I can't believe it's not butter!

I can't believe how much I love butter! Like actual butter, not margarine. My whole adult life I've blindly been one of the millions of people lured by the lack of cholesterol and fat in margarine and products like it. What have I been missing?! On top of being much more nutritious, butter tastes sooo much better! I've been really feeling strongly about making healthier eating/lifestyle choices lately. The biggest thing I've been trying to do is find actual products that aren't a knock off of the real thing . You know that the knock offs are most likely mechanically made, probably using mostly chemicals or chemically enhanced ingredients.  God's creations work so much better and better for you than mans' creations. Seriously. 

I'm not trying to go all hippy on you, now. I do not eat seaweed or grass sprouts-  I'm just tired of counterfeits. I've been doing a lot of reading up on these counterfeit food products and cleaning products and the health effects that they are having on us, especially in North America.  Diabetes, cancer and heart disease to name a few. Manufactured products (like margarine) lower your immune system, making it harder for you to fight off colds, flues and the like as well. 

Did I mention how much I hate counterfeits? Its what Satan uses to trick us as christians too. He uses truth, wisdom and power, but in ways that destroy or promote personal gain. It's his oldest trick in the book- literally. Genesis 3 satan disguised as a serpent deceives Adam and Eve into taking of the forbidden fruit by telling them it would make them wise like god in that they would know good from evil. Truth of a sort. However, he failed to tell them that it would also separate them and all of mankind from God because of their sin. Counterfeit truth as I see it. Looks like truth, feels like truth, might even get away with it as truth for a little while, but eventually it will reveal itself as a lie. 

Growing up in the horticulture industry, I made a very interesting discovery. For every plant, there is a weed that looks EXTREMELY similar, and will usually grow right next to the original. Satan's counterfeit. We see in that same chapter of genesis that weeds were part of the curse of sin. 

Hippy or not,my tkids are thinking I'm going nuts because of my new natural product discoveries! I'm putting coconut oil on EVERYTHING. No joke. It works on everything from hemroids( apparently...) to chapped lips! I'm so excited about all of it that I just had to share some if my discoveries with you all!

Some of my new favourites that I have personally tested and found to work:

Coconut oil- sunscreen, Chapstick, deodorant, reduces visibility of stretch marks (!!!)

Vinegar- mix with orange peels to make a great all purpose cleaner, which I have also been mixing with a tbsp of coconut oil as my dishwasher detergent; as a fabric softener/deodorizer in the washing machine; 

Lemon juice- an all purpose cleaner that is also antibacterial; mix with olive oil for a great furniture polish/ dust spray. 

Baking soda- teeth whitener; mix with water to form a paste =facial cleansing scrub (this one is amazing!!)

Those are just a few of my recent discoveries which are now a staple in my life! I will share more with you as I try them out.