Everything you need to know about cooking with cast iron. Learn how to cook with cast iron, proper care, and how to season it. I bought my first cast iron pan about 6 years ago now. The first time I used it, I washed it…
Refined sugar free, paleo, and GAPS friendly healthy homemade marshmallows. Perfect for roasting, adding to your morning coffee, or enjoying alone. Store bought marshmallows are packed full of high fructose corn syrup and free from any health benefits. When made at home, marshmallows can be…
Five ways to reduce toxins in your home now. Tips to reduce your toxic load and begin your natural living journey.
I am so passionate about doing whatever I can to reduce my toxic load, and helping others do the same. While we can’t remove every toxin we are exposed to on a day to day basis, we can make a big impact by being aware. I have spent the past 10 years hyper aware of my exposure to toxins, and looking for ways to reduce it. This journey can be overwhelming. It can be costly and time consuming when starting out on a natural living journey, so I put together a list of inexpensive ways you can reduce the toxins in your home.
Every day we are exposed to hundreds of toxic chemicals from things like the paint in our homes, chemicals in personal care products, fragrance, groceries, and so much more. It can be overwhelming! Stressing over the toxins we are exposed to is likely as harmful as the toxins themselves. Making slow and steady changes will have a big impact.
Luckily, we can control what we bring into our homes. Becoming aware of the different places we are being exposed to chemicals is the very first step.
So, how can you begin to reduce toxins in your home? These are some easy ways to get started.
Did you know it has been shown in a study completed by the EPA that indoor air is up to 5 times more toxic than outdoor air? You can find the details of that study here. Luckily, there is a ton we can do about that! Some of which will actually save you money!
An easy way to start out by indoor air quality is by ditching candles and air fresheners. These things are loaded with synthetic fragrance that is polluting the air inside your home, plus they can be expensive. Fragrance is a blanket statement for hundreds of chemicals that don’t have to be listed, as they are considered trade secret. It’s an ingredient you will want to avoid on all cleaning products and personal care products, but getting rid of candles is a great place to start. Alternatively, opt for beeswax candles which are naturally toxin free and will make your home smell delicious.
Plants are another affordable way to improve the air quality in your home. As a bonus, they double as decor! In the 1980’s NASA did a study on plants abilities to purify the air. Many plants are effective in removing benzene, formaldehyde, trichloroethylene, xylene, and ammonia from the air. Bamboo palm, spider plants, and peace lily are all great options. If you have pets, make sure to check which plants could be potentially toxic before bringing them into your home.
Lastly, get some windows open! Allowing your house to breathe and get in some fresh air will help let indoor air pollutants out. In the spring, I love to keep our front door open, with the screen door shut, to allow fresh air in throughout the day. Even through the winter we like to sleep with our bedroom window open.
If you want to scent your home, do so naturally with some high quality essential oils.
These days you have plenty of options when it comes to natural cleaning products. I love to keep a few ingredients stocked so I can make all of our own cleaning products, from all purpose cleaners to laundry detergent. I love to DIY my own products because it is so affordable and I know exactly what ends up in them.
If you’re not a DIY kind of person – that’s okay! There are tons of great options available now in terms of non-toxic cleaning products. Keep a close eye on the label, because green washing is a real issue with products on grocery store shelves.
Get familiar with the EWG database. You can use it for your current products, or the natural ones you would like to try. This will give you an idea of just how clean or how harmful they are. It is such a great tool to utilize as you work to reduce toxins in your home.
This in particular needs it’s own category, because laundry products can be some of the worst offenders when it comes to toxins in your home! Of course we all love our laundry to smell fresh and clean, but not at the expense of our health.
Think through your laundry routine. It likely includes a detergent, fabric softener, followed by dryer sheets. Maybe you use some bleach, stain remover, or scent booster on occasion as well. These are all loaded with toxic synthetic fragrance! You then wear your clothes all day, switch to pajamas at night, and sleep in your laundered sheets. That is a ton of fragrance, not to mention all the other chemicals, to be exposed to all day long. These can contribute greatly to chronic health issues.here
Switching to a non-toxic laundry routine is pretty simple, especially if you want to try DIY-ing it! I make my own laundry detergent with 4 ingredients in less than 5 minutes, fabric softener and scent booster with 2 ingredients plus essential oils, and use wool dryer balls in place of dryer sheets.
