Eco-friendly Easter

Happy Easter everyone! This year we're keeping it crunchy. The Easter Bunny has been hard at work trying to find healthy and fun basket fillings. Traditionally my family has always done fairly small baskets; for us the holiday is a simple one. The first thing I ordered was a little something for the bath from LUSH. And who doesn't love LUSH!  LUSH is an eco-friendly company that never tests on animals. Many of their products are fair trade and sustainable. I found this adorable bath bomb in the shape of a robot, and a plus for me these cutie bots have a calming effect to help my kidos sleep better.

Ickle-Baby-Bot

As a super bonus I'm going to use the  packaging from my LUSH order to fill the bottom of the basket. When Easter is over this awesome little piece of potato starch will become food for my house plants.

The next thing that will adore the baskets this year is a set of wonderful paints by glob colors. I got really lucky with a nu and nugs adventures contest and won 50% off at glob colors! Glob has paints made entirely out of fruits, vegetables and herbs. The paints are non-toxic and have no artificial dyes. I can't wait to open them up and get to painting. They are supposed to smell incredible. 

glob Paint Kit

My boys love puzzles! Nic will work on a 50 piece puzzle for an hour. So keeping in my better for the earth theme I went straight to Melissa and Doug. Melissa and Doug make handcrafted wooden toys. You can find the online, at Toys R Us and Target. The hubby got our puzzles at Toys R Us.

Melissa and Doug

Now here is my big find... books made out of 98% recycled paper. How amazing is that? The book series is called Green Start and it's by Innovation Kid. Nic gets In the Rain forest and it includes a puzzle. I picked Matt up a match up called Mamas and Babies.

Innovative Kids

What Easter Basket wouldn't be complete without a little something sweet, so I got Happy Tot  fruit and veggie pouches. They are delicious and nutritious! Annie's Organic Fruit Snack will also go in the baskets this year. I love Annie's! Annie's is quality food for kids. The bonus is they are fruit snacks shaped like....Bunnies! lol

annies

I am very excited this year. It feels really good to know that my kids will have a great Easter and we are doing are part to be able to enjoy a less polluted Easter today and in the future.

Happy Easter!

Sun Power

 So when I was just starting with cloth diapers I asked  Melissa, my sister, why she hadn't cloth diapered her kids. She said she would put her oldest in pre-folds when he would get bad diaper rashes, but it had always kind of grossed her out a little when the diapers would get stained. I had only line dried my dipes at the time (my dryer was on hiatus boo!) and never had any staining. So when  little man had some tummy issues this week that left some pretty bad stains on the inserts from my pocket diapers I took some pictures to demonstrate the Power of the Sun. The sun has amazing bleaching power. (natural bleaching power) A few hours in the sun and voila good as new. Check it out.

Poor kid-o you can see all the stains the diarrhea left.

  

      a couple hours later inserts are as good as new. 

My cooking's gone to the dogs

   On my path to becoming the ultimate crunchy mama (yea right). I've decided to include our four- legged family member.  I'm making homemade dog biscuits! Oh no I've totally lost it now. I couldn't just make my own baby food and call it a day I had to keep going until everyone is included in this delicious mess. All joking aside it's a really easy recipe. I found the recipe and the cutest bone shaped cookie cutter at Target. It only takes about half an hour to make and she really loves them. My girl deserves the best I can give her. After all she is part of our family.

Peanut Butter Dog Biscuits
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup oil
2 eggs
3 tablespoons peanut butter
2 tsp. vanilla
2 cups flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup oats
Mix wet ingredients. Then add dry ingredients to form a ball of dough. Roll out and shape. Put on cookie tray.
Cook 20 minutes at 400 F. Turn off oven allow to cool in oven until crisp and hard. 

Victory Rolls

I did it! I finally got my victory rolls to look good. Out of all the vintage hairstyles I've tried this one has been my challenge. It is a really difficult look to do, but so-so rewarding to get it right. I could give you a laugh with some mishaps I've had. One time I ended up looking like Cruella De Vil. So here's to my little victory!

Who- Whooo's a Genius?

I have a wonderful post today. In the mail I received the cutest little owl lens buddy from Sisa's Stitches. I won it in a contest held by Nu And Nugs Adventures. They have awesome reviews and giveaways. So what I won was a genius idea to get your little one to look at the camera lens when your taking a picture. How many times has your baby been smiling and being adorable until you run to get a picture then nothing. Well at Sisa's Stitches on etsy they have wonderful handmade lens buddys. It's a little owl that goes around the lens of your camera to get your little guy to look at the camera. I love mine and it really works. They also have many other really cute crocheted items. Thanks so much Sisa's Stitches and Nu AndNugs Adventures!!! Go check them out.

Goat's Milk Soap

     I've got a wonderful review for everyone today! Last Thursday at the Farmers Market I decided to treat myself. I picked up some locally made goat's milk soap from Goat Rodeo, a husband and wife team. They use milk from their own goat! I looked up some of the benefits and properties of goat's milk for your skin. Goat's milk is chalked full of vitamin A which is great for acne, scars, stretch marks and wrinkles. It also has E, C and B vitamins to help nourish. Goat's milk contains Alpha Hydroxy Acids to sloth away dead skin cells. The most fascinating fact I found was that goat's milk contains selenium which has been found to have a role in preventing skin cancer. What?! Now that's some awesome stuff. The bar I bought is called lime/cilantro and smells amazing! They also had soaps called: Ganja (which had hemp oil), one with orange and cinnamon  and an anise bar that smelled like delicious black licorice. My skin is so smooth and soft which is a miracle because it was in such bad shape. I picked my sister Melissa up a bar also. Living in Alaska she told me she has really dry skin, so we'll see how it works for her. Maybe we can get her to be a guest blogger for us!!!

Kale Chips

Today I have a quick post for you about tasty kale chips. Have you heard of them? They are delicious and nutritious! In just one cup of kale there is: 2g of protein, 1g of fiber, 134% of daily vitamin C, and 206% of vitamin A*. Wow, now there's a snack with a punch.





           You need: bunch of kale
                                 tablespoon olive oil
                                 tablespoon sea salt
Cut the kale into 2 inch strips. In a bowl put kale, oil and salt. Toss. Lay flat onto baking sheet. Bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes. Enjoy!




*Self Nutrition Data (http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/vegetables-and-vegetable-products/2461/2)