Avoid TOXIC dyes - dye your eggs NATURALLY

Easter is coming up in just a few short days! It is egg dyeing season!  Of course the Easter egg dye kits say the dye is edible and safe, but is it really?  I personally wouldn't trust this because if the egg is cracked and dye has gotten on the egg at all, you will be ingesting it. I don't care if the FDA labels this dye as safe, I won't eat it.  There are more natural ways to dye your Easter eggs without worrying about the hidden dangers.

Purple cabbage leaves will give your eggs a purple/blue/lavender color.  Don't be surprised if your eggs turn anywhere from a green color to purple or blue from the cabbage.  Simply boil the leaves in some water until you get a purple tint.

Black coffee without any creamer will turn your egg a dark grey color.

Boil some blueberries for a deep purple color.

Beets and paprika both work well for red.

The skin of yellow onion and tumeric will help to give your eggs a yellow color.

If you are looking for a green tint you will want to boil the peels of a green onion.  This will give a green/yellow look.

You are going to want to add some vinegar to each of these different mixtures so it sticks onto the egg.

Of course, the brown eggs will take much longer to dye as they are a darker shade than white eggs.  If you are planning on using brown eggs, you will want to leave it sit for a while.  If you want the eggs to be a very vibrant color, you may want to let them sit overnight.

Here are the eggs we dyed today!

Essentials Every Crunchy Mama Needs In Her Hospital Bag

Birth is an exciting time and you may be overwhelmed with all of the excitement and forget about your essentials.  If you are planning on having a hospital birth, packing for you is important so you can have the things you need.

• Cloth Pads and freezer pads
• An extra copy of your birth plan
• Diffuser
• Essential Oils
• Nursing pads
• Comfortable clothes - yoga pants, soft socks, your own bathrobe, a nursing shirt, etc.
• Calming music
• Rice or bean socks
• Back massager
• Mother's Milk Tea
• Cut up raw and fresh vegetables and fruits to snack on.  This option is so much better than hospital food.
• Filtered water in your own glass bottle

Enjoy your birthing experience as well as after birth.

You Might Be a Crunchy Mom If...

You might be a crunchy mom if...

• When someone mentions "pockets" you assume they must be talking about cloth diapers
• You have used breast milk on scrapes, cuts or cured an eye infection with it
• You have consumed your placenta
• You don't own toilet paper and use family cloth instead
• You don't vaccinate
• You either use mama cloth or a menstrual cup
• During play dates you bring out the dried fruit or vegetables
• Your birth plan is over two pages long
• You have a half dozen baby carriers and usually have two or three on you at any given time.
• You are a plastic free household. This may apply to dishes and toys.

Earth Mamas Unite - Let's Get Back to Basics

Stayed tune for "You Might Be a Crunchy Dad If..."

The New 2016 Vaccine Schedule Has Been Released

Well, we should have expected it... The 2016 vaccine schedule has been released and there are three more vaccines that have been added onto the list.  That makes 72 vaccine doses recommended for children and 49 of these before Kindergarten.  Something is very wrong with these numbers.

 That is insane!
Compared to when I was a kid and there were 14!
72 vs 14 is a HUGE number and when most parents blindly get these vaccines for their kids, it's scary!

Before 2016, the HPV vaccine was already killing so many teenage girls and now they make the vaccine stronger AND want to give it to kids who are even younger? Why?


Now let's sit back and watch the rise of autism and other health problems.  It is estimated that autism will rise up to 1 in 36 kids by the time this schedule takes place.  Shouldn't that tell you something? Wake up People!

Organic skincare doctor tea tree oil body wash

Normally I use an all natural bar of body soap to wash my body, but when i saw this on sale for $7.99 I couldn't pass it up.

The tea tree oil actually really helped out my ezcema. It actually completely cleared it up.  Cost wise, I think a bar of soap is better, but for the price of this, it was quite the steal.

