One of those moments I wish I hadn't chose cloth diapers

Friday morning we went for a walk, as usual. I thought I smelled something as I was strapping little man into the stroller, but I choose to wait to deal with it later. Lately, I've been changing his diaper too early and gotten "surprises" in two diapers, instead of just one. When we got home, i took him back to his room to be changed before naptime, like always. And, oh man, what I found: an explosion. If you know anything about cloth diapering, you know that explosions are extremely rare; I can recall less than five in little man's 14 months of life thus far. This one was, by far, the worst yet.

I pulled off his pants and found poo caked inside about half of one pant leg, and that's when I knew it was going to be bad. Since explosions are rare with cloth, you know it's a bad, bad, bad diaper when it does happen. I used five wipes, and there were still flecks left on his poor little cheeks. Regardles of the sheer volume of poo in this diaper, it was also the worst type of poo: sticky. It's been this way lately, as little man refuses to eat anything real solid. The most solid things he eats are cheeses and rice cakes, which isn't enough to create solid poo, apprently. Oh, how I wish he'd eat chicken again!

I got little man down for his nap and headed to the bathroom with all the clothes he'd been wearing. I started with his pants. The upside to using cloth at this moment was that I had a nice diaper sprayer to get the poo off his pants easily. Unfortunately I also had to get it off his diaper, which was filled with sticky goo from front to back, and the diaper cover, both the outside and inside. When I was finally finished, the toilet needed to be wiped down as well as the area surrounding it. The downside to a diaper sprayer is that it's incredibly powerful, so you can imagine what it does to explosive diapers. I'm glad I was already planning to wash his diapers then because it meant no stain on his pants. I was also planning a shower during little man's nap this morning, but I felt like I nedded and deserved it after that escapade.

Yes, these moments are terrible with cloth diapers, but, overall, it's a worthwile decision. I wouldn't do it differently.

Peanut Butter Cups: Justin's vs. Unreal

I LOVE chocolate and peanut butter together. It's definitely my food weakness and constant craving. However, trying to eat more healthy makes it hard to justify eating a Reese's. Enter my new finds: less junky chocolate peanut butter cups! 

Packing Appeal

Justin's: Classic packaging for this brand. I love the use of different fonts. Advertising 80 calories per cup in the top corner is eye-catching. Slightly boring packaging though.

Unreal: The brand title is rather ironic because the ingredients are more real than that of other candies but the flavor is "unreal." I love their slogan: "Candy Unjunked." It's simple and say's it all; that hooked me. The black with bright, big yellow letters is very eye-catching. These were on the top shelf at Target, and I only saw them because of the letters.

Label/Ingredients Comparison

Justin's Fewer ingredients than Unreal and more recognizable. 80 calories per cup with 50 from fat. All organic ingredients, including dark chocolate.

Unreal: More sweeteners, but also only 80 calories per  up with only 45 from fat. Make with milk chocolate instead of dark and some organic ingredients.

Taste Test

Justin's: Stronger chocolate flavor than the peanut butter. Dark chocolate to-die-for! Mix the quality of the chocolate and the organic peanut butter, and it's heaven in your mouth! I definitely like these more, but would still eat the other if offered to me. If you don't like dark chocolate, then stick with the Unreal cups instead.

Unreal: Strong peanut butter flavor. Smooth chocolate, but I would like to taste the chocolate more. Definitely tastes better than Reese's because those taste like they've been in packaging for years. These taste pretty fresh.

Price Comparison

Justin's: $10 for a box of 28 at Costco or 28 cents each

Unreal: $4 for a bag of 12 at Target or 30 cents each

These are roughly the same price, but I would get Justin's hands-down since they're actually cheaper and my preference.

Costco Haul 9.4 and 9.6.13

I'm not sure what's going on at your Costco, but mine has gotten on the organic band-wagon. I ended up going twice this week because there were a few items I really needed and couldn't wait until the sales started on Thursday. I ended up spending $227 between the two trips, but wait until you see what I got! BTW, I'm so in love with my new Costco. I think I told you that already though. My old Costco had none of this stuff, but they did have Victoria's Marinara Sauce. Anyways, here's my haul for this week:

Organic Kale and White Bean Ravioli 2-pack for $11 (normally) but it was on sale for $8.60: This was delicious!! We had one package last night. It has a bit of a spice to it that you don't notice until you're a few bites in to it. I mixed a bit of alredo and mainara sauce to put over it. There was plenty in one package for three adults. We both had seven raviolis and there were six left over.

