Green Product Find: Dr. Bronner's Magic Organic Fair Trade Hair Creme

Dr. Bronner's Magic Organic Fair Trade Hair Creme

I am always looking for a good styling product for my hair. It's hard to find something that helps smooth the frizziness and style it nicely. I decided to try Dr. Bronner's Magic Organic Fair Trade Hair Creme and I really like it. It makes my hair smooth and supple and manageable. It also smells like peppermint so it has a great invigorating scent. I would recommend this product to anyone with thick hair. Just don't use too much at one time or else it might leave your hair looking a little limp. Buy it at Beauty.com. You earn money back at any of the Beauty.com partners so it's well worth it.

Happy Styling!

Adventures in Baby Food (the healthy way)

When Olive was a baby and first started eating table foods, I played it safe and simple and bought lots of Gerber foods, with a few Beech-Nut thrown in for good measure.

Now that Buttons is eating real food, I am approaching things much differently. I have been making a lot of her food myself. I didn't do this the first time because I was intimidated and, well, lazy. I thought it would be much harder than it is so I didn't bother. I know now that I can simply make some extra of whatever we're eating (sweet potatoes, carrots, potatoes, peas, etc etc.) and pop it in the blender with some water, pour it in an ice cube tray, and voila!! Meals for days!! How easy is that?! So I've been trying to make some foods for Buttons so as much as possible, she can eat what we're eating, especially since that's what she'll be eating when she can tolerate chunkier foods and the peas that we eat taste nothing at all like the peas that Gerber sells. A friend recently recommended a website with lots of guidelines, recipes etc on it for making your own baby food. I haven't really explored it yet but the site is called Wholesome Baby Food and looks to be very promising.

As satisfying as it is to make your own baby food, there are times when you need a little help. Enter Sprout baby food (it's like takeout for babies!) Sprout food is organic, tasty, and different. I like that it's organic - that's phenomenal. But on top of that, there are so many other good attributes. The recipes are different and unusual combinations that leave baby begging for more. The roasted bananas and brown rice is a bit hit at my house (even with Olive and me too!) as well as the oatmeal with roasted cinnamon applesauce. The green beans and peas are interesting as they are mixed with mint (who'd have thunk it?) We are still fairly new to Sprout and still trying out the various flavors. Another neat thing about Sprout is that they are packaged in resealable pouches instead of cans or plastic containers. This makes them the perfect meal to throw in your diaper bag for lunch on the go. It is also an eco-conscious idea because it reduces the space it takes for shipping, therefore reducing the number of boxes needed to ship a certain amount. Another thing I am thrilled about with Sprout is that they offer a monthly subscription on their website where you can tailor your order to your baby's tastes (and change it monthly) and have it delivered right to your house!!! How great is that?! Genius, I tell you. Pure genius. I will certainly do this after the sale on Sprout at my local Publix grocery store is over ;-)

So there you have it...simple ways to feed your baby nutritious and wholesome meals while still making life easy on you. Nourishing your baby and watching him enjoy new foods should be fun and stress-free. Now it is. :)

A New Direction

I miss blogging.

I love to write. It gives me a feeling of peace and serenity. I also feel like I have so much I want to say that sometimes I feel like I might burst. I always have ideas, just not enough time to pursue them all or share them all. Upon reflecting on how much I have been neglecting this blog, I have decided to take it in a new direction.

For those of you that have been following, I will still occasionally put some updates about my adorable kids (Olive and Buttons) so you can continue to see what kinds of shenanigans we get into around here. Plus, they are just plain comic relief sometimes. Who can resist cute kids getting into mischief?? But I want to focus on some other aspects as well. I do still want to continue to point out the little things in life that make me happy and that I must savor because the moments flee so quickly and are soon forgotten. I want to bring you tips on things that make life easier and simpler so you can also take some time to enjoy the little moments. I will bring you product reviews (the good, the bad, and the ugly - but mostly the good), money-saving deals, quick and easy recipes, and general humor and fun. I am also making a concerted effort to be more "green" in my everyday life so will share with you my journey on that. This blog will be directed towards anyone and everyone who feels that their life is just a little too busy and hectic and could use some moments of zen sprinkled in. I don't want to be another one of those "mom blogs" because although they are useful, there are so many of them, and I want to appeal to more than just moms. I will always be looking for new products to review, new deals to be had, and all sorts of input from others so please please please contact me with any ideas or if you have a product you'd like reviewed (or if you want to advertise on the site).

