I remember reading articles about families that lived "trash free" by keeping only natural, whole/unprocessed product stocked in their pantries and making all their food and essentials from scratch. It was inspirational, but seemed impossible three years ago. Now here I am living the same way, it was a natural evolution that came along with slowly switching to eating raw vegan and making my own personal and household cleaning concoctions:
Keeping the following on hand I can make all of my favorite eats, body products, and household essentials. It's easy, effective, and cheap!:
Baking Soda: Use as shampoo, carpet refresher, toothpaste (very whitening!), household cleanser, deodorant (see here). For shampoo mix it with water to make a paste, as toothpaste, keep it in a jar and mix in a few drops of peppermint essential oil.Raw Apple Cider Vinegar: ACV removes hair build-up while closing each strand's cuticles, resulting in tangle-free, shiny hair. It balances skin's oil levels as a toner. Mix an equal part of vinegar and water to use as a toner or conditioner. Mix vinegar, water, baking soda and essential oil for a bad-ass all-surface cleanser. I use a little ACV in recipes, too.Essential Oils: My favorites are lime, lemon, peppermint, and rosemary. I fill my mop bucket with hot water and essential oil, and mop with that instead of a chemical cleanser, it makes the apartment smell amazing! Essential ingredient in DIY cleansers, too.Spices & Oils: black pepper, cumin, cinnamon, dried basil, chipotle, chili powder, cayenne, stevia (for tea and smoothies, use it a lot!), agave, and tamari are essentials. I sometimes use coconut oil in smoothies, salad dressings, and desert recipes- it doubles as a body moisturizer.Herbs: I'm growing ample spearmint, parsley and basil., I love adding fresh and dried spearmint to teas like yerba mate to overpower the strong, grassy flavor. I add parsley to a lot of recipes and juice it, too.
Nuts: I love adding 1/4 cup of nuts to my frozen fruit smoothies, it makes them creamy. I keep almonds, cashews, and walnuts as my typical staples, excellent for adding texture to recipes.Leafy Greens: For salads, green juices, or for wrapping up pates. I usually have romaine, kale, and collard leaves on hand.Frozen Fruit: For my fruit smoothies, my usual formula is 1 cup of fruit, 1 cup of water, 1/2 cup of ice, and 1/4 cup of nuts.Plants Aplenty (!!!): I keep zucchini, apples, avocados, tomatoes cucumber, red bell pepper, celery, carrots, and 1 head of cabbage on hand for recipes, salads, and juicing.Glass Jars: I save all of my jars and plastic containers (usually from olives and sauerkraut) to re-use for holding leftovers in the fridge, use as drinking glasses, etc.You can buy a lot of these essentials in the bulk buy section of your local health food stores or save money and start growing your own goodness. I can't wait until I have a constant stream of leafy greens coming in to chomp on and juice!
What are your go-to kitchen and household essentials? Got any DIY cleaning/hygiene recipes to share?
Thanks for sharing. I have to try some of the recipes!
ReplyDeleteDo it, they're awesome!
DeleteThis is a great list! Everything you have here is definitely an essential and I love the kitchen set up you have pictured.
ReplyDeleteThe tea is called Fat Buster, I picked it up at the little farmers market I go to for my produce. So far it's not busting any fat. :D Thanks for the spearmint / stevia recommendation I will definitely try it!
No prob, it helps with the strong grassy flavor of the yerba mate I'm drinking lately! Regular green tea has been helping as a "weight loss aid." I cut out caffeine for months, so the appetite-suppression power of it is still kicking in without high dosages you'd find in diet pills. Not something I intended when going for the green tea but it helped me get my hunger/cravings back in check.
DeleteI found the Barbie play kitchen at "The Thrift Store" for $2.00. One of my favorite finds ever now, just makes me happy to look at it. My roommate and I shamelessly play with it.
Speaking of tea, forgot to add tea to this post! I like to keep a mint and green tea on-hand, especially matcha tea. Experimenting with different herbal ones at the moment, too.
