New Blog

Alright, I gave up on this blog...I think about too many things to just have a blog about this. I have exported all posts to the new blog.

New blog: www.musinghelpmeet.blogspot.com

Aghh! Link to Chocolate Yummies Video

So, apparently I don't know how to do this. I am clicking on the link button, and it show's up on my edit page, but not on the final draft?

I ended up adding it on the sidebar with the other sites you may want to check out. So, if you scroll down you will see the Chocolate Yummies link on the right...Finally!

Cooking with the Kids -- Chocolate Yummies

After many failed attempts, we finally have a video to go with this recipe. It's been too long since I wrote on this blog, not enough time. So, I changed it to a family activity with many videos to come - hopefully! Not the best quality, but we had fun!

The link's at the bottom - the video was just barely too big to upload it directly to the blog.


Recipe for Chocolate Yummies By: Ellie, Will and Sarah Jane
2 C UNSWEETENED coconut flakes
1 C Cocoa Powder
1 C RAW honey
1/2 C (peanuts only!) peanut butter We like chunky. :)
1 pinch of sea salt

Combine in bowl.
Give it a good stir.
Dive in with clean hands and mush it together until thoroughly blended! We use disposal vinyal gloves to keep the mess at a minimum. :)
Dump the giant chocolate ball into an 8x8 pan and spread out.
Try some now and then stick it in the 'fridge to harden up. MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!

This recipe yeilds a dark chocolate flavor. If that's not to your taste, decrease the amount of cocoa powder.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Oatmeal Balls

Mmmmm. My chocolate/sugar days arrived last week. You know, the days where you just have to have chocolate? This month I had a craving for my peanut butter balls. I made a double batch and with company staying with us, they were gone in a little over 24 hours. They are healthy, but oh, so yummy!!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Oatmeal Balls

2 c regular rolled oats
3/4 c natural peanut butter (no sugar/sweetener added!)
1/2 c raw honey (Trader Joe's, Sunflower Market, Whole Foods, etc.)
2 TBSP whole wheat/spelt flour
1/3 c mini chocolate chips

Mix everything together in a medium-sized bowl. I usually start out with a spoon and then just dig in with my hands! Form into balls and store in your refrigerator.
Just the right thing to satisfy a craving for sweets. Especially peanut butter cups.

Going Cash

Aaaahhh! I'm standing in the line at Walmart with my little wallet filled with cash. I haven't made my envelopes yet, but I did attempt to separate the cash in my wallet. Here's the trouble...I am purchasing things from 3 different categories! Ugh! There has to be an easier way, right? All of my categories are filled with twenties. On top of that, I am purchasing a gift and I left that money in my bank account due to the amount of money we spend online for gifts. Plus, if Duane is buying a gift, he doesn't have the cash envelopes-he doesn't want to go the cash route.
I would love some insight on how everyone manages their money with their spouse. If anyone happens to read this, please feel free to comment. :)

Wow, March madness did take over there for a while with two weeks of spring break. However, U of A didn't make it to the basketball tournament, so our house is a little less "mad" than usual for this time of year. I have placed a total of 3 orders from my green company, and have adjusted my budget to account for the $80 a month I am spending. I took $40 from food and $40 from misc. and put it in this category. This $80 is covering all my laundry, cleaning, dishwasher, "bath soap" and lotion needs.
As far as my March Missions go, I didn't eat so healthy in Tucson...no big surprise there...but, I have revamped my budget. I revisited my book, Money Matters and discovered that we can actually use the percentages Crown Financial recommends for your budget. In the past, we made too little money, and our housing percentage was way above where it should be. Now to see if we can stick to this budget. I am switching to cash, and am going to make some fun cash envelopes to keep track instead of buying them. I have all the supplies already and it really shouldn't be that difficult. I also want to sew a new purse. We'll see....Time to wake up the kids for some eggs and veggies. No fruit for us in the morning! If we don't eat veggies right away, we'll never get our 5 servings in!!

