Natural Living in a Regular Family {Raising Healthy Families}

Welcome back to the Raising Health Families series, join us each week as we take a look at different ways to keep your family healthy and vibrant in a not-so-healthy world.

read more about positively real media here

Written by Sara from Your Thriving Family

Many of us are trying to eat real food and get back to natural products, for what we believe to be the best for our families.  The wall we sometimes hit, unfortunately, can be our well-meaning and loving extended family.

How do you continue along your journey and keep the peace with the extended family?  Natural Living in a Regular Family, is about finding the balance and putting relationships first.  Click on over for finding the grace in what goes in and on your family.

Next week is learn about the power of tea and some great homemade recipes.

BundleoftheWeek.com, 5 eBooks for $7.40!

Find more inspiring and informative posts at Make Your Own Monday, Motivational Monday, Homestead Barn Hop, The Bulletin Board, Better Mom Monday, Natural Living Monday, Trivium Tuesday, Titus 2sday, Teach Me Tuesday, Hip Homeschool Hop, Titus 2 Tuesday, Delicious Dishes, Open Call Tuesday, Tiny Tip Tuesday, Healthy 2Day Wednesday, Frugal Days Sustainable Ways, Works For Me Wednesday, Real Food Wednesday, Whole Food Wednesday, Allergy-Free Wednesday, The Mommy Club, Encourage One Another, Thought Provoking Thursday, Simple Lives Thursday, Homemaking Link Up, Keep it Real Thursday, Frugal Thursday Rewind, Your Green Resource, Homeschooling on the Cheap, Thrifty Thursday, Fellowship Friday, Fight Back Friday, I'm Lovin' It, Weekend Bloggy Reading, Weekend Whatever, Snacktime Saturday

Healthy 2Day Wednesday {5/15/13}

H2W

Welcome back to Healthy 2Day Wednesday!

Great ideas await you in this week’s linkup. Others are sharing their fantastic ideas for healthy living – and you can too! We’d love to have you join us and share how you embrace your health!

Healthy 2Day Wednesdays is happily hosted by:

Rachel of Day2Day Joys
Carrie of Young Living Oil Lady
Anne of Authentic Simplicity
Paula of Whole Intentions

Please stop by all our blogs for great ideas on living healthy lives!

Paula’s top 3 picks from last week:

As the top 3, you have been Facebook’d, and Tweeted by Paula. And don’t forget, your posts were pinned to our Pinterest board made especially for Healthy 2Day Wednesdays.

Chocolate Truffles

I just couldn’t keep my eyes off these truffles from Holistic Homemaking. The fact that their made with avocados is a health plus in the right direction!

Stinky Feet

Loved this helpful recipe to kill the odor from sweaty, stinky shoes by Dawn of The Grey Area.

 

Coconut Butter

Beth at Nourishing Passions shares a great way to use coconut flakes and save a bundle!

 

Have you been featured as an H2W favorite?

We now have a button for you to add to your post or side bar! You can get different size buttons here.

How to join this week’s fun:

Link up to any of our blogs with your favorite healthy post.

Guidelines for this Link-Up:

  • Share an idea, tip, recipe, things to avoid, something new to try, natural remedy, alternative medicine, going “green” tips, etc. that will help us to remain or become more healthy!
  • If this is your first time participating read more info & get button here (also find the “I’ve been featured” button there)
  • Comment on another participant’s post, this builds community.
  • Add button or link back to that day’s link up.
  • Spread the word so we can learn more ideas on keep our families healthy; feel free to share on Facebook or Twitter.
  • Ideas: homebirths, natural remedies, an interesting article, something eco-friendly, a review, natural cleaner, alternative or holistic approaches to health, how to’s, the list goes on & on!
  • If you are adding a recipe, make sure the ingredients do not include white flour, refined sugar, processed products, packages products (unless it is clearly stated or pictured that it is organic or all natural) and the like. We are looking for whole food recipes that are beneficial to our health.
  • If you have any questions regarding H2W’s, please contact Rachel.If you’re not participating today, I hope you’ll come back & join in next week!

 



BundleoftheWeek.com, 5 eBooks for $7.40!

Find more inspiring and informative posts at Make Your Own Monday, Motivational Monday, Homestead Barn Hop, The Bulletin Board, Better Mom Monday, Natural Living Monday, Trivium Tuesday, Titus 2sday, Teach Me Tuesday, Hip Homeschool Hop, Titus 2 Tuesday, Delicious Dishes, Open Call Tuesday, Tiny Tip Tuesday, Healthy 2Day Wednesday, Frugal Days Sustainable Ways, Works For Me Wednesday, Real Food Wednesday, Whole Food Wednesday, Allergy-Free Wednesday, The Mommy Club, Encourage One Another, Thought Provoking Thursday, Simple Lives Thursday, Homemaking Link Up, Keep it Real Thursday, Frugal Thursday Rewind, Your Green Resource, Homeschooling on the Cheap, Thrifty Thursday, Fellowship Friday, Fight Back Friday, I'm Lovin' It, Weekend Bloggy Reading, Weekend Whatever, Snacktime Saturday

The BEST Homemade Dishwasher Detergent {In My Humble Opinion}

OK folks. First of all, before we get to the good stuff (i.e., the dishwasher detergent recipe… if you want to call it that), I have a disclaimer. Actually two.

Disclaimer #1: Those are not my dishes in the above picture. That is not actually my picture. The reason being that my kitchen has absolutely NO natural light and the only pictures I could take of my dishwasher were dull, lifeless and dark. Not a pretty start to the blog post, so I borrowed a photo from a gentleman named David Locke. Thanks, David!

