Community Question: How Do You Simplify Your Life?

crunched by Crunchy Betty on April 19, 2012
filed under Food For Your Soul

It’s just you and this orange:

Photos today courtesy my ever-talented crunchy mother.

On a steamy summer day, you’re sitting at a table in front of this orange. You’re going to eat it. It’s one of the most simple things on the planet, receiving sustenance from food. The air is still and nothing exists but this simple act of feeding yourself.

One fingernail slides beneath the peel and the fresh, pungent scent immediately zings up your nose. You’re reminded of summer camp at Lake Wanabego – of the blistering sun pouring down as you and your friends ate oranges and giggled about the boys splashing in the lake.

You push your finger in a bit more deeply, and the tart juice trickles down your hand and splashes to the table with glistening grace. With your other hand, you swipe it up and to your mouth, feeling a bit like a baby goat as you suck on your finger to savor every drop.

The liquid sunshine in the fruit electrifies your tongue, and you quickly rip into the rest of the skin – it goes “shhhrop shhhrop” when you pull the flesh off and expose the gentle white of the pith. You’re undressing the orange, like a ravenous seductress. You harlot.

The orange teases you when you bite in, aiming its juice at your cheek in a quick burst of citrus, and a laugh and a snort tumbles out of your mouth. But you don’t care, because it’s just you and the orange. A simple moment. Just … a moment.

This is What Simple Living Is To Me

That moment with the orange signifies everything simple living means to me. It’s stripping away everything that’s unnecessary to arrive at a moment where you can truly, completely, and utterly live. Suddenly, you’re set free to enjoy the myriad facets of whatever moment you’re in. Moments you’d miss, were you preoccupied by a million other things.

It’s consternating to think that we actually have to TRY to live simply. It should be easy, right? A given?

We weren’t brought up in a simple world, though, and this world is far from simple at this moment. It’s not a surprise that so very, very many of us are feeling a call to open up and embrace the beauty and joy that simple living brings. But we have to practice it – every day.

Everything happens, though, for a reason, and the complexity that we (hopefully) used to live in served a purpose. It chaosed (new word, write it down) everything to the point where we could only come through the other side wanting a new kind of order in our lives.

The desire for more simple, in-the-moment living is, I believe, at the crux of all things crunchy. I’ve often used the words “conscious living,” but I think the two concepts are completely interchangeable.

I still have a long way to go, to clear out different areas of clutter in my life – be they emotional, physical, or even spiritual. And all of this – my question to you today and my three days of contemplation on simplicity – was sparked, of course, by the Simplify Your Family Life sale going on right now.

I cannot, for the life of me, stop reading these books. It’s making my bedtime schedule a little complicated. Not the intention, I’m sure.

The biggest thing I’ve learned from all of them is this: The art of simplicity means letting go of what is unnecessary and appreciating all that IS in every moment you have. (Even while cleaning!)

It doesn’t mean giving everything up for good, or living without. But whether it’s food, your relationships, or your personal life, when you climb up through the complexity to find the simple way, you open up a whole new reality that you weren’t aware of before.

Like eating an orange on a hot summer day.

What Steps Have You Taken to Simplify Your Life?

Finding the way of simple living looks different to everyone, though it has the underlying theme of embracing what’s real.

To the beautiful Crunchy Betty Facebook users who answered this question yesterday, it looked something like this:

Getting rid of anything in my home that isn’t necessary. The clutter was taking over, and causing me stress. With less stuff, there is less to clean, less to worry about, less to make room for. For me, less is more! – Stephanie
The older I get, the more I realize the old saying “quality over quantity” is true. I’ve learned to research my purchases more and find something I will like instead of buying a bunch of different cheap stuff. Also I definitely agree with cutting down on clutter! – Amy
We find that the TV is a great source of “noise” and lack of communication in our home. When we keep the TV off the majority of the time, it just makes things easier and more peaceful. The kids listen better, everyone is a little happier (most of the time), and more things get done. – Megan
Being present in the moment helps me a lot. Helps me remember that I’m just here, living, doing these little things here and there, and simplifies my perspective. Simplifying from the inside makes all the outside things manageable and usually enjoyable! – Georgia (I can’t agree with this more! You have to simplify inside in order to enjoy the simple things on the outside.)

So …

What steps have YOU taken to simplify your life? How has that affected the way you relate to the world/your family/yourself?

