battle of the household cleaning products

upon looking under the sink today, i realized what it takes to keep a home clean, healthy and smelling good. not too much! i must say that i cannot imagine what other people use in their homes and how much of it they use.

on a daily basis, we use minimal cleaning products. a spray to clean up after a messy little one, something for those finger prints left behind on virtually everything in the kitchen and the weekly cleaners for the bathroom, etc.

so, what is under your sink and what does it do for you? besides being tested on animals and laden with chemicals, does the effects on your family and the environment outweigh the shiny, perfumed facade in your home? hum, a tricky one.

this is what we have used for years. tried and proven. they all smell great, are non-toxic, safe around the little one and don't impact our eco-home.

earth friendly products: parsley plus (this all surface cleaner smells absolutely wonderful and is perfect for tabletops, counter tops and cleaning up the fridge)
earth friendly products

citra-solve (this concentrated cleaner can be used almost anywhere. we use it on the stove, to remove anything sticky or greasy, the floors, and to clean up in the bathroom. concentrated formula allows you to dilute it in a spray bottle with water or use it full strength on those tough jobs. a little bit goes a long way)
citra-solve

dr. bronner's: sal suds (one of the oldest formulas that i can think of and another wonderful addition to your cleaning repetriore. great smelling pine formula is concentrated and can be used in almost any outlet of a home. great for washing floors, cleaning toilets, laundry and many more. a bottle can last a long long time. plus, this product has some good folk behind it. people with good vibes, good agendas and a really great line of products. we also use the liquid castile soaps for bathing. nothing like a blast of peppermint soap to wake you up in the morning. they even sell the stuff by the gallon. yup, they are the real deal. you gotta dig a company that has been rockin' that vibe for 60 years.)
dr. bronner's

so, three basic things to keep a clean home. add in some natural detergents for clothes and dishes and you are set. it isn't rocket science and not to mention, it isn't expensive. clean with less and live with more.

ps (that kooky scientist above is none other than ole dr. bronner himself. we are up to support any dude that chills like that)

the quest for a great veggie burger

it is safe to say that most people have at least tasted a veggie burger, if not consumed them weekly for the past few years, like some of us. i remember chowing down on them in college, when they were chunky, laden with peas and carrots and tasted like mush. then we moved on the better finds like the sunshine burger and okara burgers in my later veggies years. when you think about it, you find them everywhere now and the options are endless.

our only gripe is that most of them are just too much. too much? too much junk. not enough real food, too much salt and actually taste a lot like meat, which kind of defeats the purpose of our diet at times.

every company had great beginnings. a quest to create something new, something that fits a lifestyle and something that will ultimately appeal to the masses. well, we are working on manufacturing a new line of veggie burgers. yes, from our itsy bitsy home by the sea we are grinding, mixing and baking up some serious batches of veggie burgers. and yes, we have left out the junk.

before we tell you what we are using, we'd like to know what people like and dislike in veggie burgers. i must say that our daughter, non veg heads and veg heads alike have given us rave reviews, but we'd like to know more. we'll give you a hint at the goods...seed and grain based, vegan, no legumes and packed with fresh herbs and greens. sound good?

please take a moment to answer a few questions and maybe, just maybe we'll invite you to a tasting in the near future.

1. what flavors do you enjoy in a veggie burger?
2. what is your favorite veggie burger (brand and flavor)?
3. is cost an issue? if so, what is a reasonable cost per burger? ($1.00, $1.25, $1.50)
4. organic or not organic? which would you prefer?
5. what do you like about most veggie burgers? what don't you like?

please cut and paste these into an email and email us at phytomama@gmail.com

thanks foodies!

my toothbrush is 8 years old, how about yours?

by now it is obvious that we attempt to waste nothing and reuse everything. one may ask themselves why on earth would we use the same toothbrush for 8 years, easy...we have the best toothbrushes on earth. 8 years ago we bought his and hers matching, blue and pink, Fuchs Ekotec toothbrushes. not only are the super enviro, with their replaceable heads, it is fun to tell people about your old toothbrush.

we joke around about where our toothbrushes have been...up and down the east coast, out west, and tons of camping and surf trips. bet you can't say that about yours!

Fuchs Ekotec toothbrushes are an eco option to replacing the whole shebang every few months. all we do is pop out the replaceable head and pop in a new one. the only thing that we are tossing AWAY is the worn out head.

we figure at this point, we have saved about 24 toothbrushes each if we followed the ole replace your toothbrush every 3 months suggestion. imagine what that is over a lifetime, well as long as you have teeth. the statistics say that americans toss 50 million pounds of toothbrushes in landfill every year.

being hygienic and enviro doesn't come with a high price tag from Fuchs. both toothbrush and replacement heads run about $5.00. we bought ours at our local health food store and you can find them from a slew of mainstream online sources.

start a trend, save a toothbrush and form a relationship with a new one. why not celebrate your toothbrush's birthday, it is saving space in our landfills.