Vegan diaries: week 1

Ha, I feel like such a dork for that title.  Forgive me.

So today marks the first week on a vegan diet.  It's been so much easier than I thought!

Changes?

Lost 2 pounds.  Before you flip, yes, I'm aware I'm pregnant, which is exactly why I'm keeping close tabs on my weight.  I'm getting plenty of calories but am planning on upping my healthy fats as much as I can this week.  I'm not worried about a minor weight loss because I've been eating like total crap most of this pregnancy and I'm chalking up the 2 pounds to water weight.  If I lose any more weight, I'll definitely re-evaluate, but two pounds isn't a biggie since I know I'm getting plenty of calories and TONS of nutrients.

My mom has lost 3 this week, and considering she is already pretty stinkin' skinny, I think that's pretty encouraging for anyone who would like to revamp their diet to a lifestyle change rather than a fad diet.  She doesn't have to count calories or limit herself.  She eats what she wants when she wants it.  On average, vegans just weigh less.  Period.  It's easier to maintain your weight with a diet of healthy stuff like fruits and vegetables and whole grains.

My skin has totally cleared up.  Like, completely.  Not a single zit!  To make sure it isn't just a coincidence, I'll chime in about this again later, but this might be my favorite advantage to a vegan diet.  :)

My eczema is still here, which is probably what I'm hoping to cure the most.  I've never had severe eczema, only minor, but with this pregnancy came a drastic change in my eczema and my arms are covered in itchy patches that have even been bleeding lately.  It's awful.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this improves over the next few weeks!

My heartburn has completely disappeared.  I was shocked by this!  I only have heartburn during pregnancy but it's bad and it's every single night, not a rare occurrence.  About two days in, my heartburn completely stopped.  Last night, when I cheated while out to dinner with friends (I've decided not to stress about trying to find vegan restaurants so I'll totally allow myself to eat vegetarian meals here and there when I dine out) and had fettuccine alfredo, I ended up with really bad heartburn that  kept me up.

Overall, I feel so much healthier!  My energy level hasn't improved at all, which is another thing I'm hoping for, but since I'm pregnant I know I might not get much relief from the fatigue until the baby is born.  We'll see.  I'm trying to add exercise in this week as my new goal.  Maybe this will help?

Admittedly, I hate vegetables.  If it isn't drenched in butter or cheese, I have to force myself to eat it.  This week I've had an insane amount of veggies!  And new ones I've never even tried before, like rutabagas.  I had no idea how delicious rutabagas were!  It's like a whole new world has opened up to me.  I've had lots of kale, spinach, onions, mushrooms, butternut squash, spaghetti squash, cauliflower, rutabagas, tomatoes, red peppers...I could go on and on.  I'm so embarrassed to admit this, but the only veggies I ate before this were ones that were inside of meals, like salads or casseroles.  I did force myself to drink green smoothies whenever I could because I know how bad I am about my veggies.  Unbelievably, in only one short week I've gone from hating vegetables to loving them.  I figured it would happen over time, as everything I read says that you acquire tastes as you consume things, but I didn't expect it to happen so fast.  

In fact, this morning I spoiled myself with some juice and for the first time...oh, I don't know...in my life(!), had to make myself finish off the glass because it was too sweet for me.  Me, the girl with the sweet tooth of steel. All of a sudden I only need a tiny splash of agave nectar & almond milk in my coffee instead of having a little coffee with my creamer.  Fruits now taste like heaven, instead of just good.  I've grown to appreciate the taste of good, healthy foods so much.  

Last night, after I ate that ridiculously fatty meal, I felt like crap.  And I realized how good I've felt all week at that moment.  

Another super cool perk is that I've all but kicked my "eat because I'm bored" habit.  I guess it's because we don't have any convenience items in the house, so if I want to eat, I have to do so intentionally.  I have to peel a kiwi or cook some spaghetti squash, so I don't do it mindlessly because I'm bored.

I thought this was going to be so difficult, but it's not.  At all.  I'm shocked.  

The meals we've had and liked this week:

Lentil tostadas - Just like lentil tacos but we put the filling on top of a toasted whole wheat tortilla and added some chopped avocado, tomato and salsa.  My favorite for sure!

Pad Thai - Oh so good!

Creamy Avocado Pasta - I'd give this 3.5 stars outta 5.  Not the best in the world, but pretty tasty if you're craving something like fettuccine alfredo.  

Quinoa Salad with Black Beans, Avocado and Cumin-Lime Dressing - Awesome!  'Nuff said.  I'd cut the onions in half next time and double the avocados, but so, so good.

We had leftovers a few times and a pretty tasty little kale salad that was simply a head of kale, an avocado and the juice from one lemon or lime.  Squish it all together with your hands and it's a great way to get in some super healthy greens.  

This past week we bought The Engine 2 Diet book, The Vegan Slow Cooker and Veganomicon,so I'm looking forward to trying out some new bookmarked recipes!

Dat's all, folks.  ;)

I'm a little bit nutty.

I joke about that all the time. When I explain why I do something I do (in regards to food or birth or my home, in particular), I always feel I have to preface it with, "Well, you know that I'm nutty about birth/food/etc, but..."

I guess I'm being defensive.  I have my guard up.  I'm braced for criticism.  I also want people to understand that I won't judge them for doing it differently.  I'm "weird," I believe birth is best at home until the birthing system in our country changes to honor and respect a woman and her ability to birth on her own, I think the conventional food in our country is killing us, I think cleaning with natural products is the best, I am a liberal Christian and believe strongly in that.  But these are all just my opinions.  I obviously believe them and have done my research or I wouldn't put them in place, but that doesn't change the fact that it's just what I've decided is best for my family.  

