Partial Solution to Brushing Your Little Ones Teeth

2 oz. Spritzer Bottle
6 drops Grapefruit Seed Extract
1/8 tsp. Stevia Artificial Sweetener
3 drops mint extract (optional)

-This IS NOT to be substituted for brushing your baby/toddlers teeth. This is simply to help on those days that they wont let you ;) Which tends to be a couple times a week for us =)

-Grapefruit Seed Extract is a strong ALL NATURAL bacteria killer making it safe from babies up. This MUST BE diluted before use and can be found at your local health food store for between $4-$6.

-DO NOT use regular sugar or Splenda. Using real sugar defeats the purpose of brushing their teeth in the first place and Splenda contains Aspartame.

This spritzer bottle I found at Walmart in the travel sized items section. The Stevia you can find at Walmart and your local health food store.

Place ingredients in Spritzer and fill remainder of bottle with water. Shake WELL. Shake before each use. My kids LOVE this mainly because it tastes good to them. They let me spray a good 3 times in a row, even my one year old =)

The Dr. Oz Take On Fruits and Veggies (with rinse recipe)

Recently at the gym I was watching Dr. Oz and he was doing a show on how gross (YES, GROSS!) our fruits and veggies are. So I thought I would share with my followers =)

The USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) did a recent study on our produce and this is what they came up with:

Dirtiest Fruits and Veggies:

FRESH Spinach is the #1 Dirtiest veggie we have. It contains MORE THAN 60 pesticides that you CANNOT clean off. Either buy organic or buy frozen.

Strawberries are the #2 dirtiest fruit/veggie we have containing MORE THAN 50 pesticides that again cannot be rinsed off without a little help.

Apples #3 for more than 50 pesticides. One thing they said about apples is if it looks nice and shiny and perfect, put it back! They said that apples contain a wax coating that make it impossible to scrub off. Another thing about apples is to smell it. If you cannot smell anything, put it back. You should always be able to smell your fruits and veggies. Look for fruit and veggies that look less than perfect. If it looks perfect that's because something was used to make it look perfect ;)

Peaches #4. More than 50 pesticides. Gross, the little hairs keep the pesticides trapped.

So what do you do if these are some things that you love?? Organic is expensive but if you cannot afford to purchase all organic fruits and veggies, AT LEAST try and buy these few items Organic.

Another solution to expensive organic foods is this homemade solution which I have made already and I love it!

Fruit/Veggie Cleaner Recipe:

1 plastic spray bottle (found for a dollar at Walmart in the cleaning supplies aisle)
1 cup water
1 cup white distilled vinegar
1 TBL. baking soda
1 1/2-2 TBL. Lemon juice

Mix up, spray on your fruits and veggies. LET SIT FOR 5 MINUTES-THEN RINSE.

CLEANEST Fruits and Veggies:

1. Onion (the thick outer layer prevents pesticides from getting in)
2. Kiwi (tough skin prevents pesticides from getting in)
3. Corn (husk prevents pesticides from getting in)

Vitamins:
Here is some fun info on vitamins.

-Women over 40 can prevent heart attacks, diabetes and lower blood pressure and cholesterol and even breast cancer by taking Vitamin D.

-Women over 40 need a daily dose of Calcium BUT if you take a calcium vitamin you MUST also take a magnesium vitamin as well. Calcium speeds up your heart (obviously that can be bad) and Magnesium will slow it back down =)

Cayenne Pepper Capsules: I just started taking these a week ago and I must say I feel freaking AMAZING! They increase your energy level and dramatically increase your attempt at weight loss by speeding up your metablolism by 25%!!!

Other benefits: Increase metabolism, aid in digestion, lower blood pressure and cholesterol, blood thinner which prevents strokes (but NOT good if you are on your menstrual cycle ladies so it's best not to take these during that time, the same with tylenol and aspirin)

Cinnamon Capsules: Have similar benefits as cayenne pepper.

A TBL. of vinegar before meals: Only helps with digestion. Let's be clear though-DIGESTION. This does not mean if you take a TBL. of vinegar you will lose weight. Easy digestion is NOT the same as burning calories. So many people confuse the 2.

