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?

Toxic Chemicals in EVERYthing!!

AHHHHH!!!! My cabinets have been full of products with scary stuff in them. I was watching Candid Mommy on YouTube the other day, and she mentioned this website called EWG where she found out about the safest sunscreens to use. So I traversed over to this site last night, and could hardly fall asleep after looking up a couple products I use because I could only think about replacing them. Environmental Working Group (EWG) has gathered test results and ranked a bazillion skin care products and household cleaners, but this is just two of the pieces on their website that I have explored today! They also have stuff about food--eek! What will I find there??

After reading over the skin and household cleaner parts of the website, I did some cabinet binging.

Here's a closer look at a couple of the bags

 All of these bags are full of products I'm throwing away that have toxic chemicals in them (except the soy milk box). And it's made a ton of room in my cabinets, which I won't be replacing with much! What am I doing about it?

Household Cleaning
 
Nearly all of my soap-based products are being replaced by Dr. Bronner's soaps, including Sal Suds as a tougher cleaner. Dr. Bronner's soaps are replacing my body wash, hand soaps, floor and surface cleaners, laundry detergent, toothpaste, dish washing soap, and probably some other things. You can get Dr. Bronner's 18-in-1 liquid and bar soaps at Target. You can also get huge amounts off Amazon or the company's website. This will be much cheaper than purchasing all those other products, especially since I'll be diluting it for my body wash.

For the dishwasher, I'll be using Seventh Generation Automatic Dishwashing Powder (available at Target, I believe) and pure citric acid to fight the hard water here in So Cal.


For dusting, I'm just going to use microfiber towels. They're supposed to wipe up dust well; it's what's recommended for dusting electronics and cars, so it should work in my house. I'll also use them for mopping up messes and other surface cleaning.

Personal Care

As mentioned above, I'll be using Dr. Bronner's soap for many personal and household cleaning items. Dr. Bronner's even makes a mild baby soap! And it's available at Target!!  

Moisturizing: I'm also purchasing Dr. Bronners lip balm, shaving gel, and unscented body balm off Amazon. Additionally, I'm getting 100% almond moisturizing oil for my everyday moisturizer, and it only costs $11.99 for a 16oz bottle! That's only 75 cents per ounce! Lotions from Bath and Body Works in 8-12oz amounts cost at least that much and more! I'm also planning on making a mixture of coconut and almond oil for an extra-awesome combination; it was recommended by an Amazon reviewer.

For deodorant, I'm planning on mixing together pure coconut oil, corn starch, and baking soda. Cotton Bottom Mama's blog explains how to do it, and I'll be trying it out as soon as I can make it to the store!

For sunscreen, I'm going to peruse Sprouts tomorrow to see if they have the Kiss My Face Natural Mineral Sunscreen because that brand is on sale this week. I will also be checking for Badger sunscreen products. If they don't have these, you can be sure I'll be purchasing something from Loving Naturals off Amazon, as Candid Mommy recommends.

Unfortunately, all this change means I'm throwing a way A TON (well at least several pounds worth) of products, but I like feeling confident in my choices, and in the end I will waste less and spend le$$.

By the way, in case you think your products are safe because they say "natural," or they're made by Burt's Bees or Yes to __ brands, think again. Some things made by these companies are safe, but not all of them. To make it easier on myself, that's why I'm using mostly Dr. Bronner's brand.

You can be sure there will be MUCH, MUCH more to come on this endeavor. Do you make any of your own personal or household products? What do you use? How have you liked them? If not, what do you think about this?

Reusable Coffee Cups

At least 4 billion paper coffee cups are thrown away each year (Neumer Lara, Alison "Starbucks Cup Recycling: What's the Holdup?"), but it's so easy to reduce this number!

