Cost: 20$ for one hour seminar. Includes all supplies, handouts, and giveaways. Reservations may be held with a credit card or prepaid by dropping off payment at Go Lightly directly or calling with a credit card 973-744-7889. cash, check, or charge accepted.

Do you have health issues that require you to change your lifestyle? Do you have a teen that wants to go vegan but you have no idea how to help him or her? This seminar is for you.

With recent films like Food, Inc. and Forks Over Knives, it’s no wonder people are starting to take notice of the positive effects of being a vegan. Nutritionist Jessica Royston will share tips on how to implement a plant-based diet into your life. You will learn how to make an easy transition like: how to get the proper nutrients,  simple delicious recipes, amazing new food options, and more!

Use Facebook to Comment on this Post

*Thomas Wesley Stern is a band from down South Jersey that is getting lots of attention in America’s bluegrass and contemporary folk scene. Their heartfelt music is described as  ”Hope Folk”: a specific genus devoted to a spiritual condition caused by music. We guarantee your spirits will be lifted and your feet will be stomping! Check out the YouTube Videos of the boys doing their thing!

Use Facebook to Comment on this Post

Even for my personal care products, I buy ingredients instead of products. And a lot of what I buy for personal care are the same ingredients I buy for cooking. This has seriously streamlined things—and saved me a bundle of money.  Here’s what I do now (I’ve bolded the ingredients to make it easy for you to gather a list if you are so inclined):

• Instead of moisturizers with dubious chemical ingredients, I keep it simple so I know what is going onto my skin (and thereby into my body): Coconut Oil, Shea butter, Coco Butter, and Olive Oil are all I use. Sometimes I mix these ingredients, sometimes I use them straight. Coconut oil is my favorite for a facial moisturizer. It does not leave a greasy residue and it’s an excellent detox for skin. For my day cream I mix it with a natural sunscreen, for a night cream I thicken it with olive oil (or grapeseed, sesame, or almond oils) and add Vitamin C crystals for antioxidant power.

• Witch hazel with a few drops of tea tree oil (you can experiment with how much tea tree is right for your skin) is a brilliant and cheap astringent.

• I never run out of toothpaste anymore since I make my own for pennies a pop:  2 oz. calcium carbonate (available at hardware stores), 1 oz. baking soda, pinch of stevia (for sweetness), vegetable glycerin, and 5-6 drops peppermint, cinnamon, lemon or clove essential oil. Combine dry ingredients and oils in a jar with enough glycerin to make a paste. Put on your brush with a little spoon or spatula.

• Commercial anti-perspirants are not good for you or the planet. They are very heavily packaged and put heavy metals into your body. Plus, perspiring is a natural way for your body to rid itself of toxins–it’s a good thing; you shouldn’t fight it. I keep baking soda in a small dish and scent it with essential oils to suit my mood or the season. I use a damp deodorant crystal to apply the baking soda to my underarms- but you can use anything like a cotton pad or your hands. Also, some witch hazel scented with a few drops of essential oil of your choice in a spray bottle is a great spray-on deodorant.

• Kill germs, not your skin, with DIY hand sanitizer. A batch of cinnamon, clove, lemon, clary sage, and rosemary oil in a base of aloe gel will keep those germs away. Germs cannot become resistant to essential oils because the proprieties of the plants the oils come from change from crop to crop. It’s a dangerous thing to use commercial antibacterial products because they are creating Supergerms that are getting harder and harder to fight.

• A simple castile soap is all I use for handwashing. I especially like that I can add essential oils, like cinnamon or tea tree, for safe germ-killing. This can also be used for shampoo and shaving.

• My medicine cabinet looks more like an apothecary’s cupboard. I am always adding to my collection of essential oils and use them in various ways: gentian violet for cuts, eucalyptus oil in a vaporizer for colds, lemon oil with white vinegar for cleaning, peppermint oil for pest control.

• When available, fresh herbs such as peppermint, rosemary, and chamomile are wonderful for making tea infusions. Why buy a product when you can just dry (or use fresh) the flowers and leaves for practically free (if you grow them yourself they are free!). Simply steep a few teaspoons in hot water, strain and drink for an unsettled tummy (peppermint), to fight insomnia (chamomile), and even ward off effects of radioactive exposure (rosemary). Also a very important plant in our house is nettles. We make a tea from fresh nettles and use it for wet compresses to treat itchy rashes like eczema. Be careful of the stings from the nettle plant- it hurts a bit, but if you can tolerate it- rub on your rash and it is beneficial! (The pain is intense but does pass shortly).

Once you gather a supply of these ingredients, collect empty  jars and bottles of various sizes and get to mixing up batches of  products for almost anything you need.

Use Facebook to Comment on this Post