This tea tree body wash is made by "Organic Skincare Doctor" and includes natural ingredients such as tea tree oil obviously, aloe Vera juice, Apple fruit extract, which hazel leaf extract and peppermint oil.  Like all the washes I purchase it is free from sls, artificial colors and harsh preservatives.  It so doesn't have any parabens or phthalates in them.

8.5 ounce for pure goodness!  

How to Properly Prepare a Placenta and Turn it Into Powder

In this blog post, I will teach you how to properly prepare a placenta and turn it into powder.  You can use that powder to make a lotion (great for stretch marks, nipple cream and diaper rash cream), to encapsulate it, or to mix the powder in with some of your smoothies.  If you are not going to consume your placenta raw, making a powder is a very good option.

Preparing a placenta is very easy to do and requires not much more effort than cooking a steak.

The first thing you want to do is to thaw the placenta out thoroughly.  To get the most out of your placenta, you will want to do this process within the first two weeks of delivery.  Thawing out the placenta usually takes a good 18-24 hours in the refrigerator.

Placenta completely thawed out.

The next thing you will want to do is make your placenta art work.  Some people prefer to put the cord down, and others the cord up.  Position the cord how you want it.  This may take several sheets of paper to complete as the first batch may be too soaked in blood.  You should use watercolor paper if you have it to get the best results.

Peel off the outer bag of the placenta and cut the cord off.

You will now want to rinse the placenta really well.  Not all of the blood will drain off, which is fine, but you will want to get the most of it off.

You will now want to take some skewer sticks or toothpicks and poke the veins to drain the veins. 

Rinse well again.

It should look similar to the picture above once the blood i completely drained and rinsed off.

There is a thin layer attached to the placenta that you will want to peel off before you cut it up.

Start cutting in thin strips.  The thinner you cut the placenta, the faster it will cook.  Place on your dehydrator.

The entire process takes about 12-24 hours to completely dehydrate.  It will look similar to beef jerky when it's finished.  You will know when it is done when it breaks like a chip.  You should not be able to bend it at all.

Place it in a coffee grinder and grind the cooked placenta pieces up into powder.  You can now do what you wish with the powder.  Put a teaspoon or two into a smoothie or make a cream with it!

Why I Ate My Placenta and Why You Should Too

It is pretty amazing that a human body can grow a whole entire organ in 9 months while pregnant.  There are many benefits to eating your placenta.  While some women eat their placenta raw, others prefer to encapsulate it.  Some people make art with their placenta and others will bury their placenta in their garden on the baby's first birthday to celebrate life.  

The placenta makes sure your baby is getting enough oxygen and nutrients during your pregnancy.  After pregnancy you will delivery our placenta and you may do as you wish with it as your body does not need it anymore.  Although your body doesn't need it internally, it can be a big help to consume it for many reasons.

-Increases milk supply.  Ingesting the placenta is known to increase the milk supply in a mother's breast milk.

-Increase red blood cells.  During birth we lose a lot of blood.  Ingesting our placenta will replace what we have lost so we don't become anemic.

-Increases energy levels.  Being a new mom, you may feel fatigued and have low energy.  Consuming your placenta will increase your energy levels so you can feel like a normal person again.

-Gets rid of postpartum depression.  Many new mothers will struggle with postpartum depression after they give birth.  The placenta will help this struggle.

It's strange to me that there aren't more people who don't ingest their placenta.  We are the only mammals on earth that don't regularly ingest our placentas.  I will be posting step by step instructions on how to properly prepare a placenta if you don't plan on eating it raw.

Birth Plan

It is important to have a birth plan in place whether you are delivering at a hospital or a birthing center.  A birth plan will let your midwife or doctor know what you want in regards to delivering your bundle of joy.  This is an example of my birth plan.  Feel free to copy it and/or change it up to better suit your desires.  I am happy to report my midwife had no problems with my birth plan and followed it to a T.