I respect anyone's right to decide things differently.  I only advocate for knowledge and empowerment.  As long as you don't just accept everything at face value and believe everything "they" tell you without doing a little research on your own, I will 100% respect you.  I will not judge you.  I promise you this.  

If you have done your research and you believe a hospital is the best place to birth and you are my friend and you tell me you are getting induced, I will not tell you that you or your choices are crazy.  I will never imply to you that you are putting your baby at risk.  I won't even joke with you about that.  What kind of friend would I be if I didn't support you in your well-informed choices?   

Would I be induced?  No, not unless there was a sound medical reason, in which case of course I would!  But that doesn't change the fact that my decision not to have an unnecessary induction is mine alone.  I fully understand that it's based on my own opinions of the research I've read.  

Do you know how many people have told me I'm crazy?  Have even gone so far as to tell me I'm selfish and putting my baby's life at risk for my comfort by birthing at home?  Do you know how many friends have picked on me?  "Friends" have even sent me links to awful, biased websites to instill fear in me.  To harass me for my well-informed choice to go with a midwife and birth at home.  

So I believe birth is natural!  So I want to be at home so I can avoid drugs, avoid unnecessary medical interventions and so that I can bond with my baby right away!  My baby was taken from me during my last birth for no reason other than the nurses' convenience, and despite it being in my birth plan and my husband arguing, they still took her away minutes after her birth to bathe her.  Because, you know, she really needed a bath!  I don't want that experience again...but it's not for me, it's for my baby.  I want my baby to transition into this world in the most peaceful way possible, to be given straight to me and not to be messed with after that.  It is my baby's best interests I have in mind, not my own.  I would die for my children.

Am I taking a risk at home? Of course I am.  Every woman who makes a choice on where to birth is taking a risk.  Almost every study done on the matter shows a pretty equal risk.  Let's face it: birth, while normal, can always be risky.  Driving a car, much more risky.  But we don't call the decision to drive selfish.  We don't say that putting our kids in the car to go to play group is a risky and selfish thing to do, but the truth is it is risky.  We understand that everything in life carries with it a risk.  If I need to transfer to the hospital, I will do it in a split second without any second of hesitation because I believe in hospitals when needed.  And if that does happen, I'll be taking a risk there, too.  

I am a person who does her research.  I am a person who refuses to believe everything that is status quo without confirming it for myself.  Maybe that makes me weird and maybe you consider that a waste of time.  I totally respect that.  But for me, it works.  For me, it's how I prefer to live.  But when someone criticizes a choice I make, particularly to go so far as to imply I am risking my baby's life, they clearly don't understand me at all.  They clearly don't know that I have done upwards of three years of research on the topic.  I have read every single thing I can get my hands on - the good and the bad.  I don't shy away from contradicting information simply because I don't want to know.  I have read the anti-homebirth articles and I have read the anti-homebirth blogs.  

Similarly, I have read the anti-vegan blogs.  I have read the negative reviews of The China Study, of Forks Over Knives.  I have read the arguments against that diet at The Weston Price Foundation, because that is a diet I bought into before learning more about veganism.  It is important for me to educate myself without my own bias.  It's difficult - incredibly - but I do it.  

I love milk.  I adore cheese.  I eat yogurt at least once a day!  I would have preferred to not give these things up.  In fact, I downright hate vegetables.  Enacting this new diet is one of the most difficult things I'll ever do, so I certainly didn't do it "just because."  I put a lot of thought into this, I've read so many articles and studies and even books this week that my head is spinning.  

My point here is that regardless of what you may think of me for being one to buck traditional or accepted things in most cases, I don't do it just to be weird.  In fact, I hate being weird.  Being a vegan is something that is going to be difficult for me to admit to anyone in person.  It's easy to admit it online, but I hate being thought of as weird, I hate being disliked.  So there is obviously a very good reason I have chosen this new lifestyle, and I didn't do it flippantly or because it was the easy thing to do.  Quite the contrary.  

Same thing with homebirth.  I tell very few people in person that I am having a homebirth and when I do, I brace myself for the negative responses.  I use my blog as my sounding board because it's so much easier to admit these things online than it is in person.  But I still flinch a little when I see a new comment has been written, prepared for criticism.  

I won't judge you, even if I disagree with your choices.  Please don't judge me.  

I welcome learning about anything!  And I won't stop sharing what I learn, because I believe, as Martin Luther King said, "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."

But I don't lose respect for people who take the time to research things and come to a different conclusion than I do.  In fact, I got into a nice little discussion with someone on my post about being vegan, and though we disagreed, I respected that he or she was obviously quite knowledgeable about the topic.  That's what I love and support - knowledge!  That doesn't always mean agreeing with me.  As long as you're respectful in your disagreements, I don't see anything wrong with that at all.  :) 

Here's a really great blog post my friend sent me today.  The last paragraph is what spoke to me the most.  And the video, of course. 

VEEEEEGAN!

Aye.  A few days ago, I watched a documentary called Earthlings that I posted here.  I  had no idea how much that was going to change me in a short hour and a half.

I knew animals suffered abuse and cruelty in our modern meat system.  But knowing it and seeing it, for me, are two entirely different things.  The latter is so powerful I could never, ever in my life buy another package of conventional meat.

I've been a vegetarian before.  I've contemplated going back many times, too.  It's not because I believe consuming small amounts of meat is awful for us.  I don't.  

But after watching Forks Over Knives a few times, I do believe that the massive quantity of meat and dairy we consume is killing us via obesity, heart disease, diabetes, etc..  I believe that without a shadow of a doubt.  You can't read the studies and debate that.

