Counting My Blessings

It has been awhile since I have blogged. I haven't abandoned my "GREEN MOMENTS" I do have to admit they have been few and far between though...

Two months ago I was a serious car wreck. It truly has been an adventure since then...and not a good one. Our car was being worked on....on day 34 the insurance company decided to total it. As they totalled it...we had to look for a new car. As we're looking for a new car, we are finding that with the insurance $$$ we can't afford to purchase something like what we had before.  I've been to chiropractic treatment. 

All this to say....I have NOT been focussing on how to be more green. I wish I had been...but I've been solely in survival mode. I have tried biscuits and gravy (that was a 1st in my life). I've been putting up Christmas decor...which has been a nice distraction. None of this has taken the stress away...although it has helped. What has helped is COUNTING MY BLESSINGS...

I'm excited to say that Juan is on his way home with a car...so we can send the rental car back. Our new car is not the same size as our previous automobile...it is in fact smaller. But I am doing something new this month....counting my blessings everyday. Everyday I write in my "Thankful Journal" 10 things I'm thankful for...

Today I am thankful for:
1. Health
2. My children
3. My husband
4. That no one was seriously injured in that accident
5. Our new Car
6. For good friends who truly care
7. Our jobs....ability to do what I love
8. The wonderful season of Christmas to celebrate all the wonderful things in life including the birth of Jesus
9. My Family!
10. That everyday is a new day...a fresh start and tomorrow I can focus on how to find more "Green Moments"

Cheap Laundry Detergent & Automatic Dish Washing Detergent!

Everyone is looking for a deal these days. I am definitely one of those people. In my Homemade book I found a couple recipes on detergent and thought I'd try them yesterday. The results were astounding!

The first one was the Automatic Dish washing detergent. Each bottle we've been buying from publix or target (the no name brand) is between $2.50 - $3.00. 

The recipe is: 2 cups of Borax. 2 cups of washing soda. For each load of dishes, put 2 tablespoons of the mixture in the soap dispenser. I tried the mixture and ALL the dishes came out clean! My regular detergent doesn't always get all the dishes clean!

The Borax was $4 and the Washing Soda was $2. I purchased them at publix and to my surprise they were both located right next to the pricey detergents.

I also tried making the laundry detergent that was in the book. The recipe was really simple as well to do. 1/2 cup soap flakes (grate a pure soap bar), 1/2 cup baking soda, 1/4 cup borax & mix together.

I grated soap that I had extra from hotel visits. I picked a scent I really liked. I put the mixture in the machine & let the water rise.  Then put the clothes in. I tried it on Juan's t-shirts first to see what it would do. haha (with his permission of course)! The detergent worked really well.  

These were definitely simple to make. I'm glad I tried them. Plus I have A LOT of Borax and washing soda left to make much more detergent. I'm just not really aware of the effects of borax and washing soda vs. the leading brands. I'm going to do some more homework to find out more. I want to make sure if I'm going to the trouble of making it, it's good for my family and the environment.

If you have additional info please do share!  I'd love to learn more.

Made Beeswax candles & I'm an aspiring weirdo!

Had a super busy day today. Juan went to do a detail first thing this morning, so I decided while I had a couple hours to spare....I'd try to make the beeswax candles. I've been nervous about making them. I just didn't want to mess it up. I used the block of beeswax I purchased from Kittrells. I melted it on the stove and poured it into 14 tea lights, 2 medium sized candles & 2 larger candles. I think I might use some of them as gifts and & I have placed a lot of the tea lights around the living room & kitchen. They smell of warm honey. It's so nice.

The reason why I've been interested in using beeswax as candles is a few reasons:
- it's all natural
- it's a renewable resource
- It's 100% non toxic (especially because I used an all cotton wick)
- burn cleaner than any other candles
- Beeswax candles emit negative ions that actually clean the air
- Beeswax candles are naturally scented

I had a helper while I was making candles...he was pretending he was a drummer.

