All about why I broke up with dryer sheets.

Yesterday I posted a picture of my essential rewards order – my monthly wellness box I get from Young Living Essential Oils. In my box I had 4 dryer balls and I just put a little caption on the pic about how toxic dryer sheets are. Little did I know I’d get SO many questions about why! Let’s chat why these things will never be in my home again – and yes I broke up with conventional detergents and fabric softener too! There is a LONG list of why these items are on my do not purchase list.

Everyone is fooled by dryer sheets because of that cute little cuddly bear, how could he hurt us, right? Well technically it’s not him. It’s all the chemicals – formaldehyde, chloroform, air pollutants – what you’re drying is going directly out into the air!

This study done by Steinemann about fragrance found that acetaldehyde emissions from five of the leading scented detergents and dryer sheet brands “constitute about 6% of automobiles acetaldehyde emissions.” Ok, what? That’s insane. Why would these even be legal to put in our dryers to then contaminate our clothes, that we, and our BABIES wear on our skin. Ugh. So not only is it sitting on our skin all day but it’s also going right out into the air, drifting down to land where they seep into our bodies of water.

If you’re at all conscious about your reduce/reuse/recycle habits, change this one, and fast!

Did you know 95% of chemicals used in synthetic fragrances are actually derived from petroleum (crude oil). Dangers of synthetic scents include things like migraines, asthma attacks, infertility, contact dermatitis and throat/ eye irritation. More information on that can be found here.

Dryer sheets are among the worst offenders of harboring chemicals linked do hormone disruption (infertility) and asthma.

How many people do you know who has one or more of these symptoms… on a daily basis? I can name a handful of people. My husband used to be one of them. Since implementing a chemical free life style and adding some much needed supplements to his routine he has headaches far and few between, and when he does get them, they’re typically just tension headaches now.

Want to know another CRAZY thing – I too was one of them! I had a fertility appointment (that’s a blog post for a whole different subject that we WILL cover in the near future – stay tuned!) anywho, 4 years ago I could barely ovulate on my own… at my fertility appointment this week, I had 8 eggs in each of my ovaries ready to go and follicles forming. I’ve been able to successfully conceive, on my own, my two Minnie’s. 4 years ago it looked nothing like that. 4 years ago was before I went on my holistic/natural minded lifestyle. I am proof that if you stop filling your bodies with chemicals and you detox them, amazing things can happen guys! It took a TON of time and diligence but it was worth it.

In other good news, YOU TOO can break up with your dryer sheets! It’s simple!

• Hang your clothes
• Use dryer balls like I do! You can even add essential oils to the balls – my faves are lemongrass and lavender!
• Add vinegar to your rinse cycle

Xoxo Kate

Homemade play-dough!

Why spend a bunch of money on play dough when it’s so easy to make!?

Literally it took me less than 15 minutes and I had everything in my cupboard to make it and all the ingredients are cheap! It even smells and feels like real play dough!

Homemade non toxic playdough!

1 cup water

1 cup flour

1/4 cup salt

2 TBSP cream of tarter

1 TBSP oil (I used olive)

Mix it all up in a pot heating on medium low heat, continuously mixing until it becomes a doughy non sticky mixture!

Plop it on some wax paper to cool then portion it out, add food coloring and essential oils if you want and bam! Done! So easy!

XO Kate

Winter Blues

Counting down the days until spring, this is me every single year. I cannot get enough of spring and summer. The warm sun on my skin, the breeze in the air, the crisp warm morning air while I have my coffee on the deck as the sun is just peaking up from behind the chicken coop.  This is something I dream of all year round. The problem with winter is… well there is a lot wrong with winter in my opinion but one of the biggest things for me is that I thrive on that warm Vitamin D from the sun.

Here in Minnesota we have a long brutal winter with tons of negative degree weather. It’s rough for me, every year I struggle with it. When I was younger I would go to the tanning salon to catch some vitamin D *gasp* I know. Now, while I no longer do that I need to replace that vitamin D in a bad way. I’ve also learned over the years that not only do I need that vitamin D but I need magnesium, because when my stress level rises so does my anxiety. But with magnesium you also need to have calcium in order to absorb it better… I’m mostly dairy free. HA! So the struggle was real for me until I found the most amazing supplements.