Disclaimer #2: Just because *I* think it is the best dishwasher detergent recipe EH-VEHR does not necessarily mean that you will agree. You will just have to try it and see!

Now… on to the good stuff. This post has actually been a long time coming; in fact, I think I’ve been tweaking my dishwasher routine for as long as 2 years! This is what I’ve settled on and it works the best of any concoction I have tried. This homemade dishwasher detergent even works better than store-bought natural detergents I have tried (the one exception being Ecover)!

I was originally inspired by Jillee of One Good Thing’s “Dishwasher Triple Threat”. The simplicity of her system and the fact that there was no mixing, stirring, clumping, or any other difficulties involved in the procedure totally appealed to me! However, I wanted something that was totally chemical-free, so I took her basic recipe and started tweaking.

What I eventually came up with was this:

See the terrible pictures I get in my kitchen?!

Super Simple Homemade Dishwasher Detergent

Ingredients

  • 1 tsp. oxygen bleach
  • 1/8-1/4 tsp liquid castile soap
  • 3-5 drops lemon essential oil

Instructions

  1. Place the ingredients in the main detergent cavity of your machine. Operate the dishwasher as usual.

A few notes:

  1. Do not use either too much oxygen bleach or too much liquid castile soap. The one will leave your glasses cloudy, and the other will gunk up your plastic. (Don’t ask me how I know.)
  2. Make sure your oxygen bleach does not have any added chemicals to it. I’ve personally been using Tropical Traditions Oxygen Bleach.
  3. Dr. Bronner’s Citrus Orange liquid castile soap is a great choice for this!
  4. Do thoroughly rinse your dishes before putting them in the dishwasher.
  5. You can try adding vinegar as a rinse aid for even better results. I’ve heard mixed reviews about whether or not this is actually helpful, and I haven’t actually tried it myself because the rinse aid dispenser on my previous machine didn’t work (and I haven’t tried it with my current one yet).
  6. I do use Lemi-Shine in conjunction with this recipe on occasion (no rhyme or reason really, just when I feel like it!). It’s particularly good if you have hard water.
  7. Lemon essential oil is truly the best oil to use. I’ve tried others – even other citrus oils – and they just don’t cut it like the lemon does.
  8. I don’t even measure anymore, I just eyeball everything. I’m just careful not to put too much of any one ingredient in there.

The million-dollar question is, of course, does this concoction really work?! My short answer is “Yes!”.

These are my dishes, and this is my dishwasher.

My long answer is this:

Like I said, if I use too much oxygen bleach or castile soap, either the glass or the plastic gets cloudy and filmy. And to be perfectly honest, certain types of glass can end up cloudy in any case (which is why I occasionally use Lemi-Shine, which helps). My Pyrex bowls and measuring cups always come out sparkling clean, but my drinking glasses (especially one particular kind) can get cloudy. I’m not sure if the reason is because of their cylindrical shape (making them more difficult to rinse out thoroughly, perhaps?) or the type of glass they are made with, but I will admit that I occasionally just wash them by hand. However, I will also say that with the exception of Ecover (of which I’ve only used samples), which I mentioned earlier, all the natural dishwasher detergents I have tried have left my dishes with the same exact cloudy residue (and were stinkin’ expensive to boot!).

In my experience, if you consistently want dishes that have absolutely no residue on them, you will have to compromise with some chemicals. Here are some options that may or may not be better than just plain old Finish or Cascade:

  • The oxygen bleach at The Dollar Tree (LA’s Totally Awesome Oxygen) works perfectly, even by itself. However, it smells like chemicals and I couldn’t find out exactly what they added to the oxygen bleach, so I stopped using it. If you’re comfortable with mystery chemicals that may or may not have been approved even by the FDA for dishwasher use, then go for it (keeping in mind that the FDA has outlawed certain chemicals for use in dishwasher detergents).
  • Dawn (or presumably other mainstream dishwashing liquid) works very well in place of the liquid castile soap and doesn’t leave behind any residue.

For myself, I’ve been very pleased with this recipe, and have been using it consistently for 6 months or more. Dealing with some cloudiness on certain types of dishes, or occasionally re-washing dishes by hand, is totally worth it to me since I am satisfied that our dishes have been cleaned without the use of any potentially harmful chemicals. It’s a trade-off, and one I’m personally willing to make. If you’re mostly interested in saving money rather than reducing chemical exposure, then I recommend going with options I mentioned above. But if reducing chemical exposure is important to you, I think you will be excited to give this dishwasher detergent a try!

 The other burning question on your mind is, “Is it cost effective?”. A valid question! Here’s what I figure:

  • I pay about $10 locally for a 16oz bottle of Dr. Bronner’s liquid castile soap, which has approximately 384 uses with this recipe. That means it’s about $0.03/use.
  • Tropical Traditions oxygen bleach currently costs $16.75 for 6 lbs, which comes out to 576 uses, once again about $0.03/use.
  • Using Young Living Essential Oils Lemon Oil at the distributor price of $11.25 ranges anywhere from $0.08-$0.17/use, depending on how many drops in the bottle and how many drops you use each time. (And, of course, you can use the health store lemon essential oil which is cheaper. I’ve used both, and I can see a significant difference with the YLEO! The dishes get much cleaner, and one or two drops usually suffice.)
  • Bottom line: It comes down to a maximum of $0.23/use. That’s figuring on the high end with the essential oils, when in all likelihood, the total figure is probably closer to $0.15/use. Compare that to Ecover, which is currently available on Amazon.com for $0.27/use. If you use your dishwasher once a day, then that’s a savings of at least $15/year (or as much as $45!), and it doesn’t take any more time or effort.

