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Written by Kari @ Live on Purpose, Contributing Writer
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if eating healthy didn’t have to be so complicated? I love talking to my grandmother, who is 83, and just listening to how different things were so many years ago. Do you know there was a day and time when people just ate. Yep – it was that simple. They grew gardens, they raised cattle, pigs, goats and sheep. They knew how to prolong their winter supply and utilize everything they had so it didn’t go to waste. Many towns had small, family owned markets to get stuff like flour, sugar and spices. There may have been more labor involved in their eating, but they never had to wonder if the food they were eating was “real” or “fake”, if it had chemicals sprayed all over it or if they animal had been treated humanely. They just ate.
Not so much today. Unfortunately, most people spend hours upon hours every week just trying to see if the food they are buying and eating is healthy or toxic. Think of all the label reading, menu scouring, waiter questioning and google searches that go into your weekly eating habits.
One of the most misunderstood and sometimes unheard of issues with our food supply today is GMO’s – genetically modified organisms. Yes, I teach classes, do consultations and host small group challenges – and so many people still have never even heard of the term, GMO.
When I first heard about this issue years ago, I was fascinated and have researched it over the past 10 years with somewhat of a vengeance. So much so, that I do everything I can to avoid eating foods with GMO’s as mush as I can, although I found that when we travel it’s not super easy.
What exactly are GENETICALLY MODIFIED ORGANISMS Or GENETICALLY ENGINEERED INGREDIENTS?
Without getting into controversy here, I want to mention that there is much debate on the ethical boundaries of GMO’s and the fact that many countries ban any products with GMO’s and it’s illegal to grow anything with GMO’s – yet The United States allows them, grows them and supports them and their health benefits. In fact, many third party studies have shown such damaging effects of GMO, so we should be more cautious about these considering they never had studies done with genetically modified ingredients in the past. It’s also good to point out that the FDA does not require labeling and doesn’t feel it’s necessary as long as the companies declare it to be
safe.
Basically, food is altered in an unnatural way that is damaging our soil, hurting family farms and is disrupting the healthy functions of the physical body, in humans and animals. When you understand that this is an area that is understudied and short term and long term effects are mostly unknown still, we need to have better diligence when it comes to consuming foods containing these.
Personally I think the biggest concern is that the government and agencies do not feel we have the right to know what foods on the market contain GMO’s. This is disturbing, so it’s a good idea to do research on these foods, which companies use them and don’t and how to know what to look for when you are grocery shopping.
Below you will find a good list of companies that are GMO-free! Although there is no complete list that I have found – these are good resources and helpful for those who don’t have the time to do the research themselves. Get acquainted with the names. Print off the list and carry it with you when you go shopping. Look for stamps on foods that say “NON-GMO VERIFIED” or “CERTIFIED ORGANIC USDA”. These simple steps will help you narrow down your selections so you know which foods are safe to eat. They may not be as safe as going to your backyard, but for those who have to buy their food at the store – these two things will make a huge difference in your food choices.
Choose dairy that states it’s from grass fed cows. Ask if your meat is raised and finished on grass – you don’t want meat from a grain-fed cow, even if it’s organic meat. When buying chicken and eggs – you want pasture-raised. This will be the healthiest and most beneficial to your body.
Shopping doesn’t have to be hard, but unless you do a little research and have some resources you can turn to – it may be a part of your weekly routine that you dread. Get informed, be proactive and shop easy!
- GreenPeace PDF Guide to NON-GMO companies – click here
- GMO-Free Foods from Nourished Kitchen – click here
- NON-GMO Companies by Healthy Family – click here
- NON-GMO Shopping Guides and Tips Downloadable – click here
A couple quotes to think on:
“As far as genetic engineering for food, that is the great experiment that has failed. They literally have the entire world market against them. All those dreams… the blind will see, the lame will walk… has turned out to be science fiction. They are basically chemical companies selling more chemicals. They’ve been able to spread these herbicide-promoting plants around because it is more convenient for farmers who can just mass-spray their crops. But they’ve given absolutely nothing to the consumer while causing more chemical pollution and contamination.” – Lawyer, Andrew Kimbrell, executive director of the Center for Food Safety (USA)
“Any scientist who tells you they know that GMOs are safe and not to worry about it, is either ignorant of the history of science or is deliberately lying. Nobody knows what the long-term effect will be.” – Geneticist, David Suzuki, giving the 2008 Commonwealth Lecture in London
How will you be proactive when it comes to avoiding genetically modified foods?