But I do believe God intended for us to eat animals.  How much is more up for debate.  If I were to guess, I'd say quite rarely just based on the science behind what meat does to our bodies.

Consuming only dairy and eggs is not a solution.  These cows and chickens are treated every bit as horribly and most die pretty unthinkable deaths.

So I thought, alright, I'll give up cheap meat.  Easy as pie.  Done.  I'll only buy free-range, grass-fed beef and free-range chickens and cage free eggs and organic milk.  Good, right?

Wrong.  Completely wrong.  I'm quickly losing faith in our food system entirely.  

 Apparently that's not good enough.  I can't say I'm that surprised.  Buying from a large organic company has always made me feel a bit uncomfortable.  Big companies just do things...worse.  They cut corners and they know how to do things as cheaply as possible to ensure maximum profit - unfortunately at the detriment of animals.

Read what PETA uncovers about so-called organic food like milk and eggs and meat here.  

I'm fully convinced after a weekend of reading everything I can get my hands on that the only conceivable way of consuming dairy products and meat humanely is to buy from local farmers whose farms you've visited and are free to drop-in on any time.  Ones who are not crammed into cages, who are allowed to freely graze on grass, whose beaks are not chopped off, who are not fed a diet of food they were never intended to eat and so on.  That is your best shot at guaranteeing your animals lived the best life they can before they became your food.  

For me, this knowledge coupled with the convincing information revealed in Forks Over Knives about the dangerous implications of a meat or dairy-based diet on our health, I'm done.  I'm done with the dairy industry and I'm done with the meat industry - organic or not.  The only way I can feel 100% confident that my money isn't supporting unspeakable abuse of poor, innocent animals is to just quit eating it entirely.

What's cool (and surprising) is what I've learned in just a day about the MANY options for food that are still available to me.  I'm BLOWN AWAY by the things I can still eat.  Will I miss dairy?  Oh my gosh, yes.  I am a self-proclaimed milk and cheese junkie.  

But I can eat:

Banana Chocolate Chip Pretzel Smoothie

Berry Almond Bliss Steel-Cut Oatmeal

Beach Cookies

Avocado Pesto Pasta

Mexicali Sliders

And about 396 other recipes I've already pinned!

You can save an average of 100 animals from abuse and death each year if you become vegan.  :)

And that, folks, is why I'm now a vegan and plan to never go back!

Why yes, I'm having a baby at home.

This post could be controversial.  I hate that I have to preface it this way, but I ask that you please keep any nasty/hateful comments to yourself.  We may have different birthing philosophies and that's okay.  I won't judge yours if you don't judge mine.  :)

Shortly after I found out I was pregnant with Ben, I got word of a new documentary called The Business of Being Born.  I also happened to have a friend preparing for a home birth at this same time, so it was really fresh on my radar.  

I was as far from "crunchy" as one could be at this time.  I drank lots of pop, ate lots of crap, was incredibly wasteful, used endless amounts of chemicals on my body, our home, in our food.  I was just blissfully unaware.  

But I was a newly pregnant mama, and that changes your brain.  It really does.  Suddenly you want to change everything about your life that won't provide a perfect environment for your child.  

And so I watched The Business of Being Born.  And that little documentary changed my life.  It didn't just convince me of a broken birthing system, it rocked my world.  It changed my philosophy on everything.  It was the first step in a desire to learn about my baby and my body and my food and my environment.  

I wanted a home birth.  I wanted it so badly.  But my husband didn't and my mom didn't and I'd had surgery on my cervix not too long before getting pregnant, so after time, I realized that I probably wasn't the best candidate and even if I was, I couldn't change my husband's mind.  And he's half the equation.  So I had a hospital birth.  And honestly?  It was a pretty good experience.  My doctor was hyper-paranoid and ordered ultrasounds at almost every appointment which I'm not a fan of - ultrasound technology is still fairly new in the scheme of things and they used to say that x-rays were safe for babies too - until they learned they weren't.  You see, that's how we do things in this country.  Did you know that in America, a chemical is assumed safe until it's proven harmful?  A company does not have to prove the safety of a chemical.  HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE?! 

Anyway, aside from the mega exposure to ultrasounds, I liked that experience.  They were sweet, doting and accommodating to my desires, but I did feel pressured into the epidural as they kept telling me that the anesthesiologist was at home and that it would take a bit so if I wanted one, I should go ahead and make that decision.  But really, I can't complain.  It was a beautiful birth and a wonderful experience and it taught me that my body carries and births babies well and that I would be a good candidate for a home birth in the future.  Something to get excited for!

Fast forward to Adalyn's pregnancy.  Both Tim and I were on board this time, but we kind of dropped the ball.  I kept putting off making an appointment and before you know it, I'm 12 weeks pregnant.  I finally called the only midwife I knew of and she said she'd call me back.  Only weeks and weeks went by and I never heard from her.  So I called her again.  Again she didn't call me back.  By that point, I was 17 or 18 weeks pregnant and we just gave up on the idea, called an OB and that was that.  I later found out the one midwife I chose to call was one who has taken on WAY too many patients and is not recommended by anybody else in town now.  

