2nd Anniversary Celebration: Healthy Homemaking e-book!
green living, homemaking, miscellaneous Add commentsThis week we are celebrating the 2nd anniversary of the Passionate Homemaking blog! In light of this event, we are hosting a few exciting giveaways and then next week we will be republishing some of the most popular posts from these last two years. It will be loads of fun!
Today we start out with a fun giveaway from Stephanie @ Keeper of the Home. If you haven’t seen Steph’s new e-book, you will want to check out this handy little resource. Healthy Homemaking: A 52 Week Journey of Baby Steps to Help you Move Towards More Natural, Nutritious and Sustainable Lifestyle is a quick and easy read but altogether practical! If you are just getting starting in living more naturally and healthy, this book is especially for you! If you have been on the journey for awhile, this book will provide you with some extra encouragement and accountability. It is a baby step guide, 52 weeks to be exact, of easy steps towards cleaning your home naturally, avoiding waste, eating healthy, and living wholeheartedly in being good stewards of God’s kingdom. I found it very enjoyable to read. Each step can take a week at a time or you can draw it out as long as you desire, but each step is simple.
Stephanie’s description is as follows:
This 76-page eBook includes:
** 26 Baby Steps, covering a broad range of topics in the areas of Nutrition, Cooking and Food Preparation Techniques, Going Green/Sustainable, and Natural (non-toxic) Living. Each step gives you a specific goal, teaches why that step is important, and then gives detailed directions and tips for implementing that step into your life. At the end of each step, you’ll find both online and reading resources to help you with completing the step, as well as to encourage you to look into it more on your own.
** A printable chart intended to help you keep track of the steps that you are working on. It includes space to set goals for yourself, as well as to write your own notes and reminders as you implement these steps.
** A detailed introduction, discussing some of the why’s and motivation behind pursuing a journey like this.
** My own personal journey. I share with you my story, from unhealthy child and teen, to where I am at today. It is a story full of bumps and challenges, huge learning curves, many mistakes and ultimately, a whole lot of God’s grace.
Now, for the giveaway! We are offering 5 copies of this e-book to 5 lucky winners!
How To Win
1. Leave a comment on this post and tell me your favorite practical and easy step towards more naturally living. What was your first or favorite step in the journey?
2. For a second entry, follow me on Twitter and pass on the love about the giveaway or blog about it and make sure to let me know about it.
Giveaway is closed.
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I think my first step was realizing what HEALTHY really was. There is so much out their that people think is healthy, but is really working against our bodies. So learning what these basic ingrediants were and beginning to use them instead; ie basic ingrediants, flour, sugar, salt, oil’s. So that was my first big step and I think it’s been the best foundation for all that I cook and prepare for my family.
I work well with baby steps, so I’m excited about this giveaway. I’ve always been a simple, traditional gal who loves the “old way” of doing things; which makes it hard to pinpoint the first switch. But I definitely remember my favorite: cloth menstrual pads. Ever since junior high I’ve hated the waste of commercial products-especially with my light flow, not to mention how uncomfortable it is to have plastic in your pants. I was so excited to discover GladRags at a local food coop while visiting my then-boyfriend in Hancock, MI. I purchased a start-up set from GladRags.com, and have since sewn my own. It was tricky to get over rinsing them out, but is no problem now. It was a nice buffer for using cloth diapers on our baby that will arrive in spring! And periods were much easier to bear…much “softer” if you will.
My easiest step was to replace a lot of my cleaning chemicals with diluted vinegar but my favorite step has been milling my own grain. We eat so much healthier than we used to and save so much money especially by making our own pizza at home! I don’t even like typical chain pizza anymore that so much of America can’t live without. Of course we bake lots of things other than pizza too. It’s just one of our faves.
I expanded my garden this year and used my own compost to build the soil. It produced a great crop and we’ve enjoyed the fresh produce. We’ve also cut out all sugar and are using only raw honey as a sweetener. Both my husband and I have lost a lot of weight!
My first step was getting rid of processed foods. I started eating all whole grains and am getting more educated on nutrition.
I love the blog Keeper of the Home! I would love to have this as a resource!! My first step towards more healthful living was cloth diapers…and then making our own detergent!
Sarah M
tweeted this as well @ssmast!!
Sarah M
I need babysteps! This would be great as I feel like I’m just starting the process of living more naturally. I would say that one thing I’ve done so far is to try as much as possible to cut out processed foods.
the first and easiest was probably eliminating processed foods. the second was just was easy: eliminating disposable paper and plastic products like paper towels, napkins, plastic cups, etc.
Getting our own chickens for pasture poultry meat and free range eggs.
It’s a little advanced, but we live on an acreage.
There’s lots of “first” steps we missed…
One of my biggest accomplishments has been soaking my grain before making bread. I didn’t know anything about this and was pretty intimidated at first. Now I feel much more confident and so pleased that my family is eating and enjoying the bread that I make!
