Shoestring Green

Homemade deodorant

2010-09-26T22:32:00.002-04:00

I absolutely would have never thought about making my own deodorant! But since I am currently paying a pretty hefty price for my Jason brand Tea Tree oil deodorant, I'd love to find an cheaper homemade alternative that would work just as good. I found this recipe on Passionate Homemaking tonight and wanted to share it.

Ingredients:

5-6 Tbsp Coconut oil
1/4 cup baking soda
1/4 cup arrowroot powder or cornstarch

Combine equal portions of baking soda & arrowroot powder. Then slowly add coconut oil and work it in with a spoon until it maintains the substance you desire. It should be about the same texture as the store bought kind, solid but able to be applied easily. You can either scoop this into your old dispensers or place in a small container with lid and apply with fingers with each use. After applying the product, you can just rub the remains into your hands as a lotion! This recipe lasts about 3 months for two people with regular daily use.

I already have all these ingredients in my pantry. I can't wait to make up a small test batch and try it out!

Success!

2010-09-01T22:02:00.000-04:00

Last week, I made my own dishwasher detergent. This week, I use it for the fist time. Sweet success came in the form of beautifully washed dishes with only a tiny hint of white residue in the dried water spots. I'd say that's pretty good when you consider we had been using Electrosol tabs with Jet Dry Powerballs! So, go ahead and try it yourself, and let me know if it works for you!

Hint - make only a half batch of the detergent at first... just in case you end up hating it and throwing it out.

Made my own dishwasher detergent today

2010-08-26T15:13:00.000-04:00

I have been wanting to do this for so long, but was waiting until we ran out of the Electrosol Tabs that we bought at Costco a year ago. I finally used the last one (well, maybe regretfully used the last one, we'll see how this experiment goes)!

I found this recipe for homemade dishwasher detergent at the frugally green blog a while back:

2 cups of Borax
2 cups of Baking Soda
4 small packets of sugar freelemonade Kool-Aid (you can also use 4 tablespoons of citric acid - which I did since I had ordered it from LuckyVitamin.com with my last order)
White Vinegar (for rinse aid - fill your rinse cup to the line)

Mix the first 3 ingredients and store in a container. Use 2 tablespoons per load; 1 tablespoon in the open cup and 1 in the closed locking cup (or sprinkled on the inside of the dishwasher door if you are having cleaning issues). Pour the White Vinegar into your rinse aid compartment. If you are left with a white residue after your first try, it is suggested that you need to experiment with the amount of Borax or add a little salt to the mix. It is also suggested to try LemiShine in place of the kool-aid/citric acid.

It will be a few more days before I get to try out my new mix, but I'll let you know how it goes!

A visit to our farm

2010-05-24T16:01:00.009-04:00

No, we did not give up life in suburbia life for the farm life, but we do own 2/3 of a summer fruit and veggie share of a local farm. I only learned of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) last year and, at that point, it was too late to become a member of one. I was reminded of it this year when we were at a dinner party a couple months ago. I immediately jumped online and searched for local farms in the area that sold CSA shares.

Many were already sold out, so we are very excited to have invested in the livelihood of Gazy Brothers Farm in Oxford, CT. We were a little disappointed that the produce is not organic, however, it is grown using an integrated pest management program, which reduces the amount of pesticides, fertilizers, and other chemicals to ensure healthy plants and flavorful produce (from the Gazy Brothers website).

We aren't totally sure what to expect being a part of a CSA, so we are testing the waters with two other families from our moms group (hence the 2/3 share - we have two shares that we are splitting 3 ways). We will begin picking up our 2 boxes of mixed vegetables, herbs, and greens and our 2 boxes of mixed fruits and berries on July 1. The farm will bring them to a nearby farmer's market, one of us will pick them up, and then we will divide the boxes 3 ways the best we can. Our summer program runs for 12 + weeks.

This past Sunday, the farm hosted a CSA open house. It was so much fun getting to meet the farmer and his wife and daughter and getting to see the fields and greenhouses.

The kids planted beans to make a bean house for them to play in later in the season.

Eliana enjoyed planting the beans and watering them.

The farmer took us on a hayride tour of the fields.

Here we are waiting for the hayride to begin.

Here are tomato plantings covered with black plastic (to prevent weeds and keep the plants warm). In the back there are leeks, and there are berries on the hill.

Here is broccoli and other greens growing with the greenhouses in the background.

I can't remember what this is.

Here is corn in the foreground with lettuces and strawberries and the greenhouses in the background.

Here Jimbo and Eliana are checking out the tomato plants in the greenhouse. They don't usually show the greenhouses because they are very susceptible to disease.

The farmer's wife gave the tour of the greenhouses. She said that this year, for the first time, they had crop yields throughout the winter. This winter she believes they will have enough to have CSA boxes every other week! How awesome would it be to get fresh local produce through the winter IN NEW ENGLAND!

They also had a farm stand set up with leftover produce from the Spring program CSA shares. I bought a bunch of dandelion greens, a bunch of Arugula, a bunch of leeks, and a tomato (all for $1 each). They also provided some yummy refreshments. All in all, a very good day. We look forward to getting our boxes, and getting to try some new produce and recipes.