March Madness

Aaahhh! It's March Madness! Today we find out if the U of A is going to the tournament. In my family this is a big deal. They might not get invited this year which would be a tragedy. But that's Duane's tragedy...here's mine: I don't fit into my capri pants anymore!! Thank goodness I have one pair with elastic to get me through until I get that under control. We're headed to Tucson for some warm weather, and my legs are dying to get out of pants prison. So, March Madness for me = March Missions.
Mission #1 Eat healthier. I know many of you laugh at that, but apparently I can eat a little healthier or else I would not have outgrown my pants. :) No money for new clothes, and I like the ones I have besides. I am finishing off my chocolate yummies as I write. Don't want them to go to waste--or waist :) so I better take a walk today. Ha, ha.
Mission #2 Declutter! That has begun already. Out with the old and lying around! They annual Hubbard yard sale is coming up. I am always amazed at how much we collect. Really, did we actually spend money on this stuff? Which leads me to...
Mission #3 Stop spending excess money. Ha, because there isn't excess money. Do you think I can buy only what we need? God, please grant me the wisdom to see the difference between what we truly need, and what is only a desire, and the strength to say NO! Actually, I know I have all the strength I need through Jesus, so I pray that I will use it. I also know that if we ask for wisdom, you give it, and you always give a way out of temptation, so no excuses for being unsuccessful.
Anyone else on any March Missions? I'd love to hear them. Also, any tips always welcome!

Read those labels

I am once again reminded of how important it is to read labels on what I'm eating and giving to my kids! It is a time consuming, and sometimes irritating, task, but it really is important. I keep three skinny, rectangle drink holders - the kind with the spouts - in our 'fridge. This way, we have three drinks readily available, within the kids reach, and I don't have to continue to make more because they hold twice as much as a regular pitcher. Iced tea, watered-down juice, and usually homemade lemonade are favorites around here. Last week I switched out the lemonade for the new orange sports drink we are trying. I bought it in my last order, and it is supposed to be healthier than the regular gatorade. Duane is in the field a lot right now, so I thought a good, healthier electrolyte drink would be good. Confession, I didn't really read the label, just what they were saying about it. I missed the low calorie part. Low calorie always sends warning lights my way. I don't like chemical sweeteners. I've never counted calories, I have radically adjusted what I eat, but have never worried about calories, just whether something is healthy or not. Anyway, I was cleaning up my 'fridge last night - the spouts do drip a bit leaving juice and sticky residue on the bottom of my 'fridge - I couldn't get the orange sports drink to go away. It stained the inside of my white refrigerator. :( So, this prompted me to read the label to see what they are putting in this stuff. (Since we started drinking it, my kids have broken out in a mysterious, very itchy rash...but this could be due to something poking them while we were working in the garden...can't quite nail it down yet.) Ends up they are using beta-carotene and red beet juice. Not bad, no toxic food coloring there. This is good, but I bet that red beet juice just stained my 'fridge! Maybe they can recommend one of their cleaning products that will take care of this problem. :) However, I did see that in addition to fructose, they are using sucralose - otherwise known as aspartame - to sweeten the drink. Yuck! Not what I look for in a healthier drink. Bummer. Oh how I wish I had the money to go all organic. Oh well, another lesson learned right? Be joyful always...

Return, return

I just posted about face lotion, and then this weekend noticed that my face was peeling! Hmmm, apparently not enough moisture for my dry skin. So, I will be trying out this company's famous satisfaction guarantee policy. We'll see how tough it is to get my money back. More later...

Daytime Face Lotion

I ordered a new bottle of face lotion last month. I've been using the same lotion for a while, so I forgot that I could have just ordered the nighttime lotion. I wish I had. Nothing is really wrong with the daytime lotion, it just has sunscreen in it, and I am not a big fan of wearing sunscreen everyday. I know, all dermatologists are going to hunt me down and tell me differently! But, here's how I see it...I have looked up what chemicals are used in sunscreen on the Skin Deep database, and the only good thing they do is block the sun. They do plenty of bad things...depending on the amount that is put into the lotion. Just ask my friend, Bree, what her son's skin thinks of sunscreen. Plus, God made the sun to give us vitamin D. He gave us trees for shade, and clothes to protect our bodies. I would rather wear a hat, clothes and not be in the sun for more than 15 minutes at a time than slather up with sunscreen everyday. Especially in the winter.
So, if you're looking for a good lotion without sunscreen, go with a nighttime lotion. It's more moisturizing which is good news for those of us living in this Arizona dryness.

