Tag Archives: passions

Thanks so much for following this new segment, Natural Living Tips which you’ll find here on Tuesday’s. My friend Rosemary Nickel (Motivating Other Moms) and I have paired up to bring you these weekly tips on living a more natural life. They will be fun, quirky and informative, just like us, ha. We hope you join us here weekly for a new Natural Living Tip! Enjoy!

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Finally, I made laundry detergent, yay! Part of my delay is that I wasn’t completely satisfied with the recipes I was finding on-line. Most of them called for either a bar of Fels-Naptha, or the use of Dawn dish detergent. These products do not sit well with me. Why?  I did, in my excitement to purchase all the products, purchase two bars of Fels-Naptha. I was in and out quickly without thought (this is bad), and I hadn’t even returned home when I could smell the overbearing perfumey odor in the car. UGH! Yep, the Fels-Naptha. It says it right on the label, Perfume. Nice. Well, I knew right away that wouldn’t work for me, my head was already swelling with the ickiness of the fake chemical scent. Since then I’ve also found out that the Dial Co. says it should not be used directly on the skin, it’s an irritant. It also contains some ingredients which are known to contaminate the oceans, lakes and to harm wildlife. Not my thing. You can read more here.

The other recipe I was seeing on-line was non-grate version which calls for Dawn dish soap. Nope, can’t do it. It comes in plastic, (you know I’m trying to eliminate plastic as best I can) and is loaded with cra*, like the sulfate sisters, and It’s owned by Procter & Gamble, a company that I don’t particularly approve of (trust me, I have enough trouble with arm & hammer, still test on animals, but can’t yet find an alternative), lol. So…. Anyway, many of you won’t be quite as picky as me, ha.

Armed with this information I knew I needed to slow down and get the right bar soap. I wanted something a bit more natural. I found this soap called Verve at Whole Foods. It’s vegetarian (no tallow or other animal ingredients), cruelty free, fragrance free, no BHT, comes in planet friendly packaging, perfect, and the price was right too, $3.99/3 pack.

*No Whole Foods nearby or don’t shop there? Many of these recipes I’ve seen use Ivory Soap as well or you can use a natural herb bar soap found at many farmer’s markets.*

So, natural bar soap it is! Here’s my recipe:

1 cup Washing Soda
1 cup Borax
1 bar natural soap (grated)
75 drops essential oil (I used 50 drops sweet orange, 25 lavender) You can have so much fun creating new natural fragrances here.  (I did find that I didn’t smell this upon drying, so I may eliminate the essential oil all together in future batches.

Mix together, viola!

Yields about 32oz. I placed the mix in empty  Charlies Soap (a wonderful alternative to home-made) containers, my previous laundry detergent.

Use 1-Tbsp per load or 2-Tbsp for heavily soiled laundry.

Note: I have a HE front loader. This recipe worked fine, it’s low suds and no problem. I’m also on a septic line, it’s fine for this too.

Peace!

Thanks so much for following this new segment, Natural Living Tips which you’ll find here on Tuesday’s. My friend Rosemary Nickel (Motivating Other Moms) and I have paired up to bring you these weekly tips on living a more natural life. They will be fun, quirky and informative, just like us, ha. We hope you join us here weekly for a new Natural Living Tip! Enjoy!

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Lemons - Italy, spring 2010.

I’m sure there is no more perfect a time to begin thinking about Greening your clean than this month of April. It’s Earth month, so let’s all begin using more earth friendly cleaning products! And remember, I support baby steps so don’t get overwhelmed, just pick one thing and move on from there.

Let’s begin with a list of items  you should have on hand to make your own cleaning products:

Baking Soda, a naturally abrasive product with mild alkaline properties, a natural deodorizer and stain remover, completely non-toxic. One of the most versatile cleaners on the planet!

Lemons, acidic and can provide some antibacterial and antiseptic properties for cleaning *Add a cup of lemon juice to the wash cycle to boost the whitening action of your laundry detergent.

Distilled White Vinegar, a great natural cleaning product, a disinfectant and deodorizer, an all-purpose cleaner.

Essential Oils, I like to have lemon, lavender, rosemary and tee tree on hand.

Liquid Castile Soap (Dr. Bronner’s) a vegetable based soap, not petroleum. It’s completely non-toxic and can be used on your body as well as in cleaning products.

Hydrogen Peroxide, non-toxic, safe for people, pets, plants, the environment. Many uses.

These next three weeks of April I’ll be sharing with you how to use these ingredients to make safe & effective home-made household cleaners. So stay tuned:-).
Peace!