If you’re interested in a super simple, cost-effective, all-natural way to clean  your dishes in the dishwasher, then you should definitely try this method! And when you do – let me know! Did it work for you?

 

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Find more inspiring and informative posts at Make Your Own Monday, Motivational Monday, Homestead Barn Hop, The Bulletin Board, Better Mom Monday, Natural Living Monday, Trivium Tuesday, Titus 2sday, Teach Me Tuesday, Hip Homeschool Hop, Titus 2 Tuesday, Delicious Dishes, Open Call Tuesday, Tiny Tip Tuesday, Healthy 2Day Wednesday, Frugal Days Sustainable Ways, Works For Me Wednesday, Real Food Wednesday, Whole Food Wednesday, Allergy-Free Wednesday, The Mommy Club, Encourage One Another, Thought Provoking Thursday, Simple Lives Thursday, Homemaking Link Up, Keep it Real Thursday, Frugal Thursday Rewind, Your Green Resource, Homeschooling on the Cheap, Thrifty Thursday, Fellowship Friday, Fight Back Friday, I'm Lovin' It, Weekend Bloggy Reading, Weekend Whatever, Snacktime Saturday

Stock Your Natural First Aid Kit for the Summer! {Raising Healthy Families}

Raising Healthy Families
read more about PRM here

 

Welcome back to the Raising Healthy Families series! Join us each week as we take a look at different ways to keep your family healthy and vibrant in a not-so-healthy world.

Written by Krissa Jeldy of More Than Mundane

summer first aid

Summer is right around the corner and now is the perfect time to start planning and preparing your natural first aid kit for summer. Discover safe and effective ways to heal sunburn, relieve bug bites, and care for cuts and scrapes. Head on over to More Than Mundane to learn how to prepare a natural first aid kit for summer.

BundleoftheWeek.com, 5 eBooks for $7.40!

Find more inspiring and informative posts at Make Your Own Monday, Motivational Monday, Homestead Barn Hop, The Bulletin Board, Better Mom Monday, Natural Living Monday, Trivium Tuesday, Titus 2sday, Teach Me Tuesday, Hip Homeschool Hop, Titus 2 Tuesday, Delicious Dishes, Open Call Tuesday, Tiny Tip Tuesday, Healthy 2Day Wednesday, Frugal Days Sustainable Ways, Works For Me Wednesday, Real Food Wednesday, Whole Food Wednesday, Allergy-Free Wednesday, The Mommy Club, Encourage One Another, Thought Provoking Thursday, Simple Lives Thursday, Homemaking Link Up, Keep it Real Thursday, Frugal Thursday Rewind, Your Green Resource, Homeschooling on the Cheap, Thrifty Thursday, Fellowship Friday, Fight Back Friday, I'm Lovin' It, Weekend Bloggy Reading, Weekend Whatever, Snacktime Saturday

Roasted Broccoli with Parmesan and Stuff {Secret Recipe Club}

Roasted Broccoli with ParmesanI love broccoli. I mean, I looooovvvveee broccoli. Steam it, drown it in butter, sprinkle it with salt and pepper, and MMMMmmmmMMMM! That’s pretty much as close to heavenly as a vegetable can get. 

So I was super excited (probably more than one should be regarding cruciferous vegetables) to see that my Secret Recipe Club assignment for the month, Life of a Modern Housewife, had a delicious recipe for broccoli! Um, yes, please! Heavenly vegetables? How could I resist!

If you, too, like roasted vegetables, The Modern Housewife has a great roasted carrots recipe as well. I absolutely love Chinese dumplings, so I’m definitely going to be trying her Steamed Chinese Dumplings recipe because she makes it look awfully easy (and way cute). If you’re more into desserts, try her Lemon Meringue Cupcake!

But back to the broccoli. What I love about this recipe is that it’s a sprinkle-this-and-drizzle-that kind of recipe. Totally my favorite way to cook! Honestly, there are so many recipes I come up with at home that I never blog about because I never take the time to sit down and measure them, and I know you all get tired of my ambiguous directions. But really, this recipe is so simple, and you can start with a whole pile of broccoli, or just a handful, and go from there with a sprinkle and a drizzle. I will say – for the inquiring minds that want to know – that I had a little less than a pound of broccoli florets, and I used 2 cloves of garlic. Other than that it was seriously just drizzling and sprinkling.



If you’d like to give the Secret Recipe Club a try, you can apply to join here.


BundleoftheWeek.com, 5 eBooks for $7.40!

Find more inspiring and informative posts at Make Your Own Monday, Motivational Monday, Homestead Barn Hop, The Bulletin Board, Better Mom Monday, Natural Living Monday, Trivium Tuesday, Titus 2sday, Teach Me Tuesday, Hip Homeschool Hop, Titus 2 Tuesday, Delicious Dishes, Open Call Tuesday, Tiny Tip Tuesday, Healthy 2Day Wednesday, Frugal Days Sustainable Ways, Works For Me Wednesday, Real Food Wednesday, Whole Food Wednesday, Allergy-Free Wednesday, The Mommy Club, Encourage One Another, Thought Provoking Thursday, Simple Lives Thursday, Homemaking Link Up, Keep it Real Thursday, Frugal Thursday Rewind, Your Green Resource, Homeschooling on the Cheap, Thrifty Thursday, Fellowship Friday, Fight Back Friday, I'm Lovin' It, Weekend Bloggy Reading, Weekend Whatever, Snacktime Saturday

Go Play in the Dirt! {Raising Healthy Families}

Raising Healthy Families
read more about PRM here

 

Welcome back to the Raising Healthy Families series! Join us each week as we take a look at different ways to keep your family healthy and vibrant in a not-so-healthy world.

