Browsing Tag

simple living series

Simple Living Part Five: Interview and Freebies with Shalom Mama (Nina Nelson)

In one of my previous posts, I mentioned several folks and their blogs that I enjoy following on my journey of experimenting with simple living. One of them was Nina Nelson with Shalom Mama. I got a hold of Nina last week and had a few questions that I wanted to ask this veteran of simple and natural living.

How did you get into natural living? What made you want to start living differently? Or has this always been a way of life for you?

“I actually grew up on an herb farm but didn’t get interested in natural living until my early twenties when my husband and I decided to get out of debt. We were determine to cut costs wherever we could so I started researching and kept coming across recipes and tips that suggested natural living would save money. I made a few things and was hooked. Since then, I’ve become the “family hippie” and have embraced a simple, natural lifestyle.”

What is your favorite recipe of something that makes your life easier?

“Hmmmm, that’s a tough one. I’d have to choose two. First is my healing balm (recipe here). We use it all the time for all sorts of things. With four kids someone is always getting an owie of some sort (plus I’m super clumsy), so it comes to my rescue quite a bit. Also, my calming balm. This is a godsend at night when everyone needs to simmer down (myself included) and get some restful sleep. You can find the recipe in my free ebook, Simple Family Wellness.”

If you could summarize your passion in a few sentences, what would you say?

“I’m passionate about living a pure & simple life and helping other people do the same. To me that means getting rid of the excess in life so you can focus on what really matters, while living as naturally as possible.”

What does a “day in the life of Nina” look like?

Hmmm, a bit scattered. :) I’ve struggled for years to create a schedule that works for us, but what I finally realized is that I just can’t do that. I buck anything that feels constricting, so instead a loose routine works best. And we definitely leave plenty of room for interruptions (friends dropping in, invitations to hang out, etc.) because that’s why we simplified our lives in the first place. Also, my husband is very involved and has an odd schedule (he’s a paramedic that gets to respond from home every other shift) so he’s super helpful with what can sometimes feel like complete chaos.

So here’s what it usually looks like:

– Wakeup, read devotions, figure out my top 3 things to do for the day

– Breakfast and Cleanup

– Get kids started with school (we home school)

– Check email and do some admin stuff for my biz while they’re working independently

– Lunch prep & lunch

– My work time (kids will have quiet time, continue school they’ve not done yet, go play at our awesome neighbor’s house or hang out with my husband if he’s home.

– Tea time (very important for me to take some time in the day to rest)

– Dinner prep, dinner, clean up

– Hang out with the family

– At some point in the evening I’ll do yoga, depending on what we’re doing

– Kid bed time (Woo hoo!!!)

– Watch Downton Abbey or something with my husband or play a game

– Bedtime”

What are some resources you would suggest for someone just starting out on a “natural” journey?

“First off, I’d say keep it as simple as possible. Choose one or two areas in your life you want to focus on and work on those for at least six weeks. So, for instance, you want to switch to a whole food diet, find a good resource and start implementing a few changes at a time. Once you’re comfortable with those, try some more. This is the best way to make a sustainable change that will last.

For me, the most helpful resources were blogs, but I have some favorite books as well:

Blogs

Books

Your Real Food Journey by Trina Holden
Simple Natural Health (this one’s mine – I’m a little biased)
DIY Non-Toxic Cleaning Recipes by Heather of Mommypotamus

And here are my top 40 recipes for natural living.”

You lived in a bus with 5 other people for a time: tell us about that and where are you now?

I loved it and still long for it now. We had a lot more time to spend together, it was much easier to clean and my bath tub was amazing. :) However, now that we’re in a house again (we had to move closer to my husband’s work after he got a full-time job), I’m loving the opportunities we’ve had for hospitality.

Though my word of the year is sustainability, I easily could have chosen hospitality. Relationships have been an important part of our journey. And while I love the bus and living small, I feel so drawn to embrace the opportunity we have right now to easily welcome people into our space.

If people want to contact/follow you, where are you?

I have a few favorite places I like to hang out. First is my blog, which you can find here. Aside from that, I’m on Facebook, Pinterest and my favorite, Instagram.

In case you happened to miss several of these listed about, here’s a list of FREEBIES on this lady’s site:

Also a few very affordable e-books

(or click here to buy them all in a bundle together)

Village wise woman

I’ll leave you with this excerpt from Nina’s free e-book Simple Family Wellness:

…I’ve secretly always wanted to be the village wise woman.

That woman who nurtures and heals her family and teaches other women how to do the same. The woman who encourages others to learn and experiment but is always available as a resource. The woman who whips up a remedy or pours a cup of tea or lends a listening ear to the friend in need.

This world needs more wise women. More nurturers and healers spreading their love to their families and communities. All that love and wisdom, just spreading and spreading. And so, that is my mission. To call forth the family healers. To be an empowering resource. To listen and love. To create a community of wise women.”

(This blog contains affiliate links at no extra cost to you)

All pictures are from Shalommama.com

January 29, 2015

City Living, Simple Living

Simple Living Part Four: Homemade Face Wash

Here is one of my favorite experiments so far: homemade face wash!!

