Tag Archives: all natural

06Jan / 2011

Karen’s Botanicals Skincare

I must’ve been an angel all last year because Santa was too nice to me. Two of my most-used gifts so far have been Karen’s Botanicals Gentle Cleansing Lotion and Perfect Lotion. Dawn has been a pretty devoted follower of Karen for a while; I’ve heard nothing but good things about almost every Karen’s Botanicals product she has tried. And surely I’ve told you guys about my total lack of a skincare routine? Until now, I’d been unable to find anything with barely decent ingredients that was close to affordable and worked well with my crazy (combination, hyper-sensitive, prone to clogged pores) skin. I’d been washing my face with Dr. Bronner’s, the same stuff I use in the shower (and in the kitchen), but my skin had become pretty irritated.  After finally accepting that Dr. Bronner’s is simply much too harsh for washing my face every day, I put some of Karen’s gentler skincare products on my wishlist.

Karen's Botanicals Gentle Cleansing Lotion and Perfect Lotion

This duo has been the best thing to happen to my skin in a long time.

And I got them!  We didn’t open gifts until late on Sunday, January 2nd, so I’ve been using these products for less than a week.  However, I’ve been using them much more regularly because they’re so enjoyable.  The cleanser reminds me of a slightly thinner cold cream–something I’ve always thought of as very fancy but could never bring myself to use because of its universally horrible ingredients (no matter the brand).  The lotion is on the lighter side and is thankfully unscented (sometimes smells make me queasy), but does a great job at making my face and neck feel smooth all day.  I’ve even noticed that my  makeup goes on smoother, though I’ll admit I haven’t felt the need to wear it as often.  I did briefly consider posting a picture of my naked face (which I took at the same time as the picture above, directly after washing and moisturizing), but thought better of it.  The only real downside is that my face is so soft that I can’t stop touching it (and, worse, asking other people to), which I know puts tons of bacteria on my sensitive face.  Oh well!

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20Feb / 2010

Cat Grass

Maxine and Chowder love anything that smells or looks like outside. One of their favorite activities is sitting on top of the printer and watching the birds in the backyard, and their (especially Chowder’s) favorite treat is cat grass. It’s my understanding that cat grass provides necessary roughage that aids in their digestion, especially when it comes to preventing hairballs. Products labeled cat grass are typically oat or wheat grass, or both. Chowder and Maxine have both been known to nip at (and devour, at least in the case of my African violets–the leaves, not the flowers) my plants, making it obvious they crave something other that cat food and treats. Another benefit of growing cat grass is that it keeps them away from my other plants, though I’ve resorted to placing most of them out of their reach anyway (especially those that are poisonous to kitties!).

Chowder and Maxing love munching on cat grass.

I’m in the process of looking for cat grass seeds online for several reasons. First, I’ve only found them at places like Wal Mart and Kroger around here, and they’re pretty expensive. Additionally, they always come in grow kits (basically a bag of soil and a plastic tub), and I’d like to avoid that additional packaging waste. I’m going to check a few places around here before ordering, but I did find a mix at SproutPeople.com that looks pretty legit. It includes wheat, rye, barley, triticale, flax and oat seed, and is only $5.55 per pound. Their shipping, however, is pretty steep, so I’m going to bookmark them and keep looking for now.

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14Nov / 2009

Vegetable Stock

I have been making my own vegetable stock for the last couple of years. Basically, I compile my the leftover vegetable odds and ends (onion and garlic skins, carrot ends and peels, celery butts, etc) and whatever I have sitting in the freezer that I know I just won’t use (like one piddly little corn on the cob, or stir fry mix that doesn’t actually have enough left to make a full meal) in a big gallon freezer bag. I add to this stockpile (har har) regularly, and when I get a full bag that means it’s time to make stock! It’s hard for me to sum up all the benefits of this because there are so many. First of all, for people who don’t compost, you are saving these scraps from the trash can (at least temporarily, they will eventually go in as vegetable mush, I guess). Still, for those of you who do compost, after making and straining the stock the veggies can still be composted, of course. For those of you who vermicompost, it’s a lot easier for worms to begin to break down this cooked vegetable mush than if you were to just throw the veggies in raw. Rather than using store-bought vegetable stocks, which have the pitfalls of both packaging waste (which sometimes can’t be recycled) and more sodium and preservatives than most of us would like, you are saving money and using something you already have on hand.  Vegetable stock is used to make everything from rice dishes to soup, and I find myself making around a batch of this stuff every month or two.  That adds up to a lot of money still in my pocket and stuff not in a landfill.

Some things to keep in mind:

  • Strong-flavored vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, brussels sprouts, and asparagus should be used in moderation because they are, well, strong-flavored and can quickly steal the show.  Unless you are making broccoli soup; in that case, feel free to knock yourself out.
  • Starchy vegetables like corn and potatoes should be used in moderation as well.  In fact, I never use anything potato in my broth, and only rarely do I throw a corn cob or two in.  Any more, and you risk having a cloudy broth, and no one wants that!
  • Make sure you clean all your veggies pretty well before you chop and freeze them, since washing frozen vegetables is probably kind of hard and weird.
Freezer bags full of frozen vegetable odds and ends.