–

Also, don’t forget that this is THE. LAST. DAY. to get in on the Simplify Your Family Life Sale (where you get 38 ebooks from top bloggers on simplifying your life, bought separately for $375, but on sale in a bundle right now for only $29). The sale ends at 8 a.m. EST tomorrow, and when it’s over, it’s over forever.

If you bought the bundle (as several of you have), please share any tips, ideas, or concepts that have already spoken to you and encouraged you to live more simply!

one small thing : baking soda microdermabrasion

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Tuesdays Outside the Box: Borax? And Taming Wild Hair

crunched by Crunchy Betty on April 17, 2012
filed under Crunchy Kids, Hair

Shoot. Running behind today – bit off more than I can chew. So, without further ado, the third of four Tuesdays Outside the Box: Today featuring things to do with Borax and handy ways to fix oily, unruly, or otherwise unsavory hair. Yay!

You know the drill by now, right?

If you have a blog post that fits into these categories (using borax or taking care of your hair), you can add them at the end – so EVERYONE can enjoy your genius. If you don’t have a blog, leave a handy-dandy comment at the bottom with your favorite ways to handle either of these things.

I’m going to start backward today, because I’m jazzed about the first “outside” the box idea and I’ve been waiting to share this with you guys for months. It just never seemed to be the right time.

SO.

Tuesdays Outside the Box: Fix That Hair!

My outside the box thinking for this one is, well, REALLY outside the box.

But it works! And, my dears, if you are no ‘poo and looking for a fun treatment, THIS is the one.

It.

Is.

Yes, believe it or not, the super grain, quinoa, actually makes a very mild shampoo. AND it is literally packed full of protein, which should help strengthen your hair and bring it a beautiful shine.

You see, the outer casing of quinoa actually contains natural saponins – much like soap nuts – and if you’ve ever cooked quinoa (if you haven’t, you must … SOON) you know that you should rinse it off first to help wash away those saponins. Otherwise, you end up with slightly funky-tasting quinoa.

But don’t let that rinse water go to waste! Save it, instead, to use on your hair.

Check out what the quinoa water looks like while rinsing/soaking/shaking (you don’t have to shake – I just did it for effect, to show you the sudsy bubbles).

How to use it: In the shower, pour the quinoa rinse water over your hair and massage in lightly. Let it sit for 3-5 minutes and then rinse away. If you’re no ‘poo, use this just before you use your baking soda mixture. If you DO use shampoo, you can use this in between shampooing and conditioning. OR, add a little bit to your shampoo each time you take a shower for a protein-packed hair treatment every time!

AND, if you’ve never cooked quinoa, use this recipe for parmesan quinoa cakes to get you started. You will NOT regret it. It’s my new favorite go-to dish when I’m lost for dinner ideas. Seriously yum.

Tuesdays Outside the Box: What to Do With Borax?

Instead of taking a traditional turn with borax here (like, say, cleaning … which is what it’s GREAT for), I’ve opted to share one of the least crunchy things I’ll probably ever share.

And it has very little practical use.

BUT IT IS SO MUCH FUN YOU WILL CRY RAINBOW TEARS OF FRISKY KITTEN HAPPINESS.

If you grew up in the ’90s – or if you had a kid in the ’90s – you will absolutely, without a doubt remember these three letters: GAK.

Gak was a ridiculously expensive mushy, plasticky slime that kids begged for. Do do what with? Who knows. It was just … weird.

Well, guess what? You can make GAK at home using four easy ingredients: Glue, borax, food coloring – which is optional, and water!

This would make for a fantastic science project for your older kids, and if you’d like to use it that way, I recommend studying up on the scientific reasoning behind why borax turns glue into GAK here at Steve Spangler Science.

In a nutshell, the borax and glue produce a polymer. That’s as sciencey as we’re going to get here.

I’ve made this several times over the last 8 months. Because it’s fun. So remember when I said it had no practical purpose? I lied! It’s a great stress reliever to play with, and it makes you giggle like a little baby.

How to Make Homemade GAK:

You will need these things:

Plain old glue
Borax
Water
A bowl and a cup and a spoon
Food coloring (optional)

First, pour some glue in your bowl. I like to use about half a bottle of the small glue. (I bought mine at Staples for $0.99 a bottle, so this is a really, really inexpensive little project.)

Next, drop in food coloring and stir until you reach your desired color.

Now, in a small glass, add about 1/2 tsp (you don’t have to be precise) of borax to about 1/2 c. warm water and stir until dissolved.

