Homemade Room Spray

I don't know anyone who doesn't want their house to smell good! I want my house to smell fresh, not like artificial vanilla or tropical flowers, and I certainly do not want the dangerous chemicals that go along with conventional air fresheners. I love the natural smell of essential oils so I made some room spray for my bathroom the other day and I am loving it!

Recipe (4 oz)

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup vodka (the cheap stuff of course!)

10 drops lavender essential oil

8 drops grapefruit essential oil

Mix all of the ingredients together and pour into a 4 oz spray bottle.   

I got my bottles through Frontier Natural Products. I hot glued on a piece of burlap then tied a ribbon around it. These would make great little gifts! I found this website with other recipes for different scent combinations that I can't wait to try! 

Paige @ The Crunchy Mamacita

Create a home recycling center

Creating a home recycling center is easy.

1. Locate where your home’s recycling center will be. Obviously the kitchen is the best spot because this is where most of the waste is generated. However, if your house is anything like mine you have hardly any room to spare in the kitchen! If that is the case, look for other spaces where you can make a little extra room like the laundry/utility room or maybe a corner in the garage. Just make sure it is accessible enough that you will not be deterred from using it.

2. Select your recycling containers. You will need to go to your local recycling center and check out what all they take and figure out how many bins you will need for sorted items. Remember, not all recyclables are created equal! Plastic items will have a number on the bottom and some recycling centers only take certain numbers (if you are wondering what those numbers mean, click here to find out). Best Green Home Tips shows some attractive recycling bins. I love this set of four recycling bags from Design Within Reach.

3. Make recycling easy. Involve the kids and put fun, easy to understand labels on your bins. Check out these free printable labels at Jinerup. 

If your looking for more chic recycling labels, check the ones out at Poppytalk.

This is our home recycling center in our utility room. It's nothing fancy but it works! I like to keep the heaviest (paper) bin on the bottom. On the very top is a container that I put all of our used up batteries and printer cartridges in.

Come and visit me at The Crunchy Mamacita and have a great day!

Paige :)

Wheat Germ Whole Wheat Pancakes

I've been stuck in a rut lately with breakfast for my little boys. It's either oatmeal, eggs and fruit, or english muffins with organic peanut butter and jelly. I think kids need a wholesome breakfast without a lot of processed sugars, high fructose corn syrup, or preservatives so we don't eat things like pop tarts, toaster strudels, or sugary cereals and it can be hard finding healthy fun alternatives. I whipped up these pancakes the other day and they were great! It made quite a few so you can get a few meals out of one batch. I made the pancakes small so we could pop the leftovers in the toaster to warm up. To freeze them, lay the pancakes out flat on a cookie sheet and put them in the freezer. Once the pancakes are frozen you can put them all together in a freezer bag and pop them back in the freezer for a quick and easy breakfast another morning :)

Wheat Germ Whole Wheat Pancakes

 Ingredients

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

2 cups buttermilk

2 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup wheat germ

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

Directions

Mix eggs, applesauce, and buttermilk in a medium bowl. Stir in baking soda, wheat germ, salt, and flour; mix just until blended. Cook on a lightly oiled pan over medium heat until brown on both sides. 

Serve with maple syrup NOT pancake syrup! The first two ingredients of pancake syrup are corn syrup and high fructose corn syrup which means that is most of what your consuming when you eat it. Yuck!

Paige @ The Crunchy Mamacita

Eating less meat

We all know that eating too much meat can be bad for our health but did you know that it is also harmful to our environment? Meat consumption has quadrupled in the last 50 years and it is taking a toll on the earth. Animal waste from factory farms is polluting waterways. Livestock produce a tremendous amount of greenhouse gas. Raising livestock requires much more water than raising vegetables. The deforestation of tropical areas is a result of more land needed for grain to feed livestock and is contributing to global warming and soil erosion.

Don’t worry; you don’t have to become a vegan to make a difference! Just reduce your consumption. Only eat meat once a day or try cutting out meat all together on certain days. Sir Paul McCartney is urging people to have meat-free Mondays. In dishes like soups and casseroles that call for meat, use only half or two thirds of the meat it calls for. The flavor will still be there. Make sure your meals include plenty of vegetables and grain based side dishes to fill up on. When you do choose meat, look for local, grass-fed, organic, and sustainably raised options, which usually have less of an environmental impact.

There are plenty of cookbooks to choose from if you are looking for a menu with less meat. Here are a few that seem to be pretty popular: Almost Meatless, The Flexitarian Diet, and Spice Up Your Life: The Flexitarian Way.

My favorite meatless meal recipe right now is Mushroom and Pesto Pizza.

Ingredients
1 unbaked pizza crust
¾ cup (approx.) pesto
1 cup (approx.) sliced mushrooms
½ red onion, thinly sliced
1 Tbs. butter
8 oz. provolone
¼ cup Parmesan

Directions
Sauté mushrooms and onions in butter until slightly browned. Spread pesto over unbaked pizza crust. Top with sautéed mushrooms and onions. Top pizza with cheeses and bake at 500 degrees F for about 20-25 minutes.

Hop over to my blog The Crunchy Mamacita where you’ll find my pizza crust recipe and a link for the most delicious pesto recipe.

Thanks for reading!
Paige :)