Home Ec

DIY Sunscreen Recipe ½ cup olive oil ¼ cup coconut oil ¼ cup beeswax 2 tablespoons shea butter 2 tablespoons zinc oxide (high quality) Optional: a few drops of non-citrus, baby friendly essential oil Directions: In a double boiler (or a jar in a pan of water over low heat) melt the oils, beeswax, and…
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How to Celebrate Advent Simply, no matter what your faith This is not really a “How To” in any sort of prescriptive way. I like the simplicity of that title. Advent is defined as the four Sundays that lead up to Christmas. Yet, in my family, where we celebrate Hannukah, Christmas, and the big event…
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  It’s gross: we add some of the most researched toxins to our personal lubricants including known irritants, cancer-causers, and even an ingredient in anti-freeze. None of these ingredients help the health of a woman and some can significantly harm fertility or make a woman more susceptible to sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). In particular watch…
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DIY Green Clean Your Oven (& Wood-burning stove window): Life Hack Oven cleaners can be extremely toxic and the self-cleaning feature on most ovens is so toxic that they kill many birds and sicken many humans every year. What’s the alternative? Read more about the difference between cleaning and sanitizing. In this case, you just…
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Everything you need to get a great, green, healthy clean with simple ingredients & recipes You can tackle nearly every cleaning need in the house with four basic ingredients: baking soda, white vinegar, salt, and either borax or your favourite oxygen-based (non chlorine) cleaner for the really tough stuff.  I also recommend a gentle soap…
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How to use baking soda for healing infections and staving off disease One of the cheapest and easiest ways to oxygenate your body is with baking soda.  (I adapted this recipe from the Healthy, Wild, and Free blog and I’ve been using it for awhile.)  ½ tsp of baking soda (I recommend diminishing to 1/4…
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Like fresh nut milk, once you make your own you will never go back! Ingredients 3 cups freshly roasted unsalted nuts (such as almonds, hazelnuts, peanuts or even sunflower seeds for the nut averse) Directions Place nuts on baking sheet, toast for 10 mins on middle rack in a 300 F oven, wiggle them around…
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Low Sodium Roast Pork Marinade (2 pound(ish) Pork Loin) {From the Green Mama notebook: I recommend organic, fairly traded, non-irradiated spices. I get most of my spices from The Gathering Place: a small, family-run, organic company.} 1 Cup Bragg’s Apple Cider Vinegar 0 mg 1Tsp Dulce Flakes 15 mg 1 Tbsp Cumin 10 mg 1…
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Ingredients 2 lbs organic vegetables diced and sliced  (I like using carrots and radishes for their beauty and flavour. But you can use daikon, cucumbers, beets, cauliflower, kale, celery etc.) Flavour enhancers like garlic, pickling spice, or spicy peppers to your taste. A 2% brine (roughly 1 heaping Tbsp of non-iodized unrefined salt for every…
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Ingredients 1 cup whole raw nuts or seeds (I love almonds) 4 cups filtered water (plus more water for soaking) pinch of sea salt 1/4 tsp of cinnamon 1 tbsp of vanilla extract   Directions soak nuts overnight for 6-12 hours drain and rinse nuts blend with water and flavours for at least a minute…
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Learn more about why you might want this easy, healthy recipe as a DIY alternative for the much-used and loved  Sazon. This recipe is for one meal, but it can be made in large batches, to store. It actually tastes best a few days after being made.  Mix, or grind together 1 TBSP each of coriander, cumin, annato or achiote, garlic…
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When Money Matters More: DIY Mattresses The last thing my mom was thinking about when she had three kids while on welfare was whether to get a natural mattress. And, when our daughter was ready for a “real kid” mattress, we couldn’t afford it at the time. So, what costs almost no money and does…
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The Winter Spiral aka the Advent Spiral is a beautiful tradition that can grace the season of any family, no matter what the belief system. I have been exposed to Advent Spirals from two sources. One, through Waldorf, where every year my children, and sometimes I, have walked into and back out of a double…
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These waffles are delicious, easy to make, and can be made to fit a Paleo, gluten-free, low-grain, or just hungry lifestyles. Always reach for organic ingredients when possible. I make these waffles and freeze them in freezer bags to pull out and toast on busy school mornings–way more affordable, healthier, and more delicious than store-bought….