This time, I don't have a good hospital birth.  At 38 weeks while I'm complaining about my comfort level, my OB asks, "Well, do you want me to go ahead and induce you?"  I thought I was going to faint!  My doctor was just offering up an induction at thirty-eight weeks (!!!) for discomfort level only.  Not because baby was in distress or my bp was high or there was some indication that baby needed to come out now.  Nope.  Just because I hurt.  Because, you know, no other pregnant woman hurts at 38 weeks.  Most hospitals in the country are moving away from unnecessary inductions because they're just that: unnecessary.  Why should we mess with God's plan merely because we're uncomfortable?  If there's a reason to take baby and baby is better off outside of the womb earlier than God would have, hey, I'll support that.  But to offer up an induction to a vulnerable woman who is at her wit's end and uncomfy as all get-out is dangerous and irresponsible.  I am quite crunchy these days, in case I haven't made that obvious, and even I toyed with the idea!  Half of me was shocked and the other half was like, Hmm, maybe I should just do it!  Luckily my smarter half convinced my vulnerable half to say no.

Then she wanted to give me pitocin when I was dilated to 5 because she was afraid the baby would come too fast.  I pretty much begged her to just break my water instead because pitocin scares me (statistically speaking, your risk for other interventions is quite large after getting pitocin and I'm just plain scared of the painful labor that I've heard pitocin induces), but she wouldn't have that.  So I went home and was told to come in with the next contraction, which happened a day or two later.  

Then they broke my water.  I can't fault them for this because I asked for it.  That was on me.  I was going for the "natural induction" route and while it's not totally accepted within the "crunchy" circles, I'm not really opposed to it when all signs point to "baby is ready!" (I was 6 cm dilated, fully effaced, etc., but not in labor). In hindsight I wouldn't do it again because I am at a different place in my life now - one in which I would prefer to trust God's timing and not my own - but I wasn't quite there yet during this time and I was impatient and fearful.

When my doctor broke my water and it got on her, she jumped back with this horrified, disgusted look on her face.  Like, how DARE I!  Because she's an OB doctor and somehow that's not a regular part of her working life?  This was after rolling her eyes at me when I told her I needed to potty before she broke my water.  She was annoyed at me that I had not done this before she got in the room because I was wasting her time, you know?

I asked for several things in my birth plan that were not honored.  I asked that they not cut the cord until it had stopped pulsing (something that is becoming increasingly accepted and even if they didn't buy into the philosophy that baby needs that last surge of blood, they could and should have humored me as it was in my birth plan).  They didn't honor that.  I asked that baby be bathed in our room for her first bath.  They refused that.  They took my brand new baby away from me to bathe her.  That was the last straw - that was the moment that I realized I could never birth a baby in a hospital again, unless circumstances dictated that it was NECESSARY.  I don't believe normal, healthy births HAVE to be done in a hospital.  Now, I don't think there's anything wrong with hospital births if that's where you feel most comfortable and you won't find me judging someone for having one.  I did!  Two of them, to be exact!  But for me, this time around, I want to experience birth as I believe it was intended to be, and I hope that having a home birth will facilitate that.

I feel the need to write this post because there are people who have been very vocal about their beliefs that home births are stupid, risky and uninformed.  I could have just said, "Hey, I'm having a home birth!" and that's that.  But I know I would have to brace myself for some comments that would hurt my feelings and some disrespect and honestly, some misinformed viewpoints.  I know this post sounds like a giant justification.  It really isn't, but it is a plead to respect every woman's right to birth as she wants without rolling your eyes, judging or vocally expressing your distaste for her choice.  I do feel the need to explain myself because I know what the common conception is and I've already received several strange looks and a few disagreeing scowls.

You have every right not to choose to home birth.  We should all choose to have our babies in the place that makes us most comfortable.  For me, that's my home.  

But I don't feel you have a right to tell me I'm endangering my child by birthing at home.  Unfortunately, the studies on the matter are flawed.  Most studies say that home birth is as safe as hospital birth and results in far fewer interventions, but people question the validity of these studies.  A few studies claim that infant mortality is higher among the home birth group, but people question the validity of these studies, too.  I wish there were a definitive answer.  The best answer I find comes from the studies on OTHER countries - ones with much lower infant mortality rates and much higher home birth percentages.  We're one of the few countries in the world that decided to consider birth a problem that needed fixing by modern medicine.  

My heart and my soul tell me to birth this baby at home.  I'm kind of old fashioned in a lot of my beliefs.  I do tend to err on the side of "if we did it in the old days, it must be the right way!"  Years of frustration with our current system (food system, chemical system, government, parenting, etc.) have tainted my views and shaped me.  

Until very recently (in the scheme of things), women didn't birth in the hospital.  We've been birthing at home since the dawn of time. 

I don't want interventions if unnecessary.  I'm not so prideful that I would forbid them.  I'm not so prideful that I will refuse to go to the hospital if baby has low fetal heart tones or something is obviously wrong.  I believe that hospitals can be a wonderful thing when needed and I'll have no shame transferring to a hospital if need be.  There's one quite close, as we discovered a few months ago when rushing Ben there after he ate peanuts.  

But I don't want a c-section because a doctor is tired of waiting on me and wants to go home.  I don't want pitocin becuase my labor isn't progressing fast enough to make my doctor happy.  I don't want the cord clamped immediately and my baby whisked away from me for his or her first bath.  I want to give birth to my baby in a quiet, peaceful, dark, COMFORTABLE environment surrounded by people who love me and my baby.  I want my husband to help (and most importantly, he wants to help) and I want to do what feels right and natural.  

When I was ready to push with Adalyn, they told me to hold it to wait for the doctor.  If you've birthed a baby, particularly without an epidural (I say this because I never experienced the need to push with my epidural birth, which I think is common), you know that there is no "holding it."  When baby is ready, baby is ready.  You don't control pushing - your body does.  Then they FORCED me onto my back to push her out regardless of my pleading not to make me.  Rolling onto my back felt so horribly painful I honestly thought it would kill me.  I cannot find the words to describe that pain.  Every time I would try I would be hit with horrendous pain, and the pain would immediately lessen when rolling back to my side.  But that wasn't convenient for my doctor, so she forced me into the most unnatural position a woman can be in for labor. 

