Home Keeper
I've cut out sugar...not 100% but I no longer have it in my coffee and hardly have it the rest of the time. But the coffee alone is HUGE. I used to be one of those "would you like some coffee with your sugar?" people. It was bad. And having two cups a day...that really adds up and gets gross. For awhile, I tried using honey but now I just go without and I'm fine. I think Penland somehow broke that habit. P also has no sugar. I occasionally give her some graham crackery type things that I'm sure contain sugar. But that's not the norm. There have been times when I was aware of her having something with a higher sugar content and almost every time I noticed a horrible act-up in attitude and just overall uncontrollable craziness. WOAH. So...sugar is off. And you know what? She doesn't need it. I don't need it. I don't need to buy it. As I said, I'm not 100% broken up with it. I do enjoy an occasional cookie or biscotti or whatever. And I don't feel bad about that.
But back to household things. That was one thing I was really interested in changing in my home. One blog I ran across that I really like is Keeper of the Home. She has recipes for a lot of household cleaner substitutes and things like that. I had concerns that a lot of the things I used weren't that good for me or my family. I especially worried about wiping down highchair trays...what to use? What not to use? What lingered and got into my baby's food and what didn't? The above blog's post here shares a lot about some great alternatives that are homemade. Here is a recipe for a homemade citrus cleaner that she references from another blog. I decided to try it a couple months ago. It takes awhile to make (only because it has to sit for awhile to "marinate" but the initial making process doesn't take long at all and is easy peasy) but so far I really like it. It does look like urine (HA!) and it is very vinegary...but this next batch I'm making I tried adding some essential oils. So I think that'll tone down the scent a little. It's great for wiping down trays and counters. And if it gets on babies...it's not toxic or harsh! It's not great on glass but isn't really meant for glass...I think the oils from the citrus fruits make it streaky. But she has recipes for glass cleaning alternatives too.
Anyway...this isn't a fancy blog but it's speaking from experience, from something I successfully made and enjoyed. My mom also made some homemade dishwasher detergent. I haven't tried it yet but will soon. And I'm nearing the end of the store-bought dish soap...and plan on making that next! I'm excited.
So is my home sparkling and clean? Of course not! You crazy! I'm a single mom going through an emotionally unstable deployment! Ha! BUT...not to toot my own horn but we all need some tooting sometimes and right now I could use a serious horn toot...that came out wrong...back to what I was saying...BUT...despite my house being a mess most of the time...I noticed one thing that makes me very puffed up with pride: despite being stressed, emotional, messy, overwhelmed, etc....I make meals from scratch. I make them with whole, real ingredients. I feel SO good about what my baby is eating. And that in itself brings me joy and makes me feel like...hey! I'm not a complete basket case! I can still follow a recipe...so there must be hope still in the world. Now where's my vodka.
Kidding.
Photo: Meself
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