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Waffles used to be a weekend thing. But making up waffles on the weekend and freezing them for easy reheating in the toaster, has made them a week-day thing. These grain-free or low-grain recipes can be made Paleo or gluten-free friendly and pack plenty of protein and taste to start the day off right. Banana…
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This is a delicious, healthier, and vegan alternative to the creamsicle icepops of your youth. And so easy. All you need is a popsicle maker (and I recommend a stainless steel one, such as the one we have.) Of course, I also recommend getting organic ingredients. Ingredients Orange juice A large handful of raw cashews…
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This is an absolutely delicious, and healthier, alternative to the creamsicle icepops of your youth. And so easy. It does require an ice-cream maker. If you don’t have one, or you are vegan, try the vegan popsicle version instead. Ingredients 1/3 cup raw honey 2 cups orange juice 1/4 tsp orange extract 1 tsp vanilla…
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Ingredients: 2 Tbsp nut butter 2 slices of your favourite bread 1/2 Tbsp honey Directions: 1. Slather your bread with nut butter and honey. 2. Smoosh the breads together to make a sandwich 3. Slice in half and package for the lunch box. Try Abeego food wrap, Onyx Sandwich containers or Go Go Bags.  …
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Recipe provided to The Green Mama by Dreena Burton, Author of the new cookbook Plant Powered Families, out now on Ben Bella Books. Makes 8–10 bars or 16 squares These bars are perfect for school lunches because they are nut-free and pack very well. Plus, they are pretty simple to put together! Ingredients 1/2 cup brown rice syrup…
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 Recipe provided to The Green Mama by Dreena Burton, Author of the new cookbook Plant Powered Families, out now on Ben Bella Books.   Makes 25–28 balls Ingredients 1/2 cup pumpkin seeds 1/2 cup coconut flour (see note) 1/3 cup hemp seeds 1/4 cup sunflower seeds 1½ cups pitted dates 3 tablespoons cocoa powder 2–3 tablespoons…
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All-purpose cleaner Mix a really gentle castile soap, like Dr. Bronner’s, with warm water. Use a clean sponge, rags, or a brush, and scrub! One cup of soap in 3.8 litres (1 gallon) of water is a good concentration for walls, floors, and counters. One part castile soap to one part water in a foaming…
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This is almost too easy to call a recipe. Basically I am suggesting that instead of giving in to the pleas for juice (whether they come from your children or your own inner child) you make delicious infused water ! Infused water is basically just cutting up organic fruit, vegetables, and herbs and adding it…
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photo by LizHammond.ca  We made this slightly healthier super summery twist on the classic margarita last week at my best friend’s lake house. We modified this recipe from GOOP and loved the results. So fresh! We also made a virgin batch by omitting the tequila and all of the pregnant and nursing ladies and kids…
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DIY baby wipes & bum spray recipe from The Green Mama Make a little spray bottle for on the go, take your cloth wipes and pre- soak them, or make disposable baby wipes by adding the baby wipe mix to an unbleached, paper towel roll cut in half or a to flushable cloth- diaper liners….
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Bone broth is nutrient rich and great for the whole family, including babies. It’s the only thing other than breast milk and water, that I ever put into bottles for my babies. Ingredients: •    Approximately 4 pounds of organic (ideally free-range) marrow bones, knuckle bones, bits of leftover beef (or lamb or venison or buffalo…
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Green Juice Recipes What we don’t need when juicing is a bunch more sugar, what we do want is readily accessible vitamins and minerals. That means the juice should be at least 60% dark leafy/ 40% other vegetables and fruit. 60% leafy jean can mean kale, spinach, cucumber, celery, cilantro. 40% can include apples, pear,…
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Are you looking for a dairy-free or milk-protein-free milk substitute or infant formula? First, please remember that it is extremely rare that a baby would be lactose sensitive or allergic. Breast milk is made up largely of lactose and baby’s are designed to consume breastmilk. There is a genetic condition that does occur that makes…
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Coconut milk (that super creamy stuff so essential in Thai cooking and many other recipes) is one of those foods that I love but try not to buy in cans. That’s because cans leach BPA (and the BPA-free ones leach other bisphenols) into what’s inside. The most vulnerable foods, that leach the most of that…
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Today we have a recipe from Chef Hollie Greene of  Joy Foodly. Check out the yummy recipe below and their Barnraiser campaign to bring food, cooking, and health education to lower-income families through a school-based initiative  that aims to help families eat more seasonal fruit and vegetables.   Betcha Won’t Believe it’s Broccoli Pesto Pasta Serving size: 4…
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Years ago, when I went off to college, I didn’t go alone. I took with me three warts on the tip of my left index finger. I had worked for years trying to get rid of them: over the counter creams, that weird freezing thing the doctor does, and I had even chewed it off…
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