It actually came while I wasn’t home and when I got back, I had to wrangle it from my kids to read it and review it.

Just like Sarah’s other book, Everyday Paleo, her children’s book is engaging and conversational. My kids really enjoyed it and were able to understand the message, even at their ages.

As my five year old summarized ”Basically (his favorite word) it means that if you eat healthy foods like meat and vegetables that you will be able to play sports better and think better.”

If you’ve been looking for a way to introduce healthy foods to your kids, this book is a great solution. The book follows the Paleo Pals as they help Jimmy learn about real foods and how to make healthy food choices.

Paleo Pals takes kids through a food plant where foods are produced with chemicals and ingredients they can’t read to a farm where they see natural food being produced. They then travel to a farmer’s market where Jimmy gets to pick out healthy vegetables and fruits to eat.

Then, the Paleo Pals take Jimmy to a school yard where he sees how the kids who chose to eat healthier have more energy and can play better. It discusses how food is fuel for the body and why whole foods are a good choice.

The book helps kids understand that healthy foods support their bodies and let them be strong like their favorite super heroes. We already eat the way Sarah recommends in the book, but my kids have asked a few times this week if a certain food would help them be a super hero or not.

I like that this book focuses on the positive side of eating healthy and gives kids practical ways to choose healthy foods. It doesn’t portray foods as “bad” but explains how foods with chemicals aren’t optimal.

At the end of the book, Sarah has some great kid-friendly recipes with kid-friendly instructions so that your kids can get excited and involved in planning and eating healthy foods.

Overall, my kids loved Paleo Pals and I would definitely recommend it! It’s available for pre-order now for 35% off the regular price!

[Note: My printable organization/planning checklists are at the bottom of the post..]

I was hesitant to use the word “organization” in the title because this is one of my weakest areas. I get emails from readers asking how I make time for family, homeschooling, cloth diapering, projects and blogging, so I wanted to share the tips and tricks I’ve found.

I am by no means an organizing/cleaning guru… and my husband would be the first to attest that I have room for improvement in this area. Currently, there are toys on my floor and dishes in my sink, but my kids are playing happily and dinner is in the oven.

During an average week, I do 5-8 loads of laundry, cook three meals from scratch each day, attempt to keep the house clean, homeschool the kids, nurse the baby 8-10 times a day and try to keep up with this blog. (and try to go to bed before 10pm.. yeah right)

Besides the obvious fact that I’m probably crazy, I’ve found that I have to focus on organization and routine to be able to keep up with it all and that I also have to accept less than perfection (*ahem* my house right now) in different areas while focusing on the more important ones.

What Started It All…

When I only had one child, I was able to keep our 1 bedroom apartment clean and cook a hot dinner before my husband got home and even managed to brush my hair and do make-up most days.

Once one child turned into two, then three, then four, it seemed like there was such a volume of work to do that I couldn’t make time to do it all.

I felt like I was constantly mentally overwhelmed with the idea of everything that needed to be done.

A friend suggested that I read a book that had helped her, A Mother’s Rule of Life, and it literally changed how I ran the household and reduced my stress load almost instantly. (Note: It is written from a Catholic perspective but is universally helpful to all moms!)

The basic idea was just that you have a routine and plan for when every job needed to get done and how it would be done. This relieved the mental energy of worrying about when you would vacuum the floor or change the air filter.

Also, rather than scheduling everyone in the family to always be doing the same activities (which I was doing) it had scheduled activities for each child (school, play, chores, etc) so the children could get used to doing these things and knowing when they needed to do things. It eliminated the “I’m bored” because they knew when I would play with them, when school would happen, when they were responsible for picking up and cleaning, etc.

What I do…

I created a rough daily outline of our day, so at any given time, I know what we should be focused on. Since my responsibilities change so much day to day, I outlined the activities I had to get done each day and scheduled time for the things that would come up each day (online orders, vet visits, playdates, etc).

I also assigned major “chores” to each day of the week so that laundry was two days a week, cleaning bathrooms was one day a week, full mopping of the house was one day a week, etc. This let me not stress about the clothes in the laundry basket or the spot on the floor because I knew it would be cleaned soon.

I have scheduled times for meal planning, catching up on emails, reading to the kids and even relaxing (yes, I schedule time to relax…)

I also created checklists of all the things necessary to thoroughly clean each room and put them on paper (sweeping, dusting, picking things up, folding, etc) . This way, when I tell one of the kids to clean a room, they can reference all the things they need to do and not just pick up the floor and call it done. (I drew pictures for each item for the little kids).

We do school in the mornings after breakfast and I work and do blog related stuff during their nap/quiet time. After dinner as a family, we clean up, bathe the kids, read books, say prayers and the kids are in bed by 8.

After the kids are in bed, I finish up work stuff and spend time with my husband.

For everything that is on the schedule, we aren’t at the age of sports and extracurriculars yet, which helps open up the schedule, and while we have a TV, we can’t even get cable in our area, so we don’t watch it.

I’m a long way from perfect at managing it all, but I’ve found that the system at least helps me keep up with it without being stressed all the time.

My “Football”

To keep all the schedule, planning, meal plans, etc organized, I have a 2-inch binder that is my “football.” Just like the President supposedly has a case with all the top security information (the football) with him at all times, this binder has all of my important information and is basically my home management encyclopedia.

