April 24, 2013

Simple Steps to Safe and Natural Personal Care {And 18 Homemade Beauty Recipes}

Simple Steps to Safe and Natural Personal Care {With 18 Homemade Beauty Recipes}

By Emily, Contributing Writer As you're beginning your journey toward more green and natural living, one surprising thing you will most likely encounter early on is the truth about the dangerous chemicals and toxins lurking in the personal care and beauty products you use every single day. This knowledge can be somewhat shocking and overwhelming at first. I know it was for me! I specifically remember what I first thought upon hearing about the EWG's Cosmetic Safety Database, where they score personal care products based [...]

Filed Under: Baby Steps, Do it yourself, Healthy kids, Healthy Living, Homemade, Homemade skincare and beauty, Living healthy, Natural living Tagged With: , , , , 13 Comments
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
April 1, 2013

Natural Homemade Carpet Freshener

Natural Homemade Carpet Freshener

By Mindy, Contributing Writer By nature, I am not a clean freak. Don't get me wrong. I like everything to be clean, neat, and tidy, but I am not one of those people who just loves to clean. (On a side note, do those people really actually exist? If you take joy in scrubbing floors and toilets, then I think you and I could become quick friends, and I would love to have you over to my house!) Although, I don't find it particularly thrilling [...]

Filed Under: Do it yourself, Frugality, Homemade, Natural living, Non-toxic cleaning, Spring Clean the Toxins Tagged With: , , , , 25 Comments
February 27, 2013

DIY Children’s Chore Chart

DIY-Chore-Chart

By Stacy Myers, Contributing Writer I’m not sure about you, but I am very visually minded. You can TELL me how to do something and chances are I’ll flub it up every time. But, SHOW me how to do it, and I will probably flub it up--but with style. When it comes to housework and the like, I do better when I have a list. Wouldn’t that likely hold true for my 3.5 year old? Tell a child to feed the dog and she probably [...]

Filed Under: Children, Do it yourself, Family life, Home Educating, Homemade, Mothering Tagged With: , , , , 52 Comments
February 22, 2013

17 Homemade Spice Mixes {with Recipes & Why You Should Use Them!}

17 Homemade Spice Mixes

By Erin Odom, Contributing Writer Are you working to ditch processed foods and put more real food on the table? 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! Even before I started cooking from scratch, I started making my own homemade spice mixes. At first, it was out of pure laziness. I don't like to shop. Even before I had [...]

Filed Under: Baby Steps, Do it yourself, Herbs, Homemade, In the kitchen, Real, whole food, Realfoodmadesimple, Recipes Tagged With: , , , , 57 Comments
February 14, 2013

Finger Knitting: The Perfect Winter Craft for All Ages

How to finger knit

By Mandi, Contributing Writer We recently discovered finger knitting and my 7- and 8-year-old daughters are having so much fun knitting these fluffy yarn ropes. This is a cozy winter craft and also a great activity for road trips, time spent in waiting rooms and more. And it's so easy to do: Start by holding the end of your yarn tightly between your thumb and first finger. Then begin weaving the yarn over and under your fingers. When you get to your pinky, wrap the [...]

Filed Under: Children, Do it yourself, Homemade Tagged With: , , , , , , 6 Comments
February 13, 2013

Simple Roast Chicken (And Fabulous Side Dish Recipes!)

roastchicken

Guest Post by Beth of Red and Honey Are you working to ditch processed foods and put more real food on the table? This month we're continuing 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! I was a starry-eyed young bride at the tender age of nineteen, and the day we unpacked cardboard boxes in our wee bachelor suite I was in [...]

Filed Under: Baby Steps, Do it yourself, Healthy kids, In the kitchen, Living healthy, Raising healthy eaters, Real Food, Real, whole food, Realfoodmadesimple, Recipes, Traditional foods Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , 24 Comments
February 11, 2013

Simple Steps to Begin Cooking Homemade: Baked Goods

Simple Steps to begin Cooking Homemade: Baked Goods

By Contributing Writer Brandy Ferguson If you missed the first post in the Simple Steps to Begin Cooking Homemade series, we talked about some essential pantry staples that will help you get started cooking from scratch. And this month, we're discussing one of the most obvious, and probably one of our most favorite aspects of cooking homemade - baking! I'd always loved to bake, and as we began to have children, I realized more and more the importance of using simpler ingredients.  Even if I [...]

Filed Under: Baby Steps, Do it yourself, Frugality, Healthy kids, In the kitchen, Living healthy, Menu Planning, Raising healthy eaters, Real Food, Real, whole food, Realfoodmadesimple Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 9 Comments