Tonight we are going to use a raw recipe that has become one of my ultimate favorites. Raw, vegan taco "meat". It's super nummy and pretty easy. As long as you have a dehydrator that is. If you don't have one, I think you can turn your oven down to it's lowest setting and dehydrate a bit that way. Not sure how that changes the cooking time or if it kills the living enzymes in the food or not. We have an Excalibur dehydrator and really love it. This recipe is adapted from Going Raw by Judita Wignall. Lots of her recipes use mushrooms which we can't have so I had to adopt it a bit. If you eat meat you can still make this and serve it up with your meat. Why not? It tastes taco-y and has lots of veggies in it.
Taco Seasoned Veggie Meat
2 cups unsoaked raw brazil nuts
4 cups finely diced zucchini
1/2 cup minced onion
1/2 minced celery
1/2 cup chili powder
1/4 cup lemon juice
1-2 tsp. sea salt. Make sure to use less if there is salt in your chili powder
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
Place nuts in food processor and grind into a flour. Combine nut flour with rest of ingredients. Spread mixture onto 2 dehydrator trays with non stick sheets. Dry at 110F for 1 1/2 hrs. Transfer to mesh dehydrator sheet and dry for another hour. Do not over dry. Enjoy!
We use this in flax taco shells, in a taco salad, for nachos, whatever. Tonight we are being non-raw, non-vegans and I am breaking out the eggs for the kids and we are making a super veggie scramble, mostly veggies, little egg, combining that with our "taco meat" and wrapping it all in a homemade raw red pepper wrap with some salsa. MMM. I'm not sure on the rules of posting recipes straight out of cookbooks, that you don't alter or change in anyway, so I'm not posting the wrap recipe today.
One of our favorites desserts these days is a raw apple cobbler with maple cream. We alter it a bit to be consistent with our dietary guidelines and tastes. If you are reading this as a raw food interested party, I'm hoping it'll have enough sweetness for you. We go easy on the sweets around here. If you are an anti-fungal interested party, this is kind of phase 2 friendly. Raisins and dates aren't allowed. But we figure if we eat it once every couple months and don't cheat otherwise at least both raisins and dates are a whole food instead of empty sugar. Plus, we all gotta live a little. I'll post our version here. If you'd like the original, which includes more sweetness and uses can sugar, please refer to Judita's cookbook.
Topping
1 cup pecans, soaked 2-4 hours
2 Tbsp xylitol
2 Tbsp raisins
2 Tbsp Medjool dates
1/8 tsp salt
Filling
1 Tbsp agave nectar (raw preferred)
1 1/2 Tbsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice
3 cups (2-3 large) apples, cored and thinly sliced (We like the peels since we feel they have a lot of nutrition in them. Feel free to peel if you don't like them).
Maple cream (we use this very, very sparingly)
1 cup cashews, soaked 2 hours
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup water
1/2 vanilla bean, scraped
Topping: Combine pecans with xylitol in a food processor and process till you get a course meal. Add raisins, dates and process until it all kind of sticks together. Don't over process or it'll become too oily.
Filling: Combine nectar, lemon juice and pumpkin pie spice. Toss apples in the mixture.
Maple Cream: Process all ingredients in a high speed blender till smooth.
Assemble: Put apples in a 9 inch round pie dish or 1 qt. baking dish. Place apples in dish and sprinkle with topping. Warm in dehydrator at 145 for 1 hour. Top each serving with a touch of maple cream and enjoy.
Store cobbler and cream separate in refrigerator. Cobbler will keep for 3 days. Cream will keep for 2 weeks. Our kids like to use leftover cream as apple dip.
Lastly, I kind of sort of made up a recipe for a phase 1 friendly stir fry, cooked. If you have no idea what I mean by phase 1 and phase 2 and such, pay no attention to it. Either way, this is nummy and pretty healthy. This is also extremely versatile. Everyone likes more sauce or less sauce, more salt or less salt. So please just use this as a base and go from there. Take a look at how many ingredients go into something and then assess how much you need to make for your family. I'll post the actual recipe for the sauce and just give you serving suggestions for the rest.
Sauce:
2 Tbsp unrefined cold pressed coconut oil (you can use butter if you eat it)
Dash of salt (omit if using salted butter)
2 cloves garlic
3 Tbsp coconut aminos
1 Tbsp xylitol
2 tsp apple cider vinegar
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 Tbsp-1/4 cup cashews
Melt coconut oil in small sauce pan. Add 2 cloves of garlic and cook slightly. Add rest of ingredients besides cashews and whisk together. Cook long enough to heat through. Add cashews just before serving.
Serving suggestions: Steam broccoli, carrots, asparagus, etc. Serve veggies over bed of quinoa cooked with 1/2 water, 1/2 veggie broth (make sure it's MSG and icky stuff free. Either make it yourself or actually find a good brand without all the gross crap in it), 2 cloves garlic, & parsley. Fresh parsley is best, but dried works fine too. Start with 1-2 Tbsp fresh or 1-2 tsp dried. Follow liquid directions specific to your brand of quinoa and how much you are making. Drizzle sauce over veggies and quinoa, enjoy! If you eat meat feel free to add some chicken or whatever you would like with it.
I'm the kind of cook that always looks a recipe and alters it to my liking. So for the recipe above I just make as much as I feel we are going to use for the night. My kids don't eat stir fry. So cooking up the amount stated is more than enough sauce for us. But if your whole family is going to partake, you might want to double it.
Well, off to make my veggie meat. If you have any recipes to share, please let me know! Or if you think some of these suck or are amazing, please feel free to also let me know. :)
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Just a couple recipes. Gluten free, anti-fungal diet friendly.
Just a quick stop off today to post some recipes. My cousin and a few other people have recently asked me for recipes. Most of these will be following the anti-fungal part of our diet since I'm posting mainly for my cousin Heather. But I'll make sure to post some vegan and raw ones in the future. These are a few transitional recipes that my kids take kindly to. So hopefully yours will too. For my cousin Heather, make sure to look at labels in everything. Sugar, corn and soy bean is hiding everywhere. If you don't know what a name is in the ingredients, google it. Chances are it's some form of one of those three things.
We don't eat meat, but I'm going to add in a few meat suggestions since a majority of people do. :)
Wheat Free, Anti Fungal, Sugar Free Pizza (has some dairy in it since we occasionally eat organic plain yogurt, cream cheese or sour cream)
Crust: Simple Flatbread Pizza
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups almond flour
3/4 cup tapioca flour
1/3 cup ground flax or ground chia seeds (you can also grind seeds in a coffee grinder)
1 tsp. xylitol
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp sea salt
3 organic eggs
1/3 cup plain yogurt
Any dried herbs with sea salt (Italian seasoning, etc)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl combine almond flour, tapioca, ground flax or chia, xylitol, baking soda and salt. In a small bowl, blend eggs and yogurt with an electric mixer for about 30 seconds. Add the egg mixture into the dry ingredients and use mixer to stir to combine until it forms a sticky, wet dough. Pour batter into a 12x16 jelly roll pan/cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Smooth batter out with a spatula so it's thin and even. Sprinkle herbs and sea salt. On center rack of oven bake at 350 for 8 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean. Don't over bake or it'll be too dry.
