Keepin' it clean. Keepin' it green.

Laundry Detergent:

My litmus paper for laundry detergent are my cloth diapers.  Are my inserts crunchy or not?  Do they still smell like a baby's bottom?  Are there stains on covers, pockets, or inserts?

With my second born son we started cloth diapering with BumGenius pocket diapers.  For the first year we used Purex Free and Clear.  It was recommended for use on cloth diapers and economical.  How well did it work?
Test 1: Inserts were a little crunchy, and "stripping" had to happen once a month to prevent leaks.  They were crunchy due to detergent residue build up.
Test 2: I didn't think they smelled too bad.  My husband, however, didn't think they smelled enough.
Test 3: It didn't get rid of stains at all.  My diapers spent some time in the sunshine for stain removal.

After "Diaper Diva", unless she'd rather be "Diaper Guru," opened up Green Bambino (shameless plug), we started trying new things.  First Charlie Soap.
Test 1:  Inserts remained soft significantly longer.  Some stripping was needed, though less often, to prevent leaking.  Now we know that simply an extra hot rinse every now and then does wonders.
Test 2:  Again, I thought they smelled fine, but hubby wasn't convinced.  He digs that flowery aroma.
Test 3:  Most staining was removed, but not completely.

Next we tried Tiny Bubbles.
Test 1:  Inserts were consistently soft and leak free.
Test 2:  The smell seemed to satisfy the hubs, or at least he didn't notice enough to say anything.
Test 3:  Honestly, I don't recall.  It must have worked then.

Now as I prepared my diapers for Baby Girl, and Diaper Diva had a new Rockin' Green Hard Rock formula she wanted me to try, I tested it with clean/unstripped diapers that had been sitting for 6 months and infant inserts for 2 years.  I was very impressed with the results.
Test 1:  They went in crunchy, and came out super soft.
Test 2:  I certainly hope that I didn't pack them away stinky.
Test 3:  2 year old infant inserts went in with some discoloration, and came out white as the day they were new.

My plan is to use old reliable Charlie Soap for my diapers this time around, but will keep the Rockin' Green in mind when I need to get rid of some staining.

Happy washing!

Community Consignment Sales

If there is anything I love better than a consignment store, it's a community consignment sale.  Tomorrow begins one such sale at the Cleveland County Fairgrounds in Norman, OK.  Its the Just Between Friends Consignment Sale, and I am so there.  Hundreds of consignors bring up to 200 items each to one location.  Oh the possibilities at 30% retail (if they are priced right).

Racks and racks of clothing from preemie to tweenie, as well as maternity clothes.

Toys, toys, and more toys.

Lucky finds in furniture, if you get there before they are all gone.

And baby gear galore.  With 3 weeks and 6 days to due date, I'll be headed to that section first.

This sale has had a consistent place in our family's life.  I've been a loyal shopper, a consignor, and a volunteer.  Then at the Spring 2008 sale, as I was urgently searching for the perfect Boppy pillow, I found myself in early labor with our second son.  Our first son and I walked the aisles in search of my pillow and a toy or two for him with contractions 4 minutes apart.  Labor or no labor, I would not be deterred from getting that pillow nor my son his toys.  Even as I got to the cashier only to find that the tag on my beloved pillow was missing, and I had to go back to the table to find it in order to purchase the pillow.  Thankfully, it didn't take long to find the tag, and they let me at the front of the line when I was ready.  Of course, Little Brother didn't arrive until 40 hours later, but that is another story no one wants to hear.

If you are in the market for great quality slightly used kid items, this is definitely an economical and green option.  If you are close to your due date, please take a driver.

*Pictures care of the JBFsale Facebook page.

Why I love cloth diapers-Round 1

Hint:  It's a lot like girls clothes.

Look how cute they are!  All the colors and prints.  There are a couple up there with ruffles on the baby bum.  It's a whole other branch of the fashion tree, of which I never thought I'd climb.  I hadn't ever been very girly until now, and I embrace it.  Must all be the extra estrogen, but we'll go with it anyway.

How much is too much?

I went into this third pregnancy with a very minimalist attitude.  We would care for this baby with as little as possible out of necessity of space.  No need for a fancy crib when an all-in-one "care station", i.e. pack n' play, would do.  We weren't going to go crazy with the clothes when we could just do an extra load of laundry every other day or so.  Don't need a baby gym when a blanket and a few toys are stimulation enough.  Well, that was all good until we found out it was a girl.

Now as I wash everything I wonder where I'm going to put it all.  She has no less than 10-15 outfits in size 0-3 months, as well as another 10-15 outfits in size 3-6 months.  In addition to that there are sleepers, onesies, and whatever my sister is hoarding at her house.  I'm not even sure why I think she will even be able to wear the newborn clothes for 5 minutes.  My boys were born into size 3-6.   But I have them in the hopes that she will be tiny for a little while.  It's time for us to have a tiny baby.

