WEIRD SCIENCE: Products & Services off the Beaten Track.

Alanna's Organic Pain Free Bandage Remover

Alanna's Organic Pain Free Bandage Remover is used to make bandages come off without pain and pulling hair.

It was created by Alanna Meyers, a third grade student at Safety Harbor Montessori Academy in Clearwater, Florida. Throughout her childhood, she never liked the pain associated with removing bandages used for minor scrapes and scratches. So experimented with numerous combinations of ingredients until she came with the perfect formula.

It takes only a few minutes and sticky bandages come off.

With the help of her parents, an organic laboratory was located to make formula completely organic.

For more information about Alanna's Organic Pain Free Bandage Remover:

info@organic-sports.com 

800-635-0705

(Thanks to http://www.strangenewproducts.com/2010/10/spray-on-bandage-remover.html for this post)

AWESOME FIND: Le Doyen (Continental artisanal pastries, chocolates and preserves)

AWESOME FIND: Le Doyen (Continental artisanal pastries, chocolates and preserves)

 I LOVE Preserves  I think I have a preserve issue to be honest. I go through about a jar (OK two) a week. This includes relish, chutney, jams, and jelly's  I put that stuff on everything. I have a few favorites that I LOVE and today I want to highlight one of those AMAZING producers.

  (My stash that was delivered today!!)

If you have ever been to the St.John's Farmers Market you know Le Doyen, even if you have not purchased  anything from them you will recognize the Le Doyen groupies that line up from first thing in the morning to the moment they close to acquire not just jams and chutneys but all their amazing pastry's. I'm not joking.. groupies. I like to refer to Dean, the man behind Le Doyen, as the pastry king because of all his followers :)

And there is no question why. Le Doyen produces " Continental artisanal pastries, chocolates, and preserves mainly from France, Austria, Hungary, and Denmark" all made in small batches in copper basins for the highest quality and flavor. Basically they take the time to do it right and it shows. 

(White Fig, so amazing, would be perfect on pork, bagels with cream cheese, or ice cream)

But it gets even better!! Le Doyen has a pastry club. So you can enjoy their amazing products all year long not just during the Farmers Market season. 

For a minimum of $20, you can receive a selection of weekly pastry offerings delivered for free to your door on Saturday afternoon of each week. In addition, you can add optional items such as preserves, chocolates, citronnade, and breads. If you would like to order additional pastries for a particular week, you can do that too! At the start of each week, an email will be sent indicating which pastries are on offer for that week. You can specify which pastries you would like, or receive a Club selection. ( Le Doyen Facebook Page)

What can be better than amazing handmade food delivered to your door, FREE!! And the selection is so good. This week you have the choices of:

1. dacquoise with praline butter cream ($3 each)
2. Chocolat et framboise: a new offering of a flourless dark chocolate/almond cake with a layer of raspberry compote and dark chocolate mousse covered in dark chocolate ganache ($5.50/slice)
4. Byggbrød: Norwegian barley bread ($5/loaf)
In addition, you can also order chocolates (muscadines, mendiants, rochers croustillants) at $2.50 each.
Preserves are still on offer:
Jams - $5: clementine, rhubarb and orange, white fig (125ml size at $3.50)
Jellies - $5: apple
Chutneys - $5.50: curried cranberry, gooseberry, peach, 4 seasons relish

Personally I can think of few things nicer than homemade preserves and pastries, breads and chocolates delivered to your door. Have them delivered Saturday and enjoy them on Sunday for brunch. 

(Havrebrød (Denmark): oatmeal bread)

You can find out more about Le Doyen by visiting their facebook group. To register for the pastry club, please email your name, address and telephone number to c.dean.barnes@gmail.com If you have any special requirements, e.g. no gluten, no alcohol, no nuts, etc., please indicate so in your email.

You can thank me for referring you to this AMAZING FIND with bottles of chutney :)  If you have enjoyed any of Le Doyen's items we would love to read your comments in the section below. And I was in no way paid to write this piece, I just wanted to share this amazing local business. 

You Want To Stick What Where?

You Want To Stick What Where?

In our quest to become "Greener" we tend to resort to earlier times in human history, going back to the days when we grew our own veges, recycled the milk bottles and used cloth diapers. But do we really want to go back to all those old reusable tendency's? I guess what I'm asking is do we have limits to our "Reusable" items?  Specifically I want to talk about reusable personal hygiene items. 

