Another deal on soap nuts

I have been using my soap nuts to do my laundry since September and I just now started in on my second bag. I was very pleased to see another deal for these so that I can be ready when I run out. I know my laundry is going to increase in a few months when the baby gets here! I also ordered the stain remover as something new to try since I am so impressed with this product.

Right now on Pure Citizen you can get a bag of soap nuts (85 loads of laundry) for only $7.50 plus shipping. If you're interested, now is the time to try it! They are even safe for the high efficiency machines.

Home Roasted Coffee

If you want to change your life, you should roast your own coffee beans! Ok, I know that may seem a little extreme but it is seriously good stuff. I have been trying to get Carson to like coffee for years and he tried to enjoy it before when he was looking for a caffeine boost, but has never liked it. When we were home for Thanksgiving we had friend bring her supplies and show us how to roast our own coffee beans! It was a pretty easy process and two days later when the beans were ready to grind we were all hooked on the coffee. Even Carson would ask my mom for coffee!

We decided to get the equipment as an anniversary present to each other and we just roasted our first batch yesterday. It turned out a little dark (strong) but it is still delicious!

It's just one more thing that I'm doing from home and once again I love that I know more about the process that my food undergoes. We purchased fair trade organic beans so I know where they are coming from and that my money is going to support small farmers getting paid fair wages. The beans come and they look very light brown, with a greenish tint. We roast them over our camp stove outside in a popcorn popper pot. The whole process takes about 30 minutes and then we have fresh, delicious coffee for the next week!

Homemade Lotion

I am always looking around my house at the products I use to see if there is anything I can make a homemade version of or buy a more natural option. I love slowly watching commercial products disappear from my house!

My latest change has been to make my own lotion. During the winter months my hands get so dry and not only did I not like using commercial lotions, but they didn't really work either. I saw a recipe online on how to make my own lotion bars and decided to give it a try. You might be wondering how it makes sense to have lotion in the form of a hard bar, but when you rub it on your hands, the warmth of your hands allows just enough to "melt" off.

Click here for the tutorial that I used. I just measured out the three ingredients: beeswax, shea butter, and coconut oil and melted them in the microwave. Add your favorite essential oil and pour into any shape mold that you would like. I used plastic containers of different sizes and came up with a variety of different size bars. It is not very time consuming but the bars will last a long time! It's a very simple change to make. My hands are no longer dry and cracked, and even my husband, who hated how greasy lotions made his hands feel, loves it!

I got my coconut oil and shea buttter from Amazon.com and the beeswax from Michaels craft store with a 40% off coupon. My only warning is that the utensils you use to make this become very oily and hard to clean. I found that the glass and porcelain products I used were much easier to clean than the plastics.

Sorry about my absence!

I believe my review of soap nuts is long overdue. A few days after I last posted here, back in August, we got a positive pregnancy test! The morning sickness hit pretty hard shortly after that and I was pretty much out of commission for the rest of the year. Blogging fell very low on my list of priorities as I could hardly handle everyday tasks.

I have, however, still been using my soap nuts and love them! My laundry smells, feels, and looks just as fresh as it did with my commercial detergent. Except for now I feel like it is even cleaner because I know it is not coated in all the chemicals found in commercial detergents. I am looking forward to being able to wash the babies clothes and not worry what it coming in contact with their skin! I plan to purchase more when I run out (I just started into the second bag that came with the deal I posted last time) so these soap nuts are lasting a long time and have been very beneficial to my laundry process.

Other than that, we have not made many other strides in our health journey. In fact, for a while we back tracked a little bit when I was not able to cook or anything. Carson handled most of the cooking so we reverted back to some convenience foods just so we could have something to eat. I am planning a small garden which I will be starting seeds for soon. We grew a tomato plant and some herbs last year and they were so useful. It feels so nice to prepare food from your own back yard!

I'll be back soon to post about the few things I was able to accomplish in the past few months such as making my own lotion bars and baking with fresh ground flour!