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Written by KT of One Organic Mama, Contributing Writer
On the 4th day of Christmas, day2day joys gave to me…
Two luxurious products from Simple Beauty Minerals. Their concealer and balancing lotion will keep you looking fantastic this Christmas season AND would make a wonderful gift for anyone on your list!!
Simple Beauty Minerals is a company run by Lisa, who has worked in the cosmetic industry for more than 30 years. She prides herself on her one-on-one personal service and care for you and your skin! Even to do this review, Lisa worked closely with me to recommend products that I would really use and that I needed. Their products are handcrafted by women with care. This family run company prides itself on featuring REAL women throughout their site because their products are for everyone!! #DontTouchThatUp
There are NO dirty toxins in Simple Beauty Minerals and they are enhance your skin making it look flawless! Additionally they offer vegan and gluten free makeup options. Unlike most beauty products, these list ALL the ingredients! You won’t find anything scary on here! Natural, organic, and good for your products for your skin!
Features of Simple Beauty Minerals Concealer and Balancing Lotion
- weightless, silky powder
- effective in the under eye area
- water resistant
- can be used as foundation if you need more coverage
- just as effective as a typical concealer
- this lotion was the perfect base to put on before the powder concealer
- it is great for normal to oily skin
- it is NOT at all greasy
- it soothes the skin and was great all over my face and neck
Now for my review:
I was given concealer and a bottle of balancing lotion. After talking with Lisa we decided on these two products since I usually only wear concealer and a little bit of mascara… as a 3rd time mom of a newborn who never sleeps – I MUST use some concealer before leaving the house! I was skeptical that a powder could provide coverage for my under eye circles but I was pleasantly surprised!
I used the lotion first right out of the shower all over my face. The lotion was thick and smooth. I only needed a tiny amount to moisturize my whole face. It felt light and great!
After it was absorbed I moved on to the concealer. Lisa recommends using a brush for the concealer but you can also just use your finger. I tried both and the results were the same. I couldn’t tell the difference between my regular concealer and the mineral based powder by looking – but the FEEL of the mineral powder was amazing!! It is light and so smooth. I absolutely loved it!!
What I Liked:
- The silky feel
- The balancing hydration
- The ingredients
- The look
- The company and LISA!!
What I didn’t Like:
- Nothing!
You can Buy It!
Go to Simple Beauty Minerals and see all they have to offer! You can get 20% off any order by going here.
You can Win it!
Enter this giveaway! If you win, you can choose to receive the concealer and balancing lotion ($40.00 value) or this starter kit ($25.00 value)!
Use Rafflecopter Below:
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Check out ALL of the 12 Days of Christmas here!
**ALL of the 12 Days of Christmas giveaways end on December 7, 2015 at 11:59pm EST and is open to USA & Canada residents ONLY. One lucky winner will be chosen using rafflecopter and be notified by email. The winner will have 3 days to respond with their contact information, if they do not respond a new winner will be chosen. Must be 18 to enter. No purchase Necessary.
How do you keep your makeup toxin free? Have you used mineral makeup before? Which product do you want to try?
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Written by Kari @ Living Strong Wellness, Contributing Writer
It seems these days that good, restful sleep is hard to come by. Not only with adults, but children as well. As this is not an exciting fact, it is a reality and I believe we have a wonderful variety of natural options to help us.
For instance, there are herbal teas, essential oils, supplements and something I want to share with you today – magnesium butter.
Ahhh, this stuff is amazing. Why do I love it so much? Because it provides our body something that is lacking so severely in today’s generation – magnesium.
There are many benefits of healthy magnesium levels. To mention just a few:
- Magnesium helps muscle and nerve function. Serving as calcium’s vital partner, magnesium will allow calcium to do it’s job to build muscle growth.
- Magnesium plays an important role in gut health. Without good levels of magnesium aid in the absorption of copper, potassium, vitamin D and zinc. It also helps regulate blood sugar levels, which will lessen the risk for diabetes.
- Magnesium can help lower blood pressure or keep blood pressure low by allowing your muscles to relax, contract and push blood through the arteries and veins without force.
- Magnesium helps melatonin (the sleep regulating hormone) stay balanced, which allows for more peaceful sleep.
- Magnesium can help balance stress hormones, eliminating stress and tension and allowing for a more relaxed state of being (which in return will help with rest as well).
