"The most radical political act there is, is to believe that if I change, other people will follow suit."

I'm working steadily on inching my way towards an all-natural lifestyle. It's slow going, beacuse... frankly, it's not just me, it's me plus an H and 3 kids. The 3 kids are easy, but the H? He keeps looking at me all side-eyed. Like I'm gonna attack him with a baking soda hair situation sometime in his sleep.

There are a few reasons for this change... it's one part frugality, one part a personal challenge, one part a sense of responsibility. I'd like to think we can be self-sufficient in the (unlikely, and yet still real) event of some catastrophy. I mean, obviously these are teeny, tiny, microscopic baby steps towards that, but... I'm just saying. It's part of a giant, umbrealla-like, overall life change.

I'm on "No 'Poo" day... 20? I think? And so far, it's all going swimmingly. My routine so far is to rinse with just water most days. I "wash" with a honey/baking soda paste every 5-6 days... those days, I also rinse with an apple cider vinegar rinse as well.

My magic recipe... 2 Tbs baking soda, 1/2 tsp water, and just dump in some honey.

Until it looks like this.

Then, I massage it into my roots for a minute. Rinse out. Done!

Snork was skeptical of my honey/baking soda funk, but... I think she's just jealous. So far, my hair has not revolted like I've heard some other peoples' did... In fact, my ONLY complaint is that yesterday, and today, it might feel a little dry.
Overall, I am pleased. I was fully prepared to quit at the first signs of some Hair Revolt, but it's cooperating well. I've read that it's easier for wavy/curly hair to adapt, so... finally! Something good has come from this mess on my head! Sweet!

I'm going to be rolling this out to kidlets as soon as their shampoo and conditioner have run dry. So far, they're on board... I think anything that will get them out of the tub faster will be a win in their books.

I've also planned a "cleansing" week next week. The Plan is to go vegetarian for one week, starting Sunday. We'll hit the Awesome Irvine Farmer's Market Saturday morning, and stock up on all types of local, fresh goodies, and eat all local, all veg, all week.

Okay, so that might be exaggerated. I will eat all veg. I only imposed the vegetarian rule on the rest of the family for dinner time. They were skeptical at first, until I told 1 & 2 they could help pick recipes, plan the meals, and prep/cook.

We had a practice run on Sunday night - I let them scour my cookbooks for something they could agree on, and they came up with Martha Stewart's chicken stir-fry lettuce wraps.

#2 chopped the peppers and grated the ginger (I did the onions for her), and washed the lettuce.

#1 did the cooking.

It was all so super cute, and successful - everybody enjoyed it, and even leftovers were eaten - win!

I'm not sure why the chopsticks were necessary... #1 is obsessed with them, she tries to eat cereal with them.

Anyway.... todays food consumption!

1. Half of a blueberry bagel, 1 Tbs cream cheese


2. I made a killer lunch in my bento box today... leftover chicken wraps, sauteed greenbeans and peppers (with rice wine vinegar/soy sauce vinaigrette), cucumbers, and blackberries
   


3. 1 tiny bag of M&M's


4. 10 animal crackers

Dinner... I'm unsure about. I'll update tomorrow.