Pizza Sauce- Uses canned ingredients but it's fast and good. Use organic if possible. You can also heat some up on the stove to use for dipping.
15 oz. can tomato sauce
6 oz. can tomato paste
1 Tbsp ground oregano
1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp xylitol
1/2 tsp baking soda
dash onion powder
1 1/2 tsp basil
Mix all and put over baked crust. Top pizza with toppings of your choice. We LOVE green, red and yellow peppers, onions, zucchini, spinach. If you are a meat eater add meats of your choice. Just make sure to slather on lots of sauce, lots of veggies. You won't miss the cheese at all. If your kiddos do, go ahead and put a little bit of cream cheese in a baggie, cut the corner off and pipe a little "frosting" on the pizza. Cook for 15 minutes in oven at 350.
Amaranth Pancakes
-We combine these with strawberry, blueberry, mixed berry or green apple syrup. Whichever one we feel like on a given day. For example: If we want strawberry syrup, I take a bunch of frozen strawberries, throw them in a pan with about 2 Tbsp water and about 1 Tbsp xylitol, and a cap full of lemon juice. I cook them on medium high heat just to get it unfrozen a touch and then turn it down till the strawberries are soft and there is a bit of juice. We just throw that on the pancakes and it's super easy. We skip the butter and just put on the syrup.
2 eggs beaten
1/2 cup almond milk
2 tsp oil (we just grape seed for this)
1/2 cup amaranth flour
1/2 cup tapioca flour
1/3 cup arrowroot starch
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp sea salt
In a medium bowl beat eggs. Then add almond milk and oil. Add remaining ingredients, mix well. Heat griddle or pan to medium high and cook until bubbly, flip and cook till done.
Almond Pancakes. Also good.
1 1/2 cup almond flour
3 eggs
1/4 cup almond milk
1 tsp vanilla
2 Tbsp xylitol
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon.
Mix and cook.
Smoothies: We start each morning off with a whole food smoothie. Meaning we throw a couple carrots, some grapefruit, 2 green apples, spinach or other green like parsley, chard, etc, and perhaps some frozen berries into a blender. Our vitamix blends this just fine but a normal blender will probably need some water or unsweetened coconut milk to get it going. These smoothies are thick but will give you a great start to the day. If you can't stand them right away go ahead and add a bit of xylitol or stevia to sweeten it a little.
Avocado Pudding:
2 ripe avocados1/2 cup cocoa powder1/2 cup raw agave nectar (phase 2. Phase 1: use 1/4 cup xylitol and see if it's sweet enough for you. If not, add 1/4 tsp of liquid stevia and test again. Xylitol can have a laxative effect so I personally wouldn't add 1/2 cup of it. But you can do as you wish)1/2cup almond milk2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Cut avocados in half, discard seed and scoop meat into blender. Add rest of ingredients. Blend, enjoy.
Ok, that's it for now. Off to get some work done. :)
We don't eat meat, but I'm going to add in a few meat suggestions since a majority of people do. :)
Wheat Free, Anti Fungal, Sugar Free Pizza (has some dairy in it since we occasionally eat organic plain yogurt, cream cheese or sour cream)
Crust: Simple Flatbread Pizza
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups almond flour
3/4 cup tapioca flour
1/3 cup ground flax or ground chia seeds (you can also grind seeds in a coffee grinder)
1 tsp. xylitol
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp sea salt
3 organic eggs
1/3 cup plain yogurt
Any dried herbs with sea salt (Italian seasoning, etc)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl combine almond flour, tapioca, ground flax or chia, xylitol, baking soda and salt. In a small bowl, blend eggs and yogurt with an electric mixer for about 30 seconds. Add the egg mixture into the dry ingredients and use mixer to stir to combine until it forms a sticky, wet dough. Pour batter into a 12x16 jelly roll pan/cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Smooth batter out with a spatula so it's thin and even. Sprinkle herbs and sea salt. On center rack of oven bake at 350 for 8 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean. Don't over bake or it'll be too dry.
Pizza Sauce- Uses canned ingredients but it's fast and good. Use organic if possible. You can also heat some up on the stove to use for dipping.
15 oz. can tomato sauce
6 oz. can tomato paste
1 Tbsp ground oregano
1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp xylitol
1/2 tsp baking soda
dash onion powder
1 1/2 tsp basil
Mix all and put over baked crust. Top pizza with toppings of your choice. We LOVE green, red and yellow peppers, onions, zucchini, spinach. If you are a meat eater add meats of your choice. Just make sure to slather on lots of sauce, lots of veggies. You won't miss the cheese at all. If your kiddos do, go ahead and put a little bit of cream cheese in a baggie, cut the corner off and pipe a little "frosting" on the pizza. Cook for 15 minutes in oven at 350.
Try making a taco salad.
If you are doing anti-fungal there aren't really any chips that will work. Possibilities: Taco meat (we use zucchini meat but you can use real if you eat meat), seasoned with 3 Tbsp. of taco seasoning (recipe below), lettuce, pico or salsa without vinegar or sugar (it's tough), fresh peppers, onions, fresh (not canned) jalapeños, avocado, cilantro, a small touch of lime, guacamole, a small, dab of sour cream if you are eating it. You can eat your veggies raw or sauté them. It's up to you. I do have recipes for flax taco chips but you need a dehydrator for them.
Taco seasoning: You can buy huge containers of spices at Sams club or if you know of a place where you can buy spices in bulk, great.
1/4 cup chili powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp paprika
2 Tbsp cumin
3/4 tsp sea salt (We don't like things super salty. Try this first but if after your first batch you feel it's not salty enough, you can add a touch more)
Combine. It's real easy to shake it all together in a ziplock back. Store in airtight container.
Creamy Berry Buckwheat: Found here: http://www.knowthecause.com/OurDailyBlog/tabid/96/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/1190/Creamy-Berry-Buckwheat.aspx
-We combine these with strawberry, blueberry, mixed berry or green apple syrup. Whichever one we feel like on a given day. For example: If we want strawberry syrup, I take a bunch of frozen strawberries, throw them in a pan with about 2 Tbsp water and about 1 Tbsp xylitol, and a cap full of lemon juice. I cook them on medium high heat just to get it unfrozen a touch and then turn it down till the strawberries are soft and there is a bit of juice. We just throw that on the pancakes and it's super easy. We skip the butter and just put on the syrup.
