Homemade Produce Wash

I've been using this all-natural produce wash for a little while now. I made up a new batch of it today, so I took some pictures and thought I would share. It's super easy and WAY CHEAPER than the stuff that you buy at your grocery store.

Homemade Produce Wash:

1 spray bottle + one recycled jar

1 cup water

1 cup vinegar

1 tablespoon baking soda

20 drops grapefruit seed extract - (I get mine at Whole Foods)

Put the water and vinegar in a deep pitcher or big bowl. This is why...........

When you add the baking soda, cool science happens! lol The baking soda and the vinegar react and foam up like crazy. I was using an 8-cup measuring cup and it came very close to foaming over the top.

After the foam goes away, stir well. It will probably foam up again, but not as badly as the first time. Fill up your spray bottle and if you have any left over, pour it into your recycled glass jar. Be sure to label your jar, so you know what's inside!

To use, spray your produce and let it sit on your counter or in a bowl for 5 to 10 minutes. Rinse well and eat!

For small produce, like grapes and blueberries, I place the fruit in a bowl, spray the fruit real well and mix them up a bit with my fingers, spraying on more wash here and there. Then I let them sit and rinse.

I found this recipe at Recipezaar and I think it works great!

Meal Plan Monday & the beginning of Lent

You're probably wondering how these two things can even go together in a post. lol Let me share.......I've been wanting to do this weekly posting of meal plans for quite awhile and I've been just HORRIBLE about planning our weekly meals. This is another one of those things that are so good for you, and you know that's it's good for you, and you know how much easier it makes your life, but you still just don't stick with it! Arugh! I mean, my life is so, so, so much easier when I plan our meals for the week. No stress every day about what to make for dinner that night. No blowing our grocery budget by quick trips to the store every day for less-than-adequate meals (a.k.a. prepackaged meals full of who knows what that are full of salt & preservatives and just not good for ya and cost a bundle!). And worst yet, eating out. That really kills our grocery budget and our wasitelines! So, this kind of ties into my whole get-it-in gear mantra I've been telling myself since January and now that the Easter Season is almost upon us, for me, it ties in Lent. I say this because it is custom for Catholics to "give something up" during Lent. Usually people give up coffee, soda, t.v., etc. You can also give up bad habits, like gossiping or being judgemental. So I'm going to give up my being unorganized and unhealthy and give it up to the Lord and put these parts of my life that are in such desperate need of help and guidance in His hands.

That said. lol Here's my menu for this week. In a different post I will share how I have my recipes and such organized to make planning my weekly menu easy as pie!

Sunday-
Homemade Tomato Soup (this is so good and easy!)
Loaded Baked Potatoes

Monday-
Pasta w/ Artichoke Sauce
Green Beans
French Bread

Tuesday- Mardi Gras
Jambalaya
Spicy Asparagus
King Cake

Wednesday - Ash Wednesday
Crock-Pot Vegetable Soup
Salad
Hot-Cross Buns

Thursday-
Crock-Pot Ranch Stew with Rice
Salad

Friday-
Fish Fry at local parish
or:
Salmon Loaf with Cucumber Sauce
Provencial Potatoes
Steamed Broccoli with Cheese Sauce

I plan on adding some of the recipes listed above, but at a later time!

God Bless,
~di

digging out of paperwork mountain & some organic favorites

Yep. That's me. And that's where I've been all week long. Knee-deep in Girl Scout Cookie paperwork. Another reason why this was the wrong time for me to decide to go healthy! Stress and lots of time spent auditing paperwork = lots of coffee/soda and munchies. But, I turned in all of my paperwork on Monday and now I'm just trying to remember how to function right now. It's a huge job, this cookie business, but I've been doing it for 11 years now and I think I'm in it for life. Or so I've been told by the Head Cookie at the council. lol

I did make it to Whole Foods a couple of times, which is bad, because I can easily get carried away in there and spend too much money. I switched us over to organic, French Roast Allegro Coffee. It is $11.99 a pound, which is a little high, but we decided that we love coffee too much and won't skimp on getting something we won't enjoy. I also picked up some Madhava organic, light agave nectar as a sugar replacement for my coffee. Be sure to click that link to read about it. It is a natural sweeter with a low glycemic index and it is kind of like thin honey, but has a light, sweet flavor and it working wonderfully in my coffee. I am curious now to try it in some real recipes. I also picked up some Calming Aromatherapy Spritzer from California Baby to spray on our pillows at night. This really seems to help Gracie relax a bit better and fall asleep peacefully. I love California Baby products, they are all safe not full of harsh chemicals, and so far I have used their: Calming Botanical Moisturizing Cream, Calming Diaper Rash Cream, Calming Aromatherapy Bubble Bath, and their Natural Bug Blend Bug Repelant. Everything from the "Calming" line has lavender in it and I am a huge fan and believer in the relaxing properties of lavender.

I am planning on sitting down tomorrow and working on my menu for next week. A new week and a fresh start. This time I should be able to start working on eating better and other things mentioned in my earlier post!

God Bless,
di

time for a change........

I need a change. A big one. A life-altering one. I'm tired of feeling yucky. Tired of being tired. Tired of being out of shape. Of eating too much junk. Drinking insane amounts of coffee every day (at least we switched over to decaff a few months ago!). Of having headaches because I'm not drinking any water. I forget everything and can't remember anything. I could go on and on with this. So late last night I decided that enough was enough. I can't do this anymore. Time for a change. And, like I said, a big one! It has been weighing heavy on my mind for awhile. I need to do this for myself and for my family.

I decided to record my going green journey here because I am going to be doing it on a budget. A pretty tight one, too! We have $150 budgeted for groceries for 6 each week. It is a challenge each week to meet that budget and I know that it's going to be even more of a challenge for me to go green on a limited food budget. I also get a weekly "allowance" of $40 and I will be using that to purchase special things for myself, like natural beauty products and skin care. Right now, I feel like that is something that should not come out of our household budget. I'm going to call this "A Green Me". For me, this will deal w/ all points of living a more healthy lifestyle, including exercise. I'm going to track what how I feel each day, what I'm buying, what I'm paying for things, and yummy recipes that I've tried.

Some of the things that I would like to start making changes on soon are:

• cooking more from scratch
• eating more whole foods
• use natural health and beauty products
• drink way less coffee and way more water!
• have a garden in the back yard, vegetable and flower
  
• start an exercise routine
• reduce the clutter that surrounds me
• daily journal
• daily creative break
• read for pleasure and knowledge
• daily Bible study

I am sure that I have more to add to this list, but I have a really bad habit of jumping in w/ both feet on big projects, getting overwhelmed and frustrated and then just quitting all together. I can't quit. I just can't......

So here we go. It's time to start being a green me!

God Bless,
di