Clean eating blueberry granola

This has become a favorite of mine and If Im not careful I could literally eat all of it in one day. I truly have to put it away as soon as it cools.  I kind of go between this recipe and the pumpkin granola

Ok so the one thing you need to know is that I have jars of organic apples that I have slightly cooked to soften. These apples are frozen in canning jars and used for smoothies, juicers, breads and even my daughters lunch. Its like apple pie filling without all the sugar and stuff.. Anyhow,  its the applesauce I used in this recipe, but any applesauce will do. For this recipe, I just blended the soft apples and made the applesauce.

CLEAN EATING BLUEBERRY GRANOLA

2 cups of rolled oats
1 cup of dried blueberrys or cranberries
1/4 cup of ground flax seed
1/4 cup of grated coconut
3 tblsp coconut oil (optional)
1/4 cup of brown rice syrup (can use honey, agave etc)
1/2 applesauce (I use cinnamon)
2 tbsp Organic Blueberry agave nector

Preheat oven to 275. Mix all ingredients together in a bowl.  Spread on parchment paper on a baking sheet and bake until crispy - about 45 mins.


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No more plastic travel cups

Last week, I dropped and broke my two favorite PLASTIC travel cups and that my friend was the end of my plastic cups.

So thanks to my wonderful husband, I now have a glass travel cup, complete with my new stainless steel straws.  He drilled a hole in the top of my canning jar lid to fit the straw. YEAHHH

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Do away with plastic straws

It recently dawned on me that during my "Healthy Changes....One Step at a Time", I was serving my daughter green smoothies and blended veggies but giving her a plastic straw to sip from. It had been bothering me for some time but never considered there being other options (short of eliminating straws and lets face it straws make green drinks much tastier.) So after visiting my BFF, I found that she switched to a bamboo straw. I love it, Brilliant! But my husband wasnt keen on the idea so I researched further and found stainless steel straws.  I bought them, I love them.  They come with a brush for easy cleaning which was another bonus. If your using plastic straws, consider giving them up. Yeah they are alot cheaper than stainless steel, but the health benefits out weigh all that. I got these 4 straws and a cleaning brush for $10

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Got Spiders?

I have to credit my husband on this one! I got out of the shower and he said "Hey I just heard this natural remedy for spiders, google it"

So I did and as it has it, this is said to be a natural remedy to keep spiders away. I obviously havent tried it but hey, I live in the Carolinas. Pretty sure, I will get to test this out real soon

8 oz distilled vinegar
1 tbls of Coconut oil
1 spray bottle

Spray problem areas and this should repell spiders.  If anyones tried this please comment so we know if it truly works.  Pin It

Whey - healthy skin and hair etc

This article goes hand in hand with the Crockpot Yogurt recipe (see recipes)

In the last step of the recipe it calls for draining of the whey. Whey is the by-product of greek yogurts. It is also loaded with vitamins and protein.  Below you will find internal and extra uses for whey that will give your body, skin and hair great results

Alot of us tend to throw the whey down the drain, because lets be honest its not going to taste good on its own. If you can stomach it go ahead, chill it, throw it over and ice and drink it, its not bad just tangy.

But if you'd rather her are some other ideas for how to use your whey instead of throwing the best of the best down the drain (thank you to BFF for these suggestions)

• Add it to your dog/cat food
• Add it to a smoothie
• Cook your oatmeal or quinoa with it
• Use it instead of chicken broth
• Anytime you want to add extra protein and vitamins, add the whey

Now, on to what we are really here for. Healthy skin and hair. Whey will strenghten, nourish and add volume to limp hair. Cleaner, Moisturizer and toner for skin. Whey will help to nourish skin, tone and all together gives your skin fantastic results.

Hair

• Add to your shampoo
• Use as a shampoo
• Add as a conditioner and leave on for 5-15 mins then rinse off
• Spray on hair, evenly distribute, let hair dry and rinse

Skin

• Use a cotton ball and apply to face to cleanse, Tone and moisturize
• Put a couple cups full of whey into bath to restore PH

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Ants in the....Dog bowls

I have wasted so much dog food, throwing it out because the ants have invaded it. So I did some, yep thats right, research and found two options. I tried both and both work amazing.  But we forewarned you need to replace both these every few days.

For the dog bowl in the house, I drew a ring of bar soap around the dog bowl. Apparently the ants wont cross it. I had to lay it on pretty thick though. But after a couple days they figured it out or the scent or whatever keeps them away wears off. So what I did was used a scrub brush to wash that area. The ants cant pick up their own smell (so Im told) if you wash it away. Then I just draw a new ring.

For the dog bowl outside, I put the dog bowl food in a bigger bowl of water, creating a mote and the ants wont cross. Its important to replace this water every couple days, not because the ants come back but because if you dont, the food that drops in there, lets off the worst vomit smell ever...I know, trust me! Pin It

Homemade liquid dish soap

Well now is as good of time and ever to post this...being that I just ran out of dish soap.

Lately my choice of dish soap is a bar of Octagon and a scouring pad or sponge. However, I like to have my liquid soap with antibacterial also. So heres the recipe..

Liquid Dish Soap

1 gallon of warm water

2 cups shredded bar soap (I will use Octagon but you can use Kirks also )

½ cup lemon juice (or lemon oil)

5 drops tea tree oil (Antibacterial)

• Mix warm water and soap flakes in a large pot.
• Dissolve the soap flakes in the water on the stove over low heat. Continually stir the mix while it is heating.
• Let cool until almost room temperature.
• then add lemon juice (or oil).
• Mix in tea tree oil.
• Pour the mixture into bottles and shake well.

Heres a trick to get away from plastic.  Get yourself some canning jars and drill a hole at the top. Then get a pump to put in the hole. That way you avoid the plastic yet again.

