Lightening Online

OK, here we go. Promised post about my adventures with Apple Cider Vinegar. There seems to be no limit to the number of websites on the many and varied benefits of vinegar for all types of things. There seems to be almost no limit to the number of different kinds of vinegar available on the market either. LOL.

12 months ago I’d never even heard of Apple Cider Vinegar. Now there’s a rarely a day when I don’t pull the bottle out of my pantry. I still use white vinegar in the washing machine and for cleaning at times but to be honest, I prefer the scent of the apple cider vinegar. And for health, it seems to be the prefered one to use.

HAIR: I started by experimenting with apple cider vinegar with water in a spray bottle as a conditioner. From the first use I really loved it but wanted to give it enough time to be really sure I liked it. 6 months later I’m still loving using it. To my latest bottle I have added a few drops of rosemary essential oil. To be honest I don’t think it’s really added any necessary effect to the condition of my hair. If anything, I have had trouble with too much oil (I tend to have oily roots and dry ends). However, if you’re the kind of person who really can’t stand the smell of vinegar, it does cover the smell quite nicely (as long as you like the smell of rosemary of course). I tend to mostly spray it into the ends of my hair as my roots really don’t need the conditioning. I also spray it directly onto my scalp underneath at the back which is where I can tend to get itchy. It helps with the dryness and itchiness of my scalp. If I have a particularly dry and itchy scalp, it’s best to spray it in before I shower so that it can work on the skin for at least 10-15 minutes before being rinsed out.

Now if I can just get the rest of the family using it, I’ll be able to strike conditioner off my shopping list for good! At the moment I don’t mind though as they’re gradually using up all the different bottles of conditioner I had on hand. DH has really short hair and only uses conditioner very occasionally and the kids hair gets washed once a week so we’re really not using a lot of conditioner anyway.

I’m currently experimenting with baking soda as a shampoo. I’ve been doing it on and off now for several months and haven’t yet formed an opinion on whether it’s something I’ll continue with for the long term. Part of my problem is that I forget to put it in my hair before I jump in the shower so end up using regular (well a health shop, all natural ingredients) shampoo. I’ll blog more on that down the track if I ever come to a conclusion one way or another. One thing I will recommend is using it at least occasionally as it does give your hair a really good clean. Depending on how often you wash your hair as to whether it’s cleaning powers are too strong to be used for every single wash. Someone did warn me that it can strip any colour from your hair. I currently have foils in my hair and haven’t noticed this problem but it’s something to be wary of if you do have colour in your hair (that baking soda may strip it out).

COOKING: If you scroll down a few posts, you’ll find a recipe for an apple slice using apple cider vinegar. The original recipe called for white vinegar but as I was converting it from a chocolate cake to an apple slice I decided it made sense to use apple cider vinegar.

SALAD DRESSING: I was using a fat free french dressing on my lunch-time salads but started to find it a bit too sweet so converted to a capful of apple cider vinegar. The health benefits of regular use of apple cider vinegar are many and varied (I’ll list some at the end of this post).

HOT DRINK: One easy way I find to include apple cider vinegar in my diet is as a hot drink. Just add 1-2 capfuls of apple cider vinegar and a teaspoon of honey to a mug then pour in boiling water and stir. It takes a little bit to get used to but really isn’t too bad as a drink. It’s especially good if you’re developing a sore throat to kill the bugs and help your body fight whatever is causing the sore throat. The last 2 times I’ve started developing a sore throat I’ve used this and gotten rid of the problem within 24 hours.