The list goes on and on, but those five points alone should get people’s attention when it comes to supplementing with safe sources of magnesium. Data from 2012 stated that 48% of the American population, 79% over the age of 55, were deficient in magnesium. This isn’t good, especially when it is such a vital mineral and nutrient for our bodies.
Along with taking a liquid mineral supplement, we use magnesium butter every evening before we go to bed. We just spread a thin layer either behind our knees or on our inner arm (where the skin in thin) and that’s it! I have made this for several family members and friends and they all love it and can tell a huge difference in their quality of sleep (especially the adults…go figure)!
The recipe is simple and last a long time on the shelf! We always use it, so we go through a 4 ounce container in about 3-4 months (three of us use it). Since the recipe doesn’t contain water, it would probably last a good 6-8 months if kept clean (wash hands before using the butter) and can always be extended to 12-18 months or longer if refrigerated!
You can make this recipe ‘naked’, meaning adding no essential oils, or you can add your favorite calming and sleep inducing oils such as lavender, cedarwood, vetiver, ylang ylang or sandalwood! If you are using therapeutic grade essential oils, only use a total of 40 drops of oils combined for this amount, which is one cup.
The end result with the color will vary depending on the type of shea butter you use. We use a raw shea butter that has a deep, deep yellow tone and rich scent and amazing benefits that trump refined and bleached shea butters.
Whipped Naked Magnesium Butter
What You’ll Need:
- 3/8 cups virgin coconut oil
- 3/8 cups raw shea butter
- ¼ cup magnesium oil (how to make it yourself)
- ¼ cup almond or jojoba oil
What You’ll Do:
- Melt the virgin coconut oil and raw shea butter over low heat just until it’s all liquid.
- Add the almond or jojoba oil, pour into a medium glass bowl and allow to cool to room temp. You can leave on the counter for an hour or so or you can stick it in the fridge to speed up the process. I like the fridge :o)
- Using a hand mixer or immersion blender, take your room temp oil mix, turn on the blender and slowly add the room temp magnesium oil.
- Mix or blend this until it is creamy. You can’t have any separation, which means, no water droplets anywhere. This can take a few minutes if the oils are room temp. If they are too warm, it will take longer.
- Place the bowl in the fridge for around 30 minutes. You want to see it starting to harden and solidify.
- Once it’s solidifying, remove the bowl and using the mixer or blender with a whisk attachment, whip the mixture until light and fluffy! If you are adding essential oils, do it during this step.
- Store in a glass jar or container and place in a cool, dark place.
I hope you enjoy the wonderful benefits of this magnesium butter that is safe for you and your entire family!
What is your favorite natural solution for calming and peaceful sleep?
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Tropical Delight Smoothie
What you need:
1 banana, sliced (either fresh or frozen)
1/2 cup pineapple, fresh or frozen
1/2 cup ice (this is optional and typically used when the fruit you are using isn’t frozen, if you are using frozen fruit, it usually is plenty cold and you won’t need the ice)
What to do:
What is your family’s favorite smoothie?
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Written by Kari, Contributing Writer
Sometimes certain subjects aren’t exciting to talk about, but they affect our lives in more ways than we know. One of those is snoring. Yes, snoring and this is something that I have had to deal with in my 15 years of marriage. After 15 years of trying almost every way to eliminate this problem, it is FINALLY solved and we’ve had two months of snore-free nights. Now, I want to share with you how we got to this amazing place of peaceful and restful sleep – naturally!
First, lets look at some realistic statistics on this topic:
- 30% of people 30 or older snore
- 40% of people 40 or older snore
- 19% of adult females snore
- 59% of people who say their partner snores
- 5.6% of children snore habitually
- 28% of people who say they experience sleep apnea
- 38 decibels – the average decibel level of a snore
- Approximately 9% of all men and 4% of all women between the ages of 30 and 60 are affected by sleep apnea.
- Sleep apnea may occur in as much as 20 to 40 percent of the adult population that are snorers.
- The partner of someone afflicted with sleep apnea loses approximately one hour of sleep per evening and may wake up as many as 21 times per hour, a side-effect of apnea known as “Spousal Arousal Syndrome”.
- People that are suffering from obstructive sleep apnea are as much as six times more likely to be involved in a car crash then those without sleep disorders. This is due to the fact that they are drowsy from the condition.
