This last 30 days has been fun, if you are just starting your journey towards more healthy living, welcome, and thank you for letting me share in that journey with you!  We all have to start somewhere, for me, it was with butter. (day 1)

I will say that I need to clarify something here...I am a real mom.  I strive to keep my family as healthy as possible by researching and trying new (or old) ways of doing things.  But, recently I have had friends apologize when I visit and they don't have "organic" or they share snacks that have preservatives in them.  SO WHAT!  If you are kind enough to invite me into your home, that in itself is a blessing.  Just because I blog about natural living and healthy alternatives doesn't mean I'm immune to the occasional junk food (yup I said it) and I may even swing through McDonalds a few times a year for some fries (yes I know they are not healthy).  So, please, don't think I don't ever cheat and allow junk to creep in, I do.  I just try to avoid it when possible and I figure at least by moving towards some more natural ways of doing things, even if it is baby steps you are taking, you and I are making progress.  If you missed any of the days, here they are in order with links to each post.  Thanks for joining me in this series!

Day 1- Butter
Day 2- Vinegar
Day 3- Bread
Day 4- Educate
Day 5- Probiotics
Day 6- Grow
Day 7- Preserve
Day 8- Snacks that aren't boxed
Day 9- Eggs
Day 10- Essential Oils
Day 11- Natural Remedies
Day 12- Activated Charcoal
Day 13- Milk
Day 14- Choices in Childbirth
​Day 15- Baby Wearing
Day 16- Home Made Laundry Soap
Day 17- All Natural Deodorant (DIY)
Day 18- Homemade Skin Salve
Day 19- Learn a New Skill
Day 20- Homemade Soap
Day 21- Composting
Day 22- Line Drying Clothes
Day 23- Homeschooling
Day 24- Cooking Pans
Day 25- Make your own yogurt
Day 26- Favorite Reading for Natural Living
Day 27- Prepping Grandma's Way
Day 28- Soup Stocks
Day 29- Cloth Diapering
Day 30- Wrap UP!


​If you have been following along you may have learned a tip or two over the last 30 days.  It has been fun and I hope you have enjoyed this series as much as I have making it.  If you have some ideas for things we didn't cover, leave me a comment!  If you have ideas to share, link up to your blog as well, we can all learn from one and other.

THIS IS ALSO YOUR LAST CHANCE TO SUBSCRIBE TO MY BLOG FOR FUTURE UPDATES (SOME GREAT STUFF COMING UP IN FEBRUARY) JUST CLICK ON THE UPPER LEFT CORNER OF YOUR SCREEN -in desktop mode.  Enter today and I will be contacting my winner of some natural goodies in the next two weeks via email!!!

Let me start by divulging a secret, I have 5 children and I did not start cloth diapering until...last week.  Yes, you read that right.  Let me explain (I feel I must) I had intentions of cloth diapering with the last two of my babies. However, with baby #4 I was still working full time until he was about a year old and frankly, hubby was NOT at all on board with the idea.  Then I was again making the plan with baby #5 but I have to share that I have the most AMAZING church family.  Knowing that I did not need any more clothing for my new babe, they threw me the most amazing diaper shower (thank you Kristen, Kim and the rest of my church sisters!) I walked away with enough disposable diapers to last almost to the 1 year mark, so there was no need.  I still was curious and had a few friends who were successfully cloth diapering their littles, but by this point, I figured it wasn't worth sinking the money in because sooner, rather than later, my little should take an interest in the potty.

Enter in one of the most generous friends I have.  I was seeking some advice concerning the constant leaking of my disposable diapers at night and thought that I should at least purchase a few cloth diapers for night time as I was already washing pajamas and sheets daily, I might as well save the disposables, since they weren't working anyway.  I began asking questions with the intent of just purchasing one or two diapers.  My friend not only gave me a full on in person class on cloth diapering and all my different options but also sent me home with a HUGE variety of diapers to try to see what worked for us.  She had tried a number of styles and brands herself to find what worked for her little girl and she was so generous.  Mandy, you are the best!!!

I have to admit total amazement.  I really didn't realize how many options there were out there.  Well, after trying a number of them, I have settled on what I believe is my favorite brand she shared, Bum Genius. (cute name, right?)  What amazes me still is that the inside of the diaper is white, yes, white, and it stays that way!  I mean that, you can spray off solid waste and wash and then it is still...white!  I brought home my stash of diapers and got to work, funny thing is my son LOVES these things!  He asks for the "fluffy" as he calls it (because we tease about him having a fluffy bum).  I don't know why I didn't do this sooner.  It isn't nearly as bad as I feared and definitely a HUGE improvement over the style of diapers my grandma would have had!

Above is what the diaper looks like ready to be put on.  The various snaps are for sizing as this type of diaper starts at a size 1 and grows with baby to a size 5 or beyond.  The best part for me is that I can "stuff" the diaper with as many inserts as I need to so that baby stays dry.  (hence the "fluffy" bum)  I found that night time is 3 layers thick and daytime is 2 layers thick.  The picture below shows a gray layer (charcoal) and a white layer (microfiber) that pull wetness away from little bottoms and work wonderfully!  These diapers, when wet, feel no more so than a disposable diaper. By that I mean disposables were intended to wick the moisture away from baby's bottom and this type of diaper does the same!

Here is a picture of the diaper inserts that I have been "stuffing" into the diaper.  The outer layer (the purple) has a waterproof backing so that clothes stay dry (no more rubber pants!) The gray and white cloths get stuffed into the pocket and stay put.
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I stand amazed!  I should have done this a long time ago.  My friends who were hipper to this then I have reported far less diaper rashes and a better experience as well as financially the difference in not buying so many disposables.  Most moms I know still use disposables when going on long trips, vacations, or even utilizing a church nursery.  This option is definitely a great one, wish I would have done this sooner!

