When Life Hands You Lemons...

... you make your products - but we're not talking lemonade here. We're talking home and personal care. The vision for my blog and my other social media sites is to encourage you to find your truths in wellness; which is multi-faceted. 

Wellness is more than just nutrition (though it is the foundation for everything) but wellness embodies advocating for your life in the decisions you make. I want you to see that making your own products can be empowering and you don't have to take it all on at once. Pick a recipe you want to try, incorporate it and let it become your go-to then add another one. 

So, when life hands you lemons, maybe you can make a tub and tile cleaner with a bit of baking soda and a little elbow grease or you can use them to make an alternative bleach with a couple other common household ingredients. The choice is yours! Be open to learning, sharing, and growing. 

Join me over at Handcrafted HoneyBee where owner, Stacia, asked me to share my experiences in how I got started DIYing. The guest post was shared during her new website launch. More about Stacia's business: 

Handcrafted Honey Bee was founded with the goal of helping you to create healthy, handcrafted skin care products with ease in the comfort of your own home.

View our selection of kits, find us on social media, and let your love affair with creating your own skin care begin!

Give DIY a try! You may surprise yourself with your innate know-how. Your house will be clean, your kids can help, and there will be no harmful chemicals to breathe in. Your house will not smell like Clorox, but it may have small hints of lemon here and there and who doesn't like lemons? Oh, well, if you don't like them try lime juice! If you're allergic to both then skip the lemons, and go with baking soda. And, if you're not feeling any of those options, trust me, there are a ton more!

In the guest post on Handcrafted Honeybee, you'll learn how I was able to repair my own hair after a hairdresser said I need to cut it all off. Sounds kind of like other practitioners that may make people feel there is no other option. There IS always another option but you have to be willing to put in the time and effort AND speak up! Feel confident this day that you can advocate for your own wellness in all regards!

Don't forget to click over to the guest post here. 

Choose, eat, and live well! =) 


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10 Ways to DIY

Have you ever wanted to try your hand at making your own products for your home or personal care? Now is your chance in a casual environment with others who want the same thing. 

The next Awareness Challenge is upon us. We'll be focusing on recipes to do it yourself (DIY). When you stumble upon this post, even after the challenge ends, you can still make a commitment to start the ten days tomorrow. Pull in a friend to do it with you, too. 

Every day for ten days, we'll focus on doing something for home care or body care. You may have already done all ten of the suggestions or on your best day, simply thought the idea sounded great to your wallet and the scent of it easy on the lungs. Whether you're a pro or a novice, come join us on Facebook! Or, again, do this challenge on your own time. You're welcome to come back and leave your feedback. 

As taken from my post in February, Bath Time Done Right: 

"Almost four years ago, I was made aware of how much I should be considering my own body care wellness... and I started looking at ingredients of consumables. It was an easy decision when it came to my little one because I wanted to protect his new skin from as many harmful elements as possible and preserve his youth."

If you're new to the scene of natural products, I would like to share with you two things: 

1) Start slow - replace one product at a time (take baby steps);
2) Keep learning.  

For those that are reading this challenge thinking this isn't right for me or it just seems overwhelming, I encourage you to simply *Try One* of the recipes or suggestions. You never know, you may surprise yourself. If your efforts turn out better than you expected, please come back and leave a comment. You may inspire someone else to give it a go. 

Let's get started!

Gourmet Hamburger Helper {Budget Friendly Too}

Are you one of the many busy parents who work long hours, have kids in sports, and just need a quick meal that offers more nutrition than boxed helpers? Yea? This recipe is for you! 

Sometimes throwing ingredients together works and sometimes it doesn't but in this case, it worked hence this blog post. Of course, you can substitute ingredients to your liking but this will give you a good baseline to make a Gourmet Hamburger Helper. Depending on your grocery expenses, I believe this recipe is also budget friendly. You have some flexibility in the brand and quality of the ingredients, too. 

CSA Inspiration: Five Delicious Recipes

What would you make with my CSA harvest? I made a dinner, a dessert, and three salads. 

I don't know about you but every time I open my CSA box, I salivate and the wheels start spinning about what to make! Well, honestly, every time I visit the produce aisle that happens as well! I bet that the way I feel about my CSA fruits and veggies is how gardeners feel about their own. Though they probably feel a lot more satisfied because they did it whereas I simply ordered (and supported) several local farmers. Either way, we are voting with our dollar and eating more of the [real] rainbow. I hope to grow my own soon with an aeroponic system but until that becomes a reality, I will continue to eat as many fruits and vegetables as possible. I even bridge the gap with 25. 

When I looked at this box, the first recipe that came to mind was roasted veggies. I mean really, how can you go wrong with roasted veggies? I threw in some salmon that was marinated in a basil 'sauce.' Not pictured was roasted potatoes in the same sauce. I roasted the potatoes separate because they needed more time in the oven.