Please, please, if you have not yet ditched the teflon and non-stick cookware, do it now! It is so scary toxic, and known to be carcinogenic and linked to reproductive health issues. This can be such an easy switch to make, and it’s something you are using on a daily basis. Stainless steel or cast iron will be your best bet. Yes, these can be an investment, but the will last a lifetime. I bought my first cast iron pan 6 years ago, and only purchased another two in the past year. For under $50 you can purchase a cast iron pan that will last a lifetime, to be passed down to future generations.
If you’re on a tight budget, check out thrift stores. Every time I have been in one I see plenty of options when it comes to stainless steel or cast iron cookware, for super affordable prices. Facebook marketplace and yard sales are also great options to check out!
I have a tendency to be an all or nothing person. What that means, is when switching to a cleaner lifestyle, it was tempting to go all in at once. The problem is, if you are cleaning up your entire home, it can get expensive really quickly.
Start by switching out the products you use on a daily basis. If you wear makeup once a month, maybe that isn’t the first thing you want to go non-toxic with! The day to day things like cleaning products are a great place to start. This goes for groceries as well! If you are trying to buy more organic, start with something like cream that you might use daily in your coffee, instead of a spice that you will use once a year.
Just start by swapping out one item at a time, instead of going all in. It will be less of a financial and time burden, plus, it won’t be as overwhelming!
By making small changes daily, we can drastically decrease our toxic load and improve our health!
The essential oil industry is constantly growing, and it isn’t regulated. Learn why I chose doterra essential oils. Quality, safety, and transparency matter when it comes to essential oils. Why dōTERRA First off, please know that I am sharing my opinions as a loyal customer,…
What is a pro-metabolic diet? Simply put, it is a way of eating that supports metabolic health. The metabolism is a window into our overall health. To put it simply, a pro-metabolic diet is essentially eating in a way that supports the metabolism. What Is…
Learn how to make a gallon of natural homemade laundry detergent for less than $4. This laundry detergent is completely natural, non-toxic, safe and most importantly, it’s effective. This recipe will allow for 50-64 loads per batch, so the cost is less than 8 cents per load!
When I first opened the door to the world of natural living, my first experiment with DIY natural products was laundry detergent. That was I believe in 2012, maybe earlier! Back then, non-toxic products were a lot harder to come by, so you had to get resourceful. If you found them they were expensive, usually not very effective, and often not as natural as the package claimed them to be. Hello, green washing. Hence diving into DIY natural products was sort of necessary.
Over the years I have tried plenty of natural laundry detergent recipes, and they often left me disappointed. Many call for borax, which has been questioned when it comes to safety. Others left a film in my washing machine and on my clothes. Several other recipes called for grating a bar of castile soap, and while I have tried that, I honestly just don’t have the patience to do so. We wash most of our laundry on cold, so I also found sometimes the grated soap particles (when using a DIY laundry powder) wouldn’t fully melt, and then would leave little bits of dried soap on the laundry I was trying to clean. I also found that several recipes made massive batches, 5+ gallons, and that might be worthwhile if you have a large family, but we don’t, plus I don’t have the space for all that!
This recipe for natural laundry detergent uses just a few carefully selected ingredients, each chosen with a purpose. Washing soda is a natural solvent, meaning it works to dissolve other substances. Because of this it is great for boosting the power of the laundry detergent in removing stains. Baking soda is also powerful at removing stains, plus it helps to absorb and remove any odors. Castile soap is super concentrated, so a little goes a long way when it comes to cleaning clothes! The chloride in salt helps to keep laundry looking bright, and it also acts as a natural softener! I also use it in my DIY Fabric Softener & Scent Booster. Essential oils are not necessary, but I love to add them for a natural, toxin free, fragrance.