Freezer bags full of frozen vegetable odds and ends.

How to make homemade stock:

  • Fill a large stock pot with cold water.
  • Add your vegetables plus salt, pepper, and herbs of your choice (a couple of bay leaves, and some oregano, basil, or thyme are pretty sure to work out well).
  • Bring to a rapid boil then cover and simmer for 45 minutes to an hour.
  • Once it has cooled, separate the vegetable mush from the broth with a cheesecloth and a colander.  Stock freezes very well; I like to divide mine into freezer bags of 2 cup increments and stack them in my freezer.
Previously mentioned odds and ends simmering on the stove.

Previously mentioned odds and ends simmering on the stove.

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05Oct / 2009

Home Remedy: Mint Tea for Earaches

I suffer from a lot of rather pitiful ailments. None of them is very serious, but they do make my life miserable on a pretty regular basis. Still, I am reluctant to go to the doctor because I know I’ll just get some pills or drops that only mask my symptoms and often cause worse ones to occur. Don’t get me wrong, I am not going to let myself hemorrhage to death, and if I think I have a concussion or something I’m all about the emergency room. But for a headache? A sore throat? An earache? I think I can handle that.

A cure for tummy aches, earaches, and sore throats.

A cure for tummy aches, earaches, and sore throats.

I have been getting mysterious earaches for the past couple of years, and I think that most of them can be simply explained by water/wind getting into my ears. After my shower a couple of days ago, I forgot to put alcohol in my ear (to dry up the water), and then I went out that night (the weather is quickly cooling off here, especially at night) and sat in a smoky bar (smoke is a contributing factor to ear infections in children). Basically, I was destined to wake up Saturday morning with an earache. I took ibuprofen (which didn’t help), suffered through four hours of work, felt temporarily better at a baby shower because of all the friends and food, then went home and crashed, convinced that a few drops of olive oil in my ear (something that usually works for me) and a couple of hours of sleep would cure everything. At this point my earache was summoning a migraine, so I spent a quiet evening at home with a few friends, popped a few more ibuprofen before bed, went to sleep (very early) with a cool towel on my forehead (for the headache), and told myself that I’d be better in the morning. When I woke up yesterday morning, my ear only felt worse. I was actually pissed off at that that point, because John and I had crafternooon plans, and I was not letting a dumb earache spoil those. So I did some digging around the internet and looking for natural remedies.  One website recommended drinking mint tea for an earache. I was a little dubious, thinking that only something deposited directly in my ear was going to offer any relief at that point. Still, I grow a lot of mint, and figured it would be dumb not to at least try it. I read on another site that heat really helps earaches, so I held the teacup as close as I could to my ear in between sips. The combination of these two things (and absolutely no ibuprofen, because I’m pretty sure my kidneys couldn’t have taken any more) worked very well, and by the time I got to Turby and John’s house around lunch time I was fit as a fiddle.  I’m not sure if it was the tea itself, the heat from the tea, or both that did the trick, but when I find a combination that works I don’t fool with it.  I am adding mint tea to my current earache arsenal of rubbing alcohol and olive oil.

P.S.  More about crafternoons coming soon!

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27Sep / 2009

Was that September that just flew by?

The end of summer is always a very stressful time of year for me–getting back into the balancing act of school, work, a full 8 hours, and adequate amounts of doing nothing tends to leave some casualties by the wayside. My skin, and personal hygiene in general, got chucked into a ditch somewhere around the 17th. In fact, I’ve been out of toothpaste since mid-August because none of the stores around here carry what grudgingly I’d come to accept as my new brand (some kind of sensitive/gentle Tom’s of Maine).  Much like my deodorant dilemma, my all-time favorite toothpaste (Dr. Burt’s Lavender Mint) is no longer available, and I’ve been flitting from one all-natural SLS-free brand to another since my freshman year of college.  So, it’s been baking soda for the past month or two with the intention of finding a more permanent solution as soon as I had the time. The good thing is that despite my four to six-cup-a-day coffee habit (up from my usual two to three, thanks also to this coming-of-Autumn anxiety), my teeth have remained white as the driven snow. Most days, however, I wake up dreading the gag-a-maggot-on-a-gut-truck experience of brushing my teeth with plain baking soda. But, as the weather is finally beginning to cool off and I’m getting settled into my new routine(s) (school, work, etc.), I am finding time to get around to those things I’ve been meaning to do like make toothpaste. I’ve learned from the whole deodorant dilemma that a big bonus of making my own toiletry staples is that if I run out it’s my own damned fault for being lazy–there’s absolutely no way I won’t be able to make these unless coconut oil and baking soda are discontinued.

I used an only slightly modified version of The Yummy Toothpaste Recipe from Seeking The Old Paths:

2 T coconut oil
3 T baking soda
10 drops wintergreen essential oil
1 packet of stevia

I poured everything in a pimento jar and mixed it all together, and the result is much better-tasting than  I’d expected (especially considering it’s mostly baking soda).  I’d like to try some variations like spearmint, peppermint, or even cinnamon, but all the local health food store had was wintergreen, which is pretty tasty.

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