Here’s the fun part! VERY slowly, start pouring your borax water into your glue. Once it starts to stick a bit (which will be immediately), you can just hold the ball of glue in your hand and pour a little bit of water while you mush it around. It is best to mix this with your hands.

Once you reach a thick consistency, where the GAK is only sticking to itself and no longer clinging desperately to your hands, you’re done!

No. This does not stain your hands. No. This is not particularly messy, because it “cleans itself up,” but I would recommend trying to keep it away from carpet.

This IS a fun way to clean glue off of hard surfaces

For science sake, I poured some glue on different parts of my counter top. I cleaned up BOTH wet and dry glue with a borax-water mixture, and it was so. much. fun. Way more fun than digging in with your elbow grease to get glue off of counters.

I also, though, sacrificed a towel to science, pouring glue on an old ratty towel to see if I could get it all to clump up and peel off using the borax water. This did NOT work. I laid that towel to rest last night, so let’s have a moment of silence.

Do NOT try to clean glue off of carpets using borax. The end.

Now It’s Your Turn! Share Your Outside the Box Ideas Here!

Don’t forget to leave your comment with ideas on either how to fix unruly hair in uncommon ways – or ways that you LOVE to use borax.

And if you have a blog post regarding either of those things, right here is where you link it up and share your awesomeness:

37 Comments

April Special: Simplify Your Family Life!

crunched by Crunchy Betty on April 16, 2012
filed under Are You A Crunchy Betty?

You’re in for a treat today.

A simple treat, but it is seriously loaded to the brim with gooey, delicious knowledge.

Starting today (and ending Friday at 8 a.m. – so this is a very limited time offer), you can purchase a package of 38 ebooks written by some of the best bloggers to grace the internet. Humbly, my book is included in the package, so I’m VERY, VERY lucky to be able to share this with you guys.

Seriously.

38 ebooks. And they’re all dedicated to ways to simplify your life, and your family’s life. Offered separately, these ebooks would cost $375, but the price for the entire set (again, only for the next four days) is $29.

What’s In This Simplify Your Family Life Special?

More down-to-earth knowledge than you can shake a stick at.

Let me run down some of my personal favorites, but you can see the entire list at the end of this post.

Simple Ways to Be More with Less by Courtney @ Be More with Less – This is a touching look at a gentle approach to minimalism. I’ve already printed out this book and put it in a binder, to be my daily reminder.
Plan It, Don’t Panic by Stephanie @ Keeper of the Home – Everything Stephanie writes is real, authentic, and helpful, and this is no different. I need meal planning help, to be sure, and this guide has already gotten me on my way.
Not a DIY Diva: How to Create an Authentically Inspired Life in a Pinterest World by Melissa @ The Inspired Room – If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by all the ideas, options, and “perfect” ways that other people seem to live, this is the book for you. It’s full of great thoughts on creating a home based on your authenticity, rather than feeling less than because you can’t do it all.
My Buttered Life {Summer + Gift Giving Editions} by Renee @ MadeOn Hard Lotion – TWO recipe ebooks from Renee that get you started working with butters for your skin. And? From the master hard lotion crafter herself.
That Works for Me by Kristen @ We Are THAT Family – You’ll need a computer for this one, but rest assured, you’ll be glad you have it. It’s a compilation of 800 incredible tips and ideas all gathered from the Works For Me Wednesday.

I have to stop and take a breath for a second. Hold on.

Okay.

One Bite at a Time by Tsh @ Simple Mom – Another book I’ve already printed out, this is 52 painless steps you can take (one for each day of the week) to simplify your life. Tsh has such an inviting writing style, just reading the first 5 ideas made me feel more calm. Now to implement the ideas … one bite at a time.
Smart Sweets AND The Everything Beans Book by Katie @ Kitchen Stewardship – REAL FOOD, here we come!
Clean Start: Your Guide to Natural Home Cleaning by Michelle @ Open Eye Health – A great guide to get you started with your own homemade cleaners (and some ideas I’ve never even thought of!)
The A to Z Guide: 26 Ways in 26 Days to a Happier, Healthier Marriage by The Dating Divas – This book. THIS book. THIS. Let’s just say, this is not your normal relationship book. : )
2012 Confident Mom Weekly Household Planner by Susan @ The Confident Mom – BRILLIANT weekly printables for each week of the year to keep you organized and on top of your tasks. Plus, they’re purrrty to look at, and each week has a sweet, inspiring quote.