In it, I have:

• My daily outline of the rough times that I’ve scheduled for everything to happen that day. This is in a plastic sheet as it is pretty static.
• My daily “Most important tasks” of my top three things that must get done that day, what I’m cooking for dinner, what my workout is, how much water I’ve drank etc. This changes daily.
• Weekly Routine: The jobs that I do each day and when they are doing during the day. Laundry, mopping, deep cleaning rooms, cleaning windows, etc.
• Monthly Jobs: This lists has jobs that happen each month repeatedly, along with jobs that only happen during a certain month (changing of the kids wardrobes, planning the garden, outdoor work, etc)
• Meal Plan: Changes weekly but is planned ahead of time so I can shop for the week all at once and pre-prepare some items.
• Room Cleaning Checklists for each room in the house
• Daily Chores Sheet for each person in the house so that when it says “Morning Chores” on my daily outline, everyone knows what he/she should  be doing.

I highly recommend the book as she walks you through the planning and organization much better than I have. If i would be helpful to you, I’ve attached my printables that I use for organization. Included are: Daily Outline Sheet, Daily Chores Sheet, Weekly Routine Sheet, Monthly Routine Sheet, Meal Plan Sheet, and Room Cleaning Sheet, along with my daily “To-Do list” Sheet.

Click Here to Download the Organization/Planning Printables

If these are helpful to you, please share via facebook, twitter or pinterest so that others can use them too!

How do you do it all? What are your best planning and organization tips and tricks? Please share, I need all the help I can get!

Maybe you’ve been asked why grains are bad when people from other countries (usually Asia and Italy are mentioned here) are able to eat them regularly and still stay thin. [Side note: I'll be addressing both of these misconceptions soon, but the short answer is that besides the big difference is genetics, there are some other huge dietary difference that make up for this, and Italy is seeing rapidly rising rates of obesity and heart disease.]

Even in the health community, there is a split between WAPF (Weston A. Price Foundation) followers and the Paleo/Primal/Low Carb group on the health and necessity of grains and if they should be eaten at all.

You might have read my stance on how grains are killing you slowly, but as there are claims that these traditional preparation methods reduce the dangerous properties of grains, it is worth another look.

What are Soaked, Sprouted or Fermented Grains?

All grains have various properties that protect them in the plant world and allow them to survive to produce seed. In animals, these protective features are often claws, teeth, sharp spines, venomous fangs, etc, or the ability to run away and escape enemies, but plants protective features tend to be a lot more subtle.

Since plants aren’t able to fight or evade, their protective mechanisms are less noticeable. Plants like poison ivy or poison oak have obvious protective mechanisms like the itch-inducing oils on their leaves.

The protective mechanisms of those amber waves of grains are harder to identify externally. These crops are often eaten by animals, so their protection lies in the ability of their seeds (the “grain” itself) to pass through the animal and emerge on the other side as a pre-fertilized seed, ready to grow.

Plants accomplish this through the presence of gluten, other lectins, enzyme inhibitors and phytic acid which allow the grains to pass through the digestive system without harm to the plant. (note: Phytic acid is especially damaging to bone and tooth health and has been linked to tooth decay) These indigestible compounds are great for ensuring the plants continued fertility, but they can be very harmful to humans.

From a previous article:

Gluten is a sticky, water soluble protein that is found in your favorite grains (wheat, rye, barley, etc). Grains like corn, rice and oats have similar proteins that cause problems over time. Gluten and similar grain-based proteins work to break down the microvilli in your small intestine, eventually letting particles of your food leech into your blood stream (a lovely term called “leaky gut syndrome”) causing allergies, digestive disturbances or autoimmune problems.

and

Lectins, are mild toxins the inhibit the repair of the GI track. Lectins are not broken down in the digestive process and bind to receptors in the intestine, allowing them and other food particles to leech into your bloodstream. Nothing like pre-digested food circulating the blood stream! The body views these lectins and the food they bring with them as dangerous invaders and initiates an immune response to get rid of them. This immune response to particles of common foods explains the allergy creating potential of grains.

Soaking, Sprouting and Fermenting

Traditional cultures where grains were consumed regularly or in large amounts found ways to reduce the harmful components of grains through methods like soaking, sprouting and fermenting.

These methods are designed to do what our body can’t and break down the anti-nutrients (gluten, lectin, phytic acid, etc) in grains so that they are more digestible to humans. Evidence shows that these methods do indeed make the nutrients in grains much more bioavailable and reduce the anti-nutrient properties.

These methods rely on using an acidic medium in liquid to soak the grains, a constructive environment to soak them and let them sprout, or a process like sourdough fermentation to alter the chemical make-up of the grain.

Certainly, most grains consumed these days are not prepared in any of these ways, but from a health perspective, are sprouted, soaked or fermented grains healthy?

Are Soaked, Sprouted and Fermented Grains Healthy?

From a nutrient perspective, grains prepared in these ways do have much higher nutrient levels and lower anti-nutrient levels than grains that are just ground into flour and baked, but should they be eaten?

The question remains, do these methods reduce the harmful properties enough to make these grains safe to consume. Mark Sisson sums it up well in his article about traditionally prepared grains:

Soaking and Sprouting:

Effect on phytate: If the grain contains phytase, some of the mineral-binding phytic acid will be deactivated, but not much. And if the grain has been heat-treated, which destroys phytase, or it contains very little phytase to begin with, the phytic acid will remain completely intact. Overall, neither soaking nor sprouting deactivates a significant amount of phytate.

Effect on enzyme inhibitors: Well, since the seed has been placed in a wet medium and allowed to sprout, the enzyme inhibitors are obviously mostly deactivated. Digestion is much improved (cooking will improve it further).

Effect on lectins: The evidence is mixed, and it seems to depend on the grain. Sprouted wheat, for example, is extremely high in WGA, the infamous wheat lectin. As the wheat grain germinates, the WGA is retained in the sprout and is dispersed throughout the finished plant. In other grains, sprouting seems more beneficial, but there’s always some residual lectins that may need further processing to deactivate.

Effect on gluten: Sprouting reduces gluten to some extent, but not by very much. Don’t count on it. A little bit goes a long way.

