Kid-Approved Fire Cider
Kid-Approved Fire Cider
If you've ever had a traditional fire cider, it can be a little spicy, a little vinegar-y. Not something that's easy to compete with bright purple, bubblegum flavored mainstream medicine when it comes to convincing your kid to take a swig. This kid-approved fire cider adds a great bit of raw honey to soothe those intense flavors.
Getting your kids involved in making the fire cider may also encourage them to want to try it! Still a no? Try adding a few tablespoons to some warm tea. Have a tea party.
Either way, this fire cider is antimicrobial, antibacterial, and antiviral, making it a perfect choice for fighting off any sickness.
This recipe is simple, measure with the heart. Add a lot of raw local honey to sweeten it up.
Kid-Approved Fire Cider Recipe
- Large glass jar with a lid
- Orange slices
- Lemon slices
- Fresh Ginger Slices
- Garlic Slices
- Raw Honey
- Apple Cider Vinegar
- Add orange, lemon, ginger, and garlic to your jar to fill, leaving 2-3 inches of space at the top.
- Muddle/smash ingredients down for a minute or two to release juices and flavors
- Add 1/2 cup or more of raw honey
- Top off with apple cider vinegar
- Screw on the lid and give it a good shake
- Leave it on the counter for 3 days
- Strain
- Compost scraps and store liquid in the jar in the fridge.
- At signs of cold symptoms, take a few tablespoons a day.
Non-Toxic Dryer Sheets
Non-Toxic Dryer Sheets
Commercial dryer sheets are loaded with toxic chemicals, synthetic fragrances, and hormone disruptors. By making your own non-toxic dryer sheets, you can avoid those chemicals and reduce your waste.
All you need is scrap fabric - cotton or flannel are ideal, distilled white vinegar, essential oils, and a large jar with a lid.
Don't worry the vinegar smell doesn't stick around. It will dissipate during the drying process and help with static.
Use caution when adding the essential oils, as some essential oils can be flammable. Use no more than 20 drops of any oil for this recipe.
Ditch and switch to reduce your toxic load happens one small step at a time. Replace items in your home as you use them. Try out this recipe for homemade laundry detergent and natural laundry boost to fully replace your laundry needs. Switching out your laundry items is a huge leap to reducing the toxic load for yourself and your family.
Don't have time to make your own homemade laundry detergent? Try out this Thieves Laundry Soap recipe.
Non-Toxic Dryer Sheets
Ingredients
- Approximately 6x6 scrap fabric, doesn't need to be exact
- 1 cup of distilled white vinegar
- 15 drops of essential oils (lemon, lavender, or eucalyptus are great!)
Instructions
- Cut your scrap fabric into squares
- Add vinegar and essential oils to your jar
- Soak your squares in the mixture for several minutes
- Remove squares and squeeze out excess liquid.
- Fold and store squares in a jar with a lid.
- Add one square to dryer load, I like to add two to bedding
- Once the squares are used, soak them again!
Homemade Magnesium Spray
Homemade Magnesium Spray
Magnesium is a staple for relaxation. While folks usually go for a bath or foot bath, this homemade magnesium spray is easy to absorb and apply when you're in a pinch. Magnesium has been shown to reduce stress and enhance sleep. It's also shown to support hormone function and provide energy support. These magnesium chloride bath flakes are the best.
During pregnancy, my feet (along with the rest of me) were very swollen during the third trimester, IYKYK. I was also sleeping terribly, as expected. Magnesium foot baths gave my feet incredible relief, helped set up a relaxing environment, and I slept as good as someone good when they have a pumpkin-sized gymnast attached to them.
Once the baby came, I definitely needed all the support I could get with hormones, sleep, and reduced stress. Between the cluster-feeding and contact naps, I didn't have the time to continue with my evening foot soaks. Sure, I could steal away for a bath every now and then, but I felt like I needed support each night. That's where this homemade magnesium spray really came in handy. Now, I use it on myself and my one-year old during out bedtime routine.
Homemade Magnesium Spray Recipe
Homemade Magnesium Spray
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup water
- 1/3 cup magnesium flakes
- Spray bottle
Instructions
- Boil water
- Add Magnesium flakes
- Stir until fully dissolved
- Wait until cooled
- Pour into spray bottle
Apply 2-3 sprays on the soles of your feet before bed.
