DIY Toilet Bowl Cleaner

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Germs seem to lurk everywhere. In order to stay healthy and keep momma happy it is important to keep our living and work spaces clean. Many of the cleaning products that we use on a daily basis are harmful to our health and our environment. We love you to much not to touch on DIY Easy Homemade Cleaners In a previous blog post we have covered the easy homemade cleaners:

With these recipes you can feel good knowing you are not exposing your friends and family to toxic chemicals and they are way less expensive. Today we want to give you a recipe for DIY Toilet Bowl Cleaner

DIY Toilet Bowl Cleaner

What you will need:

  • 1/2 cup baking soda
  • 1/2 cup white vinegar

What you do:

Combine the baking soda and white vinegar in the toilet. Close the lid. Clean the rest of the bathroom with our simple all purpose cleaner. Use the toilet brush to scrub the toilet bowl. Flush the toilet after scrubbing. Viola, you have a sparkling, clean toilet bowl.

Pumpkin Chili

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Pumpkin Chili is one of our favorite fall dishes. When it gets cold outside, you can warm up with our Pumpkin Chili recipe. Make a pot and share it with your family and friends. In the comments, let us know how much you liked it. This Pumpkin Chili is the perfect freezer meal so double the recipe so you can enjoy this chili all winter long.

To vote for this recipe in the Fall Cooking Challenge visit: indi.com

Pumpkin Chili

What You’ll Need:

1 small onion, diced
1 green pepper, diced
1 small zucchini, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
¼ cup chili powder
1 can (32 to 40 ounce) crushed tomatoes
1 small pumpkin (about 2 lbs.), peeled, seeded and diced
2 (16 ounce) cans red kidney beans

 

What You’ll Do:

In a soup pot add all ingredients except the kidney beans. Cook the contents on medium heat until the pumpkin is tender.  If the chili gets to thick for your liking add 1/2 cup of water to the mixture. When the pumpkin is tender stir in the beans. Serve. Enjoy.
If you enjoy meat in your chili add cooked ground beef, shredded chicken or sausage chunks to the pumpkin chili mixture.
Pumpkin Chili

Brewing Kombucha At Home

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Probiotics have been in the news a lot lately. If you have not received the memo on the importance of probiotics, let this be that memo. The literal translation of probiotic is: pro- “for” + biotics “life” – for life!

Probiotics boost the good bacteria in your digestive tract, can help heal a multitude of health issues, detox the body, and can even lead to weight loss, better skin, and boosted immunity. The health of our gut largely determines our overall health.

Our favorite way to consume probiotics is through drinking kombucha. It is a great bubbly alternative to drinking soda and has health benefits. You can buy kombucha at health food stores or make it at home for pennies. Brewing kombucha at home is easy.

There are a lot of starter kits you can buy online that come with everything you need to start brewing kombucha. Many local health food stores have patrons which brew their own kombucha and provide you with a SCOBY (Symbiotic Colony of Bacteria and Yeast) and tips to to make your culture a success. Lets begin brewing kombucha at home.

Brewing Kombucha At Home

To make kombucha all you need is:
1 gallon of purified water
8 organic tea bags (green or black)
1 cup of sugar
SCOBY
1 gallon glass jar
cheese cloth or old t-shirt

When brewing kombucha at home this is what you’ll do:
Boil 8 cups of water in a large pot. Add the tea bags and steep for 20-30 minutes. Remove the tea bags. Add the sugar and stir well. Allow the mixture to cool to room temperature. Once cool pour the tea into the clean gallon glass jar. Add 8 cups of water to the jar and the SCOBY. Cut out a section of the t-shirt to fit over the opening of the jar. Cover the top of the jar with the t-shirt, secure it with a rubber band. Place the jar in a cool dark place for 7-14 days.

The time it takes for the kombucha to ferment depends on many factors. After 7 days begin checking the fermentation process. Move the SCOBY to the side and with a clean spoon, sample the tea. The tea will begin to self carbonate. The mixture can be sweet or sour in flavor depending on your preference and how long you allow it to ferment.

At this point you can enjoy your kombucha or do a second fermentation process to which you add flavors to your tea. You can create any flavor you desire; each flavor has a different process. Just Google the flavor you want and follow the instructions. If you opt not to add a flavor, you can begin your next batch of kombucha. Congratulations on brewing kombucha at home. In the comments share with us what is your favorite way to add probiotics to your diet. If you found this article interesting read more about cultured foods.

Brewing Kombucha At Home

Toxic Chemicals Your Body Is Absorbing

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There are over 10,000 chemicals that are unregulated and untested in the cosmetic industry. Despite these chemicals not having been proven safe, they are used in everyday items we apply to our body. Worse than that, some of these chemicals are used in industrial cleaning products. Lets look at the toxic chemicals your body is absorbing and how to avoid them.

One of the most commonly used chemicals is sodium laurel sulfate. It is the component that creates the sudsy, bubble lather that people believe cleans their skin. It’s actually corrosive. So it does clean your skin but in a way that strips your skin of all its protection. Our skin is our largest organ so it is absorbing thousands of chemicals a day. If you can not eat the product, you may want to rethink putting it on your body. The average women puts over 500 chemicals on her body each day through the products she uses. Your body absorbs these chemicals transdermally and then has to process them as toxins. To find out which cosmetics are safe to use, visit: safecosmetics.org or the environmental working group at ewg.org

Toxic Chemicals Your Body Is Absorbing

toxic chemicals your body is absorbing

Toxins build up in the body over time. These toxins can lead to weakened immune function, hormone or reproductive issues and cancer. When we stop to think about the cumulative effect of all the chemicals we place in and on our body daily, we should be alarmed. Switching from toxic products to natural products is one way we can detoxify our lives. Since our skin is constantly losing mositure throughout the day, we rehydrate by slathering lotion on us that contains toxic chemicals. It is important to stay hydrated and moisturize your skin as it aids in warding off fine lines, wrinkles and scaly crocodile looking skin. We want to do it with good products. We love coconut oil. Coconut oil is a supremely diverse food which holds many health benefits. We can eat it, cook with it and it is extremely moisturizing to the skin. A good rule of thumb is to moisturize within 3 minutes of pat drying because the pores quickly shrink.Now that we know how to identify the toxic chemicals your body is absorbing through products put on our skin lets make an effort to detoxify our lives. Visit SafeCosmetics.com and learn more about the chemicals found in everyday products.

Action steps to get rid of the toxic chemicals your body is absorbing: Now that we know the toxic chemicals your body is absorbing and how to avoid them, begin throwing away the toxic products in your home. Try using coconut oil instead of lotion to decrease the number of toxic chemicals your body is absorbing.

In the comments, let us know what your favorite non toxic products or substitutes are.

toxic chemicals your body is absorbing