Adding fermentation to the mix reduces the harmful properties even more, but does not completely render them harmless.

The presence of these anti-nutrients in all grains also explains why people who avoid wheat for health reasons but still consume “gluten-free” foods may still have health problems. Wheat is definitely at the more dangerous end of the grain spectrum, but the others aren’t harmless by a long shot, and many of them are higher in simple starches than wheat.

So, Should We Eat Them?

Certainly, these methods of preparation do improve the nutrient profile of what is otherwise a harmful food to consume, but this still doesn’t mean that sprouted, soaked or fermented grains are healthy or that we need to consume them.

If you are going to consume any grains, it would definitely be better to prepare them in one of these ways (or all three!) to make them less harmful to your body, but I stand by my assertion that there is no need for grain consumption at all.

There are no nutrients in grains, even traditionally prepared ones, that are not found in other foods, and many other foods are higher sources of nutrients than traditionally prepared grains.

It should be noted that all plant substances have properties that can make them harmful to humans in some way, but that it is much easier to reduce these harmful properties in other plants (cooking cruciferous vegetables like Broccoli and cauliflower, peeling and cooking sweet potatoes, etc). This is also why I recommend limiting beans, nuts, etc or soaking and dehydrating the nuts to remove the anti-nutrient properties. (More on this soon)

So, in short, I don’t recommend grain consumption at all, even if they are properly prepared, as they aren’t an exceptional nutrient source and they do have harmful properties. If you suffer from an autoimmune condition or leaky gut, even these types of grains should be carefully avoided as they can make the condition worse.

For the small percentage of the population that doesn’t have any food related problems and that have excellent gut health, some of these grains might be ok occasionally in moderation, but other than taste, there is no reason to eat them.

There is also a definite difference between grains high in anti-nutrients like wheat, barley, etc and ones like white rice (not brown rice) which are naturally free of the more potent anti-nutrients like gluten) and which seem to be somewhat less harmful.

The other point worth mentioning is that even sprouted, soaked and fermented grains cause a spike in insulin and can inhibit weight loss and lead to other health problems if eaten in large amounts.

Summary

• Yes, these methods do reduce the harmful properties but do not eliminate them. As grains still aren’t a stellar source of nutrition, even with all these elaborate preparation methods, and they can be/are harmful to many people.
• For the little bit of nutrition they might provide, the benefit is still overshadowed by the harmful properties that still exist in small amounts (gluten, lectin, phytic acid, etc) and they take an extreme amount of preparation time and energy for this small amount of nutrition.
• If you have a strong, healthy gut, eat an otherwise nutrient rich diet and go to these great lengths to properly prepare grains, you might be able to tolerate them occasionally, but why go through all the trouble when we live in a time where there is access to healthier foods (vegetables, meat, good fats, etc).
• In an age where we are bombarded by toxins in our air, water and food supply, removing grains (even traditionally prepared ones) is an easy step we can take to improve our health and to make room for other, more nutritious foods in our diets.
• If a substance (in this case, grains) might be harmful for you to consume, and there are no negative effects of removing it, logically, it would be wise to avoid it.

What do you think? Do you consume sprouted, soaked or fermented grains? Totally disagree with me? Let me know below!  

The “Jello” Gelatin you can buy in stores is packed with sugar or chemical sugar substitutes, along with Gelatin from conventional animals fed a poor diet. I certainly wasn’t going to make that for my kids!

Then I found out about how healthy gelatin from grass fed animals can be a good protein source and can improve skin and hair quality and help the digestive system. I’d been drinking unflavored Gelatin in my tea and in smoothies, but it dawned on my that I could use the healthy kind of jello with natural fruits and fresh juices to make a “Jello” that my kids would like and that I would be ok with them eating.

Certainly, this still isn’t an everyday snack, but if it is made from fresh fruit and juices with quality Gelatin, it can be a healthy treat that kids will enjoy!

Healthy Gelatin Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups of organic or freshly juiced fruit juice of choice (grape, pineapple, orange or a mix of orange and pineapple are all good!)
• 1/4 cup cool water
• 1/4 cup hot (almost boiling) water
• 1 tablespoon of Kosher Gelatin Powder 
• 1-2 cups of fresh fruit (optional) – Pineapple, strawberries, blueberries and orange slices are all really good

Note: Can double recipe.

How to make healthy Jello:

1. Pour the cool water in a large mixing cup or quart sized mason jar and add the gelatin powder.
2. Stir briskly until mixed- it will start to thicken a lot.
3. Add the 1/4 cup of really hot water and stir to mix- it should be thinner now.
4. Combine this with the juice and mix well.
5. Put the fruit into the container that you are going to make the jello in. 8×8 baking dishes work well.
6. Pour the jello mixture over the fruit and stir lightly to make sure it has coated the fruit too.
7. Put in the fridge, covered, for at least 2-3 hours or overnight and serve.
8. Can cut into cubes or scoop out with a melon spoon to make cute shapes.
9. Enjoy.

Variations: Can use Water kefir in place of part of the juice for a probiotic boost. You can make it entirely with Kombucha for a less-sweet but more healthy version. For a grow up treat, you can even do this with Champagne for a fun party treat. If you want individual sizes, make it in ice-cube trays with a single strawberry or piece of fruit in each cube.

Ever made Jello? Like the chemical laden stuff at the grocery store? Will you try this one? Let me know! 

I first started blogging a couple of years ago because with little ones at home, I couldn’t meet one on one with as many clients as I wanted to, and it was a way to make the information available to more people. At this point, I was doing nutritional coaching and freelance journalism jobs from home, and there just wasn’t the time to keep both up.

Since my background is in both Journalism and Nutriton, blogging was a good way to combine the two.