For the first time in my life I am at the peak of my health. I am able to successfully lose weight and keep it off, I am able to sleep at night, my back is not aching, I have no nausea ever.  Truly finding better quality supplements and incorporating essential oils into my life has been a complete game changer. I hear almost daily from people how great I look and how much they can tell a difference in who I am now to who I was even 3 years ago.

While I take a wide range of supplements, Omegagize is my favorite and one of the first ones I recommend to people looking into supplements. Here s a link so you can check it out. I originally just stumbled on it when looking for a better fatty acid supplement to take while pregnant… THEN I learned we also need these fatty acids… literally everyone needs them, our bodies don’t make it on their own so we get it from foods like leafy greens and fish.  How many people eat those everyday? Not a whole lot of people that’s for sure. Fatty Acids are KEY to our health… as is magnesium and vitamin D and C and all the others.

Benefits of Omega 3 fats are things like heart health, regulating cholesterol and blood pressure, mental disorders (depression, bipolar etc), reduces inflammation, prevents/maintains autoimmune diseases and can even prevent cancer.. I could keep going but you get the point. They’re huge for us!

I look back at my life a few years ago and see the foods I was eating and think man no wonder I was unhealthy, not only was I not eating good foods to fuel my body but this was also causing me to miss SO MUCH nutrients, nutrients that my body was craving.

Not all supplements are created equal though. You want to find supplements that are whole foods so your body can actually absorb it!

If you take a fish oil supplement you find in the store and you take Omegagize from Young Living. Put them both in a warm glass of water… the Omegagize will dissolve, exactly what it will do in our stomach. The store brand wont, it wont do anything until it gets to your colon and by then you’ve lost the best window for absorption.

Omegagize is a fatty acid like I mentioned before, but it also includes vitamin D and essential oils which help the omegagize not go rancid, which can happen fast with fish oils. Also essential oils help your body absorb nutrients, minerals, vitamins etc at 70% better rate than without them!

In addition to omegagize I take magnesium, I really like the NOW brand, I get them on amazon. Here’s a link. This is the brand my husband started years ago, there are a ton out there, do your research and get one you feel comfortable with.  We like this brand because its NON-GMO, and GMP Certified. Magnesium is awesome because its

• Nervous System Support*
• Supports Energy Production*
• Critical for Enzyme Function*
• Consuming adequate magnesium might help reduce premenstrual symptoms and migraines!
• If you’re taking a calcium supplement you should also take magnesium to ensure their calcium intake is properly metabolized.
• Can also help with anxiety!

As always talk with a doctor and make sure you even need any of these supplements. Just because they worked for me, doesn’t mean its a one size fits all. What works best for me might not be best for you, as with everything, medicine, oils, health food choices etc. 🙂

XOXO

– Kate

Easy Meal Prepping

For busy mamas meal prepping can be life changing. I’m serious. It has saved me so many times! Also, being dairy free means I can’t always just grab something on the go. I know if a few solid meals that I can grab in a pinch but I’d rather make my own. Plus it saves money!

What I really like to do is meal prep stuff that’s easy and versatile. For example I brown up 3 pounds of taco meat – with this we can have tacos one day, I can make it into enchiladas another day or even a Mexican hotdish! OR bake 6 chicken breast in the oven with some seasoning and we can have chicken and potatoes one day, I can make up a chicken salad, or we can add them to quesadillas!

 

Other than being versatile I love meals that are colorful and delicious. Like sheet pan meals! You can’t get much simpler than that and you can really tailor it to your taste buds!

My favorite sheet pan meal combo is

3 different colored peppers
1 onion
1 or 2 keolbasa
frozen green beans or broccoli, really whatever frozen veggies I have on hand

Chop all that up, toss in 1/4 cup olive oil, 1/2 Tbsp oregano, garlic powder and 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper.

Bake at 425 for about a half hour or until the veggies are done to your liking!

 

Another favorite sheet pan meal is Fajitas! I have done this in the crockpot and its pretty good in there if you’re wanting something you can throw in and forget about.

Chicken Fajitas:

I dice up
3-4 colored peppers
1-2 onions
1/2 Jalepeno (or less/none if you’re not a fan of spice)
2-4 garlic cloves – minced

1 can of diced tomatoes and green chillis (if you’re not a fan of spice just do a can of diced tomatoes)

I mix the spiced into the can of tomatoes:
1 TBSP Chilli powder and Cumin Powder
1 tsp Coriander, salt and pepper

 

Start by laying 4 chicken breast (whole) on your sheet pan, dump on all your diced veggies then cover everything in your tomato/spice mixture. Toss this around a little to get everything coated.

