My First Experience with Maca

Recently the co-author of this blog, Candace, wrote about maca and how she uses it. It sounded like such an excellent product that I wanted to try some myself!! Last week we were on vacation in Penn Valley, CA visiting some good friends, shopping at an excellent co-op where I ran across the bag shown below for $15. I don't even know if that's a great price, but I got it anyway because I really wanted to try it. Plus there's about 91 servings in a bag, so it will last awhile, thus I figured the $15 would be worth it to try.

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.

Around the House Cleaners Series: DIY Non-Toxic Wood Cleaner

Hopefully, if you've been reading this blog, you won't be surprised by the "junk" in your cleaners, including your wood cleaner and polisher. And, you should also know by now that you'll save yourself a bunch of money by putting a few inexpensive ingredients in a bottle yourself. But, just in case you're new here, you should know that Pledge (link to EWG database for brand) or other popular brands, aren't your friends.

Laundry Room Series: Wrap-Up

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I've finished cleaning another room without toxic chemicals, how about you?! In case you missed a post, and for your convenience, here are all my laundry room cleaning posts (plus some more!) in once place:

• Natural Detergent Options
• Natural Stain Remover
• Cut the Dryer Sheets and Your Dry Time!
• Cleaning a Top-Loading Washing Machine
• Cleaning a Front-Loading Washing Machine (from Clean & Scentsible)
• Detailing Your Dryer (aka: Prevent dryer fire!)

Feel Good Friday: Meet Maca

Have you ever heard of maca? I stumbled upon this mighty root the way I stumble on most things these days: social media. A friend had mentioned to another friend (yay, voyeurism!) that they took maca before a workout to help them push harder in the gym. As I was recently getting back into the gym at the time, my ears (eyes?) perked at the mention of this mysterious substance. As I am wont to do, I began scouring the Internet for anything and everything I could find about this “maca” the guy spoke so highly of. What I found turned out to be (for me at least) life-changing.

Laundry Room Series: Detailing Your Dryer

I know your "spring cleaning" chores are over since we're heading into sunny summer days packed with fun and vacations, but if you're going to be drying a bunch of towels from your long pool days in your dryer, then listen up!
 
Dryer fires accounted for 16,800 home fires in the U.S. in 2010, according to the National Fire Protection Association. Also, they say "the leading cause of clothes dryer and washer fires is failure to clean them." Detailing your dryer can also increase your dryer's efficiency. Duh?! If we clean out all the built up lint and gunk, our dryers will work better! I took the challenge myself last night with the used dryer we've had for about 10 months.

Laundry Room Series: Cleaning a Top-Loading Washing Machine

Your washing machine probably works hard for you, and rarely, or let's admit, never, gets a scrub of its own. It woks tirelessly, scrubbing, rinsing, scrubbing, rinsing, for you, and gets nothing in return. Oh, that sounds so sad! Seriously, though, your washer probably has some build up in places you can and can't see and could use a good cleaning a couple times a year. I just got a used top-loading washer that was all fixed up by my appliance guy, so I figured it was a good time to try this out. Here are instructions for cleaning a front-loading washer.

Laundry Room Series: Cut the dryer sheets and your dry time!!

Over a year 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.  They're handmade from New Zealand wool, helping providing a sustainable living.  They seem to lose their density over time, which also makes them less effective over time.

A Natural, Manly Gift

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Father's Day is coming up, so I decided to share an excellent gift idea that promotes natural living, is cost-effective, and much appreciated by the men I know who use it! An old-fashioned shaving kit!! Isn't it "old-fashioned" for a reason? Such as, it's not effective, harder to use, irritating to the skin, etc.? Nope!! Quite the contrary!!

Why my husband likes his old-fashioned shave

My husband keeps a short beard, but has to shave the non-beard areas a couple times a week, and his old-fashioned shave gives him the closest shave he's ever had. His skin feels quite smooth afterward, and it's not irritating at all. In fact, the soap is very moisturizing. He fought razor burn when using other razors to shave his neck, but he never has that problem now.

Additionally, as noted on the Art of Manliness, an old-fashioned shave makes you "feel like a bad ass. It’s nice taking part in a ritual that great men like your grandfather, John F. Kennedy, and Teddy Roosevelt took part in."
 
There are several reasons that I, as a wife, also like the old-fashioned shave.