My New Love.......Coconut Oil

I have been hearing so many things about coconut oil and it's many benefits that I decided to do some research and give it a shot.

Some of the benefits of coconut oil include: healthy hair, skin care, stress relief, maintaining cholesterol levels, weight loss, increased immunity, proper digestion and metabolism and on and on.  It seems too good to be true.  How can one product provide so many things?

The benefits can be attributed to the presence of lauric acid, capric acid and caprylic acid. These acids are known for their antimicrobial, antioxidant, antifungal, and antibacterial abilities.  The human body converts lauric acid into monolaurin which is claimed to help dealing with viruses and bacterias.

Is that all?  An oil that is good for you inside and out.  Sign me up!

I bought a certified organic coconut oil.  What is surprising is that it is a solid at room temperature.  I took some of it out and heated it up gently and put it into a glass dropper bottle to keep in the bathroom.

I decided to use it for all the beauty benefits and see what happens.  I started using it as my nightime moisturizer and my skin looks amazing!  I use it as my eye makeup remover and not only does it remove makeup gently and easily but it has the added benefit of soft healthy eye lashes.  I mixed it with sugar to make a body scrub for the shower and it made my skin is super soft, better and cheaper than any scrub I have used.  I put it on my hair all day then shampoo'd it out for the best hair treatment I have ever used.  I also used a small dot on dried hair to make it shiny and smooth.  It also makes a great lip moisturizer and cuticle soother.

All that and I used it to make my eggs in the morning!

It's incredible that this one product can do so much.  The best part is that I don't have to check the back of the package to see if it contains phthalates, SLS, triclosan, or parabens.

It seems to good to be true, but I am loving it.

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New Favorite Non-Toxic Laundry Cleaners

I have discovered 2 new non-toxic laundry items and I HAVE to share!!

I went to the Fresh Market at the Shoppes at Wiregrass today and met an amazing woman named Monica.  She has a company called Molly's Suds.  They are a non-toxic laundry detergent company.   After talking to her about her products I decided to tried the Laundry Powder today and I LOVE it.  It is fragrance free, dye free, contains no SLS, phosphates,  parabens, no. 1.4 dioxane or formaldehyde.  It is biodegradable, certified vegan and cruelty free.

It cleaned my clothes as good or better than any other non-toxic cleaner I have used.  Sorry 7th Generation and Mrs. Meyers!! It contains organic peppermint oil, but the scent does not stay in your clothes.  It washed out in the rinse cycle.  My clothes came out super clean and fragrance free!

For $21 the bag will clean 128 loads!  It is safe for HE washer too.

They also have a product called All Sport for sport's clothes and equipment.  I did not try that, although with my husband in baseball I probably will, but I did get to smell it and it had a wonderful orange scent to it.

The website is http://www.mollyssuds.com/  You can shop from the website, or if you live local,  you can find places that are selling their items.

The other wonderful item I purchased and LOVE is the Wool Dryer Balls from Stoney Mountain Farm.  They are eco-friendly dryer balls made from 100% wool.  No chemicals, no dyes.  They reduce static, soften clothes, even reduce drying time.

I had stopped using dryer sheets since even the free and clear ones still contain chemicals that can stay on your clothes and in turn harm me and my family.  I had looked into dryer balls as a possible option, but they are all made from toxic PVC and the combination of PVC with the heat of the dryer cannot be a good combination inside my home and on our clothes.

The wool dryer balls honestly made my clothes softer, wrinkle free, static free and it really did reduce the drying time for the clothes!!

They are available on the Mollys Suds website or you can go to http://www.stoneymountainfarm.com/pages/product-list/wool-dryer-balls.php to check them out.

My 2 new laundry favorites!  Non-toxic that get the job done!

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Easy Yummy Broccoli Soup

With all of our broccoli sprouting in our organic garden I have been coming up with different things to make with it.  It is delicious raw, or even lightly steamed, but I thought I would make a soup out of it.  This was so simple to make and as my 2 year old said the whole time she ate it, "Yummy".

