Feel Good Friday: AmazonSmile

Hello everyone, and Happy Friday! I know I usually talk about health and beauty things you can do for yourself that make you feel good, but today I want to share with you something you can do for others that can make a huge difference. The bonus? You’ll still feel extra good about doing it! Today’s Feel Good Friday features AmazonSmile, an awesome program that lets you give back to a charity of your choosing virtually every time you make a purchase on Amazon.

Kitchen Cleaner Series: Buying Produce and Washing It

A produce box from last summer

Whether you get your produce from a store or delivered to your door from the farm (like me!), it needs a wash!! At some point, it was growing, out of the ground, next to bugs and dirt, and goodness knows what else!!

Produce from the Store
If you don't have the privilege of shopping at a Farmer's Market or getting your produce in a CSA box of some sort, then, I'm sorry. Truly fresh produce is amazing, period. But, you have to live with what you have, right? Anyways, if you buy your produce at the store, I highly suggest organics. According to the EWG, two-thirds of produce samples recently tested by the government had pesticide residue in them!! AHHHHH!! Their full report explains that children are more susceptible to the toxins in pesticides, which have been linked to "pediatric cancers, decreased cognitive function, and behavioral problems." Adults can suffer from similar problems, especially with prolonged exposure.  What can you do?

Money-Saving Tip: Target Debit Card

photo credit: The Frugal Find

Did you know that in addition to a credit card, Target also offers a debit card? I'm not sure how new this is, but I researched it, and got one. It's really awesome and an easy way to save money at one of my favorite places to shop for clothes on clearance, new snacks I want to try, home decor, and more! Who doesn't like something at Target?! Here's the deal for the debit card:

Target Clearance Haul

I went to Target recently for a couple items and noticed an overflowing amount of women's clothing on clearance. So, I went back with my friend that evening, sans baby. It was glorious! Check out your Target for clearance if you need clothes. There are shirts, blouses, tank tops, pants, long and short shorts, dresses, skirts, swimsuits, and light sweaters. If you live in a place that's cool for the fall and winter, then this clearance might not be too helpful, but you could layer!

I got seven shirts, two dresses, and two pairs of long shorts for about $80!! Breastfeeding my baby made me more slender than I was pre-pregnancy, so I really needed some clothes to accommodate my new size. I'm slowly weaning my kiddo now, so I'm hoping I don't instantly regain fifteen pounds. 

My goal for this shopping trip was to find clothes that I would feel comfortable wearing all day around the baby. Since I used to teach, I have lots of clothes, but they're too nice, and some are too big for being a mommy all day. I also wanted to find things for the rest of summer and that I could layer with this fall. I definitely accomplished that. I got some slightly loose fitting tops that can be worn with or without layers. I also got one dress that has pockets, is looser-fitting, and has a high neckline so I don't have to worry about showing off my cleavage with it. I also got a fun dress that I probably won't wear around the baby, but it fit me so well that I couldn't pass it up.

Personal Care Items from Sprouts

I have been dying to share my Sprouts finds with you, my readers for at least a week now, but life has been too busy! We went to a parenting conference last Friday night and Saturday morning, and then church on Sunday. Baby came down with a cold yesterday. Lots of laundry. Blah blah blah. Anyways...

Kiss My Face Sunscreen: This particular sunscreen by Kiss My Face ranked a one or zero on EWG's scale, with zero being the best. This means there are few to no potentially harmful chemicals in it! Or the chemicals that are in it aren't dangerous, but then they're not really "chemicals." Sprouts had this on sale last week for 25% off. With summer approaching, I'm sure this brand and/or Badger products will continue to go on sale. I haven't had a chance to try this as the weather has been gloomy here, and I don't spend much time in the sun since I work from home. I need to work on that.

This shower caddy used to be completely FULL, but since we're eliminating potentially toxic products, this is all we're using in the shower.

Everyday Shea Shampoo and Conditioner: These are Costco-size bottles that were on sale for $10! They come in two scents--vanilla mint and lavender. I got lavender because I love it, but apparently my husband doesn't, so I'll be opting for vanilla mint next time. I really like this shampoo. I have slightly dry hair that's on the thicker side, and it works great.

