Yes I was an addict. A bleach addict that is! I still have setbacks and moments where I start to reach for the bleach and have to stop myself. I think this started when I was very young because I remember the smell of Lysol that my mom religiously cleaned with. I am not talking about a little here or a little there I am talking everything was cleaned with it. Back then though my mom did not think anything about it. Cleaner the better and it got passed down to me.
Any cleaning supplies I would buy had to have bleach in them and I even used Ammonia and Lysol to clean with. On cleaning day my house would smell like I had cleaned with a bottle of bleach. If you have ever seen the bleach commercials on tv where the guy was jumping into the bed and all you see was this nasty bacteria that they told you was in your sheets. Yeah I shudder whenever I think of that commercial because I would dump cups of bleach in my sheets to wash them.
This all changed though after I had the boys I think they were around six months when I had one of them in the Bumbo chair on the counter in the kitchen. Gasp yes I had my son in a Bumbo chair on the counter. Before I get the riot act about having it on the counter please let me assure you it was in a corner so he would not fall backwards and I never ever left the room. My other son was safely in his bouncy seat hanging from the laundry room door. Now back to my intended blog......I was cleaning the counters and went to spray cleaner and realized he was sitting right there. That started me thinking about all the chemicals I was using on and around us. I was ready for a change.
Besides the fact that bleach a skin irritant it can be bad for your lungs. My mom can't use bleach much anymore because the fumes will make her sick for days, almost as if she has bronchitis. I started looking for greener and health friendly alternatives. It has taken me over six months to make a gradual change which started with laundry soap and softener, then to kitchen cleaners, and etc. The most basic was baking soda and vinegar. By the way is was fun to mix the two and watch them foam. (I know I am easy to entertain) I learned during this time to that it is actually bad to remove all bacteria. Overly cleaning can actually make us sick because when we do come in contact with bacteria our bodies don't know how to fight it off. For more on the dangers of bleach in itself please check out the link below. I found it interesting that Chlorine was first made not for cleaning but for use in chemical warfare.
When I first started making the swtich I was worried more about the price more then anything. So I started looking up natural cleaners. Duh...Baking soda, vinagar, lemon and grapefruit oil/extract. Though I have yet to use grapefruit oil I have heard it is amazing stuff. Baking soda in itself proves over and over to be a great product and relitvitly cheap to. I like to buy it in bulk and use it to clean my stove top, the bathtubs (takes the ring right out with just a bit of elbow grease), toilets, in the laundry and diaper pail. With vinegar you can make window wash, wash your floors with it, and also use it in the laundry. There are so many uses for all these easy to get products and they are safe.
I have also tried Seventh Generation, Method and Green Works. I like Seventh Generation the best though at times it can be pricey and I am always looking for the lowest prices. Green Works is ok but to me anything made by the same company that makes Clorox Bleach seems untrustworthy to me. I even have clorine free bleach in the house now and that has been the biggest change for me. The night I washed the tub with bleach and thought I had it all rinsed good enough when I gave the boys a bath made that an easy switch for me. Their legs and bottom half of their body was covered in red rash and I have never looked back.
Removing chemicals from our houses is not only good for our body's but for the environment as well. For example when I replaced the laundry detegant for a green alternive I was getting rid of the petrolim in my previous product. I now use products that are non toxic, renewable, and biodegradable. Which is way better for the environment. I am including another link to information on how to clean green, how to do it cheap if you want, and where to start.
Link on the Dangers of Bleach: (worth the short read)
http://www.educatingwellness.com/prevention/dangers-of-bleach
How to go Green: (with cleaning)
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/01/how-to-go-green-cleaning.php
131 ways to use Vinegar:
http://www.angelfire.com/cantina/homemaking/vinegar.html
72 Ways to use Baking Soda:
http://lifehackery.com/2008/07/22/home-4/
Things about lemons you never knew you could do:
http://www.suite101.com/content/how-to-green-clean-with-lemon-a110908
The last three links are just the tip of what you can do. The most amazing to me is using a cut lemon to disinfect and deodorize it! Please check them out it will amaze you!
The recipe I am including in this blog is slowly becoming a favorite around here thanks to a good friend that showed me Turkey is more then for Thanksgiving. Again I never measure my own recipes all measurements are approximate.
Turkey Meatloaf
2lbs ground turkey
Half a sleeve of soda crackers (crushed)
2 eggs
Tablespoon milk
dash salt/pepper
1 medium onion chopped
Worcester sauce (a splash here or there)
Italian Seasoning
Garlic (4 cloves chopped and mashed)
Ketchup
Take the ground turkey and put it in big bowl add all ingredients for the Italian Seasoning I always eyeball it never measure I don't think I would put more then a couple teaspoons though. If you have no soda crackers in the house a little secret of mine is cheerios crushed. (Bread crumbs would also work for this.) After all ingredients have been added use hands to mix together and then transfer to baking dish. Forming a little oval of the meatloaf. Add ketchup to the top spreading evenly over whole loaf. Then add a bit of water to bottom of pan. I usually put the oven on 375 and leave it in for an hour or so. I really need to be better at setting the timer. I never know how long. As long as it is not pink on the inside it is done. My favorite addition to this is homemade mac and cheese or mashed potatoes and cream corn.