Here is a link to bum genius diapers....love these things! LINK HERE
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Back before all our modern conveniences there was no one who went to the store to buy chicken stock, beef stock or the like to start a soup.  Bouillon cubes did come on the scene in the mid 19th century but most cooks, especially on a farm, would simply make their own stock. 

I bought chicken stock and bouillon cubes for years before being taught that I could make it myself.  Since we already ate a lot of chicken, especially whole chickens, this was something I was missing out on by throwing away a valuable piece of food (the carcass).  I did a post some time back with pictures (because I am a visual learner) on how to create your own chicken stock/bone broth.  Post Here.

I took that a step further with the realization and made beef broth as well as vegetable broths for soups too.  It is beyond easy to make good use out of every last piece of food you have (the chicken carcass, the beef bones from a roast, the abundance of carrots and onions that need to be used up).

What is so excellent about making your own broths is that you can tailor them to your own family's needs.  If you need lowered sodium, just reduce the salt, if you need vegetarian, just use vegetables, etc.  You can also can the stock, or freeze it like my post here.  In our house it hardly ever lasts that long.  Our grandma's thinking has been proven over and over, the bone marrow that is released into the broth is truly what aids in healing during times of illness.  Here is a great article about 8 Bone Broth Benefits.

Here is a list of a few great blogger's takes on bone broth:
Wellness Mama
​Nourished Kitchen
Eater

Bone broth is one of those areas that is so easy to implement.  You literally take the bones, add water and veggies (no recipe needed as long as your water does not evaporate, you are good to go) add some salt and pepper and simmer for 24 hours.  It really is that simple.  It can then be cooled and the fat skimmed from the top for a lower fat version.  It can be frozen, canned, or just made straight into soup.  Beware though, this may change your ability to run to walmart for a box of chicken stock, like everything, it tastes so much better homemade!

You hear a lot about prepping these days, preparing for disasters, preparing for inclement weather.  What amazes me is that people act like this is a new concept.  Like we need to be educated to "save for a rainy day" so to speak.  I guess in our current culture we do have to be told by our government to do so.  This is evidenced by what happens every year at grocery stores nationwide when the first inkling of a snowstorm is heard.  The shelves are ransacked, the coolers raided, and all so people can survive in their homes for 2-3 days.

I think about grandma's wisdom here.  Generations ago those who do what people do today, run to the store at the last minute, would have been thinned out very quickly.  What I mean by that is if you didn't grow your food, put it up and make sure you had what you needed, you just might not make it.  If you talk to anyone that lived during or directly after the Great Depression (an event that ended only 77 years ago) they will tell you how important it was to have what you needed and waste not.

How does this relate to natural living?  If you are growing your own food, and learning to can it you have a skill that cannot be taken from you.  If you are making your food from scratch then you are not overly concerned when you run out of bread or freezer meals as you know what to do.  As long as a gal has some flour, sugar, yeast, and eggs it is amazing what you can whip up!  Grandma's generation had a lot of wisdom we can glean here.

Preparedness is more of a lifestyle than an event that happens just before a big storm.  Living a more natural lifestyle allows one to be able to make do and have things on hand that can either be re-purposed or made from scratch.

Just think, if you have followed these last 30 days and implemented even just a few of the baby steps, you are well ahead of most people today.  By learning some skills you would not be lost in a disaster because you would have a skill set. Whether it be it knowing a bit about natural medicine and oils or being able to make your own soap and grow your own food you are ahead of the majority of people living in the US today.

So go on and start canning when you find a good deal, even if you didn't grow the food.  Start making your own soap so you can have plenty on hands.  Begin making your own laundry soap so you are fully stocked and pick up a few of the books I mentioned in yesterday's post.  By getting in touch with the way our grandparents did things we are actually more prepared than you would think.  If disaster ever did strike our country in a natural or man made form probably the least affected would be those who are lease reliant on mass manufactured products, I think that Amish communities would be scarcely phased, lets learn from them and generations past.

I tend to do a lot of reading when I am trying to learn about something unfamiliar to me.  I devour just about anything I can get my hands on and transitioning to more natural living is no exception.  I remember years ago my mother gave me a book, The Encyclopedia of Country Living, that I treasure.  At the time I lived in a small town surrounded by farmland but I could walk to the local movie theater.  Aside from having a larger plot for our home than most (we had .64 acre at the time) we were still very much "in town."  It was at this time that I became more and more intrigued with doing things the "old fashioned way."  I learned about canning, something my mother did with tomatoes and fruits.  I learned how to make homemade bread and capture wild yeast, I learned a little about animal husbandry, it was just fascinating.  I mention this because my love affair with the old ways began long before I was able to implement most of the things I was learning, but I loved learning!

​ The book is written like a journal almost, so if prose and a bit of disorganization bother you, this may not be the best choice but it is so packed with nuggets of golden information that I was able to overlook all of that.

The next fantastic reads are articles from Backwoods Home Magazine. This is a publication that touts itself as a practical journal of self reliance, this is a treasure trove of information for anyone looking to live more naturally, it reads like a "how to" manual and covers things about living off the land that I never even dreamed of.  Want to learn how to build a cold frame, irrigate your garden, identify poisonous plants, and so many other topics are covered in these anthologies.  There are gems in each issue so no matter which you get you will be sure to find something tantalizing new to learn!