When I met with the first midwife we interviewed this week, we talked about birthing in WHATEVER POSITION I WANTED.  WHEREVER I WANTED!  Imagine!  I get to do what I want!  And really, doesn't that seem like the most natural way for labor to progress?  Doesn't it seem like something God equipped us to be able to do?  I think we women don't give ourselves enough credit that we know how to get baby out.  We're so brainwashed into the idea that we need to be flat on our backs taking orders from our doctor that we don't think to question that.  

I am the perfect candidate for home birth.  I have had two normal, uneventful pregnancies, produced two healthy babies, had a natural birth and quick labors.  As far as risk factors go, I have almost none.  I will have the 20 week ultrasound to check for heart defects, deformities and anything else that would make the hospital the safest place to birth this baby.

I don't feel I'm naive, uninformed, stupid or risking my baby's life. I have thought long and hard about this, I have taken in as much knowledge as I can soak up and I am ready for this!  In eight months, that is...

:) 

She's baaaack.

You might remember (if you've followed my blog for awhile) that I was kind of nutty about healthy food and organic products and the like.  Then this thing called pregnancy happened, and suddenly all that stuff just didn't seem important.  Well, not that it wasn't important, more like I just didn't have the energy.  During the first trimester, I was in pure survival mode, barely able to pick myself up off the couch long enough to pour Ben a bowl of cheerios.  There was no way I could do something like make him yogurt or spend hours trying to fit organic food into our budget.  The latter is no easy feat, let me tell you.  Even when I did have the energy to hunt coupons & read deal blogs, I still couldn't really make it work with our budget.  Then I spent the second and third trimester obsessing about names, daydreaming about the nursery and sneaking in naps when I could.  To be brutally honest, I was just flat lazy during my pregnancy.

I did a whole little dorky series here called "Saving money & living better while roughin' it old school."  You can read it here, here and here if you feel so inclined.  I really did actually do that stuff, but I got away from it all.

But I'm BACK!  And I'm bound and determined to actually make this work for our budget.  So I'm making a lot of stuff.  Like:

Homemade poptarts.  Verdict?  Yummy, but next time I'll add much more jelly and cream cheese (thanks to a tip from my friend, Melissa).  Heavenly Homemakers is FILLED with yummy and healthy recipes.  You'll want to have healthier things like rapadura/sucanat, honey, coconut oil, whole wheat flour, etc., on hand to make a lot of her stuff.

Coconut brownies.  Verdict?  OMGINSANELYGOOD.  I did everything the same except I subbed 1/2 cup coconut oil for the butter.  I almost always sub in coconut oil when a baking recipe calls for butter because I feel like it's healthier and I like the taste better.  Her site is another awesome one for recipes.  I've loved almost everything I've made from her blog.

Homemade yogurt.  My mom picked up this yogurt maker back at a garage sale when I was a baby, so there's no telling how old this thing is.  But it still works like a champ, churning out easy & yummy yogurt.  And honestly?  I feel kind of like a rockstar when I put homemade yogurt in Ben's bowl.  You can buy brand new yogurt makers on the cheap but get one at a garage sale for $5 and I bet it'll work just as well.  And then there's always the crockpot option, which I've also done and works great, the consistency is just generally runnier.  But making organic yogurt is so much cheaper this way than the store bought stuff.

Butterscotch bars.  Verdict?  WOWSERS.  You might not want to make these if you have a sweet tooth like me.  I can't stay away from them.  Seriously.  The first time I made them I literally ate half the pan in a day.  I used coconut oil instead of butter for this, too.  A bonus is that these are so easy to make that it takes like three minutes.  Plus, even if you do absolutely pig out on them, at least you can feel good about the fact that there's nothing refined in them.  All whole wheat flour and sucanat!

I have no idea if I'll be able to make this work with our budget this time around, but I'm going to try like crazy!  I stocked up on organic, free-range chicken when it was on sale for $1.69 a lb (!!!!!!) at Whole Foods last week.  I joined a CSA.  I'm back to placing orders with the co-op in my area.  I'm in the process of finding a local (and relatively cheap) source for our eggs and meat.  My next big goal is to get a chest freezer so we can buy a side of beef.  You get the point.  I'm so excited to re-start this journey now that the morning sickness & laziness of pregnancy are far behind me!

Ben enjoying his homemade yogurt and green smoothie (kale, milk, honey, blueberries and mangoes, mmm!)

Bread is the enemy.

I was going to write this awesome blog post about how I discovered that store-bought bread is evil and in no way nourishing and that sprouting grains to grind into flour to soak overnight with an acid to knead yourself and then turn into bread is really the way to go. I was going to. But then my friend Jenna wrote a blog post that almost made me pee my pants outlining just how ridiculous all this is getting. I would have to agree that 22 hour bread is pushing my limits.

It's a whole series, in fact, and it's very much worth reading. Start here, then go here and here. You're welcome. She's hilarious.

I'm still making my own toothpaste, though. Just sayin'.

Saving money & living better while roughin' it old school: Part III

Let's continue on, shall we?

Homemade Toothpaste

This is probably the first DIY project I completed that left me feeling like super woman. I was like, "Dude, I just made our own toothpaste." Awesome, right? And EASY. I started following the blog Clean several months ago after stumbling upon her toothpaste recipe. She's also the maker of LuSa Organics products - organic goodies for little ones.