So confession: I don’t always wash my face. Especially if I don’t wear make-up that day. It’s just a pain. Call me lazy or unhygienic – whatever. ALSO, I hate buying face wash because it can get expensive (I am super cheap, have I mentioned this??).
But, I’m not going to lie… Once I made this stuff, I wash my face almost everyday. MOSTLY because it has natural oils that remove makeup AND it’s all natural ingredients (not to mention cheap and lasts a long time).

This recipe comes from a very productive play date a friend and I had a month ago to make some amazing natural goods. SO, I’ve been using the face wash since then, and I really like it. It’s different than a face wash you would buy from the store because there is no lather, which I’ll admit was weird at first. But because the base is coconut oil, it can also be used as a makeup remover.

1 cup coconut oil

1 tbsp baking soda

5 drops lavender essential oil

5 drops frankincense essential oil

5 drops lemon essential oil

Glass jar

Directions:

1. Melt the coconut oil in a pan over low heat

2. Once melted, remove from heat and add in the remaining ingredients.

3. Store in a glass jar and keep it in a cool place.

See? Super easy!

(Hint: when I use it, I normally just scrap a little bit off and rub all over my face, then rinse.)

Simple Living Philosophy

Ok, now I just have to share some simple living philosophy that’s been bouncing around in my head for a few weeks now… mostly because if I don’t write it down, it will just disappear into my brain.

So, I really enjoy learning about living simply.

If I’m completely honest, is mostly because I’m a woman and I need something to control :) Better this than my husband’s schedule, am I right??

Just kidding (mostly). But really, making something useful from scratch, that you can make again and again, with very little ingredients…. doesn’t that just feel nice to you?? It makes me feel empowered and happy – like if for some reason grocery stores stopped carrying face wash (drastic I know, but whatever), than I would be OK.

However, I don’t want to fall into the trap that if I can make everything from scratch that my life will automatically be different/better. We all know I’m not actually in control of a whole lot in life by creating these products from scratch. In the end, it won’t really matter if I use store bought face wash or I make my own to avoid chemicals: I will still get sick every once in awhile, and the possibility for major illness is still there, despite all my attempts to thwart it. Life is bigger than that and there have been so many people before me that have already done what I am doing, and they didn’t solve the meaning to life, or find a “cure all” for all sickness.

Makes me think of those super encouraging words in Ecclesiastes,

What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun.

I say that sarcastically, and yet I think I mean it. There is something comforting about the fact that everything I am doing (philosophically) has already been done. I’m not inserting anything new into this time and place that hasn’t been done before. I feel like that should be depressing, but it’s not. At least not right now. I’ll take it :)

Anyways, I would love to hear your “simple living philosophy”, even if it differs from my own. Teach me something new people!

Also, let me know if you make the homemade face wash, I want to know how it works with other skin types!

* I am not super partial to a specific brand of essential oils. I tend to lean towards using Eden’s Garden because of the affordable pricing. (I get nothing for recommending them, just a warm heart knowing that more people know about affordable essential oils)

(homemade face wash recipe is from Dr. Axe)

January 23, 2015

City Living, Simple Living

Simple Living Part Three: Homemade Deodorant & Simple Friends

Today I’d like to share some others who I’ve discovered live simply, in their own way. There’s also a homemade deodorant recipe, keep scrolling:)

Simple Living Friends

Wellness Mama: This blog is is intense. She has SO many recipes for SO many different things. In fact, the recipe that is used in this blog for shampoo is from her. She does research on most her projects and even the comments from others below her blogs are super helpful.

Shalom Mama: Nina’s website is awesome. She’s got recipes, books, essential oils…etc. She also has a cool side story: her and her family of 6 lived in a SCHOOL BUS! :)

Mundane Faithfulness: I found Kara’s blog (and Instagram @tippetts) through the recent controversial topic of euthanasia. She was diagnosed with stage four metastatic cancer and recently wrote a response letter about why we don’t have to be afraid of dying. Reading her blogs about keeping life simple and focused on the things that matter, in the midst of chemotherapy and radiation is beyond inspirational. Side note: her site has been getting huge amounts of traffic, so it might be down at times. If so, check out her Facebook page.

Julie @Homesweethomestead / cinnamongirlofmaine.com : I have no idea how I found Julie, but her Insta feed is always FULL of inspiration for the homesteaders at heart, and her blog is super authentic. Check out her recent blog and adorable homemade hen ornaments.

Andrew and Crystal Odom with Tiny r(E)volution : They built a tiny house, and currently live in an RV full time. Their blog consists of countless helpful tips, suggestions, and ebooks on simplifying your life. Start here by reading their manifesto.

Ok, and now onto other simple things :)

Homemade Deodorant

This was one of those recipes that my homesteading-small-business-dreaming friend (Erin) and I created one night a few weeks back. Some of those recipes didn’t really work out, and some totally did. Like this one. Only 2 ingredients.

