Crunchy Christmas in July

My Mountain Rose Herb order came yesterday!  This rainbow pepper grinder is probably the thing I'm most excited about!  It's refillable AND they sell it in bulk AND it tastes really yummy AND it's non-irradiated.

I learned from my favorite cookbook Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon that most conventional spices you buy in the grocery store are exposed to radiation.  I guess the idea is the same old industrial food idea: see how we can give the food as long a shelf life as possible, even if that means compromising the nutritional integrity of the food.  

So I've been seeking sources of non-irradiated spices.  I'm not sure exactly what happens to food when you expose it to radiation, but rumor on the streets is that it a) kills all the good enzyme content of the food (which is the reason traditional cultures used spices in the first place!) and b) possibly alters the genetic code of the food.  Some scientists worry that irradiated foods can cause cancer.  If any of this is even sort of true then I'm going to try to serve my family fresh (and pretty!) peppercorns without a side of cancer causing radiation.  


Okay, off my hippie soapbox.  For now ;o) 

Moving on to my other new goodies.  I'm starting my essential oil collection.  They aren't cheap, so though I want to buy quite a few more, they'll have to wait a little bit.

These four oils, as well as the lavender and peppermint I have already bought from MRH, are going to be used to treat regular ailments such as acne, back pain, bruises, chapped skin, colds, congestion, cuts, diaper rash, dry skin, fever, headache, insects (repellent and bites), jet lag, sore throat, stretch marks, sunburn, and wrinkles!

Like how it was all alphabetized for ya? ;o)  I had to use my handy-dandy essential oil usage book to remember what all I was going to use them for ha!  

Beeswax + arrowroot powder + coconut oil + baking soda + essential oils = homemade deo for my bo.    I'm hoping to try this recipe today and then I'll give it a few weeks trial period and let you know how it works for my stink.  Or I'll let Jesse tell you how it works for my stink ;o)  I've been a very bad hippie lately and stopped using my old homemade deo because it wasn't practical for our trip (no portable refrigerators in my backpack) and because it just wasn't working quite like I wanted it to.

Hopefully I'll be armed and (not) dangerous(ly smelling) with this new recipe.  Stay tuned!

Bethanne shared this recipe for homemade lotion forever ago (hi Bethanne!) and I'm finally getting around to trying it.  Lily's skin issues have me desperate.  Again, I'll give it a try this week and let you know how it goes.

I'm going to use those adorable jars to put hippie concoctions in (mostly so I can have some of whatever available both at the girls' changing table and downstairs).  

Aloe vera for all of our skin issues (Lily especially, but also the rest of us if we get sunburned or just want some good moisturization).

Castille soap: my second trial.  All the hippies use it (for anything you use soap for, but I'm going to try it in the kitchen sink on my dishes) because it's all natural and has no harmful chemicals or additives.  But I didn't like the residue left by the first brand I tried (Dr. Bronner's I think) so we'll see if this is better.  I love the idea of washing our dishes without chemicals... since we eat off of them and all. 


And cinnamon.  You know, for eating in your oatmeal or granola.  Nothing fancy... and non-irradiated, too!

So that's that.  Thanks for staying with me if you could care less what kind of hippie packages I get in the mail.  And thanks for reading if you want to learn more about hippie stuff!