Citrus Magic!

Hi everyone! Lately I have been using a lot of lemons for cleaning around the house. My local supermarket has actually been having some great sales on lemons so I take advantage of buying them when they are cheaper during the warm seasons! I love to make fresh pitchers of green iced tea and I cut up lemons and let them soak right in the tea pitcher so they can infuse the tea with their yummy lemon flavor! When it is time to wash out the big iced tea pitcher and mix up a new batch, I will take out the old lemons and rinse the tea off of them in hot water and then reuse them to scrub the inside of my sink with. See sinks can become really germy and lemons are natural citrus germ-fighters not to mention order eliminators and grease cutters. So when I scrub the inside of my metal sink with lemons it smells so fresh and looks nice and shiny! I will let it sit for a few minutes and then scrub with soap and rinse with hot water and voila~ So clean you eat out of it!lol Also I will take some fresh lemon juice and sprinkle it on a clean damp hand towel and place it in my dryer with laundry I am drying...boy does it smell yummy when tehy are dry! A nice clean and fresh scented non-toxic and "cheap" way to freshen up laundry:)! Hope you enjoy these tips and make the most out of our little citrus friends:)!

Happy Mother's Day :) !

Hello everyone:)! I hope you all had a very beautiful Mother's day! Mommies work so hard and love so much, so it is extra special to have a day just for us:)! So I hope you had so much fun and great love filled time with your families:)! Also I hope you put down your cleaning tools for one day and took time to replenish, relax, and enjoy some "me-mommy time" too! 

Hand Washed ~ With Love

 So my journey in trying to discover the most time-saving and effective way to wash my dishes without a dishwasher. Okay it is a lot easier to soak the dishes in a bath of hot soapy water first and then give them a little scrub and hot water rinse so they dry nice and fast. I like to place a metal cookie sheet at the bottom of my kitchen sink to stop the water and then I fill my sink up with very hot water and a few drops of anti-bacterial dish soap for soaking. Also I will use large glass roasting dishes to soak our silverware and small plates. Glass and stainless steal are the safest materials because they do not leach toxins when heated! I wanted to try and find a BPA-FREE DISHPAN but surprisingly I couldn't find one anywhere! ( Maybe they will make one - that would be nice! ) They are all made out of regular plastic which when heated may release toxins!  Many dishwashers also release toxins in our home and harmful residues onto our dishes which are released when the vinyl PVC plastic DISH-RACKS and interior TUBS in which they are composed of are heated at such high tempurtures! The best dishwashers to purchase are ones with STAINLESS STEEL INTERIOR TUBS & RACKS or at least NYLON RACKS! Here is some more info about PVC and harmful toxins which are released when plastic is heated in dishwashers http://www.fresno.gov/NR/rdonlyres/4C46B165-2252-45F7-B1FD-27C6912E4451/0/TheCategoriesofPlastics.pdf   http://www.ehow.com/list_6624353_dangers-pvc-racks-dishwasher_.html read the information and try to expose your family and loved ones to the least amount of toxic chemicals as possible! Maybe there was a reason why we could never afford a dishwasher. Thank you Lord:)! Maybe by the time we can buy one, these companies will start making dishwashers with only the safe materials! Maybe they can even take our old ones and give us some money off our new eco-friendly safe dishwahsers:)! That would be nice right?!!! Okay lots of love & safe washin' everyone!

Soaps for All Ocassions

 Lately I have been going nuts trying to keep up with the dirty dishes in my house! We do not have a dishwasher and my husband thinks I am pathetic to want one because we are a small family of three and he said that there is no reason for dishes to be in the sink! Well between all of my obsessive hand washing throughout the day plus the slaving over hand washing dishes my hands are SO DRY! I have a whole system and different soaps that I use for specific levels of dirtiness lol! Like if I just touched something not too germy I use my organic watered down liquid castile soap from a foam pump bottle ( not harsh on my hands! ) And then if I wipe my dog's tushie after she makes number two outside or touch eggs and raw meat while cooking I always reach for some anti-bacterial dish or hand soap ( but then there are harmful chemicals in these anti-bacterial soaps so I ONLY use these soaps when I touch something again that is very germy! ) When my hands are very dry I try to put some organic coconut oil on them and then when I need to wash them I will use a gentle bar soap which seems to leave a layer or residue which acts as a barrier over my little cuts and dry skin cracks. Also I use natural melted down Beeswax infused with coconut oil as a skin balm. This makes the water bead off and totally protects the skin:)! I just wanted to share some tips because I know us homemakers work very hard and often our hands take a beating so take some time to pamper them once in a while ~ because you know they have some more hard work ahead of them again! But it is totally worth it knowing we are providing a clean and safe environment for our loved ones right?!:)!!!