By Susan Vinskofski of learningandyearning.

Go Play in the Dirt. It's Good for your Health! @learningandyearning

Did you realize that our health is intimately connected to soil? It plays a role in our mental health as well. Read learningandyearning’s Go Play in the Dirt! It’s Good for your Health to learn more about a very special bacteria found in soil which boosts serotonin in our brains. The post has lots of ideas for getting dirty, too! As if you needed help with that.

BundleoftheWeek.com, 5 eBooks for $7.40!

Find more inspiring and informative posts at Make Your Own Monday, Motivational Monday, Homestead Barn Hop, The Bulletin Board, Better Mom Monday, Natural Living Monday, Trivium Tuesday, Titus 2sday, Teach Me Tuesday, Hip Homeschool Hop, Titus 2 Tuesday, Delicious Dishes, Open Call Tuesday, Tiny Tip Tuesday, Healthy 2Day Wednesday, Frugal Days Sustainable Ways, Works For Me Wednesday, Real Food Wednesday, Whole Food Wednesday, Allergy-Free Wednesday, The Mommy Club, Encourage One Another, Thought Provoking Thursday, Simple Lives Thursday, Homemaking Link Up, Keep it Real Thursday, Frugal Thursday Rewind, Your Green Resource, Homeschooling on the Cheap, Thrifty Thursday, Fellowship Friday, Fight Back Friday, I'm Lovin' It, Weekend Bloggy Reading, Weekend Whatever, Snacktime Saturday

Healthy 2Day Wednesday {5/1/2013}

Healthy 2Day Wednesdays

Welcome to Healthy 2Day Wednesday!

It’s Wednesday, which means it’s time for our weekly sharextravaganza (said no dictionary ever) of healthy and natural living posts. If you’re a blogger you can link up your wisdom, ideas, projects, recipes, whatever you think other people might benefit from reading.

Thanks for all of the great ideas you share with us each week. We enjoy reading over them and pinning new recipes and thoughts about health – hope you do to!

 

Healthy 2Day Wednesdays

Stephani’s top 3 picks from last week:

As the top 3, you have been Facebook’d, and Tweeted and Pinned. And don’t forget, your posts were pinned to my Pinterest board made especially for Healthy 2Day Wednesdays.

Eating-Seasonally

Two Big Reasons to Eat Seasonally & How to Actually Do It from Don’t Waste the Crumbs

Have you been featured as an H2W favorite?

We now have a button for you to add to your post or side bar! You can get different size buttons here.


How to join this week’s fun:

  • Share an idea, tip, recipe, things to avoid, something new to try, natural remedy, alternative medicine, going “green” tips, etc. that will help us to remain or become more healthy!
  • If this is your first time participating read more info & get button here (also find the “I’ve been featured” button there)
  • Comment on another participant’s post, this builds community.
  • Add button or link back to that day’s link up.
  • Spread the word so we can learn more ideas on keep our families healthy; feel free to share on Facebook or Twitter.
  • Ideas: homebirths, natural remedies, an interesting article, something eco-friendly, a review, natural cleaner, alternative or holistic approaches to health, how to’s, the list goes on and on!
  • If you are adding a recipe, make sure the ingredients do not include white flour, refined sugar, processed products, packages products (unless it is clearly stated or pictured that it is organic or all natural) and the like. We are looking for whole food recipes that are beneficial to our health.

If you have any questions regarding H2W’s, please contact Rachel.

If you’re not participating today, I hope you’ll come back & join in next week!



BundleoftheWeek.com, 5 eBooks for $7.40!

Find more inspiring and informative posts at Make Your Own Monday, Motivational Monday, Homestead Barn Hop, The Bulletin Board, Better Mom Monday, Natural Living Monday, Trivium Tuesday, Titus 2sday, Teach Me Tuesday, Hip Homeschool Hop, Titus 2 Tuesday, Delicious Dishes, Open Call Tuesday, Tiny Tip Tuesday, Healthy 2Day Wednesday, Frugal Days Sustainable Ways, Works For Me Wednesday, Real Food Wednesday, Whole Food Wednesday, Allergy-Free Wednesday, The Mommy Club, Encourage One Another, Thought Provoking Thursday, Simple Lives Thursday, Homemaking Link Up, Keep it Real Thursday, Frugal Thursday Rewind, Your Green Resource, Homeschooling on the Cheap, Thrifty Thursday, Fellowship Friday, Fight Back Friday, I'm Lovin' It, Weekend Bloggy Reading, Weekend Whatever, Snacktime Saturday

How to Make and Use Digital Flash Cards (No Paper, No Printer, No Ink Needed!)

This post contains affiliate links.How to Make Digital Flash CardsI recently had an epiphany – you know, the slap-yourself-upside-the-head-why-didn’t-I-think-of-this-sooner kind of epiphany? Yep, that kind. As part of the Ultimate Homemaking Bundle, I had received quite a few digital educational materials that included flash cards, and was trying to figure out how in the world to print them (our printer situation at the moment is tenuous at best and involves hardwiring a laptop to the internet and then the printer to the laptop… in an electrical closet… ha!) when it dawned on me that there was actually no need whatsoever to print them. 

Say what?

Yup, no need for a printer, no need for paper, no need for ink.

All I had to do was send the flash card .pdfs to my Kindle reading app, and then display them on my tablet. Presto, change-o, DONE! 

Digital Flash Cards

This flash card is from the ABCs for Godly Boys curriculum kit.