The most common way you see this done is through buying and bringing your own mug or tumbler to your coffee shop of choice. Many places offer a 5 or 10 cent discount on your coffee, too, when you bring your own cup. Thus, the cup pays itself off and more! If you're a Starbucks drinker, you can get one of its $1 grande size reusable cups. Did you read that right?! Yes, ONLY ONE DOLLAR. Starbucks recognizes its part in causing the problem of coffee cups being thrown away, and this is one of its attempts to change. If you buy the $1 cup, it pays itself off in only 10 uses, so after the tenth use, you're saving yourself money! Look for the $1 cup on the counter of your favorite Starbucks! (see picture below) When the cup is no longer useable, it's also recyclable. Additionally, I recently noticed recycling bins added to my local Starbucks, so look or ask for them at yours.

Second, a majority of coffee shops offer drinks in a "for here" mug, so you can enjoy your drink like you would at home. Of course, you can only get a "for here" mug if you'll be finishing your drink at the coffee shop. Every Starbucks I've gone to whips out its for here mugs when I ask for it too, so start asking for one! Make sure you tell them right away that you want a "for here" mug along with the size of your drink. Another bonus for this option: Coffee shops offer the 5 or 10 cent cup discount for the "for here" mug option too!

The best part about both of these options: Your drink will stay warmer or colder longer! Paper and plastic cups have no insulation, so your drink loses its perfect temperature much quicker.

Don't you all love to personalize your property or Facebook page now, too? There are so many reusable tumbler options out there, even ones you can completely personalize by adding photos and such. Coffee shops often sell tumblers for an expensive price, so look for clearance sales or deals, or check out your local grocery store, Ross, TJ Maxx, or Target. I have seen reusable cups for both hot and cold drinks of various sizes at all of these stores, and I have ones from all of these stores. I think I purchased my cold tumblers at TJ Maxx for around $5.

Afraid of forgetting your cup? Buy two, and always leave one in your car!

Go out there and find your perfect tumbler for your favorite hot or cold beverage. Purchase one for a friend as a gift too! 

Food Storage

Last night I wanted to steam some foods for my 7.5 month-old to try this week, but I knew they wouldn't keep all week, or even for several. So, how do I steam foods for my baby to try without wasting the extra?? I will eat some of the steamed foods, but I don't need to steam my pears to eat them!! Ick! Like anyone in a situation like mine, I did a Google search for "freeze sweet potatoes." And I stumbled across this amazing website called Still Tasty.

That's a snapshot of it just to give you an idea of what's there. Well, I did learn that I can freeze sweet potatoes and pears after steaming them. I think I'm just going to eat the leftover pear that's not steamed though. The sweet potatoes can be frozen and kept for up to a year in an airtight container or bag.

This site is user-friendly with helpful charts and easy-to-use, concise instructions. The "Keep It or Toss It?" section of the site is an alphabetical index of the information I've been describing, or you can search the site for a food you want to know about. Additionally, each food is broken down by whether it's raw or cooked. Below is an example of the storage information for fresh and cooked yams.

Additionally, I love the "Your Questions Answered" section of the site. It has quick answers to questions like: How can you tell if a watermelon is ripe? Should I store my bread in the fridge or on the counter? Do spices ever go bad? Can you freeze raw eggs for later use? Lastly, the "Shelf Talk" section has articles related to food and storing them, which I found interesting. Did you know that pure honey never goes bad?! And you can "thaw" it by running it under warm water. Too bad I just threw away some!

Paperless Note-Taking

I'm going to try to resurrect this blog! A whole lot has happened since my last post here. Let me give you a quick update:

• I gave birth to a healthy baby boy who we named Elijah just over seven months ago.
• My husband just received a pink slip for his teaching job.
• Elijah is a huge blessing in our lives!! I couldn't imagine life without him now.

With some Christmas money, I got an iPad mini! I love it, too. It has a plethora of practical uses for my life as a wife and mom, but today I'm only sharing one: paperless note-taking. You can do this on any tablet, smartphone, or even an iPod Touch. I'm going to talk about the app I use though, since I'm familiar with it. I'm sure there are similar apps for other devices though.

I use GoodNotes which has a FREE version. The free version allows you to keep two notebooks with up to ten pages in each one. Afraid of maxing out too fast? No worries! You can download your notes as PDF files to your computer, and then clear your notebooks. Want to view your saved files on your device? No problem! Download them to it.