Strawberry C Monster Odwalla Smoothies double-pack on sale for $4: My husband loves Odwalla drinks and with the beginning of school he's been feeling slightly under the weather, so I decided to get him these delicious smoothie drinks to give him an extra boost of vitamin C, among other things. Each one is 32 ounces which is four servings of 100% of your vitamin C needs for the day. It has strawberries, oranges, grapes, and apples in it along with a little sugar, and that's it!

Organic Artisan Rosemary bread 2-pack for $5: I got this once before already, and it is tasty! We love rosemary, and this bread features it nicely. I like that this is not already baked when you get it. It bakes for 8-10 minutes, and then there's fresh bread!! It also freezes well since they suck the air out of the packaging.

Alpine Valley Honey Wheat and Flaxseed bread 2-pack for $6.89: This is a little expensive for everyday bread, but since we're getting a produce box every week, we're eating less sandwiches and more salad, so this lasts longer. Additionally, this bread is on sale (now) this month for like $4-something. What I love about it is minimal ingredients with flaxseed, and it's sweetened with honey instead of some kind of sugar.

Justin's Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups: 28 cups for $10 and 80 calories per cup. Also organic and made with Rainforest Alliance-Certified cocoa. I'm actually about to try these and will write a detailed post comparing these to another less-junky peanut butter cup I found at Target, so stay tuned for that!

I also got two dozen organic eggs and the Quaker Oats box of oatmeal during my first trip this week.

Here's a picture from my second trip to Costco this week:

Happy Squeeze food pouches are on sale! One dozen for only $7!! They were already cheap at only $10 per box, but this month they're $7 per box, so I got 20 boxes, yes, 20. My son loves these, they're cheap and good for him. I got 10 boxes of each flavor.

Honest Juice pouches on sale for $7 for 32 pouches! There's no sweetener in these drinks, just pure, organic juice concentrate. Good for *kids* of any age!

Seeds of Change Quinoa and Brown Rice 6-pack on sale for $8.10! I haven't tried this before, but I figured it would be tasty. There's garlic and other spices added to it, and it cooks quickly in the microwave or stovetop.

Nature Valley Pumpkin Flax Granoloa for $5.20 per box! I got this last month at Costco to try it out, and we both loved it, so I got a double-dose since it's on sale this month.

Last thing I got this week was this chicken on sale for $10. It's hard to keep cooked chicken available for little one, so this is a great option. Plus we can add it to our salads for lunch or dinner when we're in a pinch or need a little more substance.

I'm not sure if this Costco is a test site for organic foods or not, but everything organic is in stock and on sale there this month. Go check out your Costco for these tasty, healthy items! Let me know what your favorite finds are too!

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.

Costco Haul at my new location

**Disclaimer: I wrote this post a couple weeks ago and thought I had already posted it. Apparently not.**

I have been to Costco 3-4 times since moving here; I have only been here three weeks, too! Costco is about two minutes away from where we're currently living, which is part of it. Anyways, I was impressed by the tasty and organic offerings the first time I went, but the organic section multiplied recently! This Costco has a green label for everything organic so you can easily scan for organic options. In addition to the organic chicken and baby carrots I have gotten before, this Costco also has organic grass-fed beef, which I have yet to get, but certainly will soon. This week there were several different types of organic greens, broccoli, raspberries, blueberries, and strawberries. Here's what else I got this week:

Organic raspberries for around $4

Annie's organic mac and cheese; 15 boxes for $15

12 baby food pouches for $10

Giant bag of gluten free organic pasta for $7

Organic chicken for around $20

Sterling Chardonnay for $9

For comparison sake, a dozen organic baby food pouches on Amazon run $14-18. I purchased two boxes of Annie's organic mac and cheese on sale at Target recently for $2 each. I'm hoping the little guy likes cheesy pasta as much as he likes cheese!

If you want your Costco to carry stuff like this, put in your request and ask your friend to also. If your Costco doesn't carry Victoria's marinara sauce, request it!! It's the best sauce in a jar, anywhere! Seriously, you have to try it; it's make of like six ingredients, which is why it's so delicious.

