Recipes for Green Cleaning and Grooming

In recent years I have become growingly aware and worried about the amount of chemicals my fiancé and I encounter in our daily lives – our morning grooming routines, weekly household cleaning and washing all involve using a number of different kinds of products.  I have started paying more and more attention to what kinds of products we use for these daily tasks, what the products contain and how they were made.

I realise that for most people choosing their everyday grooming and cleaning products is a question of convenience and habit – we have used the same product for so long that we don’t even think about changing it to something else. Just take a look at the shampoo and the soap you use, and the bathroom cleaning products, and your deodorant and make-up. These are the products we are so used to using every day, yet we hardly know what it is that they actually contain and even worse, what they might be doing to our bodies and our environment.

What is probably turning you off from making the change to greener grooming and cleaning is that you don’t really know what alternatives are out there. We are being bombarded with advertising by the big cosmetic companies, which makes it “easier” for us to you to choose their products than look for alternatives.

My way of thinking about this issue is pretty simple: Just go back to basics. If the list of ingredients on the product is longer than your arm and you don’t even know what the ingredients are, then don’t buy it. It is simple as that. You don’t have to be a scientist to mix up some home-made, yet equally effective cleaning and beauty products, and you probably have most of the ingredients already in your pantry.



Some basic ingredients to start cleaning green include:

Bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) – all-purpose cleaner that deodorises and removes stains. Together with vinegar and hot water, it is also great for unblocking drains. Scrub your bath tub and sink with a mixture of bicarbonate of soda and vinegar to remove any soap scum.

White vinegar – cuts through grease, disinfects and removes stains. Mix half water-half vinegar to make an all-purpose spray.

Lemon juice – cuts through grease and also acts as mild bleach. Scrub your chopping boards with half a lemon to get rid of odours.

Essential oils, like tea tree, pine and eucalyptus – they are anti-bacterial and add natural fragrance to your home-made cleaning products. Mix eucalyptus oil with water for a disinfectant, all-purpose spray.

My grooming routines are pretty simple. I like making my own face/body scrub with some honey and raw sugar. Bicarbonate of soda is also a great exfoliator and it’s antiseptic. I use coconut oil or almond oil for both cleansing and moisturising my skin. Good old home-made remedies, like oats or avocado face masks can feel much more luxurious those with added synthetic ingredients.

Castile soap is a great natural alternative to conventional shampoos and soaps. Rock crystal deodorants made from mineral salts are a safer alternative to conventional deodorants. Here's a recipe for my favourite home-made deodorant. In anything, just look for plant-based ingredients, and avoid those with a long list of synthetic chemical ingredients.

If you do decide to make the switch to natural and organic products, be aware that not everything that says “natural” is in fact chemical-free. Labelling can be confusing, so do your research before you buy.

Please help yourself with some useful links below. I would also love to hear your best tips and recipes for green cleaning and green beauty!

Links

Tanya Ha’s book Greeniology is a great green living guide that covers all areas of life. http://www.tanyaha.com

David Suzuki’s list ‘Dirty Dozen Cosmetic Chemicals’
http://www.davidsuzuki.org/issues/health/science/toxics/dirty-dozen-cosmetic-chemicals/

Skin Deep – Cosmetics Database www.cosmeticsdatabase.com

WellBeing Magazine’s article on DIY Chemical-free cleaning with recipes
http://www.wellbeing.com.au/article/Greenliving//DIY-chemical-free-cleaning_164?page=1

‘How to Green Your Cleaning’
http://www.treehugger.com/htgg/how-to-go-green-cleaning.html

This post was first published on Foodie.fm

New Year's Menu

Another year has come to an end – and what a year!! 

It’s been an incredible year, highlighted by a career change, an engagement and a new home. After 6 years in Australia, I am finally starting to feel at home here, and I have finally found my place.

Towards the end of 2011, I took some radical steps towards even a healthier, happier future.  I went back to being a vegetarian (which I’ve been for the past 10 years on and off), I quit sugar (you can read about it here) and dairy, I changed my exercise to be more holistic and gentle, and had a clean start in our new home after ditching most chemicals (you can read more about it here) used in our daily cleaning and beauty routines. All of this, I’m sure, will have even greater benefits in the long run.

I am looking forward to continuing on this clean path in the New Year. I will strive to be even more mindful about my surroundings, the environment and my impact on it. I will make every effort to have a natural approach in all areas of my life – from mindful consuming and chemical-free cleaning to eating clean and locally. 

There will be some changes and challenges I am looking forward to in 2012. We are, as most of you know, getting married in a few months' time and planning a wedding (although a small and modest one) is at the same time exciting and somewhat stressful. I am also taking up a personal challenge by going back to 'school' for one year. I will share more details about this later, but I am beyond excited to begin my studies.

Here is my menu for this New Year's celebrations. It's a celebration of seasonal produce and clean and fresh flavours. I've taken a couple of my old favourites and added the delicious open sandwiches on to the menu. Enjoy!

I wish you all a happy, healthy and beautiful year ahead!

New Year's Open Sandwiches

Sweet Potato Flatbread

250g cooked and mashed sweet potato
100-125ml almond milk (recipe here)

150g wholegrain spelt flour

1 egg (free-range, organic)

pinch of sea salt

Grilled Vegetables

1 eggplant, sliced crossways

2 zucchinis, sliced

3 tomatoes, sliced

olive oil, for brushing

Rosemary Vinaigrette

1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, finely chopped

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

pinch of sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

1. Preaheat oven to 180C and line a baking tray with baking paper.

2. Mix the mashed sweet potato with almond milk to a mixture that resembles loose mashed potato. Add the flour, egg and salt in to the mixture. You should have a soft dough (the softer dough, the softer bread). Knead the dough lightly (just enough to mix all ingredients well) and turn the dough on the baking tray. Dust your fingers in some extra flour and spread the dough on the tray (about 1-2 cm thick). 

3. Baked for about 20 minutes or until the bread feels firm to touch and has brown spots on top. Leave to cool on a wire rack.

4. Heat a grill pan and lightly brush the sliced vegetables with olive oil. Cook all vegetables (in batches) for 2-3 minutes each side. 

5. Combine all vinaigrette ingredients in a bowl and drizzle the vinaigrette on top of the cooked vegetables. 

6. Cut the flat bread in squares and top with grilled vegetables. Serve warm.

I am planning to serve these with a green soup like this one.

And these stuffed capsicums will make a lovely main course for the New Year's Menu