No pitocin

If C-section is necessary I’d like to make sure all other options have been exhausted.  My husband is to remain with me the entire time and for him to hold the baby as soon as possible, and I’d like to breastfeed in the recovery room.

I’d like to deliver the placenta without assistance from midwife when ready.  Do not rush delivery.

I’d like to keep the placenta after removal.  Please store in bags provided.

I'd like to hold my baby skin-to-skin immediately after delivery.

I’d like for my baby to stay in the same room with me, no nursery time.

I'd like to wait until the umbilical cord stops pulsating before it's clamped and cut and I’d like my husband to cut the cord.

If my baby must be taken from me to receive medical treatment, I'd like my husband to go with him or her.

I wish to birth in different positions as I see fit.

I plan to exclusively breastfeed my baby while in the hospital.

If my baby's a boy, I do not want him to be circumcised.

Pediatrician must examine baby in my room.

No bathing

No hat

No Vitamin K

No eye ointments

No hepatitis B vaccine

NO VACCINES PERIOD

Choosing a Midwife Over a Doctor

A week ago, I had a baby.  Her name is Lenora.  We had a tough time deciding on a name, but we were finally able to.  We wanted to keep with the J's and L's and finally came to an agreement on Lenora.  She is so sweet and sleeps all day long.  

The delivery was very unexpected.  I went in last Friday for a regular check up and they wanted to induce me early because of my high blood pressure.  After weighing out the pros and cons with my midwife we decided to go along with the induction.  My appointment was at 11:30 and the whole process started at 2:00 in the afternoon.  After I got to 7 cm dilated I opted for the epidural and started pushing at about 10:00 p.m.  I had my little girl at 12:13 a.m.  

The actual birth went along really nice.  With my midwife and a nurse being the only medical staff in the room, the dimmed lights and a peanut ball I was able to birth on my side instead of the traditional way on your back.  I really wanted to stand up, but it wasn't possible with my epidural.

Deciding between a midwife and a doctor is a big decision.  There are many benefits to hiring a midwife.

-Remember they work for you, not the other way around.  Doctors seem to want to push you into doing things you may not want to do.  With a midwife they are okay with you denying any tests you don't want to do as well as going along with your birth plan.  Midwives are much more laid back than doctors.  I decided not to drink the glucola drink to check my blood sugar levels, since that alone can give you gestational diabetes.  I also refused the pap smear and pelvic exam, like I always have.  My midwife was perfectly fine with that as it can lead to infections and rupture cancer cells which can ultimately lead to cervical cancer.

-Midwives use a more natural approach.  They will first try to diagnose any issues you have and cure them with natural remedies.  After all of the natural ways have been exhausted, they will then give you a prescription if you choose to go that route.

-Midwives can deliver at home or in the hospital.  You choose the setting you want and the midwife will help deliver the baby where you want them to.

-In America only about 3% of the population uses a midwife.  That means 97% of patients use a doctor for the birth of their children.  America has the highest still birth death rate.  Many countries that uses strictly midwives have very little still births.

-C section rates are much higher with regular doctors.

-Midwives rarely induce.  Unless you have a medical issues like I did, midwives will rarely induce labor.  They believe in the mom's ability to go into labor naturally.  You wouldn't believe all the stories I have heard of doctors inducing patients early just because they are heading on vacation or want to have their baby on a certain date.  Inductions definitely increase the chances of a C-section.

Here is a picture of my baby :) I just did her newborn pictures a few days ago.  I'm anxious to post them!

Free Barefut Oil - Grapefruit

Barefut Oils has changed their free oil again.  Right now, the free oil is grapefruit.  I actually almost bought a grapefruit at my local health food store the other day, but am glad I waited.  Now I'll have my own free grapefruit oil.  Just pay $3.99 for shipping!  Grapefruit oil has many benefits including it being rich in antioxidants, great for acne, works amazing as a disinfectant and great for muscle stiffness.  Grapefruit oil also boosts the immune system.  Head on over to the website to order your free oil before the month of May is over.