- According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, drowsy driving is responsible for at least 100,000 automobile crashes as well as 1,550 fatalities per year.
Now that we know this, isn’t it time we do something about it? On top of it, do something about it naturally.
Many of you already know the wonderful benefits of using therapeutic grade essential oils. Now, for me, I was always skeptical when it came to the properties of essential oils, although I’ve used them over the course of the past 22 years – mostly just for the scent, not the health benefits.
A few months ago, I came to a point I was pretty fed up with my husband’s snoring. Not fed up with my husband, but with the nearly sleepless nights I was getting because of this issue. Not only that – but sleep apnea had become a part of this issue, which is never fun. Laying awake at night, listening to the person you love stop breathing for short periods of time, waiting to hear them start breathing again. I also knew how this was affecting him. Read the statistics above if you need a reminder.
As a last resort, I asked a friend who used essential oils if there were any known oils that would help with snoring issues. She went through her book and gave me the names of some oil blends that were said to help eliminate snoring. I went ahead and ordered them along with the handbook, still skeptical, but desperate for something to work. Something that wouldn’t involve pills, surgery or machines.
Before we began applying the oils, I read through the essential oils handbook twice to make sure I had knowledge before blindly slathering therapeutic grade oils over my husband. I learned the why and how of using oils, the application, the cautions and everything I needed to know to understand why these should work.
Finally, the experimenting again. That’s how I looked at it – an experiment and I only gave it a week. I didn’t even jump in with both feet – I guess I was just hoping for the best and going for it.
Well, long story short, I began applying these 3 oil blends alternately (very important when using blends) every night on my husband’s chest and back and I am happy to say that we have had two months of snore-free nights! At first I thought it was a fluke, so we decided to stop using the oils for a couple nights, but the snoring returned, so we went back to using the oil blends.
Since seeing the results personally of using therapeutic grade essential oils, I pulled out all the books and information I’ve collected over the past 22 years and have had my nose in those books drinking in everything I’ve overlooked all these years. I am now also taking classes through a highly respectable certification program and have become a distributor of certified therapeutic grade essential oils through a non-MLM company.
I chose this company because it was the brand I first used and saw results with and I liked the fact that I can offer them to my clients a lower price than those from other companies since all middle men are removed. They are a wonderful, small company that sells high quality, therapeutic grade essential oils that work wonderfully!
If you would like to try to get some much needed rest in your home, you can take the steps we took and purchase our “Quiet Nights ~ Stop The Snoring Kit”! The kit is already a savings of 25% and you can get an extra 15% off by using the coupon code STOPSNORINGNOW!
We hope you find much success in using these oils as we did!
What are your favorite essential oil blends for natural remedies?
statistics gathered from:
http://www.exploringsnoring.com/snoring-statistics/
http://www.statisticbrain.com/snoring-statistics/
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Cleaning.
We all have to do it and if you think about it, this is a constant activity in our lives. Whether we are personally the ones cleaning our homes or someone else is, the fact is, you have to use cleaners.
Unfortunately, the cleaners most people have in their home are extremely toxic and dangerous to our health. If you think about how often cleaners are used in our home, you can get a good picture of how many chemicals you have floating around, embedded in the carpet, bedding, towels and clothes.
Our homes are letting off chemical vapors every second of the day. For instance, chemicals from paint, new carpet, furniture and all the cleaning products, air fresheners and perfumes we use – just to name a few.
That’s a lot of foreign substance going into our body every single day. Thankfully our bodies were wonderfully created to be able to keep us from being badly affected by these kinds of toxins. Unfortunately, we are in a state of toxic overload in this generation and our bodies are having a harder time keeping these chemicals from harming us.
Research shows how these chemical-laden products can cause issues in the central nervous system, in the lungs, neurologically and so much more. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want any part of my body harmed by the stuff I clean with.
One of the best ways we can lessen the impact of toxic chemical exposure is by making your own cleaning products. It’s easy, simple and extremely inexpensive. Recipes bombard the Google search pages and so many contain 5 ingredients or less.
Our home has been commercial cleaning product free for about 8 years now and I’ll never go back to using that toxic stuff. My house gets just as clean, if not cleaner, by using simple, homemade cleaners using ingredients such as baking soda, borax, lemon juice, olive oil, vinegar, liquid soap and essential oils. The recipe I am sharing today is for an all purpose cleaner and it might be one of the simplest recipes to make. It uses white vinegar and grapefruit (with some added oranges, lemons and limes if I have any). That’s it. I appreciate that the natural elements of the grapefruit contain wonderful cleaning and sanitizing agents. The citrus scent also beats any commercial product out there! There is probably a lingering scent of the vinegar, although I’m so use to using it, i don’t notice it. If so, and you don’t like that, you can add a high quality grade essential oil that will help with the scent as well as the antimicrobial properties of the cleanser.