2 eggs beaten
1/2 cup almond milk
2 tsp oil (we just grape seed for this)
1/2 cup amaranth flour
1/2 cup tapioca flour
1/3 cup arrowroot starch
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp sea salt
In a medium bowl beat eggs. Then add almond milk and oil. Add remaining ingredients, mix well. Heat griddle or pan to medium high and cook until bubbly, flip and cook till done.
Almond Pancakes. Also good.
1 1/2 cup almond flour
3 eggs
1/4 cup almond milk
1 tsp vanilla
2 Tbsp xylitol
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon.
Mix and cook.
Smoothies: We start each morning off with a whole food smoothie. Meaning we throw a couple carrots, some grapefruit, 2 green apples, spinach or other green like parsley, chard, etc, and perhaps some frozen berries into a blender. Our vitamix blends this just fine but a normal blender will probably need some water or unsweetened coconut milk to get it going. These smoothies are thick but will give you a great start to the day. If you can't stand them right away go ahead and add a bit of xylitol or stevia to sweeten it a little.
Avocado Pudding:
2 ripe avocados1/2 cup cocoa powder1/2 cup raw agave nectar (phase 2. Phase 1: use 1/4 cup xylitol and see if it's sweet enough for you. If not, add 1/4 tsp of liquid stevia and test again. Xylitol can have a laxative effect so I personally wouldn't add 1/2 cup of it. But you can do as you wish)1/2cup almond milk2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Cut avocados in half, discard seed and scoop meat into blender. Add rest of ingredients. Blend, enjoy.
Ok, that's it for now. Off to get some work done. :)
Monday, April 23, 2012
Our ever evolving diet (as in, what we actually eat)
Wow. Well needless to say, blogging is not my strong suit. Then again, it all boils down to time management and THAT is really my weakness. There are not enough hours in the day to do near the amount of things I'd like, especially sleep! People out there with schedules that work please, please share your wisdom with me.
Well, on to what I came here to post about. Food, food and more food. It's no secret to people that know us that J and I are the weirdoes in the Wisconsin Northwoods when it comes to food. And lately it's gotten even more weird. My parents a few months ago decided to get these books and change their life by changing what they eat. J and I have long known that what you eat has a direct link to how you feel so we just kind of ignored it. However, my mom pushed and pushed till we finally read The Fungus Link series of books by Doug Kaufmann. If you search out this guy, some people say it makes sense, others say he is a quack. So decide for yourself. J and I decided that since we already knew a bit about fungus, at least candida that we'd try it and see how things went. After all, a few years back I had done a candida detox with the help of a holistic nutritionist and things worked out quite well for me. I felt amazing, so there was no reason not to try this, and we really did feel that the reasoning made a lot of sense. Especially given the fact that I don't even know anyone who doesn't have acid reflux issues, weight issues, etc.
Let me first prep by saying this. Under this LIFESTYLE change, you cut out sugar, corn, wheat, most forms of dairy, most fruits, etc. There is a REASON for this but it took this guy 3 books to explain why so I'm not getting into it. But notice I didn't say MEAT. Well, J and I don't eat meat and haven't for years and so adding it back in to follow some guys' advice wasn't really an option. So, after eating the 3 recipes that didn't include meat in Doug's cookbook, we decided to take a different route. We started eating more Raw foods. Really, it's 11 p.m. and this is the only time I can find to blog, so I'm not going to go into details and perhaps I can keep blogging so that people can understand my children really do eat well. But I figured I'd give an overview of how things are going.
For the most part in any given week we go through about 4-5 cookbooks and a few online recipes to plan our meals for the week. We have completely cut out normal sugar and the above mentioned things. So what the hell do we eat? Well, we started out with a few cookbooks. Out of all the ones we have, I use Going Raw by Judita Wignall the most. Recipes we love: We love to use her zucchini taco meat, combine that with a whole bunch of veggies, peppers, lettuce, etc., and place it in her red pepper tortilla and have tacos. We have also loved her spaghetti bolognese, burgers (skip the bun hassle and eat it in a romaine leaf), etc. We can't eat any yeast or mushrooms or soy though, so we leave out the nutritional yeasts & shrooms and sub coconut aminos for any soy product.
But on a given week we don't just eat raw. We do feel that our kids need a bit more so we make sure to have a touch of organic cream cheese, organic eggs, and occasionally sour cream. Why? Well, we feel it's the best of both worlds. In nature animals like gorillas and orangutans get bugs in with their food and eat them. Am I going to eat bugs? No. Do I think it makes sense for humans to be the only animal to eat the milk of another animal or even milk at all past infancy? No. But am I a nutritionist and can I understand how cave men ate and what exactly humans need when doctors can't even agree? No. So I'll eat a bit of dairy, at least the stuff that is in accordance with my anti-fungal part of my diet. We also cook things in any given week. We did have a few cooked soups this week. We sometimes cook wheat free, rice free, corn free pancakes. Etc. We used to do a lot of vegan recipes and use a lot of the vegan substitutes for things like cream cheese and stuff, but my thinking on that has changed a bit. I feel that the more natural the better. I couldn't even pronounce some of those ingredients and it dawned on me that who cares if it's animal free, it's not chemical free. I don't want to feed my kids draino just because it's vegan.
So what am I trying to say with all this blathering? DO WHAT IS RIGHT FOR YOU AND YOUR FAMILY. When we first started with raw foodism we kept reading about people who were so far that their kids were losing their teeth and they kept referring to it as a detox symptom. UM no. I will not sacrifice the health of my kids for any dogma. If they aren't thriving well on a mostly vegan 3/4 of the time raw diet, then it's time to reassess. And fast.
So onto a few of our simple favorites:
We LOVE fruit leather. Puree any fruits you have. J and I can only have berries and green apples. So I take 2 green apples, skins on, and a whole bunch of berries, frozen or fresh, puree, dump and spread on a dehydrator sheet, dehydrate at 110 for maybe 9 hours and eat. The kids get all kinds of fruit leathers though. Banana pear mango. Apple Orange. Whatever. You can even add some spinach into the mix and you'll never know. And YOU DON'T need to add sugar, so don't!
Replace xylitol in recipes asking for sugar. We can't have agave, maple syrup or honey (only on special occasions), but xylitol works amazing. Try it, use it, mmmm. We are getting used to less sugary tastes so I sometimes use 1/2 the xylitol that the recipe calls for. Xylitol can have a laxative effect if you consume tons, so just use your judgement.
Popped amaranth works awesome for a breakfast cereal. It's not raw but it's nummy. Put a pan on stove and heat on high, quickly spray with some cooking spray and pop it just like popcorn. Serve with some fresh berries, and some almond milk. My kids love it. (PS: There is a learning curve. Don't get upset if you burn some and maybe even google how to do it if you are having trouble)
Raw sorbet: Take 1/2 lime, 1 lb of frozen strawberries, 1 cup of water and 1/4 cup of xylitol (or agave if you choose). I only put in 2 Tbsp of xylitol and we think it's amazing but the original recipe calls for 1/4 cup agave. You probably need a high speed blender for this to get creamy enough. We use a Vitamix.