Another gift from my mother was the "Country Wisdom Almanac."  Here I learned such crafts as how to build a hot smoke pit.  Advice such as tips to keep rabbits out of your garden, and how to use Yarrow for medicinal purposes.  This is another little handy guide that is wonderful to reference for bits of wisdom.  The book is broken into "seasons" with tidbits from each time of the year.

The rest of the books I have in the picture above are all surrounding the topics of natural medicine.  There is so much out there in the form of medicinal value that can be found just in your yard.  The largest of these is the Natural Cures book that was shared with me by my husband's great aunt.  This woman is well into her 80's and to my knowledge has never taken medicines and still gardens and puts up her bounty every year.

These books are my treasures when I need to learn something new.  I always smile when I think that if the books don't have it, I could always do an internet search.  I am still a bit old fashioned though and prefer plain ol' books!  My shelves are lined with them.

This was an experiment that I tried just for fun.  We all think of yogurt as a healthful option but most yogurts (unless you buy plain unflavored) are loaded with sugars, dyes, and corn syrup.  I wondered if there was a way to make yogurt healthier.  

At the time I began experimenting I didn't have any special equipment for making yogurt but I learned that I didn't need anything except what I already had in my kitchen.  Some mason jars, check.  A 9x13 pan to hold warm water, check.  A little bit of store bought yogurt, check.  Finally, milk.  I had all the ingredients at my disposal so this would surely be easy!

All you do is take 4 quart jars and fill with milk (leave a bit of headspace)

Once you fill the jars with milk you put them in a stock pot filled with warm water.  Turn on your burner and bring the milk to 180 degrees.  If you have a thermometer, use it, if not watch the milk stirring occasionally until a skin starts to form on the surface of the milk.

Once this part is done you simply remove the jars of milk from the hot water and let them cool to about 110 degrees.  It is important that the milk doesn't cool too much so you want the jars to still be warm to the touch.  This is when you add your yogurt cultures.  Be sure that you have 8 Tablespoons of non flavored, active live culture yogurt.  I have found the best kind to start homemade yogurt with is the plain, unflavored Greek yogurt kind.  

You will now be stirring in 2 T of the store bought yogurt into each of the milk jars.  Put the jars back into the stock pot you used and fill that pot back up with warm tap water and put the whole thing in your oven.  Do not turn on the oven, simply turn on the oven light if you can and let the science experiment begin!  The yogurt will need to incubate for 8-12 hours.  The longer it goes the thicker and tangier it gets.  

My favorite way to do this is to make up the yogurt at night and then get up in the morning to fresh yogurt!  (though my kids prefer the yogurt chilled in the fridge before they eat it).

Our favorite toppings...
Strawberry jam
Cashews & honey
Frozen berries

RECIPE:

• Large stockpot
• Four quart-sized glass canning jars with lids (or repurposed glass jars)
• A thermometer (optional- see note below)
• 1 gallon milk
• 8 Tablespoons of plain yogurt containing live, active cultures

Instructions

1. Fill jars with milk, be sure to leave headspace
2. Set jars in stockpot and fill pot with water halfway or more of the way up the sides of jars
3. Bring water to an "almost boil" until milk in jars have reached 180-185 degrees F or until a "skin" forms on top of milk
4. Remove jars and let them cool to 110 degrees
5. Check periodically with thermometer (or feel outside of jars) and stir (warm is good but too would kill your active cultures)
6. Once cooled, stir 2 Tablespoons yogurt into each jar
7. To keep yogurt at 110-120 degrees while it incubates place jars in warm water again in the stock pot and place in oven with light on.
8. Allow the yogurt to incubate a minimum of 8-12 hours (the longer it sits, the tangier it gets)
9. Cap and refrigerate your very own yogurt!

Yep, it really is that easy!  Moving forward you no longer have to buy the yogurt cultures, now you can just make your own!

A few years ago I was heating up some milk when I noticed a number of little black flecks floating in the creamy white sweetness.  What I then realized is that the flecks were from the non-stick coating on the bottom of the pan that was scratched and starting to release into our food.  I became a bit concerned as I realized this same situation was playing out time and again whenever there would be a scratch inadvertently made in the non-stick coating.  I just can't imagine that eating Teflon is a good option.

 So, what other options are there?  This was also about the time that I traded out Vegetable or Canola oil for olive oil butter and lard. I found that these cooking oils worked very well with both Cast Iron pans and Stainless Steel.  Though I have not switched over all my pans to stainless steel yet (still working on that one) I think that those and cast iron have got to be the healthiest way to go.

Here are some interesting things you may not know about cast iron...Cooking with cast iron fortifies your food with iron.  Chemicals don't seep out of the cast iron but the element of iron does, especially when high acidic foods are cooked in the pots.  Since many of us are iron deficient this may be a quick fix.  Also, cast iron is safe at any temperature meaning you can move the cooking skillet from the stove right down into the oven with nothing special, save for a hot pad.

I have fond memories of all our camping trips and cooking with cast iron over an open fire.  One such particular camping trip was when my husband and I were newly married, we were in a site next to a German Baptist couple and I watched in amazement as the woman turned out pineapple upside down cake, meat and potatoes and cornbread all cooked skillfully with her cast iron pots.

Many people choose to shy away from cast iron because they fear the seasoning process.  The process really isn't as scary or daunting as one might think and even the most rusted out mess of a pan can have life breathed back into it.  HERE is a fascinating tutorial on a ridiculously nonstick coating you can make on your cast iron right at home.

The other option for more natural cooking would be stainless steel.  These pots can range from cheaply made to very expensive but, you do remove the concern of chemical Teflon flaking off into your food.  Once you get used to the cooking process with stainless steel (there is a bit of a learning curve) you have nothing left but your oils and your food...no black floaties!

