by M.Cokas on November 9, 2009
Building a Green Smoothie
I recently became hooked on green smoothies as a delicious and efficient way to eat raw greens. Greens provide so many essential nutrients for every part of the body, they can even help to remineralize your teeth and reverse tooth decay. It hasn’t always been easy to consume the recommended daily amount, especially if you are trying to get your kids to eat them. Well, it can be easy – enter the Green Smoothie. When I started making these smoothies for my family life became easier, my children got healthier and I felt good about the level of nutrition my children were getting.
Kai Likes to Push the Button
What is a green smoothie? A green smoothie is really any frozen blended fruit beverage that you add greens to and no, it isn’t necessarily green in color. It is also a great place to hide other superfoods like chia. There are hundreds, probably even thousands of combinations out there that you can suit to your own tastes, but I have a very basic recipe that I work from most of the time.
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by M.Cokas on November 5, 2009
Soap Nuts for Laundry
You want clean laundry, but you also want to be green, who can you turn to? Mother Nature; it’s long been common knowledge that she cleans the air, but now, we’re finally realizing, she’s also made provisions to clean our clothes. Soap Nuts are one of my latest easy to employ (important when you’re a mom of 3 or just plain busy), green cleaners. How green are Soap Nuts? Well, they grow on trees; is that green enough for you? Soap Nuts are the dried fruit of the Chinese Soapberry Tree. So, you might be wondering how they stack up to a regular detergent, here is what I have found switching from Tide to Soap Nuts:
Soap Nuts
- Much Cheaper than regular detergents, as little as .06 cents per load
- 100% Natural and Biodegradable
- You don’t need to add fabric softener (which makes them even cheaper!)
- Clothes come out just as clean
- No scents & hypoallergenic
- They are gentle enough to use on delicates
- They are low sudsing, so they’re great for HE Washers
- They are easier to use!
How do you use Soap Nuts? Grab 2 or 5 soap nuts, depending on water temp (I always use cold to save energy). Throw them into the little cotton sack and throw the sack into your washing machine. That’s it. And once that sack is in there, if you’re using cold water you can leave it in for up to 5 loads! You don’t have to worry about using any fabric softner because the soapberries have their own natural softening agents. When the shells are used up, just toss them into your compost.
If these little fruits haven’t done enough for you yet, toss a few in a cotton sack and throw them in the dishwasher to replace the chemicals or expensive green substitute you’re currently using.
Laundry Goes Green
