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One of the things I am most famous for, or shall I say, infamous for, is my decision to eschew toilet paper and use- gasp- not newspaper- but something green and reusable-
cloth toilet paper, also known as family cloth. I've written all about the hows and the whys, and the sanitary aspects and the benefits and alleviated concerns in
this post.
When people hear about the concept, they usually either find it fascinating or shnasty, often a bit of both. But some people have decided to make the plunge to family cloth, and like myself, have never wanted to look back.
Instead of repeating everything I already did in my previous post on the subject, I'll just give a quick overview.
Family cloth does not mean one giant cloth that all our family wipes our bum on repeatedly until it gets filthy enough to need a washing.
Absolutely not.
Family cloth is just a name given to using cloth wipes to wipe your bottom after using the restroom. It costs me no money for the cloths- I just take any cotton or other similar soft and absorbant clothes, that get either stained or ripped beyond repair, chop them up into roughly a square or rectangle large enough to wipe with, and use them. (No hemming or sewing necessary, seriously.)
To use them, most people use dry after peeing. After a bowel movement, you can use them dry, or you can wet them before use, or you can spray yourself with a bidet or a spray bottle, then dry with the cloth.
Once used, they go into a little garbage can meant for that purpose, and when filled, they get dumped into the laundry as is. (No need to spray and rinse the cloths like you might need to do with cloth diapers.)
I get it, the concept is gross, but in actuality, especially if you clean yourself with a bidet first, there isn't much of anything getting on to the cloths. And if you're too grossed out for that, just use it for pee and you're good.
P.S. Once a baby is eating solid food, their poop is no difference than an adults, so if you're willing to cloth diaper, this isn't far from that. And there is far less on family cloth than with cloth diapers, and you don't need to prewash cloths like with diapers, so I actually find it much less gross than cloth diapers- just use and dump into the wash. And no, it doesn't make a smell. And its so little in quantity that it doesn't cause any more laundry- each "load" of family cloth is roughly the size of one adult t-shirt.
But anyhow, the purpose of this post wasn't to tell you all about family cloth, because I don't need to recycle post topics... (Or should I? )
It was because we don't just put our family cloth in a basket near the toilet for that purpose. No... where's the fun in that?
We make a cute little "tissue box" to hold our family cloth, make it easier to use and pretties up the bathroom a little bit. People have asked me to share instructions for making our family cloth tissue box, so that's what this post is.
As I've said numerous times in other places, I force no one to use family cloth. Whoever wants to, may. We keep toilet paper on hand in the bathroom for everyone else.
So, how to make your own family cloth tissue box. Takes a few minutes to make the box, and a few minutes to fold up a tissue box worth of cloths. Totally unnecessary, but I think it makes things more fun, so why not?
And if you're not into the idea of reusable cloths for the bathroom, how about making a tissue box with cloth tissues for wiping your nose? Much gentler on the nose when people have colds, not to mention greener and cheaper.
Most people don't know what mung beans are, but have eaten them plenty of times. You know those bean sprouts commonly found in Chinese food? Yea, those are mung beans. Even though people generally use them sprouted, you can also use them as a bean.
After having been out of chicken gizzards for my while, my cheap, healthy protein staple, I finally restocked a few days ago. I was looking for something to do with them when I chanced upon a recipe for Brazilian chicken with coconut milk, and decided that I wanted to change up that recipe so that it used chicken gizzards instead of chicken breast. I was prepared for it to be tasty because of all the wonderful reviews, but I wasn't prepared to be as mind blown as I was by how out of this world delicious this chicken would be.
I love having a grain grinder and being able to grind my own flours cheaply and not needing to pay exhorbitant prices for gluten free flours. The thing is though- grinding flour is really messy work! Grains somehow end up on the table and the floor, flour gets in the air and settles onto the stuff around the grain grinder, and flour, of course, ends up spilling all over when I transfer the flour from the grinder and into the storage containers.
As much as I try to keep my house free of processed foods, the one food I haven't managed to let go of has been chocolate chips. They're my one big unhealthy indulgence.
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Would you believe me if I told you that you could have unlimited free phone calls to US and Canada, forever?
You know what I find amusing? That people like myself are coined "granola moms", a synonym for hippy, crunchy, and natural, and yet this mama maybe bought 3 packages of granola in her whole life, and for the past 2 years hasn't eaten even the teeny tiniest little bit of granola. I mean, oats make me sick, yes, even gluten free oats....
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We used to joke that Ike was our little lion. His hair was like a lion's mane, and he was a wild, crazy lion. Fortunately, with a gluten free sugar free diet, Ike has calmed down tremendously, and he no longer is lion like. But he still is a ball of energy, which is why it doesn't surprise me that Ike loves the Flash- because both Flash and Ike zoom fast and speed from place to place.
You know those days when you're just sooooo productive, but by the end of it, you realize you forgot to do some important things and you feel ready to collapse?
It's been a while since I last shared a menu plan, and I'm sure some of you are just dying to know what we ate this past week, being as we were camping and all... ;) This week was far from a typical week for us food-wise, as my husband is on his special seasonal allergy diet (pretty much grain free) in addition to me being egg free and dairy free, in addition to us going camping, and having been away at my mom's house on Tuesday...