Anyway, her recipe seemed simple enough and I loved how it cleared up her daughter's ECC (early childhood caries). Ben's already chipped two teeth and I'm a little concerned about what that means in the long run. Plus, who doesn't want to know exactly what's in their toothpaste and save money? The recipe calls for a few ingredients that I had no problem finding at my local Whole Foods. My only complaint is the hint of a soap taste, but it's minor enough that I can live with it. Plus, both my husband and I were amazed by how clean our teeth felt after our first brushing. Seriously, I felt like I'd just stepped out of the dentist's office without having to go through the torture that is the dentist's office. No need to re-state what she already laid out, so be sure to check it out here.

Moisturizer/Body Scrub

I like to exfoliate when I can (read: when my child isn't on napstrike) because I have really, really dry skin. So maybe you're not a body scrub type of person, but if so, here's a great recipe courtesy of Keeper of the Home (who, by the way, has an amazing blog).

Body Scrub: Brown Sugar, Honey and Organic Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
1-1/2 cups Brown Sugar
1/2 cup Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/8 cup local, raw Honey
1/4 teaspoon of desired scent options: Homemade Pure Vanilla Extract, Lemon Juice, Lavender essential oil, Fresh ground coffee, Cinnamon or Clove
In a large bowl, mix all ingredients together to form a paste. Add scent if you would like to, but it is not necessary. Store body scrub in a sealed container in your shower or by the sink. No need to refrigerate. To use, scoop some into the palm of your hand and massage skin as needed.
Moisturizer: Believe it or not, coconut oil is fantastic! This was the very first beauty product I replaced and it kind of happened on accident. I started using coconut oil after my friend, Melissa, raved and raved about it. I used it on Ben's diaper area and on his face rash and it really helped - much better than Aquaphor ever did. So one day I slathered some on my arms and POOF: silky skin. As a bonus, it's so deliciously divine smelling that I sometimes want to eat my arm off. I've heard several woman rave about extra virgin olive oil, too, but I love me some coconut so I stick with that. It's nature's moisturizer (and you can use it on your face, too!). If oil isn't your thing, you might want to check out Brambleberry, though I don't know that you'll save any money going this route. But hey, at least you'll have the brag factor of making your own lotion and you'll know what goes in it.

Lip Balm
The greatest lip balm EVER (seriously) is straight lanolin. Do you remember using lanolin for a certain, hm, ailment you had while breastfeeding? Another product with multiple uses! And the cool thing about lanolin is that it lasts forever. Just squeeze a teeny bit on your lips to do the job. I've had my tube of lanolin since Ben was born and I think I still have at least half the tube left, if not more. A much more natural solution to moisturizing chapped lips.
Another option is this recipe I found but haven't tried yet, also from Keeper of the Home: Mix ¼ c grated beeswax, 2 Tbsp cocoa butter, 3 Tbsp coconut oil and 1 Tbsp almond oil together over low heat. Pour into small containers.

Make-up remover

I touched on this while explaining the oil cleansing method, but use EVOO as a make-up remover. Works like a charm!

Shaving cream

Maybe this sounds nuts, but there is no need for shaving cream. EARTH. SHATTERING. Here's a tip: exfoliate your legs with the homemade body scrub first, then lather them up with some bar soap and poof: you've just eliminated the need for one more beauty product in your tub. Girl scout's honor.
What are some homemade recipes you use for beauty products? Am I missing some good ones?
Stay tuned for the cloth discussion up next...

Saving money & living better while roughing it old school: Part 2

I'm just going to continue right along with installment two. No fluffy, wordy intro because this post is long enough.

Beauty products/hygiene alternatives: I was a bit taken aback when I first checked out the Skin Deep Cosmetic Safety Database that I've posted about before. The Environmental Working Group took it upon itself to rate thousands of the products we use on our bodies every day. The ratings span from 0-10, with zero being least toxic and 10 being most. I couldn't believe that the mousse I use on my hair every day was rated a 10 and that the "organic" body wash we were using on Ben was a 3, or a moderate hazard. I set out to find some safer alternatives, and in the process I cut costs, too.

Photo by Tabiii

Dr. Bronner's is a fabulous line of products. I highly recommend them. I use the baby mild bar soap on Ben and it's not only cheaper than the organic body wash we were using, but it will last longer and is rated a 1 in the Skin Deep Registry. I also switched out my body wash with this bar soap. Read the back of your body wash before you suds up again. Are all those detergents, fragrances and preservatives really necessary? I like to remind myself that just because I'm putting it on my body doesn't mean it won't enter in my body.

The large containers of Dr. Bronner's pure castile soap are great for frugal families. Not only is the soap safe, it's concentrated, meaning it will last ages. And the even better part? It has too many uses to list. You can use it in place of your body wash (though it's pretty watery), or you can recycle a foaming soap pump (like my Bath & Body Works one, above) into a home for a safer soap. I mixed about equal parts water and soap in my pump and had a rich, moisturizing, yummy smelling hand soap in seconds. You can also use it to clean dishes, wash clothes and more. Some people use it as toothpaste (there is a peppermint version), but I can't brush my teeth with straight soap. I do use a little bit of it, however, in my toothpaste recipe, which I'll share next time.

If you're feeling more adventurous and don't mind the upfront costs associated, you could certainly make your own soap. I would love to do it at some point, but I'm not ready to drop the ball on purchasing the materials needed yet. If anyone here has tried their hand at soap making, I'd love to hear about it!

photo by lemontwist301

The No 'Poo Method

My next step was finding a better alternative to shampoo and conditioner. I'd heard about the No 'Poo method before, but I was quite skeptical that stopping my use of shampoo and conditioner would somehow make my hair look better. Forgoing my old standbys for baking soda, water and vinegar? As. If. And then I just bit the bullet one day, tired of struggling to find a safe shampoo that wouldn't land us in the poor house (kind of kidding here). What could be the harm, right? If I hated it, I hated it. End of story. If I liked it, well, then I've saved us money and added another healthy routine into my life. Amazingly, I became a believer in...er...no 'poo. It could use a better name, that's for sure.

