When I started my crunchy journey, I was completely clueless about where to buy things. Some crunchy items just aren't sold in normal stores and sometimes the ones that are carried in stores are way too expensive. Thanks to some crunchy friends and sites, I'm slowly learning all the secrets. :) I thought I'd make a post with all my shopping resources so that you can have access to these wonderful crunchy places too!
vitacost.com - This site has pretty much anything crunchy. Not only do they carry most of the items that I use but they have amazing prices!
amazon.com - Not a crunchy site necessarily but it does have pretty much anything and everything. Plus if you do find a crunchy item, it will probably be at a great price.
mountainroseherbs.com - Love this site for buying my tea in bulk. They have tons of herbs, spices, etc available.
bulkherbstore.com - Another great herb site!
I am sure that I'm forgetting tons of sites and I promise to add them as I remember them or come across new ones!
Note: I was not paid to recommend these sites in anyway. I just love the companies and wanted to share where I buy my crunchy items.
Friday, October 29, 2010
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Homemade Deodorant
I have been meaning to make my own deodorant for a while now. Why, you ask? For quite a few reasons! I'm trying to avoid toxins and deodorants can be full of them! Even the crunchy deodorants seem to have something wrong with them.
Common Toxic Chemicals in Deodorant
Aluminum - A developmental and reproductive toxin.
Parabens - A reproductive toxin.
Propylene Glycol - Immunotoxin.
Fragrance - (can contain Phthalates)Neurotoxin and immunotoxin.
Sadly there's many more chemicals in deodorants that are also toxic but those listed above are some of the big ones.
Now that you know why I decided to make my own deodorant, how about the recipe? It's actually a very simple recipe, very easy to make, and it can even be put into an old deodorant container.
Homemade Deodorant
3-4 Tbs. Extra Virgin Coconut Oil
2 Tbs. Baking Soda
2 Tbs. Arrowroot or Cornstarch (Arrowroot is preferred as Cornstarch can contain GMO's and talc)
Mix Baking Soda and Arrowroot together. Add EVCO. MIx well with spoon or hands until it is about the consistency of commercial deodorant. Transfer into a bowl or old deodorant container. You may want to put the deodorant in the fridge to harden but as long as the room temperature is below 76 degrees your deodorant will stay in it's proper form.
I have only just started using my deodorant but I'm already loving it. It works great so far and since I use non-refined EVCO my deodorant smells like coconut! Yummy!
Friday, October 15, 2010
Trying To Stay Healthy
We are now entering sick season. For me, this usually means that one of my boys will be sick every week (they like to alternate weeks, so that there is no break) from November to March. I am hoping to avoid that much sickness this year. Sure my boys should have an amazing immune system built up by now after so many years of being sick but it’s not like I WANT them to get sick this year. I have a new baby arriving soon and I’d really rather NOT deal with runny noses and coughs this season.
I’m still getting into the crunchy medicine world. For some reason, this area is overwhelming to me. I’m not even talking about the holistic medicines, just the supplements are overwhelming! However, I thought I’d share with you just what I am doing to TRY to keep my boys healthy/healthier this sick season.
Hoping to keep my 3 year old and 4 year old boys healthy by having them:
Eat yogurt, which contains probiotics every morning. (Granted yogurt is not the best way of getting probiotics but it’s what I can do right now and something is better then nothing.)
Take 1 multivitamin (Rainbow Light Nutri Stars) every other day (The only reason I have them take their vitamins on an every other day basis is because good vitamins are expensive and with 2 kids, those vitamins add up fast! Plus I’m using the vitamin to help supplement not replace healthy eating.
Take 1 D3 supplement (Nature's Plus Animal Parade D3) Vitamin D is actually really helpful for boosting your immune system (makes sense to me – you get sick easier in the winter when there’s no sun) Vitamin D3 is the best source of Vitamin D, Vitamin D2 is synthetic and doesn’t work as well.
Sanitize their hands with vinegar. I’m not a germaphobe but when my boys come home from church or a play date, I will spray my vinegar sanitizer on their hands. Vinegar is much more natural then other disinfectants and yet it still does an amazing job at disinfecting. For the record, I put half vinegar and half water in a spray bottle.