Happy Earth Day!

2010-04-22T12:19:00.000-04:00

I know I've been quite absent from this blog in the last several months. On this Earth Day, I'm going to make a commitment. I am going to do everything within my power to add a new green post at least Thursday of each week until Earth Day 2011. I have so many things to share, but have just not made it a priority. So here's to a green year!

What did you do to celebrate Earth Day? We have been working on our herb garden. Today I will post to Freecycle to see if I can get some terra cotta pots to make this awesome structure to house my back deck herb garden. My in-loves made this one based off something my mother-in-love saw at a recent flower show.

Simple Organic

2010-02-23T21:57:00.000-05:00

I just have to share this great new blog the Simple Media has launched. It's called Simple Organic and can be found by clicking here. We have been doing a lot around here to go greener and save money, but I just haven't set aside the time to blog about it. It's on my to do list, I promise :o) Stick with me please. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy Simple Organic as much as I have been!

More info on my Naturopathic visit

2009-10-21T18:17:00.004-04:00

I've had questions and comments on this post so I wanted to give some more information and an update on things. During the one hour + visit, the doctor said that nothing stuck out to her as far as the cause of the acne. But she did have some things that she wanted me to do to see if there were any changes. These things were mostly things she came up with for another issue I spoke to her about (irregular cycles). She said the two are linked so she is treating the cause of the irregular cycles to see how it affects the acne.

Take a good multivitamin (the ones you get from the natural grocery stores) in addition to extra Zinc, Vitamin C with Rosehips, Vitamin B Complex, and Vitamin E supplements.
Take Milk Thistle (a liver cleansing herb). Note - I had tried Burdock Root with a slightly negative side affect, so she recommended Milk Thistle instead.
Do a Castor Oil pack 1 to 3 times a week (DO NOT put castor oil in the washing machine).
Eat as many bitter greens as I can (liver cleansing).
Eat as many Omega Fatty Acids as possible (for skin).
Take Chaste Tree herb for hormone regulation (specifically for irregular cycles).

Because of all the traveling we've been doing, it's been a little difficult to do these things consistently.

One huge thing that I didn't mention before was that she requested a hormone test for me - a full panel. Now, I have been to three different doctors since we started trying to conceive a few years ago and while I was pregnant with Eliana - not to mention that I had extreme issues when I was in high school that should have warranted a hormone test - and NONE of these doctors ever so much a suggested a hormone test. They just prescribed birth control pills or Clomid. How crazy is that?!? The results came back and my hormones are way out of balance!

Here's the update. I've been doing these things as much as I can and there hasn't been too much change so far. The only thing that I could see an immediate result with is the Chaste Tree. I think it would take more than a month of half-doing what she prescribed, though, to see results. I go in for a follow up next Friday. I will be talking with her about my hormone test results during that visit.

Recycle your old clothing

2009-10-14T14:46:00.003-04:00

My husband, Jimbo, recently purchased a new uniform wardrobe for work. All his old uniforms were getting too worn to wear to work, but everything is still very usable. He tossed everything into the trash!! What?! I rescued it all in hopes that I could find somewhere in the area collects old clothing for recycling. After a little research I found these two links that I wanted to share:

Recycling Worn Out Clothing (an article about recycling clothing)

Goodwill Clothes Recycling (a short video documenting what Goodwill does with unsold and unsellable donated clothing)

Enjoy and be green!

Homeopathic adventures

2009-09-20T23:00:00.004-04:00

Ok, so Eliana is finally starting to play a little more independently throughout the day and I am starting to feel like I have some free time! So back to blogging.

I came across a card at Ellie's gym for a pediatrician that is board certified, but practices homeopathy in addition to conventional medicine. I was thrilled! I would so much rather go more natural in our medical treatments if I can. I scheduled a "meet the doctor" appointment to talk to her about the possibility of becoming a network provider for our insurance. She was awesome - and said it would be no problem. In the meantime, she told me I could email her with any treatment questions I have.

Several weeks ago, Eliana started showing signs of a cold or respiratory infection coming on. I emailed the doctor to find out what homeopathic remedies she suggested for this. Elderberry and Echinacea syrup and Rose Hips tea was her response. We followed the treatment and the symptoms never developed into anything worse, and they only lasted about three days.

This past week, she started showing signs of another cold coming on (and two of our friends that she had recently interacted with had gotten colds) so we started treatment again. Since we are going on vacation in a few days, I also started treatment. We've had mild-ish symptoms for a couple of days, but are not feeling nearly as bad as we did last year when we got colds. I'm a believer in natural treatments over treating the symptoms with chemical-filled cold medicine and pain relievers!

More about Echinacea
More about Elderberry

Those of you who know me well know that I have struggled with adult acne for several years. I have tried everything to treat it from store treatments to dermatologist prescriptions to Proactive to Murad to nothing. Nothing has worked - it's very frustrating and very embarrassing.