It was also a way to have recipes, health articles and resources available… mainly for family members who used to call me a few times a week asking about a recipe or if something was healthy or not.

Nutrition had always been my passion (well, at least after my horrible diet in high school and college *cringe*) and I realized that there was a limit to the number of people I could work with individually. With my husbands encouragement, I decided to jump into the blogging world.

I first started off on Blogger. It was free and was supposed to be user friendly. My Blogger blog was my first attempt at blogging and at design and it left a lot to be desired. I ran into a lot of limitation on Blogger, and while it was easy to use, it wasn’t very customizable.

I then switched to WordPress.com, which was a little easier to use, and it was mainly my design work that needed the help!

I updated the design a little bit and my WordPress.com blog still looks like that today. WordPress was more user friendly (and I’d definitely recommend it over Blogger), but I ran into some brick walls with things I wanted to customize that couldn’t be changed without a self-hosted site.

I started getting what I thought was a lot of traffic (200 hits a day) and decided that I needed an updated design and the ability to actually own my site and blog name.

I bought a domain name, purchased the cheapest hosting I could find (I won’t recommend the company!), and had a friend explain how to install the WordPress software onto my new hosting account. I then found a free WordPress theme to use that I thought was cute. (Did I mention my background was NOT in anything to do with computers…)

After a LOT of headache and frustration, I was considering hiring someone who knew what they were doing to help. When I lost about 60 blog posts due to a glitch with my hosting service, and had a major theme issue, I found professional help (no, not the psychological kind…)

I found a web designer that was able to help me upgrade to better hosting (with 24/7 customer service by phone!), and pick a premium WordPress theme that wouldn’t have the issues my other one did. The green site on the left was my first “real” design after paying someone to help. He also suggested a WordPress video tutorial, so that I would understand how to use my site much better.

From this experience I found out that good hosting is very important, WordPress Premium themes (meaning that I have to pay for them) look better out of the box and are easier to use and customize (and Google likes it too…).

All in all, I wish I had known then what I know now. I never would have used Blogger or even WordPress.com, and just gone straight to the self-hosted blog I have now. Not only am I getting much more traffic because the framework is more search-engine friendly, but it is so much easier to use.

I’m gearing up for yet another site redesign (and a new logo!) that will be more mobile friendly and engaging, and I’ll be upgrading my hosting as well, since all the new readers and Pinterest followers are causing the need for more bandwidth.

Here are a few other tips that I’ve found along the way…

• Be consistent: whether it is once a week or every day, be consistant in your posting if you want to increase readership. If you are posting everyday, it also helps to have a schedule of what types of post you plan to post on which day. For instance, I post recipes (mostly) on Mondays (one will post later today), Health related info on Tuesdays, Motherhood or other topics Wednesday, Natural Living ideas on Thursday, Fitness or Giveaways on Friday, and DIY or links on Saturday.
• Help other bloggers and establish relationships: I discovered inadvertently that when you link to, mention or recommend another blogger, (genuinely and because you actually like them) it will actually get you more traffic in the long run and can help establish a relationship with other bloggers.
• Use Social Media: While blogging does allow comments, it is still mostly a one-way street. Social Media lets you connect and “meet” your readers. You can ask them for input and posting ideas, answer questions and share things that you don’t want to post about.
• Write guest posts and let others guest post for you: On the tech side, this creates back links that can help Google find you better, but more importantly, they help you connect with other bloggers, widen the scope of the information you present, and get an occasional day off .

Special Package for Bloggers

To hopefully prevent you from going through the same frustrations that I did, I think I’ve talked my Web Guy into offering a special package for aspiring bloggers. This would essentially let you jump to your own self-hosted site with a premium theme and all the plugins you need to optimize it. He will be offering this for a limited number of other bloggers and at less than half of the price he normally charges (and only to WellnessMama readers).

I’ll be posting more on this beginning blogging package as soon as I know more.

Do you blog? What is your best tip? Please share below…

Through sites like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+ and others, I’ve been able to connect with many of these bloggers and definitely consider them (online) friends.

Today, I’m just sharing a list of blogs that I read and who’s authors I’ve “met”…

Health and Nutrition Blogs:

Everyday Paleo- Recipes and fitness from Sarah, an inspirational mom (and online friend)

Ezekiel’s Garden- Great Recipes, Fitness and Natural living advice from an inspirational mom.

Paleo Parents- Great recipes and fun to read

The Health Honey- Great clean-eating recipes and tips

Real Food Freaks- Healthy recipes, health info and more.

Grain Free Wife – Great grain-free recipes and ideas.

Gluten Free Pantry- Tons of gluten (and some grain) free recipes

Domestic Diva- Recipes, healthy living tips and more

Full Tummies, Happy Hearts- Good source of gluten free/grain free recipes

Budget Paleo –  Paleo living on a budget

Whole Family Strong – Paleo recipes and eating ideas for the whole family

Primal Cooking Diary - Real food recipes, fitness and more

Unrefined Kitchen- Gluten free, dairy free, sugar free, real food recipes

Paleo Weight Loss Coach- Paleo recipes, health advice and motivation

Primal Mona Lisa- Healthy recipes, natural living and more

Eating Well, Feeling Great- Recipes and health info

Hot Pink Chilli - Recipes and healthy eating

Amelia’s Healthy Life- Recipes and real food info

Paleo Cents- Whole 30 on a budget

Motherhood/Parenting Blogs:

Glam Mom’s Guide – Parenting ideas and suggestions of crafts and projects for small kids from a Montessori Mom.

Jenna Bears- A mom who suffered the loss of her child found a way to reach out and comfort other parents struggling with the same pain.

Real Life of a Military Wife- A military mom shares recipes, Pinterest/project ideas and happenings of her life.