I’m going to stop there. Even though this isn’t the complete list of my favorite books in this package. I just don’t want to overwhelm you. (I had 9 more books earmarked as a “favorite” – so … yeah. There is a LOT of good stuff here.)

Long story short: If you want a compendium of INCREDIBLE information and brilliant ideas on how to simplify your family life – from cooking real food to parenting real kids to having a real, healthy skin – this is your opportunity.

If you know you want to snatch these up right now, you can click here (or the graphic below). It will take you to the package’s sales page, from which you can quickly order. Or to see a complete list of all 38 books along with their typical sales price, just keep scrolling down.

Corey from Simple Marriage and Mandi from Life…Your Way have brought together some of the top authors in the family life space with 38 ebooks covering a variety of topics related to family life.

When purchased separately, these ebooks are worth $375, but for four days only, you can purchase the entire collection for just $29!

This collection is only available from 9 a.m. on April 16th to 8 a.m. on April 20th. There will be no late sales offered.
Click here to purchase your collection today!

When you purchase the Simplify Family Life collection, you get instant access to each of the 38 ebooks listed below:

The Simplify Your Family Life Sale is brought to you in part by Plan to Eat, an online meal planner that makes eating at home simple. Receive an exclusive coupon code on a one-year membership with your purchase!

Click here to purchase your collection today!

The sale ends at 9 a.m. ET on April 20th, and there will be no late sales offered, so don’t wait.

** I want to mention that, when you purchase the Simplify Your Life Ebook Sale, the blogger/author whose link you use does get an affiliate share of the price; so, if you have a favorite blogger on the list (even if it’s me!), be sure to support them by using the links through their blog. Again, that can be me. If you want it to be.

*** Also, if you purchase this sale, I would LOVE to hear which of the books are your favorites – the ones that really speak to you. Let me know in the comments here!

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7 Comments

HAPPEN

crunched by Crunchy Betty on April 13, 2012
filed under Are You A Crunchy Betty?

Sometimes I forget one of the wonderful things about blogging is that I’m allowed to not be perfect.

Nay.

One of the wonderful things about LIFE is that we’re all allowed to not be perfect.

I spent the last two days literally agonizing over a potential post to the point where I erased and deleted no less than twenty times. I took this picture and I felt energized by this quote, but everything surrounding it wasn’t enough. And when it comes down to it, all I really wanted to do was tell you all this:

You’re the best. You. You’re the best.

Every decision you make is inspirational, even if you have no idea at the time. Every time you happen to life, you set a chain of events in motion that someone, somewhere learns from – in exponentially exciting ways.

One of my favorite movies, a quaint French film featuring Audrey Tatou called Happenstance, is a reminder for this April weekend:

Listen to me. There is not a gesture, even the most insignificant, that can’t change the world. You see, every detail, every gesture, as slight as it may be, reveals an infinity of truths and thus has an endless repercussion and grandiose effects.

Don’t they say the beating of a butterfly’s wings over the Atlantic can cause a Hurricane in the Pacific? So feel free sometimes to do something stupid, random, and ludicrous. That stupid, random, and ludicrous act can upset the order of the world.

And with that, I wish you a wonderful weekend.

Go happen TO it.

While I remain humbly imperfect, if not just a little bit ludicrous.

Big love …

… and happy happening.

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Delectable Rose Recipes from Holly Bellebuono

crunched by Crunchy Betty on April 11, 2012
filed under Home Remedies

Note from Leslie: Today, we are SO very lucky to have accomplished herbalist and author of the book The Essential Herbal For Natural Health, Holly Bellebuono. She recently asked me to peruse her book, which I did, and I fell so very much in love with Holly and her wisdom, I asked if she’d like to share some recipes here. Lucky us. Lucky, lucky us! Hope you enjoy, Crunchy Betties!

Delectable Rose Recipes from Holly Bellebuono

It’s almost that time of year, when heaven appears in little pink forms all around us. Heaven made physical: the rose petal. I love inhaling the fragrant scent of roses and though I’ve planted a couple around my house, they aren’t flourishing nearly as much as the huge Rosa rugosas that grow wild along the beaches where I live. These are fairly squat little bushes with wide pink or violet colored petals, and they produce enormous hips at the end of the season, the size of golf balls.

Over the years, I’ve experimented with tantalizing and captivating ways to use roses in my daily life. They smell so good and they have such a romantic history of folk use. But I’ve also discovered they are used clinically even today for mood disorders, for cardiovascular issues, and especially for grief.