All Purpose Citrus Cleaner:
What You Need:
- 2 organic grapefruits (and any organic oranges or lemons peels/flesh you may have)
- white vinegar (approximately 3+ cups)
- you can also just use the peels so you don’t have to waste those every time you eat citrus fruit
What You Do:
- Slice the grapefruit or oranges.
- Place all of them in a 1 quart glass jar. If you’re like me and want bulk, use a larger jar, fill it with the citrus fruits then fill with vinegar.
- Fill the jar with white vinegar, leaving about 1” at the top.
- Set jar in a windowsill for at least 2 weeks to allow the vinegar to pull out all the good stuff from the citrus fruit. If you are using just the peels, allow it to steep a week or two longer.
- Once it’s ready, strain the vinegar and then squeeze the grapefruit (while in the strainer) to get all the juice out.
- Use as a concentrate. I like to use a 1:2 ratio water to citrus liquid. Pour into a spray bottle and store any extra in a glass jar in a cool, dark place.
- Use as an all purpose cleaner on counter tops, porcelain fixtures in the bathroom, tile, walls, etc. If you are unsure about finish on your walls or furniture, test a small area first before using. I do not use it on mirrors – the oils in it will cause streaking.
- Breathe in. Ahhhhh.
There you have it. A simple, easy, yummy-smelling citrus all purpose cleaner! I promise you – once you switch over to making your own products, you’ll love the results. Not only in your home, but in your pocketbook as well! The best benefit will be the fact that you aren’t harming your family’s health every time you clean. It makes cleaning worth while!
Do you make your own safe cleaning products? What is your favorite?
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]]>The post What It’s Like to Afford Fresh Organic Produce and How You Can Do It Too appeared first on Day2Day Joys.
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**Please meet Reelika, a new contributor… she would love to hear from you! -Rachel
You are a great mommy. You want the best for your kids and family. It is the hope of many families to be able to provide organic veggies, fruits and berries to their family and especially to the kids. Unfortunately the downside of organic produce is the cost. But what if I told you there are ways that you can still provide the best organic produce to your kiddos without breaking your budget?
As a mom to an allergic toddler and having been diagnosed with hypothyroidism myself, I have done lots of research about the benefits of organic food. I am not a health care advisor, but I can share what has worked for our family and how you can do it too.
Organic produce has been very beneficial for our family. Since my toddler is allergic to many things, I provide him with several organic veggies, fruits and berries. He loves this delicious organic produce and is not a picky eater anymore. He used to be very hyperactive, but since switching to organic food, we don’t seem to have much of a problem with it anymore.
We cut back on other things, but invest into our health, so it keeps us away from pharmacies, doctor’s office and hospitals. Being healthy means also being more productive and happy at preschool, home and work.
Top 3 Tips on How to Afford Organic Produce
Tip # 1 – Organic Produce as an Investment
Don’t look at the price tag of the organic produce as a number; instead, see it as an investment. Compare it to the costs of medications, health care and doctor’s visits.
Chances are you have heard that non-organic food can contain pesticides and cancer-causing hormones or even GMOs. Research shows that pesticides can cause not only cancer, but also allergies, skin and neurological issues, ADHD, birth defects and much more.
Children are especially sensitive to pesticides due to their development and growth. You can either pay the farmer or the pharmaceutical business.
It is time to invest into your and your family’s health. The truth is, many people don’t think about it until they have some kind of health problem. I have to admit, I am completely guilty as I was one of them.
I never felt the need for organic food, until I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism during pregnancy. Since then I have invested into my health instead of the medications I had to use. In fact, medications were more expensive than my investment in organic produce, and I am so much healthier now.
Tip # 2 – Prioritizing Organic Produce
Take a look at what other monthly expenses you have – a new iPhone, expensive jewelry, eating out several times per week, new fancy toys, etc. If you can afford any of them, you can also afford organic produce. Find ways to cut back on monthly payments and use the money instead for quality organic produce.