Labels, labels, labels

I must say I am quite frustrated as I sit at my computer and try to find out exactly what's in my cleaning products. Companies are not required by law to disclose what is in a cleaning product. There are some companies such as Seventh Generation and Trader Joe's are choosing to do so, and to them I give a standing ovation. :) However, even if there was a full ingredient label on every bottle, I probably wouldn't know what's toxic and what's not because even some natural ingredients can be toxic.
So, until I become fully competent in the names of dangerous ingredients, I will be relying on warning labels. These are required by law. DANGER is worse than warning or caution. The product I am using states this: "COMMON-SENSE CAUTION: Eye irritant...flush with plenty of water." This is much better than hold your open eye under a gentle stream of water for 15-20 minutes and call your doctor. Can you imagine trying to do that while your kids are doing who knows what? Or, what if your child gets a little bit on his hands and then touches his eye? Ahh! The thought of holding Ellie or Will's eye open under a stream of water is not pleasant! Here's some more, wash any skin that comes in contact with the product with soap and water for 20 minutes and remove any clothes that come in contact with the product. I've seen all these labels on a bottle of Fantastic cleaner.
If you are interested in a list of harmful ingredients as well as recipes for homemade cleaners, check out this link: http://www.greenerchoices.org/products.cfm?product=greencleaning&page=RightChoices. This is a Consumer Reports website, and I trust them because they are totally independent.

Ingredients/Poison Control

Whew! It's amazing how life and a little sickness can disrupt your whole routine. I really thought we were going to miss it this year, but the coughing bug has caught up with us!

Someone asked me what the ingredients for the detergent were...here they are:

Laundry detergent: "biodegradable anionic and plant-derived nonionic surfactants, solubilizer, brightening agent, and preservative."

Fabric Softener: "biodegradable, plant-derived softening agent, biodegradable nonionic surfactant, and fragrance."

I called Poison Control today and found out that they can't recommend any specific products because they are a government agency. The representative did look up my new all-purpose cleaner and said it was pretty standard. Some chemicals, some natural. The company claims makes no claims to be all natural, but the product is safe if ingested. Also, it makes a good produce wash.

I checked out the label on a conventional all purpose cleaner I have hidden in a closet, and there were many warnings on it, along with instructions to rinse out the bottle before you throw it away. Also, if you get it on your skin, you need to wash the area for 20 minutes. If the chemicals are hazzardous in my garbage can, and at the dump, why would I use them in my house and around my children? I am glad to say that there are no such warnings on my new products!

Laundry Detergent and Softener

I love it! I used to buy all natural detergent and softener from Sun and Earth online, but the cost, combined with new, higher shipping costs, was just too much. Lately, I have just been buying the Walmart brand and Bounce unscented fabric sheets. I was excited to get back to the natural, and I have not been disappointed! Our clothes are clean and SOFT. I only dry our jeans partially in the dryer and then hang them up--they are still soft. And my corduroys...hello! They feel incredible. These are two products I will definitely be reordering on a regular basis.

Product Review: Dry Skin Lotion

One product I couldn't wait to try out was the lotion for dry skin. For those of you who know the Hubbards well, you know that we suffer from severely dry skin. Will has eczema that wakes him up in the middle of the night itching even if I lotioned him before bed! Poor guy winds up in our bed just scratching, and I have to lotion him again in the middle of the night.
This has not happened since I started using this lotion!! Woo-hoo! I feel the skin behind Will's knees, and it is SO soft. Last night we didn't even lotion and he slept all night long. Now, this lotion is not totally natural. I've been doing some research, and unless you go fully organic you probably won't find a lotion that is totally natural. There is a website called Skin Deep that provides safety ratings for cosmetics, lotions, etc. I have provided a link on this blog if you'd like to check it out. Jason Naturals, which is sold in health food stores, had a product which rated a 9 (10 is the worst) and so did Huggies, which we use on babies! While my new lotion was not in their data base, I did look up the individual ingredients and concluded that it should fall into the low to low-moderate hazard rating. Jordan Rubin says you shouldn't put anything on your skin that you wouldn't eat because everything is absorbed into your body, but I have checked out, and even tried some organic lotions,...they are expensive and didn't work as well as this one! So, until I'm rolling in the money, I will gladly use this lotion and enjoy my sleep-filled nights.