I decided to finally schedule an appointment with a Naturopathic doctor to see what she suggested. The appointment was very in depth and lasted for over an hour. She asked question after question about my medical history and my emotional state. She came up with a treatment plan that I am working on now. I know many are curious and tentative about visiting a doctor that practices homeopathic and naturopathic medicine, so I will let you know later what the treatments were and how they worked out.

Top produce to buy organic

2009-04-29T10:58:00.002-04:00

I know, it's been so long since I last posted. Eliana and I took a two week Spring Break to Alabama that turned into four weeks!! It was so nice!! I wanted to post something great for Earth Day, but unfortunately I was traveling back home that day. I hope to make up for that over the next few weeks now that I am refreshed and ready to get into some blogging and other projects.

I hope everyone had a very green Earth Day! Did anyone make any new green-olutions that they'd like to share? I was disappointed that I couldn't be home to watch all the great "green" shows on Discovery and HGTV, but I did get them recorded so I could watch them later and share some tips with you.

I want to start with one tip that I find helpful when trying to eat organic. It gets so overwhelming when trying to find organic food products and produce. I often feel guilty for eating something that isn't organic... or worse, feeding it to Eliana! I was watching the Earth Day episode of Get Fresh with Sara Snow "Top Earth Tips." There was a doctor on there talking about the pesticides and fertilizers in non-organic produce being linked to cancer, ADHD, and other illnesses in adults and children. His wife had cancer and started eating organically and detoxed and got better!

The doctor suggested trying to eat organic whenever possible. At the very least, he gave a top 12 list that you should always eat organic:

Peaches
Strawberries
Apples
Spinach
Nectarines
Celery
Pears
Cherries
Potatoes
Bell Peppers
Raspberries
Grapes

You better believe we will be following this list in our household now. If it's not available organic, then we will just have to eat something else (which has been very hard this winter with grapes!!).

Free Organix hair care

2009-03-11T16:05:00.002-04:00

Upon the recommendations of some money saving blogs that I follow, I went to Target in search of Organix hair care products. I read that they were being sold with a hang tag for a rebate (mail-in) of the purchase price up to $6.99.

Organix makes a large variety of scents, though our Target only carried about 5 of them:

Coconut Milk
Mandarin Olive Oil
Teatree Mint
Shea Butter
Vanilla Silk
Whitetea Grapeseed
Mocha Espresso
Cucumber Yogurt
Pomegranate Green Tea
Lavender Soymilk
Grapefruit Mango Butter
Passionfruit Guava

I really liked the Vanilla Silk and the Teatree Mint, but settled on the Teatree Mint because mint is so invigorating!

After three days of using it, I like it okay. The shampoo is thicker than the off-brand Pantene comparable I was using. It doesn't lather as much, probably due to the fact that it doesn't contain the irritating sodium laurel sulfate. I can't tell a whole lot of difference in my hair - but then again, all I do is put it in a pony tail right now. It does feel a little softer - but that could just be in my head, ha!

At $6.99 for 23 ozs, I don't think that I would continue to buy it without a coupon, but overall I like it. Keep in mind that this is the first organic hair care product I have used. If you have a store nearby that sells natural and organic products, stop by and see if they carry Organix. I encourage you to take advantage of this 'try for free' promotion!

New Year's Green-olutions

2009-02-26T22:18:00.003-05:00

This year I made several New Year's resolutions, and several of them pertain to my goal of helping our family live greener cheaply. I have termed these green resolutions "green-olutions." So far, my green-olutions have just been floating around in my head. I figure that if I truly want to be serious about them, I need to put them in writing. Without further ado, here they are:

Stop using the microwave. By the end of 2009, the microwave and toaster oven will be replaced with a Hamilton Beach 31199R countertop convection oven.
Do not bring home any new plastic shopping bags. This means that both Jimbo and myself must remember to take reusable bags into stores with us EVERY time.
Take our own carryout containers to restaurants for leftovers.
Replace all chemical based cleaners and disinfectants with natural cleaners and disinfectants. This includes our Clean Shower shower cleaner that we love so much!
As our hygiene products run out (shampoos, soaps, toothpastes, etc) replace with natural/organic products.
Increase our stash of rechargeable batteries. We are going to try Sanyo Eneloop AA NiMH Pre-Charged rechargeable batteries this time. They have great reviews on Amazon.
Unplug appliances and electronics when not in use and when going out of town.
Turn off lights and TV when leaving the room.
Make our family meals as organic as possible. Eliana is now eating what we are eating and this is a big concern of mine. Our bodies are already full of chemicals, un-necessary hormones, and pesticides, but hers is not - and I'd like to keep it that way. And I'm not going to prepare two meals each meal time.
When at all possible, buy used or find on Freecycle.

A speaking engagement and a new site

2009-02-17T17:00:00.004-05:00

Today I had the honor of speaking about blogging and living green at the group for new moms that Eliana and I used to be a part of. I thoroughly enjoyed it, but felt very inadequate.