How to Make Your Own Almond Milk

As kids we were all forced to drink a cup of milk at dinner.  I remember it as a kid.  I could not stand the taste of milk and would often times sit at the table well beyond the time my family was done eating just to try to drink my glass of milk.  "It is good for your teeth and bones," my mom would say.  However, did you know that it actually does the opposite of what it's supposed to?  Cow's milk actually makes us calcium deficient.  Since milk is alkaline, when we ingest it becomes acidic, breaking away all the calcium it had in the first place.  We still do drink cow's milk from time to time.  My daughter requests it as a special treat when we go out to dinner and we enjoy it in a bowl of cereal every so often, but we try not to make a habit of drinking it.  There are much better choices.

Cow's milk was intended to be for baby cows, but overtime people have been drinking it.  Cow's milk is so terrible for you, even the organic milk.  It is filled with pus and even though it is heated, it is not clear, so you are literally drinking dead pus cells.  Dairy in general is not good for your body and if you limit your intake, you will notice a drastic change in your body overtime.    A better choice would be coconut or almond milk.  The problem with store bought almond milk is that it only contains a few almonds and it has more sugar in it than what you would expect.  Making your own almond milk is by far the healthiest choice.  You only need a couple things to make the almond milk:

-water
-cheesecloth or a nut bag
-blender
-raw almonds

First, you will want to soak the almonds in some water overnight.  This will soften them up and loosen up the toxins.  The next morning, rinse the almonds well with some tap water.  You don't want to use the water you rinsed them in because you are trying to drain out all of the toxins.

Next, add water and the nuts to your blender.  I use about 1 cup of raw almonds to 4 cups or water.  Blend until it is smooth.

You will then want to take your cheesecloth or your nut bag and pour your milk into it, straining out all of the almond pulp.  There are lots of recipes you can use with the pulp, or you can just toss it.  Once almond pieces are out, that's it!  You can now drink your delicious almond milk.  Enjoy!

Honey and Lavender as a Facial Cleanser

Cetaphil, Deep Clean Neutrogena, Clean and Clear foaming, Clean and Clear deep action, Clean and Clear Advantage are just a FEW of the many facial cleansers that I have used in my early teen years.  My acne never improved.  In fact, over the years it actually got worse.  Why?  Because all of these "facial cleansers" have nothing but garbage in them.  Chemical and chemical after chemical.  It's no wonder I had all the skin problems I did.  I tried all of the kits with the cleanser, black head scrubber, toner, and moisturizer and that made problems worse.

In my teen years, I figured out that I was allergic to perfumes and artificial fragrances.  I eliminated all of that out and tried a few natural facial cleansers at my local health food store.  Nothing was as effective as my honey/lavender mixture.

I have found all natural RAW honey mixed with a good quality of essential oil to be an amazing facial cleanser.  Make sure it is local.

For a toner I use Braggs Apple Cider Vinegar.  It is raw and unfiltered and definitely better than the cheaper apple cider vinegar you would find on the shelf.

I did actually hear that you need a moisturizer to train your skin to produce the right kind of oils.  It also protects your face.  I have always hated the way moisturizer felt on my face, but the natural moisturizer is definitely the way to go!  For a moisturizer I use a little bit of coconut oil.  You really don't need a lot, because a little goes a long ways!

So there you have it- a great facial treatment for any skin type is honey/lavender as a cleanser, apple cider vinegar as a toner and a coconut oil as a moisturizer.

I have noticed great improvement in my skin's appearance in just a short amount of time with this method.  I still do have skin problems including acne, but it is much more controlled now that it ever has been.

My Expanding Oil Collection

I have been using eucalyptus oil for about 4 or 5 years now in replace of VICKS when I feel congested.  However, over the past year I have been exploring in other oils as well.  I made my own bug spray last year, which is pretty costly but it' a lot better than spraying the chemical filled spray onto my skin.