Instinctive Mothering- Natural living recipes, reading, and natural living advice from a fellow natural-birthing mom.

Tim’s Army Wife- Decorating and family writings of a military mom

Kingdom Heart Mom – Recipes, craft ideas and parenting

All & Nothing- Family, crafts, recipes and life

Oh Crap! Potty Training- Funny blog about potty training that makes me laugh because I’m potty training my 2 year old…

The Apron Files –  Family, real food and life

Moms In Boyland- A natural birthing, funny mom of boys

Green/Healthy Living Blogs:

Green Organic Mama- Eco-friendly and natural living tips (and some good, healthy recipes too!)

Heartland Renaissance – Green living, gardening, recipes and tips from a homesteading/green-living family.

FemFusion Fitness- Fitness ideas for women

Thrifty/Crafty/Couponing Blogs:

Live Simply, Live Thrifty, Live Savvy – Some great giveaways, coupons, deals and tips!

Little Green Bums- A crafty mom shares her ideas, projects and Etsy wares.

The Many Faces of Sarah Hankins- Crafting ideas and fun to read

There are many more blogs that I read and love, and I’ll be linking to them sometime soon! In the meantime, take a moment to connect and check out some of these other great blogs!

If you blog (or are one of the authors above) say hi in the comments below and leave your facebook, twitter, Google+ and pinterest so we can connect!

A lot of people on my Christmas list got homemade lotion this year, and it couldn’t be simpler to make.

You can customize your lotion to your skin type and desired scent, and you can even make it for baby (calendula and chamomile…)

There are endless variations, but some of my favorites are:

• Calendula and Chamomile for baby
• Rosewater and Almond Oil
• Peppermint, Wintergreen and Ginger for sore muscles
• Coconut and Calendula for face
• Mint and green tea
• Lavender and vanilla

I’ve included my basic recipe below. You can customize by making different herbal bases in the liquid, using different oils, or even using cocoa butter or shea butter for half of the oil if you like more of a body butter consistency.

Organic Homemade Lotion Basic Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup of oil of choice (almond and coconut are good choices- coconut will make more of a body butter texture)
• 1 tablespoon of beeswax
• 1/3 cup distilled water, or brewed herbal infusion of choice (To make: boil distilled water, add herbs you are using and let sit until mostly cool)
• 1 tsp Vitamin E oil (important-to preserve)
• Essential oils of choice (optional)

How to Make:

1. In a double boiler (use an old bowl over a small saucepan that has water in it) put the oil and beeswax and stir over medium heat until the beeswax has just melted.
2. Remove from heat, add the vitamin E oil and essential oils and stir to combine.
3. Make sure water or herbal infusion is slightly warm but not hot (important step or the lotion won’t emulsify)
4. Put the water/herbal infusion in a blender or food processor and turn on high.
5. VERY SLOWLY add the oil mixture, starting with a drop at a time.
6. Continually drizzle the oil mixture into the blender until all poured in.
7. Check consistency and blend more if needed.
8. Store in a glass jar (or pump bottle if you use almond oil and have a thin enough consistency). Lasts up to two-months out of the fridge or up to 6 months in the fridge.

Ever made your own lotion? How did it go? Let me know below!!

I have to confess… for everything else I do that is natural and organic, I was late on getting on the cloth diapering bandwagon… and I’m kicking myself for it now.

For our first two children, I used disposables and didn’t think anything of it. I thought cloth diapering was a thing that our mothers and grandmothers did because they didn’t have a choice, and the horror stories of wringing out diapers in the toilet and endless loads of laundry had no appeal to me!

A couple years and a couple kids later, I decided to revisit the diapering subject, at the suggestion of some close friends (thanks ladies!).

I quickly found out that:

• There are now MUCH better options for cloth diapering that when our mothers and grandmothers were doing it
• There are a LOT of chemicals in traditional diapers (what… you think that magic gel stuff that absorbs 100 times its weight in urine is natural?)
• Cloth diapers (even the top of the line ones) save money, especially if you have more than one child.
• Cloth diapering can actually be easy!
• The new cloth diapers are CUTE!
• They actually leak much less than disposables. I’ve only had a couple of leaks in the 7 months I’ve been cloth diapering our youngest, and no outfits ruined by yellow baby poop!
• There are a lot of brands of diapers that can fit baby from birth to potty training, so it saves space too!
• They hold their value, so you can actually sell them when you are done with them if you take good care of them.

Somewhat hesitantly, I decided to try cloth diapering and quickly found that I LOVE it!

I’m certainly not an expert (though maybe some of my friends who are vetrans will offer some advice in the comments section) but I’ve found a few tips that have helped along the way. If you haven’t considered cloth diapering, I’d definitely recommend looking into it!

The Benefits

From a financial perspective, I’ve read that each child costs about $2,000 to diaper and can contribute about 600,000 diapers to the landfills. You can get a couple dozen really high quality (even organic) cloth diapers for under $500 and they can last through several children if you take care of them.

If money is really tight, it is even possible to completely cloth diaper from birth to potty training for around $100 (some people spend that a month for disposables!)

Another huge benefit that I’ve noticed is that my kids who I’ve cloth diapered have gotten NO diaper rashes, which even with a good diet, were a regular thing with disposables. With my first baby, I found within a week that Huggies diapers created an awful rash, and most generic brands did too… Pampers were ok, but of course, more expensive.

One downside is that you can’t use diaper cream (unless you make it yourself) with cloth diapers, but I haven’t needed it!

For my 7 month old, I can put double liners in her diaper and she can go all night without it leaking and without it irritating her skin…

Another benefit is that children often potty train earlier in cloth diapers because (a) they are more aware of the wetness and connect the sensation faster and (b) mom gets tired of washing out the diapers and is more motivated to potty train (ahem…).