For many, many years, 6 or 7 to be exact, I had a recipe that was my go-to. It works great, however I often added a little bit of washing soda to the drum of our washing machine, because of how effective it is at removing stains. It made sense for me to play around with homemade natural laundry detergent of my own that included washing soda. I also just like to change things up from time to time, so this recipe was born!
I share about many of these ingredients in this post.
If you need to substitute ingredients in this recipe, you do have some options.
The safety of borax has been questioned. The EU has banned borax because of its potential harm to reproductive health. This is based on studies of borax on mice and rats after ingesting high amounts. While I am sure there are much worse ingredients out there, I would much rather play it safe. It is known for being effective in removing stains, however I find washing soda does the trick all on it’s own.
I typically use about 1/3 cup or so for an average sized load of laundry. If I am doing a small load however, I will use about 1/4 cup. This works great for us! I just keep a 4 oz mason jar in my laundry room to use to measure my detergent whenever I am doing a load of laundry.
Yes, this recipe works with both HE and standard washing machines! Because standard washing machines use less water, you may find that you want to add a little bit more detergent. I would say about 1/2 cup per load. Test it out with your washing machine to see what works!
You will probably notice that after your homemade natural laundry detergent cools it separates like in the picture below. This is totally fine! Just give it a good shake before using.
Learn how to make a gallon of natural homemade laundry detergent for less than $4. This laundry detergent is completely natural, non-toxic, safe and effective. This recipe will allow for 50-64 loads per batch, making the cost less than 8 cents per load.
I typically make my detergent in a gallon sized glass jar. I add the washing soda, baking soda, salt, and hot water directly to it to dissolve, then add the rest of the ingredients.
DIY Fabric Softener & Scent Booster
Tracking temps and pulses is a great way to check in on your metabolic health. Body temperature and heart rate are two vital signs. Before I dive into how to track temps & pulses, of course you’re going to want to understand why you would…
Homemade gluten free garlic & herb crackers recipe using sourdough. These recipe is a great healthy way to use up extra sourdough starter! When my husband first tried these crackers he assumed they were store bought. “You made these?!” were his words after I shared…
In this post I am sharing why we drink raw milk. I will cover my thoughts on dairy in general, the risk of consuming raw milk, the health benefits, and how our experience has been.
Honestly, it boggles my mind that the topic of raw milk is controversial. With that, as always, this is my own opinion based off of research I have done myself. I will always, always encourage you to do your own research and come to your own decisions, especially in regards to your health. I’ll share below some resources that I would encourage you to check out when making the decision for your family to consume dairy of any kind.
Chances are if you are even remotely interested in health, you’ve heard varying opinions from both sides of the dairy debate. Some swear off dairy completely noting its inflammatory nature and lack of nutrition, while others rave about the benefits of the calcium and vitamin K2 rich grass-fed variety. The enzymes, good bacteria, and nutrient profile of raw dairy contribute to why we drink raw milk.
There is merit in both arguments.
I want to emphasize that not all dairy is created equal. Absolutely, certain dairy can be a nutrient dense addition to your diet, while other varieties could be harmful.
Depending where in the world you are, your options are going to range from conventional, organic, and potentially raw milk. Many places, including where I live, the selling of raw milk is illegal. To be frank, I think this is quite ridiculous. We will cover the different varieties of dairy below.
Please note, when I talk about consuming raw dairy, I am referring to fresh, unpasteurized, non-homogenized dairy from healthy grass-fed, cows. We source our raw milk from a family with a single 100% grass-fed, A2A2 jersey cow that has her bull calf with her. Their operation is very small, very clean, and we can visit her as we please.
Pasteuriziation is a process that most dairy goes through, whether conventional or organic. Why pasteurize dairy? Raw dairy consumption was the norm for centuries before pasteurization came to be. The idea of pasteurizing milk was introduced in the mid 1800’s to kill microbes and micro-organisms through heat. Exposure to salmonella, E.coli, listeriosis and tuberculosis can all be prevented through the pasteurization of milk.