Our First Produce Delivery Box

When I lived in Orange County, I never ended up subscribing to a produce delivery box because they all required me to pick it up farther away then I wanted to travel and/or I had no choice over what I would get. Since we moved to the Central Valley of California, the heart of agriculture in the US, I figured I could find something I would be happy with. Within a couple weeks of moving, I did a Google search for "produce box delivery [city I live in]" and found The Farmer in the Dale.

We received our first box of produce on Monday:

I particularly like this produce delivery company because much of their produce is organic, and it's local, of course. I got all this for just $20! One head of organic Romaine lettuce, three organic summer squashes, two bunches of organic carrots, three of the most beautiful organic broccoli bunches, Yukon Gold potatoes, and a bunch of white nectarines. 

We have tried everything except the potatoes so far, and we're pleased with all of it. It tastes great! The lettuce is a little wilty because it's so HOT here, but it tastes wonderful still.

If you haven't tried a produce delivery box before, I highly recommend it! Do a Google search like I did, and I'm sure you could find something, or ask around. It's much fresher than most produce found in grocery stores and it supports local farms. Check it out!

Garden update after moving

I brought five plants with me when we moved: basil, Romaine lettuce, green bell pepper, zucchini, and squash. The zucchini and squash seem to be slowly withering, while the others are thriving.

Anyone have any suggestions for the squash and zucchini? I took off the dead stuff yesterday and shook out the leaves, carefully. I also rinsed the leaves down on the top and backsides. I'm afraid they really might just need more space, but I can't plant them yet, unless our homebuilder would let me... The basil looks a little withered in the picture, but it just got water, so it was thirsty.

DIY Roll-on Sunscreen

We tried some sunscreen by Kiss My Face that's approved by EWG, but we didn't like it ant it was expensive. It did the job well, but it didn't rub in easily or well. So, I started looking for a DIY natural option, and here's my first outcome:

Almond oil -- originally purchased off Amazon; 16 oz for around $10

Dark glass roll-ons -- Amazon; $8

Carrot seed essential oil -- Amazon $14

Other essential oils -- purchased various places for varied prices

Here are some tips about DIY sunscreen and such: 

When using essential oils you should store in dark containers because light "kills" essential oil. 

Carrot seed oil, from my research, naturally has around 35-40 SPF, which is the highest.

Almond oil, coconut oil, shea butter, and cocoa butter all have around 2-5 SPF, so they're great additions to a DIY sunscreen since they also moisturize your skin. I'm going to do a post on making sunscreen with some of those items too.

Citrus oils do not belong in sunscreen; they encourage the sun's rays instead of repelling them!

Sunscreen needs beeswax to be semi-waterproof, so this mixture isn't waterproof. Stay tuned for a post on waterproof DIY sunscreen.

I put in about 12 drops of carrot seed first, the same amount of one of the other oils, and then filled each container with almond oil. I snapped on the tracking ball and lid, and then swished the mixture around. Carrot seed oil carries a strong earthy scent, so you definitely want to tone it down if you use it. Even with 12 drops of another oil in each batch, you can't really smell the other oil, but it does tone it down some. In fact, you may just want to wait to apply this until you're outside. It should work immediately, unlike purchased sunscreen. 

We moved!

We have been in the Central Valley of California for a week now. It's hot. Pros, so far:

• Costco here has a great organic selection of produce and other items
• Amazing Farmer's Market that included a chef making an easy recipe with items that could all be purchased at the Farmer's Market (post on this recipe to come)
• Produce of your choice, organic chicken, eggs and milk can be delivered to your door, and it's all locally grown
• My plants seem to actually be enjoying the warm morning sunshine
• Most importantly, a short drive to the grandparents' house

I have a new sunscreen in the works using carrot seed essential oil. I'll let you know how it goes after we try it out a few times.

Natural Bug Bite Relief and Healing

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e4/Lemon.jpg

Last week I hung out with my cousin outside a coffee shop because it was too noisy inside, it got dark, and we got bit by mosquitos. I had probably ten bites total. Within a few hours of noticing the annoying itch, I was flipping through Facebook and saw natural relief for mosquito bites posted by Mama Natural. One of the suggestions was to rub lemon right on the bite, so I did.

After 1 day of lemon rubbing: It relievef the itchiness, not completely though. The lemon also seemed to be healing the bites well. The redness spread out from the bite, but the skin was less puffy.

