Choosing Household Products

About two years ago I started really looking into the products I use around the house both for cleaning as well as body products. I already had some knowledge and liked to choose products that seemed more "natural" and kinder for the earth. I use a lot of vinegar, washing soda, baking soda and lemons in my cleaning regimen but I do like to have a couple of prepared products on hand. 

The few things I buy prepared for household cleaning are all purpose scrub, dish soap, laundry soap, dishwasher soap and a hardwood cleaner. I have always embraced brands like Method , Mrs. Meyers, Biokleen and Dr. Bronner's. None of these companies test on animals, are biodegradable, use natural ingredients of high quality and seem to really care about the environment and the people using their products. 

I love gathering information so I can make good choices and decisions. One of the resources I use is the Go Cruelty Free website. This is where you can see if the products you use are made by companies that test on animals. There are so many good products available by companies that do not test on animals that it seems silly to not choose one. 

The most recent site I found that has given me some information on the products I use is the Enviornmental Working Group. They firmly believe we have a right to know what products might pose a health or environmental risk and what some solutions might be. Not only limited to products, they have information on our drinking water, cell phone radiation possibilities, sunscreen safety and pesticide residues. All very serious topics. 

I found that some of the products I have loved because they are "natural" are actually full of ingredients that may pose a risk to me or the environment. They grade household products on an A-F scale using these metrics:

• Asthma/Respitory Risk
• Skin Allergies/Irritation Risk
• Developmental/Reproductive Toxicity Risk
• Cancer Risk
• Environmental Risk

This new tool helped me look inside the "natural" products I have been using and see what they are made of. A lot of the ingredients on the packages are foreign to me so this was helpful. I do know that even too much of a natural product can be harmful. Of course how often you use these products etc really makes a difference. But if you are suffering from asthma you might want to now which products to avoid.

I did make a list of my current products and check each of them on the site to see what grade they received. After seeing a failing grade on some of my products I made a list of the grade A products that I would be willing to switch to when I need to buy next time.

I thought you might like this information as I think we all deserve the right to know what is in the products we use. 

summer summer summer

I have been away so long. Summer has arrived and has been keeping me so busy. Here are some quick hi-lights to get us up to date - then I promise to be here more often.

Our local pizza place started serving brunch a few weeks ago - we went - it was not bad. unfortunately they stopped this weekend as they were not getting the traffic they needed. But I thought I would show the pictures anyway and if you are a Pizza lover like I am you need to try All Purpose Pizza here on Jackson St. Everything is made from scratch and their sourdough crust makes me oh so happy!!

A couple of our best friends had their commitment ceremony and I baked all the deserts for their reception. This included some amazing lemon bars. I had never made lemon bars from scratch so this was a fun endeavor. I hand squeezed all the lemons and added plenty of zest. The first batch could have cooked a few minutes more - but was set enough to be cut. Overall they turned out great and were the first thing to go. 

I also made an amazing three layer coconut cake - this was my trial run on an amazing cake I am planning on serving at our wedding reception. I don't have any finished pictures of it - but I had a major issue with the cake itself and had to re-bake the morning of the event. Here are a couple pictures of my disaster - first time anything like this has happened to me. It all turned out great - but I was worried for a moment.

And on that note - I say good day to you all!!

sparkly thank you tags

My friend June is having her 40th birthday and to celebrate is having a few friends over for snacks and drinks. I love June a lot - she is an amazing woman. And 40 is a big deal so I wanted to do something a little special and decided to put together a little thank you gift for the ladies coming over.

I decided to do a lemon sugar cookie and wrap them in a little bag with ribbon and a pretty tag - I love tags and anytime I am selling or giving goods I ask Mr. Ramon to print me some tags. With spring/summer finally trying to come to Seattle I thought that a nice robins egg blue would be so pretty.

These are the tags we printed -



Now I know that Martha Stewart does a real good job marketing her products - and making a pretty penny off them - but sometimes I get sucked in. And this glitter was the perfect color. Of course this "glitter glue" is just glue - but I needed some anyway since mine has all dried up.



I punched a hole for the ribbon to go through then made a little border of glue and then added the glitter to it - once it dried I blew off the excess.



Here they are all drying.



I filled my bags with cookies and tied the ribbon on and added the tag - and voila!!