For all the benefits, the one thing that actually convinced me to cloth diaper, was this…

See, as much as I understood the benefits and how much healthier cloth diaper are… I knew that about the time that the poop really started to get nasty and needed to be washed out in the toilet… I’d probably be pregnant.

And morning sickness combined with sticking my hands in the toilet to wring out diaper…. not happening.

This diaper sprayer is what actually convinced me to cloth diaper. Basically, it is a sprayer that hooks into the clean water supply on your toilet (before it goes into the toilet!) and uses a high powered stream of water to clean the diaper without you touching any poop.

I also found out that if you are exclusively breastfeeding, you don’t even have to wash out the diapers (even poop!) at all until you start giving baby solids.

The biggest benefit, in my opinion, is that you are reducing baby’s exposure to chemicals. Disposables are plastic and contain chlorine, polyacrylate, and other chemicals that haven’t been proven safe for use on anyone, especially babies!

There is also a growing movement back to cloth diapering and a ton of support. If you don’t have local friends who are cloth diapering and can lend support like I do, there are online support communities like Diaper Pin and others, where you can find reviews, laundry help, special offers, and even people selling their gently used cloth diapers.

Our Setup

There are as many ways to cloth diaper as there are types of cloth diapers.

We have a mix of bumGenius, Fuzzibunz and GroBabys (aren’t those names cute too?). I love the simplicity of the GroBabys but they leak a lot more. Over all, I prefer the bumGenius and Fuzzibunz, and have about 2 dozen, which is enough for 2 kids if I wash every other day (which i highly recommend!)

I use a plain plastic trash can for the wet/dirty diapers. Sometimes I use an old pillowcase as a liner (it gets washed with the diapers) and sometimes I just put them directly in.

I don’t cover the trash can, or put any kind of liquid in it, though many people have special covers or a liquid method. I’ve never had much trouble with smell this way, but it definitely is a matter or personal taste.

I use homemade disposable wipes  (omit the almond/olive oil) or use my homemade wipe solution on cloth baby wipes (baby washcloths work great and you can usually find them at garage or consignment sales).

To launder: I use a 1/2 cup baking soda in a cold pre-wash cycle that I let soak for 30 minutes. I then use a natural detergent like Rockin Green or Charlie’s soap, or my own soap (alternate) to wash. Occasionally, I use Dr. Bronners Sal Suds to strip the diapers.

Typically, I run another cool rinse cycle at the end to make sure all the detergent is out.

I run the liners through the dryer and hang the covers (outside in the summer, inside in the winter) to extend the life of the elastic.

For stains, the sun (summer especially) is great at bleaching! As soon as our dog isn’t quite so much of a teething puppy, I’ll be hanging them outside again.

Then, I just store the diapers in my little wooden crate (see above) and use like regular diapers. They work just like disposables, and are so much cuter! There are even artist series “designer” diapers and some are on sale right now.

Other Notes:

If you are considering cloth diapering, I’d encourage you to do your own research and find out what kind of diapers work best for your family.

I have a couple dozen that are mostly bumGenius and some Fuzzibunz (and a few Grobabys, which are now GroVias). You can buy them by the dozen and save a lot of money. You can even find organic all in-one diapers which are extremely easy to use and wash, and which will fit baby from birth to potty training!

I also really highly suggest a diaper sprayer since it will save you time and gross factor!

Some diapers even have flushable liners, so you can just dump them in the toilet and they are ready to wash.

If you haven’t considered cloth diapering, please at least look into it. It’s so much better for baby’s skin and isn’t really much extra work for you. I’m still new at it too, but we can learn together

What do you think? Ever tried it? Any veteran cloth diapering moms or dads out there? Please leave your advice and tips below!

In fact, the low-sodium industry is booming!

Thank goodness that this sodium reduction, along with a low-fat diet and eating more whole grains has so greatly increased the health of Americans over the last few decades…

What’s that? It hasn’t?

Well maybe you can see the importance of eating good fats, or why grains are unhealthy, but you agree that too much salt isn’t healthy at all.

And you’d be right… if we are talking about the chemically produced table salt that is added to most processed foods, meats and snacks.

Table Salt = BAD!

Table salt, which is 97% Sodium Chloride (NaCl) is chemically produced, bleached and devoid of most other nutrients. It also contains Aluminum in many cases, which has been linked to Alzheimers disease and other problems in the body.

This type of salt is not naturally occurring and in fact, when salt-water fish are placed in salt water made with table salt… they die.

This type of salt is also devoid of the many trace minerals that the body needs… so it is a wise decision to avoid it.

The problem is, that when companies reduce table salt in their foods to make it low-sodium, they don’t replace it with trace minerals and healthier options, they often replace it with MSG and other chemical additives to achieve the flavor without the salt.

Unfortunately, many of the studies done on sodium consumption use table salt, not real salt, in the research, so there is now a body of evidence showing that salt consumption is harmful, when in reality, no distinction has been made between chemically created table salt and real salt containing trace minerals.

If you have any of this type of table salt around your house, I’d recommend that you stop using it immediately. Don’t throw it out though… you can use it in natural cleaning and stain treatment. (Just don’t eat it!)

Real Salt = Good!

To the degree that table salt is bad, real salt is healthy, necessary and good.

While the research linking regular table salt to disease and health disorders is correct, we’ve thrown out the baby with the (salt) water.

Consider this: the body contains high concentrations of many minerals and nutrients, and while it needs water, it also must have the proper concentration of these nutrients in bones, blood and organs to function properly.

A person can’t be given an IV of plain water- it must contain a careful balance of minerals, including salt!

Salt, in its natural form is not only necessary for the body to function, but it is extremely important in the right concentration for optimal health.