Dr. Bronner's Shave Gel: This works best if you squirt it right onto your skin because it's rather liquidy. I like the feeling my skin has after I use this, and the scent isn't strong at all, though I did get lavender. I also found I have to use more than I would if it were a cream.

Dr. Bronner's Pure Castile Soap (liquid and bar): I am in LOVE with this soap, by the way. I got almond, peppermint, and unscented in liquid form, and a peppermint bar. These bottle sizes were on sale, 25% off, only $12.74! I use diluted peppermint and almond soaps for--

• Foaming hand soap containers
• Body soap
• Dish soap
• Mopping

I use the unscented soap for my baby and our laundry. For laundry, the soap doesn't need to be diluted and I use the same amount that I did with my other soap. I'm planning to take the bar of soap on the road to use for washing my hands and body while away from home. I wanted to try out the bar of soap to see how it might be different, too.

Nature's Gate Natural Toothpaste: These anise and peppermint toothpastes received good ratings from EWG and were on sale. I really like it! I tried a drop of Dr. Bronner's peppermint soap on my toothbrush because that's one of the many things people use it for, but it tastes too soapy.

Tom's Mouthwash: I don't know what this is rated on EWG, but I didn't want my husband to continue using the high alcohol content Scope anymore. I figured this has to be better!

Chocolate Granola: Okay, this isn't exactly a personal care item, but I had to share it. It's regular granola and chocolate-flavored granola, plus there are little chunks of chocolate. Super tasty! Way to make a snack healthy and junky! Haha.

I hope this is helpful! Do you have a Sprouts near you? Have you tried any of these? What do you use for soap and such?

Costco Trip 4.12.13

I didn't get a lot at Costco this week, but I did get a few wonderful items that I wanted to share.

From left to right,
100% Whole Wheat Bread from Oroweat: I like this bread because the slices and loaves are big, it freezes well, and stays moist. It does have added sugar, and I would prefer bread sweetened with honey, but at least it's not high fructose corn syrup like most breads. I also like Trader Joe's Sweetened with Honey Whole Wheat Bread, but the slices are smaller and it's drier. It is a little cheaper though. Overall, this bread is pretty good option.

Mary's Gone Crackers: These are organic, gluten free, and contain great ingredients like quinoa. I actually haven't tried them before, but Mama Natural raved about them on one of her videos as a favorite snack. These are on SALE right now for a few more weeks for only $5 per box! Normally $7.50. What a steal!!

Shredded 4-Cheese Blend: My Costco doesn't have organic cheeses, unfortunately, but I love cheese and lots of it :) I probably should eat less. They just started carrying this in two smaller bags, which is nice for storage purposes. I put a little of this on my salad, and we put it on burgers and crackers this way too. I did the price comparison to the same amount of cheese as a block at Costco, and it was about the same price, so since it's easier to deal with shredded, that's all I get now.

2 Dozen Organic Eggs: The price on these organic eggs is incredible. I love making veggie breakfast burritos for dinner with eggs; I just pull out all the veggies in the fridge, cut up a little of each, and throw them in the pan while I'm scrambling the eggs. Delicious! I also found this fabulous Avocado Egg Salad recipe recently, so I've made that a couple times when we got eggs.

Sweet Kale Vegetable Salad with 7 Superfoods: This has kale, some collards, pumpkin seeds, dried cranberries, and some other tasty stuff. It also comes with dressing. We tried this last night and devoured it. We actually used some of the dressing we use for our normal salads instead of the poppy seed dressing this time. I'm a little hesitant to try different dressings because many contain vinegar which I'm not a fan of. This is great for when you want a salad but you're tired and/or it's late, so you don't want to fix your salad.

Chef's Knife: This knife that comes with a lifetime warranty and was only $40! It cuts beautifully and easily. This was from a road show going on at my Costco currently. Look for them at yours soon!

Peaches: Three pounds of organic frozen peaches! I'm making baby food for my 8.5 month-old son these days, and he loves his fruit. I haven't seen fresh or frozen peaches at Sprouts, so I grabbed this bag, which should last awhile. It's great too because I don't have to worry about them going bad or freezing them myself, and I can throw them in the blender frozen.

I also saw a 36-pack of microfiber towels for $15.50! I wish I would have seen those before I ordered a package off Amazon...oh well. If you're looking for towels to dust with and clean up wet messes, pick up a package for yourself.

What are your favorite Costco finds?