My collection is growing rapidly.  I love using orange and lemon in my diffuser when I'm cleaning as it leaves my house with a clean scent.

Lavender is one of my favorites for relaxation.  Running this essential oil through my diffuser puts me to sleep quickly and peacefully.

I'm looking into getting a few blends including "clear air" which purifies the air.  It's great during this cold season!

I personally like the NOW brand.  It is more affordable than most brands, yet it is made with superb quality.  I have done my research and won't buy the cheaper oil brands, yet I find Young Living extremely expensive.  It is almost triple the cost of NOW and provides you with the same benefits.

Below is a view of my oil collection.  What are your favorite oils and what brand do you prefer?

What are some of your favorite essential oils?

Babies Are Born Perfect Already. Please Keep Them That Way

Circumcision.

I have been wanting to blog about this topic for a while now, but avoided it since it is pretty controversial.  I also recently found out that I am having a little girl, not a boy.  This takes the heat off of me since I WOULD NEVER  cut my innocent child.  I am thankful that I do not have to get bullied by doctors about this, however, I am still extremely passionate about this topic.  I will continue to influence uneducated mothers about this.

WHY  do moms insist on circumcising their infants?

WHY is it considered socially normal to circumcise a baby boy? I DON'T get it!

"It's just a little cut" I recently heard. WRONG! "A little cutting?!?!!" I wanted to scream back.

You do realize they used to circumcise girls, right?  That's right. Genital cutting of little girls used to be legal in the USA.  They have now made it illegal in America, but continue to cut boys.  Why??? Why can we mutilate boys but not girls?
Also, if girls can keep themselves clean, why can't boys?

Reasons why I feel circumcision is wrong???

It is NOT your body. Mothers make the choice everyday whether they want to cut their little boy or not. They make the choice for their little one.  How is this fair at all for the little one?  Once they are cut, there is no going back. It is not the mom's body!!!! Who owns the body and what rights does the baby have?  If you cut him, that innocent baby will be forever altered.

It's all a guess. There is no scientific way for the doctor to properly circumcise a baby.  It is all a guessing game.  Doctors can cut too much or too little and this leads to my next point.  This causes problems.

Circumcision causes problems Not just for the child as an infant, but for them as an adult as well.  Infections,  gastric rupture, loss of oxygen, injuries from the clamp, and even death can occur.  Infants who are circumcised sleep more often than normal uncircumcised babies and they also may develop colic.

It's not pain free Pain from circumcision can last 7-10 days. Infants are strapped down and the foreskin is literally ripped from the glans.  It has been determined that infants who are circumcised also have a lower pain tolerance threshold.

The baby was already made perfect. Foreskin is not a birth defect.  The baby was born with it for a reason.  Your baby was already born perfect. Why mess with the perfect body God already gave him??? Would you do surgery on a perfectly healthy child? Of course not, it's not logical.  Well, how come millions of parents are doing it everyday?

Most importantly, the bible does not want us to circumicse. That's right all of your religious nuts!  You simply believe what people tell you.  How about you read the bible yourself?


Galatians 5:2 "Mark my words! I, Paul tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all."

Galatians 5:3 "For I testify to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law."

Galatians 6:13 "And even those who advocate circumcision don't keep the whole law themselves.  They only want you to be circumcised so they can boast about it and claim you as their disciples."

Philippians 3:2-3 "Look out for the dogs.  Look out for the evildoers.  Look out for those who mutilate the flesh.  For we are the circumcision who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh."

Titus 1: 10-11 " For there are many insubordinate, both idle talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole households, teaching things which they ought not, for the sake of dishonest gain."


I could go on... 1 Corinthians 7:17,  Galatians 5:11-12.


Doctors push this because there are products made and sold to us with baby's foreskin.  For every circumcision they do, they make money.  SICK. It's all a money maker and a game to them.

There are many useful resources out there, but one short video I can suggest watching is "Elephant in the Hospital".