How to Make Liquid Hand Soap

1 bar of soap of your choice (I used Dove)
1 TBL honey
1 TBL glycerin (you need this-found at Walmart by the gauze and band aids)
1 TBL Rubbing Alcohol
1 TBL Witch Hazel (easier on the skin-found at Walmart next to rubbing alcohol)
Water

Grate your favorite bar of soap with a cheese grater. It's ok to buy a fancy soap that you like because remember this one bar of soap is going to make about 7-9 cups of liquid hand soap and that's a lot!!


Once grated, pour the soap into a blender with 1 CUP BOILING water and blend.















Open lid and add honey, witch hazel, rubbing alcohol and glycerin and blend again.


Pour out of blender into a LARGE mixing bowl and start with 3 cups of cold water. Whisk the mixture. Add more water as needed.



Fill up your soap bottles and store the rest in a large container.





This is more of like a FOAM soap but it's really great and works VERY well! Not to mention your house will smell great after wards.

Fruit Fly/Gnat Catcher

I hate these little guys! I get them all the time as I am waiting for my bananas to ripen =S This recipe will work within 10 minutes of you placing it out =)

4 TBL. apple cidar vinegar
2 drops dish soap

Put ingredients in a small cup of your choice. Place cup in your kitchen or window and watch them go! Change the vinegar daily. It becomes less effective as the odor of the vinegar diminishes, usually after a day.

Homemade Baby Wipes

So I wanted to completely update this post for all those using homemade wipes (which I am a HUGE fan of by the way because you know exactly what is going on your babies bum) I have been doing tons of research on these since our baby was breaking out with store bought. First I will tell you what I use and do and then I will give you a bunch of different recipes so that you can decided what you think will work best for you =)

First of all I just switched to cloth diapers, sounds gross right? TOTALLY not and have you seen cloth diapers these days?? So darn CUTE! We made the switch not so much because of money (but I will say that is a HUGE GINORMOUS bonus considering we were spending $1,700 a year on 2 kids and that's just generic diapers and not including wipes). With that being said I use CLOTH wipes because when you are using cloth diapers it is so MUCH EASIER because you don't have to sort this in the trash and that in the diaper pale, it just all goes to the same place. So there is a couple ways you can use homemade wipes.

1. You can pre-make them by adding the solution to the wipes (cloth or paper towel) in a container. If you do this you should make them fresh daily to prevent any bacteria from growing. There is a vinegar recipe on here but vinegar SHOULD NOT be used on your baby if they have a raw rash.

2. You can make the solution and pour it into a spray bottle, have your DRY wipes stored in a clean container and as you need them spray them with the solution from the bottle. This is what I do =) I pre-make a solution (the first recipe that is listed is the one I prefer to use regularly) then pour it into a spray bottle. I have two spray bottles one that is a slightly bigger size that I use at home and then I have a tiny little green spritzer that I keep in our diaper bag for when we go out. You can buy these at Walmart in the shampoo area, they are kept in the travel sized items section and only cost about 90 cents. (see photo) Here are the purposes of the ingredients in homemade wipes.

OIL: Used to help glide the wipe over baby's bottom (if you use cloth diapers NEVER use baby oil in your wipe solution because it will break down your diapers)
SOAP: Cleanses by removing all traces of urine and feces
Essential Oil: Added for antibacterial and/or aromatherapy purposes.
WATER: The main ingredient in each recipe, cleanses the diaper area and dilutes the other ingredients

Ashlie's Recipe
2 TBL. ALL NATURAL baby shampoo or wash (I just use the Aveeno 98% all natural shampoo, but if my kids start having a reaction to it I will go to my whole foods and buy a 100% all natural baby shampoo. They have yet to have a reaction though)
3-4 drops tea tree oil (you can find at walmart or your local whole foods store)
1 1/2 cups warm water

Mix Ingredients together and pour into spray bottle or over your prepped wipes.