Ultra-pasteurization is the same idea as pasteurization, just at an even higher temperature. This process is typically used for organic dairy, as it needs a longer shelf life because it is purchased at a lower rate than conventional dairy.
Homogenization is essentially putting milk through a fine sieve at high pressure, breaking down the fat globules so they won’t separate and rise to the top, as it does in raw milk to give you that beautiful cream line. One of the simplest reasons why we drink raw milk is that we love the option to skim the cream to make butter or to use in coffee.
Let’s talk conventional dairy. The dairy industry is straight up horrific. Generally speaking, the animals are not treated very well, often abused, and fed genetically modified grain instead of having the option to graze. They are confined in very close quarters with other cattle. They have no space and are exposed to feces everywhere. Yep, that sounds like a disease breeding ground, and it is. Milking is done by machine. When you take all of this into consideration, of course pasteurization is necessary. Pasteurization is the process of heating to a temperature where bacteria will be killed, and with those conditions it will definitely be present.
In Canada, dairy farmers do not use growth hormones. Milk is required to be antibiotic free, however, that does not mean the dairy cows have not been exposed to antibiotics. When they are, they are required to dispose of the milk for a period of time. Milk in Canada is also required to be fortified with Vitamin A and Vitamin D.
Moving onto organic dairy. This is a tricky one. Organic dairy cows are not fed the genetically modified grain that conventional dairy cows would be. However, the demand for organic dairy is much lower than conventional dairy. With that, it needs to have a longer shelf life. Organic dairy is typically ultra-pasteurized. This means it is heated to an even higher temperature then that of typical pasteurization. Anything good is killed off. If I am purchasing dairy from a grocery store where I live, I would personally only choose organic, grass-fed, and then purchase higher fat content options as fat will be less disturbed through ultra pasteurization. Ideally, when available I would go for the non-homogenized grass-fed option if it’s available. More than likely though, I will limit my dairy intake unless I am able to track down raw.
Organic dairy in Canada is also fortified with Vitamin A and Vitamin D, as required by law.
Raw dairy is fresh from the cow, unpasteurized, and non-homogenized. This is a huge factor in why we drink raw milk.
Despite what you have heard, the likelihood of actually getting sick from drinking raw milk, assuming you are getting it from a clean, well cared for source, is pretty slim. Like with anything, of course there is risk. As with anything health related, I want to be able to make the call on consuming raw dairy myself.
Would I consume raw milk from a cow that is grain fed living in close quarters with diseased cows of the conventional dairy industry? Of course not. From an organic certified, large scale dairy industry? Still, likely no.
But when I have the option to visit a small family operated farm, where they take care because they too consume the dairy their milk cow produces? I feel much more comfortable with that, and I’d like to legally have the option. In B.C. the fine is up to $3,000,000 for selling raw dairy, so it can be hard to source. Again, this is somewhere you need to use your best judgement, and trust your gut.
These days dairy alternatives are all the range. Back when I first got into health and wellness, I will admit I totally fell into the dairy free craze.
Now, I think a little more critically. While there is nothing inherently wrong with nuts, never in nature would we blending up hundreds of nuts and consuming them on a daily basis. It doesn’t feel natural to me. Nuts are also high in PUFA’s so while they are not something I avoid completely, I do take that into consideration when consuming in large amounts.
Also, we seem to have forgotten that there is nutritional value in dairy. The perfect balanced source of carbohydrates, fat and protein. The alternatives just can’t compare. The plant milks I have seen on the market are overly processed, heavily sprayed with pesticides (if not organic), packed with fillers, and unnaturally low calorie. They end up being a blend of blend of often hard to digest ingredients that can be detrimental to gut health, with no nutritional value. Blending up any ingredient with water does not make milk, simply put. These are all lacking the beneficial bacteria, enzymes, vitamins, and minerals of raw milk, all of which contribute to why we drink raw milk.
Nutritionally speaking, soy milk would be the closest in comparison. I avoid soy because it is typically genetically modified. It is also very processed and can have negative implications on our hormones. When I need a dairy free alternative, we choose full fat coconut milk.