Thanks so much for following this new segment, Natural Living Tips which you’ll find here on Tuesday’s. My friend Rosemary Nickel (Motivating Other Moms) and I have paired up to bring you these weekly tips on living a more natural life. They will be fun, quirky and informative, just like us, ha. We hope you join us here weekly for a new Natural Living Tip! Enjoy!

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The last few weeks I’ve been researching the benefits of Coconut Oil,  there are many.  I do promise to cover them in the next couple of weeks, but I’ve been distracted by all the yummy things you can make with other coconut products, the milk, water and juice.  These also have many health benefits including they’re loaded with Lauric Acid which is naturally found in mother’s milk. Lauric acid has been shown to have negative effect on many microorganisms in the body including yeast, fungi, and bacteria. It also has anti-carcinogenic and anti-viral properties.  You can read more about the benefits of coconut products and lauric acid at The Weston A. Price Foundation.

Here is a wonderfully refreshing way to add coconut to your diet.  This coconut tonic is also a nice substitute for cows milk if you’re sensitive to lactose or simply trying to reduce cows milk in your diet.

This is so easy peasy! You can purchase Coconut water and/or juice in most grocery stores or health food stores, as well as the coconut milk.  These two products are very different. The water is found in a young coconut, it’s the liquid you hear when you shake it. The milk comes from the white meat of the nut and is so yummy to cook with.

You simply take a can of each, dump them into a blender and blend. Viola!  Store in the fridge and serve over ice.  They may separate a bit, so give a little shake before serving.  Use this tonic to make the following green smoothie I found on Pinterest by Delicious Obsessions.

Ingredients:

1 ripe avocado
1 cup Coconut Tonic
1/2 cup coconut water or juice
handful greens (I used spinach)
honey or other sweetener of choice – optional

First pit avocado and scoop out flesh. The easiest way to remove the pit is to whack it with a knife and twist, it pops out.

Add all ingredients to the blender and blend until smooth.

Enjoy!

Warning: If not used to drinking coconut milk smoothies, they are extremely filling, you’ll want to share the love!

Peace!

Thanks so much for following this new segment, Natural Living Tips which you’ll find here on Tuesday’s. My friend Rosemary Nickel (Motivating Other Moms) and I have paired up to bring you these weekly tips on living a more natural life. They will be fun, quirky and informative, just like us, ha. We hope you join us here weekly for a new Natural Living Tip! Enjoy!

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Coconut Oil Body Scrub

In my never ending quest to be as plastic-free as possible, I’ve been taking a closer look at the products our family uses on a daily basis. Which of these, if not all, can we DIY to eliminate the need to purchase yet another plastic container? Well, while researching the endless amounts of things that one can do with coconut oil, I came across this recipe on Pinterest for a Body Scrub. I decided to tweak it a bit and go for it!

Ingredients:

1 cup organic raw brown Turbinado sugar
1/3 cup dead sea salts or other sea salt
1/2 cup organic coconut oil
2 tablespoons almond oil
1/2 tablespoon Vitamin E Oil
1/2 cup crushed Lavender Flowers (optional)
5-7 drops Lavender Essential Oil

Combine sugar and salt, then add in oils one at a time checking for consistency. If too dry at the end, add a bit more coconut oil. Then mix in any dried flowers and essential oils. I also love to combine Sweet Orange essential oil with Lavender or for a pick me up scrub use a combination of Peppermint and Rosemary!

This scrub is wonderful in the bath or shower, use it on all your edges and rough parts. Or by the sink as a nice hand softener. Just rinse with warm water and you’ll have yummy soft skin.

Watch Rosemary and I make the scrub:-).

Have fun!

I’ll start by saying this is not a typical Stream of Consciousness. I’m breaking the rules by adding this video link, and many others, to something I came across yesterday. It’s called the Invisible Children, you may know it as Kony 2012 or you may not know it at all. If you haven’t seen it yet, you may want to watch the video first. Yes, it’s almost 30 minutes long, but I believe it’s well worth those minutes for several reasons.

Here a link to the video:

Ok, now that you’ve watched the video, maybe you’ve already heard of the campaign, have an opinion, maybe you’re saying “Yes, old news, this has been going on for years”? Maybe this is completely new to you and you’re currently bubbling up with frustration over what you just watched and asking “how can I help”? Either way I’m glad I was able to bring it to your attention because old news, new news, it needed to be seen again.

