Once small change- No Poo

No, that's not an alternative to swearing... lol... it's an alternative way of making sure that even our cleaning and body products are as natural as the food we eat! The NO StamPOO idea is one that I've heard of for some time now but figured that with my long, oily prone hair, it would never work. I was reading about it over at The Artful Parent and finally decided "What do I have to lose?"

I must say, I didn't go into this experiment with high hopes, I honestly didn't think it was going to work... BOY WAS I WRONG! There, I said it, I was wrong. Mark it on the calender 'cause it's not likely to happen again anytime soon! lol :)

After only one washing, I felt like my hair had lost a few pounds! Really, it felt so much lighter that I couldn't wait to try it again the next day! Now if only I could shed a few pounds elsewhere that easily.... that would be a whole other blog entry! lol No really, my hair felt so much lighter and had so much more bounce to it that I had to chuckle to myself. After years of being sold the idea of "You need product to get lift" I discovered the real secret in a little bit of baking soda and vinegar...For the first time in my adult life, I felt like my hair was my friend again. It was a good feeling!

Now with it being nearly 5 weeks later, I am happy to report that my hair and I are still not only friends but the best of buddies! I have been so happy with the results that I started using the baking soda rinse on my girls' hair too. I have yet to try the vinegar on them but that's only because I know they will react to the smell and it's just not worth the fight. With that being said, I do still have to use detangler on their hair but am happy to say, that even with my long hair... that vinegar is magic and I have no issues with tangles! As for the smell you may ask? I just add a few drops of orange oil to my water and baking soda mix and I pretty much only smell the vinegar while I am pouring it on in the shower. I get almost daily compliments from my dear hubby as to how yummy I smell so I don't think the vinegar smell is an issue! ;)

I have been raised to believe int he power of good ol' apple cider vinegar and have discovered (thanks to a few friends) the joy and ease of using baking soda for just about everything. Why I didn't think this No-poo idea would work is beyond me and for once I am happy to be proven wrong!!

So please... stop buying shampoo that is ultimately going to be bad for your health, avoid spending way too much for the healthier alternatives and just go raid the pantry... you'll be glad you did!!

If you'd like to know the "why" behind moment, go read more about why you should go Shampoo free!


Don't believe me? Let HipMountinMama tell you all about it! You really should give it a try! :)

What came first...the chicken or the egg?

To go along with the spirit of our One Small Change, we are trying to become more aware of where our food comes from and how it is produced.... not only checking labels for ingredients (have I mentioned how much I hate high fructose corn syrup?) but also purchasing milk that comes from cows that haven't been treated with hormones and buying eggs (when we run low from ours) that come from chickens that have been humanely treated and again, not injected with hormones and fed things we wouldn't feed our dog....


I consider ourselves to be SO lucky to be living in the area that we do because we have the opportunity to actually go to the places where our food is made and see the conditions under which our food is raised/put together! I had no idea how much of the food we eat comes from the west coast! Dummy me, I guess I just never thought about it much...and my list keeps growing and growing for the places to visit!








I was SO excited to see a segment on our local news channel about Wilcox Family farms, a local egg producer and to see that they were having a harvest festival/tour! The coolest thing about it? They are only a stones throw from our house! How cool is that?













Not only did they give us samples but we got to visit with them a bit too. The lady on the left is a member of the family...her mother actually attended the one room school house that is now located on their farm!










It was OH SO YUMMY!











The one room school house where members of the Wilcox family once attended... the kiddos got to ring the school bell ( a big highlight!) and they had a lesson on the board. There were also glass cases of old books for us to see. I thought it was so cool because we had at least one if not two of the readers!






It's funny how the simplicity of a water pump could be so interesting to our kids! I just love the hands on aspect of it...they still talk about getting to make the water come out! lol








Another plus to the visit was this old ringer for laundry! Aren't you glad you have a washer and dryer? lol

The girls were excited to see this tho because it is in one of their VERY favorite books. Now they understand what it is and how it worked!








They also got to paint pumpkins! That was an added surprise!













After all the fun activities, we got to go for a hay ride of sorts and they took us down to where the chickens are actually raised...