  I own an Etsy store and I make reusable and all natural laundry, cleaners  and kitchen items. They include Non-paper towels, scrubbing mitts, reusable sandwich bags but I have yet to venture into the reusable hygiene area. Not that I couldn't make them it's just that I personally have not yet walked that reusable hygiene path and I am not sure about how I feel about it. 

 But despite my resistance there is a booming market for those items. Just go into etsy and type reusable hygiene and you are blanketed with pictures of reusable panty liners, pads and yes even tampons. 

(This reusable Tampon can be purchased here)

The thought of washing my period items each month does not appeal to me, I'm not disturbed by it or anything (I have kids :) I disturb rarely) I just do enough laundry as it is.

(These reusable pads can be purchased here)

I would think you would have to purchase a bunch for starters unless you plan on doing a lot of washing. They also bring to mind a lot of questions. Do they leak? What are they made of on the inside? With Tampons what about toxic shock is the rate higher or lower?

(These Panty Liners can be found here)

I know that reusable diapers have made a real come back do you think reusable tampons and pads will go the same route? Will we all be wearing designer reusable pads in the future? 

There is another reusable option that has been around for a while with less laundry involved. 

The menstrual cup. It's reusable. Pretty simple. A menstrual cup is a flexible cup or barrier worn inside the vagina during menstruation to collect menstrual fluid. Unlike tampons and pads, the cup collects menstrual fluid rather than absorbing it. They are usually made from medical grade silicone which is a safe and hypoallergenic material. Menstrual cups are more cost-efficient and environmentally friendly than tampons, as they are reusable, and can be used for up to 5-10 years. They have greater capacity than tampons, and can be emptied every 12 hours, unlike pads and tampons which require more frequent changing. A woman need only wear the one cup and clean and empty it at the end of the day rather than carrying several pads or tampons. By keeping menstrual fluid away from the vaginal walls and vulva and unexposed to air, menstrual cups have less odor associated with their use than with the use of tampons or pads. When using a menstrual cup, the menstrual fluid is collected away from the cervix and held in liquid form as opposed to it been absorbed and held in semi-coagulated form against the cervix as is the case with tampons. (Thanks to wikipedia for that informative review :) They generally come in two sizes one for women who have had kids or are over 30 and kidless chicks and under 30. 

I have yet to use one, they can be quite expensive around 30-60$ But they do last 5-10 years so you save a ton of money in the long run since the average woman spends about 20$ a month on her period.

My girlfriend has one a loves it so I asked her some questions. Do they leak? Nope she has not had one leak at all. Are they hard to put in? Nope pretty easy just fold and insert, the package show you how. Can you feel them? No more than a tampon would. When you take them out do they spill? Never has that issue at all they are more clean than using pads or tampons she swears. 

I'm still unsure about the whole reusable period items, but I would try them especially the cup since I trust my friends opinion and she swears they are awesome. 

How about you? Have you tried any of these items? Would you? What is your opinion? Would love to see your comments below. .....Maybe I'll make some Star Wars reusable pads and see how they sell :) 

Awesome Finds: Two awesome finds & Coupons to try!!!

Awesome Finds:  Two awesome finds & Coupons to try!!!

 Today I have two awesome finds I'm super excited to share! 

The first is Vitasoy organic mint chocolate. LOVE it. You can have it hot like hot mint chocolate or cold. You would not believe how much it tastes like thin mints the chocolate disks you can buy. SO amazingly good but also vegan, lactose Free, and organic! I bought mine at Dominion but you should be able to find it at most grocery stores for about $2. It was on the shelf with the soy milk and I printed a coupon for it! You can get the coupon here for both Canada & the US

The second Awesome Find is gardein brand barbeque riblets. If you have ever tried McDonalds McRibs you know how good they are. We'll these taste just like the McRib. I put mine on a bun and it's McRib all over again. The only complaint I have about these is that there is sooooo much sauce. I drain the pack before placing them on my buns. You get two in a pack individually wrapped for about 5$ These are McRib without the meat. You can sign up for their page and get coupons here.

Please post a comment below if you have ever used these products and let us know what you think, we would love to know if you think these are an Awesome Find too!!

GIVE AWAY!! Squeaky Clean

We are having a Give Away!!

