A Welcome Bend in my Creek

~Through my love (*let's use the term 'love' so I don't have to admit it is a slightly scary obsession,) of food, cooking and learning about natural ways to care for myself and my loved ones, I have found a new passion. What is interesting is I have always loved the ideas I have recently given light to. I was always raised to believe in working for that which you have and leaving out as much unnecessary elements as possible. As a child I thought this was a good thing and loved watching my parents live this way and in turn my life was that way, but now that I am all grown up I realize there is SO much more than what I have been doing and I am going to change that. This blog is not only going to be about my weird food experiments and random philosophies, but a journey I am going on to hopefully reach a completely sustainable life. I want to bring as much of 'me' into this as possible so that the journey is not just the end product.
So, what is this journey about? After such a vague starting paragraph I will fill you in. I have always had a love for gardening. Starting as a child, my family planted a garden larger than my house every year and it grew slightly every year. We planted way too much of everything. Well sort of. We grew way more than we could eat so we could pass out a lot to friends and extended family and be selfish little 'veggies' and preserve the rest. We had wonderful, homegrown and organic foods to eat in the dead of winter and I think to this day I do not know the extent of my luck for that. But the last thing I want to do it get out of the habit so my kids (which I have none so far but when I do...,) can enjoy the same benefits!
To present my newly energized self I am starting a whole new system of life. I invite you! My wonderful mother has been an early childhood educator for all of her professional life and has recently come to a twist in her creek. Due to funding cuts in our great state she has not had the work she is used to. This was a huge point of stress for my whole family unit. My father is also a teacher and so as he likes to put it they are living in 'respectable poverty'. We use this term lightly to make fun of the system. They don't go hungry and have provided my two siblings and I with an amazing child/adulthood. BUT, there was never much wiggle room if you know what I mean. My mother, always thinking and calculating her next move, has brought up the idea of making her own soap, shampoo and conditioners. This is something my family as a whole has dreamed about for many years and I think my dad has actually done it before back in his hippie days. Well, when she told me that I couldn't believe my luck! She is in the position where she can dedicate herself to this project and wants it to make half a living! What luck! I have a business partner to enhance my increasing sustainability! AND IT IS MY MOM! How cool?
I have thrown in the idea of making toothpaste and a few other things. I have really focused on how food affects the body and where we should get what we need. In doing this I have realized that not everything we take into our bodies comes from our food. I have learned to taste artificial sweeteners and stay away from them, but I noticed I would get the same nasty flavor when I brushed my teeth... No. Please World, tell me they are not putting artificial sweetener in toothpaste! Well bully for me. Not only is it chalk full of sweeteners it also has all sorts of dyes and chemicals and other trashy elements. At that point I started checking everything. Mouth washes, floss, chap sticks, laundry detergents, cleaners, clothing dyes, everything. It was exhausting and disgusting. What can I do?
I found this wonderful product line called Tom's Naturals ( http://www.tomsofmaine.com ). They get it. I am no longer putting trash in my mouth every time I brush but there are sill so many things we need to be careful of. It also made me realize how much we can make at home. This give several advantages; we know exactly what is going into our products, we learn more about what we use and are more conscious of our consumption and in many cases we can save money by making our own things from bulk supplies!
Basically, I am going to start including my experiences and experiments, good or bad, successful or unsuccessful, right here. I want to hear your opinions, critiques and reactions.~

My mom and I are researching business licenses and all that as well as coming up with soap ideas and names for our products. Wish us luck!

Peace and love!