I have so many new things that I've wanted to post, but just haven't been able to carve out the time!! But I wanted to quickly share a website that I discovered today. It's called Success Through Play. It's an online magazine that performs product reviews focusing on eco-friendly products. I've added the link to the side-bar so we can find it in the future :o)

More coupons for organic products

2009-02-04T21:42:00.002-05:00

Today I discovered a list of links to organic coupons on Affluent Paper. Some you can get right now and some you can get later by mail or email. Enjoy!

Coupons for organic products

2009-01-26T21:34:00.003-05:00

Today I discovered DeliciousLivingMag.com. It is an amazing site devoted to real food, natural health and a green planet. I followed a link to their coupons for organic products, but ended up finding much, much more. In browsing around, I found some neat recipes, some great natural cleaning alternatives, and some companies that sell safe toys. I can't wait to spend a little more time there to see what other things I can find. I am going to add it to the green links on the side of this page.

An earth-friendly stroller

2009-01-22T11:20:00.006-05:00

We have been in the market for a stroller. The one that I picked out and received at our shower (Kolcraft Contours Lite) just isn't working out for us. We also have an older model Kelty Convertible Backpack Carrier and Stroller, which we LOVE, but we got it mainly for trips. So I set out to find a new lightweight stroller.

It was difficult to come up with our list of requirements. Things I like about our current stroller: weighs only 15 pounds, has a super large storage basket, looks great, has a child tray. Things I don't like about our current stroller: does not fold up compactly, is difficult to maneuver, child is too reclined, child tray is a little high, tippy when bags are hanging on back. What we will use the stroller for: walks around the neighborhood, shopping trips, trips to parks.

We visited BRU to test some strollers, and I decided I liked the Combi Cosmo. But we purchased the Baby Trend Trendsport because it was on a sale that was ending that day and I wanted to get it in case I couldn't find anything I liked better. After hearing some advice from other moms, doing a little research, and going back to BRU to test the Combi a second time, I decided against it. The Combi seems very rickety. The Baby Trend, though it is light, has a large storage basket, and has great parent and child trays, seems to get run down very quickly. Even though it is easy on the pocket book, it sounded like it wouldn't last past one child, if even that!

Through research and advice (I looked at and tested Zooper, Joovy, Quinny, Mia Moda, and Uppababy strollers), I narrowed down my choices to the Maclaren Quest Sport and the Baby Planet Solo Sport. I was able to test the Mac Quest at BRU. I really like the weight and the maneuverability, but a common complaint is that it it tippy, something that I hate about umbrella strollers. It also has a small basket and sun shade. I was not able to personally test the Baby Planet, but I read countless reviews and watched a demo video.

I had a hard time deciding between the high-praised Maclaren and the Baby Planet. But the deciding factor was ultimately that Baby Planet is a green company, which fits into my desire to go as green as possible. I love that! And at 17 pounds, it's only about 5 pounds heavier than the Mac Quest, and only 2 pounds heavier than our current stroller. It has a large storage basket and a substantial sun shade. Many reviews said that it is not tippy like the Mac Quest. AND several online sites currently have it at a closeout price between $90 to $100 (regularly $149 - $189)!! So we ordered it in the Charcoal color last night from mystroller s.com for $99 with no tax and free shipping. If we find it cheaper in the next 14 days, they will match the price!

We are tight with our money, but we don't mind spending a little extra money to get a much better quality stroller that will last. I am also happy that our investment is going to a company that cares about the environment.

Whole Foods Market is coming!

2009-01-22T08:56:00.003-05:00

I was driving down the road yesterday and saw a new sign up - Whole Foods Market. Could it be? I took a double-take. Yes!! We have a Whole Foods Market coming to Milford! Whole Foods Market is the world’s leader in natural and organic foods. The company's mission is Whole Foods, Whole People, Whole Planet.

So far in 2009...

2009-01-13T21:53:00.002-05:00

I had the best intentions of getting back to blogging after welcoming 2009. Life has just not allowed. We have had one thing after another so far this year: we had family visiting, we said goodbye to family, we said goodbye to our family pet, we started a whole new weekly schedule, my laptop got a virus, and then we got a stomach virus (leading to 20 gazillion loads of laundry and endless sanitizing that is still going on). So again I apologize for leaving all my fellow bloggers hanging. My family comes first, so as soon as we are all back on our feet, I will get some new posts going!! Thanks for understanding!

Apologies

2008-12-11T23:38:00.002-05:00

Just a quick post to apologize for my blog neglect. Apparently, it was not a good time of the year for me to start a new blog. We went from being busy with Thanksgiving to being busy with Eliana's first birthday preparations and getting ready for our families to visit. And we have all gotten sick on top of it all. So, it looks like I will be on vacation for a bit. I plan to return in January with some really great ideas that have been churning in my mind - if only I can remember them all by then!! He he!! Have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Thanksgiving blogging hiatus

2008-11-30T22:20:00.004-05:00

I'm so sorry for the lapse in blogging at my new blog!! This Thanksgiving proved to be a very busy time! Since we have no family in the area, we spent Thanksgiving with two of our good Coast Guard friends. The four of us fried two turkeys and made all the sides to go with them. We did all the work, but had lots of good food and lots of leftovers to show for it!