When milk is pasteurized, you lose a lot of the vitamins and minerals, as well as enzymes and good bacteria. Yes, pasteurization will kill the bad stuff, but it is taking the good stuff with it. I share below several ways that raw milk is impacted by the process of pasteurization.
Raw milk contains bacteria that produces lactic acid which protect against pathogens. The process of pasteurization kills these organisms, which means if contamination was to occur, there is nothing to protect it. Over time, raw milk will just sour. If you leave pasteurized milk for an extended period of time, it will rot.
Pasteurization will cause the loss of over 50% of Vitamin C, and water soluble vitamins can be lost up to 80%. As for minerals, pasteurization alters calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, and sulphur, plus trace minerals, making them less bioavailable.
All enzymes present in fresh milk are destroyed through the process of pasteurization. As a matter of fact, a lack of enzymes is how they make sure pasteurization was successful. This is precisely why so many people that are lactose intolerant do just fine consuming raw milk.
The Wulzen factor, stigmasterol, is destroyed. I’m guessing you haven’t heard of this before. Rosalind Wulzen discovered this compound and showed how it could prevent calcification in the joints, reducing pain and stiffness of osteoarthritis. It is present in butterfat which we know is quite fragile, so consuming raw milk is the best way to take advantage of this, as the process of making raw butter may impact the Wulzen factor.
These are all factors that contribute to why we drink raw milk.
When looking into raw milk, you will likely learn about the different types of protein, those being A1 beta-casein and A2 beta-casein. A1 protein is often harder to digest, and is found in milk of the Holstein breed. A2 is typically easier to digest and more commonly found in Guernsey and Jersey breeds. Depending on the scale of the farm you are looking to purchase from, they may have tested their cows to find out which kind of protein is in their milk. Most cows will have both A1 and A2 protein, where as others, typically Guernsey and Jersey, will have A2 only. This is why you will hear it referred to as A1A2, or A2A2.
There are risks associated with drinking raw milk. This is why it is particularly important to look at sourcing, and preferably, to view the farm and operation yourself. The farm we source our milk from tests for brucellosis and tuberculosis. This was a step we took before purchasing raw milk locally. That being said, there are risks with just about anything, and you just have to decide what you’re comfortable with.
As I mentioned earlier, I would personally never consume raw dairy from a large scale commercial dairy operation, where the cattle is kept in close quarters where disease is likely to spread. I completely understand why this milk needs to be pasteurized.
There is more of a risk of getting ill from raw milk than pasteurized milk, however it is extremely low. I feel that the risk is way over dramatized. I’ve seen the number of a 1 in 6 million chance of becoming seriously ill be quoted numerous times. That is a risk I am willing to take. Plus, with the potential health implications pasteurized milk can have, I feel that the benefit outweighs the risk when it comes to consuming raw milk.
I was never one to drink milk by the glass, especially with the dogma there is these days surrounding consuming dairy. Raw milk, however, I easily consume by the glass. It is so rich, creamy, and sweet. I will say, I find the taste of the milk varies throughout the seasons. Sometimes there is a bit of a grassy taste to it, but I say that in the best way! It is not overwhelming at all. I appreciate that raw milk tastes as nature intended it to, not as a factory intended it to.
Depending where you live, it can be pretty hard to source raw milk. Some countries or states have raw milk readily available at the grocery store. If that is where you live, you are lucky! To source raw milk in the United States, click here.
Ask around in crowds of like minded, health conscious people to see if they have any connections. Visit farms and pet feed stores. Check out facebook groups. I have seen raw milk advertised for pet consumptions at feed stores. This can be a good starting point.
Raw Milk Reality: Is Raw Milk Dangerous?
Keeping A Family Cow A quick and worthwhile read if you consume dairy of any sort, even if you have no plans to purchase a cow.
I hope this gives you a clear picture on why we drink raw milk. We feel the health benefits outweigh the risks, by far.
How to make the my favorite avocado oil mayonnaise recipe. This recipe is simple and delicious, made with only a few healthy ingredients. A healthier and tastier alternative to store bought mayonnaise. Let me start out by saying that I have yet to find a…
