The Wrong Impression?

I think in some of my conversations with you, my readers, I may have given you the wrong idea that I am somehow much more practiced at the art of living clean than I really am.  Honestly, we just embarked last week on living purposefully in this area.  It's all very new and I really feel like I don't know what I'm doing most of the time.  At times I am also very overwhelmed with where I want to be versus where I am in this process.  The only reason we may appear to be farther along than we really are is because I have massive food allergies (gluten, soy, dairy, etc) and we had to eliminate a lot to accommodate me.


Where I want to be:
- making my own lotions, lip balms, and deodorant
- soaking beans from bags
- cooking more
- have Z's snacks be all homemade (applesauce, crackers, cookies, etc)
- shop at farmers markets
- have my snacks be all homemade
- jar my own veggies and beans and spaghetti sauce and tomatoes and fruits
- grow a lot of my own veggies
- use non-toxic homemade cleaners


Where we actually are:
- buying lotions and deodorants (Clean of course)
- using canned beans and veggies & fruit
- I'm not cooking much, Hubby does a lot but he likes it
- Z eats store bought applesauce, crackers, and cookies
- shopping at the commissary and whole foods
- my snacks are often store bought
- I'm not jarring anything yet
- still using store bought cleaners (although what we're using is what we've had - not buying new)


See?  We have so much farther to go.  And this list is not by any means complete.  We still buy a ton of processed foods.  And while the goal isn't to get rid of all store bought processed foods, to me that is a big marker of success - when my pantry has more dry goods for baking and cooking from scratch and me-made jarred foods, etc.

Granted, the store bought processed food we buy tends to be organic and with ingredients I actually can pronounce and understand, so I know we're doing better than I feel we often are.

My goals for the rest of April after we get back from Easter Break with Hubby's family:
- Me-made yogurt
- Me-made deodorant
- Me-made lotion
- Me-made lip balm
- Eliminating canned beans
- Me-made applesauce for Z
- Switching to me-made home cleaners

Processed Foods we buy that I don't plan on changing:
- frozen peas and carrots and other veggies
- Pacific Natural Soups
- Lara Bars
- Terra Chips (occasionally)
- Annie's Organic snacks for Z (until I figure out g-free alternatives)
- canned tomatoes (until I figure out how to jar my own from fresh)

I'm sure there is more, but right now that's what I can think of.

Honestly, I cannot recommend the book Making It enough.  I cannot believe how simple it is to make my own stuff and how cheap it is overall, once the raw materials are purchased.  I priced everything on Amazon for lip balm, deodorant, and lotion ingredients and up front it will cost me about $80 with an additional $24 in shipping, but I'm buying stuff in 16 oz or 1lb quantities.  I'm guessing that I'll need to replenish my ingredient stock maybe every 6 months to a year.  Or maybe even less.  Much much cheaper than buying lotion or lip balm or deodorant at the store, especially clean varieties like Burt's Bees, etc.

Read more...

An Exciting Day, Part 1 (the books)

Yesterday, while exhausting emotionally and physically, was an excellent day.

I spent the last week since deciding on this new lifestyle researching products on the internet - ones that I found and ones recommended to me by friends who have already embraced trying to live life with fewer chemical interferences.

Since being on Natalia Rose's detox diet, I've decided to keep as many allergens and triggers out of our food as possible.  It's a tall order, I know, especially since convenience has turned most grocery stores into meccas of processed foods.  To help me cook better and know where to start, I was pleased to find that the number of cookbooks available to deal with food allergies is many more than when I first became gluten free back in 2008.

I just got my package in the mail with the following:
- A Healthy Gluten-Free Life
- Allergy-Free Desserts
- The Allergy Self-Help Cookbook
- The Whole Foods Allergy Cookbook
- The Allergen-Free Baker's Handbook
- The Complete Allergy-Free Comfort Foods Cookbook

And two for kids:
- Allergy-Proof Recipes for Kids
- Wheat-Free, Gluten-Free Cookbook for Kids and Busy Adults (Hubby picked this up at Whole Foods)

I also bought Making It - Radical Home Ec for a Post-Consumer World, and Slow Death by Rubber Duck.

Maybe a bit overboard in the cookbook department, but while there are overlapping recipes, each has it's own techniques and flour combos, and methods for prepping, etc.  Over the years I've found that gluten-free cooking and baking is anything if fool proof.  I'm hoping between all of these different cookbooks to find the kinds of food I've been craving and living without for over 4 years, as well as recipes that I can make successfully.

I'm especially excited about the Allergy-Proof Recipes for Kids cookbook.  Not only does it factor in low sugar in its recipes, it also keeps them low sugar.  And they seem simple.  I *heart* simple.

Slow Death By Rubber Duck is a book I do intend to read, but not this month.  I want to implement some changes fully before becoming any more alarmed than I am.  Plus I have a huge stack of other books needing to be read on parenting and marriage and working out and getting organized, which come first.

Making It - Radical Home Ec for a Post-Consumer World is genius.  I flipped through it last night and already have plans to make my own lotions, headache salves, and lip balms.  I've been wondering what to do with the bags of dirty makeup I've accumulated over the past 14 years in the US (have I mentioned I'm a pack rat???) because throwing them out seems so...wrong.  Instead I've decided to empty the containers of their powders and gels, sanitize them,  and repurpose them for my lip balms and such.  The ones I can't use I will just toss.  Making it talks about everything from growing and infusing your own herbs to beekeeping to building and maintaining a dry toilet.  It may just be my new favorite book.

As I cook and make things, I'll try to be good about taking photos and documenting the process, then write it all up.  I tend to get bogged down in the details, but I'm going to make a more concerted effort for this blog in particular.

Part 2 will talk about my discoveries at the commissary and Whole Foods.

Read more...