Basic Recipe
1 package cloth like paper towels-heavy duty (not cheap papery kind)
2 cups hot water, boiled
1 TBL. baby shampoo
1 TBL. baby oil
1 TBL. baby lotion
1 TBL. white vinegar (to inhibit mold)

Saw the paper towels in half lengthwise with a serrated kitchen knife (not your best one ... this can't be "good" for it). Mix the hot water and following ingredients:

Put the half roll in a plastic container that has a lid or an old baby wipe container, etc.

Shredded side down -- I pick as much of the shredded paper off as I can -- otherwise you leave "lint balls" on your baby's bum.

Pour the water solution over the roll.

(Don't worry about the cardboard tube.) Let sit about 5 minutes, then turn upside down for 5 more minutes to saturate the roll.

Now the cardboard tube will pull out easily. Pull a "wipe" from the center.

Aloe Vera Recipe
1/4 cup 100% Aloe Vera
2 drops tea tree oil
2 cups hot water

Stir or shake until this recipe is well mixed. Don't use until the mixture cools. Spritz on wipe before using if in spray bottle. Swish solution around over wipes if using a wipes box.

Another Basic
1/2 cup baby oil
1/2 cup baby wash
2 cups water

Soap Less
1-2 drops tea tree oil
1-2 drops lavendar oil
1 cup water

Apricot Solution
1 TBL apricot oil
1 TBL. unscented baby wash
3 cups water

This one smells very great!!

Lotion Potion
1 TBL. baby oil
1 TBL. baby soap or shampoo
1 TBL. baby lotion (all natural)
1 cup water

Hand Sanitizer

1/4 cup aloe vera gel
1/4 cup grain alcohol (just plain alcohol works)
10 drops fragrance oil (tea tree oil or any other of your choice)
1 drop food coloring

Combine ingredients and shake. Store in a spray pump bottle. (I just use an old sanitizer bottle) I found this recipe online because with two little kiddos we go through so much hand sanitizer around here! This works great!

Wart Remover

This recipe works I promise =)

1 Q-tip
1 tsp. apple cider vinegar
1 sports tape/band aid

Using scissors cut the soft end off of the cotton swab.

Pour enough apple cider vinegar on the cotton to saturate.

Place over the wart. Wrap snugly with the Band-aid.

Leave on for several hours. You can do this at night and take it off in the morning. The wart will be white and puffy.

Repeat for several days until the wart starts to get black spots. Do not cover after black spots appear.

I should add that once the vinegar gets inside the wart it may start to sting a little, but it is well worth it.

Ashlie's Notes: I was asked if this works for Plantars warts as well and to let you know it does! It just might take a tiny bit longer but stick with it! Also, Plantars warts can be re-given to you by your shoes so once your wart starts to turn black go ahead and sanitize all of the shoes that you wear bare foot with something like a Lysol wipe or a GermX wipe =)

Swimmer's Ear Drops Recipe

When I was a kid I used to live in the pool and I would get swimmer's ear all the time and I can't tell you how painful it is. This recipe is recommended by Pediatricians and ENT's (Ear, Nose, Throat Specialists)

1 fluid ounce vinegar
1 fluid ounce rubbing alcohol

Mix the vinegar and alcohol in a small dropper bottle.

After swimming or bathing, dry the ears well and add a few drops to each canal.

Remember, don't put anything into your ear canal smaller than your elbow (especially cotton swabs)!

Vinegar and Water Remedy for Sunburn

2 TBL. Vinegar
1 cup water

Mix both together in a bowl. Soak washcloth in this mixture.

Gently pat on sunburned areas.

This works so much better than aloe I think =)

Homemade FEBREEZE

Do you hate spending 5 dollars on a little bottle of Febreeze? Well so do I!! I found this recipe that you can make it yourself for like 50 cents!! I've tried it already and it works so great and personally I think it smells even better!!! Are you ready? Here it is!!!

3 1/2 TBL Fabric Softener of your choice (a nice good smelling one!!)
18 ounces water
Old Febreeze bottle (I was told not to use another pump that had a different chemical in it because you don't to mix chemicals =)

Mix well and SPRAY!!!