DeleteI also use vinegar (white) and baking soda to clean bathroom fixtures; Comet type stuff started giving me a rash on my hands. And I use white vinegar (3 parts) and water (1 part) to wash glass and mirrors. Nice to have those kind of things around-- you don't have to worry about kids or pets getting into chemical/poison junk. Love your little kitchen set-up too!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the recipe. I'm always trying new formulas to see what works best.
DeleteWhat an inspiring post! I have realized the awesome uses for baking soda! I'm not sure how baking soda can really cleanse my hair and to use for brushing teeth and how effective it can be, but maybe I'm just not informed well enough!
ReplyDeleteI definitely want to grow my own herbs though! If you have any tips on that please share!
And, I went thrifting at the local goodwill for the first time and found a top and shorts for $8! I think I'm addicted. :)
I've been meaning to follow-up with herb growing tips. Look it up, baking soda is some of the best toothpaste/shampoo around and the sulfates in the commercial brands do more harm than good. They're too alkaline and remove all of our body's natural oils, making us produce more when we don't use them. It creates a vicious cycle of dependence on the products. You make a paste out of the baking soda (equal parts water/baking soda) and rub it into your scalp to use it as a shampoo. As a toothpaste it's just like powdered toothpaste from the past, shake some unto the toothbrush. I like it mixed with lots of peppermint oil.
DeleteIf you're curious to learn more check out "No More Dirty Looks," they explain it all really well. They have a book and their website is nomoredirtylooks.com.
Oh and keep thrifting, it's addictive in a good way. :)
DeleteAll of the above minus the spices and herbs. Go team.
ReplyDeleteHell yes :) I use other spices and herbs but those are my go-tos. Think I need to edit that list to add cinnamon.
DeleteThank you so much for sharing! Have you ever used baking soda for a face cleanser?
ReplyDeleteI have, if I feel like I need to exfoliate I'll make a paste of that or a paste of water and salt. I use a mix of coconut or olive oil and salt or baking soda for the body. I don't do it too often, I used to use sugar but read that can "feed bacteria in the face" Not sure if that's true but I'll steer clear just in case.
DeleteI've been wanting to make my own deodorant as well as relaxing eye-pillows for the winter. :) I have some lavender essential oils that I've been meaning to use. Thanks for sharing, I will have to try them!
ReplyDeleteI don't do too much with cleaning but I've definitely been getting more experimental with food.
I gifted eye pillows to my parents one Christmas. :)
DeleteIf you're to able to buy organic produce, you can put your fruit a vegetables in a basin fill it with water and add a cup of apple cider vinegar. It helps strip of pesticides etc, the water will turn a yuck colour then rinse the fruit and vegetables. All the fruit and vegetable will last longer too from having it removed.
ReplyDeleteI need to remember to do this all the time to keep the veggies lasting longer. I'm wary as to whether or not this removes pesticides, maybe some of the pesticides on the outside of the produce, but it's fed to the veggies/fruit at the soil level so it's -inside- of the fruit and really part of it. But hey, some removal is better than none.
DeleteHi! I'm really loving your blog. I'd add some laundry tips (In my house, that counts as kitchen!) I use white vinegar in the final rinse on my washing machine as a fabric softener and dryer balls which cut drying time. Also - 20 Mule Team Borax as a soak for stains/smells/brighter whites (but it's important to keep borax away from cats.) I also wipe down the inside of my car with a wet rag once a month - I think I'll add a little essential oil to that.
ReplyDeleteHell yeah, thanks so much for the awesome tips. Gonna try these out. I've use my organic body soaps that say they double as laundry soap and baking soda for washing laundry but haven't experimented too much otherwise.
DeleteI like to keep my drains clear with baking soda and white vinegar:
ReplyDelete1) Pour 1/2 cup of baking soda down the drain.
2) Gradually pour 1 cup of white vinegar. The vinegar reacts with the baking soda, causing the mixture to bubble and fizz up. Just do it slowly so the drain doesn't get clogged.
3) After the fizzing has stopped. Pour boiling water down the drain to clear it out.
I like to do this once a month as a preventative measure, but you can do it more frequently. This is a great way to keep the plumber away and is better than those chemical cleansers that you use when your drains are clogged.
Thanks for this tip, my roommate and I will do this in the guest bathroom. The sink gets clogged easily in there.
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