For special occasions any of the raw food desserts are amazing. Be careful though. Just because agave nectar is the sweetheart sweetener of the raw world, doesn't mean it's always ok and amazing. Most of the desserts we've tried we find are too sweet. I feel that making super duper sweet desserts just sets us all up to need the taste of sugar. Berries are sweet enough by themselves, we don't need to add 2 Tbsp of agave nectar to them. Use your own judgement. Once you get used to less sugar you will be amazed how cloyingly gross certain traditional desserts can seem. I usually keep it a rule to use 1/2 the amount called for. And they always turn out amazing.
Our supper food menu last week:
Nachos using flax chips, lettuce, raw taco "meat", jalapeños, peppers, fresh pico. Added a touch of cream cheese and sour cream to the kids'.
Tomato fettuchini using zucchini spiraled into noodles
Pizza using a raw pizza crust, lots of peppers, onions, raw sun dried tomato sauce.
Banana crepes filled with fresh fruit, cashew cream and a strawberry sauce with lots of fruit on side.
Raw veggie burgers, kale chips (chips were cooked)
Scrambled eggs with lots of peppers and onions wrapped in homemade raw red pepper wraps with rutabaga "hash browns".
Raw "falafel" wrapped in lettuce leaves with zucchini hummus, carrots, cucumber dill yogurt sauce (homemade).
I have amazing recipes (cooked) for carrot & apple muffins, cooked and uncooked desserts, and just food, but let's take one step at a time.
I hope to get some actual recipes up sometime soon. But for now it's late and I'm off to bed. ;)
Well, on to what I came here to post about. Food, food and more food. It's no secret to people that know us that J and I are the weirdoes in the Wisconsin Northwoods when it comes to food. And lately it's gotten even more weird. My parents a few months ago decided to get these books and change their life by changing what they eat. J and I have long known that what you eat has a direct link to how you feel so we just kind of ignored it. However, my mom pushed and pushed till we finally read The Fungus Link series of books by Doug Kaufmann. If you search out this guy, some people say it makes sense, others say he is a quack. So decide for yourself. J and I decided that since we already knew a bit about fungus, at least candida that we'd try it and see how things went. After all, a few years back I had done a candida detox with the help of a holistic nutritionist and things worked out quite well for me. I felt amazing, so there was no reason not to try this, and we really did feel that the reasoning made a lot of sense. Especially given the fact that I don't even know anyone who doesn't have acid reflux issues, weight issues, etc.
Let me first prep by saying this. Under this LIFESTYLE change, you cut out sugar, corn, wheat, most forms of dairy, most fruits, etc. There is a REASON for this but it took this guy 3 books to explain why so I'm not getting into it. But notice I didn't say MEAT. Well, J and I don't eat meat and haven't for years and so adding it back in to follow some guys' advice wasn't really an option. So, after eating the 3 recipes that didn't include meat in Doug's cookbook, we decided to take a different route. We started eating more Raw foods. Really, it's 11 p.m. and this is the only time I can find to blog, so I'm not going to go into details and perhaps I can keep blogging so that people can understand my children really do eat well. But I figured I'd give an overview of how things are going.
For the most part in any given week we go through about 4-5 cookbooks and a few online recipes to plan our meals for the week. We have completely cut out normal sugar and the above mentioned things. So what the hell do we eat? Well, we started out with a few cookbooks. Out of all the ones we have, I use Going Raw by Judita Wignall the most. Recipes we love: We love to use her zucchini taco meat, combine that with a whole bunch of veggies, peppers, lettuce, etc., and place it in her red pepper tortilla and have tacos. We have also loved her spaghetti bolognese, burgers (skip the bun hassle and eat it in a romaine leaf), etc. We can't eat any yeast or mushrooms or soy though, so we leave out the nutritional yeasts & shrooms and sub coconut aminos for any soy product.
But on a given week we don't just eat raw. We do feel that our kids need a bit more so we make sure to have a touch of organic cream cheese, organic eggs, and occasionally sour cream. Why? Well, we feel it's the best of both worlds. In nature animals like gorillas and orangutans get bugs in with their food and eat them. Am I going to eat bugs? No. Do I think it makes sense for humans to be the only animal to eat the milk of another animal or even milk at all past infancy? No. But am I a nutritionist and can I understand how cave men ate and what exactly humans need when doctors can't even agree? No. So I'll eat a bit of dairy, at least the stuff that is in accordance with my anti-fungal part of my diet. We also cook things in any given week. We did have a few cooked soups this week. We sometimes cook wheat free, rice free, corn free pancakes. Etc. We used to do a lot of vegan recipes and use a lot of the vegan substitutes for things like cream cheese and stuff, but my thinking on that has changed a bit. I feel that the more natural the better. I couldn't even pronounce some of those ingredients and it dawned on me that who cares if it's animal free, it's not chemical free. I don't want to feed my kids draino just because it's vegan.
So what am I trying to say with all this blathering? DO WHAT IS RIGHT FOR YOU AND YOUR FAMILY. When we first started with raw foodism we kept reading about people who were so far that their kids were losing their teeth and they kept referring to it as a detox symptom. UM no. I will not sacrifice the health of my kids for any dogma. If they aren't thriving well on a mostly vegan 3/4 of the time raw diet, then it's time to reassess. And fast.
So onto a few of our simple favorites:
We LOVE fruit leather. Puree any fruits you have. J and I can only have berries and green apples. So I take 2 green apples, skins on, and a whole bunch of berries, frozen or fresh, puree, dump and spread on a dehydrator sheet, dehydrate at 110 for maybe 9 hours and eat. The kids get all kinds of fruit leathers though. Banana pear mango. Apple Orange. Whatever. You can even add some spinach into the mix and you'll never know. And YOU DON'T need to add sugar, so don't!
Replace xylitol in recipes asking for sugar. We can't have agave, maple syrup or honey (only on special occasions), but xylitol works amazing. Try it, use it, mmmm. We are getting used to less sugary tastes so I sometimes use 1/2 the xylitol that the recipe calls for. Xylitol can have a laxative effect if you consume tons, so just use your judgement.
Popped amaranth works awesome for a breakfast cereal. It's not raw but it's nummy. Put a pan on stove and heat on high, quickly spray with some cooking spray and pop it just like popcorn. Serve with some fresh berries, and some almond milk. My kids love it. (PS: There is a learning curve. Don't get upset if you burn some and maybe even google how to do it if you are having trouble)
Raw sorbet: Take 1/2 lime, 1 lb of frozen strawberries, 1 cup of water and 1/4 cup of xylitol (or agave if you choose). I only put in 2 Tbsp of xylitol and we think it's amazing but the original recipe calls for 1/4 cup agave. You probably need a high speed blender for this to get creamy enough. We use a Vitamix.
