Some of My Favorite Resources

Through all this I have found some pages that are ones that I continually use. I hope that it provides a good starting point for others that are looking. 

- www.100daysofrealfood.com 

Lisa has been one of my favorite bloggers for sources of good ideas ranging from breakfast to supper. She has some REALLY fun ideas for kids school lunches. She has her thoughts on different lunch container products out on the market and special "add-in's" that have been a hit in my kids lunches.  If you enjoy her page definitely "like" her Facebook page for even more thoughts, pictures and posts from other sources to help you get information and ideas. Lisa's stuff generally follows a more moderate "less processed" route while still being real that not everything she does follows that to a "T". 

- www.frugallysustainable.com

Andrea is another one of my start off points for great recipes and directions on doing all my cleaners and a huge chunk of my first aid supplies. I have made most of my soaps, cleaners, salves, first aid ointments and lotions off her site. She also adds interesting perspectives on nutrition and living a more frugal lifestyle. Again, her Facebook page is a good addition for current ideas and access to other blogs. 

- www.deliciouslyorganic.net

An absolutely fun place to get good recipes and ideas for meals. I also have her site on Facebook. 

- www.backyardchickens.com

OH MY GOSH I use this all the time to get answers about my chickens. It has been invaluable. You gain knowledge by just reading posts of questions from people going through what you are. I can't say enough about it. 

- www.fresh-eggs-daily.com

I use the Facebook aspect of this blog more than the blog. I love her pictures, ideas, information and great ideas when it comes to raising chickens. 

- www.mountainroseherbs.com

This is a "must have" link for great access to herbs and essential oils to use in making various first aid and home care products. I absolutely love their stuff. I do have to say unless you are ordering in bulk that their shipping prices can be more on the higher side. 

- www.amazon.com

HA, not a friend of mine won't laugh that this is on here. I am an amazon user for sure. I do order a lot of the essential oils that I use frequently from there. If I am looking for higher quality I use other sources but for my cleaners, soaps, lotions and every day nebulizer use I order my oils from here. I have also used amazon for seeds, ingredients for lotions, soaps, etc. and bottles to place my newly made products in! There are a lot of things I order from here (like lunch containers/add ons) to use to make all my fun stuff so definitely needs to be placed on my favorites list...

I will add more as i think of them but this is a good starting off point...

Starting out small...

I always try to start out small and work from there.... It began 5 years ago when we moved closer to my (then) brand new Sister-in-law. She was into essential oils and had this great little nebulizer that made her house smell GREAT. So I bought one, plus a few starter essential oils. Then she had some dietary things she was doing (and still does)that were interesting. So I checked into those and started incorporating a few things here and there... 5 years later I have a drawer full of essential oils along with 3 nebulizers for different rooms and needs, make my own cleaners, soaps and lotions and have my own dietary ideals for my family. 

Continuing with a theme, my Sister-in-law decided to get a farm. Before she moved out there she had chicks that she kept at their house in the city. All while growing up I had wanted to live on a farm. My mom joked all the time that I should marry a farmer because that was a "happy place" for me. Well that never happened, so my Sister-in-law gave me the jump start I needed to create the little urban farm we are currently building. 

Because I love to research and find good resources I figured I would start a blog. I wanted to share where I have found resources that have helped me on this whole crazy journey. To help others that have chosen to go more healthy without having to say you are following just one thing. I love what so many people have out there, take bits and pieces from each and use it to take a more moderated approach to how we chose to live our life. I don't like the word "cheat" because we eat or do something that "isn't allowed". So we take the fact that we have life to live and we are going to live it without regret and shame. For us, God has blessed us in so many ways that we try to focus on that fact and we need to be thankful for that. God created people and gave them so many talents, He has given us the power to be big bold thinkers. In all I have read and researched I have not found one thing that has totally been "right", so we take from many and put it into our lives knowing life is what you make it and is but a bit of what's to come... So enjoy life, praise God and LIVE. 

I hope as I work to build this that it at least gives one person the resources they are looking for to start eating healthy, play, have some fun and get ideas that help them to live a healthy life. 

-Lisa