Finally!  After several months of tweaking, fine tuning, dumping out and starting all over and many, many soapy overflows onto the kitchen floor (one spill in particular comes to mind – sorry ’bout your ass babe!)….I have done it!  Well, at least I think I’ve done it.  I never had a dishwasher in my home until we moved here.  I just always felt like they were energy and water wasters.  We never really even talked about getting one in our old place and when we bought this house, I figured I’d do with mine what my Grandma did with hers.  She kept her booze in it.  But once I had the chance to fire that baby up and take her on a test drive…I was smitten!  I love my dishwasher and all that she does for me!  I make sure I run full loads (I can pack a dishwasher like no one else…trust.) and I only run it once a day and sometimes skip a day or two.  But what I hate the most is buying dishwasher soap.  First, it’s super expensive if you buy green-detergents and second I feel like I waste it.  I am a little, ehem, heavy handed so when I squirt the stuff in to the cup…I fill that sucker to the brim.  And the other little cup gets a full squirt as well.  I was buying Seventh Generation in bulk from Amazon and felt like we were saving some money..but there had to be a way to do it cheaper.  So I started my quest for the perfect formula for homemade dishwasher soap.  I think this one is the best by far so I wanted to share.  Feel free to try it out and let me know what you think!  If you come up with different ingredients or measurements, let me know cuz I want to check them out too!

Sals Suds Homemade Dishwasher Soap

1/2 cup Sals Suds

1/2 cup white vinegar

1/2 cup water

3 tbsp lemon juice

couple of drops of your fave essential oil  (I used tea tree)

How pretty is that?

I use about 1tbsp per load or two if I’m washing pots and pans.  Play around with the amounts and see what is best for your dishwasher.  You should be able to get about 48 loads if you use 1 tablespoon.  I also use straight vinegar for my rinse aid..no diluting with water.  It’ll get plenty of water with the dishwasher running!  Not only does the vinegar do a great job rinsing the dishes – it gives your washer a good cleaning at the same time.  Good luck and let me know how this works for you!

Naturally yours, Dallas

Just a quickie today.  Have you ever wondered what those produce codes on the fruits/veggies mean?  I was thinking about yesterday while in the local Harry Tweeter and though I’d do a quick scan today to see what I could come up with. So here goes:

• Organic produce stickers start with a 9 and have 5 numbers

• Conventional produce has 4 numbers

• GM (genetically modified) produce have 5 numbers like organic produce but start with the number 8 so be particularly cautious of those fruits and vegetables

I found this little gem of info on the Green Mom Review site.  I’ve never seen her site before but looks to be pretty helpful so be sure to bookmark and visit when you can!

Naturally yours, Dallas

I was digging around on the internet looking for info on the Clorox buyout of Burt’s Bees (for a wimpy $925M!) cuz I’m trying to find out if they changed the formula.  I had heard a rumor they did and before I put them on BLAST on my blog, I wanted to get my facts straight.  Anyways, during my search I came across this little beauty and knew I had to share.  Now from what I can tell these ratings are based on twenty years worth of data and not just merely the opinion of some gone-completely-off-the-grid-tree-hugging-dirt-worshipping-hippie. Although I do have a fondess and fierce loyalty to said gone-completely-off-the-grid-tree-hugging-dirt-worshipping-hippie…this doesn’t appear to be how these guys work.  This site is about calling companies out on their BS and then posting it on the internet.  I love it!

PS Did you know Clorox still uses 1% toxic chemmies in their “green” products but don’t disclose it because the law says they don’t have to?  LIARS!

Better World Shopper

Naturally yours, Dallas

Wait..that sounds a little funny.  Oh well!

This Valentine’s Day why not give fair trade and organic flowers and chocolates?

Could possibly score you big points with your significant other!

Organic Consumers Association

Naturally yours, Dallas

I’m going to talk about an issue that I’m SURE will garner some sort of criticism from someone.  I do realize this is a “pro natural living” blog but not all of us women live somewhere over the rainbow.  Some of us actually do live in Kansas (relatively speaking) and some of us chose to use formula. Whether that choice was medically necessary, out of convenience, because of flat nipples or a baby that was nicknamed “the baracuda” for a REASON….is really not important.  What is important is that as women in the year 2008 we have choices.  We have the choice to either breastfeed or use formula.  Of course I know that breast is best…nutritionally speaking.  But for me, bleeding nipples, clogged ducts, a baby that wanted to nurse every thirty seconds, twenty-six hours of labor followed by a burly c-section – not to mention a touch of PPD…breastfeeding was NOT best for US.  So I did it exclusively as long as I could and finished by pumping for three solid months.   Total time on the boob was five months.  When we decided that it was time to switch over to formula I did alot of research.  Every brand, mixture, organic or not…all of that came into play.  I won’t go down the list of formulas that we looked into but I will say that we used Earth’s Best Organic Infant Formula, Parent’s Choice Organic Infant Formula and Similac Organic Infant Formula.  We started with Earth’s Best but discovered it was too expensive so I dug around a little more and came across Parent’s Choice which he was on for the longest.  Walmart used to carry this brand but discontinued it in Richmond a few months ago..not sure why and no one locally could tell me.  Kiki now gets Similac Organic and he is doing just fine with it!

