Falsehoods aside, Martha Stewart Living feeds the OCD housewife in me, and I love it. Daydreaming about throwing fabulous candlelit dinners for 10-20 guests and serving homegrown vegetables alongside grassfed beef on tables draped in linen lovingly stitched by me… I mean, how else would I spend a Saturday afternoon? Thank you, Martha, for bringing housewifery back.

Mr. Blankenship and I are proud to announce the official launch of Kingdom Boutique, our very own collection of modern American craft.

Part I: Save money on cleaning and personal care SO YOU CAN spend money on organic & grass-fed** food.

Baking soda and vinegar clean everything: sinks, toilets, kitchen counters, floors, younameit. I pay $10 for 2 gallons of distilled white vinegar and a 13.5 pound bag of baking soda at Sam’s, a quarter to a third of what I used to spend on task-specific cleaners.. They last 2-3 months and leave the house sparkling and disinfected.

Simplify the beauty routine:
A) Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soap is our shampoo, body wash, shave gel, and hand soap. And we haven’t even tried it for a host of its other uses, among them: laundry detergent, dish soap, and dishwasher detergent.

B) Jojoba oil moisturizes the body & face, and shea butter conditions and styles the hair.

C) Everyday Minerals Makeup is healthy, incredibly affordable, and looks amazing. They give away free sample packages; you just pay around $5 for shipping. And I only buy their sample sizes––they last for months but not so long that I have piles of old makeup lying around.

Part II: Food

Plan each week’s meals and shop only for the ingredients we need. I’ve actually started planning a month’s worth of meals at once; I shop for specialty ingredients online and then buy fruits and veggies each week at the farmer’s market or grocery store.

Grass-fed beef (and lamb, pork, and chicken!) come from a local farm. Rather than buying individual cuts of meat for given meals, we buy the whole animal at once (post-slaughtering and processing, mind you, and split with 3 other families) and store it in a deep freezer on the back porch. Last year our share worked out to be $2.55 per pound of beef (for every cut), a one-time cost of $406.08 for 159 pounds of meat. It lasted 9 months, but I’m sure with better planning, we can make it last a full year.

Groceries come from local farms, farmer’s markets, CSAs, and food co-ops. Buying straight from the grower is almost always cheaper than the grocery store. We don’t have to pay for the supermarket’s overhead costs (lighting, shelf space, air-conditioning…) and the farmer is getting every penny I pay him. A food co-op is a member owned/operated grocery store usually specializing in natural, local products.

Other specialty items (especially gluten-free) are found online at Vitacost and Mountain Rose Herbs. Mountain Rose Herbs has the best deal on Extra Virgin Coconut Oil.

Grow organic food: start a compost pile, buy some seeds or starter plants, and cultivate a garden! Nothing is cheaper, healthier, or tastier than homegrown herbs, fruits, and veggies. Stu Campbell’s Let It Rot! is an excellent guide to composting.

With these tools and resources we’ve greened our home and life without breaking the bank. We know where our food is coming from, what we’re putting in and on our bodies, and we’re supporting our local economy! 10 billonty wins.

For more information on living green affordably, visit Passionate Homemaking. Lindsay Edmonds’ encyclopedic knowledge is astounding.

* “Traditional” or “conventionally grown” seem like such misnomers to me. Traditionally, food and clothing were grown organically because there was no other choice. Synthetic fertilizers, hormones, and antibiotics didn’t exist 150+ years ago.

** Organic is a useful label for describing produce but not for meat. Farmers can call meat organic if they’re feeding their livestock organic corn. But cows, lambs, pork, and chickens aren’t meant to eat corn and other grains. Their digestive systems thrive when eating GRASS. Look for grass-fed meats and organic fruits and vegetables.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is my cousin. He is this awesome in real life.

CAESAR DRESSING

6 garlic cloves, mashed/minced
1 Tbsp. dijon mustard
1 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
2 Tbsp. mayonnaise*
1/2 cup olive oil
Salt & pepper
Lemon juice
Minced anchovy, optional

Combine garlic, dijon, vinegar, and 2 pinches of salt in a blender. Add mayonnaise and blend. Slowly add olive oil. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and lemon.

*I haven’t tried to make my own mayonnaise yet, but that’s definitely happening soon.

Some of my latest crafty creations. You and your man/woman can be domestically matchy!