Campaign for Safe Cosmetics' new report: "Toxic Tub"

Traditionally, bath products and cosmetics don't list ingredients on the label, so even the most ingredient-conscious parents wouldn't know whether the product is safe or healthy. Many bath products for your baby are labeled as "gentle"," "pure" or "naturally refreshing", which can be even more confusing, since these words are unregulated and don't hold significant meaning.

Right now, children across America may be unfortunately sitting in bubbles tainted with harmful chemicals. Recently, an independent lab tested 48 kids' products for 1,4-dioxane and found it in 67 percent of the products. Of the 28 products tested for formaldehyde, 82 percent were positive. Seventeen products were contaminated with both 1,4-dioxane and formaldehyde, both linked to significant health effects.

To find out the specifics, you should check out the new Campaign for Safe Cosmetics report, "Toxic Tub", for all the details, but in the meantime, I encourage you to Take Action and Voice Your Opinion.

Ask your legislators to clean up kids products.
Ask your friends to request their legislators give the FDA the authority it needs to ensure that all cosmetics, from baby shampoo to lipstick to body lotion, are truly safe.

We owe it to our families to demand that the hygiene products that we all use are safe!

Spot Shot rocks!

A few weeks ago, our friends at Mom Central asked me if I wanted to try out a new carpet cleaning product called Spot Shot. Now, given that I am the mother of 2 small children and a dog owner, carpet cleaners are something that I know a thing or two about! I was definitely willing to try something new to try to fight some of our nasty carpet stains. The best part is that Spot Shot is non-toxic and environmentally friendly!

The sample arrived complete with a product testing kit. They included a piece of sample carpet along with chocolate and amonia to "stain" the carpet with and the product to clean up the stains with. The Spot Shot completely removed all of the chocolate stain and all of the amonia odor! I was impressed.

I also wanted to try the Spot Shot on my own carpet stains, so I headed for the toughest stain in my whole house! I am completely embarrassed to admit that the photo below is a section of carpet in my master bedroom. While I was in my early pregnancy with McKenna and not feeling so well in the mornings, I set Maddie up on our floor with breakfast and a sippy cup to watch some television while I tried to muster the strength to get on with the day. And, well, the carpet took a little bit of a beating as a result of that!

And, below is that same section of carpet 5 minutes later. I promise... it's the same section of carpet and no trick photography. Spot Shot worked on even an OLD stain that I thought was never coming out! And, there was no scrubbing necessary! I just sprayed it on and started to blot and rub out the stain and it was gone. I am impressed with this product. If you have some stubborn stains in your house, it's worth giving it a try!

Happy cleaning!

In case you just can't get enough of me....

I know... I am laughing at that title too!

But ... I am also going to be doing some writing for the Chester County Moms blog on healthy and green living. I am so very excited to be contributing to this amazing blog that is a wonderful resource for busy moms in Chester County who want to be in the know!

I put up my first post today on Making your Halloween more Green!

Enjoy.

Dinner Dilemmas

I've never really been a great cook. I can certainly get by, but my cooking is only ever ok, not excellent. Other issues? I am a bad grocery shopper, I am a bad menu planner and I dont really even enjoy cooking. So, let's just say that dinner is a little bit of a disaster around here.

I need convenient, easy meals that are nutritious for my family. Sometimes, that can be hard to do... easy and convenient while being nutritious. I have tried both Super Suppers as well as Dream Dinners as an answer to this issue to varying degrees of success. I like the concept quite a bit, but have been hard pressed to find entrees that keep me coming back for more consistently.

Recently, I'd learned of Horizon Foods from some women in our playgroup. Horizon sells quality beef, poultry, seafood and other products directly to your door. I had been very interested in their products because they have a line of antibiotic free meats and poultry. My friend Dawn hooked me up with her Horizon distributor and he came to my house. So convenient! I placed an order for antibiotic free chicken breasts, tilapia, sea bass and antibiotic free beef hamburgers.

It has been so great having a stock-pile of high quality dinner choices right in my freezer. I havent had the fish yet, but we've had the ABF chicken and burgers and they are fantastic! Now I just need to have a stock-pile of sauces and/or toppings and I've got a variety of easy dinner combinations at my fingertips. The portions are all individually packaged, so you only defrost (in 5 to 10 minutes in cool water!) what you need. We aren't so good about eating leftovers in our house, so when we only make what we need, there is alot less waste for us!

Anyway, this has been a huge help to me, so I wanted to share. I have 2 coupons for those of you who live in the local area for new customers for $20 off your first order. Let me know if you want one of them. First come, first served! If you are interested contact Dave Howk at 484-651-0541 and he will come to meet with you for a consultation! Please tell him I sent you.

However, I can always use any extra help I can get. What are your short-cuts that help you out with dinner? Do you have any go-to easy recipes? Please share!

Vacation: The Back Story

We just returned from a glorious, fantastic, awesome (are you getting the picture?) week of bliss in Vacationland. Vacationland? The great state of Maine is known as Vacationland, at least according to the tag line on their license plates, and I would have to wholeheartedly agree with that assessment!

My first visit to Bar Harbor, ME and Acadia National Park was an extended Labor Day weekend 3 years ago when Madison was just 8 months old. We rented a house with our friends Amy and Chris and their 3 month old son Finn. Amy and Chris have been going to Bar Harbor/Acadia for years and years, both indiviually and then as a couple. We had a wonderful stay that long weekend and Amy and Chris were fantastic tour guides. They escorted us to all of the major "must do" attractions and we fell in love with the area immediately.

