Favorite Things

Best Beauty Products

Best Clean Beauty Products From 2019

by Kristin Marr

Easy Homemade Gift Ideas

6 Easy-to-Make Homemade Gift Ideas

by Kristin Marr

Summer Essentials

Summer Essentials: My Non-Toxic Skin and Real Food Must-Haves

by Kristin Marr

Morning and Evening Skincare Routine

Video: Morning and Evening Skincare Routine Using Natural and Non-Toxic Products

by Kristin Marr

Live Simply Favorite Things

My Favorite Things Edition 7: Natural Skincare and Makeup, Reusable Kid Food Containers, and More

by Kristin Marr

Natural Makeup Routine

My Simple Non-Toxic Makeup Routine (Using Non-Toxic, Easy-to-Find Makeup)

by Kristin Marr

My Simple All-Natural Skin Care Routine

My All-Natural Skincare Products and Routine (Updated)

by Kristin Marr

October Favorite Things

October: Favorite Things (Simplifying Christmas, Hair Care, and Body Care)

by Kristin Marr

Favorite Things August

August: Favorite Things (Natural Sunscreen, Sourdough, Organization, and Simple Routines)

by Kristin Marr

June Favorite Things

June Favorite Things: Wellness and Food Books, Natural Skincare, And Lady Stuff

by Kristin Marr

April Favorite Things

April: My Favorite Things (Natural Body-Care, Herbal Supplements, Exercise)

by Kristin Marr

March: My Favorite Things

March: My Favorite Things (Natural Body-Care, Real Food, Exercise, Essential Oils)

by Kristin Marr

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.
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There are two ways to find the safest, healthiest cleaners…
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#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.
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#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

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

NATURAL CLEANING HACK ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

NATURAL CLEANING HACK
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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.
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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).
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HOW TO DEODORIZE A CUTTING BOARD, NATURALLY ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
-- 1/3 cup coarse salt
-- 1/2 a lemon
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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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