For special occasions any of the raw food desserts are amazing. Be careful though. Just because agave nectar is the sweetheart sweetener of the raw world, doesn't mean it's always ok and amazing. Most of the desserts we've tried we find are too sweet. I feel that making super duper sweet desserts just sets us all up to need the taste of sugar. Berries are sweet enough by themselves, we don't need to add 2 Tbsp of agave nectar to them. Use your own judgement. Once you get used to less sugar you will be amazed how cloyingly gross certain traditional desserts can seem. I usually keep it a rule to use 1/2 the amount called for. And they always turn out amazing.
Our supper food menu last week:
Nachos using flax chips, lettuce, raw taco "meat", jalapeños, peppers, fresh pico. Added a touch of cream cheese and sour cream to the kids'.
Tomato fettuchini using zucchini spiraled into noodles
Pizza using a raw pizza crust, lots of peppers, onions, raw sun dried tomato sauce.
Banana crepes filled with fresh fruit, cashew cream and a strawberry sauce with lots of fruit on side.
Raw veggie burgers, kale chips (chips were cooked)
Scrambled eggs with lots of peppers and onions wrapped in homemade raw red pepper wraps with rutabaga "hash browns".
Raw "falafel" wrapped in lettuce leaves with zucchini hummus, carrots, cucumber dill yogurt sauce (homemade).
I have amazing recipes (cooked) for carrot & apple muffins, cooked and uncooked desserts, and just food, but let's take one step at a time.
I hope to get some actual recipes up sometime soon. But for now it's late and I'm off to bed. ;)
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Can I sue for psychological/emotional damages?
It's been a long while since I've blogged. I guess I've been too busy, too lazy, and had too many things to say so I didn't even want to start. ;)
I've been wondering for quite some time how certain people can be sued for causing psychological/emotional damages, but companies get by with psychologically damaging people all the time. Really, the concept of suing for those kinds of "damages" is a bit beyond me, but as I was doing some research a while back it dawned on me that if I were going to sue someone for that, I would certainly sue those that truly cause psychological and emotional damages to many people in this country.
It all started with my ongoing battle with my crooked teeth. I've wanted braces since my permanent teeth came in, but as we all know, they aren't cheap. Anyway, I was searching for insurance, or some sort of assistance, anything, that will finally help me straighten these teeth. It's not just appearance, which is, of course, one of the main reasons I want them fixed, but they cause me head and jaw aches, my jaw clicks, and many dentists have told me that my teeth are too close together and that's why I get cavities in between my teeth, no matter how much I floss. I've been told by dentists, who I hope gain nothing from telling me this, that my jaw and cavity problems would be helped by orthodontics. However, while looking I came across a huge "informative" website that said something like this: Your smile is the most striking part of your face. Look in the mirror. Do you like your smile now? How do you react to someone with a pretty smile? Do you find them more attractive? Could you be more attractive with a pretty smile? Studies show that people with pretty smiles are more likely to have more friends, make a better first impression, and be more considered for a job over those with unattractive smiles. Braces will make your smile look wonderful."
Well, shit, just shoot me now. Because not only am I not attractive to myself, I'm not attractive to others, make a bad first impression, and now that explains why I haven't gotten jobs in the past. All due to my genetics and the fact that my parents couldn't afford to mold the teeth in my mouth as is the "fashion" of the times. Of course, I don't fully think this, but really, with wording like that, how else is it supposed to make someone feel? Really, there is nothing on that site in the "Why Get Braces" section that explains the true, health-related reasons for getting orthodontic treatment. And we just let companies do this shit to us over and over and over and over. It's all related to making us feel as shitty as we can because, once again, depressed people are the best consumers.
If you know my family, you know that we rarely ever watch TV. However, we were watching it a while back and a commercial for a hair treatment came on and it posed a truly moronic question. "Is your hair thinning? Do you know that a full head of hair is one of the first things others notice about you? Would you rather have a thinning head of hair and look 15 years older than you are, or would you rather have a full thick head of shimmering hair, making you look younger and healthier than you ever have?"
HMMMM. Well, gee, that's such a tough question. Thanks. Thank you TV infomercial for giving me a really tough question to contemplate tonight. Would I rather look old and bald, or young and sexy? Wow.
All day long companies pump into us that we are not good enough and they have a way to fix the infirmity of being born a natural human. Years and years of this makes most of us feel that we have the worse genes that the human race could have possibly cooked up. Is this not psychological and emotional damage? Screw the psychological damage caused by getting in that car accident. If years of psychological damage hadn't fucked up the person that hit you, she may not have been putting on makeup in her car mirror trying desperately to cover up signs of aging, and may not have hit you.
Anyway, till the next time I gather up enough energy to Bitch about something. If you'd like to know everything something crawls up my ass and bothers me, just hit follow. Have a great day!
I've been wondering for quite some time how certain people can be sued for causing psychological/emotional damages, but companies get by with psychologically damaging people all the time. Really, the concept of suing for those kinds of "damages" is a bit beyond me, but as I was doing some research a while back it dawned on me that if I were going to sue someone for that, I would certainly sue those that truly cause psychological and emotional damages to many people in this country.
It all started with my ongoing battle with my crooked teeth. I've wanted braces since my permanent teeth came in, but as we all know, they aren't cheap. Anyway, I was searching for insurance, or some sort of assistance, anything, that will finally help me straighten these teeth. It's not just appearance, which is, of course, one of the main reasons I want them fixed, but they cause me head and jaw aches, my jaw clicks, and many dentists have told me that my teeth are too close together and that's why I get cavities in between my teeth, no matter how much I floss. I've been told by dentists, who I hope gain nothing from telling me this, that my jaw and cavity problems would be helped by orthodontics. However, while looking I came across a huge "informative" website that said something like this: Your smile is the most striking part of your face. Look in the mirror. Do you like your smile now? How do you react to someone with a pretty smile? Do you find them more attractive? Could you be more attractive with a pretty smile? Studies show that people with pretty smiles are more likely to have more friends, make a better first impression, and be more considered for a job over those with unattractive smiles. Braces will make your smile look wonderful."
Well, shit, just shoot me now. Because not only am I not attractive to myself, I'm not attractive to others, make a bad first impression, and now that explains why I haven't gotten jobs in the past. All due to my genetics and the fact that my parents couldn't afford to mold the teeth in my mouth as is the "fashion" of the times. Of course, I don't fully think this, but really, with wording like that, how else is it supposed to make someone feel? Really, there is nothing on that site in the "Why Get Braces" section that explains the true, health-related reasons for getting orthodontic treatment. And we just let companies do this shit to us over and over and over and over. It's all related to making us feel as shitty as we can because, once again, depressed people are the best consumers.