Now, I don't know about you, but after seeing Food Inc. I have viewed chickens in a whole other light and was a bit nervous/anxious about this part of the tour. To say I was pleasantly surprised is an understatement... spending many years in Missouri, it was inevitable not to drive by a Tyson chicken barn (boo hiss gag!) and the smell that surrounded them could be smelled for miles. This place was nothing like that...we were pulled in right up close and there was essentially now smell!!! They explained how the mechanical roosting boxes worked both to keep the area clean and to get the eggs in a timely manner. They also explained that while this particular field of chickens are organic and free range, their non-organic chickens are voluntarily free range also! I thought that was so cool! We had the chance to ask questions of the workers, who were also fourth generation Wilcox family members. That too impressed me...that the family didn't just set back and collect a check but rather had a hands on approach. The whole farm felt like a family farm...clean and welcoming... It was interesting to me how fast the eggs from this farm are out and on the shelf at our local stores...2-3 days...as apposed to the up to 30 days it takes from other egg producers...can you imagine? 30 days to get to the store, not to mention the time they sit there and then the time till they get to our plates? Really makes you wonder huh? :)






All in all, I think this was one of THE coolest field trips we've ever been on and I look forward to going back and getting to tour the actual production line and see how the eggs are cleaned and packaged. As for us...we are lucky to have our own eggs but will seek out Wilcox eggs in the future as we need them. I know that researching your food is time consuming and at times frustrating when we don't get the answers we want but don't you think it's our duty as caregivers, parents and Americans in general to be informed and to make the best choices we can about what we buy? Would you blindly vote for a candidate for President? I hope not...so why would you "vote" for food that isn't really food and that can cause harm in so many ways...just think of it as voting when you go to the super market...and don't think you have to change everything...start small. Choose one aspect of you family's diet and look into it. Start with say, eggs...every little bit counts!!

One Small Change revisited

It's been about eight months or so since I saw a movie that would change my life...I'd read about it on blogs and heard about it in the news but it wasn't until I actually sat down to watch it did I realize that I would never be the same again, or look at the world in the same light. It's still amazing to me that a movie can make that kind of change...and I wonder just how much change it could make in the world if everyone would actually take the time to watch it...

The movie I am talking about is not a big blockbuster hit...it doesn't have any famous actors or fancy production tricks...only truths...and so much free thinking that most people are afraid to even watch it...it makes people uncomfortable and is a real slap in the face to the way our country is run and the falsities we are told and expected to just "swallow".....now I'm not say this movie is the be-all-end-all (as some of my farming friends have voiced to me) but it does bring up questions that I think everyone should have to answer for themselves.

Food Inc. opened my eyes to the way our food is dumbed down, for lack of better words. It is dumbed down to the point that we are poisoning ourselves and we don't even care....For me, I always thought of us as fairly healthy eaters. We eat salad, not too much fast food and I try to buy organic when we can...and still the movie through me for a loop!

I had seen Michael Pollan on Martha Stewart and then again on Oprah before realizing that this was really something I wanted to delve into. I watched him on Oprah, and then watched it again with DH...I was so moved that I might actually still have it on my DVR...I got Food Inc from Netflix and DH and I sat down one evening to watch it. The responses we felt were disbelief, anger and then empowerment....a surge within to take control of our eating and to truly make a difference in our lifestyle and those of our children.

As with anything new, we went into it full speed and I know our friends thought we were crazy and our family probably still thinks we are! lol I stopped buying hamburger completely, and started buying bison meat as it was the only meat I could purchase at the time that actually had labels on it that I could read and that stated that the animals were grass fed and antibiotic free. We had a meal of cooked chicken that I already had in the freezer and found ourselves sick to our stomach when it came time to eat it...so we stopped eating chicken too until we could find a supplier that we felt good about (which never happened in that location!) I started researching blogs online that gave me some alternatives to meat and DH was a doll and actually tried the vegan recipes that I found! It was a whole family renovation and we were all in it together. Surprisingly...the vegan recipes were good and I think there was only one that didn't make it into the permanent recipe box!