There is much criticism out there over this particular campaign and I’ve done my research and have my own opinions. You should do your own research too. I can help by providing you with some links:

Here’s Invisible Children’s rating and information on Charity Navigator. They currently hold a 3/4 overall, and here you can read the conversation on Reddit between Noelle at Invisible Children & members of the public with strong opinions. IC defends off concerns. I’ve read it all. More articles here, here and Africom is here. And please go to Invisible Children’s blog and read the director’s response to this article in the Washington Post and IC’s response to the criticism.

After all my reading, a lot of it, I’ve come to my own conclusions. Is this charity, Invisible Children, sensationalist? Yes, maybe, but that’s the goal here! This film was produced very well. They had to make it understandable to the masses to get a movement heading forward and quickly. The LRA and men like Joseph Kony, things like this have been going on for decades, longer even, this IS old news. I remember being fired up over these topics over 20 years ago. Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan, Darfur, the list goes on both then and now.

I posted this campaign on Facebook yesterday, because though I know about things like this happening, I hadn’t seen THIS video yet, THIS campaign, Kony 2012. My husband works in the media and he hadn’t seen it either. Apparently over three million people have, but we hadn’t and it moved us to remember that this is going on. While we’ve been self-absorbed with our own lives, our own agendas here, this kind of thing is still happening in Africa. It was a harsh reminder and you know what, I don’t care what campaign reminded me of that, reminds us all, the important thing is that we were reminded. The important thing is the MOVEMENT! The movement to make things like this stop.

This campaign by Invisible Children, if this works, goes viral and this man is brought to justice, it’s a great thing whether you believe in Kony 2012 or not. It means that this new thing called social media worked in powerful, positive ways, it means I can have hope that people when joined together for a common cause can move mountains.

I like this quote from a poster on Reddit “I’m behind this organization for the simple fact that it empowers youth unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. Imagine what this will do to people if it becomes successful and makes millions feel like they did something to help”.

I support the Movement, I believe it’s never too late, you have to start somewhere!
Peace!

Times Up!
This has been my Sunday 5 minute Stream of Consciousness.  – Only today I made an exception!

Want to try it? Here are the normal rules…

* Set a timer and write for 5 minutes only.
* Write an intro to the post if you want but don’t edit the post. No proofreading or spellchecking. This is writing in the raw.
* Publish it somewhere. Anywhere. The back door to your blog if you want. But make it accessible.
* Add the Stream of Consciousness Sunday badge to your post.
* Link up your post at all.things.fadra.
* Visit your fellow bloggers and show some love.

I haven’t yet used any Fadra’s optional topics of the day, but this one I can’t pass up: Where are you lacking trust in your life? (examples: church, government, work, family, etc.)

This past week I’ve been very emotional, mostly due to the rollar coaster ride of feeling of my cat Matilda disappearing for six days and my old man kitty having to be put down on on Wednesday. It would be an understatement to say I was a basket case.  Well, in this emotional state I talked to a couple friends and my hubby about the state of the country, mostly the state of our food supply because it at time enrages me.  I’ve educated myself for years about our food, it’s a really long story that I will only touch on, but it began with my passion for animals almost 20 years ago and I wanted to learn exactly how our food got from farm to table.  That was bad news….  A lots happened since then (the part I won’t get into here) but now there is so much more I know about food as  a whole and it sickens me what our government (FDA, USDA, etc.) allows in our food system.  I absolutely have NO trust in them AT ALL to feed us healthy food.  Right now heads of Monsanto are running the FDA and USDA, this is very sad and scary and we the people are going to have to take matters into our own hands by seeking out locally grown fruits and vegetables, finding our local farmers and ranchers for our grass-fed, free roaming meats and dairy products to ensure they are nutrient rich and not laden with chemicals, pesticides and hormones.  Many other countries have banned these things from their food, yet the US will not. I don’t know what the reasons are, we can speculate a number of things from lobbyists to big business to not wanting to change due to layoffs. Whatever.  I just feel that EVERYONE in this country should have the ability to walk into any grocery store and not have to worry about what’s in their milk, on their oranges. To me it’s very sad.

This is just a snippet of how I feel on this topic but you can clearly see that I don’t listen to the government about what’s good for us in the food department. Better re-think those Got Milk ads!

Times Up!
This has been my Sunday 5 minute Stream of Consciousness.

Want to try it? Here are the rules…

* Set a timer and write for 5 minutes only.
* Write an intro to the post if you want but don’t edit the post. No proofreading or spellchecking. This is writing in the raw.
* Publish it somewhere. Anywhere. The back door to your blog if you want. But make it accessible.
* Add the Stream of Consciousness Sunday badge to your post.
* Link up your post at all.things.fadra.
* Visit your fellow bloggers and show some love.

