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 22, 2013

Healthy, Homemade Food for a Crowd

Healthy, Homemade Food for a Crowd

By Brandy, Contributing Writer When it comes to feeding a crowd, I need look no further than my own kitchen.  And when it comes to social gatherings, I'm usually not the least bit intimidated about the large amounts of food needing to be prepared. So many times, we think it's much easier, and therefore really tempting, to simply grab ready-made food from the store.  But it doesn't have to be that way.  There are many homemade foods that can be whipped up in a snap [...]

Filed Under: Homemade, In the kitchen Tagged With: , , , , , , 5 Comments
April 19, 2013

25 Uses for Tea Tree Oil

Tea Tree Oil Uses

By Rachel, Contributing Writer Today we're talking about an essential oil that you've probably heard of before or have even seen in recipes for homemade cleaners here at Keeper of the Home: tea tree oil. Tea tree has such a diversity of usefulness that's both practical and convenient that you'll never want to live without it again! And the good news is that it is very inexpensive in comparison to other essential oils. photo credit What is Tea Tree Oil? Tea tree oil, also known as Melaleuca alternifoliais, is an [...]

Filed Under: Baby Steps, Healthy Living, Living healthy, Natural living, Natural Remedies, Non-toxic cleaning Tagged With: , , , , , 103 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
March 27, 2013

Simple Steps to Begin Cooking Homemade: Soups, Sauces, and Simple Dinners

Simple Steps to Begin Cooking Homemade

By Brandy, Contributing Writer Putting together fresh, homemade meals becomes easier once  you've got a few basic recipes for soups, sauces, and simple dinners under your belt. Make Your Own Stock Many recipes begin with a simple beef or chicken stock.  You can learn how to make these nourishing, simple soup bases by reading this tutorial. If a recipe calls for a cream soup, here's a simple recipe for making that from scratch, too. From these stocks and cream soups, you can create the most [...]

Filed Under: In the kitchen, Nutrition, Real Food, Real, whole food, Realfoodmadesimple, Recipes Tagged With: , , , , , , , , 3 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