Homemade Laundry Detergent
Homemade Laundry Detergent
Commercial laundry detergents contain a variety of harmful chemicals. From dyes, to fragrances, to irritants, there are countless reasons to ditch your commercial laundry detergents and move to your own homemade laundry detergent. It's easy, cheaper, and effective!
Use this recipe with my Laundry Boost for the ultimate stain and stank fighting combination. Adding essential oils will give this a great scent, without the chemicals. Castile soap is sold unscented or with scent. I like to add the same essential oil as the scent used in the castile soap - lemon and eucalyptus are my favorite.
Be sure to mix prior to use. Contents will naturally settle. Keep out of reach of children. 
Homemade Laundry Detergent
Ingredients
Instructions
Notes
Simple Homemade Toothpaste
Simple Homemade Toothpaste
When making the change to low-tox living, swapping out your toothpaste with this homemade toothpaste is a great first step. While it's very overwhelming once you begin to learn how toxic the products in our home are, taking small steps can lighten the load and make things easier. As you run out of items, swap them out for low-tox options.
Why Switch to Homemade Toothpaste?
Conventional toothpaste is filled with chemicals that disrupt our body and do more harm than good. Fluoride is a known neurotoxin. It can cause a number of serious adverse health effects, including endocrine dysfunction in addition to neurological dysfunction. It's also been shown to negatively affect cognitive development in children. Parabens can disrupt hormone function by mimicking estrogen and has been linked to breast cancer. Triclosan has been linked to antibiotic resistance and skin cancer. Sodium Lauryl Sulphate (SLS) has been shown to cause skin irritation and can aggravate aphthous ulcers. Propylene Glycol is linked to damage of the central nervous system, liver, and heart. Artificial Sweeteners have links to bladder cancer, brain tumors, and lymphoma. Diethanolamine (DEA) is found in antifreeze and brake fluid and has been linked to cancer in test animals.
Simple Homemade Toothpaste Recipe
6 TBS Coconut Oil
2.5 TBS Baking Soda
35 drops of Peppermint Essential Oil
1. Melt coconut oil on low heat
2. Once heated, remove the heat and stir in baking soda
3. Add essential oil
4. Mix the ingredients together and store in an airtight glass jar.
5. To use, place 1/2 TSP of the paste on your brush and brush for two minutes.
Low Cost Ways to Humidify Your Home
Low Cost Ways to Humidify Your Home
Using a few of these simple, low-cost tricks, you can easily add moisture to your interior air every day and humidify your home without expensive humidifiers.
During the dry winter days, humidity in your home can drop significantly. When indoor humidity drops below 30 percent, people are likely to experience chapped skin and irritated, sinuses, eyes and nose. When indoor humidity is low and then you mix in cool dry air and wind, our bodies can react with dry skin and lips.
Using heat sources, you'll be able to transfer water vapor into the air easily without an expensive humidifier. While humidifiers are extremely useful, they are often expensive. Especially so if you chose one that doesn't have internal valves, as humidifiers are notorious for getting moldy.
Benefits of Increasing Humidity in Your Home
Not only will increasing the humidity in your home keep your chapped lips and dry skin at bay, but it will also help prevent illnesses. Keeping the mucus membranes moise in your eyes, nose, and throat create a natural barrier to prevent infection from seeping in.
Bowls of Water
Place bowls of water on surfaces around your home to increase humidity in each room. Putting these bowls on window sills is ideal, as the sun coming in will help evaporate the air faster. Be sure to keep these bowls away from high traffic areas and keep them up high so children and pets cannot reach them and cause accidental spills. See, now all of those cups of water by your bed are actually for good use.
Use Your Radiators or Vents
If you have built-in radiators in your home instead of central heating, use these radiant heat sources by placing your bowls of water on top of the unit to humidify the rooms in your home. Be careful, as bowls may get hot. If you do have central heat, place bowls near the vents in your home so that the air can blow the additional moisture around the room. Be sure that these are safely away from electrical outlets or an area where they will be spilled.
Boil Water on Your Stove
Boiling water on your stove quickly evaporates water to boost humidity in your home. You can even add a few essential oils if you'd like. Be sure that you keep an eye on the pot and never leave it unattended. Set a timer in case you are doing a few things around the house, so that you don't forget.
Leave the Bathroom Door Open
While you take a shower, leave the bathroom door open to let the humidity flow throughout the home. If you prefer to take baths, don't drain the water immediately. Instead, leave it in the tub until it cools and then drain it.
