All posts by The Natural Mammas

Proof Baking Soda Is A Must Have For Any Natural Home

I’ve been cleaning with baking soda for a number of years now and it never ceases to amaze me how many areas of the home it’s good for.  Some people just don’t believe in the power of the baking soda though and insist on expensive (and often toxic) cleaners.

Well, here’s some proof of just how powerful baking soda is.

My husband, Mr. T., is a carpenter and often during remodels, he’ll find a treasure or two the homeowner doesn’t want that he’ll bring home.  He amped that up 100% when we were building our house this year, which we’re so grateful for.  One of the scores he made was a fantastic stainless steel pots and pans hanging light fixture!

When it came time to have the electrician put it up in our kitchen, I pulled it out of the shed and realized it had quite a thick coating of grease mixed with dust – Take a Look…

 

image of dirty light fixture cleaned with baking soda
BEFORE - This is the stainless steel light fixture before I cleaned it. It's very close up in an attempt to show just how thick the coating of grease actually was. At first, it looked fine - but upon closer inspection - EWWWWW!

 

Ewwww is right!  At first, I went after it with my vinegar water solution but, that just smeared it all around – double ewww.

I tried a more abrasive rag, nothing.  Then, I remembered how I have had great success cleaning the oven (greasy and nasty as it often is) with a paste of baking soda and water along with a bit of elbow grease.

So, off for the baking soda I went.  I dumped a bunch into a bowl and then added just enough water to make it into a spreadable paste (not exact instructions I know, but it’s really all ya gotta do and make as much or as little as you need).  I slathered that baking soda paste all over the stainless steel fixture and scrubbed with a rag.  This is what happened!

 

natural home cleaning a light fixture with baking soda
AFTER - the same upper portion of the light fixture after being scrubbed down with a paste of baking soda and water. Notice the shine as opposed to the dull greasy appearance of the "before" photo above?

 

Much Better!  And, here’s the finished product after then being cleaned off with a vinegar and water mixture and then fully dried.

 

light fixture in a natural home
The finished fixture all cleaned and shiny in it's new home!

 

The only warning I will give about baking soda – and I just learned the hard way with this project – DO NOT use baking soda on un-sealed wood – it will leave brown marks.  I got some on our cedar shingles when cleaning this light fixture and then got some on our unsealed butcher block (maple) counter tops and both times it left brown/black marks after reacting with the wood.

 

Other than that – use baking soda anywhere you’d use an abrasive cleanser as well as in your laundry, your fridge, as a carpet deodorizer/cleaner, to clean your stained coffee mugs, and so much more!!

 

Fresh Cucumber Salad on a Hot Day

I can’t really say for sure why we grow so many cucumbers, but every year we hit a point in the growing season where the cucumbers take over the kitchen. The kicker at our house is that although I like cucumbers in almost any form, my hubby thinks they make him burb, our oldest girl only likes them on like the third Tuesday of each month and the baby…well, she eats anything, but cucumbers she only likes to eat in spears without seasalt and again, this can change depending on the day and the current weather conditions.

Well I had a cucumber overload happening and those summer fruit flies were closing in on my fresh garden produce pile so I had to make something quick, simple and tasty. Knowing full well that the rest of the family wasn’t likely to help me finish off whatever creation I came up, I decided to go with my family recipe for Fresh Cucumber Salad modified slightly to possibly appeal to the rest of the crowd that sits around our dinner table.

You will find my recipe below. I don’t include onions, well because my kids don’t like onions. I don’t do the vinegary style either because they seem to turn their nose up on any salads with that kind of flavor. And I drain and salt the cucumbers in hopes that they won’t cause my life partner too many gastric repercussions.  Isn’t it funny how eating naturally can be so complicated!

Was it a hit?! It was gone. No one wowed over it or said can you make that again, BUT, it was gone which usually if it sucks, there are lots of leftovers to prove it. So share your thoughts. Tell me what I can do to make it better or what not to do next time, but I think I am on my way to having a future family favorite on the table each cucumber season.

Fresh Cucumber Salad on a Hot Day
Recipe Type: Salad
Author: NaturalMammas.com
Prep time: 1 hour
Total time: 1 hour
Serves: 6
Just a great kid friendly way to use up those garden cucumbers in a perfect salad for a hot day!
Ingredients
  • 1/2 cup Plain Yogurt or Sour Cream
  • 2 Tbsp Nayonaise or Mayonaise
  • 2 Large Cucumbers-Peeled and sliced thin
  • 1 1/2 tsp Lemon Juice
  • 1 tbspn Sugar or Honey/Agave flavor equivalent
  • Sea Salt
  • Dill
  • Celery Salt
  • Onion Powder
Instructions
  1. First peel your cucumbers and slice them very thin. Place in a layers in a bowl; sprinkling each layer with sea salt. Let the cucumbers sit for at least one hour in the salt. Then pour cucumbers into colander draining off excess liquids. Mix yogurt, mayonaise, sugar and lemon juice. Add sea salt, dill, celery salt and onion powder to taste. Once blended remove cucumbers from colander by the handfull and squeeze out excess liquids into sink before adding to yogurt mixture. Continue to press and add cucumbers until all have been added. Fold gently into yogurt mixture. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving!

Recycle Your Glass Bottles To Build Houses and Art

We spent some years in northern New Mexico and one of the things the area was known for was it’s unique architecture and experimental green building techniques.

One of my favorite things I saw there was the incorporation of bottles into the walls of earthships, adobe, and straw bale homes.  It’s so unique, so beautiful and such a great way to reuse glass!

Here are some photos of what I mean….

 

earthship wall made with recycled bottlesrecycled bottles make a wallhouse made from recycled bottles

Awesome right?  I think so – and sustainable too!  Just start savin’ those bottles and you’re ready to go!