to enjoy even a smidgen of good health we must change the way we live, and change it quickly. Sometimes, and especially early on in the process of trying to educate ourselves on what some of the biggest dangers are we end up more overwhelmed than ever, wondering what on earth to start with. Here is a short list of some of my favorite changes that you can easily make in the quest for a healthier home:

1. Go "all-natural" with your laundry detergent. You may be surprised to see this on a "Top 5" list but think logically about it for a minute. Our freshly laundered clothes are something that stays in contact with our bodies nearly 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Do we really want those clothes to be laundered in chemicals that may be harmful to us, our families, and the environment? No thank you! Choosing all-natural laundry detergent really isn't very expensive, but if cost is a concern there are plenty of recipes floating around the internet for making your own detergent some of which claim to cost only pennies per load! I have yet to try making my own laundry detergent, but plan on it in the future once my Earth Friendly detergent is gone.
2.  Make your own cleaners for wiping down counter-tops, cleaning toilets and showers, etc., Our culture is obsessed with cleanliness. Many common household cleaning products are far more dangerous to our health and the environment than the germs they were created to destroy. One of the simplest and most effective household cleaners can be made by taking a spray bottle, filling it with clean water, and adding a few drops of grapefruit seed extract (studies have shown that 10-15 drops per gallon of water is effective for killing many pathogens), along with a few drops of essential oils. GFSE has been shown in studies to be more effective than chlorine bleach at killing bacteria in hospital settings. And the neatest part? It keeps on killing! When researchers tested hospital bedsheets they found that when they were washed in a solution containing relatively minuscule amounts of GFSE, bacteria was essentially nonexistent on those sheets hours after a patient lay in them versus the sheets washed in the traditional cleaners. I like to add essential oils such as tea tree and clove which have their own antibacterial properties. These cleaners are so safe, I even use them on my produce to remove bacteria and pesticides.
3. Toss the plastic! Many plastics contain Bisphenol-A, or BPA, a dangerous toxin which has estrogenic effects on the body. BPA is linked to reproductive problems in men and women, and is linked to various cancers and other health problems. Consider eliminating use of plastic dishes (especially for infants), and water bottles, and also reducing the number of plastic toys your children play with, opting instead for glass, ceramic, or wood dishes, and cloth or wooden toys for your children. If you "must" keep using plastic for any reason, look for plastics marked "1", "2", and "4" on the recycling label. These still contain other potential toxins, but at least are free of BPA! Also avoid using plastic in the microwave, or washing them with harsh detergents as this can increase the leeching of chemicals into your food.
4. Buy a plant. Live houseplants can help to purify the air in your home, removing dangerous chemicals like formaldehyde, as well as being aesthetically pleasing, especially during the winter months when living green things are hard to find. Repurposing old containers can make this even more fun. Just don't forget to water from time to time!
5. Purify your water. You can find fairly inexpensive under-the-sink purifiers, or just get a pitcher that you can fill directly from your faucet. Our bodies are mostly water, so it only makes sense that the cleaner our water, the healthier we will be. A whole house purifying system is ideal, but if all you can manage is to purify your drinking water, it's a good move in the right direction!