I am excited to tell you that we had a couple of Thanksgiving dishes that were almost completely organic! I made a green bean casserole using organic cream of mushroom soup (from Ocean State Job Lot - a Big Lots type store) and organic French cut green beans (from Big Y and the military commissary). I had to use regular fried onions because I couldn't find organic. I also made a sweet potato casserole using a bag of organic sweet potatoes and organic butter. I used regular sugar, eggs, brown sugar, and pecans because I am trying to use up the stuff in our pantry before buying new organic stuff. I don't want to throw food away. I also made organic mashed rutabaga with organic onions, garlic, and butter.

Unfortunately, none of us could afford to buy organic turkey or even turkey without antibiotics and hormones - and we fried our turkeys in regular peanut oil. It may not have been as good for us as an antibiotic and hormone-free turkey, but it sure tasted GOOD!!

I say all this to let you know that we pick and choose what organic stuff to spend our money on. How I'd love to buy organic and all-natural EVERYTHING, but our budget just won't allow. One tip that Sara Snow gave Kate Gosselin that I try to keep in mind when making my shopping list is to start with organic meat and dairy. The problem is that it's easier for me to find organic fruits and veggies than organic meats and dairy.

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! I'd love to hear how it went!

Win some eco-friendly baby stuff!

2008-11-30T22:15:00.003-05:00

Head over to Go Natural Baby Blog to enter to win $147 in Eco-friendly baby products giveaways! Contest ends December 18.

Win a reusable shopping bag!

2008-11-21T22:20:00.002-05:00

Want a chance to win one of six stylish reusable shopping bags? Head over to SimpleMom to enter! This contest ends on Nov 22 at midnight CST.

Yes, we cloth diaper

2008-11-20T11:14:00.008-05:00

It started with a desire to save money. Jimbo and I were both a little hesitant about the mess and extra work, so I asked a mom at my moms group that is cloth diapering to teach me what she does, what she uses, and the pros and cons of cloth diapering. I learned a lot and she let me borrow two of her diapers so I could show Jimbo how they worked and so we could try them on Eliana.

After the test and a lot of research, we decided on Fuzzi Bunz. Mind you, these are not your grandmother's or mother's cloth diapers. They are pocket diapers (as opposed to pre-folds with diaper covers and all-in-one diapers). New Fuzzi Bunz retail for around $18 or $19 a diaper which was too much for our pocket book. So I began to search for discounted diapers.

I found a site that sold factory seconds, but wasn't too sure about those. I found lots on eBay, but they weren't much cheaper than buying new from an online store. And then I found a lot on Craigslist - 11 used small Fuzzi Bunz diapers for $100. I felt this was a reasonable price for trying cloth diapering out.

Fuzzi Bunz get rave reviews and they are very cute!

The only other thing I needed to decide on was whether to use a wet or dry pail. I wanted to make cloth diapering as easy as possible, so I opted for the dry pail, which meant using a plastic drawstring trash bag while we were in the testing phase. I was able to still store clean diapers in the diaper stacker.

Here is the process we used during the trial (and still use today):

Stuff and fold all diapers and put them in the diaper stacker
Once a diaper is dirty, dump hard poo in the toilet, and put the whole diaper in the trash bag and shake the insert out (the milk and formula poo can just go straight in the bag)
Once the bag is full, dump it in the washing machine
Run a cold rinse; a hot wash using a little detergent, a little vinegar, and a little baking soda; and a cold rinse
Dry on medium heat (or air/sun dry)
Go back to step 1

After our two week trial, we fell in love with cloth diapering. It was cleaner, cheaper, and the only extra work involved was doing 2 to 3 extra washes a week. We decided to stick with it, so I bought one extra brand new diaper from eBay and I bought a large zippered wet bag from Leslie's Boutique. Surprisingly, the zipper holds the smell in good enough to keep the bag in Ellie's room.

Leslie's Boutique puts out a quality product with lots of cute prints available!

I also decided to also make the move to cloth wipes so we could throw those into the wash right along with the diapers. I bought 12 hemp fleece wipes from the Fuzzi Bunz Store. You can use cotton or fleece wipes or washrags, but hemp is better because it has antibacterial properties and won't mildew if it stays wet for long periods of time. I make my own wipes solution using 2 drops of tea tree oil and a drop of Ellie's baby wash, Earth's Best by Jason, and about 2 cups of warm water. I fold them in half, put them in a pencil box, and pour the solution over them.

Pencil box with wipes inside and clean wipes waiting to go in

The two ingredients for the wipes solution

Lastly, upon the recommendation of that same mom from the mom's group, we bought some Kushies diaper liners. These flushable, biodegradable liners catch the poo and allow you to easily dump it and the liner into the toilet.

Here you can see the pocket and the liner

We have since moved up to medium diapers for Eliana. I found a great online forum called Diaper Swappers where moms post used cloth diapering items for sale at great prices. I was able to get 15 medium diapers for around $10 a diaper. To stuff the diapers, we use microfiber inserts, though we also have contour hemp inserts that came with the small diapers I bought from Craigslist. I like the fact that the microfiber inserts hold a lot of liquid and they dry fast. But they tend to be more difficult to get urine smells out of. I like that the hemp inserts don't smell, but they take forever to dry. Here is a picture of a diaper with a liner and two inserts. We use one microfiber insert during the day and a combo of the microfiber insert and the hemp insert at night.