Recipe - Breakfast Bars

I thought I'd switch it up today and post one of our favorite snack recipes. We call them breakfast bars because they so nice and healthy that I let the kids eat them for breakfast if they want. :) Now, unless you've already begun to deviate from the standard American diet, you may not have all of these ingredients in your cupboard, but they really aren't difficult to come by...especially if you live in the big city, you just have to change where you shop. :)
We have made some major changes in our diet due to God convicting me that our bodies are temples and it's our responsibility to take care of them. One major change is that we rarely eat white flour any more. When wheat flour is refined to make it white, 80% of its nutrients are lost along with a lot of its fiber. Also, after the refining process it is a gray color, so chemicals are used to make it white. I've noticed on labels lately that companies are using unbleached wheat flour. I am assuming this means processed wheat flour that just hasn't been bleached. I suppose this is one step better, but unless it says whole wheat, it's just not what your body needs. With baking at home, we use whole spelt flour, which is a type of wheat that is better for baking. I've also added some barley flour in this recipe because it is a balanced starch and reduces LDL (bad) cholesterol which wheat alone apparently doesn't do. (according to a study conducted at Montana State University)
The other ingredient you can't get at Walmart (where I shop) is Rapadura. Rapadura is raw, unprocessed sugar that actually has minerals and good things still intact. You can use rapadura just like regular sugar. The only thing you'll discover is that it is brown in color, so nothing I make anymore turns out white. :) Beware :), you can buy "Sugar in the Raw" at Walmart, but this is not really raw sugar. Stevia is also a good sweetener that comes from plants, but it is much sweeter than sugar, so you have to convert...too much work for me. :)
So head on over to Whole Foods, Sunflower Market, Sprouts or someplace like that and begin taking care of that body. If you live in Payson, start ordering from Azure Standard or head over to Vitamart. While you're there, park in the spot farthest away from the store and get some exercise in too! :)

BREAKFAST BARS

Preheat Oven to 400

Combine the following in a small bowl and set aside:
2cups whole spelt flour
3/4 cup barley flour
3/4 cup rolled oats
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp baking soda

Combine the following in a large bowl and mix together:
1/2 cup rapadura
3/4 cup NATURAL applesauce
1/2 cup cold water
1/4 cup honey
1 1/2 tbsp molasses

1/3 cup mini chocolate chips - to add into final mix

When second group of ingredients are blended well (I use a whisk) add ingredients in small bowl and mix well. ( I don't even bother getting out my electric mixer. A big spoon works great, and is easier to lick clean. :) Stir in chocolate chips.

Spread in a greased 9x13 inch baking dish.

Bake for about 15 minutes or until lightly browned.

These are cake-like bars, and are great anytime of day. Pack them in lunches or eat them for breakfast! :)

My First Order

Alright, here we go! I placed my first order on January 19, 2010. I must say I was quite impressed with their speed. The order was placed around 4pm, and by dinnertime, I had an email confirmation that it had been shipped. Crazy! That was Tuesday, and I received my order Friday afternoon - even with all the crazy weather that ripped through AZ that week. So, here's the details of the order and a price comparison with Walmart. I feel that I need to add a disclaimer...this would not post the way I typed it in, so I had to find a better way to present my information. Here's how it reads:
Product
WM $
New $
Points (35 needed)

laundry detergent 192 loads
$26.34
$29.99
19

pump
$0
$1.99
0

Fabric Softener 64 loads
$7.82
$5.69
3

pump
$0
$1.99
0

Lotion for Dry Skin(compared with Eucerine) 20 oz
$12.80
$15.99
12

Face Lotion (Vitamart)
$20.00
$22.50
14

All Purpose Cleaner 96oz
$12.29
$5.69
3

mixing bottle
$0
$1.49
0

Shipping + handling
$0
$9.06

Totals:
WM $79.25
$94.39
51 points
Total minus one time purchases: $88.92

One time purchases are the mixing bottles and pumps. The products are concentrated, so you need a mixing bottle to dilute correctly. And might I add that the bottles are quite pretty...they match my kitchen perfectly. Bonus! :) I can leave them on the counter and they blend right in. The WM price is calculated per ounce - not the actual bottle - to make for an accurate comparison.

So, about $10 more for natural products - including shipping! I didn't include tax, because that should be the same for both stores. Also, my face lotion says Vitamart because that's where I buy it...it's Avalon Organics. I look forward to telling you about these products and how they measure up individually in future blogs. More later...