Of the many ways I’ve inhaled, eaten or imbibed roses, the following recipes are by far my favorites and are featured in my new book The Essential Herbal for Natural Health. You can make them very easily at home and the last two recipes are fun for children to both make and use. You can find more information, purchase the book, and also buy my herbal products at Vineyard Herbs.

Rose Brandy

This makes a lovely sipping brandy by itself or it can be combined with other herbs such as lemon balm, stinging nettle, violet flower, borage leaf and flower, and gotu kola for a superb nervous system tonic. All of these herbs, to a greater or lesser degree (with lemon balm and gotu kola being the best) contribute to strengthening the nervous system, and if you make them together as a tincture, you have an easy, portable, and effective home-made remedy for mild depression and the blues.

I love this when I’m cranking my way through PMS or when I need a soothing, ground-level sort of “pick-me-up” during stressful times.

Instructions: Fill a dry quart glass jar with 1 quart fresh rose petals (as fragrant as you can find, and pack the jar very tight. It might take an entire grocery bag full of petals). In a saucepan, make a sugar syrup by heating 1 cup water with 1 cup sugar until clear, stirring constantly. Cool a little, then pour the syrup and 2 cups brandy over the petals, filling the jar to ¼ inch of the rim.

Store for 2 months (I know, it’s character-building to wait) and then strain. Return the liquid to the jar and add a few drops of vanilla extract. Return this to the cabinet and allow to age one more month. Serve this luscious, dream-scented liqueur at room temperature, or chilled, over ice cream or lemon cake, or take 20-25 drops three times daily as a medicinal tincture.

Rose Petal Tea Syrup

A delectable tea sweetener, this works magic in any cup of hot tea and adds a smooth mouth-feel to iced tea. This is one of the best ways to preserve the fragrance and wonder of early summer rose petals. Keep it refrigerated and add a little to your tea, oatmeal, yogurt, cake, biscuits…

Instructions: in a large saucepan, combine 3 cups fresh rose petals with 3 cups water. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer until the volume has decreased to approximately 1 cup. Strain the liquid and return it to the pot. Add ½ cup honey and gently heat until the mixture is completely blended. Makes roughly 1 pint.

Rose Hip Elixir

Half of the fun of herbalism is using the ancient names: the words elixir and oxymel are very old apothecary words that refer to a liquid medicine that is half acid and half sweet, generally made with part vinegar and part honey. If you get the proportions right, it can be a delicious remedy and can mask the flavor of bitter or tasteless herbs. I like to make an oxymel of rose hips, those tart fruits that form after the petals have fallen. These hips are extremely high in vitamin C. Take it by the teaspoon as a vitamin supplement.

Juicy rose hip!

Instructions: Gently heat 1 ½ cups apple cider vinegar with 5-10 chopped rose hips. The purpose is to infuse the vinegar with the properties of the rose hips. After about 15 minutes, strain out the hips and return the vinegar to the pot. Gently add 1 to 2 cups honey and remove from the heat as soon as the honey turns translucent. Bottle and label.

Note: lots of other wonderful herbs can be added to this recipe, such as gotu kola for mental clarity, damiana for libido, ashwagandha for nervous tension, violet flowers, or bitters such as motherwort—a wonderful herb for stressed and exhausted mothers of young children.

Check Out Holly’s Book: The Essential Herbal For Radiant Health

If you were intrigued by these delectable recipes, be sure to look into Holly’s book for much, much more. (There are too many lovely ones to choose from, but one of my favorites is her recipe for Sweet Raspberry Calcium Brew.)

This book is an absolute goldmine, especially if you’ve been wondering how to fit herbal medicine into your daily life.

Thank you, Holly, for the lovely rose recipes – and for being the incredible herbalist you are. We’re so lucky to have you to teach us. Ah, I feel healthier already.

Holly Bellebuono is an award-winning herbalist of fourteen years. She’s taught, mentored, lectured, and published articles for Appalachian Voices, Carolina Mountain Living, United Plant Savers Journal of Medicinal Plant Conservation, and Martha’s Vineyard Magazine. She studied Therapeutic Herbalism with Welsh herbalist David Hoffmann and with natives of Appalachia, learning nearly forgotten folk healing methods. Holly’s Martha’s Vineyard business, Vineyard Herbs, provides women’s herbal therapy for a global clientele.