Cleaning products: round-up of natural home care.

I like to think I’m a minimalist. Part of being a minimalist is finding what works best for you and eliminating everything that doesn’t. I’ve been trying to trim down my household cleaning supplies to a few manageable, non-toxic items that I can store under my sink. I only use products that are cheap, safe, and hardworking. I want to save the planet and my wallet without skimping on the cleanliness of my home.

The following is a list of products that I’ve discovered by trial and error. It’s everything I use to keep my house clean! Anything that you can’t find at your natural grocery or pharmacy, you can buy on Amazon.com.

• Bio-Kleen’s Bac Out: this product is my go-to, all-purpose cleaner. It deodorizes and disinfects everything from trashcans to toilets, cleans stains out of carpet and fabric, can be used for an extra cleaning boost in your laundry, and leaves a pleasant, plant-like scent in it’s wake. Dilute it, and it becomes a great thing to mop your floors with.
• Mrs. Meyer’s dish soap. makes dish washing an aroma therapeutic experience and gets dishes clean and crud-free.
• Mrs. Meyer’s Stainless Steel Spray: smells lovely, leaves metal squeaky clean and super-shiny.
• Bio-Kleen’s All Temperature Laundry Liquid: gets laundry clean, even in cold water, so you can save money on the electric bill and don’t have to worry about faded clothes. It’s also hypoallergenic.
• Ecover Stain Remover: the applicator top comes with flexible plastic “bristles” so that you can scrub the product over the stain. Brilliant!
• Baking soda: mix it with essential oils to create a vacuum-friendly carpet deodorizer or sprinkle it on a surface after spraying it down with an all-purpose cleaner and it’s a scouring agent. You can also throw it in with your laundry.
• Essential oils: I keep lavender and lemon oils around to make carpet deodorizer, linen water, and furniture polish.
• Vinegar: I use this for glass cleaner and furniture polish concoctions.
• Extras: olive oil, lemon juice, rubbing alcohol (for my cleaning recipes)

Recipes (cheaper and more effective than the store bought equivalents)

Furniture Polish

• 2 T. white vinegar
• 2 T. olive oil
• a few drops of lemon essential oil
• 1 q. water
  Combine ingredients in a spray bottle. Shake before each use and use like commercial furniture polish.

Glass Cleaner

• water
• white vinegar
• rubbing alcohol (optional)
  Combine ingredients in equal parts in a spray bottle. Use like commercial glass cleaner. (Hint: Use crumpled newspaper instead of paper towels!)

Linen Water

• lavender essential oil
• distilled or purified water
  Combine in a small spray bottle. Shake before each use and spray directly on fabric.

Carpet Deodorizer

• 2 c. baking soda
• several drops of essential oil
• 1 T. lemon juice
  Add ingredients to a medium-sized bowl. Stir to combine and sprinkle on carpet. Leave for as long as possible up to twelve hours (though even leaving it on your carpet for a few minutes will help) and vacuum. Can be stored for later (preferably in a glass jar).
  

Recommended extras: at my house we also love Mrs. Meyer’s scent diffuser in lavender, her basil-scented dryer sheets (click here for my review), and her all-purpose cleaner for mopping the kitchen floor (primarily for the lovely scent it leaves behind). I don’t have a dishwasher, so if you have a favorite dishwasher powder or liquid, let me know!

Posted by: Catie

The World’s Healthiest Foods

 A nutrition class in college sparked my interest in healthy eating.  While the text book was informative, it was hard to navigate as a regular kitchen resource, so I kept my eyes open. Unfortunately the majority of nutrition books are fad or diet oriented, and I just wanted something to tell me the cold, hard facts.

I picked this book up at Costco over a year ago and have since recommended it to all of my friends who cook.  The author George Mateljan started the organic brand Health Valley and is now dedicated full-time to his foundation of the same name as this book.  His goal is to find the best way to preserve the most vitamins and best digestibility of every food.   Much of the information can be found on their website, but the book is a must-have for every health-conscious kitchen!

Things to love:  This book is intuitively organized by food group and then by individual food.  Each individual food is organized in the same manner, making it easy to follow and use as a quick reference on the fly.  Each food section has the following subsections: nutritional content, background, best way to store, best way to prepare, healthiest way of cooking, Q&A, health benefits & potential effects, and recipes.  The nutritional content for each food is more detailed than I’ve seen anywhere else, and the recipes consistently taste great.  In addition, there are several indices to aid in referencing foods by allergen, type of nutrient, medical condition, and a few others.  The book’s introductory chapters also give an overview of basic nutrition for those who are unfamiliar. I recommend “flipping” through the book on the Amazon site.

Less than perfect:  Because the book’s goal is to give the healthiest way of cooking everything, you won’t be able to cook most of your food the way you’ve been taught.  For example, frying veggies is BAD.  So be prepared to either embrace healthy, organic indoctrination or become comfortable ignoring that nutritional conscience you’ve been trying so hard to develop.  Furthermore, because George believes that an optimal amount of nutrients are absorbed with the aid of some particular combinations of foods, many of the recommended dishes take on a Mediterranean flavor.  I like this, but not everyone is a Mediterranean fan.  Fortunately, he makes other suggestions as well.  Lastly, the book is a giant paperback.  I anticipate some duct tape surgery for my copy in the near future.

Final Analysis:  This is an essential reference book for every kitchen.  The format and depth of information on each food has encouraged me to branch out and try cooking new foods as well as explore new methods of cooking common foods.  I frequently use this book “just to know” what George recommends or to find out what types of foods I should be eating for particular ailments.   This is well worth the $26 on Amazon.

Posted by: Lynnette

Links to love.

I’m a big fan of internet shopping for clothing and household items, largely because on the internet you can quickly compare products and prices and come away with the best deal. I have my favorite stores, but I tend to check out a few sites to help me achieve the best bargains:

Retailmenot.com: This site allows you to search for coupon codes and printable coupons for a ton of stores!

The Bargain Shopper Lady: This lady has tips, trips, and coupons and updates her site regularly.

Ebates: Log into this site before you make an online purchase and then find the store where you’ll be shopping. Not every store is listed on the site, but many are. Follow the link from Ebates to the internet site and a percent of your purchase will be credited back to you. If you get really into it, you can get bonuses for referring friends. Click here to use my sign-up code and we’ll both get a $5 bonus!

Coupon Cabin: Another coupon site. Lets you search for deals store, category, expiration date, and more.

If all else fails, I just use Google. For example google “Jcrew free shipping code.” I can usually find a way to off-set some of the purchase price, and make internet shopping way cheaper than shopping at the mall.

Posted by: Catie