Juan got home from his detail and we headed to the Palofox Farmers market. I was disappointed there wasn't more produce to purchase. I suppose with Fall quickly approaching there aren't as many crops to choose from. This was Juan's first trip to the Farmers market. I bought some beeswax soap from Kittrells. Got it for $2 off the regular price since the packaging was slightly water damaged. I love getting a deal.

We then went to our indoor farmers market in pace & we found the same thing there. Not many produce selections. I bought some cherry tomatoes & a green bell pepper. We then unfortunately went to Walmart. We had a gift card to use so we decided to buy the bulk of our groceries there (instead of Everman or publix...like I usually like to). I was shocked and extremely disappointed that there is hardly ANY organic food selection at our walmart. I really haven't been going to walmart since I've been on this organic journey. I'm not sure what I was expecting today...but at least SOME choices. the only Walmart brand of organic foods I found was organic milk...but even then there wasn't a lot of selection in 1%, 2% etc...I only found 1 type of cookie that was organic. There was only 1 kind of yogurt that was organic & it was for babies. I was bummed, but thankful at the same time that we had a gift card that paid for our groceries...even when they were not organic.

I've been reading about CSA farming. Community Supported Agriculture. It's where you pay the farmer a certain amount of money up front and you get produce for the year. You own part of the farm basically and you get as much produce as you need. You just pick it up weekly. I haven't found one locally yet. I'm looking for one that's organic and close by. I don't want to have to drive out of state. I still don't know how much it would cost. I would also want to make sure they produce crops that I like. For example if it was a farm of okra & collard greens I wouldn't be buying into their CSA. Just thoughts I'm excited the organic food industry is growing.

Natalie & I went to Everman's this past week & I discovered there are definitely different groups of people that shop there. You can quickly decipher these groups as you walk about the store. This is just generally speaking. Not everyone fits into these categories...just funny observations I've noticed.

SURVIVORS:

1st of all you have SURVIVORS. Those that are living this lifestyle to simply SURVIVE.

FITNESS GURU'S:

There's the FITNESS gurus. You'll spot them right away. They're wearing running shoes, sporty shorts & a top, you can't miss them!  Then it gets a bit tricky....

HIPPIES:

there are the HIPPIES. You know them when you see them! 

FARMERS:

They work, live on a farm



WEIRDOS:

All that's left are the weirdos. They preach about living organic. They believe in ALL or nothing. They're wearing, eating, living breathing ONLY the organic lifestyle. 

So where do I fit in? Actually the only one possible would be a weirdo...or perhaps an aspiring weirdo...haha. I'm just on this journey discovering how to live my best life. Discovering how to be healthy.

So that's where I'm at right now...an aspiring weirdo.....lol!

homemade lipgloss

This week I tried my hand at making beeswax lip gloss. Beeswax is completely nontoxic & is known for it's healing properties. Bees have to fly 150,000 miles to produce 1 lb of beeswax!

The ingredients to make the lip gloss are:
- olive oil
- grated beeswax
- honey
- small containers with lids

It took me awhile to find beeswax. It's sold at Hobby Lobby for $15 for a lb. But it smells like regular wax. It's really nothing special. I Called a few beekeepers in Pensacola for their prices on their beeswax. One guy I met at the Palofox farmers market told me $10 a lb...which I was excited about since it was cheaper than hobby lobby & would be local beeswax. When I talked to them on the phone about the price & picking some up they said it would be $12 a lb. So I contacted Kittrells Dream. They have a bee farm and harvest honey, make beeswax soap and sell it at the Palofox farmers market. They would sell me beeswax for $8 a lb. But poured it into 2.75 lb bricks...so it would $20. I was stoked! So I talked to them online & arranged to pick up my brick of beeswax this past Saturday at the farmers market.

When we got home from the farmers market Charlotte & I tried our hand at making lip gloss. I heated the olive oil & the beeswax on the stove, until all the beeswax was melted. Once melted I poured the honey in slowly and continued to stir it. I poured the mixture into the small containers. I'm supposed to leave them at room temperature for 48 hours so it gets to the right consistency. The next day I noticed that the honey settled to the bottom of the containers. The lip gloss was a bit too firm to actually to use it. I'm wondering if I need to use more olive oil next time, and maybe let the honey heat up longer on the stove into the beeswax mixture.