Spray their toothbrushes with my vinegar mixture. Yes, I realize this one probably does make me sound like a germaphobe… However, it makes sense to me. Did you know that you are supposed to replace your toothbrush every time you get sick? Makes sense but honestly I’d be spending way too much money on toothbrushes if I did that! Enter in vinegar! Vinegar is great at disinfecting but it’s also edible therefore, I can feel free to spray it on anything, including potentially germy toothbrushes.
Keep them eating healthy. This one seems to get harder in the Fall/Winter seasons. Produce seems harder to find or at the very least they are more expensive. Suddenly everyone is baking up a storm and while it’s all very yummy, it’s also full of sugar and in case you didn’t know, sugar inhibits your immune system (probably another reason why we tend to get sick in the winter) I try to keep my kids eating healthy but it’s hard to do when you are out of the house…. all the more reason to make sure your kids eat really healthy at home because sugar will abound in the outside world.
If my boys DO get sick, I give them tea. Tea might not be the only thing I give them but it’s probably the first thing I give them. Tea mixed with a bit of honey (honey is good for coughs plus my boys are not huge plain tea fans) and I try to get a tiny bit of vinegar in there (yes, I am a bit crazy about my vinegar…one day I’ll do a post on the benefits of drinking vinegar)
There you have it! That is what I am doing to keep my boys healthy this season. We will see if we make it through these next few months without weekly colds…
I’m still getting into the crunchy medicine world. For some reason, this area is overwhelming to me. I’m not even talking about the holistic medicines, just the supplements are overwhelming! However, I thought I’d share with you just what I am doing to TRY to keep my boys healthy/healthier this sick season.
Hoping to keep my 3 year old and 4 year old boys healthy by having them:
Eat yogurt, which contains probiotics every morning. (Granted yogurt is not the best way of getting probiotics but it’s what I can do right now and something is better then nothing.)
Take 1 multivitamin (Rainbow Light Nutri Stars) every other day (The only reason I have them take their vitamins on an every other day basis is because good vitamins are expensive and with 2 kids, those vitamins add up fast! Plus I’m using the vitamin to help supplement not replace healthy eating.
Take 1 D3 supplement (Nature's Plus Animal Parade D3) Vitamin D is actually really helpful for boosting your immune system (makes sense to me – you get sick easier in the winter when there’s no sun) Vitamin D3 is the best source of Vitamin D, Vitamin D2 is synthetic and doesn’t work as well.
Sanitize their hands with vinegar. I’m not a germaphobe but when my boys come home from church or a play date, I will spray my vinegar sanitizer on their hands. Vinegar is much more natural then other disinfectants and yet it still does an amazing job at disinfecting. For the record, I put half vinegar and half water in a spray bottle.
Spray their toothbrushes with my vinegar mixture. Yes, I realize this one probably does make me sound like a germaphobe… However, it makes sense to me. Did you know that you are supposed to replace your toothbrush every time you get sick? Makes sense but honestly I’d be spending way too much money on toothbrushes if I did that! Enter in vinegar! Vinegar is great at disinfecting but it’s also edible therefore, I can feel free to spray it on anything, including potentially germy toothbrushes.
Keep them eating healthy. This one seems to get harder in the Fall/Winter seasons. Produce seems harder to find or at the very least they are more expensive. Suddenly everyone is baking up a storm and while it’s all very yummy, it’s also full of sugar and in case you didn’t know, sugar inhibits your immune system (probably another reason why we tend to get sick in the winter) I try to keep my kids eating healthy but it’s hard to do when you are out of the house…. all the more reason to make sure your kids eat really healthy at home because sugar will abound in the outside world.
If my boys DO get sick, I give them tea. Tea might not be the only thing I give them but it’s probably the first thing I give them. Tea mixed with a bit of honey (honey is good for coughs plus my boys are not huge plain tea fans) and I try to get a tiny bit of vinegar in there (yes, I am a bit crazy about my vinegar…one day I’ll do a post on the benefits of drinking vinegar)
There you have it! That is what I am doing to keep my boys healthy this season. We will see if we make it through these next few months without weekly colds…
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