Since moving here to East Bradenton, we have really been enjoying the many local farms and ranches. One we’ve been to several times is Hunsader Farm which is only 10 minutes away from our home. We’ve gone to pick strawberries and tomatoes a few times now, once the kids and I picked 22 pounds of strawberries for our housewarming party. We freeze them for smoothies, eat them whole, make sweet treats. I took great pleasure making home-made tomato sauce twice now, blanching, peeling, squooshing, cooking… So many dinners to eat up the fresh sauce. Love it!

Thought I’d share some of the love!

If you want to find local U-pick’s or Farmer’s markets in your area, just click HERE and HERE!

After my 3-day solo trip in Big Sur, I met up with some of my very best girlfriends at the San Fransisco Airport. After stopping for lunch in Sausalito (which I LOVE) and then onto Trader Joe’s in Santa Rosa (oh, we’re getting one here in Sarasota this year:-), so excited!!!), to stock up with goodies, we finally made it to our VRBO in Guerneville around 7p. The property is beautiful, right on the Russian River, there is a Main House, the Cottage and The Town homes, nicely decorated with all the amenities. Sweet! Very different then my eclectic Rainbow house in Big Sur. We all un-load, Maii whips up a salad for dinner and the chillin’ begins. Some food, wine and conversation. Maybe a little too much wine, well, for me anyway:-).

The next morning we have to be in Healdsburg by 10a to meet Tommy and Mike, our guides for our biking adventure in Wine Country. PFMan and I did a combo biking/kayaking trip in July with the same company, Getaway Adventures. Ask for Tommy to be your guide, you won’t be disappointed. It’s a misty, cold day, but we’re troopers and we all gear up, ponchos and all, to prevent the skunk marking up your back on a wet day, ha. Off we go. Our stops today are, De Lorimier, Bella Vineyards and Amista . We had lunch at Amista, the guides had prepared a wonderful feast of salads, cheese, fruit, etc. We were famished and everything was wonderful!! Back on the bikes for our return trip, a total of 17 miles. Woot!

On Saturday, I had arranged to take the girls to The MacLeod Family Vineyard. This would be my 3rd trip, I just love this family and their wine! Every experience is a different one, you learn so much about their passion, their love, a truly unforgettable experience. This time George MacLeod the father and founder of the vineyard took all us ladies on a hayride through the vineyard, he had many stories and kept us laughing and learning. And did he say he’s 90?? Can’t believe it, he’s so sprite, so sharp too! A wonderful man. After the tour we joined his daughter-in-law Marjorie, in her home, for the tasting. We were the first to taste the new Rose’ and Sauvignon Blanc, they had just bottled them two days prior. All the wines were amazing. PFMan and I had joined their wine club on our trip in July. The MacLeod Rose’ is my favorite, it comes with the April shipment, I can’t wait! I can’t tell you about this family without mentioning Panda, the wine dog. You simply must go meet her and the MacLeod’s if you’re in the area. Tours are by appointment, run about two hours beginning at 10:30a. In July, PFMan and I will be bringing our children with us, Marjorie said they get to do apple juice tasting, sweet!

On our last day we took a nice walk through the Redwood Trees in Armstrong Woods and then drove to the coast, stopping in both Jenner and Bodega Bay. Jenner has beautiful brown sand beaches, enormous waves crashing into the rocky coast and lots of drift wood and fun colored pebbles which kept some of busy for quite sometime. Continuing down the coast to Bodega Bay (of The Birds, Alfred Hitchcock). We stopped at Spud Point Crab Company for their infamous Clam Chowder, highly recommend, then to Bodega proper to see the Birds house in person!

I really can’t think of a better way to have brought in this next decade. Happy 40th to me:-)!
Peace!

So, I’m 40! I’m not too surprised that I’m embracing it with love, I have been working towards this acceptance after all. I wanted to ring in this next decade in a BIG way, so off to Northern Cali I went. My first three days were spent alone in the Redwoods between Carmel and Big Sur California, one of my favorite places. Landing in San Francisco around 12:30 my first stop was Baja Fresh for lunch. I can’t help it, ever since PFMan and I lived in Vegas, years ago, I have loved BF and don’t miss a chance to eat the veggie burrito. Then down the coast I go. HWY 17 is spectacular, a curvy, tree-lined drive, just breathtaking. I arrive in Carmel to do some shopping for my stay. I’m determined to go veggie while I’m here so I stock my cart with organic produce, strawberries, asparagus, & pistachios. I’ve brought my herbal teas from home as well, oh and chocolate with sea salt:-). I turn down Palo Colorado Rd. to head to Don Loui’s. This image above is the point where Palo Colorado Rd. meets the Pacific Coast Hwy. Turning off down Palo Colorado was magical. See I’m a dreamer in the sense that I love environments that transport me, and when you turn onto this road you are placed immediately into towering redwoods, like a land of fairies. You twist and wind amongst the quiet giants, houses placed into the sides of the mountains like they’ve been there forever, all blending in with the trees, completely part of the forest.

