EWGs Skin Deep

I have a few bigger posts I'm working on right now, but my hands have been in a lot of pain this week so I'm trying not to overdo it.

While I'm working on those, however, I wanted to share a website that I have found SO helpful as I've been changing up toiletries and makeup.  It is the Environmental Working Group's (EWG) Skin Deep. They have taken tens of thousands of products such as shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, makeup, lotions, hair spray, etc... and given them a numeric hazard rating based on the ingredients used.  Here is a quick breakdown of their ratings:

0-2 = Low Hazard

3-6 = Moderate Hazard

7-10 = High Hazard

So anything under 3 is really good, meaning there is not a significant threat to your health from using the product.  As soon as I discovered this resource, I went through all the toiletries and makeup I had and decided to start using better products.  I should have made this change years ago, considering I had already experienced problems from chemicals in toiletries before.  Years ago, I started using one of those over-the-counter, prescription-strength deodorants that claimed that they closed your pores so that you wouldn't even sweat!  I used it for about a year, and then I finally had to go to the doctor because I had a cyst the size of a walnut in my armpit.  After chewing me out for waiting so long to go in, since it could have been breast cancer, I got some prescriptions to take care of the cyst and switched back to a "normal" deodorant. Inever had another problem after that.  I will be sharing some of my favorite products in future posts, but for now you can use this guide to see how your current products rate.

Laurie's White Sandwich Bread

My mother-in-law, Laurie, is a great cook.  And her variety of bread accomplishments was very intimidating to this girl who came from a bread-cursed house.  Thankfully, though, through encouragement and lots of practice, I finally broke that curse and was able to make bread all on my own! And even without the bread machine.  

One of her secrets to delicious rolls is that she uses the bread part of a cinnamon roll recipe.  So it's slightly sweet, very soft, and oh so delicious.  When I acquired my bread machine and was trying out different recipes online, she helped me to convert hers to one that is bread-machine friendly.  We had to tweak it a bit, but eventually the perfect little loaf came out! I don't make this often, maybe once or twice a month, but when I do it is devoured quickly.  

Laurie's White Bread

Ingredients:

    1 cup warm water
    1.5 tsp salt
    4 tbsp softened butter (not melted)
    2 eggs
    1/3 cup sugar
    4 cups all-purpose flour (or bread flour)
    1.5 tsp yeast

Instructions:
    1. Put ingredients into bread machine in the order listed.
    2. Choose the "Basic" setting on "Light Crust" and press start!

Honey Whole-Wheat Sandwich Bread

 

We love bread in this house. One of the very first changes we started to make in our food, besides cutting out food dyes, was to start making all of our bread products from scratch.  We already bought seemingly good-quality, whole-wheat bread from the store, but there are so many preservatives added that we decided homemade bread would be a better way to go.  I already made the occasional loaf in the oven, but once I "borrowed" the lonely little bread machine from my parents garage (thanks, Mom!) I had an easier way to make homemade bread on a regular basis.

Bread machines are amazing.  You spend five minutes or less throwing all the ingredients in the machine, and a few hours later you have hot, fresh, homemade bread!  And with achy, arthritis hands, I don't have to spend time kneading the dough.  I played around with some basic recipes until I found one that tastes good and still has a great texture to it. This is NOT 100% whole-wheat, but it has more whole-wheat flour than all-purpose (or bread) flour.  We have tried numerous, 100% whole-wheat recipes for sandwich bread, but they also seemed lacking in the taste and texture department.  I only use a high-quality, all-purpose flour from the mill down the street, so I feel okay using this in my recipes. So, without further ado, here is the recipe!

Honey Whole-Wheat Sandwich Bread

Ingredients:

    9 ounces warm water (110 degrees)

    1 tsp salt

    2 tbsp olive oil (or other vegetable oil)

    1/4 cup honey

    1 cup bread flour (or all-purpose flour)

    2 cups whole-wheat flour

    1.5 tsp active dry yeast

Instructions:

    1. Put ingredients into bread machine in the order listed

    2. Choose the "Whole-Wheat" setting on "Light Crust" and press start!

*Printable Version*

Also, once I was making bread on a regular basis, I realized I needed to find a better way to keep it fresh in my kitchen. I discovered this little bread keeper on Amazon and we've loved it ever since!

Smoothie Time!

We LOVE smoothies in this house! They are tasty, healthy, and I can throw greens like spinach or kale in and nobody knows the difference.

Blending a smoothie in my new Ninja! When the blender turns on, the boys start running!

A enjoys smoothies of all varieties. 

If I have leftover smoothie, I scoop them into my silicone smoothie pop molds.

I stick the molds in the freezer and they can be brought out for a healthy, frozen treat!

Here are some of our favorite smoothie recipes right now:

1. Berry Banana Breakfast Smoothie from the Go Dairy Free website

2. The Food Babe's Pineapple Grapefruit Hari Shake

3. 100 Days of Real Food's PB&J Smoothie

4. And the Detoxinista's Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Milkshake. Not a smoothie, but a really good milkshake that uses no ice cream! It is so good!  We will make this in the evening, sometimes, for a dessert.

The Hippie Life

In the last year and a half, our family has been changing. Our food has changed, the way we clean our home has changed, the toiletries we use have changed, the makeup I wear has changed, and our daily routines have changed.  We have also been diagnosed with 2 different chronic illnesses: Jack's Tuberous Sclerosis in December 2012, and my Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) in December 2013.

I love talking about the changes we've made and how it has impacted our daily living, so I finally decided to start a public blog (separate from my private, family blog) to share recipes that we love, products that we swear by, and simple changes that we made, one at a time, to live a cleaner life.  Mostly I just wanted a place to keep track of all my favorite things, but maybe you can get something out of it, too.  ;)

Obviously, my new diagnosis is going to slow down some of my enthusiastic endeavors,  so I am also going to try and be honest about things that I just cannot do. I am not super mom or super woman; I am a mom who wants the best for her family and will do her best to achieve that, despite her limitations.

Thus, the RA Hippie Mama.