Our steps to a more natural lifestyle
| February 20, 2012 | Filled under reviews |
Every year we try to take steps towards eating real and natural foods. These are the changes we made in the past year:
- Buy only 100% whole grain bread and 100% whole grain pasta. While my kids still ask for white bread, they already forgot how white pasta tastes and prefer the whole wheat kinds instead.
- Make at least one dish from scratch with kids every day. I considered signing up my pre-schooler for a cooking class, but then decided it would be much cheaper and easier to make meals with the kids every day at home. They already cooked with me before, but now we make an effort to have each child prepare a dish from beginning to end.
- Visit a local farmers market every week during the farmers’ market season. I really miss these trips during the winter.
- Give kids their veggies before the meal, so they will eat them while they are hungry.
- Take kids to pick-your-own farms at least a few times each season.
Honestly, I have not been paying as much attention to body care products as I do to the food products. This year we are trying to make a shift and buy natural products when it comes to shampoos, baby wash, and body lotions. I have tried a few brands, but most of the natural products are sold in small containers and are extremely expensive when you calculate the cost per ounce. The good news is that this year Johnson & Johnson introduced a Natural product line, which includes Johnson’s Natural Baby Shampoo, Baby Lotion, and Head to Toe Foaming Baby Wash. The products are designed to be gentle for newborns, contain no essential oils, and are paraben-free, dye-free, and allergen-free. Johnson’s Natural line recently won the 2012 Better Homes and Gardens Best New Product Award.
Johnson’s Baby lotion has a mild, natural scent. It is especially useful during cold winter months when kids’ skin is dry and eczema flares up. My kids loved the smell of the lotion. They like to pretend they are grown-ups and use lotion for their hands.
Johnson’s Foaming Baby Wash has a pump and is easy for kids to use. Even if kids pump the soap themselves, they use very little since it is a foaming wash.
I thought that Johnson’s Natural Baby shampoo was a little runny at first, but then found that it was easier to spread it through kids’ hair. The new Johnson’s Natural Baby Shampoo is also tear free, like all the other Johnson’s baby shampoos.
What about you? What steps have you taken to live more naturally?
“I wrote this review while participating in a campaign by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of Johnson’s Natural and received a product sample to facilitate my review, and a promotional item to thank me for participating.”
