Comments for Simple Organized Living

Comment on Freezable Foods — yup, you can freeze all of this! by Heather

Heather — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 22:31:12 +0000

Anything with a doughy crust should be frozen uncooked, in my experience. Cooking it after thawing it makes the crust soggy.

Comment on Which “Green” Products are Worth the Extra Cost? by Miranda

Miranda — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 20:26:19 +0000

I use produce from our garden and that’s about as organic as you can get! I do buy normal fruits and some veggies from the store.

Comment on Which “Green” Products are Worth the Extra Cost? by Leigh

Leigh — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 19:54:18 +0000

My 5 lb bag of Baking Soda was a great green product really worth the $$ ( or rather the ¢¢¢). It goes great with hot water and a reusable rag (the feet of holey sweatsocks, cut open are fabulous)

The greenest products are the ones you don’t buy and do with out. They are also free, require no maintenance or storage space.

That said, I do buy hand soap with out SLS (it dries my hands out, and with diaper changes, I wash my hands a lot), pretty green shampoo for me and the kids. It was worth spending more on a more efficient washing machine, toilet, faucet etc. I cook pretty meatless, but think grass fed, humane, etc is worth it when we do eat it. Cloth diapers took some money up front, but are far greener, nicer and better working, not to mention far cuter and we are well past the break even point.

Comment on Organizing a Refrigerator by Temperature by Organizing tips for your most private spaces | Smart Living Blog

Organizing tips for your most private spaces | Smart Living Blog — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 19:39:53 +0000

[...] Well, here’s an interesting post on organizing your fridge, but it has nothing to do with aesthetics. Instead, Andrea Dekker says you can actually save money by organizing your food according to temperature, because the top shelves can be 10 to 12 degrees warmer than the drawers at the bottom (especially if you have a side-by-side model). If you notice that some of your food is spoiling quicker than it should, check out this post and start rearranging! (Simple Organized Living) [...]

Comment on Which “Green” Products are Worth the Extra Cost? by Jen

Jen — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 19:31:17 +0000

Oh, my goodness, that’s not true at all! In fact, produce with soft skins (like peaches, strawberries, apples, etc.) can actually soak the pesticides into the fruit. You don’t have to go organic on things like bananas and pineapples (though I think they taste better), but whether you change your mind or not, I would encourage you to search the “produce dirty dozen” and read about what produce is the most infested with poisons.

And you are spot on about parabens. It’s wise to look for words like Pthalates and BPA and avoid items containing those things if you’re interested in decreasing chemical consumption. Heating food in plastic containers is a major contamination culprit.

Comment on Which “Green” Products are Worth the Extra Cost? by Tiffany @ No Ordinary Homestead

Tiffany @ No Ordinary Homestead — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 19:30:17 +0000

The list that Truffles Magazine posted of the chemicals to watch out for is totally fabulous. I think that with a baby, you want to be a bit more concerned about the products you’re using on their hair and skin because you don’t need to expose them to all that right off the bat.

I make a lot of my own products for our daughter, from diaper wipes to diaper rash spray…and it was primarily because the store-bought stuff was wreaking havoc on her skin and using homemade stuff just worked better for us.

You already make a lot of your own cleaning products, so you’re totally good there. And as far as organic produce goes, sometimes it’s just not worth it. But I do think that if you are able to support your local farms in the process by going to farmers markets or directly to the farm, it’s often worth paying just a little more to know your beef and chicken aren’t pumped full of antibiotics — plus it just tastes better.

Comment on Which “Green” Products are Worth the Extra Cost? by Truffles Magazine

Truffles Magazine — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 19:24:55 +0000

Andrea,
To simply answer this “natural” is not something I would spend that extra $ on – if your choosing between a “natural” label and regular may I suggest saving your $ and not buying the natural without reading the ingredient list. I know people right now think I am crazy reading this, but please understand natural isn’t always better I mean some products are from natural substances in the earth, yet you don’t want to put something derived from crude oil on your skin, right. My suggestion is to look directly at the label of ingredients, there are certain ingredients you want to avoid because they are toxic or cancer causing.

Sodium Lauryl Sulfate/Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLS)
Perfume / Parfum / synthetic fragrance
Parabens
DEA (diethanolamine), MEA (momoethnanolamine), and TEA (triethanolamine)
Triclosan

The best way to use “green” products is 1) to make your own formulas at home – since you already do so many of these you know firsthand how much $ you save and I find lots of great formulas on the internet
2)Like your chart above lists organic produce because its obviously important what we put in our bodies, and for those that can’t afford organic my best suggestion plant a small garden of the 3-4 veggies and 3-4 fruits you regularly eat and then use a natural homemade spray (not a store bought one) to spray your plants
3) 1 way I have saved a lot of money is by shopping online for my green items – I love using Mountain Rose Herbs they have a great oil selection I use for my skin, I buy items in bulk from Amazon to save $ (baking soda, etc)
4) Going green should be important things that don’t cost lots of money, like using reusable shopping bags, reusable water bottles, cloth napkins, and re-purposing used items to take on a new life – anyone can do this relatively easily and what a different it would make if more people did

Comment on Freezable Foods — yup, you can freeze all of this! by Leslie

Leslie — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 18:28:39 +0000

Can you do a post about defrosting or thawing out? I can freeze anything, but I struggle with the thawing out. If I put meat in the fridge the morning I want to make it, it will still be frozen at dinner time. I’ve tried the water bath, but that also seems to take a while. I try to leave it on the counter, but have heard that is bad because it’s not good to leave it at room temperature for that long.

Comment on Which “Green” Products are Worth the Extra Cost? by Anjana

Anjana — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 15:03:01 +0000

Check out healthy child healthy world. You can be green and not pay a fortune.

Comment on Which “Green” Products are Worth the Extra Cost? by Thrifty Military Mommy

Thrifty Military Mommy — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 14:49:08 +0000

I totally agree with you. All of those green “alternatives” in the regular grocery stores for the most part are not really that good and super expensive. The only thing I’ve found comparable as far as “green” goes is the 7th generation. Still, I think it’s too expensive.

I’ve found that making my own homemade products–which call mostly for baking soda, water, and vinegar–and also buying from Shaklee is the best as far as thriftiness goes. I bought shaklee’s basic H2 for only $16 over a year ago and I still have most of the bottle left. I’m quite sure it’ll last me for at least 5 years. They have many other products that are totally natural and good for you for great prices.

And in case you’re wondering, I DON’T sell shaklee. I just really really really LOVE their products, lol.