I recently watched the documentary "Chemerical", which I recommend, and afterwards went through my entire house, throwing out all cleaning products containing harmful chemicals...I was left with basically, a bottle of white distilled vinegar and a box of baking soda, so headed over to the grocery store to stock up. I found a great recipe for homemade healthy borax-free dish detergent:
1 cup Arm and Hammer Washing Soda
1/4 cup Citric Acid
1/4 cup coarse salt with no iodine
10-15 drops essential oil (lemon or orange work the best for me)
Homemade citrus orange cleaner (scroll down a little further for directions on how to make this)
Combine first three ingredients and add essential oil and toss together in a fun mason jar, with the lid screwed on tight, store in a cool place, out of the sun.
I doubled the mixture, as you can see in the picture below....
As for the homemade citrus orange cleaner, you can add this undiluted mixture to your rinse aid compartment in your dishwasher.
The container of orange rinds in the pictures I posted is a homemade citrus orange cleaner I made, very easy, by just combining the rinds from 6 -8 oranges, (juice squeezed out prior - makes a great drink while you are making your supplies :) ), and white distilled vinegar. Place the rinds in a cute jar and cover completely with vinegar. Store, with lid on tight, for 2 weeks in a cool place, out of the sun. After the two weeks are complete, remove rinds and strain liquid through a sieve, and store in a glass jar. Use diluted 1:1 water to citrus orange cleaner in a spray bottle. I found this homemade recipe off of the blog "myhealthygreenfamily.com".
I also gave up using store bought lotion and have invested in Dr. Bronner's Almond Castille Soap, and some organic sweet almond oil to use in place of lotion. It is supposed to be light enough to moisturize the face without causing breakouts, so stay tuned...I'm also going to try avocado oil and chamomile oil in the near future.
I invested in a box of 20 Mule Borax and Washing Soda, and also plan to begin making homemade laundry detergent after my current detergent is all used up...this recipe is so easy! All it takes is a grated bar of Ivory soap, borax, and washing soda, mixed with water...I will post the recipe when I actually make it in a few weeks!
We celebrated our Valentine's Day by picking up these donuts in Aggieville for breakfast. I also made James a great dinner, with lots of mussels, gouda cheese and basil chili crackers, steamed brocolli, and gorgonzola balsamic mushroom bread (his most favorite meal)!
James got me my very own Dyson Vacuum for Valentine's Day! I was so excited! I told him this was definitely up their with the Christmas present he gave me in 2011, proposing to me...so he did a great job! You can tell I love to clean!!