How to Make and Use Digital Flash Cards

1. Acquire Flash Cards in .PDF Format

  • If you’re crafty and tech-savvy, you can make your own flash cards by using a word processing or publishing software program, and then saving the files in the .pdf format (rather than .doc or .jpg). Mac users can simply save their file as .pdf, while PC users (me!) will have to download some sort of .pdf conversion software like Cute PDF. (Or if you happen to have a graphics designer hubby and have Adobe Acrobat, that’ll work, too.)
  • If you’re not so crafty, you can purchase flash cards made by people who are (nice of them to share with the rest of us, yes?)! The flash cards you see pictured in this post are from the ABCs for Godly Boys (they also have a set for girls), and Confessions of a Homeschooler’s K4 Curriculum. The Handmade Home (whose eBook, Handmade Walls, is also available in the Homemaking Bundle) has tons of great adorable printable freebies, including the alphabet and numbers. Another great site is Baby Sign Language – they have the perfect size of downloadable flash cards for 600 words in sign language! Mr Printables also has lots of free flash card printables. Homeschool Creations has a lot of great printable options that would work as flash cards, but I particularly love the Bible verses. What great visuals to help the children memorize! One more resource: a friend recently told me about Little Learning Lovies, a great online store with absolutely adorable educational products, including different kinds of flash cards and posters that would be perfect for our purposes here.
  • Note: The best size for flash cards on a digital device is a full page (letter size, or 8.5×11). In other words, ideally, each individual flash card should take up the equivalent space of one whole 8.5×11 page. If you’re looking for flash cards online, a lot of them are made to save paper and ink, and so 2-4 individual flash cards are placed on each page. I’ve discovered that the larger ones – which work better as digital flash cards – are identified as “letter size”, or are sometimes called “posters” instead of flash cards. 

Are you an educator? The resources pictured below, valued at almost $100, are available in the Ultimate Homemaking Bundle, a collection of over 97 eBooks and resources (PLUS BONUSES!) for a mere $29.97! Click here to read more and for purchasing information.Educational Items in Homemaker's Bundle

blend ladder flash cards

These blend ladder flash cards are from Confessions of a Homeschooler's K4 Curriculum.

2. Upload Your Flash Cards to Your Kindle Reader Account

There is more than one way to do this.

  • If you have an actual Kindle reader, you can simply transfer the files from your hard drive to your Kindle device via a USB cable. Plug the cable into your computer and into your Kindle and bring up the reader’s file. Bring up the file on your hard drive where your downloads are stored, and drag and drop them into the reader file. Easy peasy!
  • You can also send the .PDF files via email to your Kindle account and they will show up within minutes on your actual device (or app, if you’re not using the Kindle reader). Log in to your Kindle account on Amazon, and click on “Personal Document Settings” from the sidebar on the left. Your settings will show you what your Kindle email address is (it’s usually a variation of your user name with @kindle.com on the end). Simply compose an email and address it to your Kindle address. Attach the .PDF files of your flash cards to the email (I think you’re allowed to send up to 5 files at a time), and hit Send! The files will appear on your Kindle or in your app in just a few minutes (or the next time you sync). There’s no need to type in a subject line or anything in the message area; just be sure you add the attachments and that’s all you need. This option is perfect for those who don’t have an actual reader, but instead use the Kindle Reader App on a different digital device.
Skip Counting Flash Cards

These flash cards are from Confessions of a Homeschooler's K4 Curriculum.

3. Use Your Digital Flash Cards

This is the easy part! Once you’ve uploaded the flash cards to your Kindle account, simply open up your Kindle or your Kindle app. Download the file onto your device and you’ll see the images appear! Swipe the pages to “flip” through the flash cards just as if you were holding them. The great thing is, you can use the cards vertically or horizontally, depending on what works best for the design.

Flash cards will work best on the following types of devices (as long as it has the Kindle Reader App):

  • Kindle Fire
  • iPad
  • Tablet (any kind)
  • Smart Phone (ideally one with a large screen like the Samsung Galaxy)

I don’t recommend a regular Kindle for this purpose because it’s black and white and would be difficult to utilize as a visual aid. I also don’t think a Nook reader would work because as far as I understand, you can’t download .PDF files to Nooks (but I don’t actually have a Nook so I could be wrong about that).

This week’s Ultimate Homemaking Bundle is chock full of some awesome educational resources, including an entire K4 curriculum, and a K5 alphabet/phonics curriculum. Besides that, you’ll find eBooks on home-schooling and child-rearing, as well as several different types of organizers, planners, and other household helps! Altogether, there is more than $700 worth of products (including the bonus items) that will benefit every homemaker, and the cost is just $29.97. (But only until May 4!) Click here to get more details and purchase. 

BundleoftheWeek.com, 5 eBooks for $7.40!

Find more inspiring and informative posts at Make Your Own Monday, Motivational Monday, Homestead Barn Hop, The Bulletin Board, Better Mom Monday, Natural Living Monday, Trivium Tuesday, Titus 2sday, Teach Me Tuesday, Hip Homeschool Hop, Titus 2 Tuesday, Delicious Dishes, Open Call Tuesday, Tiny Tip Tuesday, Healthy 2Day Wednesday, Frugal Days Sustainable Ways, Works For Me Wednesday, Real Food Wednesday, Whole Food Wednesday, Allergy-Free Wednesday, The Mommy Club, Encourage One Another, Thought Provoking Thursday, Simple Lives Thursday, Homemaking Link Up, Keep it Real Thursday, Frugal Thursday Rewind, Your Green Resource, Homeschooling on the Cheap, Thrifty Thursday, Fellowship Friday, Fight Back Friday, I'm Lovin' It, Weekend Bloggy Reading, Weekend Whatever, Snacktime Saturday

97 Tools to Help You Keep House, Raise the Kids, and Love on Your Hubby

 

I love things that are simple.