After 2 days: The skin just had red sections where the bites were instead of any raised sections. Some of the bites scabbed and fell off. The bites were much less itchy.

After 3 days: On the third day after getting bit, I only needed to relieve itchiness once, right when I woke up. The bites continued to heal, becoming smaller red spots that were no longer itchy.

For other suggestions, see 9 DIY Home Remedies for Relieving Itchy Mosquito Bites

Review: Alaffia Shampoo, Conditioner, and Body Wash

I purchased the Everyday Shea Alaffia super-size bottles of shampoo, conditioner, and body wash a few months ago now. I really love the lavender scent, but I'm partial to lavender. I find it incredibly soothing and relaxing. Anyways, we got the vanilla mint fragrance in the body wash because my husband doesn't like lavender as much, and that smells like winter fresh gum!

The shampoo and body wash lather well, but they don't over-lather. They're very cleansing. My hair isn't frizzy from this shampoo, which is an improvement. Overall my hair is smooth and has nice body since switching.

We tried mixing some Dr. Bronner's soap with water for our body wash, but it wasn't doing the job, so we got this instead. The fragrance is fabulous and it works a lot better. I just got a set of Bass exfoliation gloves for washing with, too, and I love it!! My skin is noticeably smoother! I'm not brushing off dry skin with my towel when I get out of the shower because the gloves are getting all of it off in the shower instead. I recommend the exfoliation gloves to everyone! I got my pair at Sprouts for about $5.50.

All-Natural, Moisturizing Almond Oil

For years I've struggled to find a lotion that actually helps my reptile-like, dry hands. Actually, I never found anything that kept my hands moist for a significant period of time or healed them thoroughly. Winter was so brutal, and summer could be bad too if it was dry enough. I would put this super-cream on my hands at night before bed at those times of the year because that would ease the itchy dryness. However, like all of my other lotions, it had toxic chemicals in it, so I got rid of it a few months ago and looked for an alternative solution. I found that pure almond oil is a great alternative, so I bought NOW Foods brand off Amazon:

I got a 16-ounce bottle for just under $10, and I only need three to four drops for my hands, so it will last a long time! It's not fragrant, so you can mix in an essential oil if you want. I did that for a massage oil. You can also get bottles in four, eight, or 48-ounce sizes off Amazon.

How do my hands feel now? They're never itchy or cracked, and as long as I apply the oil daily, it smoothes on the surface level too. Even if I don't apply it daily, my hands never feel uncomfortable.

There are other oils you can use as a moisturizer, such as jojoba oil or coconut oil (alone or mixed with almond oil), but almond oil was very inexpensive compared to jojoba and it works!! I use coconut oil for my deodorant mixture, and it would take a lot more work to massage into my skin, so I'm sticking with pure almond for now.

Garden Update Week #4

My plants have been growing so well!! Here's my lettuce:

The original lettuce is growing tall, and the one in the pot is growing fabulously. I don't think the others are getting enough sun. Here's my zucchini:

It's had four blooms on it, so I'm very excited for the fruit it will give us! Here's the squash:

A couple weekends ago I replanted the squash and zucchini into five-gallon metal paint buckets, and since then the squash has taken off! It looks like it will flower soon. I love the metal paint buckets because they look cute and they were under $3 each! My husband just punched three holes in the bottom of each one with a hammer and a screwdriver. Why buckets? We're moving soon, and I really wanted to take my plants with me. When I re-planted, I added a little 10-10-10 fertilizer, as suggested by Omar, and fertilized the rest of the plants in the yard also.

When I re-planted a couple weekends ago, I also planted green bell pepper seeds. I have kept it in the house though in a bay window in the dining room. Finally, this week I noticed a tiny green sprout!

I also grow green onions in clear jars in the bay window. All you have to do is change the water each day. I had no luck growing them from seeds in the yard.

A couple weekends ago, I also bought a large sweet basil plant and re-planted it in a metal bucket too. I have yet to take the time to use it in any of my cooking, but I have plans to make my own pesto in the future. In fact, I recently pinned a recipe for pesto to my Pinterest recipes. Check it out!

Lastly, here are a couple roses that bloomed recently. They're so beautiful, I had to share!

Garden Update: Week 2

My lettuce sprouts have been growing magnificently!