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What are your favorite items to cook with?  Leave me a comment below on favorites you have found!

Unfortunately, this can still be somewhat of a controversial topic (heck most of my posts could be I suppose).  Homeschooling is a perfectly legal option for all 50 states.  There is a breadth of ways to home school that is as varied as the people who select this option for their children.  
Statistics show that these children turn out just as successful as their public school counterparts,

               "The home-educated typically score 15 to 30 percentile points above public-school students on standardized academic achievement tests. (The public school average is the 50th percentile; scores range from 1 to 99.)"
-http://www.nheri.org/-

As the popularity of the home education model rises, so does the opportunity for more discussion of formerly debated topics such as "socialization"

All in all the trailblazers of the 70's and 80's did an amazing job with their children, they have learned from their experiences and begun to share that with the ever growing following they have in today's culture.

There are so many resources available to those who are looking at homeschooling.  There is parent led curricula, digital computer based options, and even satellite schooling offered free of charge to parents who decide that this is the best option for their family.

There are entire homeschool conventions with hundreds of curriculum vendors.  These vendors sell entire grade kits or individual subjects so parents can choose different grade level options for children who may excel in on subject but need further assistance on another one.

So how is this part of a more natural lifestyle you may ask?  We naturally learn by watching others, doing hands on projects and really learning should be a lifelong endeavor, not something that you sit in a classroom for 6 hours a day, 5 days a week.  Children who are home schooled have a much larger window from which to learn.  They can learn history from WWII veterans who lived it, they can learn home economics while cooking daily alongside mom or dad, they are free to pursue a topic until their curiosity is satisfied, not just until the chapter is over.  This is an area that definitely fits the "more natural crunchy lifestyle," I realize that this is not an option for everyone, but it is one worth exploring!  

Curious about why we homeschool?  HERE is a post I did on that topic awhile back.
I am actually planning an E-book on this topic, please leave a comment if you have any interest in learning more about homeschooling, especially if you are concerned about navigating the waters.

You want to save money, you want your whites extra bright, you love the smell of the great outdoors, why not go for it?  I always wanted a clothesline, even when I lived right smack in the middle of the city.  It wasn't until we got our little hobby farm that I did get to begin enjoying this luxury.  I call it a luxury because until you have slept on freshly line dried sheets, you haven't lived.  

 I have to admit a few things here though...I am not hardcore.  I had a neighbor in my old house who would hang her clothing out year round, I think the pants were able to walk back to the house by themselves in the month of January.  I give up my line dried linens about the first part of November, or whenever it begins to get a little too crisp in the air.

I also don't have an affinity for crunchy denim or bath towels.  I have yet to figure out how to combat this one so denim and towels still get tossed in the dryer.

I will share though that a diligent comparison of electric bills does help fuel my passion, I save an average of $20 a month from Spring through fall by just hanging my clothes on the line. 

Then, there is also the simplicity of it all...

When I first began composting I thought I needed to spend a bunch of money on one of those fancy barrel-type tumbling units to store my precious cast offs in.  I was convinced of this so much so that I set out to convince hubby of it too...it didn't work.  He basically told me that they were a waste of money and though they looked nice (as in if you live in suburbia) they were so very unnecessary.

So then my next thought was...I need to research the best way to layer and compost materials.  What I came away with was a very frustrated and confused look on my face with conflicting facts about carbon to nitrogen ratios and whether or not you can use some animal byproducts in your compost.

My husband shook his head at all the nonsense I was touting and simply said "just do it."  I took his advice and did.  It worked out better than I could have imagined.  What I didn't realize is how long it takes to compost.  I had this grandiose idea that I could start piling matter up and then have beautiful, rich, black gold ready in just a few months.  Not so.  However, I did get that beautiful, rich, black gold with very little effort, it just took more like a year.

So, why bother with composting?  Well, you undoubtedly have a lot of kitchen trash if you cook at all.  Think egg shells, onion skins, apple cores, banana peels, the list goes on and on.  Why not repurpose those items rather then fill up your hefty bags to lug to the curb?  It is really this simple:

Items needed: bowl or repurposed ice cream pail (I really like having a lid)

And, a spot in your yard.  That's it!  Seriously.  You simply start a pile. During the winter months I take the compost out every few days and during the summer months when the garden is in full swing I have the kids dispose of it daily.  You can speed up the decomposition process tremendously by "stirring" (use a shovel or pitch fork to poke around and turn some of the dirt and "stuff" over) and adding other matter such as yard clippings (but not if you spray your yard for weeds), leaves, livestock manure (not cat or dog only farm livestock like cows, chickens, horse, rabbit).

There are a few things you want to avoid in your compost pile.  You want to avoid citrus fruits (no pineapple, oranges, lemons, etc).  You don't want oils or fats going in there (it can inhibit the decaying process) and you don't want processed foods (granola bars, cake, cookies, etc) only fruits, veggies, peels, and outdoor organic matter.

When your compost has cured you will know it because as you dig down several layers with your shovel you will see layers of whatever you have thrown out and at the bottom, pure black gold, hopefully filled with the most ridiculous amounts of earthworms you have ever seen! (My children love to raid the compost pile for fishing worms).  I always wondered why all the garden magazines seemed to be so hot on selling worms to people for compost piles, if your pile is outside, the worms naturally will find it and as they do their thing, it turns to the best organic matter you can imagine for growing whatever you want.  