Then, last April, our friends Lisa and Gordon announced that they had decided that they wanted to make a change in their lives. For several years, Lisa and Gordon had been doing extensive research and planning as they were considering purchasing a bed and breakfast. When they decided that Maine would be the perfect location for them, they started looking at properties. Lisa and Gordon fell in love with this site and are now the very proud (and, boy, they should be!) owners of the Acadia Cottages. Acadia Cottages in in Southwest Harbor, about 20 minutes outside of Bar Harbor.

We knew that we wanted to get back to Maine and we were also really anxious to see Lisa and Gordon in their new environment, so we booked our trip. And, even better was that our friends Amy and Chris were going too! We knew that seeing Lisa and Gordon would be special, but we had no idea just how special this week would be. Their cottages are truly remarkable. So cozy, clean, and well stocked. I am sure that I am biased a little, but really, these accomodations were fantastic. It was so great to have a seperate bedroom area and living space complete with a galley kitchen. It was a great place to come "home" to after out adventures each day! An added bonus??? Lisa and Gordon are very environmentally conscious in all that they do at the cottages. From the organic linens to the organic shampoos and soaps they provide, you will enjoy every bit of "green" luxury. Please, if you plan a vacation to Bar Harbor... go check out Acadia Cottages... you will not be disappointed!

Lisa and Gordon, it warmed my heart to see you both and your thriving business venture. We miss you terribly here, but it is a true inspiration to have friends that follow their dreams and have great success! Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedules to make us meals, take us to local hot spots, show us great starfish and sea glass collecting spots, and come on our biking adventure! We'll be back, many times over ... I have a feeling our kids will be retelling many Maine trip stories to their kids one day!

Next post: I *Heart* Maine: Our Adventures

I'm Lovin' This Giveaway

A big, huge, heartfelt thanks to Michelle over at Mommy Confessions for naming me as the winner of her giveaway today! The prize is a one-year subscription to Kiwi Magazine, whose mission is all about "Growing families the natural and organic way"! I really love this magazine, and even have a link to it here on my blog, but only buy it for myself as a special treat once in a while. So, this was the perfect contest for me!

Giveaways are great, and "green" giveaways are even better!

Thanks again, Michelle.

It IS easy being green....

Got this superb and totally EASY-to-do tip from the Moms for the Future website that is featured on Yvonne's blog. Moms for the Future is a fantastic site and a group that I hope to be joining soon. At any rate, they have some really simple things that you can do to make your home a little bit more green, and here is a favorite of mine.

Sign Up for Cleaner, Renewable Energy:
Buying cleaner, renewable energy will help create a market for alternate energy sources and move us away from fossil fuel dependence. Use your buying power to make a difference! Here are two ways to get started:

http://www.exeloncorp.com/ourcompanies/peco/pecores/peco_wind/

If you live in Chester County and use PECO, sign up for wind power. It costs just over 2 cents more per kilowatt-hour, and you can buy it in 100-kilowatt-hour blocks and pay just $2.54 extra per month per block. If you do other things to reduce your electricity use-like use compact fluorescent bulbs, buy energy-efficient appliances, and simply become more conscientious about turning off your TV and lights when you leave the room-you'll save money even with the added cost of wind, and you'll produce much less pollution. And our children will benefit exponentially.

As more people sign up for this, more wind farms will be built in Pennsylvania. So... what are you waiting for? Enrollment took me all of 60 seconds this afternoon!!!

OR:

http://www.theenergy.coop/biodiesel.htm
http://www.amerigreenbio.com/

You can sign up for 100% renewable energy at these websites, as well as others. And, if you use oil heat at home, you can buy biodiesel heating oil here, without changing a thing in your home. One of our moms uses it to heat her home, and all it took was a phone call!

Make it a green day!

CSA PSA

Ok, so here is my PSA (Public Service Announcement) for our local CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). My interest in living a more organic/natural life is relatively new. I've been interested on the sidelines for a few years now, but have really started to make more substantive changes in our buying and consumption habits in the last year. This season is the first time we are participating in a CSA. We've purchased a share in the CSA, a locally owned and operated farm, and in return for that share, we go to the farm each week to pick up our family's fresh produce for the week. Our particular CSA has had a few hiccups this year in terms of farm staff, but that has not tarnished my belief in the CSA model at all. Overall, I could not be happier that we are doing this... eating organic produce and participating in a more sustainable lifestyle! What could be better. I don't think I will ever go back to buying our produce at the grocery store (at least not in the growing season).


Here are some pictures of the girls at the farm:

A Change for the Better

So, several months ago, I started on a plan to very slowly introduce more natural and organic foods and other household products into our lives. Eating more organically has even lead us to buy a share in a local CSA this summer. Our CSA share at Maysie's Farm has already been a great influence in our lives on alot of levels, and we are just loving it! The CSA share provides us with all of our vegetable produce needs from late May - November. We get to go weekly to the farm to pick up our food and also do some picking in their "Pick Your Own" gardens. We've picked some great peas so far and enjoyed lots of other great veggies from our weekly pickups.

More recently, I also decided it was time to stop playing around with the extra weight I've been dealing with the last few years. So, 10 weeks ago, I signed up at Weight Watchers and found an amazing meeting leader. I just want to thank my friend Jess for recommending this particular meeting/leader because she is so wonderful, completely inspiring, and she makes me WANT to go to my weekly meetings. Well, last night I went for my weigh-in and I hit my goal!!! Now, keep in mind that I still have at least 11, if not 16, more pounds to lose to meet my own personal goal. But, I'll tell you, it feels SO GOOD to have met my Weight Watchers goal weight! More importantly it feels so good to be more energetic, feel healthier, and to feel confident in myself again! So, here's to losing 23.4 pounds and here's to losing another 16 hopefully!

It's amazing what a positive influence the weight loss and the healthier/more natural eating has had on all of us. I love this new lifestyle we're creating.