Update on Soap Nuts

I had to make an unplanned trip to Florida to be with my dad for some medical issues so I have been unable to give my soap nuts a try, but I found a great deal for today only if you were interested in trying them too! Click here to get over 100+ loads worth of natural soap nuts for $12+ shipping. This site also has some great tips on how to extend their life after the laundry to use has a natural household cleaner. Check it out if you're interested.

Review still to come when I get home. . .

Homemade Deodorant

Just a warning about this post. You may learn more about my armpits than you care to know. One of the first changes we made to our morning routine was to change our deodorant. I had always heard that antiperspirant was bad to use and that deodorant was better, but I couldn't get the deodorant to work. Honestly, sometimes the clinical strength antiperspirant didn't even work. I was very hesitant to try homemade deodorant, but we did, and we love it.

Antiperspirant actually blocks your pores and keeps you from sweating which can also block the toxins from escaping your body through your sweat. The aluminum in antiperspirant and commercial deodorant is thought to increase chances of breast cancer and is also linked to Alzheimer's and brain disorders! If you do choose to purchase a natural store bought deodorant instead, make sure it is paraben (parabens have been found in high concentrations in breast tumors), fragrance, and aluminum free!

The recipe:
5-6 Tbls Coconut Oil
1/4 cup Arrowroot Powder
1/4 cup Baking Soda
A few drops Tea Tree Oil
A few drops of your favorite essential oil (optional for scent)

It's much easier to watch someone put this together than for me to explain it so I'm going have you watch this video.

Now to explain the ingredients a little better. The coconut oil smells wonderful and makes the powders go on smoother. If you get the organic, extra virgin oil, you can use it to bake with too. I also use just the coconut oil for a lotion. The arrowroot powder is a thickening agent and helps absorb moisture. The baking soda helps get rid of the odor, and the tea tree oil is an antibacterial agent. Bacteria is what can cause some of the odor of the underarms.

I will be honest and admit that while I love this deodorant and it worked well preventing stinky underarms, I do have sensitive armpits and this irritated my skin. I've heard that you can reduce the baking soda amount, because that is the irritant so give that a try if you have problems similar to me. Also, coconut oil melts at 76 degrees. We find that during the summer in our house it just gets nice and soft to apply, but when traveling, it's always melted when we arrive at our destination and we normally have oil to clean up. So I would recommend using a natural store bought alternative when traveling. I use the Kiss My Face brand and find that it works well too. My husband, however, loves the homemade and has no complaints about it.

So how do you apply it? Once it's all made up, put it in a shallow jar or dish and then apply it with your fingers. I know that may sounds gross, but your armpits should be clean when you get out of the shower or you may be doing something wrong. The oil also helps to keep your hands soft.

I know it sounds weird and it's just a little bit of work, but it's worth a try to improve your health!

Soap Nuts

I got really excited about a package that came in the mail today. I didn't get a new pair of shoes or a new book, but rather laundry detergent. Yes, I am excited about laundry detergent! I am trying something new that I have read good reviews for and I'm looking forward to trying it for myself.

Soap Nuts

So what is so bad about laundry detergent? It supposed to be something that you "clean" with right? Well commercial laundry detergents are comprised of synthetic chemicals that can cause all sorts of problems such as rashes, allergies, and sinus problems- just to name a few. Those chemicals do not all come out in the rinse cycle, and what does is harming the environment. The rest of it remains in our clothes that we wear day in and day out. That's a lot of chemicals that your skin is being exposed to.

Enter Soap Nuts. Soap nuts are actually berries that come from the Chinese Soapberry Tree and they are naturally harvested. The fruit ripens on the tree, falls to the ground where it is picked up and then dried in the sun. Then they are ready for use! These soap nuts contain a natural substance called saponin that is released when they come in contact with water. Even better is that saponin has anti-microbial properties and they are certified organic.

I ordered mine from Yoreganics, which I found to be the cheapest that I could find. My order came promptly and with a personalized handwritten note thanking me for my order! I haven't even put them in my washer yet and I'm already hooked. I'll follow this up with a review so you can know for sure if they really work.

For more information, visit http://www.buysoapnuts.com/index.html