VITAMINS AND MINERALS IN APPLE CIDER VINEGAR

Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Vitamin A, Vitamin B1, Vitamin B2, Vitamin B6, Provitamin beta-carotene, Vitamin P

Potassium, Calcium, Magnesium, Phosphorous, Chlorine, Sodium, Sulfur, Copper, Iron, Silicon, Fluorine

Source: http://www.anyvitamins.com/apple-cider-vinegar-info.htm

SOME OF THE HEALTH BENEFITS OF APPLE CIDER VINEGAR

Assisting weight loss by boosting a sluggish metabolism and helping with the healthy functioning of the bowel

Reducing cholesterol, lowering blood pressure, reducing calcification in arteries

Assisting with fluid regulation in cells, reducing fluid retention, reducing excess sodium in the body

Magnesium and other minerals are important for good bone health and to reduce muscle cramps

Assists healthy functioning of the liver, kidney and gall bladder

These are just a few of the benefits that have been found. If you do an internet search on apple cider vinegar you’re sure to find many many more. As with all things there are varied opinions and I have no medical background. I just figure a little bit in my diet certainly can’t hurt.

A lot of stuff I’ve read about the Voluntary Simplicity movement has really resonated well within me. It seems so easy to clutter up our lives to overflowing with things like work, stuff, activities, expectations and the like.

So while I haven’t really set myself any New Years resolutions or goals for 2007, my general direction is that I’d like to simplify my life a little. Of course, simplifying takes many different paths for different people. I figure there’s no right or wrong way to go about it.

Here are my thoughts so far:

Activities - Well with my illness we’ve had to declutter nearly all of our regular activities. The kids still have a couple but nothing too overwhelming. We’ve been trying to limit them to one activity at a time, particularly with sport. DS would love to be playing tennis, cricket AND basketball this season. But it’s just too much so he has to make a choice. Winter sport is a little easier as there really is only football/netball and they’re playing at the same location and time so multiple children playing isn’t going to be sending us in all directions.

Work - I’ve already decluttered my 2 very part time selling jobs (were almost a hobby really but I did make a few $$ out of them). Our biggest challenge this year is that DH has cut back his workload. We feel this is a good move and at this stage it’s only a temporary (1 year) measure. The challenging part is that our potential income is cut quite a bit. However, it’ll be a good opportunity for us to really consider our future direction and what we really want out of life.

Stuff - Well I’m working hard on not bringing too much more stuff into our home (without at least some leaving at around the same time). I’ve always found shopping very therapeutic but never really considered the long term ramifications of accumulating stuff and spending money that didn’t really need to be spent. So I’m working on reducing my hobby of shopping. Actually I’ve been working on that for a couple of years now. It’s a slow process but I’m getting there. I’d also like to declutter a bit more of the stuff that we’re not making use of. It seems like a never ending process.

Decluttering Chemicals and other “nasties” from our lives - this is one area I’d particularly like to work on this year. I already use nearly all natural products for washing and cleaning etc but I think they could be simplified even more. There are some personal care products that could do with reviewing. I’m also working on cutting out chemicals from as much of the food we eat as possible. That in itself is possibly enough to keep me busy for the whole year.

So there’s lots to do and lots to learn. If I’m not careful I’ll “unsimplify” my life in my attempts to simplify it. LOL. I guess it’s just one thing at a time and see where the path takes us. If nothing else, I think we could be in for an interesting year. I’m sure you’ll hear more on this topic as the year progresses.

I know I’m about 10 days behind but HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone. I hope 2007 is everything you wish it to be and more.

I’m one of those people who has always loved Christmas. I remember when I was about 7 or 8 saving up the lollies my grandma used to give me (we saw her every second weekend) and then dividing them up so that I could give my older cousins a Christmas present. They thought it was “cute”. LOL. When I got into my teenage years and had a little bit of pocket money I’d always buy gifts for my family and friends. Nothing very big. I didn’t have a lot of money. I just love giving people gifts.

This is one of those “good traits” that can turn into a “not so good” trait. I have a tendency to go overboard when it comes to buying gifts, particularly for my children. We have had years where the kids haven’t even “discovered” all of their new things until weeks after Christmas.