There are lots of neat features for note taking with GoodNotes, as the image below shows:

A plug for the iPad mini: It's perfect for women because it's light and small, which means it fits perfectly in a purse or diaper bag without adding much weight! However, there are tablets of similar size out there; I just got this one.

Review: Pepperjack Home Kitchen Wetbag & Reusbale Unpaper Towels

I've been using these Pepperjack Home products in the kitchen (and around the house) for about two months now and am happy to not throw away so many paper towels now!

I must confess that I still use a paper napkin to clean my espresso machine parts, but I'm going to switch to the towels for that too as I now see that I have plenty of towels.  Other than this one use, we have completely stopped using paper towels and switched to reusable towels.

Reusable towels are better because they:

• Clean better than paper towels 
• Get the job done with fewer towels
• Don't rip and dirty your hands

Now, on to my review of the actual product, in two parts. First: the kitchen wetbag.  I love the design of the bag: how it hangs off the stove and zips.  I have washed it almost every week with my towels  since I received it and hung it to dry, and it still looks brand new!  See:

This photo shows the inside pulled out so you can see it's condition: perfect!  It also dries quickly--within a couple hours or less.  To dry the bag, I clip the cotton part of the bag to a pant hanger and pull the inside out completely. 

Second part of the review: the reusable unpaper towels.  These come in a really cute cotton fabric on one side and a textured fabric on the other to help fight your messes.  I like both fabrics, but I don't think the company washed them before making them, which caused severe shrinking of the textured fabric and thus curled under edges:

The towels shrunk about an inch or more after my first wash, which I found disappointing.  If you really want cute towels because they're going to be visible in your kitchen, then I would suggest making your own or having someone do it for you.  If you can store the towels in a drawer, then I suggest buying a few packs of towels just for cleaning up messes.  Buy your towels on clearance or from a place like Ross or TJ Maxx.  Either of these options would save you money over buying towels from Pepperjack Home.  However, I do suggest buying their wetbag, which you can purchase separately from the unpaper towels, and some are on sale right now.

Bottom line: Pepperjack Home Kitchen Wetbag, your own unpaper towel choice, and consistent use of them = less waste and a cleaner kitchen.

*Readers: I'm sorry it's been awhile since I posted.  We have been prepping for baby, so I've been occupied.  Expect a hiatus next month also.

Wool Dryer Balls: Explanation & Review

A few months ago I purchased and began using three different types of wool dryer balls.  What are wool dryer balls?  They're large balls of wool used with every load you throw in the dryer.  They replace dryer sheets and help reduce dry time!!  The latter is my favorite part, and they do work.  I can dry two sets of queen size sheets in one cycle if I disperse the balls throughout the sheets when I put them in the dryer.  It's recommended that you use about a dozen wool dryer balls at a time.  Also, if you're allergic to wool, you can still use these because the wool isn't being directly applied to your skin.

First are the Woolzies Dryer Balls.

These are the largest and best priced of the three types I got, and for those reasons, they ended up being the best value.  They appear that they'll hold their shape and quality.  Today they're on sale at babysteals.com for $19.99 per box (6 dryer balls).  They're also handmade from New Zealand wool, helping providing a sustainable living.

Second are Buddha Bunz dryer balls.

A cool feature of this product is that you can choose the color(s) you want and a scent.  The scent subtly transfers to your clothes while they're being dried.  You can also get them unscented.  These are handmade by a WAHM.  These seem like they'll hold up well, but they're not as big as the Woolzies, though they're a little more dense, so they're probably equally effective.  It also may take a month or more for you to receive your order.  I purchased the "Special" which is three balls with a scent of your choice but not color of your choice for $18.

Third, and my least favorite, are Pepper Jack Home dryer balls.

I purchased these on sale: four for $9.99.  I'm really glad I didn't pay more for these because they're not worth it, unfortunately.  They're considerably smaller and less weighty than the other two brands I got, so I don't recommend them.  They're also collecting a lot of lent and don't seem like they'll hold up as long as the others.

Here are three types next to each other, so you can see the size difference more clearly: