Product Changes

Knowing things have to change and actually knowing what to change are two different creatures.  Since the majority of my healthy changes centered on food and products, I have received a lot of questions as to what I use for {insert name here}.  I realized that giving people verbal lists of my favorite products left them looking a little dazed and confused.  And I know the whole concept of reading labels, knowing ingredients and understanding our physiological reactions to those ingredients is quite dizzying.  So here’s my list of everything I have changed.  This is a mostly-comprehensive list, as I’ve tried not to leave anything out, but the page will get an update each time the information here changes.  And please know that I did not land on these products perfectly with the first try.  I have been doing this for 16 months now, and many of these products are second, third, even eighth attempts at finding good replacements.  And also keep in mind that no product is perfect.   As long as you are eliminating harmful chemicals somewhere in some product, then you are making a positive step in a great direction!

OK, now for the list details…Each item name is linked to its web description on the manufacturer’s site (or on Amazon, if no manufacturer website is available.) Underneath the product is a list of places that I buy each item in Shreveport or online, followed the price I typically pay.  The store list is in order of price for that item – lowest to highest – and the price I state is reflective of the first store only. Lastly, I’m including any comments I think you need to know about each product.

Are ya ready?  Let’s do this…

Food

Breakfast Foods
Applegate Farms Sunday Bacon
Sunshine Health Foods
$3.75
I really didn’t think I would find chemical-free bacon that tasted good.  I was wrong.  :) Apparently, there is also a Hormel Natural Choice bacon that I haven’t seen anywhere locally.  I will try that too if I find it.

Alexia frozen biscuits
Drug Emporium
$4.55/bag of 8
Not a bad little biscuit if you’ve got hungry kids and 20 minutes!  They got the Hubster’s Stamp of Approval, so I keep them on hand at all times.  I find that there is a slight hint of aftertaste, but nothing that would stop me from enjoying them.

Barbara’s Bakery Puffin Puffs
Kroger
$2.50 at last sale
Aaron, my pickiest eater, declared these a WIN and insisted that I get at least three boxes next grocery trip.

Honey Nut Cheerios
Everywhere
What can I say?  My kids fell in love with Cheerios as toddlers and have been hooked ever since.  Aaron prefers the Honey Nut variety, introduced to him by Granddaddy.  I’m okay with the ingredient list, which is more than I can say for most mainstream “healthy” cereals.

Nature’s Path Organic Toaster Pastries
Drug Emporium, Sunshine Health Foods, Kroger
$2.85/box of 6
Organic Pop Tarts.  Who knew?    They are quite tasty, but go easy on them if you’re counting calories.  200+ calories EACH.  Gulp.

Better Oats/Mom’s Best Oatmeal
Kroger, Drug Emporium
$1.99/box of 5
Blueberry Muffin, Chai Spice and a host of other tempting flavors. Better Oats has organic varieties as well as simply all-natural selections.  Really good oatmeal!!

Pantry

Gold Medal Organic All Purpose Flour
Wal-Mart
$5.49 for 5 pounds (yes. ugh.)

JIF Naturals or JIF Omega-3 Peanut Butters
Wal Mart, Kroger

Newman’s Own Marinara
Wal-Mart, Kroger
$1.88

Muir Glen Canned Organic Tomato products
Sunshine Health Foods, Drug Emporium
Prices vary based on product.  Tomato paste is about $1/can and diced or stewed tomatoes are about $1.75 – 2.50
I have to have tomato products on hand ready to cook with.  You’re not surprised, are you?  Have you seen my last name???  Anyhoo, canned goods pose a problem because of the plastic lining in them and the BPA that leaks into the food.  Muir Glen is the only brand of canned tomato products I have found that states on the can that their cans are lined with enamel so as not to pose the same chemical contaminant problems that other cans pose.  For this reason, if I need tomato paste, sauce, or a Rotel-type blend of tomatoes and chiles, I will buy Muir Glen.

Barilla Whole Grain pastas
Wal-Mart
If you have to have pasta, and obviously we do in my house, then you want to make sure you are buying wholesome as-few-ingredients-as-possible pastas.  From my little corner of the world, Barilla seems to have the best ingredient list.

Orville Redenbacher’s Simply Salted Natural popcorn
WalMart
I’m not pleased with the fact that microwave popcorn bags are lined with TBHQ, but I am dealing with that little by little.  This is really good popcorn.

Natural Cheetos
Wal Mart, Kroger, Sunshine Health Foods

Yummy Earth Organic Lollipops
Drug Emporium
$4.65/pack of 50
This suffices as dessert many nights at my house!  MUCH better than any sucker you’ll find in your Halloween bag!!

Paesano Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil
www.Amazon.com, www.ditalia.com
$18 plus shipping.
Cold-pressed Sicilian oil.  I would have never believed the difference if I hadn’t tasted it myself.  It’s pricey, but OMG worth it, especially if you want really awesome Italian breads and doughs.  I reserve this olive oil for only truly worthy recipes.  To save on shipping, there’s an Italian deli/grocery in Dallas that sells it.  Roadtrip, anyone??

Fridge

Lunch Meats – Hormel Natural Choice
WalMart, Kroger
$2.50
FYI: Since they are not using preservatives on the meat, there is a pretty short expiration date on the package.  During the school year, we don’t have to worry about expirations because it’s consumed pretty quickly.

Eggs – Farmers Harvest
Wal-Mart
$3.23/dozen
I buy organic or cage-free eggs at Wal-Mart.  They are always brown and funky looking.  I don’t go for the pristine white, all-the-same-size eggs anymore.  At all.

Milk – Kroger Private Selections 2% Organic
Kroger
$4.99/gallon
We also purchase Horizon brand Vanilla Milk Boxes for the kids to take in their lunch if they so desire.  These are at most grocery stores and run $2.99/3-pack at Wal-Mart.  BUT THEN I found this post while looking for all these dang links for this page.  Now I have quite a bit more research to do with regard to my organic dairy.  Egad!

Cheese
I spent a while looking for a cheese slice that wasn’t too sharp (Cabot’s Extra Sharp Aged Cheddar had too much bite for Dom’s taste, though I rather liked it.)  I settled on, believe it or not, Great Value brand white American cheese slices for sandwiches.

Veggies
Since I chose to grow my own veggies this summer, and most of my plants let me down drastically, I have had to buy my veggies at the store. Kroger on Youree has a great organic produce section, as does Brookshires on Line.  I keep the Dirty Dozen list handy with me when I shop, even though I rarely venture outside of organic in fresh produce.  For frozen fruits and veggies, I tend to purchase Cascadian Farms frozen organic produce (green beans, corn, broccoli, blueberries, peaches).  I would buy any organic frozen fruits/veggies I could find;  I just seem to find more consistent offerings of Cascadian Farm.  Plus, Wal Mart is starting to come around and carry them too.  And, Driscoll’s offers organic strawberries and blueberries at all the major stores.

Jelly – Cascadian Farms Organic Fruit Spread – Concord Grape
Sunshine Health Foods, Drug Emporium, Kroger
$3.25
Because of all the PB&J my kids pack in their lunchboxes, grape jelly was one of the first things I changed.  Smuckers Low Sugar is what I have mostly bought.  But Aaron told me two weeks ago that he really likes Cascadian Farms organic grape jelly because it “tastes great and spreads really easy!”  Who wouldn’t love that?!

Soda
Virgil’s Root Beer and Virgil’s Black Cherry Cream Soda
Drug Emporium, Kroger, Sunshine Health Foods
$5.05/4-pack (Kroger’s sale price runs $4.79)
When the news came out about caramel color being created by a chemical reaction with ammonia and the resulting ingredient potentially reacting with carbonation to become a carcinogen, I freaked and banned all traditional sodas from our home.  My family LOVES root beer, so we went on a quest to find all-natural sodas with no caramel color.  We found Virgil’s.  Tastes a bit different – better!  Now we are all hooked on them.

Freezer

Ice Cream – I make my own now, but I will buy Breyer’s All Natural varieties in a pinch.

Alexia Ciabatta Rolls
Kroger, Wal-Mart
$1.74
I don’t know what all these people do, but they ROCK some frozen breads!!  In about 8-12 minutes your dining experience can feel like a Sicilian picnic.

Alexia Garlic Baguette twin pack
Kroger, Drug Emporium
$4.78

Chicken Breasts
Harvestland all-natural
Wal Mart
$9.48/box of 5-7 individually frozen breasts.
I originally found these last summer, then they disappeared around October.  Wal Mart told me they had to make room in the freezer cases for all the Thanksgiving turkeys and would bring back the chicken breasts after the holidays.  Never mind that it was actually eight months after the holidays, but yes, they did finally bring them back.  Just in time for the turkeys to arrive again.

Beef
I have started buying Nolan Ryan beef at Kroger and Longhorn beef from a vendor at my local farmers’ market.  We typically use ground beef, roasts, and steaks.  I will not buy regular beef anymore – I only want hormone-free, antibiotic-free, grass-fed animals producing my meats.  It’s double the price, but worth it.  No pink slime for me. (Besides this, I am trying to limit my menus to only two or three meals that contain meat anyway.)

Beauty/Body/Face Products
A.M. to P.M., folks, this is my day.

Toothpaste
Tom’s of Maine Whole-Care with Fluoride
Wal-Mart, Drug Emporium, Sunshine Health Foods, Kroger on Youree
$4.25/tube

Mouthwash
Tom’s of Maine Wicked Fresh
Wal-Mart, Drug Emporium, Sunshine Health Foods, Kroger on Youree
(I can’t find the price…grrrr…..)

Facial Cleanser
Eco Sevi Olive Leaf Cleanser
www.StyleEssentials.com
$27
I also just recently sampled the Pink Mineral Complexion Bar at Style Essentials ($6) and I really like it too!  I’ll be ordering the pink bar for Victoria next.

Body Soap
Nubian Heritage Raw Shea Butter with Frankincense and Myrrh
Drug Emporium, Sunshine Health Foods
$9.75

Shampoo
Giovanni Root 66 Shampoo
Drug Emporium, Sunshine Health Foods
$6.00
I am still looking to make my shampoo and conditioner a little less processed.  For now, this is just okay.  I am looking for good homemade recipes that I can sustain.  As you know, I haven’t found it yet…

Conditioner
Giovanni 50:50 Balanced Moisture Conditioner
Drug Emporium, Sunshine Health Foods
$6.00

Shave Gel
Alba Botanica Very Emollient Sea Mist foam shave
Drug Emporium, Sunshine Health Foods
$4.25

Deodorant
Naturally Fresh liquid crystal roll-on
Drug Emporium, Sunshine Health Foods
$3.75
I used the original Naturally Fresh crystal for a while. My mom swears by the crystal.  While it definitely did its job, I found application to be a tad high-maintenance for me, and certainly for Vic.  The roll-on is very wet, but leaves no film or trace on clothing, smells nice, and works!  Not crazy about the fact that “fragrance” is an ingredient, but given that a mostly-natural WORKING deodorant is so hard to find, I’ll allow it here.  I also made my own deodorant with this recipe.  It works best of all, but because it’s white and corn-starchy it will leave marks on your clothes.

Lotions/Oils
Burts Bees Radiance BodyLotion
Drug Emporium, Sunshine, Wal-Mart (sometimes)
$8.99

Burts Bees Honey and Grapeseed Oil Hand Cream
Drug Emporium, Sunshine, Wal-Mart
$8

Beyond Coastal After Sun Moisturizer
Amazon.com
$10

NOW Solutions Coconut Oil
Drug Emporium
$5.65
I also purchased Dr. Bronner’s organic coconut oil, which works the same, but is unfiltered.  I figured that must be the reason I smell like an Almond Joy when I use it.  The sweetness of Dr. Bronner’s is a little distracting…plus, I’m hungry all day.

NOW Solutions Jasmine Oil (my “perfume”)
Drug Emporium, Sunshine Health Foods
$9

Moisturizers
CCs Olive Oil Light Moisturizer $20
CCs Olive Oil Crème $16
www.StyleEssentials.com

Foundation
Style Minerals
www.StyleEssentials.com
$25

Primer/Finishing Powder/Blush
Dash Minerals
www.StyleEssentials.com
$15-25

Eye Shadows
Dash Minerals
www.StyleEssentials.com
$11

Eye Liner
Dash Minerals Purple Black Mineral Powder
www.StyleEssentials.com
$11

Mascara
Honeybee Gardens Truly Natural Mascara
www.StyleEssentials.com
$15

Lip Liner
Style Essentials Nude Lip Pencil
www.StyleEssentials.com
$15

Lip Gloss/Stick
Style Essentials Lip Tints
www.StyleEssentials.com
$13

Badger Lip Tint and Shimmer
Sunshine Health Foods, Amazon.com
$5.50

Alba Botanica Terra Tints
Sunshine Health Foods, Drug Emporium
$5

Hair Spray
Aubrey Organics Herbal Missst Hairspray
www.aubreyorganics.com, Sunshine Health Foods, www.Amazon.com
$10
I use the Regular Hold as a styling spritz while my hair is wet, and then use three sprays of the Super Hold after my hair is dry and styled.

Nail Polish/Remover
Piggy Paint
www.piggypaint.com, Amazon
$9/bottle
“Natural as Mud” it claims, and Victoria and I love it!!  We use the regular formula Piggy Paint remover too (also $9).  Piggy Paint orders qualify for Amazon Mom purchases.  I usually visit www.retailmenot.com to get discount codes to use on Piggy Paint’s site.  They also run giveaways through their Facebook fan page.

I have also used Scotch Naturals and Aquarella natural nail polishes and removers.  They are about $15/bottle and didn’t have a very extensive color selection last time I checked, so the Piggy Paint won out for us.  But both alternate polishes wore well and had my approval.