This week I harvested about six more leaves from the lettuce that's already been growing awhile. It seems to be growing more and more healthy.

My zucchini is looking fabulous! It has grown a lot this past week.

However, the squash isn't growing as well. I was told that maybe the roots are getting wrapped around each other, and I may have to pull it out and take care of that.

What are you growing? What do you suggest I grow that's easy and doesn't need full sun all day?

First Garden Update!

So sorry it's been awhile since I posted! Craziness! I do work part-time, care for my child full-time, and help with all the household chores, so blogging becomes a last priority quite often. This past Saturday, I planted a new batch of Romaine lettuce seeds, and to my astonishment, I already noticed green seedlings popping up!! I'm so excited!! Here's a look at my garden:

Can you see the little green sprouts?! I planted some in a pot and others in the ground, for comparison.

Thank you, Suzy for starting this squash plant for me!!

And again, I thank Suzy for starting this plant for me!!

The following two photos are of my first lettuce seeds planted. I planted them in mid-February and have already harvested from the plant a couple times. I was having serious problems with rolly-pollies eating my lettuce, but I found a solution! I was in Lowe's looking at bug killers, and one of them said "contains Lemongrass: a natural insecticide." So I thought, "What if I just use Lemongrass essential oil mixed in water as my bug killer?" So, that's what I've done, and it works! I barely ever have bite marks out of my lettuce now!!

 

I also have rosemary, but I just cut it back a ton because it got scorched by the recent heat wave. There's still green on it, so I'm hopeful it will grow back nicely again as long as it's watered well. Additionally, I'm growing green onions, but not on the patio. More on that in another post though.

What's in your garden? Or do you have aspirations to grow a garden? 

Make your Own Deodorant--EASY

Antiperspirant makes me itch, but I've never found another deodorant without it that worked well, until I used a men's deodorant. However, that had toxic chemicals in it, I later found out. Boo! So, I mustered up the courage to make my own. It's SUPER EASY! Easier than making a dessert! Check it out!! Plus, a batch like mine costs you less than a dollar!

I made my husband try this, and he LOVES it too! He says it works better than any other deodorant he's ever used, and he didn't use antiperspirant either. He sweats easily and walks around constantly as a teacher, and he's pleased with the results of this deodorant.

Here's what you need:

• 1/4 cup of baking soda 
• 1/4 cup corn starch (not corn flour or any other corn product) 
• 1/4 cup coconut oil  
• A small pot
• A spoon

Here's what you do:

1. Put each ingredient in the small pot.

2. Turn the heat on low and start stirring. It starts to melt, but it quite clumpy at first.

3. Stir until it's super smooth. Add a couple drops of an essential oil at this time, if you want. I added the Serenity mixture by Doterra.

4. Let the mixture cool down a bit, and then transfer to a container that's easy to get your fingers into.
Don't let the mixture cool too much, otherwise it won't pour into a container, but you don't want the heat from it to release chemicals from the container into it.


I've been using this for a couple weeks now, and the consistency seems to have dried up a little. It was going on clear at first, but now is a little powdery and white. I'm going to try adding a little more coconut oil to see if that helps.

Has anyone tried this? Do you have any other deodorant recipes you like or want to try? Do you make any other personal care products for yourself?

Review: Crunchy Clean Diaper Detergent

I've been using cloth diapers for nine months now and have used Crunchy Clean's cloth diaper detergent the whole time. I bought three bags at $13 each, and only opened the third bag a couple weeks ago. I figured it would take about a year for me to go through three bags, so my friend and I each got three bags to take advantage of the free shipping offer for orders over $75.

I chose the hard water unscented version in particular because I have hard water, and I wanted to be careful with possible skin sensitivities regarding the scent.

I use one tablespoon per wash, which is for about two dozen inserts and a few covers. I haven't had to strip my diapers ever! Thus, this stuff seems to work great!

Here's the back label too:

Crunchy Clean also makes detergents for regular laundry as well as other household cleaners, including pure oxygen stain remover. They're a family-owned business that's been making cleaners for five years now. I will definitely continue ordering diaper detergent from them and may check out their other cleaning products when I place my next order in a few months. If you "like" them on Facebook, you'll receive periodic discount codes and sale notices in your news feed, but they won't inundate your news feed.

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?

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?