My first step is just researching the internet and trying to eat fresh food as much as possible.
My first and favorite step was homemade cleaning products. I love Clean House, Clean Planet and I love cleaning without feeling like I am bringing toxins into our home.
I think my first and most favorite step to natural living was natural home birth. Sounds like a funny place to start, but it’s what I wanted, and it was my midwives that taught me to eat healthy and have a more natural lifestyle along the way. I’ve been on the road ever since!
Recently we joined a CSA and started recieving a huge basket of vegetables each week. I’ve really enjoyed trying different ways to have my family eat more greens.
Our first step? Using non-toxic cleaners. Baking soda is a much better scrub than I had ever given it credit. And vinegar? It removes the spots on my kitchen floor much better than any other product I’ve tried.
Since becoming pregnant with my now 10-month-old, I’ve been more conscious of not throwing away everything once it’s empty. I’ve reused food containers such as yogurt and glass jars. I’ve used cloth diapers since day one and have shopped garage sales and thrift stores for baby clothes. I’m still working on decluttering and am in need of some help with organizing!
My first step was to pray for wisdom. Without the leading of the Lord, I would not have even known where to begin. There is such joy and peace in the journey with God’s leading.
I agree with so many others – Eliminating processed foods is a very easy start. Also, getting rid of toxic cleaners and replacing with baking soda, vinegar, etc.
my favorite part is the chart. life gets so crazy sometimes that eating healthy for my daughter and i goes out the window. having a chart as a physical reminder is very motivating. i love that all of this is based upon God at the center.
congrats on 2 years. i’ve been following you for most of that time. it’s been cool to watch your journey.
My first steps in the journey towards more natually living, after I realized all of the areas I need help on, was to remove processed food from our home and also the replace our cleaning products with more natural ones. And now, as I find new information out, I try and incorporate it in our home. I am always learning new ways to help my family and it makes me feel great about it.
probably cloth wipes…I guess I thought they would never measure up, but they are FAR better than normal wipes and save SO MUCH MONEY!!
I think my favorite step was to change over my cleaning products to safe homemade ones. They work just as well (if not better) and they are cheaper!
I have not yet taken many steps in the way of going natural, but it is something that is slowly coming into my life. The first thing that I really liked was eating more natural foods. Shopping more on the outsides of the grocery store, than in the aisles.
My first step to living healthier/greener was getting rid of any processed foods and making my own cleaners, which your blog helped provide so much info about. Thanks!!
I would have to say my most favorite step to a more natural lifestyle was when my family started raising chickens, for meat and eggs. We loved cracking the eggs and seeing how orange the yolks were and getting double or even triple yolkers.
The other thing natural thing that I benefited from was changing cleaners. No more headaches from highly processed cleaning agents! Yes!
Following you on Twitter and tweeted the giveaway. I love that button for easy tweeting, I was wondering how in the world could I not exceed the 140 character limit!
I like to make our yogurt and laundry soap. I have found those are two easy ways to not only be a good steward of resources but also save money
Hands down, my favorite step has been cloth diapering! It takes away the guilt of all those disposables sitting in a landfill!
Would love this!
Ps. also blogged about it here: http://blucactus.xanga.com/712451082/healthy-homemaking. Also, was rushing and forgot to include this info: I think the most fun and possibly easiest switch for us was switching to cloth diapers. We started with Fuzzi Bunz and they were such fun colors! It totally helped ease into the transition.
I have just recently starting my journey toward living a more “healthy”, “natural” lifestyle. It started with a new year’s resolution this year where by eating less processed foods, more organic foods and working out consistently I was able to lose 25 lbs. in five months. Knowing my personality and busy lifestyle baby steps were what I needed. I then began to look at what I could do at home to help my family. With our first child on the way I turned my attention to toward figuring out how to use non-toxic cleaners in the home. It has been a struggle trying to get my husband on board as he likes the smell of chemicals because he has always associated that with things being “clean”. This book would be a great resource as I continue on this incredible journey and hopefully educate myself to a place where one day I can pass along this passion to my own children.
Definetly in desperate need of baby steps. It’s been a frustrating journey wanting to do and feeling stuck on the how to’s or being overwhelmed by it all. I’ve tried many but the one that’s stuck is using vinegar and peroxide for cleaning.
My first step is cutting process food out and eating more fresh food!
This is a great giveaway! I think for me the first step towards a more natural lifestyle was when I started making my own cleaners. I had already been organically gardening, but it is when I made that switch that other changes were easier to make. It has taken me years to get where I am today, and I still feel like there is more I can do.
My first step involved switching to a more fruit and vegetable heavy diet. We do eat chicken or fish once or twice a week, but most of our protein comes from dairy, beans, nut butters, and other sources. The easiest switch for us was moving to line drying, which has saved a bundle in energy bill costs!
If you can make it instead of buy it and incorporate it into your lifestyle, then do. Also tweeted @splendidwren…