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Live Simply - Embracing the simplicity of natural living and real food Embracing the simplicity of natural living and real food
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3 Cleaning Swaps for a Healthier Home
Cleaning: Bathroom, Cleaning: General, Cleaning: Kitchen, Wellness

3 Cleaning Swaps for a Healthier Home

by Kristin Marr
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where to find local food
Shop

Where to Find Food When the Grocery Store Runs Out 

by Kristin Marr
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Homemade Pizza Sauce
Family Meals, Recipes

Easiest Homemade Pizza Sauce: No Cook Recipe

by Kristin Marr
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Instant Pot Chicken Noodle Soup
Family Meals, Instant Pot, Make-Ahead Meals, Recipes, Soups

Quick and Easy Instant Pot Chicken Noodle Soup

by Kristin Marr
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Easy Ground Beef Taco Meat Recipe
Family Meals, Make-Ahead Meals, Recipes

Ground Beef Taco Meat Recipe

by Kristin Marr
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How to Use a Sourdough Starter
Breakfast, Family Meals, Making Bread, Recipes, Sides, Snacks, Treats

How to Use a Sourdough Starter: 9+ Easy Recipes

by Kristin Marr
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Sourdough Pizza Crust Recipe
Einkorn, Family Meals, How To, Making Bread, Recipes

Easy Sourdough Pizza Crust Recipe

by Kristin Marr
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Sourdough Blueberry Muffins
Breakfast, Making Bread, Recipes, Sides, Snacks, Treats

Sourdough Blueberry Muffins With Mix-In Options

by Kristin Marr
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Live Simply Podcast Motherhood
Podcast

Live Simply, The Podcast 058: Pregnancy, 4th Trimester, and Motherhood Self-Care

by Kristin Marr
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How to Make a Sourdough Starter
Breakfast, Family Meals, How To, Make-Ahead Meals, Recipes

How to Make a Sourdough Starter (and Keep It Alive)

by Kristin Marr
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Pantry Breakfast Ideas
Breakfast, Plan, Recipes, Simplify

Pantry Breakfast Ideas: What to Stock and Make From Your Pantry

by Kristin Marr
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Zero Waste Podcast
Podcast

Live Simply, The Podcast Episode 057: Going Zero Waste Anne Marie

by Kristin Marr
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About The Site

I’m Kristin. I started Live Simply to share my family's journey toward a real food and natural wellness lifestyle. Now, I help families all over the world do the same, one small step at a time. I believe nourishing yourself and your family shouldn't be complicated. Let me help you simplify!

    DIY Disclaimer

    The DIY recipes on this website are based on my personal experiences. I am not a trained chemist, cleaning specialist, or skincare expert. The DIY recipes shared on this website haven’t been tested in a lab. Information about my products or recipes haven’t been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Please consult a doctor or specialist for specific concerns about any skincare issues, cleaning products, or dietary needs. Please use your discretion, based on your own research, when making homemade products.