Cover with tinfoil and start baking at 350, once it heats up to 350 or after about 15/20 minutes at 350 then you can uncover and turn it up to 400! I cook it at 400 for another 20/30 minutes, or cook to your liking of tenderness for the veggies as long as your chicken is cooked through.

Once its all done I shred up the chicken and mix it all up!

 

 

Get fall ready.

Ya’ll, I am so not ready for fall/winter. Okay, so normally I’m the basic bitch screaming with excitement about all things pumpkin spice, chunky sweaters and crockpot meals. BUT this year I am just not ready to give up summer. So instead I’m fall cleaning… tricking myself, ya know since we always spring clean!!? Well this past spring I was hugely pregnant and totally NOT nesting. Like I was WAY too big to even want to move. haha! But seriously, so I didn’t really do a lot of spring cleaning. So, I’m DIYing all my fave cleaning recipes, floor cleaner, thieves spray, baking soda carpet spreads, all the goodies… and I’m going to share them all with you! 🙂

1: all purpose Thieves household cleaning spray! 

The MAC DADDY of all cleaning products. This is something I use everyday because it is SO simple, cheap, versatile and completely plant based! I gave up harsh chemical cleaners about 2 years ago when I jumped in to a chemical free lifestyle. You know that awful burning sensation your nostrils have from smelling cleaning products that makes you just absolutely dread having to even use? Ya this stuff is SO MUCH BETTER. Like it smells like cinnamon goodness.

What can this be used for…. uh everything!

• walls
• countertops
• tables
• toys
• door handles
• MIRRORS (trust me its streak free!!)
• windows
• lit-er-ally EVERYTHING

2: How about those carpets!?

Grab your baking soda out of the fridge, yeah the one that’s been sitting open for a few months ;). Dump that in a bowl, grab your purification essential oil and drop in like 20 or more drops, mix it up and just sprinkle it ALL OVER your carpet. Everywhere! If you can, do this at night before bed or before you’re about to leave for work, you want to let it sit for as long as possible.

Once its been several hours (or 20 minutes if you just don’t have time to let it sit), and vacuum it up! BAM!

3: Thieves Paste

Okay so this is something awesome to use if you have hard water like I do. I like to use this on my sink, in my bathtub, oven or on tough stuck on grease/stains.

 

• 1 Cup baking soda
• 1 – 2 scoops Thieves Dishwasher detergent (optional)
• 1 capful Thieves household cleaner
• Enough water or vinegar to make it into a paste

 

Spread it on where you need it, you can let it sit if you want or just scrub it a bit, I like to scrub it with homemade scrubbies (they’re similar to scotch pads you can buy at the store but better!).

 

4. Hardwood floor cleaner

Spoiler alert – this is for more than hardwood floors! Its for any hardwood in your entire house! I have used this on baseboards, cupboards, floors, and built-ins!

• 1/4 cup Thieves Household Cleaner
• 1/2 cup Olive oil or sweet almond oil (whatever you have)
• 10-20 drops essential oil (my faves are lemon/orange)
• put this all in a bucket and had hot water!

The first time I ever did this I had to change the bucket of water about 5-6 times by the time I was done cleaning all the wood in my house… now I can use 1-2 buckets. YUCK right!!!?

*Just note, I have light wood in my house so lemon was fine to use, if you have dark wood definitely spot test it first! I have used it on my dark wood tables without any issues.

 

3 reasons I LOVE using Young Living products, versatility/simplicity, MONEY SAVING, and non toxic.

Truly Young Living products are SO versatile for cleaning I love being able to use one product for multiple things. Like the dishwasher soap is so awesome for tough greasy yucky messes. Also, simplicity, like this is so easy y’all, dump a little in/add some water. Cant get more simple than that for something that’s DIY!

I’m all about saving money and being able to use one product for multiple things is how I do it. A bottle of Thieves Household cleaner (14.4 fl oz) is $22 BUT its highly concentrated that’s why just a capful can be diluted with water. I probably go through 3 bottles a year, A YEAR, and I use it for cleaning everything. Bye bye are the days that under our sinks are filled with 10 different bottles of cleaner. You can throw away all that crap and have ONE spray bottle.

The other amazing part about it is that its plant based so I am confident that my children can help me and I do not have to worry about them getting it in their mouths.