I did an experiment a few years ago, unfortunately I didn't photograph it at the time, but I planted a zucchini in compost and one in the dirt.  The difference in how the two plants turned out was like night and day.  The one grown in a shovel full of compost was twice as big, grew hearty and full and put the other one to a pitiful shame.

Winter is a bit of a slow time for the compost pile, but it is doing its job, just very quietly.  Here is a picture of my composted kitchen scraps that need to be taken to the bin later today.
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Like I said, you only need a small spot in your yard to compost so don't let my husband's handiwork deter you.  I wanted a barricade for my compost bin and since at the time we also had horse and chicken manure we were piling in regularly I wanted some way to contain it. My husband built me a 3 sided  bin out of old privacy fencing that he had picked up for scrap wood.  This is what it looks like at the moment, covered in snow, but oh the beautiful soil it will produce for me this coming spring!
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So yesterday I was posting on how I challenged my readers to learn a new skill...this oxymoron was not lost on me as I was very interested in learning to make my own soap but, as many of you experience sometimes, I was fearful of failing and a little confused and intimidated by the process so I put this one off for years.  However, if I was going to challenge my readers to do this I had better get a jump start.  Well, I made this first batch of soap right before Christmas and it is all gone because it was washed down the drain after a glorious lather or given away as Christmas gifts.

I started by scouring the internet for recipes, I wanted something I could make from ingredients that I mostly had on hand and something that was rather simple for my first go of it.  I found a fantastic tutorial here from mommypotamus.com.  She made it look so simple I thought that "I can do this!"  

I was only missing one ingredient, the lye.  It really wasn't hard to find and it was only around $4 if I remember correctly.  However, the crunchy side of me now wants to make my own lye much like our great grandparents would have done (Lye is made from wood ash and water) though my grandmother has warned me extensively about how dangerous this can be with little children around (lye will burn your skin on contact...to combat this, keep a bottle of vinegar on hands to pour over any spot that you would splash your skin as Lye is a base and Vinegar is an acid so the two cancel each other out)

Okay, I had my supplies and mommypotamus said I could do this in a crock pot.  For a moment I was worried about this but then I remembered, the end result is....soap.  So far as I have read it would still be safe to use my crockpot for cooking after, still not sure if I will or not.  

The ingredients are: Coconut oil, Lye, Distilled water, and essential oil of choice.​

I added the lye to the water outside as it produces some pretty noxious fumes while it is combining.  The water becomes cloudy when you add the lye but you stir until it is once again clear. (don't laugh at my wooden kebob skewers, I didn't want to use good utensils!

I was melting the coconut oil in the crockpot while mixing up my lye, when I came back in the house about 5 minutes later I just added all the ingredients to the crock pot.

This is what is called the "saponification process" the ingredients go from soup-like to sour-cream like and they make a "trace" if you look really closely at the creamy picture you can see where my beater was pulled out of the mix, when this happens you put on the lid and just let it cook for about 30 minutes.  Do this until there are no puddles and the mix favors a vaseline type look.

​After you reach this point you let the soap cool just a bit and then add your essential oils.

I didn't spend the money on some fancy soap mold so a friend had advised me to save my cartons from the milk we use as they are already coated with a no stick material and since this is something we buy already...they are free!

Many other soap bars require "curing" time before they can be cut but this is not so with coconut oil soap, if you wait too long it will be nearly impossible to cut the soap.  I found that an hour was perfect.

To say that I felt like I had REALLY accomplished something was an understatement.  I mean this was REALLY cool!  The best part was that this soap was super moisturizing and even my hubby loved it!

So, what have you been holding off on trying?  Comment below and let me know~

 I believe this to be the crux of the "crunchy" natural lifestyle.  I found this out actually when we were going through a very tight budget time of life a few years ago and sometimes I would just have to figure out how to make something that I would normally buy.  This is what I believe helps get us to our roots.  When you take something that you would normally run to the store for, and instead you decide you are going to purposefully going to figure out how to do it yourself, you are on your way to natural tendencies!

A few times I ran out of maple syrup but the kids wanted pancakes...hmmm.  I opened the cupboards and took a look around.  I wondered what would happen if I just used brown sugar, water and vanilla?  A new staple around our house was born!  I simply "made do" with what I had and the end result was a success!

I had horrible broadleaf weeds in the yard but I did not want to use Round Up or other poisons on the yard so I got to searching and discovered that a perfect weed killer was right under my sink...Vinegar! (post here)

I wanted to find more natural ways of cleaning my toilets (and something better for my septic system then bleach) so I began looking around and came up with baking soda (something that old timers have used for years!)

I needed an ant killer, and had a precocious toddler who always was freaked out by the little ants...found a natural remedy for using the sticky nasty traps you can buy at the hardware store.  Peppermint essential oils and water. (here is a pic of my little guy killing ants with a perfectly safe spray)​

I wanted to learn how to make my own teas...I just did a few internet searches and there we have it! (post here) I could make my own peppermint tea, for FREE! Oh, and being sick?  I found a tea for that too.  (post here)

That whole bread making thing that I posted on day 3 of this series...taught myself that skill too. And the funny thing is that is a dying art, breadmaking, so many people don't know how to do it so that when you show up to a dinner party or a neighbor's home with a fresh baked loaf they just may look at you like you just walked on water.

So, to become more natural, crunchy, grounded, whatever you want to call it.  Teach yourself something.  There is a saying that I quote to my kids during our homeschool days.  It goes a little something like this:

My job is to teach you how to read, write, and understand mathematics, the rest of the world becomes your teacher once you can master those skills.

So, my challenge to you for this post is to try something new.  If you are out of brownie mix, find a recipe and make some from scratch.  If you are running low on dishwasher rinse aid...pour in some vinegar.  Whatever it is, try something new.