    COPYRIGHT © 2013 - 2019 Live Simply | PRIVACY POLICY
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    livesimplymom
    TIP: Don't toss the old bread 🍞 ! ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ By Friday, I usually have a few pieces of leftover bread from the week. I don't want to waste my precious sourdough (all the sourdough bakers out there know what I'm talking about). Here are my go-to ways to use leftover bread. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ #1 Make croutons: Preheat the oven to 375F. Tear the bread into pieces, sprinkle with olive oil and salt. Bake until crisp, about 15 minutes. Once cool, top on salad or store in a container for a few days. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ #2: Make breadcrumbs: Preheat the oven to 300F. Slice the bread in thin slices. Place on a sheet pan and toast the bread until dry (about 30 minutes). Once fully dry, tear the bread into smaller pieces and pulse in your food processor until you have breadcrumbs. Store in the freezer for a few months. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ #3: Make french toast: You can go with traditional sliced bread or tear the bread into pieces or cut in strips. Dip in milk, eggs, cinnamon, and maple syrup. Then cook in butter on the stove-top. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Tell me, what's your favorite way to use old bread?
    When it comes to cleaning products, it can be diff When it comes to cleaning products, it can be difficult to know what goes into a given product. You’ll find a lot of natural and green marketing words used to describe cleaning (and body products) today. These terms have no regulation. Yep, you read that right: Nada! Zilch! None! Full transparency of ingredients is all we have to help us navigate products and make informed choices. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ There are two ways to find the safest, healthiest cleaners… ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ #1: Source from a transparent company: ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ A company should be completely transparent about their sourcing and ingredients, particularly a company that claims (on a website or packaging) to be “natural” or “non-toxic.” There should be nothing to hide. A company should be proud to disclose their ingredients and be willing to tell you what’s inside and why, not just what’s missing. Be cautious about brands that just want to tell you what’s missing from their products and don’t reveal the actual ingredients used to make a product. You can find lists of cleaning ingredients to avoid, so you can educate yourself on specific ingredients. Also, looking up products on the EWG’s website can be a great way to get a feel for what’s inside a cleaner and the health impact of those ingredients. My favorite brands include: Biokleen, Ecover, Better Life, Dr. Bronners, Seventh Generation, Branch Basics. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ #2: Make your own cleaners: ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ By making your own products, you’ll know exactly what ingredients are used. Plus, making your own products is usually cheaper than buying store-bought products as many “greener” products can be quite pricey. I don’t make every cleaning product, but there are a few that I continually make at home. You'll find lots of homemade cleaning recipes on the blog and in my DIY cleaning book available on the blog. #nontoxicliving #naturalcleaning #naturalliving #nontoxicfamily #cleaning #clean #home #cleaningproducts #cleaninghacks #housecleaning #cleaningtips #fresh #health #homecleaning
    "Shake the hand that feeds you." -Michael Pollan ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Farm-to-table (or sea to table, when it comes to fish) is the most sustainable and healthy way we can live and eat. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Literally shake the hand that feeds you. Here are three reasons why shaking the hand that feeds you (whether this means buying from local farms or directly supporting fisheries and meat farms from afar) is so important... ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ 1. Transparency: You’ll get to know where your food comes from, the people who raise and grow your food, how the animals are treated, how and where the fish are caught, and how the vegetables are grown and harvested. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ 2. Community: Not only will this food be nutrient-dense, but there’s also a sense of community that comes from shopping this way. There’s a sense of pride (in the very best way) in supporting the small farmer, the family owned mill or fishery, the hard-working baker, and the local butcher. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ 3. Assurance: Assurance that even when the grocery store runs out of beef or limits chicken purchases, or hasn’t stocked the flour shelf in weeks or months, you have sources to pull from. Sources that don’t rely on a giant distribution supply chain (other than shipping direct to you via Fed Ex or UPS, in some cases). That’s been such a blessing for our family during the last couple of months. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ I'm sharing my favorite resources for connecting with our food on the blog (from flour to fish to beans to dairy and produce)--head to the link in my profile to read more @livesimplymom #sitkasalmonshares #farmtotable #shopsmallbusiness #localfood #seatotable #organic #sustainability #eatrealfood
    Balanced Microbes = Healthy Skin ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ When it comes to skincare and lifestyle choices, I strive to nourish my microbes (both inside and out--gut, skin...). Eating fermented foods, avoiding synthetic ingredients in makeup products, getting plenty of sleep at night (something I'm constantly working on), reducing stress (another progress over perfection situation), and using gentle cleaners that don't strip my skin (and the microbiome on my skin) are a few of the ways I've been practicing this lately. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Last year, via Marie Veronique (one of my favorite skincare lines--an OG of the clean beauty world), I discovered weekly yogurt masks as a way to apply topical microbes. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ This mask is so easy to make, just plain full-fat yogurt with several different species of microbes (you'll notice this on the ingredient list--yogurt should contain lots of beneficial bacteria). I also love to add a bit of honey. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Mix, then apply to the skin for 15 minutes. Remove with a warm, damp washcloth! Easy, affordable, and microbe-friendly skincare. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ #livesimplyblog #nontoxicliving #naturalskincare #nourishskin #skincare #naturalliving #organicfamily #organicmama #organicskincare #nontoxicfamily #acnetreatment #realfood #skincaretips
    Went for a bike 🚲 ride this afternoon and then Went for a bike 🚲 ride this afternoon and then came home to food prep for the week. There’s a chicken cooking in the oven, chickpeas in the instant pot (for hummus and crispy chickpeas for salads and snacking), and sourdough and broth cooling on the counter. All components that will feed us nourishing meals this week. I didn’t feel like cooking, between the fun afternoon and the dirty kitchen, so we went with a summer nibble tray for dinner. The star of the show: kabobs, made with @cypressgrovers Midnight Moon goat cheese (a goat cheese even non-goat cheese fans love—it’s so buttery!), along with tomatoes and arugula from my farm box and olives from the pantry and some salami from the fridge. All pantry and fridge staples. Londyn helped make the kabobs, so we have a variety of pretty designs and patterns going on. Finally, we pulled out whatever we could find from the fridge to complete our dinner nibble tray: raspberries, extra chopped Midnight Moon cheese, extra olives from the jar, arugula, and some pita crackers from the pantry. Dinner in less then 15 minutes, with no cooking required! Now to finish food prepping. PS: I made the entire tray on IG Live (with my mini helper), so you can watch it all come together. Click on @livesimplymom and my profile pic to watch for the next 24 hours.
    NATURAL CLEANING HACK ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ NATURAL CLEANING HACK ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ With all the cooking that's been happening in my kitchen over the past 8 weeks of quarantine life, my cutting boards are overdue for deodorizing. They're starting to smell of garlic and onions, which I love, but not so much when mixed with certain foods. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Deodorizing is the process of removing or, at least, concealing an unpleasant odor. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ To deodorize my cutting board, I use two simple ingredients: salt and half a lemon. Baking soda would also work well for deodorizing a cutting board, but since I love using a lemon, baking soda isn’t a good option (base + acid = no bueno). ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ HOW TO DEODORIZE A CUTTING BOARD, NATURALLY ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ -- 1/3 cup coarse salt -- 1/2 a lemon ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ To deodorize a cutting board, massage 1/3 cup of coarse salt on a cutting board, and then let it sit for about 10 minutes (up to a few hours). After the resting time, massage the salt with 1/2 a lemon, squeezing the lemon to release the juice. Finally, rinse the board with a clean cloth and hot water.
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