While many accept the common belief that high salt intake leads to hypertension:

“In a study of 60,000 nurses followed by Harvard researchers, those whose diet was very low in calcium or magnesium had a 23 percent greater chance of developing high blood pressure over four-years.”(source)

Other studies have shown that it is actually proper calcium, magnesium and other mineral balance, not sodium reduction, that improves blood pressure, hypertension and other problems.

In fact,

“The notion that salt intake and blood pressure were intimately related emerged early in this century when doctors discovered that they could lower the high blood pressure of people with kidney failure by feeding them a rice-based diet extraordinarily low in salt.”

Unconvinced, this eventually led to more comprehensive research on worldwide salt intake, which found that:

“And in 1989, researchers at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine decided to re-evaluate the link between salt and blood pressure through a study of more than 10,000 people in 52 cultures around the world. Participants ranged from Yanomamo Indians in Brazil, whose diet is almost salt free, to residents of northern China, who eat as much salt in a day as a Yanomamo eats in three years.

Instead of merely estimating salt consumption, the researchers calculated precise values based on urine samples. They took into consideration obesity and alcohol consumption.

Among their findings were that except in a few places with extremely low salt consumption, the amount of sodium in the diet was unrelated to the prevalence of hypertension in a society or to its average blood pressure. Moreover, although the high rates of hypertension in the United States had long been considered a function of this country’s love for salty processed food, the study placed Americans right in the middle of the world’s salt intake curve.”

Additionally:

“A decade ago, when researchers at the University of Indiana put patients on a low-salt diet, they found that blood pressure went down in about a third of patients, but that in an equal number it actually rose. Dr. Pavel Hamet of the University of Montreal recently studied 200 Canadians with widely varying salt intakes and found that the saltiness of the diet bore no relation to whether a person was hypertensive, as long as the subject had adequate calcium in the diet and was not a heavy drinker.”

Many of the studies done on the supposed link between salt intake and hypertension are used to justify a low-sodium diet, especially in cardiac patients. Unfortunately, these studies fail to take into account the difference between real salt and chemical table salt, and the importance of proper salt consumption in the reduction of risk of other health problems like osteoporosis, cancer, arthritis, skin conditions, hormone balance and nerve function.

If you’ve been limiting salt for health reasons, you must differentiate between chemical table salt and healthy nutrient-dense salt.

Do you experience:

• Cellulite
• High Blood Pressure
• Kidney Stones
• Gall Bladder Problems
• Sore or Swollen Joints
• Gout
• Fatigue
• Brain Fog
• Poor Sleep
• Asthma or Respiratory Illness
• Irregular heart beat
• Poor adrenal health
• Diabetes or blood sugar issues
• Poor muscle tone or lack of coordination
• Water retention, edema or swelling (actually result from too little salt… not too much!)

These are all conditions that can result from too little salt and the resulting mineral imbalance.

It is important to note that regular table salt will actually make these conditions worse because it will create more mineral imbalance by delivering too much sodium and chloride and not enough of the other necessary minerals.

Through our efforts to remove processed table salt with the low-sodium craze (a good thing to remove) we have created a deficiency of the minerals found in natural salt.

What does Salt do?

The negatively charged ions in real salt, especially when combined with water, support a host of hormonal, chemical and electrical processes in the body.

The trace mineral concentration in real salt makes it especially supportive of nerve and heart health. (Scary, since cardiac patients are often told to reduce sodium). Some doctors have even had success in improving irregular heart beat and lessening neurological disorders with proper doses of real salt.

Some other health-related processes that salt can support are:

• Food absorption: Proper mineral balance in food and water (from salt/trace minerals) helps the body absorb and assimilate food and water better.
• Cell Cleansing- The negatively charged ions in real salt and the trace mineral concentration let it cross into cells and pull toxins from them.
• Blood Pressure- Real salt actually helps regulate blood pressure (not raise it) when taken in the correct amounts.
• Heart Health- The negative ions in real salt help stabilize an irregular heart beat and support electro-chemical reactions in the body.
• pH Balance- The alkalizing effects of real salt help balance the body’s pH.
• Blood Sugar- Proper mineral balance from real salt helps increase insulin sensitivity and has even been shown helpful in patients with diabetes. (Note: It is especially helpful with type II diabetes, and while Type I diabetes cannot be reversed, it helps nutrient assimilation and other health factors in patients with Type I diabetes as well)
• Allergies- Some evidence shows that real salt dissolved in warm water is an effective natural antihistamine.
• Asthma and Sinus Trouble- Some patients experience asthma and sinus relief from taking salt internally and from using a salt inhaler. Salt can also be helpful in clearing up excess mucous and phlegm.
• Improved sleep- Balancing the trace minerals in the body is supportive of hormone processes and can improve sleep quality and duration.
• Reproductive Health- By supporting natural hormone function, real salt is also supportive of natural fertility  and can improve reproductive health in both men and women.
• Cellulite- There is some evidence that cellulite is lessened by proper intake of regular salt. (I’ve seen this personally)
• Cell Communication- Its pH and ion concentration help improve chemical communication between cells.
• Muscle Cramps/Tension- The trace minerals and pH in real salt help alleviate muscle cramps (magnesium is also important here). This is one reason that you often see athletes soak in salt water/epsom salt baths.
• Bone Health- Over 1/4 of the body’s salt is in the bones. When sodium and trace mineral stores are not high enough in the body, it can pull salt from the bones to keep the rest of the body functioning. This can be a tremendous factor in osteoporosis. (Magnesium is important here as well)
• Adrenal and Thyroid Health- the pH and trace minerals in salt are extremely important for proper adrenal and thyroid function. If you suffer from problems with either of these glands, increasing salt consumption can greatly help improve symptoms.
• Nerve function- The electrical properties in real salt help support proper nerve function and communication throughout the body.
• Water Content of Body- Just as an IV must be in the proper electrolyte concentration to be absorbed, the trace mineral in real salt help the body naturally regulate the amount of water and trace minerals it needs.
• Sexual Health- The same hormone-supporting properties of salt make it supportive of healthy libido and sexual function
• Digestive Health- When consumed with water, real salt can help optimize the environment in the digestive system and increase stomach acid. This makes it helpful in dealing with digestive disorders, heartburn and other digestive problems.
• Though not scientifically studied, there are cases of doctors helping or eliminating conditions in their patients with the use of real salt and water, including: arthritis, lyme disease, hypertension, neurological disorders, skin issues.
• Eczema and Psoriasis- The same helpful properties in real salt make it helpful both internally and externally for skin conditions like eczema and psoriasis.
• Oral Health- the trace minerals in salt can be helpful for oral health and for remineralizing teeth. Swishing with a salt water mixture daily can help improve oral health.