I took a head of broccoli and the stem chopped and steamed them.  Then I put them in my chopper, or blender.  I put the chopped broccoli into a pot with 2 cups of Organic chicken broth and 1/2 cup of Organic heavy cream.  Brought it to a simmer and added some fresh cracked black pepper and salt.  THAT'S IT!

It is so simple and yet has big flavor!!  I love hearing "mmmm, mmmm" while my daughter is enjoying broccoli.

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The Stress of My Daughter Going to A Birthday Party

My daughter was invited recently to her friend's 3 year old birthday party.  She was so excited!  She picked out presents for her friend and even wrote her name on the card, as well as a 2 year old can.

Thankfully the mother of her friend has hanged their food to more organic so it made me feel a better about going since they were providing lunch.  It's easy to control things in my own home but going to someone else's home can be stressful since I only feed my daughter organic.

As I made a plate of food for my daughter she asked me if she could have some chips.  I noticed the bag that the corn chips had come from and they were not organic, meaning that they were made with GM (genetically Modified) corn, so I had to tell her no.  Thankfully she was ok with this since there were organic strawberries.  I also had brought my daughter's stainless steel sippy cup filled with water from our Reverse Osmosis system and I was happy I did.  They had water bottles for everyone.  I really wanted to say something about not drinking from plastic water bottles since the bottles that water come in contain BPA and that it leaches in the water, but I didn't.

The birthday cupcakes came and they asked who wanted ice cream.  I see that the ice cream container and I see it is not organic and I know it is made with milk that contains growth hormones and antibiotics that were fed to the cows.  No ice cream.

The party was over and we get a little gift bag on the way out.  We walked in the door of our house and my daughter immediately opens the bag and there are cute pads of paper,  non toxic crayons, cute hair ties and a plastic brush and plastic little mirror.  Damn!  As my daughter went down for her nap the plastic items mysteriously disappear from the house.  There is a certainty that the plastic they are made with contains BPA or other chemicals that I do not want going into her mouth.

It was a great party.   Not really a stress-free day, but I am aware that this is the way things are and will be for me to keep my daughter away from the chemicals, hormones, pesticides and genetically modified things that exist in the items and foods that most people use everyday without a second thought.   I know that for people who don't do things the way I do it must seem odd, but I don't care.  I want my daughter to have as healthy an existence as I possibly can as long as I can.

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FAVORITE Product Alert!!

I just purchased a product that is my new FAVORITE so I must share!

It's the Dirt Devil Easy Steam Express.  It is an electric floor steam cleaner.  It uses only water to clean floors so incredibly clean!  It works on hardwood floors and tile.  Chemical free easy cleaning.

I used it for the first time today and it was amazing!!  It is vacuum height so it is really comfortable to use.  We have a lot of ceramic tile in our house and it is a pain to clean, not anymore.

I put in the water and plugged it in and it started to steam right away.  The spots on the floor that were dirtier I just kept the cleaner on it for an extra minute then moved the cleaner over it, dirt gone!

LOVE this item!!

http://dirtdevil.com/products/details/pd20030/easy-steam-express-

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The CDC says WHAT??????

The headline of a story I read today absolutely blew my mind.  "The CDC Researchers Say Mother's Should Stop Breastfeeding to Boost Efficacy of Vaccines".
http://www.naturalnews.com/034722_breastfeeding_vaccines_CDC.html

Whatever your take on vaccines is, for or against, this is utterly ridiculous!

Breastfeeding is one of the most important things in helping a child receive all of the nutrients they require.  It makes their immune systems strong and healthy.  The CDC researchers however claim that the "immune-boosting effects of breastmilk are a detriment to the efficacy of vaccines".  They claim that the very things that help infants systems become strong, immunoglobulin A, lactoferrin, lysozyme, and more inhibit the rotovirus vaccine from working.

They have to be kidding, right?

I remember going through the breastfeeding class while I was pregnant and learning that it is far and away the most important thing you can do for your child's health.  I will attest to how healthy my child is.  I would absolutely recommend to anyone that they do breastfeed their child.