Thieves Laundry Soap Recipe
Laundry detergents love to market themselves as cleaner than they actually are. Many that are marketed as extra clean, safe for sensitive skin, and safe for babies are actually filled with SLS, SLES, dyes, petrochemicals, formaldehyde, phosphates, and synthetic fragrances. All of which are known skin irritants and hormone disruptors. Known. Being marketed to us as clean, safe, and even great for our babies.
Why I Switched to Thieves Laundry Soap
Just a few days after the birth of my son, I started to develop a very itchy widespread rash on my hips, knees, and elbows. Rashes are so mysterious, aren't they? I couldn't figure out what was doing it, where it came from, or how to get rid of it. Terrible. Especially on top of the usual postpartum healing and care, figuring out nursing, and caring for a brand spankin' new baby.
After days of narrowing it down, I finally figured out that it was the Baby OxyClean. Marketed as the most sensitive. I learned that when you are nursing, your resistance to irritants is routed to your baby, and you are left with diminished defenses. So this awful rash was what my body was defending against all day long, and I washed all of the blankets, swaddles, and baby clothes in it.
I threw the Oxy Clean in the trash, got some Thieves Laundry soap from a friend while I waited for mine to arrive, and rewashed everything three times with the Thieves. The rash that had me taking oatmeal baths and coating myself in salve went away in less than 48 hours.
The Dilution Recipe for Thieves Laundry Soap
Young Living sells most of their Thieves cleaning line products as concentrates. That means you get a lot of bang for your buck. Especially with the Thieves Laundry soap.
At first, I was skeptical on how well it would work. Between farming, hunting, gardening, exercising, raising babies, these clothes are dirty, y'all. This works wonders on our clothes. If they are really gross, I'll add a couple of bloops of vinegar to the washer in addition to my Thieves Laundry soap mixture to give it a boost. I know some people like to use an oxygen booster to their clothes. I love Molly's Oxygen Boost for a clean option on Amazon; otherwise, Branch Basics Oxygen Boost is a great option.
Since the Thieves Laundry soap is super concentrated can be diluted. Here's the recipe below.
Thieves Laundry Soap Recipe
Ingredients
- Three 32 oz glass pump bottles
- Thieves Laundry Soap
- Thieves Household Cleaner
- 15 drops lemon essential oil
Instructions
- Split the Thieves Laundry soap into thirds into each glass pump bottle until the Thieves Laundry soap is empty. Measure with your eyes.
- Once each bottle has 1/3 of the Thieves Laundry soap in it, pour two capfuls of the Thieves Household cleaner into each bottle.
- Add the lemon essential oil (or your fav EO - I love eucalyptus or lavender here!)
- Fill the rest of the bottle with water
- Give it a shake to mix
- Add 6-8 pumps per load.
Natural Laundry Boost
Natural Laundry Boost
Going the natural route for your laundry doesn't meant you have to sacrifice on having a nice fresh scent. Trust me, after Dylan cleans out the pig pen (or leaves his bottle of elk estrus in his hunting pants, IYKYK) - we need a little (a lot) help in the scent department. Plus, kids, exercising - you get it.
We aren't short on reasons to have a laundry scent boost. Plus, we can trust that it isn't filled with chemicals and synthetic fragrance that will disrupt our hormones and cause skin and respiratory irritation. And, most importantly, safe for my bebe.
The Switch
One of the things that pushed me over the edge into low-tox living and questioning the products and foods I was putting in and on my body was laundry detergent. When I was early postpartum, I started to develop an incredibly itchy rash on my legs, waistline, and arms.
If you're a mama, you know how physically challenging those first few weeks are already. Add the lack of sleep, cracked and sore nips, sweaty, in a diaper, changing diapers - oh, and trying to keep a new human alive. Add a rash that made you want to rip your skin off. I mean, off, y'all. And rashes can be so mysterious. Was it internal? Was it external? It took finally realizing that the rash was the most dense on contact areas where my clothes hit.
That's when I realized. The laundry detergent. I just bought the Oxyclean baby brand that was rated pretty well on EWG. That was it. The shoddy synthetic fragrances. Curses!
I threw it all away and completely switched everything to Young Living's Thieves cleaning line - it was the cleanest stuff I could find. The rash went away almost immediately. I was skeptical with how effective it would actually be. The liquid laundry detergent is great - super concentrated, lasts forever. I split the bottle of liquid detergent into three one-liter bottles, fill the rest with water, add some oils, and done. With the farm and baby, I knew I needed a little extra boost in our laundry. I'd read articles about Borax that I wasn't quite sold on and I wasn't sure on washing soda.