We also had just purchased a Jack LaLanne juicer (worth every penny!) for Christmas and boy was it ever great! We started having more energy and craving the crap drinks less and less! A few times I even tried to drink a Coke and it just didn't taste that great! It's amazing to me what our bodies can do if only given the chance to flourish instead of bogging it down with things it doesn't really need.

Now, I don't want you to think we are going vegetarian, as that would never happen with DH being such a hunting fan...I totally believe that God put animals on this planet for us to use however he did not intend for us to use, abuse and throw them away! I felt like after seeing this movie, it was just one more way that the world is creeping farther and farther out of control, and I know that there probably isn't any real hope of changing it completely as I also know the Biblical stand on how the state of the world is going, but on the other hand, I don't have to just stand by and watch it happen. There are things we can do, little things that add up to be big things...little things that we can teach our children are important and little things that can make a big difference....

Back at the beginning of the year, I joined a blogging journey to bettering ourselves and the world around us through One Small Change... blogging about one thing each month that you are doing to make a difference in our world...to make it a better place...I was so moved by this and somehow it helped me focus in a time of so much chaos in our lives. I felt good about the changes we had made like using rags instead of paper towels, changing from plastic to glass storage, using vintage (or new) cloth hankies, and of course our not so small change in the way we view and purchase foods...

I am horrified and sadden that somehow I dropped the ball. I thought the challenge was supposed to go only thru Earth Day and I stopped the challenge when in reality I guess I was still going on! I just happened on to the blog this morning and realized it today so my One Small Change for the month of October is going to be getting back to all those changes we made, as we are still getting back to "normal" after the big move and unfortunately that means we got a bit lax in the way we were doing things...so today is the day...the paper towels are going back into hiding for true emergencies and the juicer will be humming again as soon as my wee ones awake...

My urge to you is to go check out One Small Change and be open to the small changes we can all make in our lives to add up to something big...an awareness! And by all means...go watch Food Inc...(for FREE)...your lives will never be the same! Try not to look at it as scary or daunting but rather see it as voting with your fork!!!

I would love to hear about the changes you are making...please leave a message with the link to your change and perhaps I will even have a showcase of the changes going on...anyone game for being a guess blogger? :)

A stop sign is a gift for you to learn that moving in the same direction won't take you any place new.Rex Steven Sikes

One Not so Small Change- April

I have been wanting to write about our :One Small Change" for som time now and I wanted the post to be just perfect so that my readers would have all the information they could possibly have and so my words would really speak to people about this change we've been making...but due to the move and the caos I call a life right now, I just haven't been able to get it done... So for now, I beg of you to go set your DVRs and simply watch this show on PBS TONIGHT!!!! I'll try to get back here and explain a big more about what our change has been but for now, here's a start! A movie really can change your life. I know this one did for us!


"Food, Inc." is one of a handful of movies that, I believe, have the power to invoke real positive change. On Wednesday night, April 21, PBS will air "Food, Inc." EVERYONE NEEDS to watch this very important film. If you've already seen it, watch it again with your family & friends. More info & broadcastschedule here ht...tp://www.pbs.org/pov/foodinc/See More


POV - Food, Inc. PBS
www.pbs.org

One Small Change

I guess I got a bit behind on my postings and completely missed posting about our "small" change for March!

Years ago,probably back in HS, I was on the hunt for cloth hankies to make into little angel dolls for a craft show (yes, I was crafty even way back then!) so I asked my grandparents to keep an eye out for them at flea markets and auctions. I was so thrilled when my Gram's neighbor and best friend, Cille, sent me a big ziploc bag full of hankies that her and her sisters had collected over the years. By that time, "the sisters" next door had mostly passed on and Cille was (and still is living) the only one left. My early childhood has many warm yellow memories of going over and sitting on the porch while the grownups chatted and there were always good smells coming from the kitchen...in my mind it's the ideal American neighborhood with the freedom of knowing your neighbors, and treating them like family. So....of course I could never use those hankies for a craft project that I was going to sell to strangers! lol In the mean time tho, those hankies became quite the travelers, being toted from Pennsylvania to Missouri to Alaska and then back down to the lower 48 where they currently reside in Texas! I bet the sisters never thought their hankies would go so far!