Want to be sure you don't miss a single post in this series? Be sure to subscribe to my email notifications to get emails about new posts...top right corner of the screen, just add your email and you will also be entered to win a natural freebie at the end of this series!

So all of those ingredients I posted about yesterday were just begging to be used. I went on the lookout for recipes as to what I should do with all that good stuff.  I was wanting a really good skin salve for my boys who have bouts of eczema and so far the only thing that would work was the commercially produced Aquaphor brand.  I was determined and when I so loved what I came up with, I thought others would too so I put some of these out there to my Christmas card recipients, the feedback was very positive! 

The recipe I used is as follows (it makes a very small batch but you can always double or triple the batch)

1 T Raw Shea Butter
1 T  Raw Cocoa Butter
1 T  Coconut Oil
2 tsp Bees Wax  
10 drops lemongrass essential oil

I first use a sauce pan filled with water and I stick a glass mason jar in it where I begin by melting the beeswax. I use a wooden popsicle stick to stir the melting beeswax and other ingredients.  Once the beeswax is mostly melted I add in the cocoa butter, shea butter and then the coconut oil (this order is important as the shea butter doesn't like to get too hot).

After removing from the stove I let the concoction cool for 5 minutes or so and then simply stir in my essential oils. (don't do this immediately or they will evaporate quickly!)

Then I poured into cute little tins and viola!  You have your own skin salve.

Where to buy all these fantastic ingredients you might ask?  I typically buy them at Amazon, here are a few of my favorites:

For sensitive skin, contact me about the essential oil, I do have a particular company that I use and endorse and would be happy to share more information with you about that.

Now, at home this is something I just keep in a mason jar and dip out on my kiddos sensitive skin after bath time, no need for cute containers that way but it is an excellent skin softener and you know all the ingredients you are applying to your skin!

Have you ever seen those beautiful kitchens with all the storage done in mason jars?  Me too. My favorite size for such storage is the 1/2 gallon jar.  Unfortunately these are usually pretty expensive (like $16-$20 for 6 jars) I also mentioned in an earlier post HERE how I used to be able to get fantastic farm fresh raw milk, I used the 1/2 gallon jar for that too.  But, I only had 6 jars because as I mentioned, they are pricey!

Today I found the BEST deal I have ever seen by just searching 1/2 gallon mason jar.  I found these:

These are currently on $8.89!!!! for a 6 pack!!!  Can you feel my excitement???  And to boot, I found a *FREE SHIPPING* code too!!! (CODE IS PANTHERS16)

Here is the link to where I found them.  A company called Mills Farm Fleet that I had previously never heard of.

​I also found these: A huge help when using jars for storage:

They were only $2.68, a really great price!!!  Link HERE.

Just so you know, I have NEVER seen the 1/2 gallons size for this price, and all the prices seem pretty good on this site, they will likely increase (as all stores do) when canning season hits so snatch em up!

You may have heard some of the recent concerns about commercial deodorants and your health.  There have been concerns reported over a link between aluminum used in commercially produced deodorants and a link to both breast cancer and Alzheimer's disease.  Then there has been a firestorm debate back and forth between manufacturers of commercial products and the health community.  But, since this is a blog post about ways to live more naturally, I am going to suggest that it is just nice to know what you are putting on your skin.  

I did not come up with this recipe, it was a dear friend, and it took some cajoling on her part as I was a bit reluctant to try it.  This is why...I have always been intrigued by natural deodorants, however, I have not been intrigued by the fact that many of them do not seem to "work".  I want to be all natural...but I do not want to SMELL ALL NATURAL if you get my drift.  I had never really had someone tell me about a natural one that worked well, (lets face it if you are a true farm girl, you sweat when you work) until recently.

So, again with the why.  I recently read a statistic that said the average woman exposes herself to over 100 chemicals before breakfast.  We are amassing a vast cocktail of substances on our bodies and in our homes.  I don't believe that it is possible to eliminate them all, but I do want to reduce the amount of harmful toxins by as much as possible.  Our skin is our largest organ and many substances applied to the skin are absorbed directly into our bloodstream, so, I decided that would be an area worth working on.

My friends who make their own deodorants (thank you Stacy and Mandy) even assured me that their husbands did not stink...okay I decided to try it...I was WAAAY impressed!  It works!  I mean, I went out in the garden, worked all around the farm, weeded, helped demolish the barn, etc.  I DID NOT STINK!  The only down side that I have found is that some people do have a sensitivity to baking soda, this can cause redness or irritation under the arm, weird thing is this only happens to me if I apply immediately after shaving.

The other bonus is that the ingredients in this deodorant are also many of the same used for homemade lotions and salves so I have everything I need on hand to keep on making our natural products!

So, you want to go natural with your deodorant but don't have time to mess with making it?

Don't worry, I still have a solution from you.  I have another friend who is too busy to make her own so she turned me on to this company...again I was skeptical.  However, she did share a sample of their deodorant with me and I was impressed...again no stinking!

​

I even ordered some of this goodness to give as Christmas presents to some reluctant family members who were curious, but not keen on trying a homemade version.

My favorite scents are the Jacked up Jasmine, Thyme & Lemongrass, and the Lime.  Ooooh la la!!!  I still find that my homemade stuff will go the length a bit longer, as in it will last ALL day in the heat of the summer through outdoor work.  If I use the primal pit paste I do have to reapply during those conditions but for normal day-to-day wear, it works great~

I do have a referral link if you are interested in checking out the primal pit paste, let them know I sent ya! (using the link below gets you 15% off your first purchase)

Primal Pit Paste Link

Want to be sure you don't miss a single post in this series? Be sure to subscribe to my email notifications to get emails about new posts...top right corner of the screen, just add your email and you will also be entered to win a natural freebie at the end of this series!

