Spring Clean Out

Well, those of you who follow my other blog know that my family has spent the last week sick Sick, SICK! So we did not start our garden even though I got the cutest Sesame Street container garden set. I mean REALLY cute -- I will share this with you when we are able-bodied enough to embark on that brave new world.

After having been so sick, however, I was inspired to clean, Clean, CLEAN. And this included my pantry. Out with the expired food. Which I am ashamed to say was a lot. But you now what is scarier than a pantry full of expired food? Finding "food" without expiration dates! How is that possible?!?!?!

I have to say that this was eye-opening. When I started my journey over at 38 and Growing, I realized that I was living my life unconsciously. This evolved into my husband and I looking at our personal health, our family's health, and our contribution to the world's health. We were floating through life doing the "easy" thing, not necessarily the good thing. Well, there cannot be any good thing about food that doesn't expire -- either for our bodies or our Earth!

My eyes are open. I am aware. I cannot pretend otherwise. And that is good. I am going to have to learn to shop differently. I am going to have to work harder at preparing the food for my family. But it's worth whatever time and effort are involved because I'm worth it, my kids are Worth it, and this planet is WORTH it!

Starting a Spring Garden

Well, next week is Spring Break for my kiddo and we are expecting beautiful warm weather so we will finally be starting a garden on our patio. I want to get the kids involved -- I think that it will be very valuable for them to see the work that goes into growing their food and I am hoping that they may be more willing to eat green things if they have an investment in them.

I found a great website http://startergardens.com that is dedicated to container gardening for beginner gardens. I'm very excited to get started. Do you have any great advice for a beginner? What vegetables would you recommend to get kiddos involved in?

I'll keep you posted. Maybe I'll have some pics to share.
:-)

Confessions of a Clorox Wipe Junkie

Okay. I admit it. Prior to this project, I was a Clorox Wipe Junkie. I used many, Many, MANY wipes on a daily basis. Well, since the new year, I have tried to clean up my bad habits and I include this as an ugly habit. I have come to dislike using so many chemicals around my children and who knows how many pounds I have contributed to the landfills with wipes alone! SO what's a girl to do?

I started with using cloth wipes a lot more (in place of paper towels, as well) and while not as convenient, I realize how much I was wasting so I am happy to do this ... most of the time. But here's the secret. I am a bit of a germophobe. And the cloths and sponges sometimes scare me. There are times, I want to wipe and throw away. Just saying.

I went on a search and I found Seventh Generation's Disinfecting Wipes. I checked out their website (http://www.seventhgeneration.com) and I learned a lot. They use recycled paper products and disclose all their ingredients. In these wipes, the active ingredients are Lemongrass & Thyme.

The wipes are definitely more expensive but they do have coupons on their site (http://www.seventhgeneration.com/coupons). They cleaned well, though to be honest, I did not like the odor. I can abide it, however, because I do feel better for using them (and I will probably use less with the smell). Less chemicals. Less waste.

So, I am a reformed wipe user. As to Seventh Generation, I was impressed enough by their philosophy that I am going to try more products. I will keep you posted. Are there any paper/household products that you love?

And in the name of full disclosure, Seventh Generations does not know I exist. I went to the store and bought the wipes and I found their website on the back of their bottle. So I hope that makes it all clear. :-)

Coming Out of the Desert

Hi everyone! Well it's been over month since we came by for a visit. Sorry about that. We had a tremendous loss to our family and well, Cold Comfort Living fell off the radar, But we're back! We'll be getting back to sharing our green goals -- successes and failures, thumbs up and thumbs down. So if you're in the "neighborhood"... drop by. We'll be here.