Since R was a baby and living in Texas (allergy capital of the world I swear!) she has had more issues with a runny nose than I know what to do with. When she was super little, her tiny nose would get SO raw from me wiping it constantly that I know it had to be painful. That is when I first got the idea to use cloth hankies. We used cloth diapers so why not this? Well, while preparing for this move, we've been going thru boxes and trying to really clean out things we don't need and of course along the way we've discovered forgotten "treassures" that are now must haves! lol This forgotten bag FULL of beautiful hankies is one of those forgotten but much loved treasures that is now part of our daily lives.

So, for March, just in time for more allergies- haha- we found a cute little basket and now proudly display our collection of cloth hankies.

The girls now love getting their noses wiped or using them to blow their noses after using the netting pot (yes even my two year old does it!) and they rush about to pick out their favorites

before the other can get to them! I know that it really is a small change but I like the idea of using old things in a world where everyone is fixed on using bigger and better new things....and the best part of all ? No more raw, red noses!

One Small change February

I know I am really late at posting this but its better late than never right?

We currently have many things we are trying to change about our lives...simplifying being the big one. It's amazing how much stuff you can collect in 4 years time and how little of it was actually NEEDED! But that's another story...

For the month of February, our one small change is getting away from plastic. For a few years now, we have been trying to avoid plastic toys but just in the last week or two we have been replacing our plastic storage dishes with nice glass ones. I hate the amount of waste we have in our lives so we tend to use these disposable plastic dishes far longer than they were intended and I've read terrible things about microwaving food in them so we took the leap! I tossed the plastic or passed them on to friends that needed them, keeping a few really good ones for storing cut up fruit and replaced them with an awesome set of glass storage dishes we got in a set at Sam's club!

Now, when i heat up left overs I don't have to dump them into another dish to heat up and the feel of these dishes is so nice and clean that we don't even mind eating directly out of them rather than transfering the food (yet again) to a plate! We are loving the change and I don't miss the plastic one bit!

This one small change makes a big difference in the feel of our kitchen...give it a try!

One small change...

Can you imagine the impact that just one person can make on the world? Can you picture the amount of change that could be inspired by one person, making one change for the good? I can't even phathom how much goodness we are capable of. It's not the kind of thing you see on the news!

I am excited for the new year full of new chances, fresh starts, exciting adventures and endless possibilities! I am also excited to have read one of the blogs I follow, BlueBerryCottage. She is taking the One Small Change challenge over at HipMountainMama and I have decided to join her!

This passed summer, I realized how many paper towels we actually use. I mean, it is just entirely too easy to go thru a ton at an insane speed! It's just soooo easy to use and toss and the amount of money and paper wasted was staggering! So I quit! I figured- it we don't buy them we won't use them! Ha! Easier said than done! Having kiddos, you know there have been lots of messes and with animals there are entirely different messes of their own! But, we got used to it. I have a drawer of baby wash rags, older cloth diapers and other rags that quickly took the place of their paper, tree killing counter part! lol We went about 6 months before I finally broke down and bought a pack of three paper towel rolls (I know! Gasp!) I was doing so good until DH spilled a bucket of paint and I had nothing buck cloth to grab! ugh! So, I bought some paper towels and kept them in hiding so as not to be temped. I save them only for extreme messes and so far so good! We still use our cloth rags for everyday clean up and I'm so proud of the "small difference" we are making!

As most of you know, we also used cloth diapers and I really like the idea of getting multiple uses out of household items! SO... our small change for this month is going to be taking the reusable item list to the next level! We are going to use cloth napkins in place of paper ones. While our family was here visiting, we happened into Dillards (only my second time ever!) and I was shocked to see beautiful cloth napkins on clearance for $.80! Now, they aren't all matching but for now they will get us started on this journey!

I am excited for the challenge and will be anxious to see all the small changes that will make a HUGE DIFFERENCE! Every little bit counts! What can YOU do to make the world a better place?