Although I don't have it perfect yet. The lip gloss smelled AMAZING. And I really love the idea of knowing exactly what I'm putting on my body. There are so many chemicals in regular household items we purchase. I've just come to this point in my life where I firmly believe if you know better....you do better. I want to do the very best with what God has given me. I want to take care of my children the very best I can. I don't think I will be able to make everything at home, but it's fun to try some of these items:)

"None of your Beeswax"

Have you ever said that ('none of your beeswax') in elementary school when someone was getting too much in your business? Well besides saying it in elementary school i really haven't talked much about beeswax until now. Now all of sudden it's a topic of interest to me. I'm really wanting to make the beeswax lip balm & beeswax candles. The beeswax candles are supposed to take FOREVER to burn. I found a beekeeper yesterday at the Farmer's market who will sell me some beeswax. I'll probably see if Juan will call him and pick up some beeswax. The guy sells it from his house. I def don't want to go alone.

This honey (above) is from the kittrells. they're located in Alabama. It's delicious & their soap is amazing!

I'm really excited about some local honey i purchased. I looked up the benefits of honey. "The vitamins present in honey are B6, thiamin, niacin, riboflavin, pantothenic acid and certain amino acids. The minerals found in honey include calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, sodium and zinc.This natural sweetener has antioxidants -- , is fat free and cholesterol free! It was $7 for the jar, but it came from cantonment. Can't get more local than that!

somewhat overwhelmed...

This exciting GREEN journey I'm on is just that; EXCITING. At times I find myself getting overwhelmed. It happens a lot. I get excited about the healthier choices I'm making, and then all of a sudden I get "knowledge happy". I research, and research until I get so discouraged. I realize that almost EVERYTHING I'm using is unsafe... All the products in my home, all the food I'm eating...etc.  Has anyone ever felt like that?  Luckily I have a great friend (nat) who calms me down and says "One thing at a time". So....after a couple days of being overwhelmed I'm back to living the GREEN life. Well...my version of the GREEN life.

Okay...when shopping at the grocery store they usually ask "Paper or plastic". I always say "plastic" when I'm at a regular grocery store. The cold items I purchase always get the paper bags wet and then they fall apart. So plastic it is. When at Everman...the natural food store, they ask "paper or plastic" I always get so nervous. Which is the lesser of two evils, paper or plastic? Especially at the natural food store?  The first time I shopped there I asked for plastic bags & I got all these condescending looks. I know that plastic has a hard time breaking down and it isn't the best for the environment. So the next time I shopped there I asked for a paper bag...yet I still got the same bad looks. I know using a paper bag isn't good for the environment either. A tree had to be cut down for my bag.

So the last time I shopped at Everman I bought a reusable shopping bag that's made out of a burlap type sack. Today when I checked out they asked me "paper or plastic"...and I proudly held up my reusable shopping bag with a big smile on my face like "HA! HA! I beat the system..."  Well that's how I felt. Plus it's good for the environment;)

Tonight Charlotte & I made a Streak free Window & Glass cleaner
- 1/3 cup vinegar
- 1/4 cup rubbing alcohol
- 3 1/2 cups of water
- 1 clean 32 ounce spray bottle

We tried it out on the bathroom mirror & it worked great! I dont' know if Juan's going to switch from buying his window cleaner full of chemicals to this one to do while he's detailing cars. Perhaps he'll try it out on my car first.

We also made a Citrus Disinfectant. the book promises that if you like pricey commercial orange cleaners, you'll love this fresh citrus-scented vinegar spray that is easy to make & costs less than a dollar. So here's the recipe:
- peel from 1 orange, grapefruit, lemon or lime
- 3 cups white vinegar
- 1 clean quart jar with lid
- 1 clean 32 ounce spray bottle
1. Combine the peels & vinegar in a jar. Fasten lid & leave for 2 weeks
2. Remove peel form jar, strain vinegar & return to jar
3. pour 1 cup of citrus vinegar in bottle & fill with water


So......here's what I did....I didn't want to wait 2 weeks. So.....I bought Orange extract. It was organic! (I thought I'd share that it's organic like that's going to make it sound better).  I put 1 cup of vinegar in the spray bottle, filled the rest up with water & then put a few dashes of orange extract. I tried spraying the cleaning solution on the counters & tried cleaning it up. Unfortunately it didn't smell like oranges. It smelled like vinegar....not a great smell. On the bright side Charlotte thought it smelled like Salt & vinegar chips and that made her hungry. So I'm glad someone liked it. ha ha. You'd think I had learned my lesson after the bath gel incident earlier this week. Oh well.