If you know my family, you know that we rarely ever watch TV. However, we were watching it a while back and a commercial for a hair treatment came on and it posed a truly moronic question. "Is your hair thinning? Do you know that a full head of hair is one of the first things others notice about you? Would you rather have a thinning head of hair and look 15 years older than you are, or would you rather have a full thick head of shimmering hair, making you look younger and healthier than you ever have?"
HMMMM. Well, gee, that's such a tough question. Thanks. Thank you TV infomercial for giving me a really tough question to contemplate tonight. Would I rather look old and bald, or young and sexy? Wow.
All day long companies pump into us that we are not good enough and they have a way to fix the infirmity of being born a natural human. Years and years of this makes most of us feel that we have the worse genes that the human race could have possibly cooked up. Is this not psychological and emotional damage? Screw the psychological damage caused by getting in that car accident. If years of psychological damage hadn't fucked up the person that hit you, she may not have been putting on makeup in her car mirror trying desperately to cover up signs of aging, and may not have hit you.
Anyway, till the next time I gather up enough energy to Bitch about something. If you'd like to know everything something crawls up my ass and bothers me, just hit follow. Have a great day!
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Crazy grooming product replacements: Deodorant and toothpaste
As earlier promised, here's my post on deodorant and the like. Sorry it's taken so long and I'm not so sure how great this post is going to be. Daylight savings time really seems to have my clock messed up. Well that and we've been doing some major life debating combined with a sick kid and now today I think Braelen is sick. He's walking around the house carrying a bucket, his idea. Which is cute, but gross.
Anyway, on to the task at hand!
After the birth of Braelen I started some research on what products are safe to use while breastfeeding (which is another rant for the future). It seems as though it really is just hard as fuck for companies to go ahead and test things before using humans for lab rats. Not that it's been proven for sure, but there have been links between using underarm deodorant and breast cancer rates. The National Cancer Institute does state that aluminum and other ingredients found in deodorant can cause cancer. HMM. Obviously what our skin absorbs can enter the breastmilk and I wanted to give my children the least amount of chemicals I could.
Enter: Natural deodorants. No offense to these products, but they kind of suck. Really, I heard bad things about them and most of the bad things were true. The only thing DH and I found that worked for a while was a product called Happy Pits we purchased on Etsy (J did have some good luck for a while with Crystal also). I haven't been able to find it anymore lately, so I'm not sure what happened to it on Etsy. It doesn't matter though, because like many non-natural products, the deodorant worked for awhile but then stopped working. Since I refused to stink I did end up just using normal deodorant while breastfeeding my kids. This was after trying multiple natural deodorants.
Fast forward to now, as I was browsing Vegweb, a great free source for vegan recipes, I happened to stubble upon non-food recipes. One of them was deodorant. I stumbled upon a great, simple recipe for deodorant that really has worked well for us. Will it continue to work for the many years J and I will live? I don't know, I hope so. If it doesn't, at least it worked for this while and is crazy cheap and crazy effective, and a crazy small list of ingredients. Enter...drumroll please..............
BAKING SODA!!
Yep, good ole baking soda again. Are we sensing a pattern? Wash our hair with baking soda, now we put it on our bodies to eliminate stink. Turns out that if baking soda can help your fridge eliminate that stinky onion smell that it can help your body too. After showering we put 1/8 tsp baking soda in the palm of our cupped hand and add 1/4 tsp of water. I use a fingertip to mix the two in the cup of my hand then rub my hands together and then rub underarms. Pretty darn simple. This is just a beginner recipe and you can customize it to your body. For example, when I first started I needed to add just a touch (I mean minuscule) more water because I had a slight rash because it dried out my underarms too much. Problem fully fixed. J and I both use this now and it works much better than deodorant ever worked. Plus, I hate all that fake scented crap (example, I hate it when babies smell like johnson and johnson, I want them to smell like them). Now we just smell like us instead of the "sport" scent, etc. Believe me, it's much more pleasant. However, if you still like a touch of scent add your favorite essential oil to the mix. I've tried lavender but like to smell like me more. I also use a touch less baking soda after shaving, add a touch of olive oil (a good moisturizer) and put it only right in the pit, not really over to my arm if that makes sense, just in case my armpits are a bit sensitive. Really, customize this to what your body needs and wants.
Just in case you haven't gotten sick of hearing it yet, we also use baking soda as toothpaste now. DH gets a lot of painful canker sores and we read somewhere that something in most toothpastes can cause that. When I found out that baking soda and salt (salt is optional, it's only there to enhance scrubbiness which I feel is unneeded) can be used to brush teeth we decided to try it. Again, baking soda both cleans and deodorizes. We wash hands, put small amount of soda in cupped palm (J adds salt, I don't b/c I feel it's scrubby enough), wet toothbrush, scoop up soda, brush. I brush soft because my toothbrush seems more scrubby without toothpaste. We don't have "minty" breath, but it doesn't stink either. It doesn't really smell like anything. Good job baking soda for deodorizing. :) My teeth also feel cleaner all day. Yeah, it tastes a bit funky at first, but we got used to it and it's fine now. Now instead of putting something in my mouth with a warning to call poison control if children ingest it, I use something that is often used in baking.
Look at our huge baking soda and olive oil!
Note: I have also seen that baking soda can be combined with peroxide to make toothpaste. Have not tried that yet and don't know exact ratios, but may in the future, not sure. For now this works well for us.
Well, that's it for today folks. Keep in mind that these things are just what has worked for our family. We find it more natural, more economical, and feel better about putting less bad things in our bodies. Till next time!
Anyway, on to the task at hand!
After the birth of Braelen I started some research on what products are safe to use while breastfeeding (which is another rant for the future). It seems as though it really is just hard as fuck for companies to go ahead and test things before using humans for lab rats. Not that it's been proven for sure, but there have been links between using underarm deodorant and breast cancer rates. The National Cancer Institute does state that aluminum and other ingredients found in deodorant can cause cancer. HMM. Obviously what our skin absorbs can enter the breastmilk and I wanted to give my children the least amount of chemicals I could.
Enter: Natural deodorants. No offense to these products, but they kind of suck. Really, I heard bad things about them and most of the bad things were true. The only thing DH and I found that worked for a while was a product called Happy Pits we purchased on Etsy (J did have some good luck for a while with Crystal also). I haven't been able to find it anymore lately, so I'm not sure what happened to it on Etsy. It doesn't matter though, because like many non-natural products, the deodorant worked for awhile but then stopped working. Since I refused to stink I did end up just using normal deodorant while breastfeeding my kids. This was after trying multiple natural deodorants.