The concept is fairly simple. While shampoo does clean, it also strips the scalp of oils that are there for a reason: to protect the hair. Ever wonder why we use conditioner? To fix the damage created by the shampoo. And then we use more products to fix the problems that conditioner leaves in its wake. It's a never-ending cycle.

Baking soda will become your new shampoo. It's the weakest of all alkalines and it gently clarifies the hair. The standard recipe is 1 tablespoon of baking soda to 1 cup of water. Shake it up and you're ready to go. This solution works for me, though you can feel free to tweak it to your own preference depending on your hair type. I keep this solution in an oil & vinegar-type container in the shower. You use it much the same way as shampoo. Apply it to your scalp, massage in and let it naturally clean the ends of your hair as you wash it out. I leave it on for a minute or two before rinsing it. In the beginning, I found myself using tons of this solution because I didn't feel like my hair could possibly get clean any other way. The longer I go, the more I realize that it doesn't take too much to do its job.

Apple cider vinegar will become your new conditioner. You can feel free to skip this part if you don't feel you need it. Apple cider vinegar is a mild acidic and it serves to de-tangle the hair follicles, seal the cuticle and balance the hair's pH balance. I keep mine in a water bottle (squirt-kind) and apply it to the ends only. If you let it get on your scalp or use too much, you might find your hair becomes oily. The standard recipe for this is the same as the baking soda solution: one tablespoon vinegar to one cup water. You can tweak this to your liking, too. If you find your hair is too oily, cut back on the vinegar. If you find your hair is too dry, add a little more.

Many, many people have transition periods when switching to this method where they find their hair is quite oily. The average seems to be a week or two, but I was lucky in that mine was only a few days. This is normal as your body adjusts to the sudden lack of oil-stripping. Remember that it was having to constantly replenish the oil supply in response to shampoo's stripping effect. Cut your scalp some slack. ;)

My final word on the matter of No 'Poo is that it really does work. I still find myself slipping back to my shampoo ways when I long for the "smell good" experience, but my hair looks and feels so much healthier without it!
The Oil Cleansing Method

In short, this method uses oil to clean. Sounds quirky, huh? As well as insane. Who uses oil to clear up acne? Breakouts are actually caused by bacteria, dirt and hormones, not oil. Just like the no 'poo method, the oil cleansing method breaks the cycle of stripping your skin of the oils it needs. Think about it: why would your skin produce oil if it didn't need it? If you use a cleanser, you're stripping away those important oils. And to compensate, your skin produces more oil. This isn't the case for everyone. I have really dry skin, and I discovered that it's dry because I'm stripping away the oil it needs. And I guess my body sucks at replenishing. And I'm a great example to use. I never (as in EVER) had breakouts in high school, but come adulthood, BAM. I think they started around 22, and they got pretty bad. And I don't have oily skin. Okay, point proven. Acne isn't caused by oil.

By cleansing your face with oils (the right ones, of course), you are ridding your pores of the dirt and bacteria that gets trapped there and you're replenishing your skin with helpful, healthy oils that will protect and heal your skin.

Now, where to start? Grab yourself an empty container (a glass jar is nice, just make sure it's thoroughly cleaned each time you refill) and some castor oil and extra virgin olive oil. Castor oil has anti-inflammatory properties and it helps heal and cleanse your skin. But because it's a thick, potent oil, you must balance it out with a thinner oil. I use EVOO (as do many people practicing this method), but I've also heard great things about sunflower seed oil. You can use any natural, cold-pressed vegetable oil that you have in your house. Now, before you decide what ratio you need, you probably want to evaluate your skin type. Those with oily skin typically do best with a ratio of 30% castor oil to 70% EVOO (or other vegetable oil). Those with a balanced skin type (equally oily/dry) do best with a ratio of 20% castor oil to 80% EVOO. Those with dry skin (Me, me!) do best with 10% castor oil to 90% EVOO. As with the no 'poo method, play around with the percentages until you find what works. If your skin is too dry, use less castor oil. Too greasy? Less EVOO.

Now, the brass tacks. Apply a quarter-sized amount of the oil to your face at night and gently massage it in to dry skin. You'll want to massage for about a minute. Hey, this is pampering, folks! Next, soak a washcloth with hot, steamy water. Lay it over your face. A mini-facial! Leave it there until it cools down - room temperature is good. Then wipe the oil away, rinse out the washcloth in hot water again, and again lay it over your face. Let it cool. Voila! Done!

Most people find that this only needs to be done once a day, usually at night. In the morning, a simple splash of water should do. Your skin will become clearer and WILL glow - in a good way! And yes, this method removes make-up. And the best part? Many, many people swear that it clears up acne better than any facewash on the market.

Stay tuned for toothpaste, moisturizer and lip balm next!

Saving money & living better while roughin' it old school: Part I

I've been stewing on this blog post for a long time, but I guess I just haven't felt inspired enough to sit down and spend the time writing it. But then my friend Jenna wrote this awesome post about the modern mama, giving me the inspiration I needed to get this accomplished. After working on it for a few weeks, I decided it's probably best to break it down into installments. If I try to publish the whole thing in one swoop, I'm likely to lose all but maybe three of you awesome readers. So, without further adieu, I present installment one of Saving money & living better while roughin' it old school.

