Psalm 71

So I'm taking a break from Facebook for a bit, just to get that out of my system somewhat. It's always nice to do a little Facebook/media "detox" on occasion. :)

(I will be getting on FB to confirm some Boiler Room events...so if you're one of the people waiting on those updates, don't worry!)

But I am registered to do this, since I'd like to fill my time with something useful, encouraging, community-building, etc. I'd love to know if you decide to register and do it too!

Duck!

So I haven't posted in a few days because me and the girls have been in Duck, NC with some family. It was fun, but we were all happy to get home and see daddy. :] I'll post some pictures when I figure out how to get them off my phone! Haha. I spent $35 on food/snacks for the girls, so I have to add that to my total for July. Fingers crossed that I don't pass the $250 mark!

Random Goodness.

This is amazing. They are great people! At church today the speaker used this passage so now this song is stuck in my head.

New Book! [Read: I Am Going to Blog my Face Off.]

The hubs got me a new book!

See how happy I am about it? No? Maybe I should turn on a light or something the next time I take a picture. I'm no Ginny Corbett, that's for sure! ;]

Anyway. The book is "Green Living", by the editors of "E/The Environmental Magazine" and it is big! I love big books. I got to page 40 on the day I got it, and already have about 14 blog posts worth of stuff. I love information! haha. *nerd alert*

On page 40, I made my first dog-ear. This is what is on page 40:

Hazards in cosmetics to look for: 

Carcinogens. [FD&C or D&C colors. Formaldehyde. Diethanolamine, triethanolamine, and monoethanolamine, or DEA, TEA, and MEA]

Endocrine Disruptors. [phthalates {they don't always list these by this name, because people know it's not good!}, surfactants, parabens]

These toxins are easily absorbed by our skin, and can interfere with how our bodies are supposed to work. Possible side effects? Get ready for this-

infertility, miscarriage, birth defects, reproductive and breast cancer, and thyroid, heart, liver lung, and kidney damage.

WHAT THE WHAT?!?!

Would you take a medication with these possible side effects? GoodNESS. This blew my mind. I already don't wear make-up, but this stuff is in shampoo, soap, perfume, and all kinds of other personal care products. It's getting harder and harder to avoid this mess, but it can be done. I will now be scouring the internet for some homemade personal care recipes to share. :] 

Just for Fun

I took this quiz over at bhg.com [Better Homes & Gardens website] and it was actually pretty accurate! That's always fun. It's called "What's My Hosting Style?"

I got "Creative Traditionalist" which is right on. I love to make the dishes my grandma made, but usually try to un-southern them and health-ify them [a travesty, I know!! I can't help it]. Sometimes it goes over well, sometimes people look at me like I may as well have spit in their food. Oh well.

Anyway, hope this makes your day fun! And on a related note, I want to throw a dinner party now!

Why I Don't Buy Canned Food (even though it's so cheap!)

Most coupon/frugal blogs will post great deals on canned food. Most people who eat frugally live on lots of canned food, because it's cheap and shelf stable. I used to get a lot of it too! It's so convenient. I read a lot of blogs about how it's usually cheaper to make the stuff in the cans yourself, but man - who has time for that?

I do, now. Because I found out about BPA , or Bisephenol-A. It reacts as a hormone in your body, very similar to estrogen. It's in EVERYTHING - plastic cups, food containers, canned food and drink, water bottles - and in little bits, it doesn't show much harm. But if you're using plastic sippy cups/bottles for your little ones, feeding them canned fruit or veggies with dinner made with sauce that came out of a can - then you're ingesting a LOT each day.

A study done in Sweden showed a 2000% increase in 2 days from eating only canned food.

But why does this matter? So what if your kid [and you] have too much of this fake estrogen in your system?

"Recent research most often conducted on animals has linked BPA to a host of health issues including reproductive problems, learning disabilities, cancer and obesity. Critics of BPA contend the chemical poses the greatest risk to children." 


This is from an article about Maine's governor opposing a ban on BPA, which is outraging scientists all over the place. Basically, where we are with BPA is where science was a while back with cigarettes. There's enough evidence to make science/environmental groups want to ban it, but the FDA won't do it because it makes so much money. The problem is, just like cigarettes, more and more evidence is building against it. 

"Inconveniently for the FDA, a new study published today found an association between BPA and cardiovascular disease, Type 2 diabetes and liver-enzyme abnormalities in adults.

It was the first large study of BPA in humans, and it comes on the heels of a Yale study that found monkeys exposed to low doses of BPA (the same doses the Environmental Protection Agency says is safe for people) experienced memory and mood disorders."

This is a quote from a great article about BPA's effects on adults - until recently, people only worried about its effects on fetuses and small children. But apparently it has some pretty nasty consequences for adults as well. 

All this is not to scare you, or make you feel bad about what you eat or what you feed your kids. You have to do what you think is best for your family. I just had no idea about this until a couple of years ago, and thought I was eating really healthily. Knowledge is power, right? :] 

So this is why, when I go grocery shopping and there's some sweet deals on canned food, I have to push aside the desire for convenience and ignore them. [And believe me - that was really really hard at first!!] I'm sure someone has wondered that before when I mention that I coupon or have a tight grocery budget but never see canned goods in my cabinets.

[Side note: the Hubs has thrown out the receipt from the shopping trip we made this weekend! But the total was around $38, so I've got $27 more left for the week. I scored some organic bananas for .42/bag on the clearance produce rack!]

All Natural Ant-Repellent

I read somewhere a while back [sorry I can't link to it, I can't remember where I saw it!] about a woman  who was sprinkling minced garlic in her yard to repel spiders. It did work for the spiders, but she also noticed that she hadn't seen nearly as many ants after starting the garlic treatment.

So a few days ago our house started getting attacked by ants. I sweep every day, and mop almost every day, but with two little ones, sometimes they just hide food places for bugs to find. We sprayed things down with some eco-friendly ant spray we had, but dang-it if they didn't come back anyway. When I finally found some in my kitchen, I got really mad and decided to try something else. We always have fresh garlic on hand [the Hubs likes Italian food!], so I diced it up and lined it around wherever I had seen them, and they have not been back! Not a single one. We even accidentally left the honey out and open on the counter this morning, and nothing.

This was great news to me - a relatively cheap ant repellent that won't hurt my kids even if they eat it.

[Tip: watch the clearance produce racks for big bags of garlic! I got  a large bag of it for a dollar about 2 months ago!]