​One of the things I have learned from having a child who is asthmatic and subsequently has TONS of allergies is that the fewer fake chemical smells I have in the house, the better off he does.  

Alas that meant for me giving up Yankee candles, Glade plug ins and heavily scented soaps and detergents.  I have found that by doing this, my asthmatic son does much better, and a bonus?  Making my own products is typically cheaper as in this laundry soap, so it is a money saver too!

I felt this an appropriate follow up topic to yesterday's choices in childbirth (post here).  It was  going on 16 years ago that I first ventured into baby wearing.  At the time I had a needy baby (aren't they all) and I was a first time mom.  I found that often to get anything done at all, I had to be holding my newbie or she would be hysterical.  I know many very well meaning people that say you can spoil a baby this way, but I was always a bit skeptical of that as it seemed that if my baby needed me, I wanted to be there.  That first carrier was an introduction into the world of carrying baby close.  It was not necessarily the best or most comfortable option at the time, but I found it very useful when trying to get dinner cooked with a demanding screamer who became perfectly content when put close to my body.

As I had more children and learned about more and more ways to baby carry I was hooked, though I realized more often than not I was doing it wrong (which was why my back always hurt).  Enter in a dear sweet friend who is always a giver of knowledge and I became one of the most staunch advocates for baby wearing ever, I mean EVERY mom needs a ring sling in my opinion,or at least a moby wrap for her newborn!  My friend did a few simple adjustments, showed me a better ring sling (by giving me hers straight from her back!) and the rest is history that has spread around the world.  (post here)

So for a mama who is newer to baby carrying, where does one start?  Lets start off by suggesting that the forward facing, kind of crotch dangling styles are not the most comfortable options for baby or mama.

a number of studies have shown that the carriers like the one on the right cause problems with hip displaysia. The other problem?  Often the most needed time of baby carrying is with a new born and you cannot safely use options like that one with a little squish who cannot even hold its head up yet.

I really like the Moby Wrap for about the first month or two of baby's life.  What it (and many other variations of that brand name) is amounts to a long piece of stretchy (tshirt like) material you can wrap around yourself and baby that keeps baby snug and right on your chest while you "do life" and chase after other littles.  Here is a picture of a mama with a moby wrap in action and HERE is a link to a review done by the mama whose pic I borrowed below (blogging at www.earthycrunchymama.com)

Don't mama and baby look comfy?  This kind of carrier for me always resulted in "lights out" for baby and I was free to get other things done with both arms free!

When my babes get a bit bigger, I found that I much prefer the ring sling and in a pinch I have used that style of carrier for my son who is fast approaching 2.  Not that he can't walk but last summer when I was chasing his then 3 year old brother around it was sometimes nice to at least have one of the two wild ones contained!

This pic is by no means the correct positioning of the ring (should be up higher on my shoulder) but I find this to be a super easy, quick fix for grocery trips, going to church, or just cradling a fussy little one while having both arms free to assist my other kiddos.  Up until about 4 months ago I would refuse to leave the house without at least having my ringsling in the car for an emergency, it was so much easier than packing around a stroller for short trips and he liked it so much more too!

The nice thing about a ring sling is that if you sew, they are super easy to make.  (HERE is where you can buy the rings, and this site has tons of helpful tutorials on how to make your own ring sling) If not, you can buy them for as little as $25 to as much as several hundred so it fits into many budgets.

I think we are missing out on something in our culture.  If you look into so many other cultures, African, Hispanic, Indian, and a slew of others, they all naturally carry their babes wrapped in lengths of cloth and that is the norm.  We are the ones who have gotten away from that ideal, in this farmgirl's humble opinion it is a better way to parent.

I have experimented with back carrying, but not to much success.  HERE is a post I did about a rough day we had where I used a back carrier for my little (again a gift from my super generous friend) it was just not his favorite way to be carried, though it sure did make my hands freer for cooking dinner!

If you are curious about your options there is a blogger who did a fantastic post on babywearing 101 over at the the Hodgepodge Darling.

So, a more natural way of living to me is going against the grain of always strollering my babies or leaving them in infant car seats (which frankly are heavy and take up waaay too much room in my grocery cart!) and opting for a way that women have toted their littles along for centuries.  No matter which is your carrier or choice, keeping baby close is, in my opinion, a much more natural way.

When I had my first child I read all the books about childbirth and delivery, heard all the horror stories, and figured I was just supposed to do whatever the doctor said was best.  I never once heard a mother tell me that maybe an epidural wasn't the best way to birth and though I knew a few women who said they tried to "go natural" I didn't know more than 1 who actually succeeded.

On to the end of my pregnancy, or at least close, and at 37.5 weeks my doctor suggested an induction (artificial means of pumping the body full of pitocin to bring on contractions and labor) due to my baby being "on the large side."  I was a first time mom and I was very impressionable.  Plus, I was and have always been impatient, I wanted to meet my new little one that would change my life forever.  

I did put up a good fight I think, I tried for a very long time to hang on and not take medications but as the unnaturally strong contractions came closer and closer together I first gave in to the nurses' suggestion of something to "take the edge off" and later, when all that drug did was make me hallucinate and sleep, I accepted what I thought was the inevitable and I wound up getting an epidural. 