I am always looking for ways to cut back on our monthly expenses. Saving water and lowering heating costs increases our grocery budget. A monthly budget gives you a crystal-clear overview of your highest expenses so you can make your own choices of where to cut back.
Tip # 3 – Making the Right Choices
It can save you big bucks if you are making the right choices. Be aware of when and which organic produce to buy.
Here is what to keep in mind while choosing fresh organic produce:
- If you bought expensive organic veggies yesterday, then find less expensive produce to buy next time you do groceries. It keeps your budget in balance.
- Meal plan and create a grocery shopping list. Buy the amount of veggies you are planning to eat so you won’t be wasteful.
- Be creative with organic veggies that are close to expiring. You can use them for smoothies, baking, or soup.
- Buy what is on sale or close to its expiry date. It can save huge bucks when the expiration date is close by. Just make sure you use it as soon as possible.
- Buy local. Any organic local veggie is always cheaper than an imported one.
- Prefer seasonal. Prioritize what is in season as it tends to be cheaper, and you can also freeze these for the non-seasonal time.
- Don’t buy pre-washed and packaged food, as these cost much more.
- Prefer healthy veggies and berries for snacks. Leaving chocolate, cookies and chips out of your grocery list saves you money for organic veggies, fruit and berries.
- Frozen organic veggies are great choices as well. Buy them in bulk and while on sale.
- Grow your own organic herbs that you can use for meals. You don’t need a yard to grow your own green leafs. All you need is a small space in kitchen or on a balcony to have your own organic herb section. I also have mini-tomatoes growing in my kitchen.
- Wash the produce just before using it so it will last longer.
- Citrus produce can last at least a week longer when stored in the fridge.
- Don’t forget coupons! Find the best deals and use them.
- Negotiate if possible. When buying directly from a farmer, use your negotiation skills. Offer to buy in bulk and don’t be afraid to ask for a discount. Most likely the farmer will be more than happy to offer you a discounted price when selling more. You can freeze the extra for later and will have saved big bucks.
Fresh organic veggies, fruits and berries are always going to be expensive, but investing into our family’s health and cutting back on our monthly expenses has made a difference for our well-being. Making the right choices keeps us on budget and provides a quality lifestyle. You can do it too!
Did I miss anything? How do you make organic produce affordable for your family?
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Written by Christy @ Fresh Mix Momma, Contributing Writer
Hello 2015! It’s nice to meet you!
Although I love to meet a bright and shining New Year, I am not thrilled with the cold & flu season that seems to come with it!
Just like many others, I had recently come down with a nasty cold. Of course, just my luck it was the same day my husband went back to work, leaving just me & my little one (isn’t that the way it always goes?)
I will be the first one to tell you, I can’t stand taking medicine! I can take a good multivitamin with no problem, but I just don’t like medicine. I feel like most the time over the counter medicines just mask the problem for a little bit and don’t actually help treat the issue. I also pretty much refuse to go to the doctors unless I absolutely have to.
So, what do I do when I get sick?
On the rare occasions that I do get sick, there are always a few things that I do to knock out my cold quickly.
Here are my tips for treating a cold without medicine:
1. Rest
I know this one can be hard, since we are all busy, but it is very important to try and get as much rest as you can.
2. Water, Water, Water
You need to be sure to keep your body hydrated when you aren’t feeling well. As much as you might want that Tea, Gatorade or Sprite nothing will help hydrate you better than just plain ol’ H2O!
3. Steam it up!
This is one of my first go to tricks whenever I feel like a cold may be coming on. I steam up the bathroom and just go in, relax and breath in the steam. Not only can a steamed room be nice and relaxing, but by inhaling the steam it can help you breath better and loosen any congestion you might have.
4. Take your Vitamins
Taking a good multivitamin can do wonders! Many times when you aren’t feeling well, you don’t feel like eating very much so much sure that your body is getting extra vitamins that it needs. Taking in some extra Vitamin C doesn’t hurt either. Rachel recommends these women’s multi’s.
5. Tea with honey please!
Another go to for me is drinking some Green Tea
I hope that these tips help you, if you are feeling under the weather. Here’s to a healthy & Happy New Year!
What are some natural ways that you treat a cold?
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It’s a new year, which means new goals right?
Well, a HUGE goal I’ve had for a while now was to clean my oven. Boy or boy was it yucky and I have been using it almost a year without cleaning it, yes– I did just confess that.