Months and months ago I decided to become aware of our finances. In other words, I wanted to find out where our money was going and where our budget could be scaled back. That's when I started cutting coupons. But even so, I was still spending way too much money. Why? Convenience, convenience, convenience. What can't you get nowadays that's as ready-to-go as possible? We don't even have to clean our own showers anymore! Scrubbing Bubbles does it for us!

All that convenience comes at a steep price. I've been on quite the health kick since becoming a mom. And becoming a mom to a "sensitive" child kicks up my desire for an organic home a notch or ten. How am I to make our home and food healthier while slashing bills?

I suppose my friend Claire must be tuned into my inner thoughts because around the same time I was contemplating all of this, she sent me this link to a recipe for liquid laundry detergent that's touted for helping clear up eczema. Cheap, easy, better for the environment AND better for Ben?! What was this gold mine I'd stumbled upon? Oh, right. It all boils down to my new philosophy on life: do things the way they used to be done. Rough it like an old school housewife! Sure, we've made some great advancements in the past few decades, but when it comes to things like parenting and running a household, I tend to believe that getting back to the basics is where it's at. That day, I realized that it was quite possible to replace almost all of our convenience purchases with homemade alternatives while slashing costs, having fun and feeling like a productive housewife (I use that term on purpose; more on that another day). I'm not going to try to reinvent the wheel or take credit for anything below, because I can't. These aren't new ideas by any stretch of the imagination! Quite the contrary, they're old ideas making a big, big comeback.

Photo from blogthecoast

1. Gardening. This is sort of a no-brainer and something I'd already planned on doing long before I became "green", but it's at least worth a small shout-out. Grow your own food! Save yourself loads of money! Know exactly what your food is comprised of! A few of my favorite gardening sites/articles are all the Gardening 101 articles on Simple Organic, You Grow Girl and Square Foot Gardening.

2. Give up the bleach & other toxic no-no's! When I found this post on homemade cleaners, I was over-the-moon excited! About two months ago, I said goodbye to Green Works, Windex and the last of my bleach and replaced them with a 50/50 solution of vinegar & water (all-purpose), a 50/50 solution of hydrogen peroxide and water (disinfectant - spray it right after your vinegar/water solution to kill germs and bacteria as well as bleach) and some baking soda (scouring agent). I highly recommend reading the link I posted to learn how best to use these cleaning products. Not only does this work as well or better than everything I was using, but it's insanely cheap. If you're afraid of the vinegar smell like I was, don't be; it doesn't smell once it's dried. Finally, let's discuss streaky mirrors and windows. Take your old, empty Windex spray bottle, fill it with 2 cups water, 1/2 cup vinegar and 1/4 cup rubbing alcohol and VOILA, you've got a glass cleaner your child could accidentally drink and you'd be all, "Drink up, babe!" An age-old trick is to use newspaper rather than paper towels to get it sparkling.

For laundry detergent, see the link I posted at the top of this article (here) or try this recipe a friend gave me: 1 cup borax, 1 cup washing soda and 2 cup finely grated ivory soap. Use 2 tablespoons per load. There are thousands of other recipes a quick google search will turn up, too.

Now the one area I haven't dabbled in yet is homemade dishwashing detergent. I love, love, love my Biokleen automatic dish powder and haven't heard many good reviews on a homemade one that actually works. But, if you feel like being adventurous, I have a friend who recommended this one. I do feel very strongly about using phosphate and chlorine-free dishwashing detergent that's organic and safe. Have you ever taken a sip of your child's sippy cup that's been washed in a dishwasher? It's disgusting! It tastes like the detergent. I've also heard many studies that claim one of the biggest chemicals found in the liver during autopsies are the chemicals in dishwashing detergent. I believe it!

Photo from Amazon

For the toughest grime (think toilet rings, really dried-on stove messes, etc.), I've found stainless steel scrubbers to be amazing! They're cheap, too. Amazon has a two-pack for around $2.80 here. You can reuse them, too, by disinfecting in the dishwasher. Bonus!

Mopping your floors? Another cheap breeze! Long ago, I bought a mop similar to the Swiffer disposable but it's reusable and meant mostly for wood floors. It looks like this and I got it at the Dollar Store for El Cheapo:

I bought a few extra cloth pads so I have a clean one at any given time. I was using this harsh-smelling "special formula" spray for cleaning my wood floors until about a month ago. And then it dawned on me that I bet I could use...what do you know...VINEGAR! I looked up some articles that confirmed that the vinegar/water mix is, indeed, safe on wood floors, and ever since I've been toting around my handy all-purpose homemade mix spray bottle and cleaning all the floors in my house this way. Easy. As. Pie.

Stick around for info about beauty products & food, up next!

So long, coupons.

Sheesh, I can't keep up with this blog anymore. I can't believe there was ever a time when I blogged multiple times a day!

I have a few posts in the works, but they're taking forever between all our time outdoors, family visiting and spring cleaning. Also, who forgot to tell me how much work a toddler is?! WOW!

I've really gotten away from my coupon posts lately (okay, okay, MUCH MORE than gotten away - they don't exist). Mostly because we've completely switched gears in this house. After stewing on this for a long, long time and finally convincing hubs to watch Food, Inc. with me, we are transitioning to a completely different lifestyle. One that's sure to be filled with trips to the farm, weekly farmer's market dates and lots of time at Whole Foods. I found that living a "coupon" way of life lends itself to living less healthily and spending way too much time focused on cheap foods, not whole foods. But in staying true to my frugal roots, I have found a way to make this (very) expensive lifestyle work for us, and most of it involves getting back to an old-fashioned way of living. I'm so excited to share it all, but it's a work in progress. Stay tuned!

Ah, and now, my nap-revolting toddler beckons.