All posts by The Natural Mammas

Winning the War on Fleas Naturally-Is it impossible?

October 13, 2011 The Natural Mammas 2 Comments

History is full of great battles and natural events of historical proportions, but it has come to my recent attention that the battle of man against flea is a long hard fight that challenges many of the great ones. Understanding that the flea has the collective intelligence of 160 million years of survival and the ability to live on pure instinct alone for that long; you quickly see why it takes some moral, physical and emotional sacrifice to become victorious in the fight against the flea and why keeping your flea battle natural, may just not be in the cards.

I don’t know if it was a widespread epidemic this year or just here in our neck of the woods, but a crazy strain of fleas moved in that was next to impossible to control. This was so widespread that people all over town were talking about their pets and not being able to get rid of the fleas. We recently had a flea infestation at our home that was torture and if the fleas weren’t bad enough, making the tough decisions between going natural and breaking out the chemical warfare had out house in a tizzy.

I was never a big user of Frontline and other applicator style flea treatments for my first dog who survived 13 years with minimal flea troubles. I remember making her garlic collars as a tiny puppy and how she always smelled like pizza. My life partner however plays by the rule books with all the household pets and the pets we have now are “family” pets and decisions regarding their care are family decisions. Mind you, our pets were on regular Frontline treatments until one month; a cat treatment was missed and the fleas were waiting for that exact moment to make their move.

Ugh! It’s only so bad when you see the cat being taken over. We dipped her first (a completely unpleasant task I might add-cats really don’t like water) in a natural soapy water pool (it doesn’t take long to drown a flea) and we treated her immediately, but it was all too late. The cycle had begun and within no time, the children and I were totally eaten alive by nasty little fleas. Sides note here, the fleas we had never bit my husband; only the ladies of the house suffered. This I cannot explain. Anyway, it has been almost 2 months of non-stop battles against the fleas and I am confident that we (humans, feline and dog) are finally on the winning team.

It was a tough road fraught with tough “staying natural” decisions, so I am going to share the sequence of events that took place here in hopes that you will have equal success in winning the battle of the fleas:

1: Give your animal a bath/dip. Fleas are easy to drown, if you can get them underwater.
2: Treat the animal with a spot flea treatment (this is a chemical treatment, but I tried all the natural options and nothing worked).
3: Strip everything and bomb your house (again, this is chemical, but it HAS to be done-just once).
4: Wash everything that can go into the wash. Blankets, towels, wash it all!!!
5: Boraxo your carpets. Leave on for at least 2 hours then vacuum up (always dispose of vac bag immediate and outside of the house).
6: Construct flea traps for multiple areas of your home. You can make your own by taking a nightlight and placing it above a bowl of water with a drop or two of dish liquid. Empty and fill as needed.
7: Spray cedar oil and lemon oil anywhere you can and especially on pet bedding.
8: Retreat animals after 10 days with another dip and spot flea treatment.
9: Vacuum daily; Boraxo at least once a week if not every other day (always dispose of vac bag immediate and outside of the house).
10: Reapply cedar oil and lemon oil as soon as your eyes stop watering and you think some of your nostril hairs have grown back.
11: Be diligent with the washing. If it was on the floor, wash it. If it was on your bed, wash it.
12: Repeat until the battle is won.

It is so hard to see your babies all full of itchy bites and even more frustrating on those days when you think they couldn’t possibly still be in the house only to wake and find more bites or have a flea appear directly on your person, but be confident. Don’t be afraid to go a bit chemie on those tiny pricks and make sure your vacuum cleaner and washing machine are in working order cause they are about to get a workout.

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Natural Health

In Praise Of “The Keeper”

October 7, 2011 The Natural Mammas 1 Comment

First off, if you’re not sure what The Keeper is – it’s a reusable menstrual cup. As you might guess, since this is a post lauding all the benefits of using The Keeper as well as praising my own personal Keeper – there might be parts that are just too much information for some. So, consider yourself forewarned!

I found out about The Keeper a year or so after the birth of my first nearly 11 years ago. I had heard about cloth menstrual pads but I’ve never been a pad gal myself; I had always used tampons so I knew that option wasn’t for me.

At that time I was thinking a lot about how I could green my period up and, I considered a lot of different options including organic tampons and pads. But, they’re both quite pricey and not within my budget; they still aren’t.

I knew I had to find something that would work as I was also getting more and more sketched out by using conventional tampons since they’re made from cotton doused with so many chemicals it would make your head spin; and I didn’t want that near my special lady bits anymore now that I was aware of the consequences.

That’s when I finally was introduced to The Keeper. Made of natural rubber the keeper is a reusable menstrual cup that catches your menstrual fluid and then is emptied a few times a day. When you’re done with your cycle you just put it away and there it is ready for your next month; no running out to the store cause you’re out of supplies, or spending money in any way on your cycle except this once!

The reason I decided to write this post is because as I came up on my moon this month I realized I’ve had my Keeper for about 10 years now! I think that’s just amazing. I can’t imagine how much money I’ve saved myself, how much I’ve saved my health, and even what I’ve saved going into the land fill as well as the reduced use of pesticides by ditching conventional tampons. Of course these are all small things – but over 10 years! 12 cycles each year…less babies and such – that’ s a LOT!

Personally I find The Keeper the best option for me but I encourage you to investigate all the options available including The Diva Cup (same idea different design), cloth menstrual pads (AKA “mamma cloth” ) – which you can make yourself using a free online mamma cloth pattern, and – well, you tell us.

What is the most earth friendly way you feel you’re able um, managing your moon time? We’d love to hear all the different things natural mammas are doing to green their period so we can all make our monthly cycle more sustainable.

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Veggie Enchilada Bake – A Vegetarian Recipe That’s Unique And Easy

September 30, 2011 The Natural Mammas 1 Comment

This is a really yummy recipe for a vegetarian version of enchiladas that is layered together with ricotta and mozzarella cheeses for a unique Italian style twist!

This casserole is easy to make too! But, don’t take our word for it, try it tonight and see for yourself.

Vegetarian Enchilada Bake Recipe

Recipe Type: Main Dish

Prep time: 30 mins

Cook time: 40 mins

Total time: 1 hour 10 mins

Ingredients

1T olive oil
2-4 cloves of garlic minced
1 med onion chopped
1 med bell pepper chopped
1 C corn (fresh or frozen)
3 C black and/or pinto beans
1 can stewed tomatoes
1/4 C cooking wine
salt to taste
pepper to taste
chili powder to taste
6 tortillas
1 C ricotta cheese
1 C mozzarella cheese

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350
Saute garlic, onion and bell pepper in olive oil.
Add corn, tomatoes and beans.
Then pour cooking wine over veggie mixture.
Now add salt, pepper and chili powder to taste (you can totally omit chili powder if you like too)
Simmer until mixture is thickened, about 25 min
Oil casserole dish
Place a tortilla on the bottom.
Put 2T ricotta on the tortilla and spread around to coat
Spoon veggie mixture onto ricotta to make the next layer
Then, top with mozzarella
Keep going until you’ve used up all of the veggie mixture
End with the mozzarella
Bake until golden and bubbly – about 35-40 min

Don’t let all these steps fool you, this dish is easy to prepare; you can even assemble it early in the day then bake later in preparation for dinner if needed. Try something new and different for dinner tonight and enjoy this yummy vegetarian recipe!