Now, move forward to the birth of my 5th child and I had a home birth, attended by a lovely midwife who had the best bedside manner, and a doula who has been a friend for years.  It was calm and peaceful, I was comfortable in my own home and there were zero drugs involved.  My new baby was alert, calm, and perfect.  I would say that it was the best birth experience out of all of them but I am here to say that I had to learn a lot to get to that point.  

It all started when I began talking with women who did not view childbirth as the worst thing ever.  They viewed it as a beautiful process and they viewed the mother as being the one who should be in control, not the doctors and nurses who told you when to push, how to position, and often hooked you up to so many monitors and IV's that you had no ability to find how your body was comfortable. I began to question how we do things and why when I came across a documentary that was kind of a game changer for me.  It is called The Business of Being Born.  You can watch it on netflix or buy it on Amazon (see link below) and if you are of child bearing age or know someone who is you may find some of the statistics unimaginable.  The documentary follows several women, one who has a cesearan section, one who has a hospital birth and a few home birthers.  It is rather fascinating.

If nothing else, I learned that there were choices I never knew I had.  I did not know that I could refuse certain things at the hospital and that there were side effects to some of the proceedures we think of as routine.  Home birthing is not for everyone, it is not even the safest option for some who are high risk, but the knowledge that every woman has more choices then she realizes is what is most important.  I remember that first birth and being told that my baby needed to go to the nursery for some tests so I couldn't hold her close and nurse her immediately, I now know I could have requested that all the "tests" be done in my room so I could be with her.

Here are links to a previous post I did on my own home birth experience (part 1, part 2, and part 3) and that documentary is a must see!

If you are like most, you don't give much thought to the milk you or or family drink.  Most typically run to the grocery and grab a gallon paying anywhere between $2.50 - $3.50 for the delicious white cereal accompaniment.  

Have you heard some of the talk of those natural-minded crunchy folks?  Have you heard the terms Organic Milk, Raw Milk and Store milk?  Ever been curious what those terms all mean? You may be like many and have curiosities but are fearful to ask about the finite differences. I figured this would be a perfect topic for part of our 30 days.

So, what are the differences and why all the hype?

Store Milk

This is what most of the population drinks.  You go to Walmart, Meijer or the gas station and grab a gallon of milk.  It is produced from cows lined up to be milked in an assembly line mechanized style.  The cows are fed a diet of grain, kept in close quarters and the entire process is a bit unnatural.

However, there are many things done to conventional milk all in the name of public health. There is the HTST process known as “High Temperature, Short Time” pasteurization. This is done to eradicate bacteria that is in the milk. plus any bad bacteria that may have gotten in during the milking process. Unfortunately, this also kills all the beneficial bacteria and enzymes that are good for you and help you to digest the milk. 

There is another type of pasteurization called UHT (Ultra High Temperature) pasteurization. This is where the milk is heated to more than scalding for just a few seconds. This process kills even more bacteria than the HTST pasteurization, plus gives it a longer shelf life, which is already longer than normal for HTST pasteurized milk.  Interestingly enough this is sometimes done with a flash flame to the cows udders, doesn't seem to burn the cow but looks kind of awful (again documentaries are something I watch too much of!)

Finally, the milk is homogenized. Homogenization isn't meant for safety, but for rather for consistency and taste. As when left to settle milk that has not been homogenized will separate into cream and milk. (this makes for an awesome homeschool project when you skim the cream to make homemade butter)!  Homogenization prevents that from happening. 

Organic Milk

Organic Milk is treated in almost the same fashion as Store Milk, though the diet of the cows is different.  For Organic cows, the feed (still grain) is certified to be non-GMO and pesticide free. Here there really isn't a lot of difference unless you are being militant about avoiding GMO foods, if so you are already revamping your diet and grocery shopping list.  I personally don't bother with the price difference to buy Organic milk.  I either go raw, when I can get my hands on some, or just give up and buy the storebought, though we just don't drink as much milk as we used to.  My dream is to own my own dairy cow or even mama goat for that matter to have fresh, raw, milk.

Raw Milk

As the name suggests this is the most basic form of milk...milk "in the raw" if you will.  Many people have been taught that this is horribly dangerous but, from experience, I am here to say it is the best tasting milk EVER!  And if it were that dangerous why do the Amish and many other crunchy folks drive miles and miles and pay exorbitant prices for such ambrosia?

This milk is taken directly from the cow, cooled immediately and bottled.  It is also illegal to sell in most states.  Not illegal to purchase though...oxymoronic, no?  You can however get around the illegality of this matter through a legal loophole that allows owners of cows to drink their own animal's milk.  Therefore, if you own any part of the cow, as an owner you can have the bottled milk.  Your "ownership" may look something like renting the cow where you effectively pay for your milk in advance or weekly, but since you have a contract as part owner of the cow...it is legal. That is called a "herdshare."  I find this to be sooo expensive that I just cannot afford it for our family of 7. (in my area this means you are effectively paying around $8 a gallon for your milk)

For about 18 months I had an in with a friend who was buying from a dairy farmer and I had the ability to get raw milk weekly for a mere $2 a gallon.  Before that source dried up (literally) I was privy to seeing decreased allergies in my asthmatic son (HERE is a mercola study on such in case you haven't heard of the link before) and tasting the best homemade butter, cream, ice cream and whipped cream I had ever had in my life!

HERE is a great link to some basic FAQ's about the consumption of raw milk.
There are some studies out there though that show a link between corn fed cows having a higher incidence of milk bacteria problems then grass fed dairy cows. 

In essence if you can afford it, I find raw milk to be the tastiest, healthiest and best option.  If you can snag some, grab it up!  

​HERE is a link to a great tutorial on making your own butter, in a blender!