No 'Poo Tuesday Report - Week 7

Quick report.

Things are going well.

I mentioned that I'm going on tour on the east coast this week.

Leaving tomorrow early morning.

Gone until Sunday night.

I'm sad, but I can't go "no 'poo" while I'm on tour.

I can't think of a way to carry the no 'poo mixture on board and I can't make it there because I don't know what kind of water they have. If they happen to have hard water like we do here, there will be no where for me to boil water and I don't want to trouble my group and go get distilled water. Our schedule is packed as it is.

So, for 5 days, I'm going back to 'poo.

Hope it doesn't mess things up.

Otherwise, everything is going good. :D

Weekend Farmers Market Trip - April 7

We couldn't go last week because I was running in the Warrior Dash and my family came to support. It was a really fun obstacle course run, but I missed Farmers Market!

This week, I'm leaving on tour to the east coast, so when we went to the Farmers Market, I thought we wouldn't get as much food... but my hubby didn't think that way. lol

This is what we got:

- huge daikon

- apples

- grapes

- oranges (DELICIOUS! I forgot what kind it was... started with a c)

- LOTS of cilantro

- 2 bunches of baby celery

- strawberries

- beets

- other greens (not pictured)

Yum!!

I hope I can eat some local foods while I'm on the east coast!

Homemade Laundry Detergent - Hard Water

I've been wanting to make my own, homemade laundry detergent for a LONG time.

Almost all the recipes I found for homemade detergent called for "Borax".

Then, I kept reading how bad it is. So, I had to research it.

I read and I read and I read. I came across this post on Crunchy Betty.

I'm concluding that I'm okay with using Borax for washing my clothes.

There are probably tons of other chemicals in the store bought detergent that's not labeled that I'd be worried about.

Dry or liquid? This time, I made dry, powder detergent.

Next time, maybe I'll make liquid. We'll see. :)

Okay, to the good stuff.

Here are the ingredients:

- 2 cups Washing Soda

- 2 cups Borax

- 1 bar Fels Naptha

You may wonder why this recipe calls for more borax and washing soda than other recipes found online.

It's because we have hard water.

Geez, water issues again?? I have to make our No 'Poo recipe a special way because of our hard water.... and now, our detergent? Well, I guess I'll just deal with it...

So, I grated the entire bar of Fels Naptha (which, by the way, is a laundry soap).

I tried putting it through our tiny little food processor to make them into tinier pieces, but it ended up just balling up. lol. no good. It crumbled anyway when I crushed it with my hands, but next time, I'll just keep them shredded like the photo above.

Then, I put everything into an empty, huge coffee container and mixed and mixed and mixed until the yellow soap seemed evenly distributed.

- We put in 2 tablespoons (we're using the scoop that came with the coffee container) as the water is filling up in the washer. I first start off with hot water and then if I need to switch to cold, I switch it after I know that the soap has dissolved completely.

- We add Oxy Clean to the "1" line before adding clothes.

- We also use white vinegar in a Downy ball for the rinse cycle as our "softener". :)

So far so good. It's been 2 weeks and everything seems to be working great!

I even did a test wash and put tomato sauce on a hand towel and let it sit for 2 days before washing it. No stain! :D

MUCH cheaper than store bought detergent and less chemicals. Yay.

Here's where I need your help.

I read that Fels Naptha may not be the "greenest" soap to use.

I wanted to use Dr. Bronner's Castille soap, but I also read that it doesn't get as clean. That's no good. I also read about Ivory, so I might try that.

Suggestions?

No 'Poo Tuesday Report - Week 6

Making the ACV mixture stronger and less diluted totally worked!

My hair is not dry and static-y anymore! Yay!!!

I'm kind of at the point where I miss that nice shampoo/conditioner smell.

I know that's one of the selling points for shampoo and conditioner.

I don't mind the ACV smell, but... still, I miss that shampoo/conditioner yummy smell.

I gotta keep reminding myself that the fragrance is just one of the bad things about those products and that there are so many other chemicals in them that are super bad, too.

Plus, my hair is still healthy looking and clean. The only thing missing is that fragrance. I wonder if I can add my own somehow?

(For my No 'Poo recipe and previous entries, check out "No 'Poo" under the categories on the right side!)

My Green Monster Smoothie

I love making smoothies.

I really like this green smoothie recipe I found online.

It is SO SO SO delicious and super healthy!

I always substitute the flavored yogurt for non-flavored Greek yogurt and add honey.

Today, I decided to change it up a little bit.

I added frozen peaches, whole flax seeds, and kale!

I also didn't have any bananas in the freezer so I just used a handful of ice cubes.

Yuri's Green Monster Smoothie

5-6 ice cubes

1 1/2 cup non-fat milk (I had to use more because my blender kept getting stuck)

1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt1-2 tablespoons honey

6 oz frozen peaches (1/2 bag from Trader Joes)

1 banana

1 to 2 tablespoons peanut butter

1/4 to 1/2 cup whole flax seeds

1 cup kale

Baby spinach - fill the blender to the top

Put everything into blender and blend!

It's seriously SO delicious. You can't even tell you're drinking spinach!

My little Y LOVES this drink.

You can add whatever you want. I've added blueberries, strawberries, oranges, apples, etc, etc... (but if you add things like blueberries and strawberries, your smoothie will come out looking a little darker and not as bright green).

Let me know if you try it!

Also... let me know about your blender. I need some recommendations!