Actually, there are quite a few brands all with various price ranges out there for you to choose from if you go the formula route.  Just a little info..the difference between organic and non organic (dairy) infant formula is that the milk protein used is USDA organic.  Organic soy formulas must meet the same criteria and set of standards as the organic dairy formula.  And to boot – there are companies out there that make organic infant formulas who support environmental sustainability, practice crop rotation and use holistic farming practices..if that sort of thing is important to you!

So listen – if you decide to give your little one formula for whatever reason and to be honest it really is NOT anyone else’s business – give the organic formulas a shot.  The price difference between the name brand organic and name brand non-organic really isn’t that big.  But you compare store brand non-organic vs. name brand organic the price difference could be significant..just keep that in mind.  Compare apples to apples…not apples to zebras.  Get my point?

By choosing an organic infant formula, you’re doing more than just giving your babe a formula that is FREE from hormones, antibiotics and pesticides - you’re also supporting businesses who care about the health and well being of not only our little ones but also the environment.

Naturally yours, Dallas

I’m super tired so this won’t be long..but just discovered a site I wanted to pass along.  Ya’ll know how much I LOVE LOVE LOVE  the Environment Working Group and all the research they put out.  I mean they really make being an informed consumer pretty much idiot proof.  They do all the research for us and then put it all together in usually a one-pager and post it on their site or one of their sister sites.  Anyways – I’ve been wanting to talk some about organic foods because my friends are always publicly harassing me about eating organic and then silently asking me all sorts of questions.  Anyways – check out this site http://www.foodnews.org/ and let me know what you think.   But don’t get your thongs all in a wad…shopping for organic foods is not that hard.  You just have to know which foods you MUST buy organic and which ones can slide.  Look for the “Dirty Dozen” group…start there and figure out what’s best for you.  On my grocery list there are three items that I ALWAYS buy organic….meat, dairy and coffee.  It’s usually the most expensive stuff I buy but I ain’t compromising on those three things.  Produce – now that’s another story…some stuff you can skimp on and others – like peaches – you should really stick to organic.  Or at the very least, try to buy local.  “Local” means not alot of crap put on them to make them last the car ride to your local grocery store. See what I’m saying?  Ok- enough from me for now…and YOU – get reading!

Soooo…since I started feeding Kiki solids a few months ago, I’ve been pretty good at feeding him an all organic diet.  I found that cooking and freezing organic veggies was cheaper in the long run and I felt good about not bringing all the excess packaging that comes with processed baby food into our home.  By making my own baby food, I knew exactly what was going into his little tummy and that’s something that was really important to me.  Now don’t get me wrong – I’m not an idiot and I know that one day he’s going to be old enough to make his own food choices and yes, I know he is going to eat a Happy Meal or two in his lifetime.  I won’t be happy about it….but I do not have my head shoved that far up my behind.  BUT for now, I like knowing what is in whatever he is shoving in his mouth.  And I say “shoving” with a smile!

But even the best intentions can be met with challenges and with the price of say, I don’t know, EVERYTHING going up…buying organic produce has gotten to be a little on the expensive side.  Even buying local, organic produce is now coming with a higher sticker price.  So I began my search for commerical baby food that I could use to supplement what I was making on my own.  I did all of my research and ended up settling on HappyBaby Premium Organic Baby Meals.  All of their food is USDA Organic and has zero additives or preservatives.  Each package comes with 12 cubes of either veggies, fruit or mixtures of super greens and dahl.  You just pop out how many cubes you want and stick the container back in the freezer. I also feed Kiki the HappyBellies cereals..he loves them!  HappyBaby supports sustainable agriculture and is supported by Dr. Sears…for those of us that give a rip!  You can find more info at www.happybabyfood.com.

Naturally yours, Dallas

Hello everyone! 

Well, here I go.  I’m blogging.  Today is my birthday and I promised myself that I would get this blog up and running by my birthday.  Actually, I had my web designer hubby set it up for me.  And it was his gift to me.  So technically, I didn’t do anything to get this going.  (Thanks babe!)

Anyways – I want to share with peeps (or anyone that is interested) my slight obsession with creating a “natural” home for me and my fam.  Now I’m not talking about becoming a tree hugging-bra burning-nonshaving-eating my own placenta-naturalist.  (Not that there is anything wrong with hugging trees or burning bras or not shaving or making placenta soup – it’s  just not my bag.)  I’m talking about trying to get away all the chemicals and unnecessary excess that is out there in the world and creating a healthy way of life and home for my family. I want to share the things that I come across in my day to day life trying to fulfill this goal o’mine and maybe make a few people laugh along the way.  I’m by no means an expert but I try research everything and I believe that when you purchase something from a company, you are buying into everything that company believes and stands for.  I don’t always get it right but it’s not for lack of trying!  I want this blog to be a source of information and a online community for those of us who are trying to live as naturally as possible.  Soooo…I hope you’ll come back from time to time to see what we’re up to and hopefully the ideas we share will help you out, too! 

Naturally yours,  Dallas