We've now been cloth diapering for about 8 months and still love it. We've spent around $350 on our stash of diapers and accessories, and will save much more than that on not buying disposables - especially since we can use these diapers on any babies we have in the future AND we can resell everything for at least half of what we paid if properly taken care of. In addition, we are not contributing to filling the landfill with diapers and we are not putting a lot of chemicals on Ellie's bottom. We still use disposables when we go out or on trips because disposables are easier when away from home. But that equals out to maybe 10 to 20 disposables a month (as compared to 10 to 20 every two or three days!!).

That was a lot of information and I'm sure to have left something out or a question unanswered. Please feel free to leave a question or comment or send me an email if you have a question or story to share!! Oh, I almost forgot, here's my baby girl modeling a diaper for you.

A healthy snack

2008-11-17T12:18:00.002-05:00

Saturday afternoon we were watching college football and I decided to make myself a little popcorn. This has become a completely organic snack for me, so I thought I'd post it. I used to be all about the ease and quickness of microwave popcorn, but when we decided to pull the plug on microwave (more on that in a later post) I had to find an alternative.

I purchased some organic popping corn from Stop and Shop for $3. I planned on popping it in a large pot with a little olive oil, but my wonderful neighbor was moving and gave me her air popper for free! Yay! So now, I just take two handfuls of kernels and put them in the popper, plug it in, and let it go to work. While the corn is popping, I melt a tablespoon of organic butter on the stove by placing a small glass dish inside a pot with about 1 inch of water and heating it over medium low heat. I purchased the butter at Trader Joe's for around $4.50.

There are at least 20 servings in the bag of popcorn and 32 servings of butter topping in one package of butter, so for about $.30 for a medium bowl of popcorn and about 5 to 10 minutes of my time, I have a very tasty, healthy, and green snack. I used to buy Orville Redenbocker's Natural ButteryGarlic microwave popcorn minibags at 10 bags for around $3 (I don't know exactly since it's been a while since I purchased it) making it around $.30 a bag. I'm happy to discover that I'm breaking even.

Tips - To make it even tastier, I add a little salt, a little garlic powder, a dash of pepper. Margarine and light butter make the popcorn soggy, you must use real butter to maintain the popcorn's crunchiness.

Don't throw it out!

2008-11-14T16:15:00.000-05:00

Freecycle it! What is Freecycle? The Freecycle website says it best:

Our mission is to build a worldwide gifting movement that reduces waste, saves precious resources & eases the burden on our landfills while enabling our members to benefit from the strength of a larger community.

Some of the moms at the moms group I go to introduced me to Freecycle over a year ago, and I love it! Since joining our local group (which is a Yahoo group where members post offered items) I have thrown very little away. I have passed many things on through Freecycle: travel soaps and lotions, a pregnancy test, old computer speakers, moving boxes, mailing boxes, packing peanuts, baby stuff, and even a styrofoam cooler. I have also gotten many more items through Freecycle: practically brand new toys for Eliana's first birthday, toys for her to use now, a snow suit for her, lots of books for her, Dr. Brown's bottles, brand new with tags "#1 Dad" pajama pants for Jimbo, and we almost got a freezer!

How does it work? People post items they want to get rid of and where the items are located. The post is emailed out to all members in the group. If you are interested in the item, you reply to the email. The person emails you back to let you know if you have been selected to pick the item up. You schedule a time and place to pick the item up if you haven't already (usually the person leaves the item on the curb or front porch of their house), then you pick the item up at the scheduled time.

Join now - you will be amazed at what people are giving away and at what you find to pass along to a new home!

If you are already a part of a Freecycle group, please feel free to share your experiences!

Shop green and earn cash back

2008-11-13T21:30:00.001-05:00

Shop green online and earn cash back on your purchases through E-bates. Hundreds of online stores participate (even Walmart and Ebay!) and you can view a list on their website.

From the E-bates website:

People often ask: "This sounds too good to be true, how are you able to do it?" It really is quite simple. Just like almost every other online shopping center, we get a commission from the stores when you make a purchase. Instead of keeping that money - like almost all other sites do - we share it with you!

All you have to do is initiate your online shopping through the E-bates website. Then, every 3 months, they cut you a check for purchases posted during the previous quarter. You have the option of receiving your check in the mail, or you can have the money sent to you via PayPal.

Muir Glen Organic coupon

2008-11-12T11:21:00.003-05:00

Visit the Muir Glen website, sign up for the Tomato Connoisseurs' Club, and print a $1 off any product coupon (expires one month from the day you print). I personally love Muir Glen organic tomatoes and sauces.

America's healthiest grocery stores

2008-11-12T10:07:00.004-05:00

My mom sent me a link to an article that CNN put out on their website yesterday, "America's healthiest grocery stores." Be sure to check out the article and then follow the links below to find out if you have any of these stores in your area.