I love a good deal.

(I love a fantastic deal even more.)

And I love anything that helps me simplify my life at home.

I’m so excited to share with you this fantastic offer that is all of those things at once!

For 6 days only, more than 75 widely-known bloggers and authors in the homemaking sphere have joined together to offer 97 of their most popular eBooks and eCourses, valued at just over $600, for the incredibly low price of $29.97!

More than anything, our goal for this sale was for it to be, well… ultimate! We firmly believe that you will not find a more comprehensive collection of homemaking resources anywhere on the web, and particularly not in this price range. For this low price, you gain access to every single one of these resources, so that you can customize your own collection to contain exactly the ones you want and know you’ll use.

This library of homemaking helps include topics such as mothering, organization and cleaning, recipes and kitchen helps, home education, spiritual growth for both moms and kids, home décor and DIY, pregnancy and baby care, frugal living, health and fitness, and even work-from-home and financial tools.

To sweeten the pot, we’ve also teamed up with 10 companies to bring you over $140 in bonus offers, giving you an affordable opportunity to get products you’ll use and love for only the cost of shipping, or in some cases, entirely for free!

 

What’s Included in the Sale?

When you purchase The Ultimate Homemaking eBook collection, you will get instant access to any of the 97 eBooks and eCourses listed below.

PLUS over $140 of FREE Bonuses

Each The Ultimate Homemaking eBook collection comes with more than $140 of FREE Bonuses from 10 companies that we know you’ll love. More on these bonuses below.

Please note: This collection is only available from 9 a.m. EST on April 29th to 11:59 p.m. EST on May 4th. There will be no late sales offered.

Home & Property {Cleaning, Organizing, Decor}

31 Days to Clean by Sarah Mae @ SarahMae.com ($4.99)
Getting it Together: Your Guide to Setting Up a Home Management System that Works by Kayse @ kayse pratt ($3.99)
Pulling Yourself Together: Implementing a Cleaning Routine that Sticks by Becky @ Clean Mama ($10.00)
Simple Living by Lorilee @ Loving Simple Living ($2.99)
NOT a DIY Diva by Melissa @ The Inspired Room ($3.99)
One Bite at a Time: 52 Projects for Making Life Simpler by Tsh @ Simple Mom ($5.00)
28 Days to Hope for your Home by Dana @ A Slob Comes Clean ($5.00)
Organizing Life as Mom by Jessica @ Life as Mom ($9.00)
Clean Enough: Simple Solutions for the Overwhelmed by Jenni @ Live Called ($4.99)
10 Steps to Organized Paper by Lisa @ Lisa Woodruff.net($5.00)
Handmade Walls by Jamin and Ashley @ the handmade home ($9.95)
Easy Peasy Chores: An Easy-to-Use Chore System That Brings JOY Back Into Family Chores by Alina Joy @ The Good Old Days Farm ($17.99)

Educational Children’s Resources

Princess Training by Richele @ Under the Golden Apple Tree ($3.99)
The Armor of God by Richele @ Under the Golden Apple Tree ($2.50)
My Bedtime Learning Book by Richele @ Under the Golden Apple Tree ($1.00)
Think Outside the Classroom by Kelly @ Generation Cedar ($6.97)
Raising Rock Stars — Kindergarten Bundle by Carissa @ 1plus1plus1equals1 ($10.00)
The ABC’s For Godly Boys Curriculum by Lindsey @ Road to 31 ($8.00)
The ABC’s For Godly Girls Curriculum by Lindsey @ Road to 31 ($8.00)
K4 Curriculum by Erica @ Confessions of a Homeschooler ($15.00)
Write Through the Bible (print) by Trisha @ Intoxicated on Life ($5.00)
Write Through the Bible (cursive) by Trisha @ Intoxicated on Life ($5.00)
Balcony Girls (books 1 & 2) by Sandy @ Reluctant Entertainer ($19.90)
The Dig for Kids: Luke (Volumes 1 and 2) by Patrick, husband of Ruth @ The Better Mom ($5.98)
Music: An Essential Ingredient for Life by Ryan @ Resound School of Music ($6.99)

Budgeting {Finance & Time}

From Debtor to Better by Barry @ From Debtor to Better ($10.00)
Tell Your Time by Amy @ Blogging with Amy ($2.99)
The Homemakers Guide to Creating the Perfect Schedule by Amy @ Raising Arrows ($4.99)
Your Grocery Budget Toolbox by Anne @ Authentic Simplicity ($7.99)
Finding Financial Freedom by Kelly @ Generation Cedar ($5.97)
Become a Frugalista in 30 Days by Susan @ The Confident Mom ($3.99)

In the Kitchen {Recipes and Cooking}

Crock On by Stacy @ Stacy Makes Cents ($5.00)
Real Food, Real Easy by various bloggers @ The Humbled Homemaker ($9.95)
Wholesome Mixes by Kristy @ Little Natural Cottage ($4.00)
20-Minute Meals by Leigh Ann @ Intentional by Grace ($4.99)
Restocking the Pantry by Kresha @ Nourishing Joy ($9.99)
Money Saving Mom’s Guide to Freezer Cooking by Crystal @ Money Saving Mom ($3.99)
Simply Summer by Kate @ Modern Alternative Mama ($7.95)
Do the Funky Kitchen by Laura @ Heavenly Homemakers ($4.95)
Real Food Kids: In the Kitchen plus 1 month access to select Real Food Kids eCourse videos by Wardeh @ GNOWFGLINS and Jami @ Eat Nourishing ($20.00)
Seasonal Menu Plans on a Budget: A Month of Meals from My Humble Kitchen to Yours by Diana @ My Humble Kitchen ($4.99)
Just Making Ice Cream by Marillyn @ Just Making Noise ($12.00)
The Curative Kitchen by Susan @ Handy Pantry ($20.00)