What Kind of Salt?

At our house, we have several different types of natural salt (black lava, Celtic sea salt, etc) but our favorite BY FAR is Himalayan Salt.

This type of salt is found deep in the Himalayan mountains and contains all 84 trace minerals needed by the body.

Unlike chemical salt, it is naturally pink or red and has a much milder flavor.

In my opinion, this is the highest quality salt available, as it is from the mineral rich Himalayan mountains and is not affected by the chemicals and toxins that are increasing in quantity even in natural sea salt.

I add this type of salt to almost all of our foods, and even take it plain in water at times.

Other real salts like Celtic Sea Salt and Black Lava Salt (contains activated charcoal) are also beneficial.

How To Consume Enough Salt

If you aren’t used to consuming salt, it may be difficult to make a transition back to healthy salt consumption (though many people find that their bodies crave it and respond very well immediately).

If you aren’t used to eating enough salt, there are some easy ways you can increase your intake:

• Add real salt to your foods and avoid processed foods or eating out, since you will consume large amounts of processed table salt. Salt to taste and don’t worry about eating too much.
• Drink 1/2 tsp to 1 tsp of quality salt in a quart of water daily to help raise your electrolyte and trace mineral levels.
• Soak in a relaxing bath with added magnesium (epsom salts) and Himalayan or Celtic Salt (2 tablespoons of each).
• For skin issues: Make a poultice of real salt and water (or honey) and apply to areas with eczema or psoriasis.
• Make a salt scrub with finely powdered sea salt and natural oil (like coconut or olive) to use as an exfoliant in the shower.
• Use a salt board for cooking and curing foods
• If you suffer from asthma or allergies, try a sea salt inhaler to help alleviate symptoms
• Use a Himalayan Salt Bar “Soap” in the shower to sooth and heal skin (some say this is very anti-aging) and is very gentle for children with eczema
• Use a Salt Deodorant Bar if you are sensitive to even natural deodorants
• Swish daily with a salt water mixture in the mouth for 30-60 seconds. The trace minerals in the salt will help remineralize teeth and the pH of the salt will help improve the pH of the mouth.
• Make sure you are also consuming enough magnesium and other minerals, as most people are also deficient in magnesium. Magnesium will help absorption of other minerals and vice versa.
• Though it won’t help sodium levels in the body, there is some evidence that a Himalayan salt lamp can ionize and cleanse the air. Either way, they are pretty!

We get our Himalayan salt from Mountain Rose Herbs in 5-pound bags, which is the cheapest and highest quality source I’ve found. Himalayan Salt is also available on Amazon (though this one doesn’t seem to be as high of quality) and in most health food stores.

If you are limiting your salt or consuming regular sea salt, I highly recommend that you make the switch to high quality salt as soon as you can.

Real salt is necessary for so many things within the body and this is one health change that is easy (and tasty) to make.

Our bodies naturally crave salty foods, and many people even crave the beach (real salt plus vitamin D!). Make sure you are consuming enough!

Important Note: As with many other healthy substances, the FDA is proposing measures that would force companies to limit the amount of sodium in foods (regardless of the type of salt) and could potentially limit access to quality salt. Go take a second and share your support!

What are your thoughts on salt? Scared of it? Unsure? Avid salt eater? Weigh in below! 

This is one that we’ve made several times lately, and it is delicious. I’ve now used up the last of our frozen berries from last summer, but thankfully, berry season isn’t too far away, and the strawberry plants should produce well this year!

If you are looking for a low-cab (ish), grain free, and sugar free (honey optional) dessert… try this one!

Ingredients:

• 3-4 cups of assorted berries: strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, raspberries or a mix (fresh or frozen)
• 1 cup almond flour (this is the kind we use)
• 1-2 tablespoons of coconut oil or butter
• 1 tsp vanilla
• optional: stevia, organic honey or maple syrup to taste
• optional: organic whole cream, whipped with vanilla (for topping)

How to Make Berry Cobbler:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Grease a 8×8 or larger baking dish with coconut oil or butter.
3. Place berries in baking dish.
4. Combine almond flour, coconut oil/butter and vanilla with your hands until it makes a crumbly topping. You may need to adjust the almond flour up or down slightly, depending on the texture of the brand you use. I recommend the brand I linked to above because it is very close to “regular” flour. You may need slightly more with a different brand. If using steiva, you can add a small amount to the topping at this point.
5. Using your hands, sprinkle/crumble the topping over the berries.
6. Put dish into oven and cook for about 20 minutes (fresh fruit) to 30-40 minutes (frozen fruit).
7. When done, drizzle with organic honey or maple syrup if using(optional)
8. Top with whipped organic cream/vanilla if using.
9. Enjoy!

What’s your favorite fruit-based dessert? Share below!