The Best Way to Clean your Fruit & Veggies!

How do you clean your fresh fruits and veggies before eating them?  Do you just rinse them and call them good?  How about your berries, grapes and other smaller fruits and veggies?  Let me tell you a trick that I learned that removes all the gunk and makes your produce taste even better!!!

Lemon Essential Oil is one of the most versatile essential oils in my collection!  It can be applied topically to your skin to help with various issues, you can diffuse it for its clean and uplifting aroma, you can even use it in your cooking, making lemonade or just flavoring your water and you can clean with it!!!  Lemon EO is great to use when cleaning up sticky messes, especially children's finger prints on windows and mirrors.  

So it made sense to me when I read that you can soak your fruit and veggies in a bowl of water with a drop or two of Lemon EO to remove all the gunk that does't come off in a quick rinsing!  I was very hesitant to give this method a try because what if all my fruit tasted like lemons then???  I didn't want to ruin my fresh grapes!  After being reassured that the lemon flavor does not soak into the fruit, I gave it a try. 

WOW!!!  I was VERY impressed at how CLEAN my fruit tasted!  There was no residue left on the grapes, the skin was SOOOO smooth!  I looked into the bottom of the bowl that I soaked my fruit in and was shocked at the leftover dirt and grime I saw!  Crazy as it sounds, this made my day!!!  I was excited!  And I still am!  I hope that you all try this!  It is a totally safe and natural way to clean your fruit and veggies with minimal effort!  Yes, it does take a little longer, but the results are worth it! 

Here is what you do:

- Put fruit into a colander and give a quick rinse (this is where I would have normally stopped!) 

- Placed the fruit into a stainless steel bowl and fill it with water so that most of the fruit is covered or floating

- Add 1-2 drops of Lemon EO

- Gently swirl and agitate the fruit

- Let the fruit sit for a few minutes

- Dump back into a rinsed out colander and give another quick rinse (Try to dump the fruit slowly so that the dirt and grime that has sunk to the bottom of the bowl doesn't all come back out.  You could also scoop the fruit out of the water.) 

- Eat and Enjoy!

To date, I have used this cleaning technique on green and red grapes, raspberries, strawberries and cherry tomatoes.  Each time I was impressed with how much fresher my produce tasted!  There's no turning back now!  My kids love how much better the fruit tastes and I feel so much better knowing that we aren't eating a lot of extra dirt and who knows what else!

Interested in finding out how to get your hands on these Young Living Essential Oils?  Check out my Essential Oils and Monthly Promotions Pages!

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.  This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

Chemical-Free Laundry - Dryer Balls!

A while back I began thinking about how I could reduce the amount of chemicals in my family's life.  It was really overwhelming as it seemed like EVERYTHING had chemicals in it!  I began reading labels more than I already did and was trying to use more natural products.  During that time, my cousin's wife had posted in Facebook about how she uses wool dryer balls in place of typical dryer sheets when doing laundry.  She also noted that she was so glad that her mom had always taught her that a chemical-free lifestyle is best.  That gave me a little direction - wool dryer balls to eliminate the need for typical dryer sheets.  How hard could that be... Until you look on the internet and see a million options!  Ahhh!  More overwhelming feelings.

So at Christmas I asked for wool dryer balls.  (Let someone else figure out which ones to buy!)  And lo and behold, I received some!  A six pack!  Yay!  Now my cousin's wife had also mentioned using Essential Oils to add an all natural scent to your laundry.  That sounded like a great idea!  I remember seeing Essential Oils as some of the natural food stores.  Surely I could pick something up there to scent my new dryer balls.  I added it to my grocery list...  And NEVER bought any!  What scent would I use?  Would I like it?  Overwhelmed again.  But I was using my dryer balls and had eliminated the dryer sheets!  I was making progress.

A friend from high school was using Essential Oils and was posting about them on Facebook and I was reading her posts and was impressed with how well she and her family responded to the use of the oils.  But I still didn't understand what Essential Oils were or why they were so "essential" so I never researched them.  Until one day I decided to reach out to my high school friend, my cousin's wife and my wonderful friend (who gifted me the wool dryer balls) - all who use essential oils!  After a few quick e-mails and a couple nights of research, I was SCRAMBLING to get myself a Young Living Essential Oils Premium Starter Kit!  I was a bit irritated with myself for not researching them sooner!  These essential oils sounded so useful and I wondered why more people were not proclaiming their greatness!  I'm making it a priority to make sure people know what Essential Oils are and how they can use them simply and easily in their lives!

What was the first thing that I did when I received my Premium Starter Kit??? You guessed it!  Added some drops to my wool dryer balls!  I had 11 different and wonderful scents to choose from.  After smelling them all, I decided that for most loads of laundry, I liked to use Purification Essential Oil.  It has a great fresh scent!  Occasionally I'll use Lavender Essential Oil, especially if the load is mostly my children's clothes or blankets.  Lavender has such a nice relaxing scent, just what you need at bedtime.

Here is what I do:
I keep all 6 wool balls in my dryer. (Occasionally one or two get lost in a shirt or sheet until I fold it.)   I'll put 1-2 drops of one type of Essential Oil on 3 of the wool balls.  Then I run the dryer as normal.  Every few loads I'll reapply the oils.  Easy!

Now why did it take me a year or more to get to this point???  Hopefully it won't take you that long!  Just follow my links to my Essential Oils and Monthly Promotions Pages and get started using Young Living Essential Oils right away.  You won't be disappointed!

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.  This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

All Natural Facial Toner!

Home made, all natural facial toner!  No scary chemicals!  Removes dirt & grime gently & helps manage your blemishes.  I use 1 - 3x per day.  Smells great too!

Simply dampen a cotton ball or cotton pad with the toner and rub over face and neck.  Use caution around your eyes.  You will be surprised how dirty the cotton ball/pad gets!  It's wonderful for a mid-day freshen up.

2oz Witch hazel

- Witch hazel is a natural astringent derived from the Witch hazel shrub!  Be sure to look for Witch hazel without any added alcohol or other ingredients.

6 drops Lavender EO

- Lavender Essential Oil is a relaxing addition to skin care products.

4 drops Purification EO

- Purification Essential Oil is a blend of essential oils that can be used to improve the appearance of healthy-looking skin.

4 drops Frankincense EO

- Frankincense Essential Oil may be used to minimize visual blemishes and add a healthy-looking glow.

4 drops Geranium EO

- Geranium Essential Oil may help soothe and maintain the appearance of tender skin.

Interested in finding out how to get your hands on these Young Living Essential Oils?  Check out my Essential Oils and Monthly Promotions Pages!

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.  This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

In the Beginning...

Ahhh... Isn't this the life?  So serene.  So beautiful.  So simple.  Lucky for me this is my view every day!  (My iPhone actually captured this moment perfectly one evening this summer.)  

Are you looking for ways to live more sustainably?  Would you like to try to remove as many chemicals as possible from your home?  Do you like home remedies and do-it-yourself projects?  Is your health and the health of your loved ones important to you?

If you have answered "YES!" to any of the above questions, then you have come to the right blog!  I am here to offer tips, ideas and suggestions for a simpler, more natural and sustainable lifestyle.  My posts will focus on Young Living Essential Oils, Chemical Free Living, Natural Health and Wellness, Sustainable Eating, Environmental Sustainability, Low Impact Development, Native Plants and more!  

Thank you for following me and enjoy!

Emily