Those are my Green moments. Tomorrow I'm heading to the Farmers Market with Natalie. Tomorrow is supposed to be National Bee Keeping Day. They're supposed to have some fun bee keeping events there. I'm hoping to buy some more beeswax soap and perhaps a candle. I'm really looking for someone to sell me some beeswax so I can make some lip balm.  We'll see what the Farmers Market has!

the whole truth...

Sooooo........

the other day I shared about the home made items I started making. The one story I didn't share was a wonderful bath gel I made for Charlotte's bath. I suppose, it just slipped my mind...well or maybe I didn't want to share my unsuccessful story. haha. Well here it goes.

The ingredients are:
- 1/2 cup bottled water
- 1 packet UNFLAVORED gelatin
- 1/2 cup baby shampoo

I definitely had water & baby shampoo...but who has UNFLAVORED gelatin in their house? I had green and I had cherry. After making so many successful recipes I wanted to try another on....So I asked Charlotte "what kind of bath gel do you want? Green or Red?" She said "red" so red it was. I figured the best kids bath stuff smells good and it is usually brightly colored. So we followed the instructions...except for the kind of gelatin. We mixed it all together on the stove, let it cool & put it in a container in the fridge. It looked & smelled great!

When bath time rolled around I grabbed the home made bath gel & put a scoop in her bath. It didn't seem to do anything to the bath, so I added two more scoops into the bath. I asked Charlotte what she thought & if she could pick it up and play with it. As she did, all of a sudden her hand was turning red, and then it was changing the water red. I shrieked and tried to scoop all the scoops out of the tub, and told her to stay to the other side of the tub (where the water was still somewhat clear).  I quickly washed her hair & got her out of there in record time.  What a mess.

Let's just say this is probably why I'm not the best cook....I swap one ingredient for another and still expect the same results.

Oh well...lesson learned.  you win some, you loose some.

Living Green

It’s been a couple weeks since my first post. I have added meat back to my diet slowly. We’re buying organic meat when shopping at the grocery store. When we eat out, I do sometimes order food that has meat that isn’t organic. My dear friend Natalie says…if you do what you can, it’s better than doing nothing at all. So we’re doing what we can.

This is my latest in ‘organic living’ :   A couple weeks ago my friend Jessica posted on facebook that she was going to start making her own cleaners for her home. This is something I saw the Duggars do when making their laundry detergent. I was definitely interested when watching the Duggars, and especially after seeing one of my momma friends trying it.  I thought it would be really awesome if I could make every day products we use at home for a couple of reasons.

1. I would know EXACTLY what was in the products we have at home…so they’d be safe for my children & pets to be near.

2. I would be saving our family a ton of money

3. It would lessen my carbon footprint. By making products at home there would be less waste, there wouldn’t be any harmful chemicals or preservatives. I feel like it’s our responsibility as Christians to take care of the earth. We should take care of what God has given us. I’ve just come to this turning point in my life where…I want to do better. The more I’m learning, the better I want to become. I heard this once…  “When you know better, you do better.”

I found a book online called Homemade - ‘702 ways to save money & the earth’.

So today I made my own shaving Gel for women on page 254. I found it easy to make. It only required: conditioner, shampoo, baby oil & hand cream. Let’s just say I used some tonight & it did the job, but wasn’t as wonderful as the store-bought shaving cream. I could’ve just used some of my shampoo and it probably would’ve worked just fine. Perhaps I’ll look for another ‘recipe’ for homemade shaving cream.