I'm always open for comments and suggestions so please give me ideas of what you'd like to see. I will also return to doing some giveaways too.

Happy reading!!

Lindsey

Spring Cleaning (or Nesting??)

I'm hit with the sudden urge to purge.

I'm ready to clean my house top to bottom, both with cleaning and cleaning out. I am giving away and throwing away and organizing. I'm not sure if it's spring cleaning or nesting or a little of both but I'm antsy and anxious. I've got closets to clean, rooms to organize, toys to toss.

In my quest for clean, there are a few products that I really like and thought I'd share. Now, I'm always looking for a cleaner and healthier way to clean my house so if you have a greener option, please post because I'd love to hear it.

The other day I cleaned out my oven because there was something nasty that had spilled over and was making my oven smoke each time I used it (and hence setting off the smoke alarm). I had avoided doing this because I am pregnant and probably shouldn't be cleaning the oven but this product claimed to be "fume free" (yet Lemon scented, hmmm??) Anyway, I used it and let it sit for a long time (2 hours) and I have to say, it did a pretty good job on my oven. It was FAR from fume free though - my house smelled like lemon the rest of the day. But it did the job.

Aaah...the magic eraser...this works for just about anything! I have been using it lately to scrub baseboards, Olive's table (that often ends up with food or crayon on it), the backs of doors covered in pencil, the mysterious part of our French doors that all have a streak on them, and (you'll never believe this!) for pen on a computer screen?!?!!? That's right, Olive decided at one point to take a pen to the computer screen. I thought it was a lost cause but Dennis did a little research and heard that the Magic Eraser was a great resource and IT WORKED! This thing truly is magic...

Tide To Go - I keep this in my car for "on-the-go" spills but find I rarely use it. Last week, Olive and I were eating strawberries and some juice ended up on my very light khakis. I couldn't find one of these in the house so I just went about my business. Later that afternoon, I remembered that I had it in my car and while I was out, I doctored up my pants, thinking it probably wouldn't work since it had been many hours before that when the stain was created but it did! It ALL came out. The downside: the smell of this stuff made me want to pass out but it did clean my clothes just like in the commercial.

Do you have any great finds??

Product Recommendation: Tongue Cleaner

Yes, this is totally random...

I went to the dentist for a cleaning a few weeks ago and the hygienist suggested I use a tongue cleaner rather than a toothbrush for cleaning my tongue. How bizarre, I thought. She wanted me to buy the $20 metal one that they have in their office. I decided to pass but looked next time I went to the grocery store and they have the disposable ones to the tune of $2.99 each. I picked one up and took it home and I absolutely love it! It is so easy - just swipe it over your tongue a time or two when you brush. It really does a better job of getting off the plaque and junk that builds up there. My mouth feels cleaner and fresher. It's also supposed to help bad breath because it extracts the germs that cause it. Anyway, I love it so much and didn't even know about this until recently so thought I'd share. I bought one today for Dennis so he can have a clean mouth too. I included a link if you click on the image but you can find this one or similar at the grocery store or drugstore. You will feel great!

Tuesday's Tips - a day late

It's time to go a little more green and natural with your cleaning products.

I have been phasing out all of our harsh chemical products and replacing them all with more natural ones. One of my favorites thus far has been a carpet cleaner from Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day. It actually works amazingly well, even on those mysterious carpet discolorations and also on our couch. The one we have is Lemon Verbena scent (quite nice but subtle) Carpet Cleaner. I cannot find this on their website so perhaps they have discontinued it, but I did find this other carpet cleaner that I suspect is very similar. I was quite skeptical of these at first but have been really impressed with the results. You can order online or look up a retailer in your area. I think most Whole Foods stores carry them, as well as many others such as Target.

Some other great product lines are:

Method
Seventh Generation
Clorox Green Works
Simple Green

I have used all of these except for the Simple Green. The best part about these products (besides being natural and avoiding exposing yourself and your family to harsh chemicals) is that most of them are pretty cost-effective too. For the most part, they cost the same or just a tiny bit more than the regular cleaners. I will also soon be carrying a new line of natural cleaning products at my online shop - little pink pansy - so check back there soon.

Do your small part to help make our lives a little more natural and a little greener. The more we all do, the cheaper and more mainstream these things will become. If nothing else, it makes you feel good and clean to use them!