April 3, 2013

4 DIY All-Natural Facial Cleansers

all natural facial cleansers

Written by Stacy Karen, Contributing Writer As more information comes to light regarding the damaging effects of chemicals and other unnatural ingredients in many commercial skincare products, the desire to move toward natural alternatives is common. Navigating the products available at the store can be difficult; many products don't fully disclose ingredients and a number of brands marketed as "natural" are nothing of the sort. This can be discouraging and stressful. The best way I have found to combat this problem is to make my [...]

Filed Under: Do it yourself, Frugality, Homemade, Homemade skincare and beauty, Natural living Tagged With: , , , , 25 Comments
March 1, 2013

30 Minute Dinner: Romano Turkey Burgers

romano turkey burgers

Written by Stacy Karen, Contributing Writer Over the years I've learned to start dinner early in the day in order to avoid the stress of cooking with hungry (or cranky) kids around at the 5 o' clock hour. However, I don't always manage to do so; on those nights it's nice to prepare something quick and easy. These Romano Turkey burgers fit the bill perfectly. I do cut a few corners in order to make them fast, such as buying Romano cheese already shredded and [...]

Filed Under: In the kitchen, Real Food, Real, whole food, Recipes Tagged With: , , , , , 5 Comments
February 1, 2013

5 Ways to Use Oil as Part of a Natural, Skincare Routine

5 ways to use oil

Written by Stacy Karen, Contributing Writer Switching to non-toxic skin care is a logical step for those wanting to lead a healthy and natural lifestyle. Using natural products on our skin is helpful in reducing the toxic load we carry since the skin so readily absorbs whatever we put on it. Many mainstream skin care products contain a number of harmful substances, such as parabens, phthatalates, and a variety of other synthetic ingredients. Thankfully, creating your own skin care products is not difficult and can [...]

Filed Under: Baby Steps, Do it yourself, Frugality, Homemade, Homemade skincare and beauty, Living healthy, Natural Remedies Tagged With: , , , , , , , , 24 Comments
January 4, 2013

First Steps to Real Food

first steps to real food KOTH

Are you working to ditch processed foods and put more real food on the table? This month we're running a series called Real Food Made Simple: A Beginner's Guide to Eating Better. Our goal is to answer the questions you might have and make the transition a whole lot easier! Written by Stacy Karen, Contributing Writer Transitioning your family to a real food diet can seem overwhelming. There is so much to learn, new foods to try, cooking techniques to master, and shopping strategies to [...]

Filed Under: Baby Steps, Living healthy, Nutrition, Raising healthy eaters, Real Food, Real, whole food, Realfoodmadesimple Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , 43 Comments
December 7, 2012

25 Grain Free Desserts (and a Chocolate Truffle Recipe)

25 grain free desserts at KeeperoftheHome.org

By Stacy K., Contributing Writer Over the past few months I have been working toward eliminating grains from my diet. I haven't felt this good in quite some time. While going grain free may not be for everyone, I am convinced that reducing the amount of grains we consume would be beneficial to most. With the holidays coming up, I thought it might be challenging to find treats that are grain free, until I started looking! There are a plethora of grain free recipes and [...]

Filed Under: Holidays, In the kitchen, Real Food, Real, whole food, Recipes, Seasonal eating Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , 12 Comments
November 2, 2012

How to Identify and Use Winter Squash

how to identify and use winter squash

Written by Stacy Karen, Contributing Writer While most can identify pumpkin and butternut as varieties of winter squash, many of us don't know much about other types of winter squash or how to prepare them. Today I want to dive into the world of winter squash and open the door to new eating possibilities. Health Benefits of Winter Squash Winter squash, especially those with darker flesh (like pumpkin and acorn) contain high amounts of carotene. Carotene has been shown to help protect against cancer, heart [...]

Filed Under: In the kitchen, Nutrition, Raising healthy eaters, Real Food, Real, whole food, Seasonal eating Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 26 Comments
October 5, 2012

Natural Homemade Facial Toner for Clean Skin

Natural, Homemade Facial Toner

Written by Stacy Karen, Contributing Writer Using toner (or astringent) as part of a regular skin care routine is helpful in removing dirt, tightening pores, and preparing the skin to be moisturized. Toners are also known to remove excess oil from the skin, which is helpful for those with extremely oil skin. That said, the pore-tightening effects of toner are beneficial to most skin types. Many of you may already use toner, and I expect you've also heard that witch hazel is an excellent, inexpensive alternative [...]

Filed Under: Herbs, Homemade, Homemade skincare and beauty Tagged With: , , , , , , , 22 Comments
September 7, 2012

Day in the Life: Stacy (Preacher’s wife and homeschool mom of an 11, 7, and 2 year old)

Early morning Bible reading

  Written by Stacy K, Contributing Writer I'm a little anxious about this post. You see, I'd really like for you all to think I have it all together. But I don't. There's also the underlying fact that I am a preacher's wife. Aren't preacher's wives really supposed to have it all together? Whatever "it" is? The day I am sharing with you is one in which I stayed up too late the night before. I started out on the wrong foot and was quite [...]

Filed Under: Family life, Getting organized, Homemaking Tagged With: , , , , , 55 Comments