Just where did all these clothes come from?  Oh, yeah.  Kids consignment stores.  It only took 3 trips.  I was so weak.  I went in and going around only one rack, came out with 10 outfits.  In my defense, this is my first girl; and where I used to fuss at the lack of diverse clothing in the boys section that is not the case with girls clothing. It is all so cute, how do people pick just a couple of items?  There also may have been a factor of shopping therapy.  Again, that is another post.  I did, however, find solace in that I was at a consignment store.  I helped the planet by buying used, and I helped our bank account at the same time.  My husband would argue that buying less would have helped our bank account more.

I love consignment stores for the kids.  You get really nice name brand stuff for 30% the price.  It's like a 70% off sale everyday.  Then when the kids outgrow it, you just sell it back to the store.  This works really well with baby clothes, because they don't use them enough to wear them out.  With this I still think that I am sticking with the mission.  Economic and Ecologic.

I have done well with resisting the crib and fancy bedding.  We have a fabulous pack n' play with some very nifty storage.  No separate bassinet, so far.  We have a small bouncy seat, a small box of toys, and a few blankets for playtime.  I just have to figure out how to resist all those cute girlie clothes.

Sunshine!!

Spring isn't for 5 weeks or so, but it sure felt like it today.  I felt it my obligation to get the boys out to run around silly.  My favorite place to go is our local zoo.  In all honesty, I like it the best for several reasons.

First I majored in zoology, and really wanted to be a zoo keeper when I grew up.  I was a zoo keeper for a little while in fact.  They hired me as a temp for one whole month.  It was pretty great, but my kids are way better.

Secondly and more importantly, you have to pay to get in, which makes it slightly exclusive.  It has all the playground and running trails without all the unruly tweens and teens (and other questionable characters) hanging around the local parks.  Call me a snob or say I shelter them, but there are somethings I'd rather not explain to a 5 and 3 year old.  Safety is important to me.  Additionally, if you lose a kid at the zoo they call the code, and the whole staff is looking for them.  That does not happen at the park.

Thirdly, even though you have to pay it is affordable.  For an acceptable membership fee you get admission to the zoo as many times as you want for the year.  You could go every single day if you wanted.  After my first was born, we nearly did go every single day.

Now before we all get upset, I do take my kids to normal city playgrounds from time to time.  They just aren't my favorite, and I have much more fun at the zoo.  Where else do they have bronze gorillas to climb on?

Wipe, wipe, scrub, scrub. No more cleaner in the jug.

As I finished wiping down the counters in the kitchen, my all-purpose cleaner ran out.  What's a girl to do when she's in the midst of an eco-change?  Look up homemade cleaner recipes of course.  Most common knowledge is to go with the 1:1 vinegar to water.  Ok, easy enough.  After making sure that my bottle is free of former cleaner residue, I will be mixing some up.  This is for sure an economical option.  What about ecological?  Hmmm?

My previous cleaner is "green" according to the label.  I'm not sure there are many store bought cleaners that can really be called "natural."  So what about vinegar and water?  Just the fact that I can use it on my salad tells me that it's probably safe enough to have around the kids and animals, so it should be ok to the rest of the planet as well.  Right?  The recipe can be found on www.greenoptions.com.  I'm sold.  Must be ecological.

Now it will up to me to decide if it cleans well enough. A little more research and I find that the acidic acid in vinegar kills viruses, bacteria, and mold; and it is effective at dissolving mineral deposits found in tubs and sinks.  If it cleans my stove, which is long overdue, I may be hooked.

I have another bottle on its way to empty.  We'll see what other options I can come up with for that one.

Turning baby food into family food.

With my both my kiddos I, for the most part, made my own baby food.  I made peas, carrots, and sweet potatoes in bulk.  Pureed and froze as instructed.  This was a fine system while we were going though the motions of introducing new foods one at a time.  When they were old enough to start mixing things together and have actual meals, I needed a new system.  I wanted them to be able to eat what we ate while still being baby friendly, i.e. less salt and spice, cooked well enough, and such.  So I had to think of a way to turn baby food into family food.  

I started with the following braised beef recipe.  This as written makes 5 baby portions suitable for freezing; but if I simply made more of it, it would feed a family of four no problem.  The most logical ingredient to look for when determining how much more I would need was the protein.  5 ounces of beef is about 1/3 lb which is a decent serving for a grown Daddy.  He would argue that, and we love leftovers.  So if I take 5 oz as one serving and I need 3 servings plus a baby serving I figured that if I tripled the recipe I'd have enough.  I quadrupled it to be safe.  After cooking, I pulled out enough for the baby and pureed it in my mini food processor.  Then added salt and pepper to taste for the rest of us.  It worked deliciously.  I was able to use this method for most baby puree recipes that I came across.