Pregnancy & Baby Care

First Bites by Hilary @ Accidentally Green ($9.99)
Confessions of a Cloth Diaper Convert by Erin @ The Humbled Homemaker ($9.95)
Stress-Free Baby Shower by Sara @ Your Thriving Family ($4.00)
Unbound Birth by Jenny @ The Southern Institute ($2.99)
My Pregnancy Journey by Mindy @ Simply Designs ($9.99)
My Buttered Life Baby Edition by Renee @ Made On Hard Lotion ($5.00)
The Minimalist Mom’s Guide to Baby’s First Year by Rachel @ The Minimalist Mom ($5.00)
Redeeming Childbirth: Growth & Study Guide by Angie @ Redeeming Childbirth ($3.99)

Holidays & Special Events

Festive Traditions by Jill @ Modern Alternative Kitchen ($7.95)
Holiday Mixes: Gifts in a Jar by Kristy @ Little Natural Cottage ($4.00)
Flourishing Spring by Michele @ Frugal Granola ($5.95)
Family Camping Handbook by Katie @ Kitchen Stewardship ($6.95)
Truth in the Tinsel by Amanda @ Oh, Amanda! ($7.99)
Plan a Fabulous Party by Mary @ Giving Up on Perfect ($4.99)
iPhone Photography: The Visual Guide by Alli @ Alli Worthington($9.97)

Spiritual Growth

Pursuit of Proverbs 31 by Amy @ Amy Bayliss ($3.99)
The Best of Visionary Womanhood by Natalie @ Visionary Womanhood ($5.00)
God’s Word in my Heart: A Scripture Memory Learning Guide with Verses {all 4 versions} by Jenn @ The Purposeful Mom ($3.99)
Kept: a 13-Week Inductive Study on 1 Peter by Lara and Katie @ Quench Bible ($4.99)
Love Like Him: an 8 week Inductive Bible study on 1 Corinthians 13 by Lara and Katie @ Quench Bible ($2.99)

Marriage & Romance

Rekindling Romance by Jason & Jami @ A Biblical Marriage ($4.99)
Good Wife’s Guide by Darlene @ Time-Warp Wife ($2.99)
31 Days to Build a Better Spouse by Ashley @ Ashley Pichea ($4.99)
31 Days to Great Sex by Sheila @ To Love, Honor and Vacuum ($4.99)
Entangled: Recognize Your Emotional Affair by Amy @ Amy J. Bennett ($4.99)

Motherhood

The Heart of Simplicity by various authors @ The Heart of Simplicity ($9.99)
True Christian Motherhood by June @ A Wise Woman Builds Her Home ($7.00)
Hula Hoop Girl by September @ One September Day ($4.99)
When Motherhood Feels Too Hard by Kelly @ Generation Cedar ($4.97)
Mindset for Moms by Jamie @ Steady Days ($4.99)
From Cube to Farm by Heather @ From Cube to Farm ($2.99)
4 Moms of 35+ Kids Answer Your Parenting Questions by various authors @ 4 Moms, 35+ Kids Parenting E-book ($7.99)
That Works for Me! by Kristen @ We are THAT Family ($8.00)

Health & Fitness

100-pound Loser by Jessica @ Muthering Heights ($4.99)
Honoring the Rhythm of Rest by Danielle @ Domestic Serenity ($2.99)
42 Days to Fit by Brandy, Emma and Stacy @ The Marathon Mom ($4.99)
Healthy Homemaking by Stephanie @ Keeper of the Home ($12.95)
Personal ePlanner by Jennifer @ ListPlanIt ($5.00)

Beauty

Frumps to Pumps by Sarah Mae @ SaraMae.com ($4.99)
The Cottage Mama’s DIY Guide by Kristy @ Little Natural Cottage ($4.00)
Simple Scrubs to Make and Give by Stacy @ A Delightful Home ($3.99)
The No Brainer Wardrobe by Hayley @ The No Brainer Wardrobe ($7.99)
Embracing Beauty by Trina @ Trina Holden ($9.00)
Reuse, Refresh, Repurpose by Kristen @ The Frugal Girl ($3.99)

Working from Home & Blogging

Your Blogging Business: Tax, Talk and Tips by Nikki @ Christian Mommy Blogger ($4.99)
The Bootstrap VA by Lisa @ The Home Life {and Me} ($12.99)
How to Grow Your Blog and Manage Your Home by Jacinda @ Growing Home ($4.99)
How to Have Your Cake and Eat It, Too by Mandi @ Life Your Way ($12.00)
Simple Blogging: Less Computer Time, Better Blogging by Rachel @ Small Notebook ($8.00)

Ecourses

Learning in Love: The Preschool Years by Renee @ FIMBY ($7.99)
Homeschooling from the Heart by Renee @ FIMBY ($7.99)
Grocery University by Carrie @ Colorado Bargains ($24.95)
Vibrant Living Strategies for Moms by Lisa @ Well-Grounded Life ($59)
You Can Do This! The First Five Steps to a Real Food Kitchen by Laura @ Heavenly Homemakers ($5.00)

PLUS, You will receive FREE Bonuses from these companies…

A FREE Two-Month Membership to Fit2B Studio, where their wholesome workouts for the whole family are tummy safe and particularly target Diastasis Recti (split abs). ($19.98 value. No shipping restrictions.)

