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
March 7, 2013

When the Line Between Need and Want Gets Blurred (and the preposterous numbers of ways to use a stick blender)

line between need and want blurred

They say necessity is the mother of all invention. After our first 6 weeks of traveling, I'd have to say that living and traveling internationally has proven that true time and time again. For example, take our first rental apartment in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It contained one lone frying pan. With its oddly warped and convex bottom, there was no way to keep it flat on the burner, and thus, no way to heat it evenly (or hardly at all). Enter the urgency of four [...]

Filed Under: Around the World Trip, Frugality, Good stewardship, Living Simply Tagged With: , , , , , , , , 29 Comments
February 18, 2013

Winter Giveaway Week: Win 1 of 3 Gift Certificates to Apple Valley Natural Soap

basil mint shampoo bar

There are very few things that I would consider important enough to put in the crazy expensive FedEx package that we're having shipped to Argentina. My Apple Valley Shampoo Bars? They made the cut. Seriously, I am in love with my shampoo bars. Back in the summer, I made a massive order from Apple Valley Natural Soap, buying enough shampoo bars, a few regular body soap bars, and our favorite healing herbal salve to last for the entire year that we'll be traveling. Every few [...]

Filed Under: Frugality, Giveaways, Natural living, Reviews Tagged With: , , , , 520 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
February 8, 2013

Food Is Not Cheap: 4 Steps to Budgeting in Real Food

budgeting_in_food

By Diana, Contributing Writer 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! Budget Friendly Tips! How To Save Money on Real Food! How to Eat Real Food for Cheap!  These are just some of the topics coming at us from every direction these [...]

Filed Under: Baby Steps, Frugality, Good stewardship, Healthy kids, In the kitchen, Living healthy, Menu Planning, Nutrition, Raising healthy eaters, Real Food, Real, whole food, Realfoodmadesimple, Seasonal eating Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , 19 Comments
February 7, 2013

Safe Bath Products for Kids

Safe bath products for kids

Written by Kate Tietje, Contributing Writer When I was expecting my first baby, I bought so much stuff.  Some of what I bought was all the "usual" baby care products -- shampoo, baby wash, baby lotion, and so on.  All of that stuff makes babies smell so good! Then, when my daughter was a few months old, I was putting on her baby lotion after her bath one night and I watched an angry, red rash appear immediately. Wow! We never used that lotion again. [...]

Filed Under: Babies, Baby Steps, Children, Do it yourself, Frugality, Healthy kids, Homemade skincare and beauty, Living healthy, Mothering, Natural living Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , 24 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