You see, we bought our first house, a Log-home and moved in (in January of last year), got mostly unpacked, had a homebirth, started a new school year and got on with life. Time passed and I kept telling myself I’ll do it later. Later came and went but while my parents were visiting for Christmas, my mom got it started.
I am pretty sure the oven hadn’t been cleaned in years, if not decades.
With a little elbow grease and this natural recipe, we got our oven to look (almost) as good as new, considering it is a 20 year old oven.
Natural Oven Cleaner
- baking soda
- vinegar
- *optional: lemon essential oil
- Gather ingredients, remove racks
- Before your ready to start cleaning, make a paste using 2 parts baking soda, 1 part vinegar, adding in about 10 drops of lemon essential oil if you'd like to, set aside
- Spread paste all over turn oven. Turn oven on high for about 30-40 seconds, then turn off, let sit for a minimum of 1 hour or overnight
- Get a washcloth or scrubber and begin scrubbing all over, residue should begin to come off
- Rinse washcloth or scrubber as needed, scrub and repeat using paste
- Once finished, wet a wash cloth and wipe out all remaining paste, and you should have a shiny clean oven
We got started using the recipe above. Since it’s non-toxic and all natural, I felt safe letting my kids help, after all this helps with teaching them that everyone needs to share the workload as well as teaches them responsibility. You probably can see a spot in the middle, well, we scrubbed and scrubbed but couldn’t get the 20 years of baked on residue in the middle but maybe next time, it’ll come off.
As I noted in the recipe, the Lemon essential oil is not a mandatory ingredient but I recommend it because not only does it help make your cleaning area smell wonderful, it helps to break down the grease and helps to make the surface area sparkle! 
How do you keep your oven clean?
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Written bu Contributing Writer, Jenn @ A Simple Haven
Skin care products and I have a long history. I’ve always struggled with breakouts and have tried just about every oral or topical product suggested by dermatologists.
I’ll get patches of dryness brought on by winter weather or said products.
And as far as cleansers go, my tendency has been to use scrubs or harsh ones that have probably done more harm than help.
I’ve spent way more time and money than I’d like trying to figure out an effective skin care regime–and the results have never been stellar.
Until this year.
Now, this isn’t some complete transformation story. My skin is far from perfect.
But thanks to some dietary changes, a good probiotic, and more natural skincare products, it’s way better than it has been in the past.
And now I have the satisfaction of knowing I’m not putting junk on my face that’s making it worse or loads of chemicals that are getting absorbed into my body.
I’m also spending a modest amount, which feels good too.
My Three Favorite Skin Care Products:
1.) Jojoba Oil
I’ve used the oil-cleansing method for almost a year now and am super happy with it. Jojoba Oil
Most of the year, I use these facial cloths, but in the winter they tend to dry my skin out a bit. So I just switch to a regular wash cloth then.
2.) Tea Tree Oil
Mixed with jojoba oil (I use about five-ten drops of tea tree per of couple tablespoons of jojoba oil–it’s too strong to use alone!), I find this to be the best blemish-fighter ever. And this is coming from someone who has tried about every blemish fighter out there.
I get my tea tree oil from Vitacost, but it’s widely available at natural food stores. Bonus: You only need a drop of this mixture at a time, so it lasts a good while.
3.) Celtic Sea Salt Face/Body Scrub
Usually I’m not one to mix up my own skin care products, but when I ran out of my favorite body scrub, I was motivated to get to the kitchen and try my hand at some. This stuff is so quick and easy to make–and lovely to use–that it’s become a staple.
Apply it to damp skin and rub gently. Rinse with warm water or wipe with a wet washcloth, then pat dry. I use it about four times a week.
And that’s it!
Besides a paraben/phthalate-free moisturizer (that I also buy from Vitacost, you can use this link to get $10 free on your first order), that’s the extent of my skincare regime. Maybe there are other fabulous night cremes and such out there that could be changing my world, but I like to keep things pretty simple.
As far as make-up goes, I like Arbonne’s liquid foundation and RMS Beauty’s “un-powder.” Both companies are really transparent about their ingredients, which I appreciate.
And since I use foundation and powder most often, I’m ok with spending more on quality stuff.
For eye make-up, I use a random combination of grocery store stuff and whatever Clinique samples I happen to have. So, definitely not perfect by way of natural beauty product standards, but ok with me for now :).
Do you have a favorite natural or DIY beauty product? Or is there a brand that you particularly love?
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