Auntie Age's Best Foot Soak Ever.

Add the following to a zippy bag.

• 1.5 cups of Epsom Salts
• 8 drops of Peppermint Essential Oil
• 6 drops of Tea Tree Oil
• a healthy dollop of Vitamin E oil (make sure it's just Vitamin E, many are diluted with Soybean or some other oil)
• a few drops of dye (I use liquid soap dye)

Close bag tightly. Knead bag until color is consistent throughout mixture. (That's what the dye is for - the oils are very transparent and it's hard to tell if you've mixed well without the dye.)

Yield: 25 amazing foot soaks.

Directions for use:
Add 1 Tablespoon of Foot Soak to a basin of hot water. Soak feet and enjoy.

If you're soaking in the bath tub, I would double the amount of soak, so it's not too dilute to work it's magic.

Info about ingredients:
Epsom Salts: great for a relaxing, skin softening soak. Also good for soaking minor sprains and sore tired feet.

Vitamin E: softening nourishment for your skin.

Peppermint Oil: the scent is great for mental clarity and stress relief. Plus it has a cooling effect when applied to your skin.

Tea Tree Oil: know for it's antiseptic and deodorant properties, the inclusion of this is a must for a foot soak. Also, it's scent blends well with peppermint, softening it and adding an earthy note.

Greener Clean

So I went to the grocery store tonight cause I needed new scrubbies since the dishwasher isn't working. And in the scrubbie section I found Scotch-brite Greener Clean Products.

The scrubbies are made 50% from agave fibers (renewable), the sponges are biodegradable, the cloths are made from bamboo fiber (highly renewable) and the soap pads are made from recycled soda bottles. And they're roughly the same price as the 'regular' products.

So I thought I'd give them a shot. I figured they're from Scotch-brite, they have to be half decent, right? I bought the soap pads, the sponges with the scrubbie thing on the back and the regular scrubbies. I've only tried the sponges so far and I have to say, they're awesome. Probably the best scubbies/sponges I've ever used.

**EDIT**
After further use, I'm still completely in love with the scrubbie sponges, not so much with the soap pads, of course, like Brillo pads, they have sort of a limited range of what they're meant for.

I don't love my canvas tote as much as you think I do.

So, a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away. Ok, it was like 4 years ago, in NYC, I bought a couple of things at SoHome and they gave my a little unbleached canvas tote instead of a plastic shopping bag. Out of convenience - I loved the size of it - I started carrying it. A lot.

When work changed the dress code, and I had to start wearing dress pants (which if you don't know, means I no longer had pockets), it was fantastic. Just big enough for wallet, keys, cells, and a small craft project.

Well, at any rate, my cheaply made, not meant for daily use tote finally started to give out one me. One of straps finally tore off. Apparently, everyone thought that I adored this little tote bag.

I went up to my sister and she said "I have a couple of canvas totes if you want them." I thought, sure, why not? and took them. Then I was at my mom's and she said, "oh, I have a canvas tote you can have."

I said to her, wow, does everyone think that I love canvas totes or what?

"Well, the strap tore on that little one that you carried all the time, and we felt bad that your favorite bag tore, so we decided to give you ours."

Wow, I never realized that anyone thought I liked that little bag so much. Weird.

Gotta get back on track.

This week, when I get paid, there will be a hard-core, fill the pantry farmer's market trip. I need to make granola bars. I have an idea for almond bars. I'm out of zippy bags. I need veggies. (All i have is mutant cucumbers from my garden.)

I might try to make some popcorn bars, also.

In other news, I made amazing Wasabi mustard this past week. I'll measure next time and post the recipe. Which brings me to the next item - Robyn is going to teach me to can, which means healthier eating (with no Onion - yay) and reusable packaging (ball jars).

This all makes for a very happy hippy. Now if only my house would clean itself.

Back on Track

Mom is back home and I have off from work tomorrow. I think that this calls for a shopping trip so that I can get back on track with all the stuff I've been trying to accomplish.

Reusable bags + Farmer's Markets = Win.

In other news, Rothschild Farms will not be making oils anymore. I'll have to start making my own garlic oil. This could be fun.

Epic Failure

So for the last couple of weeks, I've been taking care of my mom's cat. What does this mean? It means a lot of fast food, and grabbing crappy snacks and eating at stupid times of the day.

It means epic failure for creating less trash and trying to eat healthier. But, mom comes home on Tuesday and maybe we can get back into the swing of things.

All nettle is not created equal.

I've learned another something new about the stinging nettle. Freeze dried whole leaves work great for me. Powdered extract in a capsule - now so much. In fact for me, not at all. Plus it costs more. A lot more. Ouch.

I'll keep buying from Sign of the Bear, thank you.