Here I have my bag of goodies, camera & backpack (which was packed in my luggage and now used to haul only the few items I’d need for this portion of my trip), and up the mountain I go. Not too bad, about five steep switchbacks, with little treasures at every corner. Then the Dragon House appears, unbelievable! I’m through the Dragon house tunnel and onto the Rainbow House where I’m staying. Don, the innkeeper, is an eccentric. He’s been on this property since 1983. Then it was him, the land and a tent. The Rainbow house he built first. Yes, him and his son. Previously he was a contractor and landscaper by trade and it shows. Today there are 4 buildings, The Rainbow & Dragon House (rentals), his own home and an octagon above the rest with windows looking out over the mountain and Pacific Ocean, used for yoga and/or meditation. Beautiful, peaceful! He’s created many trails all around the property as well.

Though I highly recommend staying here alone, as a couple or small family, this is not for everyone. Forget a warm shower and none at all in the Rainbow House. Luckily I like going rough and dirty, ha. There is no oven and only a propane burner for stove top, and it’s QUIET (aside from the very loud frogs and owls at night:-). I like to think of the house like a tree house on crack, seriously! And since I like being transported, it was perfect for me, like a kid again.

So what’s a girl to do all alone in the mountains? Hike, hike, eat at her favorite restaurant in Big Sur, play words with friends, ha, take lots of pictures and hike some more. To my chagrin there was no big AHA moment or anything, just time with myself which in itself is a BIG deal for me. In my past being along has been very difficult. A good friend of mine text-ed me while there questioning how I was doing alone. He said he talks to himself a lot when alone, lol. Me too:-). And I did, much of it in my head, some out loud. But I was comfortable with it, the oneness, and that’s a BIG deal!

Please enjoy some of the many photos I took while on this part of my trip and look for a post on me joining the girls in Wine Country soon:-)!

Peace!

Previous trip to Big Sur with my honey:-)!

I’m deliriously excited!  Arriving in San Francisco in 17 hours! I’m completely embracing turning 40 in NINE days and I’m starting off the celebration with some personal time in Big Sur, CA, all alone in the trees then I’ll join some of my very best girlfriends three days later for some time in wine country!  This is not my first time here, but I can’t get enough of Northern California, the coast, the country, the unbelievable availability of fresh, locally produced foods.

Right now I have no idea how exactly I plan on spending my alone time, as this is somewhat uncomfortable for me. Rain is predicted on Tuesday and Big Sur is not a place you want to be tooling around in a possible downpour, so I’m planning on spending the day in. The house I’m staying in, The Rainbow House, is a 10 minute or so hike up a steep incline in the trees and I’ve been told that a pack on your back with all food and clothes needed is recommended. Ok then. A quick stop in Carmel on my way there will provide me with all my provisions. I’ve loaded up my I-tunes and Kindle, packed lots of hot tea and a rosemary/mint candle, I’m ready!!

Thursday morning I head back up to San Francisco to pick up my girlies at the airport and we head up to Guerneville, Russian River area! See I’m not a Napa girl. I love the Russian River, Guerneville, Healdsburg, and Sonoma. We have a beautiful home in the hills there. Friday I’ve scheduled a bike ride through Healdsburg stopping at four wineries and a picnic lunch in between and the Saturday we’ll spend some time at MacLeod Family Vineyard again, a private tasting in the vineyard then onto Sonoma Plaza for lunch at Girl and the Fig. After lunch we’ll continue onto some of my faves like Viansa and Cline.

Sunday We’ll breathe deeply in Jenner. The coast here is unforgettable! Ahhhh….!!!

Times Up!
This has been my Sunday 5 minute Stream of Consciousness.

Want to try it? Here are the rules…

* Set a timer and write for 5 minutes only.
* Write an intro to the post if you want but don’t edit the post. No proofreading or spellchecking. This is writing in the raw.
* Publish it somewhere. Anywhere. The back door to your blog if you want. But make it accessible.
* Add the Stream of Consciousness Sunday badge to your post.
* Link up your post at all.things.fadra.
* Visit your fellow bloggers and show some love.