To celebrate our new All Purpose Cleaning Product we are having a Give Away!! Just like our Facebook page to enter for a chance to win a bottle of our new All Purpose Peppermint Cleaning Solution. If you already like our page you can share this post to have your name added. Winner will be drawn random tomorrow evening. I am so excited to add this to our list of all natural cleaning supplies. It not only works awesome, it's all natural and it smells like peppermint!! 

(Squeaky Clean Line of Cleaning Products can be found here)

Awesome Finds: ART: Terry Smith

Awesome Finds: ART: Terry Smith

 I am a HUGE fan of art. All art. Outsider art, folk art, classic, you name it I love it. So when I first came across Terry Smith's pieces I knew I had to have one. Terry's pieces are not only beautiful but so affordable. Which is fantastic for an art lover with a tight budget like myself. 

 (Yellow Birch 11" x 8" Water colour Print Limited Edition 250 $30)

Terry has been making art in one form or another for 30 years or more. Starting out with sketching and eventually becoming a graphic artist. She also is an avid photographer and more recently an amazing painter.

 (Jellybean Dreams 9" x 7" Water colour Print, Limited Edition 250, $25)

When asked to tell a little about her art she says,

"I paint images that touch me in some way, inspire me to want to paint it. I'm probably more attracted to nature than anything. Each one takes quite a few hours and days, so it has to be interesting enough to me to hold my attention. With the graphics, I do commissions and free-lance, but not with the fine art, it would take the joy out of it for me. I do them for me. They're good for my soul. I also find I learn something about each subject as I paint or sketch, because I'm really looking at it, find new details I missed at first glance."

(Ship's In, 8" x 11" Water colour Print, Limited Edition 250, $30)

What does the future look like for Terry? 

  She is hoping to pursue a fine arts degree with a major in painting. "I'd really like to immerse myself in it for a time, learn, learn... and try different mediums." She says. 

I can see big things happening for Terry in the future and look forward to seeing all her new pieces.I love Terry's pieces and have one hanging in my home, every time I pass it I stop and enjoy the smile it brings to my day. If you are an art lover I highly recommend visiting her facebook page to see her other amazing paintings and her photography. Now is the perfect time to pick up one of her pieces as well before she becomes super famous and expensive :) 

To visit Terry's Facebook page you can go here and enjoy this Awesome Find.

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I was in no way paid in any form to write this review. It's a sharing of an Awesome Find that deserves mentioning.

REUSE: If Life Gives You Lemons Clean Your Coffee Maker!

REUSE: If Life Gives You Lemons Clean Your Coffee Maker!

  A big part of being "Greener" and self reliant is using what you have and reusing what you would throw out. You know you can reuse bottles and containers for other purposes but you can also reuse food. Here are some uses for lemon peel you may not have discovered yet that will help you get as much as you can out of that traditional throw away. (You can apply these to pretty much any citrus peel)

Lemons are fantastic cleaners, and you can reuse those peels in so many ways:

** Clean a dirty coffee pot by adding ice, salt, and lemon rinds and swirling around for a few minutes. Rinse and you are ready to go.

** Clean your tea pot just fill with water throw in your lemon peels and boil. Once boiled let it sit for a few hours and rinse out.

** Clean your microwave, just fill a bowl 1/2 full throw in a few lemon peels and heat for a few minutes then remove bowl and wipe.

** Clean your sink. Take that used lemon half and rub your sink with it, rinse and wipe dry. You can also add a few drops of vegetable oil on a cloth once dry to give your sink a shine. 

** Natural Insect repelant. Most insects and cats hate lemon, place your peel on window sills and and anywhere insects may break into your home to keep them at bay. 

** Keep brown sugar soft. Just add a piece of peel (No pulp) to keep it soft.

** Fade age spots. Apply a small piece to the spot and leave it on for an hour.

** Add a little baking soda into a used 1/2 lemon and place your elbow inside to soften dry elbows, just leave for about 10 minutes turning the lemon every minute or so. Rinse and dry.

** Make a sugar scrub by chopping up the peel into fine pieces and adding sugar and vegetable oil to make a super body scrub for the shower. (Plus you'll smell all lemony :) 

I didn't go into the zest or candied peel options but they are awesome too :) Do you have any other uses for citrus peel not posted here. We would love to read them in our comment section.