Braised Beef with Carrot, Parsnip, and Sweet Potato

Adapted from  Top 100 Baby Purees by Annabel Karmel

1 Tbsp olive oil

1/2 cup chopped red onion (or whatever you have on hand)

1 clove crushed garlic (I use the pre-minced in a jar, about 1 tsp per clove)

5 oz. lean stew beef

1/3 cup of flour

2 carrots, peeled and sliced

1 parsnip, peeled and sliced (if you can't find parsnip, use a couple peeled and chopped potato)

1 sweet potato, peeled and chopped

1 bay leaf

1 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley, or 1 tsp of dried parsley

1 3/4 cup chicken stock

Heat the oil in a saucepan.  Saute the onion and garlic until softened. In a bowl, toss the beef in the flour enough to coat.  Add beef to the pan and saute until browned all over.  Add the carrots, parsnips, sweet potato, bay leaf, and parsley to the pan and pour in the stock.  Bring to a boil and then simmer, covered for 2 hours until the meat is tender.  

Valentines: Past, Present, and Future

My oldest boy has a Valentine party at school on Monday.

His first year at preschool we chose the more traditional Valentine card kit from the local superstore.  I believe they had a Disney movie theme.  Then he came home with goodie bags from all his friends filled with candy and party favors.  Boy, did I feel like I had underdone it.

His second year at preschool we took it up a notch with the Transformer Valentine cards, a pencil and eraser, and a homemade rice crispy treat in a goodie bag for each child.  I couldn't stand not being up to the status quo, and I made up for it.

Now he is in kindergarten, and we are on a mission.  Spend less, use less.  The kids will know that Little Man cares about them regardless.

I give you Recycled Valentines.
(Inspired by my BFF, code name Diaper Diva.)

First we got out a few paper grocery sacks (or are they bags?), of which I have way too many and is another blog post entirely.  I then painted them a lovely shade of purple using leftover household paint.  This accomplished two things: It covered up all the logos and writing, and made them beautiful.  Remember to do this the night before to allow the paint to dry.

This morning the real fun began.  I drew a grid on each bag to make nine pieces of homemade card stock per bag.  You will see that I used a ruler to do this in the hopes of some size consistency.  Didn't happen, which makes them that much more authentic.  Right?

Next I had my son cut on the lines with his safety scissors.  Any excuse to have him practice those all important life skills is a good one, and less work for me.

Viola!  Homemade, free, and beautiful card stock.

Now it was time to decorate.  We used whatever we had laying around the house.  Construction paper cut into hearts, old doilies, feathers, stickers, etc.  Ok, really we happened to have received a fabulous Art in a Jar for Christmas that needed dumped all over the dining room table.  So I got the kids some glue and let them have at it.

Now if your 5 year old is anything like mine, 20 cards is a lot to expect him to do by himself.  It also wasn't long before he got distracted by the crepe paper his little brother was throwing in the air.  Little Man made 3 cards.

That was all the excuse I needed to jump on the chance to get out my Mod Podge and a paint brush.

What I love about Mod Podge is that you can be as messy as you want because it dries clear.  It is also a very reliable adhesive.  I chose a simple design of a single heart and an animal sticker.  Because let's face it, 20 cards is a lot for Mama to do by herself too.

I Mod Podged the stickers as well to ensure that they didn't fall off the painted surface of the cards.  The last thing was to let them dry and have Little Man sign his name on each card.  That much he could handle.

In keeping with our mission these cards were as cheap as they come and reused things we already had around the house.  We didn't have to make a trip to the superstore, and we had a lot more fun making these.  Well I did anyway.  The boys had more fun spreading the crepe paper all over they house.  I guess we're all set to have our own party.

Enjoy!

It's always time for a change.

If there is anything that is consistent in our home it is that there is never enough money and always too much garbage.  So in an attempt to keep more money and have less trash I give you Eco-ish Mama.  It will be our journey as we find solutions to turn the tables on consumption and waste in our family.

The first battle may be the biggest:

As I look at our dining room table I see the remains of 2 fast food kid's meals and 1 small combo meal from a burger joint that is unfortunately a block away.  It is an image that occurs far too often at our house.  I don't know that it is all that more convenient to simply throwing together a sandwich and cutting up a couple pieces of fruit.  However, something in my brain urges me to choose the former.

It certainly is more expensive.  For $14 a trip we get chicken nuggets and a toy for the kids and a days worth of saturated fat for Mama.  At twice a week or so, that is $56 a month.  Most months it is more than that.

As for the trash angle, the toys are definitely garbage and help only to clutter up my home to no end.  Then the actual waste from the to-go containers take up about 1 cubic foot before compaction.  Off to the landfill it goes.  Nothing worth recycling there.

The solution here is simple: Stop going to the burger joint.  Easy enough a statement.  You will see how well we do with the execution, especially in the last 5 weeks of my third pregnancy.