In comes this natural laundry scent boost. My favorite oils to add are eucalyptus, lemon, or lavender.
Natural Laundry Scent Boost
Ingredients
- 1 Cup of Baking Soda
- 1.5 Cups of Epsom Salt
- 35 drops of essential oils
Instructions
Dump, shake, done!
Sprinkle 2 TBS in each load.
Notes
I love eucalyptus, lemon, or lavender essential oils.
Essential Oil Bath Bombs
Essential Oil Bath Bombs
Doesn't it just add to the relief to have bath bombs that aren't filled with toxic chemicals and fragrances? While a lot of self-sufficiency is learning the basics - growing and preserving food, natural remedies, etc. it is nice to learn those things that make you feel like you're at a fancy spa. Minus the hormone disruption.
These bath bombs can be customized using whatever essential oils that make your skirt fly up. I'll throw a few of my favorite blends at the bottom, but these make great gifts. Once you get the hang of the texture, they are easy peasy.
Some things you may not have on hand are linked: citric acid, bath bomb molds, and jojoba oil.
Bath Bomb Essential Oil Blends
All essential oils can be found at Young Living.
Relax:
4 drops of Lavender
4 drops of Cedarwood
2 drops of Grapefruit
2 drops of Marjoram
Deep Breath, great for stuffy sinuses or cough
4 drops of Eucalyptus
4 drops of Lavender
2 drops of Peppermint
2 drops of Tea Tree
Sleepy Time, great for kiddos
2 drops of Orange
4 drops of Lavender
2 drops of Gentle Baby (Young Living)
Moody
4 drops of Evergreen Essence (Young Living)
3 drops of Copaiba
2 drops of Pine
2 drops of Bergamot
Non-Toxic Bath Bombs
Ingredients
- 1 cup of baking soda
- 1/2 cup citric acid
- 1/2 cup epsom salt
- 1/2 cup cornstarch
- 2-5 teaspoons of water
- 1 teaspoon of jojoba oil
- 10-14 drops of essential oils
- Bath Bomb mold
- Dried flowers, optional
Instructions
- Place all of the dry ingredients in a bowl and whisk
- Add the jojoba oil and essential oils in a separate bowl
- Very slowly, add the liquid to the dry mixture a little at a time, whisking as you go.
- The mixture should hold together well when squeezed and should not crumble, similar to the texture of sand you need for a sand castle.
- Add a few more drops of water if needed to achieve the correct texture
- Pack the molds tightly, add your optional dried flowers
- Molds will set and dry in 48 hours.
Orange-Infused All Purpose Cleaner
Infused All Purpose Cleaner
This infused all purpose cleaner is easy to make, non-toxic, with no essential oils, artificial fragrances, dyes, chemicals. It's pretty much free of all the things you don't want to clean with, especially when you have babies roaming around the house. This is great for a quick wipe on the bathroom counters, toys, your car, the changing pad. Just don't use it on marble or hardwood - orange and vinegar can be finicky when it comes to those surfaces.
Is this my mega-deep clean, dog had an accident, baby had a blow-out go-to cleaner? No. This is my everyday, de-funkify, give the countertops and high chair a quick wipe and move on type of spray. Vinegar is a surprisingly effective cleaner. Plus! Put those rinds to good use.
Instead of orange peels, swap them out for limes or lemons for a fresh fun scent. Love using essential oils? Feel free to add a few drops in when you are mixing this in the spray bottle.
When you've mixed your cleaner, throw the rinds to the chickens or pigs or add them to the compost pile for a no waste cleaner.
These are my favorite amber glass spray bottles!
Orange-Infused All Purpose Cleaner
Ingredients
- Glass Quart jar and lid
- Orange peels 6-8, depending on size
- Distilled white vinegar
- Well-filtered or distilled water
- 16oz Spray bottle
Instructions
- Add orange peels to your quart jar as you use them
- Once the jar is full of peels, add vinegar to cover the peels
- Let sit on counter and steep for 10-14 days, with lid on.
- When it's ready, remove the peels, fill your spray bottle with 8oz of water and 8oz of the vinegar.
Notes
Use on counters, toys, bathrooms, highchairs, and more.
Swap the orange peels for lemon peels!