Baby cutters.....I will never understand them or the cultural ignorance. Please, if you are currently expecting and are thinking about circumcision, do some research and keep your baby intact.

STOP INFANT CIRCUMCISION!!!

Lemon Honey Throat Drops

I've been sick these last few days with a miserable sore throat and a stuffy nose.  It is awful.  I made my own throat drops instead of relying on Halls and they work fabulous.  They give me relief so I'm not constantly coughing.  You probably know that honey has great medicinal benefits for you, however, in this case it is really not about that.  In this recipe you have to bring the honey to a boiling point and when you do that you take out all the medicinal value of the honey.  It still has great flavor though and is very soothing.

You will need a half cup of honey, 2/3 cup of sugar (I used xylitol to help with my teeth) and 2 tablespoons of water.  You will also need the zest of one lemon.  Be sure when you are skinning the zest off that you only get the yellow lemon skin and not the white part of it because it will be bitter.

Mix the three ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil.  Remove from heat, cover the pan and wait until the mixture reaches about 265 degrees.  If you have a candy thermometer, great!  If not, you can look up how to do the cold water test, which is what I did.  I would recommend a candy thermometer as it is more accurate though.  Once it reaches this degree, remove the cover and allow it to cool down for about five minutes.  This will give the mixture time to thicken.

Drop dab of this mixture onto your wax paper and allow to cool and harden for about 20 minutes.  They turned out great and have a bit of a lemon and honey flavor to them.

Sorry about the poor image quality.  My kitchen lights burnt out so I had to make this under my microwave light and a lantern :)

Natural Bar Soap For Sensitive Skin - Magnesium Soap

Magnesium is said to be a great supplement against to fight against eczema.  I do take it in liquid form, but there is just something different about applying it to the skin and it works so much better!

After I had all the knowledge I do now about chemical free soap, I switched to Kiss My Face soap and they had many great natural scents.  I still love the soap, but since my recent eczema break out, I have found something else a little more beneficial for my skin.  The soap is called Magnesium Soap by the brand Life Flo.

It is made of coconut, palm, avocado oil and castor seed.  There are also magnesium chloride flakes, clay and rosemary oil extract.  I am really impressed with the ingredients and love how it makes my skin feel.  There is no scent to this soap as it is great for those with sensitive skin. If you suffer from eczema, I would definitely recommend going this route!

Chemical Free Dish Soap

Many people don't realize that there are so many harmful chemicals in dish soap.  Growing up my mom used Dawn, Ajax, Palmolive dish soap and others that were filled with chemical after chemical.  Most of these popular dish soaps that you use on your dishes can be very dangerous for you.  A lot of people look past it because it is not applied directly to your skin and it is assumed that the soap simply rinses off the dishes. False.  The soap actually sticks onto your dishes and next time you use them, you are ingesting the ingredients. Gross.  So, what are some of these dangerous ingredients you ask?

• Formaldehyde releasers are found in many of these dish soaps.  They can cause skin and eye irritations as well as harmful toxic problems in your organs.
• Trisoclan is another popular chemical you may have heard of.  This one can cause heart problems such as heart failure and serious heart disease.  Birth defects and tumors with cancer have also been known to be linked with this chemical.
• Sodium Lauryl Sulfate has been linked to mutations and cancer as well as developmental and reproductive problems.

A much better choice for a dish soap would be one with a small amount of ingredients.  In my book, the less ingredients, the better.

One of my favorite dish soaps to use is "Ultra Dishmate".  There are many different flavors to use, but I like the natural almond scent as well as the pear.  The ingredients listed are: water, coconut oil derived surfactant, salt and natural pear oil.  There aren't any perfumes or dyes and there aren't any SLS' which is definitely a plus.

You can even find this natural formula at a place like Walgreens, although I prefer to buy it from my health food store.  Surprisingly, it is only a couple bucks, which is definitely a great deal considering the benefits. Which dish soap do you use?