Brrrr, baby it’s cold outside! There’s no better time than a cold, winter day to throw together a big pot of chili and enjoy.
My favorite part about chili is that it’s super flexible in terms of add-ins. Have zucchini and carrots on hand? Shred them and throw them in. Bell peppers, onions, fresh tomatoes? Sure, why not!
Do you use cloth baby wipes or know someone who does? Read on!
I was a late bloomer in the cloth diaper game….we used disposables for our first child and up until almost 2 years old with our second child. I had intentions of starting sooner with him but we had a long year of moving and traveling so I wanted to wait until we were settled.
Once I splurged on cloth diapers, I figured it only made sense for me to use cloth baby wipes as well. They’re really not bad, promise! You’re already washing dirty diapers so what’s a little more laundry?!
I decided to use the spray bottle method for getting them wet (I’ve also seen others dump the solution in a wipes container and keep the wipes wet). I accordion fold the wipes, store in an old Huggies container, then pull out and spray individually as I use them. The spray is super easy to make! [Read more…]
I love this homemade laundry powder! We’ve been using it on our laundry for over a year now and it’s worked great for us. One of the first products I started making at home when we switched to a more natural lifestyle was laundry powder. This recipe was given to me by a friend and I’ve since modified it a little to meet our needs.
It started out without the Dr. Bronner’s castile soap (and omits borax which you’ll find in most homemade recipes) because I intended to use it on our cloth diaper loads as well. However, after a couple of months, I couldn’t get the stink out of the diapers and quickly realized that this laundry powder wasn’t the best for us in terms of cloth diaper loads. I then switched to a store bought free & clear detergent strictly for our cloth diapers and was much happier in that regard.
We have, however, still been using the recipe below on all of our everyday laundry and it works well for us.
Homemade Laundry Powder
Ingredients:
3 cups Arm & Hammer Washing Soda
1 cups Arm & Hammer Baking Soda
1 cups Earth Friendly Products Oxo-Brite Non-Chlorine Bleach Powder (or another bleach powder such as Oxi-Clean FREE or BioKleen Oxygen Bleach Plus)
1 bar Dr. Bronner’s Castile Soap, grated
Holy mosquitos! We joke that mosquitos are the state bird of Alaska so mosquito repellents are definitely a must for us. The problem is that I refuse to put DEET on my family’s skin and even those insect repellants not containing DEET still have a list of chemicals that I don’t feel comfortable applying to our skin.
DEET is a common ingredient in insect repellents. The EPA Fact Sheet lists it in toxicity category III. DEET has been implicated in causing seizures in children along with other possible adverse affects. It should also be noted that it is intended for spare, infrequent use. None of these statements reassure me that I should be using such products, especially on our children.
That’s why I was thrilled to find dÅTERRA’s TerraShield! It is an all-natural outdoor protectant, works well, AND smells good. Perfect, I’ll take it!
TerraShield is made up of citronella, cedarwood, and a blend of 11 other therapeutic-grade essential oils blended in a base of pure fractionated coconut oil. A primary function of essential oils in plants is protecting against insects and other predators. Unlike other products that contain synthetic and toxic chemicals, TerraShield is a natural approach to managing exposure to biting insects. It makes for a great outdoor spray!
I like to use a combination of direct application to skin along with misting a TerraShield/water combo all over. [Read more…]
This week’s Green Cleaning post is a recipe for Homemade Fabric Softener.
I don’t know if you can really call this one a ‘recipe’ with only two ingredients but we’ll go with it! Vinegar + Essential Oil = Fabric Softener!
A while back, I came across multiple posts that suggesting using white vinegar in the rinse cycle as a fabric softener. I wasn’t too sure since I don’t love the smell of vinegar but once I made the switch from dryer sheets to wool dryer balls I decided to jump on the vinegar rinse bandwagon.
I find that it works well for us. I have a dispenser in my traditional top-loading washer that I fill up (approximately 1/4-1/2 cup) and it is dispensed in the rinse cycle. There is no trace of vinegar smell once the clothes are dry either.
Side note: if you don’t have Wild Orange essential oil on hand, feel free to try out another variety.
I can confidently say that I don’t miss the overwhelming smell of dryer sheets. Am I the only one who chokes when walking down the laundry aisle of a store? [Read more…]