EASIER RECIPE

• 1/2 cup liquid castile soap (unscented or whatever your favorite scent is…I like using tea tree for the added antibacterial properties.)
• 1/8 cup water
• 4 drops essential oil scent of choice (orange, lemon)

Directions:

Simply mix everything together and store it in an old liquid dish soap bottle! Use as you would store-bought liquid dish soap

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More trash talk (about plastic)

Get rid of them!

I recently organized my kitchen cupboards and you know what I did (prior to realizing how plastic is made from the devil)? I went out and purchased a bunch of plastic containers to organize my flour and cereals and pastas.  Yeah I decided to unintentionally poison my family.  Heres the thing, I spent some good money on that poison..Its disgusting to think of it

So heres a good idea..you know those jelly jars, pickle jars, peanut butter jars..Dont throw them away! They are perfect for storing cupboard foods.  Go to costco buy the bulk pickles just to get those big jars for the larger items.  Or how about, canning jars - under $20 and you too can keep your family safe.

My daughter loves her yogurt. So I have started making my own. She loves parfait.  My BFF suggested sending her yogurt to school in little canning jars.  What a fabulous idea! But wait, what happens if it drops and breaks.  She had a answer for that also. She said "Get a beer cozy, cut it to size and slip the jar in that"  Have I ever mentioned how brilliant my bff is. : )

So what do you say, this week, lets revamp our cupboards and get rid of those plastics..

Id bet any thrift store would have a plethura of jars for cheap.. Pin It

Making storage bags safer

So although Im trying to get away from using plastic, I still have boxes of snack/sandwich/freezer storage bags.  I must also admit, Im cheap and Im not fixin to throw them out just because I dont want plastics to touch my food. So..I found a quick fix.

I bought some parchment paper, tore off different sizes, sewed them down the sides and made a pouch that would fit perfectly into each size storage bags. I then threw my food into the parchment pouch and the pouch into the storage bag. Again, food is not touching plastic so we are good...

BTW there is a way to fold the parchment paper so it doesnt come undone but my sewing machine seems to have found a home on my kitchen table and my 6 yr old loves to sew them for me, so its just easier for me to sew.

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Say no to Plastics!

When you discover the truth behind plastics and how bad they are for you, you cant help but cringe at the thought of plastic touching our food and leeching all those chemicals into your food.

They do code plastics in terms of, those that have chemicals that leech and those that dont. But truth is, I dont believe there is any plastic, that is not harmful and Im not taking any chances.  Most plastics leech a chemical that mimics estrogen. These plastics, along with the growth horomones in our poultry, meats and dairy, are most likely responsible for our babies undergoing early puberty and a multitude of other issues.

I am slowly but surely, ridding my house of plastics. Its a long drawn out process because unfortunately everything is plastic. My first concern is to rid my family of any plastic that leeches into our foods. Think "PLASTIC IS NOT FOOD SAFE" no matter what kind.  Studies are showing that even BPA FREE plastics still have estrogen mimicking chemicals.

So, I started making the change right away with my daughters school lunches.  First I spent the money on buying some BENTO lunch packs. Bento is said to be free of BPA, PVC, Lead free and phthalates.  I will not put them in the dishwasher because I believe the dishwasher breaks them down and they eventually become unsafe.  But, even though I bought these, Im not 100% sure they are safe. So I am looking for other alternatives.

I am now making my own reusable washable lunch/snack bags.

I made these in trial and error.  I used laminated cotton to begin with but then decided I didnt like the idea of the lamination.  So the next one, I walked through the store trying to figure out what material would best suit the inside of these bags, that didnt contain chemicals.  So then I opted for the sealable vaccum bags which are food safe and BPA free. So I sewed that material to the inside of the bag and it works great...however Im still not convinced its the safest route.  I then decided to make some out of 100% cotton fabric and call it good..but wait, then you have the dyes from the fabric leeching into your food.  I then decided to throw cute out of the window and I am now making some out of plain ol' fashion organic unbleached muslin cotton. They may be boring but they will be 100% safe.

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Laundry detergent

Heres a laundry detergent that will cost you only cents per load.  I havent totally calculated it but I do know that I have spent under $20 for all the ingredients and Its lasted me 4 mths and I hardly put a dent in it.

2 cups Borax
2 cups Arm & Hammer super washing soda
2 Fels Napstha bar soap

You can use any bar laundry soap, I prefer Fels because it smells good. You can also add essential oils but I dont

Fine grate the soap bars and mix in with the Borax and A&H. I use about 1/8 cup per load for me and my daughter. I use 1/4 cup on my husbands clothes for obvious reasons.

Ive made the liquid detergent, but it takes longer.  If you want the recipe I can post that too. The liquid makes 5 gallons. Pin It

Ant Issues

ANTS AHHHH THEY WONT GO AWAY!

So fed up with the ants and I refuse to use chemicals to kill them, so I did some research and found some answers.  Now the majority of my ants were in my dogs food inside the house and out. So I tried two suggestions one for each.

Inside the house - I drew a ring of barsoap around the dogs dish, its said that they wont cross the soap.  Well it worked but only for a couple days, so I had to redraw the ring.

Outside the house - I put the dog food bowl floating inside a bigger bowl with water creating a "moat" - YAY it works. Just remember to refill the water

Eventually, I got tired of seeing the ring of soap around the dog dish in the house, so I took a scrub brush and washed the area entirely including the area where the ants were coming from. Its said if you wash with soap and water they loss track of their scent.  So far so good.

Then....they started into everything else even my cube of butter on the sink. So I figured, surely theres an essential oil thats good for that, so I decided to mix some peppermint oil with water and spray in the hole where the ants were coming out and WHHHAAA LAAA again!

Who needs chemicals - NOT I!



































































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