I think this is a gross injustice for the CDC to be suggesting something like this.  I mean really?  Do you think feeding an infant a formula with chemicals that you can't even pronounce, let alone know  what they are, is healthier that what the body creates?

Come on!!

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Organic with an Asterisk*

As a Mom I try to do the best for my child.  I have a pretty large organically grown garden in the backyard that produces most of our veggies.  For the items we don't or can't produce ourselves I buy Organic.

It seems like the best thing to do.  If something is marked "Organic", even "USDA Certified Organic" than you assume that is would be free from harmful chemicals, pesticides and genetically modified products.  Isn't that what makes it "Certified Organic"?

For alot of it, yes.  But when you discover that the DHA that is being put into "Organic" products is genetically modified and has no business being in there, well that  just pisses me off!

I mean really?  What happens when the supposed "safe guard" isn't really safe.

Here is what was written about the GMO DHA and how it made it into Organic products:

The Organic Consumers Association explains:

In 2009, a front page Washington Post article,“Integrity of Federal ‘Organic’ Label Questioned.”explained how Martek Biosciences’ synthetic DHA and ARA ended up in organic infant formula. In 2006, National Organic Program staff told Martek that its synthetic DHA and ARA couldn’t be used in organic because they were synthetic and not on the National List. But, Martek’s lawyer, J. Friedman, was able to get their decision reversed by NOP director Barbara Robinson, with just a call and an email. He told the Washington Post, “I called Robinson up, I wrote an e-mail. It was a simple matter.”…

The National Organic Program attempted to remedy this situation by requiring Martek to formally ask permission to use its DHA and AHA in organic. The petition came before National Organic Standards board, and surprisingly, the NOSB voted to continue to allow Life’sDHA and Life’sARA in organic.

The NOP and NOSB ignored evidence that Martek’s products should never have even been considered for use in organic in the first place. According to patents uncovered by the Cornucopia Institute, all of Martek’s DHA and ARA products are produced through genetic engineering, processed with volatile synthetic solvents and microencapsulated, three things that are expressly banned from USDA Organic.

You can protect your baby by making your own baby food or looking for food that does not contain DHA and ARA. DHA and ARA are important omega fatty acids found in breast milk, so long term breastfeeding insures your child gets them. The Cornucopia Institute explains how the chemical version cannot replace mother’s milk:

What is troublesome, however, is that some infant for- mulas contain DHA- and ARA-containing oils that are novel foods—extracted from laboratory-grown fermented algae and fungus and processed utilizing a toxic chemical, hexane. These algal and fungal oils provide DHA and ARA in forms that are structurally different from those naturally found in human milk…

These oils are produced by Martek Biosciences Corpora- tion and appear to be added to infant formula primarily as a marketing tool designed to convince parents that formula is now “as close as ever to breast milk.” Substantiating this the- sis is a Martek investment promotion from 1996, which reads as follows: “Even if [the DHA/ARA blend] has no benefit, we think it would be widely incorporated into formulas, as a market- ing tool and to allow companies to promote their formula as ‘closest to human milk [emphasis added].”1

So basically an email and a phone call was able to take away the safety net that "Organic" is supposed to give to parents trying to do the right thing.  


The worst part is that it is in baby formula's and baby food.  Earth's Best is supposed to be Organic.  


Here is a list of the Life's DHA products from their own website.  Try to avoid them is possible.


http://www.lifesdha.com/Products-Containing-lifesDHA-/Partner-Products/tabid/683/Default.aspx


If they are going to put something that is GMO in organic food than I think that they should have to mark it as so.  Organic* (this product contains a GMO).  They should have to put it out there so every consumer of organic foods knows what they are actually getting.  


People assume that if it is USDA Certified Organic that is completely safe.  Think again!  


I am so happy with my decision to breastfeed and make my own baby food, but what about the women who can't?  Why is it that now what you thought was the safest avenue to take isn't as safe as you thought.  


Where do you turn when "Organic" isn't enough to keep the garbage out of our food?  


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