Weekend Farmer's Market Trip - May 26

I couldn't go to the farmer's market again.  I'm just too busy on the weekends.

H and Y went, though!

Here's what they bought...

Strawberries
Cherries
Kumquats
Beets
Swiss Chard
Kettle Corn (from a friend)


Strawberries are super sweet!!!  mmm~
Cherries are yummy, too.  I haven't had cherries in forever.

I hope I can go to the farmer's market with them soon.
Probably not, though, since I started work and I work Saturday mornings. booo...

What do you like to buy at the farmer's market?

Cloth Diapering in Japan - UPDATE!!

Last week, while I was in Japan, I was lucky enough to visit my friend, Julia in Ishikawa-ken.
She's about to become a mommy and I HAD to visit her before her little one arrived (I HAVE to visit her after the baby's born, too... hahaha).

We looked through all the baby stuff she had.  I swear, Japan has some of the CUTEST things ever... and the most useful things.  Some of my beloved baby products are from Japan.

I'm super excited that she's going to be cloth diapering her baby!  She showed me the cloth diapers she received from people in Japan... and she asked me how to use them.

Well, first of all, they look nothing like what we use, have used, or have ever seen.


These diapers are super long, super thin, and is one big loop.  They seem different from our flats here and the directions on the package did not help.

We had a better idea about how to use these ones... but it still didn't really make sense. thats the cover on the bottom right, and thats the absorbent cloth pad in the middle... but that larger light cloth on top??  It's super super thin.  We thought it was a liner but it's bigger than the cloth pad part, but not big enough to really wrap it... and if you keep it open like it is and place it in the cover, it won't fit.   hmm...

Me being silly with the first diaper.  See, it's a big loop.  

She gave me two of these long loop ones... If I can't figure out how to use them, they're gonna become dish towels....

Both of these diapers are sold in major baby stores in Japan.  She has a lot of these... both kinds.  It would be great to get some insight on how to use them!

I tried researching, but haven't really found an answer... any input is greatly appreciated!!


Small update!
I found this site that shows one way of folding those long loop diapers.  It's not one of the ways shown on the package, but I decided to give it a try...

I did the hotdog fold and followed the t-fold method directions.

I decided to use a Snappi, though, since Y is very active and I don't want the diapers to unfold.

(click for bigger photo)

Anyone else have any other suggestions?

No 'Poo Tuesday Report - Week 13

So you may wonder if I've given up on this "no 'poo" experiment since I've been MIA for so long.

Well, I'm still doing it and I LOVE it still.

I went on my tour in April and went back to 'poo.  My face broke out!!  Using shampoo again made my face breakout, and I thought maybe it was the change in climate or the traveling... but as soon as I got home and started back on my no 'poo regimen, my skin cleared up again. hmmm~

Then, last week, I traveled to Japan and used shampoo for 9 days.  I broke out AGAIN!  and again, I thought maybe it was the climate change and the traveling... and again, as soon as I got back and started using my no 'poo concoction, my skin started to clear up. HMMMM......

Anyway, I love the no 'poo thing.  I wish I knew more people that were willing to do this no 'poo experiment with me.  My hair isn't greasy.  It doesn't smell funky. It's super clean and I have way more volume than before.  I think it's because I'm not using chemicals that strip away EVERYTHING in my hair, even the good stuff.

I'm super happy to be back on my no 'poo experiment once again.

Are you doing it yet?  :)


To read about my past weeks and to find out my no 'poo recipe, check out my no 'poo arvhive!

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!)