1. Whole Foods - I would agree, the selection is amazing, but the prices can be a bit high
2. Safeway
3. Harris Teater
4. Trader Joe's - we love Trader Joe's!
5. Hannaford
6. Albertson's - one of our favorites while in California
7. Food Lion
8. Publix - we shopped here when living in Georgia
9. Pathmark
10. Super Target

One store that I think should also be included on this list is Stop & Shop. One tip I have for getting organic foods and green products at great prices at the grocery store, check the clearance bins and reduced for quick sale shelves! When visiting Kroger during a recent trip to Michigan I found canned organic pineapple, tropical fruit salad, and diced tomatoes marked down 50% in the clearance bin.

Are there any stores that you feel should have been included on this list?

If you ever have any tips, stories, questions, or deals to share with me, be sure to leave me a comment or send me an email. I welcome your feedback!

Tuesday's Dinner

2008-11-11T22:15:00.004-05:00

I was watching Rachel Ray (yesterday? last week? I can't remember when). She had a little boy on the show helping her make what she was calling Taco Lasagna. It sounded and looked so good that I took a mental inventory of our pantry to see if we had all the ingredients. We had everything but one item, so I picked it up (on the way to mom's group this morning - combining errands in a single trip to save gas!).

I tried to find the recipe on the internet this evening, but all I could find was a recipe for her Mexican Lasagna. The ingredients are a little different, but the general idea is the same.

I used ground turkey, minced dried onion, a can of organic pinto beans, a half can of organic corn, and I grated into the meat one organic green squash and one organic carrot (she did this on the show). I also used a packet of taco seasoning instead of the individual seasonings and I mixed in some enchilada sauce. I also used a mixture of Monterrey Jack and cheddar cheeses. It turned out very good! Very yummy and VERY easy!

Ideally, I would use organic meat or ground wild turkey, but I have yet to find either of these for an affordable price. Next time I will use organic whole wheat flour tortillas and organic cheese - I believe they sell both of these at Trader Joe's. It would also be great with some toppings - black olives, avocado, a little lettuce, perhaps some organic sour cream. Click here to sign up for coupons for several items, including milk, butter, and cheese, from Horizon Organic.

Feel free to share your yummy healthy recipes with me.

Paper or plastic? Neither.

2008-11-11T16:20:00.005-05:00

This is the slogan printed on Wal-mart's reusable shopping bags. It seems like most stores are now selling or offering reusable shopping bags in order to cut down on the production and disposal of plastic bags, which is great!

This past Earth Day, many stores gave away free reusable bags or sold them at a discount. I thought it was time to do our part to help the environment, so I purchased 8 bags from a nearby grocery store for $.50 each. Since then, we have doubled our stash by picking up free reusable shopping bags from Home Depot, Babies R' Us, Wal-mart, and events we've attended. We have even added a reusable zip top insulated bag that we purchased for $1.50 at the Navy Commissary.

I often forget to take the bags in to the store with me, but as time goes by I am getting better at remembering. It helps that most of the grocery stores here offer $.05 cents off your order for each reusable bag you use.

The reusable bags that grocery stores sell are great - be sure to get the ones that have the plastic board in the bottom (it keeps the bag stable when filling it and carrying it). I personally love that the handles are long enough that I can carry them on my shoulder. You can also pack them way fuller than you can pack a plastic or paper grocery bag. Here is a picture of part of our stash.

If you don't have the cash to buy reusable bags, Martha Stewart tells you how to make your own bags out of old t-shirts!! Not only will you be cutting down on plastic bags, you will also be giving new purpose to clothing you no longer wear. And you can get a free Target shopping bag by mailing them 5 Target plastic bags from your last shopping trip. Hurry - this offer ends on 11/30/2008!

Chemical-less clean floors

2008-11-10T22:30:00.004-05:00

I hate cleaning - I'm sure many are right there with me on that. But I do love a clean house! So any shortcuts I can find are greatly welcomed. The first floor of our rental has laminate wood floors, and get dirty very quickly. I didn't concern myself with keeping them clean until Eliana starting playing and crawling on them. Now I feel I have to mop every other (if not every) night.

At first, I was using a mop and bucket with hot water and a bit of bleach. The bleach thing just didn't sit right with me. Not to mention that filling up a bucket of water and mopping the traditional way was not how I wanted to spend my free-time during the evenings.

My parents also have laminate wood floors, and when we visited I tried out their new steam mop. Up until this point, I was not aware such things existed, but after trying it out, I was convinced it was what we needed. So I did a little research and ended up getting the same mop that my parents have, the Bissell Steam Mop. Here are pictures of tonight's cleaning session.

I purchased it from Linen's N Things with a 20% off coupon so I could return it if for some reason I didn't like it (though you can purchase it from Amazon with free shipping and no tax - Amazon has VERY EASY returns). I've been using it for several months and love it. All I have to do is plug it in, fill the detachable container with plain old tap water, and then mop. It comes with two microfiber mop heads and a water filter as well.

