This is Day 50 of the Green in 365 series! You know that the Real Food movement is starting to shake up the industry when you watch food commercials on TV and every other word is about how that particular food product is "real" "natural" contains "real ingredients" or "no artificial ingredients". The problem? They're at best being misleading, and at worst, straight up lying to consumers. Most of the foods being advertised are still highly processed, and not at all close to … [Read more...]
At Simple Homemade: A Creative Life
Last week I was over at Simple Homemade sharing how I'm working on incorporating more creativity and creating into my life. It's been a fun process over the past few months for this uncrafty mama to start trying to be more intentional about finding time and space in my life to create and be a little crafty. From the post: If you’ve followed along with me on my blog, Live Renewed, for any length of time you’ll know that I consider myself an un-crafty mama. What this means to me is that I … [Read more...]
Your Green Resource {10.11.12}
Hey friends! So sorry we missed Your Green Resource last week! I was so busy with the 31 Days to Green Cleaning series that I totally forgot about it! But, we're back at it this week and I'm excited to see what you have to share! Remember that when you link up your post to Your Green Resource here on Live Renewed, it will also be shared on these ladies' great blogs! Stacy at A Delightful Home Megan at Sorta Crunchy *Andrea at The Greenbacks Gal has decided not to continue hosting, … [Read more...]
31 Days to Green Clean: Cleaning with Baking Soda
Besides vinegar, my other favorite basic cleaner is baking soda. Take your old Parmesan cheese containers and fill them up with baking soda. You can also add essentials oils to the baking soda, if you'd like, but it makes it a little bit clumpy. Baking soda is an excellent abrasive cleaner to replace conventional chemical scrubbing cleaners. Then just shake the baking soda onto surfaces you want to clean, such as the toilet, bathtub and sink in the bathroom, or the stove top, counters, … [Read more...]
31 Days to Green Clean: Cleaning with Vinegar
Now that we have our ingredients and containers, let's get started cleaning! The first, and most basic, homemade cleaner you can make is to mix white vinegar 50/50 with water in a spray bottle. This is a multipurpose cleaner that you can use to clean all around your house. Anywhere that you would spray 409, or any-other conventional cleaner, you can use vinegar and water. Use it to clean your kitchen counters, flours, cabinets, inside the refrigerator, clean wood floors, tile floors, … [Read more...]
Guest Post: Disinfecting Cloth Diapers After a Yeast Infection
Guest Post by Erin Odom of The Humbled Homemaker *A note from Emily: I am so grateful to have this guest post from Erin. Blair had a yeast rash when she was about a week old and I didn't realize what it was at first. After asking for some advice on Facebook, several people responded that it could be a yeast infection. I had been using cloth on her because I thought that would help clear up the rash (usually true, but not with yeast), and so I had to disinfect my diapers before I could put them … [Read more...]
6 Tips for Surviving the Newborn Stage — Part 2
Yesterday I gave you my first three tips for surviving the newborn baby stage, and today I have the next three for you. As always, this is what I have found to work for me, my babies, and my family, and it doesn't necessarily mean that you can or should do all of them too. I'm a firm believer that you have to find what works best for you and your baby, but I hope that some of these tips can be helpful to you in figuring that out. Tips for Surviving the Newborn Stage Lay Your Baby Down to … [Read more...]
6 Tips for Surviving the Newborn Stage — Part 1
Read Part 2 here. Recently, I shared my choices for essential gear for the newborn stage, and while all of those things do help to make my life with a newborn easier, after having three babes, I've also learned a few tips and tricks that really help me to survive those early days, weeks and months. In some ways the newborn stage is one of the easiest stages of a child's life. Their needs are basic, and they sleep all. the. time. And yet, life with a newborn can be exhausting and … [Read more...]
Preserving Summer’s Bounty – Freezing Berries
I'm pretty new to the whole preserving foods thing. I've made freezer jam the last few years, frozen strawberries, blueberries, peaches and asparagus to use throughout the year, and canned applesauce, but that's about the extent of my preserving experience. But, I have learned from my experience every year, and plan to do more and more preserving each year. I have hopeful plans and expectations for the amount and kinds of food that I want to put up this year, and just wanted to share some … [Read more...]
Fighting Stains the Natural and Green Way
I don't know about you, but my kiddos are really hard on their clothing! Between dirt, mud and grass stains, potty training accidents, and every type of food they eat somehow ending up on their clothes, we have more than our share of stains in this house. It's one of the reasons I try to get as much of their clothing second-hand as I can, because then I don't worry so much if something gets ruined. Fighting stains naturally has been, and probably will continue to be, an ongoing battle for me. … [Read more...]