Gifts aren’t the only part of Christmas I love. I love the Christmas music and decorating and cooking. My mum was never really into buying and giving gifts but one thing she was into at Christmas time was FOOD. To her you can’t have Christmas without 6 or 7 different types of meat and about 15 salads. Add onto that about 4 choices of dessert and numerous nibbles and drinks and you have a feast fit for a king. I think I’ve inherited her ability to “overcater”. If we have Christmas here it’s always a big affair taking heaps of time to prepare for and then days of “headache” trying to use it all up without too much wastage. In fact this year we were still using up snacky type stuff I had bought in October. Admittedly that was because some of it got “lost” in the back of the top shelf of the pantry cupboard.

In the past few years we’ve been trying to gradually simplify our lives. It’s been a very slow and sometimes frustrating process. I think it’s one of those “ongoing” things we’ll always be striving for. Especially when it comes to “stuff”. I’ve been doing better at not “overdoing” things on the present front when it comes to our kids but other than that I haven’t really tried to “simplify Christmas”.

So this is the year we’re working on “simplifying Christmas”. I started by not buying too much too early in the year. I already had some things in the cupboard but I made it somewhat of a “rule” that I wouldn’t buy toys in the mid-year sale unless they were more heavily discounted that the usual 20% off. That wasn’t an easy decision to make as we live a long way from department stores so we don’t always have access to those kind of sales. My problem was that I’d buy too much too early and then the kids would ask for something else so I’d end up buying extra and in the end we’d have way too much stuff. Stocking fillers were even worse. I’d pick up things throughout the year and end up with enough to fill at least 2 stockings per child (and our stockings aren’t small). They especially get left until late in the year and that’s cut down dramatically on my overbuying. We’ve also tried to include a lot more “practical” and “consumable” type gifts to cut down on clutter but still have a number of packages for them to open come Christmas morning.

The next part of our simplification of Christmas has taken the form of cutting down on gifts bought for extended family. While this does cut down on costs, it wasn’t the motivating factor in us making this change. I do enjoy buying gifts for people but being a perfectionist, I’d put a lot of time and stress into trying to find the “perfect” gift for each person. That gets harder as you all get older and really have more “stuff” than you need. I like the idea of homemade gifts and do do this a bit, especially for anyone we’re going to be seeing Christmas Day. Most of our family members don’t really appreciate “homemade” gifts if they’ve bought you something so we figured it was time to just make the break from the whole gift thing. We still buy for both sets of parents but there is no real “expectation” thing happening there which makes it easier. We also buy for my grandparents and also our nieces and nephews. I do love kids gifts because you can spend a small amount or a large amount and the kids still love it (at the age my nieces and nephews are anyway). I’ve gone for charity style gifts for the parents and grandparents this year with just a smaller thing for them to unwrap. Hopefully they like the idea.

Probably the biggest step we’ve made in simplifying Christmas this year though will be our plans for Christmas Day. Every year we go through the “which family will we be with this Christmas”. There’s 1000km between them so doing them both is mostly impossible (unless they both come to us which we’ve sometimes done). This year we’re going camping and avoiding the whole “big family Christmas” thing. It’ll be just the 5 of us (DH, me and the 3 kids). I’m really looking forward to it. Camping lends itself to a more simplistic style of Christmas food too. DH and I discussed it today and we’re going to have 3 meats (corned beef, turkey roll and bought shaved ham) and 3 salads (potato, noodle and tossed). Preparation should be easy and because we have to pack it all up to take with us I won’t be making huge amounts of anything. Christmas morning there should be very little for me to do other than the tossed salad.

I’ve even given the baking I usually do the flick this year and have just bought a small box of shortbread (I usually make shortbread which is a lot cheaper than buying it but fairly time consuming). The kids want to make peppermint creams but that’s the only baking I plan to do this year unless the fancy takes me to do something else between now and then. The main thing is I’m not putting pressure on myself to achieve a “to do” list a mile long.

So, I’ve always been a big fan of Christmas but this year I feel like I’m looking forward to it even more than usual.