A $15 store credit to TruKid. With products like their aware-winning sun care, they are dedicated to providing all natural skin and hair care for kids, babies, and now pets. ($15.00 value. Standard shipping applies. International shipping available.)

Your choice of incredible natural products like sea salt and clay for FREE. Choose from the Redmond Trading Earthpaste Bundle ($24.90 value) or the Facial Mud Bundle ($26.90 value). (Standard shipping applies. Continental US only.)

Your choice of a FREE heirloom sourdough starter or FREE yogurt starter from Cultures for Health, the leading supplier of starter cultures and supplies for making cultured and fermented foods ($12.95 value. US & CAN addresses only. Standard shipping applies.)

Your choice of: a FREE 3-Month Subscription (for new accounts) or 30% off a One Year Subscription. Plan to Eat is an online menu planner that uses your recipes, scheduled for the days you want them. ($15.00 value. No shipping restrictions.)

A FREE Culinary Herbs Assorted Seed Pack Check just in time for spring planting from www.wheatgrasskits.com, a living whole foods company. ($11.95 value. Standard shipping applies to all US states and territories- no international shipping for seeds.)

Get $10 off Union28′s original “my husband rocks” tee. Their marriage apparel lets you celebrate your spouse in style. ($10.00 value. Standard shipping rates apply. International shipping available, but free shipping only available within USA.)

A $10 store credit plus 1 FREE lip balm from Bee All Natural. Their whole body products nourish and heal, and are made using only the highest quality, food grade, organic ingredients. ($13.49 value. Standard shipping applies. International shipping available.)

A FREE 2 oz. bottle of your choice of liquid herbal formula from TriLight Health. They specialize in fast acting, great tasting natural herbal remedies. ($12.95 value or more. Standard shipping applies, within the USA only.)

Your choice of 3 FREE ePlanners OR a 3-Month FREE Membership to ListPlanIt, whose mobile lists will help to organize your life. ($15.00 value. No shipping restrictions.)

The fine print:

Bonus Offers

  • Each bonus offer can be redeemed once only per eBook Bundle purchase.
  • For each bonus offer, transaction numbers or proof of purchase may be required at the time of redemption.
  • All bonus offers are free gifts from the bonus sponsors, are their sole responsibility to provide, and are subject to availability.
  • All bonus offers expire at midnight on May 19th, 2013 (2 weeks from the last day of this sale).

General

  • It is your responsibility to download and back-up your purchase within the 1-month download time-frame. With proof of purchase, we can renew download links up until August 1st, 2013. After this date we will no longer have access to the books and will not be able to provide any new links to download.
  • Due to the nature of this sale, there will be no refunds available. However, we would invite you to read our Frequently Asked Questions page to learn more about the file types, the download process, how the bonus offers work, etc.

 

Please note: This collection is only available from 9 a.m. EST on April 29th to 11:59 p.m. EST on May 4th. There will be no late sales offered, so make sure that you get your bundle right away!

Particularly for those wanting to read these ebooks on their mobile devices (iPhones or iPads, Android, Kindle, etc.) you will want to learn more about the file types, how to download them correctly, and how to transfer them to your device.

This post includes affiliate links, and I make a portion of the sale of each ebook bundle. Thanks for your support of this site!

BundleoftheWeek.com, 5 eBooks for $7.40!

Find more inspiring and informative posts at Make Your Own Monday, Motivational Monday, Homestead Barn Hop, The Bulletin Board, Better Mom Monday, Natural Living Monday, Trivium Tuesday, Titus 2sday, Teach Me Tuesday, Hip Homeschool Hop, Titus 2 Tuesday, Delicious Dishes, Open Call Tuesday, Tiny Tip Tuesday, Healthy 2Day Wednesday, Frugal Days Sustainable Ways, Works For Me Wednesday, Real Food Wednesday, Whole Food Wednesday, Allergy-Free Wednesday, The Mommy Club, Encourage One Another, Thought Provoking Thursday, Simple Lives Thursday, Homemaking Link Up, Keep it Real Thursday, Frugal Thursday Rewind, Your Green Resource, Homeschooling on the Cheap, Thrifty Thursday, Fellowship Friday, Fight Back Friday, I'm Lovin' It, Weekend Bloggy Reading, Weekend Whatever, Snacktime Saturday

Essential Oils Instead of Surgery {Raising Healthy Families}

By Jennifer Lambert of

Royal Little Lambs

IMG_4418

Learn about how I massaged my daughter out of a major leg surgery using essential oils and the power of prayer. After visiting several doctors, specialists, and physical therapists, we turned to natural methods – prayer, essential oils, massage, and yoga to heal my daughter’s legs and feet. Read our story at
Royal Little Lambs

BundleoftheWeek.com, 5 eBooks for $7.40!

Find more inspiring and informative posts at Make Your Own Monday, Motivational Monday, Homestead Barn Hop, The Bulletin Board, Better Mom Monday, Natural Living Monday, Trivium Tuesday, Titus 2sday, Teach Me Tuesday, Hip Homeschool Hop, Titus 2 Tuesday, Delicious Dishes, Open Call Tuesday, Tiny Tip Tuesday, Healthy 2Day Wednesday, Frugal Days Sustainable Ways, Works For Me Wednesday, Real Food Wednesday, Whole Food Wednesday, Allergy-Free Wednesday, The Mommy Club, Encourage One Another, Thought Provoking Thursday, Simple Lives Thursday, Homemaking Link Up, Keep it Real Thursday, Frugal Thursday Rewind, Your Green Resource, Homeschooling on the Cheap, Thrifty Thursday, Fellowship Friday, Fight Back Friday, I'm Lovin' It, Weekend Bloggy Reading, Weekend Whatever, Snacktime Saturday