Yogurt

We made another change that tastes good. Yogurt. Hubby loves yogurt with his lunches. I enjoy it on occasion. More so in the warmer weather. My yogurt of choice is (well now, was) Yoplait. The whips in particular. I like the fact they are a smaller serving size. Hubby likes whatever I get him. He likes a bigger serving size. So typically for him I bought the Fred Meyer brand. 8 ounces & usually on sale. Well, both have stuff I don’t feel comfortable eating anymore or giving to my man to eat.

So I decided to look at the big containers of plain yogurt. Very short ingredient list & no crap. Yay!! Mountain High was the only brand I found that was regular. The other brands were either “light” or “fat free” or they were flavored. Well, we also have plenty of frozen fruit at home right now. I thawed some & mixed it with the yogurt for the hubby. Had him taste it. He added less than half a teaspoon of sugar & was good to go. Not bad. I licked the plain yogurt off the spoon one night while doling out his serving for the next day’s lunch. Hmmm… not bad. I think I can do this too.

This way, I can make the servings the size I want. The cost is a little more. But, I’m willing to pay that little bit extra to have something that much better for us. With the free fruit we have it comes out to less than 10 cents more a serving. That’s only 50 cents more a week. I think that’s reasonable.

High fructose corn syrup

For me, going natural is more than removing chemicals from cleaning products & toiletries. It is about removing the crap from the food I eat too. It is amazing how much added stuff is in food these days. I’ve been reading ingredient labels lately. I know, bad thing, cuz you’ll never want to eat anything again once you know what that stuff really is. Well, not completely so. It is happening more tho. Making small decisions & changes to work towards a better me. A better us. I look at labels between brands. Less ingredients is better. And if I cannot pronounce them, I don’t buy it. If high fructose corn syrup is on one label but not another, I buy the one without it. Simple things like that.

But doing this comes with a new mindset too. You have to want it. Really. Kind of like walking the walk when you talk the talk. Like over the weekend the hubby & I went to Costco. I had a couple things I wanted to get. Well, one main one got left there. I made a discovery by comparing labels. I had wanted to get some Kraft Miracle Whip from there since I figured it was cheaper to buy the big container vs. the smaller ones in the stores. That part was fine. I put it in the cart. Hubby picked it up & looked at the label. High Fructose Corn Syrup. In MY Mayo!! No way! It couldn’t be. So I walked over to look at the 2 other mayos on the shelves. One was a local brand & one was regular Kraft mayo. No HFCS in either one. Dammit. That ingredient is what kept me buying their product. And oftentimes paying more. I was addicted to the taste.

It took a bit of talking to myself but I put it back. I could make a change. I know I can’t just give up mayo right now. I like it. hubby likes it. I use it for pasta salads, for tuna, & on sandwiches. But I could make a switch to something without the HFCS. It’s no huge thing. It’s a baby step. This journey is full of baby steps. I feel so good tho, each time I take a step.

Dishes & stove tops

Well, I used the Dr. Bronner’s Sal Suds to do the dishes. It works. I have no problem not buying separate dish washing liquid anymore. I also like the real pine smell of it. Not a Pine Sol pine, but real pine, like you smell out in nature.

I also found that my spray bottle of vinegar & water worked great on my cook top. Whenever I would wipe it off with my sponge while doing dishes, I get a cloudy film left behind when it dries. It didn’t matter if I used fresh soapy water, or waited until the end. Usually I end up wiping & wiping & wiping with a clean dry dishcloth to try to get the streaks & film gone. So I tried the vinegar & water bottle. A couple squirts & paper towel left the cook top clean, streak free & with no film. I like it. Nice green alternative for sure! Not to mention super inexpensive. Oh, & for paper towels we buy the select a size ones so it's one small sheet not a whole big one. I'll be switching to a microfiber towel here shortly for that task.

Thoughts on Whole Living

Be mindful of where you put your attention. The shape of your life will follow.

When you view your health as nonnegotiable, your priorities naturally shift.

Positive change starts with truth, & no one knows it better than you.

I was posting these thoughts pretty regular before, then got sidetracked with life. In going thru my saved documents, I found it again. Guess I should work on getting these out there again huh? They came from the back page of the Body & Soul magazines I was getting. Right now, the subscription has to expire since I can't afford to pay for another year right now. But, I have quite a few saved up to pull these thoughts from in the mean time. Enjoy.

The kitchen

The kitchen sink. Well, I did not let go of as much under there as in the bathroom. Not yet. I did let go of several things that were half gone, or old & rarely used. And we have already replaced bathroom cleaners with vinegar & baking soda months ago. So I have no foaming spray stuff for my toilet or shower. No nasty smelling fumes to get the room clean.

In the kitchen I still have my dishwasher Electrosol tabs, multi surface & glass cleaners & Febreeze. I’m working on it. I’m looking into alternatives. Soon as I know I have something that works, the chemicals will go. No matter how much is left. I used to have the mindset that well, I can just use these up, then do better. How is that good? The sooner we stop putting these chemicals into our waters, the sooner the filtration places can stop working so hard.

When I go to wash dishes later, one test will be underway. I used up the last of my dishwashing soap. Now I’ll be using Dr. Bronner’s. I’ll talk about that product in a separate post tho. And you’ll be amazed how good vinegar & baking soda work on many things!!!

Let the cleansing begin

So as the description says, I’m here to work on getting chemicals out of my life as much as possible. I’m working on moving away from chemicals & replacing things with their natural counterparts. In many ways, it has been easy. Thanks in a big part to my friend Amy.

I started with my bathroom. It was a wonderful feeling to let go of a boxful of toiletries. Yes, a boxful. I pulled out everything from under the bathroom sink & in the cabinet. I only put back less than a quarter of what I started with. I should have taken a picture.

So what’s gone? Lotions, makeup, facial cleansers, scrubs & astringents, colognes, tanning stuff, & other misc chemical crap. All gone. Even my deodorant. I kept my shower gels & shampoo since I had no replacement for them right away.

I’m not a big makeup person to begin with so letting go of that stuff was pretty easy. I kept a few eyeliners & 2 natural mineral makeup type things. The rest, gone. The lotions were a bit harder to let go of, but when you think about the fact you are lathering on the chemicals to be absorbed into your body, it gets a little easier then. There are lotions out there without the bad crap in them. For my deodorant I have found a substitute that has no aluminum. And it seems to actually work! For the facial stuff, there are easy replacements too.

I just cannot tell you how good it felt to know I will no longer be putting that stuff into or onto my body. I took control. And to think I wont have to spend all that money on that stuff anymore! Sorry manufacturers. No I’m not!

So for anyone who follows me, this is my beginning. My next step was under the kitchen sink.

Notes from the Universe

Nicole, it is easy. Just once a day, imagine the life you dream of. Believe that it can be yours in this world of magic and miracles. Choose to live as if you know of its inevitable manifestation. Don't compromise. Don't worry. Don't look for results. And as surely as spirit crafts one moment after another, so too will it fuse together the life you now lead with the life of your dreams as if they were two pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, destined to become one.
This alone determines what's "meant to be."

Tallyho,
The Universe

And then, Nicole, people are going to start talking... I mean, even more.

*My family & a friend's family are trying to find the right house to share so we can all save on expenses. This is what I will spend my time imagining. Us, in the perfect house big enough for all of us.