Next I tried making Liquid Hand Soap on page 259. You grate 2 cups of bar soaps, add ½ a gallon water, 2 tablespoons of glycerin, few drops of lavender essential oil & a couple drops of purple food coloring. Place all on stove in a large pot till the grated soap flakes have dissolved.  The soaps I used were extras I had from hotel visits. The food coloring I had at home already. The Lavender ($10) & Glycerin ($3.39) I purchased at Everman Grocery, and I have SO much of them both left.

I made the children some bubble bath on page 258. Bubble bath can get expensive…especially since I love the Johnson’s sleepytime bubble bath (it smells like lavender). So I followed their instructions: ½ cup of shampoo, ¾ cup of water, ¼ of table salt & then I added a few drops of lavender essential oil. I’m so excited! We now have my favorite baby bubble bath for the kiddos! The best part is I know exactly what’s in it & I won’t have to buy more containers of bubble bath. Kind of neat.

Soon I will try making:

-          laundry detergent

-          glass cleaner

-          household cleaner

-          honey lip balm…

I wanted to make the lip balm today, but Everman doesn’t sell Beeswax. Where do I find beeswax? Online they recommended finding my local beekeeper.  But hello?!?!?! Who knows the local bee keeper? Haha. I googled: ‘pensacola beekeeper’ & there is one listed. But I’m not sure how much I should be paying for beeswax…but next after lip balm I would love to try my hand at Beeswax candles like my wonderful ‘GREEN’ friend Erin.

Thanks for reading. Please share your thoughts & ideas. I love encouraging each other on this journey to being our best selves.

My 1st post

I have decided to start my very own blog. I am following in the footsteps of a couple of my friends who have wonderful blogs. I've decided to blog for a couple of reasons.

1. To have an outlet to share my thoughts, that's a bigger space to do so outside of my facebook status.
2. To share my journey especially about discovering new truths. My quest for knowledge regarding living my best life. I really believe that "When you know better, you do better." --Maya Angelou.

Many of you know this past year I've been searching about eating & living better, really in all areas of my life. It all started March of 2010, when I saw Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution Show. It really opened my eyes to the way food was made, and taught me how to read food labels. It really was the beginning of the search for something more...when it comes to living healthier. I found myself starting to ask really healthy questions about what I was eating, and why. I bought his cook book and quickly tried a few of the recipes.

In the last year I've seen two dear young women die from cancer. I found out that when people are diagnosed with cancer their doctors put them on a strict diet including: fresh fruits, veggies, juicing, organic items and I'm sure so much more. I found myself asking these questions: Why aren't we living this way on a regular basis? Why are we waiting to live this way until we are seriously ill?  My friend Natalie is more familiar with this world of organic/healthy foods.  So I asked her if she'd take me on a tour of Ever'Man natural food grocery store. I was quite overwhelmed my 1st trip there.

In February I saw a special on Oprah featuring her whole company going vegan & giving up animal products for a week. She had Alicia Silverstone on talking about being Vegan. Alicia shared about her book and her website.  http://www.thekindlife.com/. I purchased her book right away. I liked that she didn't preach about everyone needing to be vegan. She talked about doing/eating/living better. I didn't become vegan after reading this. I did find it brought enlightening thoughts.

I started buying organic fruits/vegetables as much as I could. We tried to switch to organic milk, and tried organic chicken. We were excited to go to farmers markets to buy fresh produce from the local farmers.

Then Sunday June 26 I truly felt the Lord leading me to do the Daniel Fast for spiritual/mental & physical wellness. Juan and Natalie did the Daniel Fast with me. It was 21 days drinking only water, eating only whole grains, fresh fruits, & veggies. Having no sweeteners of any kind.

When we came off the fast, I developed habits that have stuck. I'm drinking mostly water, loving fresh fruits & veggies. I tried having meat after the fast, and my body doesn't like it at all! So I've eating hardly any of it since then. I'm not sure when/if I'll go back to it. I definitely know, I'm not going vegan. I like yogurt and cheese too much. Cream in my coffee is also something I'm not willing to give up.

So thank you everyone for taking an interest in my 1st ever blog. I plan to share more about my adventures in this new lifestyle I'm learning about.