1/2 cup of coconut oil

20 drops of Purification*

We put the ingredients in a pot over a hot stove top and stirred until the coconut oil was melted. Then, we poured the mixture into mason jars – because that was all we had at that time. However, once I got home later, I realized it might be kind of hard to put on deodorant from a small mason jar… I just happened to run out of my travel deodorant a couple of days before, so I just cleaned out the residue left from the previous store bought deodorant,{{recycle}} and poured the (still fluid) coconut/essential oil mixture into the plastic container. You can also buy these (unused) online if you don’t happen to be running out of your current deodorant.

One interesting (and slightly random) thing…Ryan and I both take pretty hot showers, so I can’t actually keep it in the bathroom – it melts! Soooo I keep it in the fridge.

Right next to the pesto and soup ;)

I think that this may be due to the type of coconut oil we used. Erin and I switched from making it with her version and mine, and I don’t actually remember which one we made this one from. So, that’s not super helpful, but hey – this is a documentation of my experiments. ;-) I would like to know if anyone else tries this, and what kind of coconut oil you used, and how it turned out.

If you are interested in using a more natural version of deodorant, but aren’t really interested in making your own, you can

(1) contact me and I’ll try to whip something up for you.

(2) purchase Primal Pit Paste (that’s right) from Mountain Rose Herbs. Click here and scroll down until you see the paste :)

Well, this concludes round one of my attempt at homemade deodorant. Let me know if YOU have a different recipe, and love it. I want to experiment with other recipes too!

Here’s to having a wonderfully smelling week!

* I am not super partial to a specific brand of essential oils, this time we used Young Living because this was the recipe and ingredients we had at the time. I tend to lean towards using Eden’s Garden because of the affordable pricing. I will most likely purchase the needed ingredients next time (Citronella, Lemongrass, Rosemary, Tea Tree Oil, Lavandin, and Myrtle) from EG or create my own blend. (I get nothing for recommending them, just a warm heart knowing that more people know about affordable essential oils)

January 5, 2015

City Living, Simple Living

Simple Living Part Two: Homemade Mouthwash

As I mentioned in the previous blog, I’ve really enjoyed learning about how to make simple and cheaper versions of things I use all the time. I don’t think that there is anything morally wrong with just using whatever you buy at the store – I’m not one of those organic evangelists who thinks that if you feed your child Cheerios you are a horrible parent (I buy my 31 year old baby Cheerios. I DO roll my eyes because he works in the OIL FIELD people! Don’t you need more energy than those lil round things to work 16 hours a day?! Whatever. He loves them).

I think that sometimes “living simply” can mean so many different things for people. For example, for someone who is working a demanding job, perhaps living simply looks like whatever can get them relaxing with their family as much as possible. Or if things are tight financially, living simply looks like purchasing/making whatever allows there to be more free room in the bank account. Does this make sense?

I am super curious about experimenting with various methods of making my own products (fill in the blank: toothpaste, shampoo, tomato sauce, candles…etc.).

ALL this to say, the next month or so I am going to do a series, titled Simple Living, documenting my experiments and reviews of specific recipes, as well as interviewing several natural living experts. Just like any other blogger, I love to get feedback. If you have a recipe for something YOU make around the house that simplifies you and your family’s life, I want to hear about it! I would love to feature YOUR recipes here :)

Email me at restoringsimple@gmail.com or fill out the form below to share a recipe, story, or experience you had creating something to simplify your life.

And now: HOMEMADE MOUTHWASH!

I recently got together with a good friend and we cranked out 6 different recipes that we wanted to try, including deodorant, face wash, make-up remover, shampoo, conditioner, and mouthwash.

Homemade Mouthwash: big thumbs up.

Slightly cinnamon-y, minty, and refreshing. Doesn’t have that crazy burn that most mouthwash has. I had a painful mouth sore when I started using it and the next day after using this mouth it was significantly less painful, and by day 2 it was gone completely. My husband thinks that the mouth sore had just run its course, while I think the essential oils did the trick – this is an on-going debate we have about success of EOs. He thinks its in my head, I partially think it is too, but I still LOVE essential oils and am convinced that they do their job. But more about that later…

I like this recipe because it uses the essential oils that it does, so you get the added benefit of having the Thieves, Peppermint, and Lemon swished around in your mouth.

Plus, I kind of feel like there is a Christmas-y cleaning party going on in my mouth. It’s very pleasant.

Try it out and let me know how you like it, or don’t.

Here is the recipe that my friend provided (she originally found it here, but tweaked a few things):

2 tsp calcium carbonate powder

10 drops of trace minerals

10 drops of peppermint

5 drops of lemon

5 drops of thieves

2 cups of filtered water

Store in the fridge for up to two weeks (precaution).

Now, I’ve had it now for four days, and I haven’t yet put in the fridge… mostly because I keep forgetting :)

So try it out and let me know what you think!

And if you have a recipe or homemade product that you’ve made before (doesn’t have to be an original recipe) and want to share it, please fill out the form below and you’ll be hearing from me shortly :)

December 13, 2014