Signing Up

The company I am dealing with has two kind of customers - those that sporadically order and those that order every month. When you agree to order every month, you receive 30 - 40% off of their regular prices. This is what makes their products affordable. Now there is a slight catch, of course. They assign each product a point value, and you have to order 35 points (which equals more than $35) every month. I've looked into it, and I don't think it will be a problem at all. Also, at sign up, you pay a $30 fee. Every year after this, they charge a $12 annual fee. Kind of like a warehouse store I suppose. The first year is $30 because they send you a small business kit in case you want to pursue the business aspect of it. The good thing about this is that you are considered a business partner no matter what and apparently everything you order is tax deductible. I love that idea...but it seems too good to be true--everything I buy is tax deductible? I'm checking this out further just to be sure. :)
When I finally decided to give this company a try, I called the representative I'd been talking to and she walked me through an online application form that took about 15 minutes. I printed out all the fine print, read it in my spare time, and found no problems. So, now I'm set to go. If I do end up loving the products and referring people to the company I can make 20% on everything they end up purchasing. I only refer, not sell anything.
So, onto the ordering!

How this blog came about...

I am trying to make these posts short and sweet for easy reading, so here goes...
I have been reading through Created to be His Helpmeet (and it has totally changed my thinking and my marriage for the better...wish I had it 15 years ago!) and have been praying about what my vineyard could be. Proverbs 31 talks about the wife of noble character who buys some land and plants a profitable vineyard. I was hoping Kindermusik was going to be that profitable vineyard, but when the economy tanked, it did too. So, time to move on...
I have a very strong desire to be home and available for my children! This is why I am subbing, and it has worked well but is not consistent. Although, God has used it to make the car payment EVERY month - even months when school has vacations. I just need to deal with the inconsistency and thank God for His provision!! :) So much for short...anyway, I am always looking for employment opportunities to earn some extra money and stumbled across an ad in a Christian magazine we get. Turns out it was for this "green" company that has been around for 24 years and has a great reputation. I talked with the lady who placed the ad several times and watched a webcast about the company.
Before diving head on into holding parties, etc., I talked with Duane. One MAJOR thing I have learned from Created to be His Helpmeet is that wives are to submit to their husbands. This is not a popular idea in our culture, but me learning to submit has changed my marriage completely. So, I do nothing without Duane's input. He does not like the idea of me spending lots of time and energy on something that does not have a guaranteed financial reward. He would rather spend time together as a family...how can I argue with that? Also, I have not personally used the products, and was not totally comfortable with promoting them yet. Hence, the idea of the blog.
I love to write. I compose in my head all day long. :) It's fun. Also, it will help me document what I am doing. I have researched whether I will be spending more money or not, but this blog will help hold me accountable, and I like that. My hope is that this company really does have products that are good for you and will help you have a healthy life. I also hope that God will use this blog to help me make some money by referring others to this company. But, above all, I hope to glorify Him and stay in His will.
I will be ordering products from this company every month and will write about my experiences with each product. They sell over 350 products from laundry detergent to vitamins and I am excited to turn my house into a chemical free zone. :) I will compare the prices from my local Walmart with the prices this company offers. I also plan on publishing healthy snack recipes and other things that will help families get healthy. I have had too many people I know and love fight battles with diseases like cancer...this is heavy on my heart. Anyway, I hope you join me and have some fun in the process.

My Story

I thought I should give you a little background...almost exactly five years ago my health journey began. My family spent the weekend in Phoenix, and I participated in a junk food binge that my body deeply resented. I spent the next 3 weeks unable to be away from the toilet-if you know what I mean. My doctor prescribed yogurt, pepto, and Metamucil to be taken at the same time and I was finally regular again. I had no idea of what probiotics or fiber were, but God was about to introduce me to the world of healthy eating, and nothing has been the same sense.
I discovered Jordan Rubin, who wrote The Maker's Diet and The Great Physician's RX for Health and Wellness, on tv while up in the wee hours with Will. That brought about a battle between eating healthier/organic and staying within the budget. Now, 4.5 years later, we are much healthier and staying in our budget - mostly. :) I even make my own probiotics at home which we eat in smoothies. It is quite simple - really! We have not totally switched to all natural products, but it looks like now may be the time...