Fast forward to now, as I was browsing Vegweb, a great free source for vegan recipes, I happened to stubble upon non-food recipes. One of them was deodorant. I stumbled upon a great, simple recipe for deodorant that really has worked well for us. Will it continue to work for the many years J and I will live? I don't know, I hope so. If it doesn't, at least it worked for this while and is crazy cheap and crazy effective, and a crazy small list of ingredients. Enter...drumroll please..............
BAKING SODA!!
Yep, good ole baking soda again. Are we sensing a pattern? Wash our hair with baking soda, now we put it on our bodies to eliminate stink. Turns out that if baking soda can help your fridge eliminate that stinky onion smell that it can help your body too. After showering we put 1/8 tsp baking soda in the palm of our cupped hand and add 1/4 tsp of water. I use a fingertip to mix the two in the cup of my hand then rub my hands together and then rub underarms. Pretty darn simple. This is just a beginner recipe and you can customize it to your body. For example, when I first started I needed to add just a touch (I mean minuscule) more water because I had a slight rash because it dried out my underarms too much. Problem fully fixed. J and I both use this now and it works much better than deodorant ever worked. Plus, I hate all that fake scented crap (example, I hate it when babies smell like johnson and johnson, I want them to smell like them). Now we just smell like us instead of the "sport" scent, etc. Believe me, it's much more pleasant. However, if you still like a touch of scent add your favorite essential oil to the mix. I've tried lavender but like to smell like me more. I also use a touch less baking soda after shaving, add a touch of olive oil (a good moisturizer) and put it only right in the pit, not really over to my arm if that makes sense, just in case my armpits are a bit sensitive. Really, customize this to what your body needs and wants.
Just in case you haven't gotten sick of hearing it yet, we also use baking soda as toothpaste now. DH gets a lot of painful canker sores and we read somewhere that something in most toothpastes can cause that. When I found out that baking soda and salt (salt is optional, it's only there to enhance scrubbiness which I feel is unneeded) can be used to brush teeth we decided to try it. Again, baking soda both cleans and deodorizes. We wash hands, put small amount of soda in cupped palm (J adds salt, I don't b/c I feel it's scrubby enough), wet toothbrush, scoop up soda, brush. I brush soft because my toothbrush seems more scrubby without toothpaste. We don't have "minty" breath, but it doesn't stink either. It doesn't really smell like anything. Good job baking soda for deodorizing. :) My teeth also feel cleaner all day. Yeah, it tastes a bit funky at first, but we got used to it and it's fine now. Now instead of putting something in my mouth with a warning to call poison control if children ingest it, I use something that is often used in baking.
Look at our huge baking soda and olive oil!
Note: I have also seen that baking soda can be combined with peroxide to make toothpaste. Have not tried that yet and don't know exact ratios, but may in the future, not sure. For now this works well for us.
Well, that's it for today folks. Keep in mind that these things are just what has worked for our family. We find it more natural, more economical, and feel better about putting less bad things in our bodies. Till next time!
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Be Yourself--Perfect
"I got a perfect body but sometimes I forget. I got a perfect body because my eyelashes catch my sweat, yes they do, they dooo." --Folding Chair by Regina Spektor
A bit of uplifting today.
Every time I see or hear Regina I just feel liberated to be myself. I don't know how many times I've seen her live, but every time is amazing. She is genuine, modest and can sing. She started out with just her piano, her elementary guitar knowledge, acapella, and occasionally thwapping a chair with a drum stick. She has now gotten big enough to have a band but her original amazingness is still there. She's always her, her, her and no one else. Forget artists like Lady Gaga who only go against the norm because it "shocks". I FEEL Regina in everything she does. She even re-released her song Better because it wasn't totally "her".
If you'd like to get out of your head for a moment there is nothing like this video for Dance Anthem of the 80's that makes you want to dance around like a dork and rejoice in everything that is you.
A bit of uplifting today.
Every time I see or hear Regina I just feel liberated to be myself. I don't know how many times I've seen her live, but every time is amazing. She is genuine, modest and can sing. She started out with just her piano, her elementary guitar knowledge, acapella, and occasionally thwapping a chair with a drum stick. She has now gotten big enough to have a band but her original amazingness is still there. She's always her, her, her and no one else. Forget artists like Lady Gaga who only go against the norm because it "shocks". I FEEL Regina in everything she does. She even re-released her song Better because it wasn't totally "her".
If you'd like to get out of your head for a moment there is nothing like this video for Dance Anthem of the 80's that makes you want to dance around like a dork and rejoice in everything that is you.
And since I can't stop there, if you've got the time or curiosity, let her lure you a little more.
Samson-Always brings tears to my eyes, right from the first "I loved you first"
Live Ain't No Cover--She only sings this song live and acapella. I love it:
Live at Lollapalooza singing The Flowers: She totally stops everything to help someone in the crowd:
Monday, March 7, 2011
Crazy grooming product replacements: Step 1-Shampoo
In an effort to decrease the amount of chemicals in our bodies, my husband and I lead a little bit of a different life than the average US citizen. I think it's sad that there are so many chemicals out there and most of them aren't even tested. Not only that, much of the food we eat is processed with chemicals that are well-known to be harmful. For example, chickens are disinfected in chlorine, and it's common practice to use ammonia to kill bacteria in ground beef. Some of our children's most favorite foods are filled with chemicals proven to cause ADHD, hormonal problems, the list goes on and on. Some of these chemicals are actually not used in the very same products in places like Europe. And sadly enough, some of the fondest memories of being a new parent--the smell of baby soap, goofing up as we change our baby's first diaper--are drenched with chemicals that are very, very harmful for our new little ones. Check out healthychild.org or the cosmetic database for some info on these things.
My husband and I have just started to change the way we live. So we aren't experts by any means. We not only want to be kinder to our bodies, but also to the environment. What happens when all these chemicals we slather on our bodies are absorbed and then go down the drain? Do we think it just stops there? Can you even pronounce more than 2 ingredients on the back of your shampoo bottle? I know I sure as hell can't. Pantene and Herbal Essences sure smell great, but what the fuck is in them?
Sometimes I wonder how people before us lived. I mean, what did they shower with? Didn't they smell all the time? How did the world survive without chemistry and science to help us out? Seriously, don't get me wrong, science has gotten us so far. I have no idea where we would even be today without the gains made by science. But then again when it comes to the cosmetic industry and the things they produce to make money, J and I have found many simple things to replace products we use every day and these simple things are not only cheaper, they work better!
Shampoo
I used to be one of those women that slathered my hair up everyday in the shower with salon hair care products, if I could afford them at the time, or some other popular brand of shampoo. Since I have fine hair, I was always concerned with volume. Well, the great news is I can fix that with VOLUMIZING SHAMPOO for fine hair, which was also guaranteed to make my fine hair strong! Thanks guys!! However, I kept noticing over and over I had frizzies, everywhere. My hair also seemed to keep thinning and that's scary when I'm not even 30 yet.