The directions say that in order to sterilize an area you have to hold the mop there for 30 + seconds. I don't know if I buy that. But if you need peace of mind and don't have that kind of time, you can add a couple drops of Tea Tree oil to the water. Tea Tree oil typically comes in a small bottle and can be found in the pharmacy section of many stores. I haven't tried this, yet, because my bottle is always upstairs and I'm always mopping downstairs. Be advised that the steam mop leaves behind just as much water as a regular mop and bucket.

I'd love to hear what do you do to clean your floors. Does anyone have another green way of cleaning the floors?

How the journey began

2008-11-07T23:31:00.006-05:00

It all began with a book that a friend recommended to me while I was in college about 8 years ago, "What the Bible Says About Healthy Living." Prior to reading this book, I always trusted that the stuff sold in the stores was safe. The government regulates everything after all, right? This book really opened my eyes.

My main discovery was about everything white. "White" usually means that during processing all the good stuff has been removed (e.g. white flour, white sugar, etc). You can check the book out at your local library if you wish to find out more details.

In response to this knowledge and our conviction to be good stewards of our bodies, I felt that we needed to start buying things as whole and natural as possible and do the prep work ourselves to ensure that we were getting the full benefit of the foods we were eating. I began buying whole grains and brown rice. I started grinding wheat berries to make my own freshly ground wheat bread. Friends introduced me to food co-ops that sold whole and organic foods in bulk at cheaper prices than the grocery stores. I began learning a little about the differences in organic and non-organic foods, but didn't really get into organics all that heavily. They are not that popular or prevalent in the parts of Alabama and Georgia that we were living.

Then we moved out to California. I learned a lot in the way of healthy living out there. Organics and green products were so easy to come by. I was able to learn more by talking with friends and farmers (at the farmers markets) and I was able to experiment with more (nothing beats the taste of fresh organic produce). We stuck mostly to organic produce while in California.

A year and a half later, we moved to our current home in Connecticut. I was worried that my access to organics and green products would be non-existent. It took a little over a year and a lot of searching, but I have been able to find several places within a 30 minute drive that meet most of my needs. The prices are much higher than they were in California because everything must be shipped in from other parts of the country, but at least we have options! We are also now desiring to consume organic meats and dairy in addition to organic produce.

Since moving to Connecticut, we have added our precious Eliana to the family. Having a baby around has increased my desire to live a greener life. Since she came into our lives, we have analyzed our use of household chemicals, microwaves, disposable anything, etc. We have moved from being focused only on what we were taking into our bodies to also looking at what we have in our lives. You might say that we slowly completing a "green cleaning."

Being that we are an enlisted military family living on a single income, we have a very tight budget. It is difficult to live greenly on a tight budget, but we are attempting to do it... one small step at a time. Our goal from the beginning of this journey has been to be good stewards of our bodies, but a benefit of this kind of living is allowing us to also be better stewards of the world God has given us. I am also discovering green ways of living that will even allow us to be better stewards of the financial resources we have been blessed with.

I hope that you will follow us as we continue our journey to living a greener life frugally and that some of you will even be challenged to join us on this journey.

Meet the author

2008-11-06T22:56:00.008-05:00

Hi, I'm Kristen. I have been married to my wonderful husband Jimbo since 2000. I graduated from Auburn University with a Masters of Management Information Systems and worked as a mainframe software tester for two years. My husband enlisted in the Coast Guard in 2005; we left our old lives behind and embarked on a new adventure as a military family. So far we've lived in Alabama, Georgia, California, and now Connecticut.

In December 2007, we added our adorable daughter Eliana to the mix, and I have since been very blessed to be a stay-at-home mommy. We have been interested in healthy, holistic, natural living for many years, but adding our daughter to the household has prompted us to go as green as possible. This has been difficult to do on our tight single enlisted military income. So, I am constantly searching for cheaper greener ways to live. I am excited to share our family's journey with you, and I hope that you can benefit from our discoveries and experiences.

Welcome

2008-11-06T22:22:00.005-05:00

Going green seems to be the thing to do these days. Though, I don't consider myself to have jumped on the bandwagon because I began the process of going green about 8 years ago. It has been a slow process for me, as I've had to bring my husband along - not kicking and screaming - but dragging his feet so to speak.

Living a natural lifestyle has been important to me as I believe the Bible instructs us that our bodies are a temple of God and that the we should be good stewards of our bodies and of the world that God has given us. Society has strayed so far from "natural" that it's difficult to even discern what it truly is. I've done a bit of reading and a bit of research trying to find a way of living that I am at peace with.

I have a desire to live as "green" a life as I can. But as you know, living greenly can cost a lot of "green." So, I spend a lot of time, as the manager of my household, trying to figure out how to make our single military income stretch far enough to cover the higher prices and finding greener ways to live that might actually save us money. It is a learning process that I'd like to document and share. And that is what this blog is devoted to.

If you enjoy what you've read so far, please click here to subscribe to this blog.

Thank you for your email

2008-11-06T11:37:00.000-05:00

I will respond as soon as possible.
Click here to return to main page.

Kristen