Occasional Beauty Items:

Cleansing Mask
Eco Sevi White Clay Mask
www.StyleEssentials.com
$21

Hair Color (Permanent)
Naturtint Hair Color
Drug Emporium, www.drugstore.com, Amazon.com
$13 at DE; $15 online
Tip: Colors run dark, so buy lighter than you think you need.  Good gray coverage, no harsh odor, and no scalp burning!  Made in Europe, so the conditioner instructions say to re-condition after a fortnight.  Since I’m the dummy who had to Google it, a fortnight is two weeks.  Now you can act like you knew that all along. 

Sunscreen
Badger Waterproof Unscented SPF 30
Sunshine Health Foods, Amazon.com
$13
Natural enough that even the dog can eat it!

Badger SPF 30+ Face Stick
Amazon.com
$9

Badger SPF 15 Lip Balm
Sunshine Health Foods, Amazon.com
$5

Sunless Tanner
Nature’s Gate Self-Tanner
www.Amazon.com
$9
Good coverage, no orange streaks, pleasant smell.  My personal review is here.  I have also used Lavera Sunless Tanner and liked it (also on Amazon, but $25).  Switched to Nature’s Gate in favor of the lower cost and lower database rating.  :)

Dom’s Products:

Shaving Cream
Burt’s Bees Natural Shave Gel for Men
Drug Emporium, Sunshine Health Foods
$8

Products for the Home:

Dr. Bronner’s Pure Castile Soap
Drug Emporium, Sunshine Health Foods
$8 for 16 oz.  Alternate sizes available
This is an awesome cleaner for porcelain  – tubs and sinks and such – because it cuts through soap scum and hard water marks rather well.  And there is no residue left after rinsing.  You can dilute it a bit to make it last longer.  I have not found that diluting it weakens its power at all.  (Dilute it to almost half, and it’s a good hair conditioner because of all the organic oils in it.) There are about seven or so different scents available.  Don’t put it in a squirt bottle or pump, as it will clog easily.

Mrs. Meyers Countertop Spray (refill with MM All Purpose Cleaner)
Sunshine Health Foods, Drug Emporium (limited selection), www.mrsmeyers.com,  Kroger on Youree, Wal-Mart (WalMart started carrying MM products recently, but I didn’t see them last time.  Hmmmm…)
$3.75 for the spray; $6.50 for the refill bottle.
I use this spray on EVERYTHING in my home.  Kitchen, bath, floor, everything!  The refill ROCKS!!!  Put a few tablespoons in your empty spray bottle and fill the rest with water.  Instructions are actually on the spray bottle.  The refill lasts forever, so it is well worth the $6 investment (I’ve only bought one refill bottle in a year).  Plus, all her products come in a great selection of herbal scents.  My faves are Basil and Rosemary.   I heart Mrs. Meyers!!!

Mrs. Meyers Hand Soap (Kitchen and all bathrooms)
Sunshine Health Foods, Drug Emporium (limited) and Kroger on Youree
$3.50

Mrs. Meyers Dish Soap
Sunshine Health Foods, Drug Emporium (limited) and Kroger on Youree
$(again, don’t have this written down yet…)

Ecos Laundry Detergent
Sunshine Health Foods
$11.50 for the mega size bottle.  Washes XX loads…typically lasts me 6-8 weeks.

Earth Friendly Products’ Toilet Bowl Cleaner.
Sunshine Health Foods
Sometimes, I’ll skip the packaged cleaner and just use regular ol’ Baking Soda sprinkled into the bowl.    I use Mrs. Meyers all around the outside of the bowl and tank.

The Medicine Cabinet
I was shocked and saddened to learn that most of our standard medicines have a plethora of unspeakable ingredients in them.  All the things I am working to avoid in my food and beauty products LIVE in my medicine cabinet, cleverly disguised as inactive ingredients.  I am still in the process of making total changes in the medicine cabinet.  For now, these are the positive purchases we have made, and that we can vouch for as effective.  I don’t have prices on any of these items.  I will work on that.  ;)

Badger Headache Soother

Badger Night Night Balm

Burt’s Bees Muscle Mend

Burt’s Bees Hand Sanitizer

Hyland’s Sniffles and Sneezes

Hyland’s Flu Care 4 Kids

Hyland’s Headache

Hyland’s Arnica 30x pain reliever

Animal Parade Multivitamin

Coromega (Omega 3 supplement)

Attentive Child

Things I Don’t Think I’ll Ever Change

Wine
We drink.  Not too much, but we do drink.  I like to have a glass of wine while I’m cooking and Dom likes a good, cold beer.  I know there are sulfites in wine and probably caramel color in beer, but I am really loyal to my fermented grape products.  And seriously? What’s a holiday without Bailey’s Irish Crème???  :)

Coffee
I tried coffee alternatives like Teecino so that the kids could enjoy the coffee experience more with me.  Um, no offense, Teecino, but…YUCK.  I’ll just limit their coffee intake and keep my Starbucks Breakfast Blend, thankyouverymuch.