Norwex

I have a new job. One that I can make my own hours: work as much as I want to and whenever I want to. But also one that I never, ever thought I would want to do before.

I just started selling Norwex products. Norwex is a company that sells products used to clean your home (and body) without dangerous chemicals. The product that is most well-known is the Antibacterial Microfiber Enviro Cloth. It cleans just about everything, using just the cloth and water. Microfiber picks up dirt, dust, and all the other microscopic yuckies by using fine fibers and static electricity - unlike regular cloths that pick up some but smear most of it around. The Norwex antibacterial microfiber also has a silver agent embedded in the material that has self-purification properties. If you use it dry, it will dust a surface like you have never seen before. When wet, it picks up bacteria and germs which are then broken down by the silver agent. They also have many other products that work fantastically to clean.

How in the world did I decide to sell Norwex? I have never wanted a job in sales. I don't like the thought of pressuring people to buy something. But, when I visited my grandma last month and saw some Norwex products, I fell in love with them. And I knew that other people would want to buy them. The quality is top-notch, there is a 2 year guarantee on most of their products, and so many families are moving away from using harsh chemicals to clean. People are starting to realize that a typical house often has more toxic pollution inside than outside, due to harsh cleaners, air "fresheners" and other chemicals. Also, Norwex products are more environmentally friendly - no waste and no chemicals is better for the earth! I am somewhat known in many of my social circles as, well, a bit of a hippie. Since so many people ask me questions pertaining to healthy and sustainable living, why not have a product to offer them that will help them reach those goals? And of course, I can make a little money as I do it :)

So, I signed up to be a consultant and sent away for my starter pack. It comes with a few of the basic Norwex items to try out and then demonstrate for potential customers. I kind of let my house get dirty while I waited for the products to be shipped to me because I really wanted to try them out as soon as they arrived. First I tried the mop. It has a dry mop pad and a wet antibacterial microfiber pad. The first thing I noticed about the mop is that the height is adjustable, which is really nice. I envision shortening the mop and letting the kids play mopping often :) After using the dry mop pad, I can say that it is much faster and easier than using a traditional broom, since it is very wide to cover a larger area at a time, plus it easily pivots and slides under my table and chairs. It even fit under my stove, and I brought out a ton of disgusting junk from under there! The only drawback compared to a broom is that it was more difficult to dig into the corners of the walls with the Norwex mop than with a broom. After dry mopping, I used the wet mop. You just wet it in the sink, wring it out, and then stick it to your mop and scrub your floor with it. I usually use a steam mop, which I love, but the Norwex wet mop did just as good of a job without the need for electricity (and fear of burning one of my children as I did once to Rowan's poor toes). But the best part about the mop? It cleans the walls so easily and cleans them really well. I never knew my walls were so dirty until I used this.

A blog that I regularly read has a great review of the Norwex Enviro Cloths. Here is what Lindsay at Passionate Homemaking has to say about the Enviro Cloths (she has no affiliation with Norwex): http://www.passionatehomemaking.com/2010/02/enviro-cloth-a-simple-frugal-natural-cleaning-tool.html

I guess I won't review everything, but if you come to a Norwex party, I can tell you more about other products. Because that is how Norwex works, it is similar to Pampered Chef, Tupperware, etc. in which someone hosts a party (and can earn some awesome rewards by doing it), a consultant comes to demonstrate products, and guests can order products that they want. With Norwex though, you don't have to have a party to buy something, you can also order directly from a consultant. If you want to host a party, buy any products, or learn how to become a consultant, please contact me. So, who wants to host my first party? :)

*beginning May 2nd, this will be my official Norwex website: http://kirstentatum.norwex.biz

"Magic" soup

I have made this soup about a hundred times, but it is always slightly different. I add whatever I have: different veggies, different cans of stuff, sometimes I add ground turkey or chicken, sometimes pasta. But last night, the soup was magic. It had just enough flavor, just enough kick, and a great amount of vegetables. So I need to write it down to see if I can create that magic again. This soup is delicious with different variations, but it might make magic if you make it this way:

1 jar Trader Joe's Roasted Garlic pasta sauce

1 can mild regular Rotel*

3 cups beef broth (or 3 cups water and dump in the rest of a container of Orrington Farms beef-flavored vegetarian broth. hmm, not sure if I can recreate that exactly)

about 1/2 of a large sweet onion - minced

about two handfuls of baby carrots - minced

3 stalks of celery - minced

1 cup sweet potato puree

1 can of cannellini beans - rinsed

Dump it all in a crockpot, and cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours. Or longer - this soup is really forgiving. You can brown meat and add it at the beginning, and you can also add pasta, but I suggest cooking the pasta near the end and adding it when you serve. Otherwise the pasta just soaks up all the liquid and you are left with more of a chili. But then again, with any substitutions, it just might not be "magic."

* I am pretty sure that the reason no spices are needed is because of the Rotel. Which is unfortunate, because I am wary of ingredient labels that read "natural flavorings" and "spices." I like to know what is in my food! Unless, of course, I am in another country sampling the local food. Then I'm fine with "don't ask, don't tell." :D

Just for fun

This video is kind of long, but it shows a little bit of how vocal Violet is becoming.  She babbles in her crib when she wakes up in the morning, she blows raspberries and squeals as she plays, and she screeches when she doesn't get her way.  I love it!

Faux food

Happy April Fools' Day!  We celebrated this silly, mixed-up holiday at our house today.  Violet celebrated by waking up at 4:30am, but the rest of the kids waited until normal business hours to begin the day.  When they woke up, I gave them some special juice for breakfast (red jello).  Ellie noticed right away that the juice wasn't moving in the cup, but they still both tried to drink it through the straws stuck in the jello. 

I explained to them about April Fools' Day, and they decided they wanted to trick Daddy.  So, we turned his desk chair, laptop tray, and laptop upside down - and he definitely was fooled.  I think he was worried that it had all been knocked down until the kids yelled, "April Fools!" 

We then made some slimey goo that the kids played with while I made lunch for them.  Grilled cheese!  Well, if you can call angel food cake with cream cheese frosting - toasted on the skillet - grilled cheese.  I did :)  I tinted the frosting orange with sweet potato puree, so that means it was healthy enough to serve for lunch, right?  It sure fooled Ellie, because she ate the whole thing before I finally told her it was not grilled cheese.  She just thought it was really good.



The kids also requested their crazy straws to drink from.  And I guess even their real lunch was faux, because it was meatless "chicken" patties.  That wasn't even planned :)

Ellie decided to dress silly for school, which meant lots of layers and some inside-out clothing.  I don't think anyone really noticed her crazy style (maybe it is a little too usual for her?).  She had a classmate come home with her and stay for dinner, and I planned an April Fools' dinner just for him, because he is such a funny guy who loves to laugh.  First, I told them that we would eat backwards and have cupcakes first.

Of course they were not really cupcakes, but meatloaf with mashed potatoes on top.  I tinted the potatoes with beet puree (can you believe that bright scarlet color is from one tablespoon of beets?)  The kids didn't think that joke was so funny, because they really wanted cupcakes.  But I promised them that a treat was in the works.  After they ate their "cupcakes" I brought them some spaghetti and meatballs.  Or was it?

Looks like spaghetti to me!

They were pleased with this look-alike.  It was a small piece of angel food cake with frosting piped into noodle shapes.  The meatballs are whoppers and the sauce is strawberry jam. 

It was a day filled with sugar, but also with lots of laughs.  There were a lot of crazy jokes played on each other, with shouts of "April Fools!"  But the only one who fooled me was Mother Nature - it's not supposed to snow in April!