I've been trying to make some healthy decisions lately for my family. I've really become more in tune to these things since I've had Jordan. Now we could still definitely eat a lot healthier than we do but these healthy changes I've been making are not all in the food we consume but the products we are using instead. Now I do have to add that since I've gotten my new Vitamix blender we have been getting in a lot more fruits and dairy lately with our daily (sometimes multiple times a day) smoothie. I've been quite surprised how these natural alternatives to everyday products we use are actually quite frugal; now some of these might cost about the same as the store bought product but most of them are actually cheaper. I've been making my own face wash, deodorant, toothpaste, shampoo & conditioner, and yogurt & cream cheese. If you're curious and would like to read about my experience on each thing than keep reading, otherwise this post might be very boring for you and I will not be offended if you skip over this one.
I've been using the face wash since November 2009 and I can definitely tell a wonderful difference with my face. I no longer need to wash my face twice a day, before bed each night is perfect. I break out much less, in fact, I've only gotten a zit twice since I've started this method. I love the smooth texture of my face, I don't even use foundation anymore because my face is just fine on its own!
I just made the deodorant this weekend but so far I love it! I knew I've needed to switch for a long time now because of that darn aluminum they put in antiperspirant but I got a really good deal and had stocked up a while ago. Finally I realized I needed to do it regardless because my pits were feeling dry and itchy after putting on the store bought stuff after my showers. I can't even tell a difference between homemade and store bought when it comes to sweat and stink but I CAN tell the difference in that my armpits aren't dry and itchy anymore!
The toothpaste, oh the toothpaste, well first of all I have this thing against artificial sweeteners so I'm not using the Stevia suggested in the recipe and I know sugar would counter the whole effect so I do it hardcore without any sweetener. Let me tell you the taste of this is terrible! But it gets the job done and once I spit and rinse I'm perfectly happy with the result and because I use the peppermint oil I still smell good to the rest of the world. I will continue to use this because it's cheap, better for me and it does a great job getting my teeth clean and my breath fresh.
Now the shampoo and conditioner, or the lack thereof, is really cool too! The pain about it is that I have to make a new batch every week but I love the result enough to continue and really it takes less than five minutes to make so it's not a burden. Anyway, this one was a hard adjustment to make because it felt like I was just pouring water on my head because it doesn't lather like shampoo but as I've been using it for a while now I've gotten used to it and can actually feel the difference between water and water mixed with baking soda so I know where its at on my head and if I have enough. At first I was completely overdoing the conditioner since I couldn't feel it but that was another thing that I've learned and adjusted along the way. And after reading that kids don't really need their hair washed I've quit using baby shampoo on Jordan's precious head and just give it a good massage with my fingers and water of course.
Last but not least I made my own yogurt in my crock pot on Friday. I'd been curious and wanting to try this one for quite a while but we just don't eat yogurt much but now that I have my new blender and we've been having smoothies on a daily basis I decided it was finally time. Making yogurt is SO easy! And I think my favorite part about it is that you can then turn that yogurt into cream cheese just as easily!!! We all know how expensive cream cheese can be and this is a really cheap alternative! It's so amazing to me how this process works and how this is exactly like store bought yogurt! Just incredible.
I hope this blog post wasn't too boring for you guys but I really wanted to share my experiences to make you all aware of the simple and cheap ways we can impact the environment, our lives and our children's lives and so that you know someone who has actually done these things and enjoyed the results. I hope I made sense!