SP Purificaton Program - Day 2

Today has been a little easier but I was too busy to think about it today.  I have to admit that I feel a lot hungrier than normal which is probably not a good idea but it's nothing to untolerable. I'm proud of myself though because today is Halloween and I thought being around all that candy would make it harder than it really has been (my trick was to give away all our candy so I won't be tempted).  I have been feeling a little achy and have had a slight headache which is to be expected.  This coming week will be very trying, John is out of town so I'm going to have the kids with no help from him which usually warrants a glass of wine.  On the flip side, without John being here there is no temptation to order pizza or grab Mexican. 

Meals:
For breakfast I had a SP shake with 1/2 banana, 1/2 cup raspberries and 1/2 cup blueberries and half of a grapefruit.
For lunch I had a salad with avocado, carrots and celery with apple cider vinegarette.
As a snack I had a SP shake with 1/2 cup peaches and 1/2 cup strawberries.
For dinner I had 1/2 a sweet potato and squash apple soup
I snacked on kale chips (which I made in the dehydrator) and they were a lot better than I was expecting.    

Standard Process Purification Program - Day 1

Since I'm starting the Standard Process Purification Program I figured my best way to journal by journey would be to blog about it.  It's day 1 and it started out pretty rough (Halloween party last night with some cocktails about sums it up) but it's nothing I can't handle. 

For breakfast I had a SP complete shake with 1/2 cup frozen blueberries and 1/2 a banana.
As a snack I had some homemade vegetable broth and another SP shake made with a cup of raspberries and 1 T of cod liver oil.
For lunch I had a spinach salad with scallions, carrots, celery and garlic vinegarette.
I snacked on some carrots
For dinner I made spaghetti squash with fresh herbs and a SP shake with blueberries.

It was a rough day.  I'm not sure if it was from the night before or just because it was the beginning of the program but I have a feeling this is going to be a long 3 weeks. 

Aluminum-free deoderant

The thought of a product that can keep you from sweating kind of freaks me out.  Aren't we supposed to sweat?  Isn't that our body's way of cooling us off?  Why would we want to keep our bodies from doing so?  The aluminum that is in most store bought deoderant/anitperspirants has been linked to Alzheimer's, seizures and possibly cancer?  This aluminum is aborbed in greater amounts to those of us who shave.  I've been down that road and am not interested in doing so again.  Homemade it is! 

I had to "play" with this recipe quite a bit for it to come out the way I wanted but this is what I think I ended up with:

• 6 TBS. coconut oil
• 1/3 cup baking soda
• 1/3 cup arrowroot powder

Mix the ingredients together and wa-la!  It was pretty runny when I finished (hence why I had to "play") but hardened up a bit once it's set.  You can store this in a plastic/glass container or put it into an old deoderant dispenser. 

I'm sure a few drops of tea tree oil (or any other antiseptic oil you like) would work well with this recipe.  I didn't try this but I'm sure I will next time I make a batch. 

This is great, I can go all day with just one application.  I even treated patients all day and didn't even have to re-apply.  The only time I've noticed any odor was after I had been in the 90 degree heat for a good part of the day but it would have been the same with my old store-bought deoderant.

I have a feeling this is going to last a lot longer than any other deoderant that I've bought, it's definitely a lot cheaper (maybe $1.50) and I feel so much better about using it.

Bye bye dryer sheets

The ONLY reason I ever really used dryer sheets was to keep my clothes from being all "staticky."  I seem to have a sensitivity to scents so I usually have a headache if I wear clothes that smell too much like commerical detergents or dryer sheets.  Most of both are scented to mask the odors the deteregents aren't able to clean.  If I had it my way I'd line dry my clothes but the HOA doesn't agree.  With that being said, I was not hesitant in the least to quit using dryer sheets when I found a solution to the static.

Another simple one.  And why not start small?  I recently found a woman, named Lindsay, whose blog I find inspiring.  Her family lives their life as I'd like my family to live ours - frugal, healthy, naturally and most importantly, faithfully. 

Here's the solution I found to throw the dryer sheets away:

• A tablespoon or 2 of white vinegar (no worries, your clothes will not smell like vinegar)

Add this to the softener dispenser of your washing machine at the start of your wash.  If you'd like your clothes to smell nice and pretty you can throw a towel/washcloth in the dryer that has a few drops of essential oil on it.

Our review:  2 thumbs up from me.  John is satisfied with the lack of static but he really wants his clothes to "smell clean."  I'll advise him of the essential oil next time he does laundry (and yes, he does his own laundry).

On we go!

I've decided that I really want our family to live simpler lives. I really believe that God didn't intend for us to stress so much over how much products cost, to worry about where our food came from and what is in it or put so many things into/onto our bodies that aren't natural. I do understand that this process isn't going to be so 'simple' at first and I'm going to have to remind myself that I need to take it one task at a time and that I may have to modify each task for it to fit our lives.

Once I get a better hang of this blogging thing, I will most definitely add links to where I am getting this information and/or recipes so credit can be given.

With that being said I have already simplfied our lives by removing all air freshener sprays from our home. If you read the labels on some of the produts out there you may see that they are banned in CA due to causing cancer (not to mention all the chemicals that they contain). Scary, scary, scary.  There are so many ways to get rid of odors; open a window, get rid of the source, buy some plants, etc. but if you need a quick fix here's how.

This is a "simple" one to do, these are the ingredients I used and this is where I found how. Are you ready for it????

• One cup of distilled water
• Roughly 5 drops of lavendar oil (any essential, antiseptic oil will do)

Wah-lah! That's it. You can put this in any spray bottle but since it's on display in the bathroom I put mine in small, glass, blue spray bottles that I found at a garage sale. I'd say that this cost me roughly less than $1.50 to make a bottle for both bathrooms.

Our review: This is great. Not only is this incredibly inexpensive but I don't have to worry about the kiddos ingesting all those chemicals in the store bought sprays. I really like the way it smells and it seems to have gotten the okay from the hubby.