After some research, and unintended experimentation being home with two small kids, I found that my first culprint was washing my hair everyday. (Oh, and that fine hair shampoo is actually formulated to dry fine hair out so that it'll stand up better, kind of counterproductive to the making hair stronger part.) It was a hard addiction to stop. Really hard. I personally thought it was gross, but found my hair was much stronger and shinier when I was busy with a newborn and a one and a half year old and didn't get time to wash my hair. Like not greasy shinier, but shinier even when I did finally find the time to take a shower. I went from washing my hair every other day about a year ago, to now I wash it every 4 (sometimes I wet it down if my style needs it othertimes I just wake up and go). I know, that sounds disgusting. Believe me though, your body is very versatile and adjusts to this. The only reason most people have super greasy hair after going one day without washing is that washing with shampoo actually dries out our hair and scalp. The greasiness is your body trying to help your hair out and restore some moisture. It's on a schedule and if you mess with it, it's going to have to take a little while to figure out what the hell you are doing and what you've changed. It took a while for my body to adjust to this. But once it has...Holy COW! I rarely, if ever lose hair when I wash my hair! I used to lose clumps, every day. My hair was so brittle. Not only that, my hair is so much shinier now. And on days 2-4 of not washing, I can do whatever with my hair and it stays. It used to just fall out of a ponytail, or never hold curl. Now it stays. And it's not greasy. I've asked my husband (who also follows this routine) and he says it's not a grease fest. That, and I'm very anti being icky. So I wouldn't adhere to this if I had disgusting hair.
After some more online searching, my husband and I also found that washing your hair with baking soda and then doing an apple cider vinegar rinse works really well. Sounds messed up, yep. But then again, think about all those chemicals you aren't absorbing in the shower! Check out this easy instructables here. If that's not really thing, we also sometimes use a simple castile soap but still condition with the ACV. I can actually pronounce the ingredients on the label. We like Dr. Bronner's unscented baby version. Oh, and using baking soda is cheap and doesn't pollute the environment with all those plastic shampoo containers (we buy the HUGE baking soda from Sam's Club)
Oh, and for those of you who are wondering, I STILL SHOWER EVERYDAY. So don't think I'm running around all stinky.
NOTE: To do your body even more of a favor consider an even crazier (even less mainstream) alternative. Maybe to come in the future for me is an experiment like these:
Sean Bronner
Sean Bonner update
No More Dirty Looks
Free the Animal
Please let me know if you decide to try any of this. I'd like to hear your reactions. And remember, the body NEEDS SOME TIME to adjust. Don't go frantic if on the third day you feel "icky".
I suggest that if you are open to doing your body and the environment a favor, do some research yourself to check all this out. I have more posts to come on this topic, toothpaste, deodorant, lotion and shaving alternatives.
My husband and I have just started to change the way we live. So we aren't experts by any means. We not only want to be kinder to our bodies, but also to the environment. What happens when all these chemicals we slather on our bodies are absorbed and then go down the drain? Do we think it just stops there? Can you even pronounce more than 2 ingredients on the back of your shampoo bottle? I know I sure as hell can't. Pantene and Herbal Essences sure smell great, but what the fuck is in them?
Sometimes I wonder how people before us lived. I mean, what did they shower with? Didn't they smell all the time? How did the world survive without chemistry and science to help us out? Seriously, don't get me wrong, science has gotten us so far. I have no idea where we would even be today without the gains made by science. But then again when it comes to the cosmetic industry and the things they produce to make money, J and I have found many simple things to replace products we use every day and these simple things are not only cheaper, they work better!
Shampoo
I used to be one of those women that slathered my hair up everyday in the shower with salon hair care products, if I could afford them at the time, or some other popular brand of shampoo. Since I have fine hair, I was always concerned with volume. Well, the great news is I can fix that with VOLUMIZING SHAMPOO for fine hair, which was also guaranteed to make my fine hair strong! Thanks guys!! However, I kept noticing over and over I had frizzies, everywhere. My hair also seemed to keep thinning and that's scary when I'm not even 30 yet.
After some research, and unintended experimentation being home with two small kids, I found that my first culprint was washing my hair everyday. (Oh, and that fine hair shampoo is actually formulated to dry fine hair out so that it'll stand up better, kind of counterproductive to the making hair stronger part.) It was a hard addiction to stop. Really hard. I personally thought it was gross, but found my hair was much stronger and shinier when I was busy with a newborn and a one and a half year old and didn't get time to wash my hair. Like not greasy shinier, but shinier even when I did finally find the time to take a shower. I went from washing my hair every other day about a year ago, to now I wash it every 4 (sometimes I wet it down if my style needs it othertimes I just wake up and go). I know, that sounds disgusting. Believe me though, your body is very versatile and adjusts to this. The only reason most people have super greasy hair after going one day without washing is that washing with shampoo actually dries out our hair and scalp. The greasiness is your body trying to help your hair out and restore some moisture. It's on a schedule and if you mess with it, it's going to have to take a little while to figure out what the hell you are doing and what you've changed. It took a while for my body to adjust to this. But once it has...Holy COW! I rarely, if ever lose hair when I wash my hair! I used to lose clumps, every day. My hair was so brittle. Not only that, my hair is so much shinier now. And on days 2-4 of not washing, I can do whatever with my hair and it stays. It used to just fall out of a ponytail, or never hold curl. Now it stays. And it's not greasy. I've asked my husband (who also follows this routine) and he says it's not a grease fest. That, and I'm very anti being icky. So I wouldn't adhere to this if I had disgusting hair.
After some more online searching, my husband and I also found that washing your hair with baking soda and then doing an apple cider vinegar rinse works really well. Sounds messed up, yep. But then again, think about all those chemicals you aren't absorbing in the shower! Check out this easy instructables here. If that's not really thing, we also sometimes use a simple castile soap but still condition with the ACV. I can actually pronounce the ingredients on the label. We like Dr. Bronner's unscented baby version. Oh, and using baking soda is cheap and doesn't pollute the environment with all those plastic shampoo containers (we buy the HUGE baking soda from Sam's Club)
Oh, and for those of you who are wondering, I STILL SHOWER EVERYDAY. So don't think I'm running around all stinky.
NOTE: To do your body even more of a favor consider an even crazier (even less mainstream) alternative. Maybe to come in the future for me is an experiment like these:
Sean Bronner
Sean Bonner update
No More Dirty Looks
Free the Animal
Please let me know if you decide to try any of this. I'd like to hear your reactions. And remember, the body NEEDS SOME TIME to adjust. Don't go frantic if on the third day you feel "icky".
I suggest that if you are open to doing your body and the environment a favor, do some research yourself to check all this out. I have more posts to come on this topic, toothpaste, deodorant, lotion and shaving alternatives.
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